It was seven in the evening when Darrell walked through the door. He knew Katelyn was home when
he saw her car parked in the driveway. As he came into the house, he was assaulted by a strong smell
of baked goods and his mouth watered. He walked through the living room and into the kitchen. He
came to an abrupt stop, his eyes wide. Everywhere he looked, there was baked bread and sweet
treats. His kitchen looked like a high-end bakery.
Katelyn was just filling a tray of cupcakes with pastry cream with a piping bag he had not known he
had. It must have been something that came over in her belongings. “How was your day?” Katelyn
greeted him with a smile.
“Clearly not as productive as yours,” he said, picking up an éclair. He took a big bite and grinned. “Hey,
that’s damn good,” he looked around at all the treats. “It is a good thing my metabolism is super high,
or else get fat eating like this.”
“I know I went overboard. I just find baking therapeutic when I feel bad,” she said, filling a clean piping
bag with icing. “We can freeze most of this, and it will taste fine when defrosted.”
“So, you bake when in a poor mood. Interesting,” he had to know. “Why are you upset?”
She began to ice each cupcake. “I went to the hospital today as I promised.”
“Was Nigel awake? Did he pick a fight with you?” He asked, concerned.
“No, he never regained consciousness. I made sure he never wood. I unplugged the life support.”
Oh, he understood now. She had killed a man that afternoon. He knew how rotten he felt when forced
to take a life. He could imagine Katelyn hated herself right now. “Did anyone see you do it?” He wanted
to know if he should expect the police.
“No.”
Darrell walked back into the living room, searching for the remote. He turned on the TV and searched
until he saw the news. It was a little late for the evening news and too early for the late-night news. He
wanted to see if Nigel’s death had made the news. He had no idea because he had missed the end of
the news. He would have to wait for the late-night news. In the meantime, he had to worry about
whether or not he and Katelyn should go on the run. He would not allow the police to take her when
she was only trying to fix his mistake.
He looked up from the TV and saw Katelyn standing in the archway, watching him with concern on her
face. “I did the right thing, didn’t I? I protected the pack,” he turned off the TV and rose to go to her
side. He lovingly rubbed both her arms and took her in his offering her the comfort of his body. “Are we
going to be ok?” She asked, gazing up at him.
“We always are,” he lied. Darrell only told Katelyn what he knew she wanted to hear. The truth, he had
no idea how this was going to play out. “Why don’t we make some dinner and watch a movie? I’ll even
help you make the meal.”
“Ok.”
“But first, let’s pack up some of those tasty treats before I eat my way into a diabetic coma,” Darrell
suggested.
They spent the next hour packing up the food. They froze half. They would keep some of what they left
out and give away the rest. Then they made some homemade burgers and fries. Once the meal was
made, they sat in the living room enjoying their meal, a cold beer and selected a movie. Before they put
the show on, they stopped to watch the news. There was indeed a brief mention of an Aspen man who
had been involved in a highway accident only to die later at the hospital, having never regained
consciousness.
It seemed good until the anchorman mentioned that foul play was suspected, and they both stopped
breathing when they played a very grainy hard-to-make-out surveillance video from the hospital. It was
said that no hospital staff had seen the suspect but that from the video, the police felt that the suspect
they were looking for was a white female but that thanks to the poor quality of the image, they could not
identify the suspect but that the audio-video forensic team would be processing the video to see if they
could clean up the picture. Nigel was most certainly dead this time, and it was looking like they had a
whole new problem.
“I didn’t think about security cameras,” Katelyn said nervously. “They are going to come to get me,
aren’t they?”
“I won’t allow that,” Darrell promised. “Come on,” he said, changing the channel. “Let’s just watch the
movie.”
***
The following morning Darrell got up and showered, getting ready for his workday. He was doing his
best to remain quiet so that he did not wake Katelyn. He was out in the driveway tossing his lunch and
bag into the cab of his work truck. He was about to get in when Gordon pulled his Harley into the space
behind the truck. The older man climbed off his bike and walked up to shake Darrell’s hand. Hello.
“Glad I caught you before you went to work,” Gordon said. “You and I need to talk.”
Darrell closed his door and leaned against the side of his truck. “You saw the news?”
“I did. It turns out our problem has rectified itself.”
“Yeah. He won’t be telling anyone about the pack,” Darrell agreed, not wanting to bring up the real
reason Gordon had come by. He was only delaying the inevitable conversation. The news had said the
suspect was a woman, and Gordon knew as Darrell did that the suspect they were looking for was
Katelyn.
“No, I guess he won’t,” Gordon sighed. “Enough of this beating around the bush. We both know we
have a new problem. The police are looking for Katelyn. She was caught on video.”
“Yeah, but the video sucks. They will never clean it up enough to get a clear picture of her face.”
“It doesn’t matter. They had a hostile breakup. Then he ends up dead at the hand of a woman. Katelyn
is going to be the first suspect even without the video. They are going to come to Feral looking for her.
In a few days, this place is going to be crawling with cops.”
“I’m not sending her away,” Darrell said, putting his foot down. “I love that girl, and she just turned
herself into a killer to protect the pack. She was trying to help. She was protecting people who treat her
like she’s a piece of shit because she is human. I won’t punish her for that. Her heart was in the right
place. I won’t abandon her.”
Gordon sighed and raked his fingers through his long dark hair. “You are right.”
Darrell was confused. He had not expected Gordon to give in at all, let alone so easily. “She did protect
the pack. I challenged her to prove her dedication, and she did. We are not going to allow the police to
take her. Katelyn protected the pack, and now the pack will protect Katelyn.”
Darrell’s face lit up. “Are you saying what I think you are saying?”
“I’ll announce it officially tonight. I’m calling for a pack meeting tonight. As of now, Katelyn is a member
of the pack,” Gordon smiled.
“So, if I marry her, we can stay?” Darrell asked, standing up tall.
“Yes.”
“Wowee!” Darrell let out a cry and threw his hat in the air. He then wrapped both arms around Gordon’s
waist and lifted him up off his feet as Darrell jumped around excitedly before putting Gordon back on
his feet. Darrell ran back into the house. He was upstairs in a flash, calling to Katelyn.
The ruckus startled Katelyn awake, and she sat up in bed, confused as Darrell rushed the bed with
Gordon coming up the stairs behind him with a smile. Darrell swept Katelyn up in his arms, lifting her
from the bed and spinning around as he held her.
When he placed her on her feet, Katelyn blinked with confusion. “Gordon is making you a member of
the pack,” he told her.
Katelyn smiled at Gordon, who grinned back. “Really?”
“First human pack member ever,” Darrell grinned.
“We are certainly setting a precedent,” Gordon said. “Now, don’t get too excited. A lot of the pack is not
going to take this news with grace. There are going to a lot of them that are going to be hostile.
However, every single one of them will die to protect you because, as the Musketeers of France, the
pack is one for all and all for one.”
Gordon offered Katelyn his hand in friendship. “Welcome to the pack.”
Katelyn threw her arms around Gordon, hugging him tightly. “Thank you.”
“I hear we have a wedding to plan?” Gordon grinned.
“Yes.”
“I know a wonderful baker who will make you an amazing wedding cake.”
“Oh yeah?” Katelyn asked with interest.
“His daughter Aster owns a bakery in Aspen,” Darrell informed her. “She’s very good.”
“I’ll pay for the wedding cake,” Gordon offered. “My wedding gift to you.”
“Thank you,” Katelyn said with tears of joy. “You have no idea how much this means to us.”
Gordon smiled at Derrell. “I think I have an idea,” he sighed. “Well, I should get on with my day and let
you guys get on with yours. I’ll see you both at the meeting tonight.”
As Gordon turned to leave, Darrell grabbed his arm, turning Gordon back to look at him. Darrell’s
expression became serious. “Thank you, Gordon.”
“Don’t make me regret it.”
“I won’t,” he watched as Gordon left and then he smiled at Katelyn. “A pack member. I didn’t see that
coming. I would have settled for simply not being exiled.”
“I’m as surprised as you,” she said with a happy grin, which faded fast. “Do you think the rest of the
pack is going to freak out?”
“I don’t think they are going to do anything. To challenge it would be to challenge the Alpha. Bata’s and
Omegas never challenge an Alpha.”
“It’s going to take some time to understand the pack hierarchy.”
“It’s not that hard. The Alpha is in charge. Followed by other Alphas, younger Alphas. They aren’t in
charge, but they will be one day, so consider them second in command. Then you have the reigning
Luna, usually the Alpha’s mate. Followed by the future Luna. After that, you have Batas, which are kind
of like the right hand of the Alpha. Then there are the Omegas; they just follow. It’s a fairly simple
hierarchy.
“But in the movies….”
Darrell laughed. “Darling, this is real life. We are nothing like the movies.”
“What about all the folklore?”
“Just stories.”
“It’s going to take time to understand fully.”
“Baby, we got a lifetime,” he then kissed her softly. “But for now, I am late for work. I’ll see you tonight,
and we will go to the meeting together,” they said their goodbyes and then Darrell left for the day. He
wanted to get as much done today as he could. He wanted to be home early to deal with the meeting.
He didn’t want Katelyn to go alone.
***
Katelyn sat at the table in the kitchen with her laptop. She was reviewing her account with the monthly
payment from the various stock photo sites she was selling her pictures on. She was making ok money,
but she felt she needed to add new pictures. She would have loved to post a few pictures of the wolves
in the woods. The wolves who she now knew had been Darrell and his friends. She needed some good
pictures.
She needed to get out of the house. She grabbed her camera and decided to go for a walk. Katelyn
went for a walk in the woods, looking for something interesting. She had found her way down to a small
creek where she saw a few women and their children playing. She recognized them as pack members.
She stood at the tree line and lifted her camera to take some pictures. They were all in human form, but
it was still a cute scene. Then things changed.
One kid hit another, and before she knew it, all the children had changed into large wolf cubs and
started to scrap. Katelyn lifted her camera once more, and then there was a hand in front of her lens.
She lowered her camera to see one of the women next to her. The woman was Charlotte. She was one
of the three grown women who had been supervising the handful of cubs.
Charlotte held out her hand for the camera, and Katelyn reluctantly gave it to her. Kately watched as
Charlotte deleted all the pictures. “I had some great shots,” Katelyn complained.
“You can’t photography us in wolf form.”
“Why not?”
“Because it is evidence of our existence. If those pictures get out, they will draw hunters. No pictures.
Comprende?”
“Got it. What’s going on here?”
“Some of the girls run a day home of the children of the pack while their parents work. See,
Lycanthrope children can’t go to a human daycare. They can’t control their powers like an older
Lycanthrope. So these ladies care for the cubs while the others work.”
“I thought you worked at a restaurant in Aspen.”
“I do. Well, actually, I did. I got into a fight with my manager and got fired. So now I’m making ends
meet taking care of cubs. It pays about the same. I hear rumours that Gordon made you a pack
member.”
“Yeah, he did. Do you have a problem with that?” Katelyn asked.
Charlotte shook her head. “No, I suppose not. As long as my brother is happy, I can live with it. You are
going to have to find a new job. You can’t take pictures around here,” Katelyn supposed Charlotte had
a valid point. “Why don’t you come to join us. If nothing else, it will kill some time.”
Katelyn smiled. “I’d like that,” she would jump at any chance to participate in the pack. The more
friendships she cultivated, the more likely the pack was to accept her.
Katelyn spent the afternoon by the creek with her soon-to-be sister-in-law and her friends. She had
enjoyed spending time with the cubs. It turned out Lycanthrope cubs were very much like human
children. Only when they got emotional, they turned into wolves that would tussle and tumble while
roughhousing.
It was a little saddening to think she would never sit by the creek with her own child. She had always
dreamt of being a mother with big family dinners. To be with Darrell, she had to give all those dreams
up. Still, she couldn’t live life without Darrell.
As the afternoon grew late, Katelyn walked back to the house. As she reached the home, she now
shared with Darrell. She found two men in cheap suits on the wrap-around porch knocking on the door.
The car they had come in was parked behind hers. “Can I help you?” She asked, stepping up onto the
wrap around.
The two men turned and took out their ID, identifying themselves as police detectives. “I’m Detective
Grimes, and this is my partner Detective Hans. We are with Robbery/Homicide. We are looking for
Katelyn Ashwood.”
“I’m Katelyn Ashwood.”
“Do you have a moment to answer a few questions?” Detective Hans asked.
“Sure, come on in,” she said, opening the door. She had not locked it. She did not see the point. The
only people in this area were pack members. The detectives followed her into the house. “Please take
a seat,” she gestured to the couch. “Could I get you something to drink? Water? Coffee?”
“No, thank you,” Detective Grimes refused for both of them.
Katelyn took her seat on the armchair next to the couch the policemen were seated on. “Can I ask what
this is about?”
“You recently broke up with your long-term fiancé Nigel Airhart, correct?”
“Correct.”
“May we ask why?” Asked Detective Hans.
“He was cheating on me, so I left him. I met someone new.”
“Are you aware he was recently in the hospital?” Detective Grimes asked.
“I had heard, yes. My parents told me he had been in some car accident.”
“You don’t seem concerned,” observed Detective Hans.
“I feel for the man, but I don’t see why I should care one way or the other. The man is not part of my life
anymore. I’m engaged to someone new.”
“That was fast.”
“It was a fast romance. I don’t see why I need to justify my romantic choices to you.”
“Are you aware that Nigel was murdered last night?”
“No, why would I know that. I have nothing to do with the man. Do you have a suspect?”
“Where were you yesterday between 2:00-3:00 pm?”
Katelyn was confused. She had been at the hospital at 1:30 pm. Perhaps she was wrong about the
time. They seemed fairly certain about the time, and she had been distorted at the time. “I was at my
parents’ house, packing my belonging because I was moving in here with my new fiancé.”
“And where was he?”
“At work,” she said, giving him a funny look. “I’m sorry, but are we suspects.”
“Well, actually, we are looking for a female suspect.”
“Oh, so I’m a suspect.”
“You did recently break up with the man.”
“And I have replaced him. In all honesty, Nigel doesn’t even warrant enough of my attention to be a
passing thought, let alone something I would obsess enough about to want to kill him,” she lied, hoping
the lie did not show on her face. She needed these men to believe she could not be the female suspect
they were looking for. She wanted to point them in another direction and thought about pointing the
finger at Karen’s who’s new marriage just fell apart, but that would be petty, and she knew that every
time you pointed the finger at someone else, you had three more pointing back at you. She wanted the
police to believe she could not care less about what happened to Nigel and make them leave,
assuming she did not care enough to be their killer.
“Do you know if Nigel had any enemies?”
“I don’t know. He wasn’t exactly a nice guy. It wouldn’t surprise me if he upset a few people along the
way. Off the top of my head, I couldn't think of anyone in particular.”
“Do you think he might have had another girlfriend? Perhaps, someone you didn’t know about?” Asked
Detective Grimes.
Katelyn shrugged her shoulders. “It is possible. He wasn’t exactly faithful. He could have one or eight
for all I know.”
“Well, thank you for your time,” Detective Grimes said as all three of them rose, and Katelyn walked
them to the door.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help,” she showed them out and then watched from the window as they
drove away. Now that she was alone, she could breathe easier. She had no idea if they believed her
lies, but they had left, and she was not in handcuffs, so she hoped this would be the last she saw of the
authorities.
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