Why a Wolf Cries - Julie Steimle (read a book .TXT) 📗

that! I’ve met his upper crust friends too when I was with Vincent—”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Doug held up his hands. “You went to those fancy things with Vincent, who is your favorite cousin—”

“Our favorite cousin!”

He shrugged. “I don’t know about that. I like Vivian more.”

Audry shrugged, allowing that. “Yes, we like that family in general. Aunt Helena married a decent guy and they’re not crazy like the rest of the Bruchenhauses.”

“The point is,” Doug interjected, “you didn’t mind it with Vincent. What difference does it make if you were with Rick Deacon?”

“Oh…” Audry stepped back from him. “Don’t tell me you are trying to ship Breacon too?”

“What’s Breacon?” Skyler asked.

“What is Breacon?” Doug laughed.

She rolled her eyes. “Silvia made up the name. She and so many other people keep trying to ship Rick and me together. I don’t want it! It’s not funny.”

But he did laughed. “Perhaps they were serious.”

Audry glowered at him. She tried to close the door. He would not let her. His arm blocked the way, and he was stronger.

“Audry, speaking as your older brother, who loves you and wants you to be happy—and as I have not really spoken to him, so I can’t fairly say anything about him personally—but a guy who attracts the kind of friends he has is someone worth paying close attention to. And if he likes you, if might be a good idea to let go of your prejudice against meat-eaters and—.”

“Enough!” Audry pushed his hand off the door. “If you like him that much, you marry him. But leave my life alone.”

She shut the door. And locked it.

He called through it. “Stop being so stubborn. Come on. I know you like him. What’s the big deal?”

What was the big deal? Audry asked herself, walking toward the bed. She grabbed the TV remote to turn it on to block out her brother’s knocks.

The big deal was a lot of little things which piled up into a problematic heap. Yes, she hugely objected his love of meat—his being particularly chicken. Yes, she had zero desire to hobnob with the rich and snobby. Those two large points alone would alter the trajectory of her life. She rescued animals. She did not kill them. And being the wife of a wealthy CEO, what would the family dynamic be like? She’d have to play hostess for things. She’s have to be some ridiculous fashion guru, as the media would be all over their relationship.

But even that aside, the other things mattered more. Rick had poisonous blood. He also lived with a strict diet, never mind the meat. It meant no more Italian food. No more garlic, in general, which she loved. No more honey either. No more silver. It meant always needing a bodyguard. It meant some kook somewhere might shoot at her, thinking she was an infected werewolf or just a collaborator. She had scoured that SRA website. They were insane, constantly plotting ways to get at and kill both Rick and his father. They were also tracking his relationships. People connected to him were at risk. Doug did not understand that.

And then there was his hometown. Silvia had convinced her that witches were real. Not so much magic, but witches. She also convinced her that witches were dangerous, if not deadly. And further, Silvia had made it clear that whomever married Rick had to be an extremely strong woman, capable of dealing with an entire witch coven who would perpetually harass her. It just wasn’t worth it.

Rick was right. He knew the danger she would be in if they ever got romantically involved. He wanted to keep her from it. And she respected that. She just wished the others would also. No one else seemed to understand.

Audry shut off the TV the moment the news broadcasted about the car crash. The last thing she wanted was more reminders that life was just a mess.

Inquiry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Thirteen

 

The Bruchenhaus family checked out of the hotel that morning just after breakfast. Jean called from the hotel and said Maris was going to be released. She and Doug switched places so she could shower then pack up their things, sure Doug would forget and leave important stuff while packing. That was fine with Doug. He spent the morning with Maris, getting her ready to go home.

Everyone gathered at the hospital where they waited for the final paperwork to be finished.

As Audry waited for Maris’s final release, Randon and Silvia came up to her to let her know they were staying on another day, mostly so they would leave with the crew that was taking Rick eastward. It was a free flight on a private jet.

“That is cool,” Skyler said. “I wish I had a private jet.”

Audry shook her head. “That’s expensive jet fuel polluting the environment.”

He ducked away.

But Silvia grinned, shaking her head. She kissed Audry on the cheek and whispered, “Never change.” And as she walked backward with Randon towards Rick’s room, she called out, “And don’t be a stranger.”

Audry rolled her eyes, waving.

But then another emergency patient came in with a broken arm. Then later another someone with a car accident—this one actually quite bad. All of them in the lobby parted for each new patient that needed medical services.

As Audry stood aside, she heard whispers down the hall from some nurses which sent chills up her neck. “…wounds. I saw them. It was no car accident. The doctor said no way did that damage come from climbing out a window. He said it looked like he was mauled.”

She turned to look.

There was a pair of nurses gossiping. And she knew who about.

“His entire back is covered in scars. What is that rich kid doing? Wrestling cougars?”

“Wolves,” Audry interjected, glowering at them.

They turned and colored. “Excuse me. This is a private conversation.”

“I know whom you are talking about,” Audry snapped. “He’s a friend of mine. And Rick Deacon was mauled by wolves in Germany.”

They paled now. One nurse stepped back.

“And I am sure he would appreciate it if you didn’t spread rumors about him,” Audry said. She turned, heading back into the lobby.

Her heart was pounding. It was just infuriating. That guy just could not catch a break. And it was worse with the media out there. There could be more of them trying to sneak into the hospital to get the scoop of the century. Picking up the silver bullet on her necklace, Audry rubbed it, thinking the last thing Rick needed were kooky lies going abroad about him. Too many people were shooting at him enough as it was. 

Tucking the silver bullet back into her shirt, Audry sighed. She had started to wonder if the silver bullet was not in fact a bad luck charm. Since she started to wear it, the strangest people were drawn to her. And Rick himself had said that perhaps she ought to hide it. Silvia had even agreed—and they did not always agree on things.

And yet, it connected her to her wolf.

Her mind drifting what way, Audry reconsidered why the wolf was there that evening. For a wolf whom Rick described as his curse and followed him, the wolf that day was following her. It was an odd feeling. Perhaps it had changed allegiances. Or, more likely, perhaps he felt he owed her. One thing was for certain, Audry could tell from the way he had looked at her that he knew her.  

“You are not going to believe this, but…” Doug walked out with the paperwork, yet his eyes rested on Audry and he halted. “You might believe it. Get this. Mr. Deacon already paid the hospital bill in full.”

Audry’s cheeks colored. The man truly was as good as his word.

Doug nodded to her. “This is due to you, I think.”

She shook her head. “You took care of his son. You did the blood transfusion, didn’t you?”

With a laugh, Doug smirked. He nodded. “Ok. Let’s go home.”

Hugging Maris in the parking lot to say goodbye, as she would not go eastward, Audry waited until her niece was safely loaded in Doug’s car. She hugged Skyler also before he climbed in. “Call me when you get home.”

The nodded, all of them buckling up.

Audry also got into her vehicle, as her parents climbed into theirs—three cars going into two different directions. And with the fresh memory of Rick Deacon’s car accident, they all drove carefully and safely home.

 

*

The SRA were not a usually slow organization. But they had picked up the news of H. Richard Deacon’s car accident with everyone else via the national news and were surprised by it. They watched and critically wondered at rumors of drunk driving, which had been denied, and listened as concerns over his safe recovery were expressed by reporters who for the most part had nothing to go on. And the nearest SRA hunters were dispatched to investigate.

One showed up at the rangers’ station. He was a burly sort who kept his big weapons in his car and small ones well concealed on his person, looking more like a mountain man than a monster hunter. He walked around the canyon village, keeping a listening ear open. Mostly, he was listening for news about wolves—forget some lame car accident.

“…with that guy. He had no right to contradict Yellowstone policy. There are no special wolves. He had no authority to—”

“He had authority,” a young ranger objected. “You saw his credentials.”

“What I saw was some jerk ranger throwing his weight around our park.”

“He’s government.”

“Excuse me.” The SRA agent walked up to them, flashing his own badge, which happened to be just the ordinary SRA card. He was one of the few not part of the government alphabet soup. “But I could not help overhearing you talking about a special wolf. What was so special about it?”

One ranger stiffened, a ripple of fear going through him before he mastered himself and returned the gaze with would-be nonchalant one. The other stared sullenly at the SRA agent, no other reaction at all. The second said, “Nothing. It was just a wolf.”

The SRA agent laughed. “Sorry, but no one says ‘It’s just a wolf’ when talking about just a wolf. Either something unique happened to this wolf, or it did something unique which has drawn attention. Which one is it?”

The first ranger continued to maintain his guard, a good sign he knew what was going on. He would be worth talking to. But the other, more vocal one said, “Nothing unique happened,” clearly objecting to the word choice. “But a wolf was wounded in a cougar attack and some foolish campers tried to rescue it.”

“Were they bitten?” the SRA agent asked. His heart beat heavily in his chest. If it did bite them, then they would finally have something solid on the Deacons.

“No,” the other ranger replied with matching annoyance to his fellow ranger. “The one who did rescued the wolf was a trained animal rescue worker. She was more than capable of handling a wounded wolf.”

“But it is against Yellowstone policy to interfere with nature,” his fellow ranger snapped back, glaring at him again.

“Where is the wolf now?” the SRA agent asked, thinking.

Different responses from the rangers told him a lot. The first one averted his eyes and kept mum. The