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I went to the car and got the blanket we kept in the back. I brought it to Lisette and she carried it out into the woods and left it on the ground. She returned and three minutes after that, this skinny, dirty young man came out of the woods. He didn’t get too close, remaining at least fifteen feet away.
“What’s your name, puppy, and how old are you?” I asked.
“Matthew and I’m eleven.”
Two years younger than Connor.
“How did you get into trouble with the pack?”
“I got a woman pregnant and told her about wolves without her signing the paperwork. I’m pretty sure she told her best friend.”
“How old is the girl and her friend?”
“Eighteen.”
“Still living at home?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any way of getting hold of the girl?”
“Not anymore. My phone died months ago.”
“Where do they live?”
“Here in Portland.”
“Have you seen or talked to her at all since you got booted from the pack?”
“A couple times, before my phone died.”
“Does she have transportation?”
“Yes.”
“Has she met you here before?”
“Once.”
“I want you to call her. You can use my phone, but you have to put it on speaker so we can all hear you talk. Tell her it’s you, and then give me the phone so I can talk to her.”
I held my phone out to him. He didn’t want to come close, but finally, he sighed and stepped close. He was surprised when no one grabbed him.
Before he took the phone, I asked, “How long since you had a decent meal?”
“Two weeks. I’ve gotten scraps here at the rest stop, caught a couple rabbits. Haven’t gotten a deer since Quinn captured my friend. I need help running down a deer.”
“If we can work something out, we’ll feed you five burgers as raw as we can get them.”
He took the phone and dialed the girl. “Jan, this is Matt. I borrowed a phone. Can you talk?”
“Great, I’m putting you on speaker. Someone wants to talk to you.”
He pushed the speaker button and handed the phone back. I set it on the table and said, “Jan, my name is Jessica. I’d like to talk a bit. Are you alone at the moment?”
“I’m with a girlfriend.”
“Are you on speaker now? Is she listening to this conversation?”
“She is.”
“Take it off speaker for a moment. Tell me when you have.”
“Okay. It’s off speaker.”
“Is this the same friend you told about werewolves?”
“Yes.”
“What’s her name?”
“Tanya.”
“You can go ahead and put it back on speaker. I need to talk to both of you.”
“Okay. It’s done.”
“Have either of you told anyone else about werewolves?”
“I told someone else, but she didn’t believe me. Thought I was scamming her.” Not Jan’s voice, so Tanya I guessed.
“Has she told anyone else?”
“I don’t know.”
“Telling people about werewolves is a violation of federal law, punishable by prison, or worse.”
“I didn’t know,” Tanya said.
“I realize you didn’t know, but you did, and now we have to fix it.”
“Can we fix it?”
“Possibly. It depends upon how widespread this information is now. You definitely can’t tell anyone else, or you’ll be in big trouble. Nothing I or anyone else can do to help you then. How old is the other girl you told, Tanya?”
“Nineteen.”
“That’s good. She’s not a minor anymore. Are you keeping the baby, Jan?”
“Yes.”
“Would you like some help with it?”
“You mean money?”
“Money, maybe medical expenses.”
“Sure.”
“Here’s what you both need to do. Tanya, you need to get hold of this other person you blabbed to, find out if they’ve told anyone, boy or girl. Get anyone who’s been told, all together and then you have to come to my house, sometime in the next few days.”
“Are we going to be killed or captured?” Jan said.
“No, but we need to stop the rumor mill now, or you might be. You can tell someone where you’re going and if you don’t come home, whoever you told can call the police. But you have to come to Bath, and it needs to be soon. You all need to sign Non-disclosure agreements, so you quit blabbing about this to everyone. For any females, there might be some money you can claim, but you need to know what that’s all about first. Don’t tell anyone anything you don’t have to, for them to come. Tell them you’re going sightseeing at Orr and Bailey Island, or something similar, or that you want to check out a store, or you’re checking out a job, but get them all there. If I don’t hear from you in three days, FBI agents may be knocking on your doors. You didn’t know how serious this is, but now you do.”
“What’s going to happen to Matt?” Jan asked.
“I don’t know yet, but that might depend on you. Can you keep your mouths shut?”
They both answered yes. I gave them my address and told them to call within the next three days.
“Am I going to give birth to wolves?” Jan asked.
“Have you had an ultrasound?”
“Yes.”
“What did the doctor say?”
“That I was having a boy.”
“There you go. You’re having a boy. We can discuss that as well. Please call me. It’s very important to your future freedom.”
“Okay.”
“You can talk to Matt later, perhaps when you come visit. Goodbye. I’m hanging up now.” Which I did. I turned to Matt.
“Matt, you now have a choice to make. You can remain out here, starving to death, alone, until Quinn eventually captures you, which he likely will, or surrender yourself, get fed, shower, and wait at my house until Quinn comes to collect you. It’s unlikely you’ll be killed, though it’s possible you’ll be penned for a while, as we try to fix the mistakes you made. Maybe see Jan again. What’s the deal with you two.”
“We’re in love. I wanted to mate with her. It’s why I showed her my wolf.”
“So what’s your decision. Are you going back in the woods, or will you take your chances with us?”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Good puppy. Go back in the woods, shift to a wolf and then get in the back of the SUV. We’ll buy you a few clothes at a WalMart or Target in Brunswick, but you’ll stay a wolf until you enter my home. Any questions?”
“When can I get fed?”
“The first McDonalds we get to, probably in Brunswick. There’s not much on this road until we get there.”
Lisette went into the woods with him when the coast seemed clear, Matt came trotting out as a wolf, and Lisette had the blanket he’d been wearing. I opened the back and he hopped into the back. Lisette tossed the blanket in with him. There was always a dog pad for wolves in the back. Matt curled up on it.
“You stink,” I said. “Let’s hope you don’t foul up this SUV.” Matt whined.
We stopped at the first Mickey Ds we found and I bought eight QPs, two with cheese, six without condiments. Dani and I ate the cheeseburgers because, pregnant and hungry. We tossed the other six in the back of the SUV unwrapped and let him eat whatever he felt like. If he wanted the bun, fine. If not, we’d throw them away when we let him out. As it was, he devoured everything. As soon as he got in the house, I told him to shower twice. He shifted and went into the downstairs bathroom to clean up. We had also stopped at a Target and I got him some basketball type shorts and some loose tees, although he was skinny enough, almost anything would have been loose on him. We’d gotten home around four-thirty.
Conor and Brigitte had returned while we were gone. Brigitte said, “Who the fuck is that?”
“One of the wolves Conor has been looking for.”
She looked to Tony and Lisette, who confirmed my words.
“Jesus, Jess. You’re not supposed to go hunting rogues.”
“We didn’t hunt him. We asked him to come along quietly, and he did.”
She turned to the other two wolves who once again confirmed my statement.
“What are we going to do with him?”
“Notify Quinn. He gave himself up. He’s tired, hungry and lonely. He owes you wolves obedience. You might want to fuck him a little. ‘Re-socialize’ him. I don’t know, whatever you think is appropriate.”Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.
Brigitte laughed. “I can’t believe you.”
I shrugged my shoulders, smiling at her.
As soon as Matt finished his shower, I called Quinn openly, so he could hear.
“Jessica, my favorite non-wolf. What can I do for you?”
“You were tracking a young rogue puppy named Matt?”
“Yes, I am, not was.”
“It’s was now. He’s sitting in my house. He gave himself up. He’s throwing himself on the mercy of the pack.”
Quinn was silent. “Where did he give himself up? Did he show up at your residence?”
“Nope, the same place we met him before. We stopped there and asked him to come in.”
“Do you know what he did?”
“I asked. He told me. We’re trying to fix that as well. Hopefully, I’ll be talking to his pregnant girlfriend, her clueless bestie, and whoever else they told in the next couple of days. Get them to sign all the proper paperwork and possibly turn the females into wolf breeders. We’ll see how that turns out. He knows he might have to be penned, but since he managed to avoid you for several weeks, you might want to take him under your wing and turn him into a tracker, teach you how he escaped you so often. Teach him how to hunt too. He was starving. Didn’t know how to bring down a deer all by himself, which I know you’re a pro at.