Chapter 16 #2
Cletus narrows his dark eyes and inhales a deep breath, his body seeming to swell with the intake of air.
This action triggers the surrounding werewolves to move in closer, growling in sync with their alpha.
Then, something catches Cletus’s attention as his gaze shifts from Maureen and Booker to over near the barn.
I have to move to the other side of the parlor, to the other front window to see.
Stepping out of the shadow of the barn, into the moonlight, is a giant wolf.
His thick, dark fur blends in with the night.
Walking next to the giant wolf, in her favorite white dress dotted with tiny blue flowers, is Nina.
“No!” I say, but Garrett’s arm catches around my waist. With no thought, I pull myself inward, disappearing from his grasp in a dust cloud, only to reappear across the room by the bar. “Don’t touch me!” I say with a sharp snap. “I’m going outside.”
“Please, just wait a damn minute! Your impatience is going to get them all killed!” he snarls, then tries to reel it in with a few deep breaths. Holding up two defeated hands, he pleads, “Two minutes. Give Maureen and Booker two minutes.”
I could easily dust by him if I wanted, but something inside my gut doesn’t want to betray him—doesn’t want to cause any more tension between us. So I oblige, and stand by him at the window, praying Nina knows what she’s walking into.
“Well, hello there. You’re a pretty little thing.” Cletus steps around the front of his massive horse, eyeing my sister like his next toy. “What’s your name?”
Maureen and Booker turn to see what’s caught Cletus’s attention. Maureen quickly steps between Cletus and Nina. “Hey, they have nothing to do with why you’re here. It’s the dustslinger you’re here for.”
“Wait, what?” I whisper, stunned by Maureen’s efforts to redirect the alpha’s attention back to me.
“How is that possible?” Garrett leans his face closer to the glass pane, glaring out at my sister and the giant wolf by her side. Then to me he asks, “Who is your sister? What kind of aberrant is she?”
I shake my head and say, “She’s not! She’s…well, she’s Nina!” Then I think about the whispering winds. “I-I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “She’s always had a connection to the wind.”
He shakes his head and rubs the top of his forehead.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Pale blonde hair, porcelain skin, and talks to the wind—dammit, I should’ve known.
Come on,” he says, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me outside.
“Lock the doors, Sheamus!” Garrett commands before closing the door behind him.
The sound of one metal latch sliding into place after another knocks hard from inside the inn. Garrett walks over to where Booker stands, and I follow.
Booker briefly glances in our direction, then does a double-take. “Ah, shit. What are you two doing out here?” He doesn’t sound pleased to see us.
“That’s my sister,” I say, pointing to Nina.
Cletus is out in the middle of the dirt road, eyes locked on my sister. His pack slowly moves to flank his sides, yet keeps a respectful distance, giving their alpha the space he needs.
A rush of wind blusters through town, blowing dust up into the night air.
Some werewolves lose their hats, the wind tossing them off a few feet.
Then, as if she commanded it, the wind rushes at her and the wolf, forcefully blowing her braids off her shoulders.
Normally she closes her eyes and listens to whatever the whispering winds tell her, but not this time.
Her eyes remain open and focused on the intruders.
“The winds tell me you don’t belong here,” she shouts, her voice sounding so much louder than I’ve ever heard her yell before.
She doesn’t know they’re werewolves, so I yell, “Nina! Run! Get out of here!”
“Yes, Nina,” Cletus repeats with a chuckle, “run for me.”
The giant wolf by Nina’s side growls, showing its pristine white teeth and long canines. She strokes the wolf’s fur, her hand moving along its raised hackles. “I don’t think I will.”
Maureen holds up her arms, her palms facing Cletus. “No! Please. Don’t do this, Cletus!”
He finally looks away from my sister to Maureen, tsking at her. “You’ve been hiding a rogue werewolf. That in itself is a good enough reason for me to tear this town to the studs!” he growls.
“It’s Hunter,” she admits, keeping her hands up. “It was an accident. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Booker looks over my head to Garrett. “Well, the werewolf’s out of the bag.”
Garrett’s face is tense, a tick in his jaw as he stands by and watches what we’re watching out in the center of town.
“This isn’t going to end well,” he mutters, and I can see his gaze moving over the werewolves spreading out.
“They’re just waiting for his word,” Garrett says to Booker.
“They’re actually going to tear the town down. ”
“Your blacksmith got all those metal sheets up, right?” Booker asks under his breath, trying not to draw any attention our way.
“Yeah,” Garrett answers.
“That’ll buy some time. Let’s just hope Cletus is in a forgiving mood. Stay here,” Booker says with a string of curses under his breath, slowly making his way out toward Maureen.
I can’t just stand here, and step out to follow Booker, but Garrett grabs my arm and shakes his head. “Don’t stir the pot,” he warns.
“The winds tell me you don’t belong here,” Nina calls out again. Hunter continues to growl, stepping forward but staying close to Nina’s side. My sister looks to the wolf, and then to Maureen. “He doesn’t want to go with them,” she tells her.
“You can speak with him?” she asks, her voice frail, as though the weight of the news has weakened her.
Nina shakes her head. “The winds speak with him, and the winds speak to me.”
Maureen must realize something, which I’m guessing is the same something Garrett realized inside the inn when I mentioned how Nina can speak to the winds.
Maureen briefly glances over at Garrett before telling Nina, “Hunter needs to know that Cletus will force him into his pack if he doesn’t willingly pledge to an alpha. ”
Nina nods and closes her eyes. The air in the center of town swirls along the ground, rising up in the air.
It then sweeps through the town, blowing at the horses’ manes and the werewolves’ unruly hair.
This time, the werewolves standing about know to hold on to their sunrider hats.
After a few heartbeats, she opens her eyes. “It’s done. He knows.”
I look to Garrett. “Why can’t he pledge loyalty to Booker?”
Garrett shakes his head. “Booker was cast out, banished through a majority ruling by the alpha pack leaders. If he does, he and Hunter forfeit their lives. And Booker’s family relations to Cletus won’t save him again.”
“But when it comes down to it…Hunter can pledge loyalty to Booker? There’s no magical power preventing him from doing so, right?” I ask, still trying to understand the rules of this land.
“If he wants to risk every werewolf coming for his life and Hunter’s life, then yeah, it’s possible.”
“Ugh. This is bullshit!” The curse feels good on my tongue. “There’s got to be something you can do!”
Booker looks over his shoulder to us from where he’s standing out in the middle of the road next to Maureen, eyeing us as if he can hear everything we’re saying. Good to know, werewolves have excellent hearing.
“He can pledge loyalty to me!” Booker calls out. This causes the surrounding werewolves to growl, showing their disapproval.
Cletus faces his cousin. “By what right? You know you gave up pack rights when you left for that dirty dust whore.”
“Call her that again, and I’ll rip your throat out.” Booker seethes as his fingers splay at his sides. Deliberately, his fingernails grow, extending out into monstrous claws.
“Ah, that’s right. Didn’t Malik take care of your little pet dustslinger? I heard he’s got a weapon that she couldn’t heal from.”
One of Cletus’s werewolves pulls out a revolver from its holster and pretends to shoot the werewolf standing next to him, yelling, “Bang, bang, bang,” to emphasize the theatrics.
The werewolf feigns being shot, shuddering with each bang said and pressing a clawed hand to his chest. When their mocking dies down, Cletus laughs, revealing his sharp canines resembling something I’d imagine a vampire’s fangs would look like.
The alpha scowls and says, “One week.” Then he repeats his promise to Maureen.
“You have one week to say your goodbyes. Then the rogue wolf is mine.”
While Maureen pleads for him to reconsider, Cletus looks up at the woman rider, and she nods, pointing a slender finger straight at Nina.
Oh, shit. What’s happening now? Why is she pointing at my sister?
Cletus turns to Maureen, and adds, “And the girl. My witch wants the girl.”
Witch? First werewolves, and then the knowledge that there are vampires out there… But now witches too?
Taking my sister from me is out of the question. Without thinking, I rush into the street from behind Garrett. He tries to grab me, but I pull myself inward, leaving nothing but a dust cloud for him to grasp at. I reappear a few feet from Cletus, his massive form towering over me.
Cletus narrows his dark eyes and laughs. “Ah, this must be the new dustslinger.”
“I am!” I say as I feed the sand within me with determination and rage.
Long ropes made of sand extend out from my wrists.
The power flowing through my body feels like a sandstorm ready to explode.
Bands of sand and dust rotate around my wrists and forearms, connected to the sandropes at my sides.
I grip the lines and whip them out into the night air, a loud snap from each cracking in the air.
The werewolves close in around Cletus, growling in defense and ready to defend their alpha.
But he calls them off, more amused than fearful.