Unconventionally Wolf, Julie Steimle [red scrolls of magic .TXT] 📗

you should apply for school. Get your degree. And don't send postcards with your smell on them anymore because Dad has someone intercepting and burning them."

<< Really? >>

He sighed. "Yeah. He doesn't want me to smell you at all. And I understand why."

She was silent for a moment, then said, << You know, he visited us…. And he did extend the offer to help with college, if we wanted it. So he is not altogether bad. >>

"He's not bad at all," Rick said, rolling his eyes. "He's just extremely protective of me. Yours isn't the first pack that has tried to get at me, you know."

Daisy drew in a breath. << No kidding? >>

"Yep. There is another one in France," he said with a peek to James who seemed to preoccupied with ceiling for some reason. Rick realized then that he was listening in. "Which I will get into later. Daisy, don't call this number again. You should know my dad is tracking all contact with me, so I wouldn’t put it past him to check in on my in-and-out-going call history."

<< I wouldn't put it past him at all, >> she said with a grumble. << You should know, he threatened to send those friends of yours—the Holy Seven—to our town if we ever tried to meet you somewhere. >>

Rick sighed, nodding. "Yeah… he mentioned something like that to me. He said if I ever ran off to you, he'd send them after me. He said I would not be allowed to come to your town unless I brought them along—which is not happening. I protect wolves."

<< Are they really that dangerous? >>

"Yes." Rick peeked once more to James. "In fact, I had a nightmare last night that one of them tried to kill me. It totally freaked me out."

She sighed again. << I can't understand why you are friends with people like that. >>

Chuckling, Rick said, "Because they are good people. And though I know many of them have killed wolves like us, they only went after the man-eaters."

Daisy drew in a sharp breath. << But Rick— >>

"You guys didn't eat that hunter," he whispered low. "At least as far as I know—"

<< We didn't! Jeeze! >>

"Ok, then. You didn't," Rick said, nodding to himself. "So you have nothing to worry about."

<< That's still not comforting. >>

Of course it wasn't. Rick knew it wasn't. But it was the truth. He said, "I know. But I can promise you, if any of them do come your way without provocation, I will join the pack to protect you."

Her sigh breezed through the phone. << That… is comforting. >> She then sighed more as she said, << Rick, I don't want us to be apart long. I ache for you. Every second you are not in my arms, I feel like I am dying a little. >>

That blow hit low, to his gut. It made him want to end the conversation that second, pretend to go to the restroom, and escape the building so he could hightail it back to her. However, his logical brain currently was still in charge. He said, "I feel the same. But… we have to wait. If this feeling between us lasts, then what the Loup Garou said is right, and we are soulmates."

<< Loup garou? >>

He chuckled. "That's just a French word for werewolf. They told me because we got together under the full moon during your, um, moon rites that we are uh…"

<< Moon-bonded. Yes, >> she said, confirming it.

He swallowed, his urge to hunt her down rising. "Yeah…"

She was silent for a moment then said, << Does that bother you? >>

Cringing, Rick closed his eyes. "It's just not…"

<< Not human. >>

Rick grimaced. It wasn't that really. He just didn’t like his hormones making decisions that overrode his brain. He hated losing his free will to choose his own future.

<< You were always resistant to your wolf side. I think you even hated it. >>

He most certainly did. Or had. Now he was confused. Becoming a wolf had been the worst tragedy of his life. Besides terrifying his mother and inadvertently driving her away, hunters had gone after him every single full moon. Being a wolf was a curse. But when he came to Wolverton, he was able to let go of the human world and freely embrace the wolf within. And when he did, he discovered that being a wolf was gloriously beautiful. Never had he felt such a passion for life until that moment. Never had he felt so whole when he had hunted with the pack. And with Daisy, embracing her, he felt entirely complete. And it spoiled being human for him. After all, his human side carried responsibility. Wolves just lived.

<< I don't care if your father leaves you penniless, Rick. You are only what matters to me. >>

Her words almost knocked him over. His heart was pounding. He yearned to be with her now.

But James cleared his throat, and Rick found his reality was that in a few minutes he would have to go on stage and speak for Deacon Enterprises.

"I'll try to call you back," he said. "There is somewhere I have to be very shortly, and they waiting on me."

<< Can't you skip it? >>

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Trust me. They'll notice. I'm at a convention about to speak on a panel about preserving carnivores in nature."

She didn't respond for a second. << You're what? >>

"I'm representing my dad while he is in South Korea on business." He looked to James who nodded towards Carl who was approaching. "Look, I really gotta go. Bye." He pressed his cell phone end button and stuffed the phone into his pocket. Rising, he shared look with James.

Leaning near him, James whispered, "You'll tell me about that call after the panel, right?"

Rick paled, not quite choking back a response as he had none. But he wished he did.

"I overheard it all," James whispered while smiling at Carl who arrived with a prompt nod to Rick.

"They are ready for you." Carl then led out and arm toward the stage.

Rick snuck one look at James, his eyes begging for him not to tell Carl as he went up the steps.

Rick took the first seat.

Four more panelists came onto the stand with him. Two women and two men. They were varying ages, and definitely most of them were more hardcore, in-the-dirt, working-with-predators kind of people. None of them looked at Rick with disdain, as he was among friends here. Not that he knew them or anything. But Deacon Enterprises donated to nearly every wolf-preservation cause out there, and they had won lots of friends in those organizations.

And when the panel started, the conversation among the panelists was natural. Organic. They mostly addressed issues such as: you are defending predators which are heavily hunted either as threats to the cattle industry, or nuisances to neighborhoods—in regards to coyotes—how do they justify it?

The representative from Wolf Awareness Inc. started up the conversation, answering that question with a personal anecdote about the misunderstanding of wolf nature. She called it: Red Riding Hood Got it Wrong. One of the other panelists, someone from Ranchers for Wildlife, brought up the Wolves Change Rivers video which was done about the Yellowstone wolves and their effect on the diversity of life in the area. Rick chimed in about the necessity for having natural predators, especially in regards to keeping down rabbit populations as well as the populations of other vermin, including deer.

They went on to talk about bad public relations and dealing with the killing of cattle. Profit loss was addressed. Instances where pets were killed by predators came up and was discussed in depth by the representatives from Project Coyote and Predator Defense. Attacks on small children also was brought into the discussion. And, of course, the Colorado incident was brought up for Rick to address.

Rick answered the questions coolly and well. In fact, as he sat on the panel, despite his deep desire to quit early and hop on the nearest bus to get to Daisy so they could make love in the grass, his thoughts were clear. The one muddle which had been dragging him down that entire time—his biggest worry—was completely gone. And though he felt guilty for feeling this way about Daisy's miscarriage, Rick was relieved beyond anything that he no longer had to worry about being a young father.

The panel was over before he knew it.

"Excellent," Carl said after Rick removed his microphone and stepped off the stage. "Like night and day."

Rick shrugged, still feeling euphoric with relief. "You kept the hunters out. The air was fresh, and there were no distracting sounds."

"No distractions at all?" James murmured, bemused.

Carl looked to him. But James merely smiled, waving it away.

"Are we almost done?" Rick asked, peering around the room and then at Carl to see if there was anything else on the itinerary. He really wanted to hurry back to the hotel and call Daisy.

Carl looked to the list, smiling to himself. "I do believe you have made all the contacts we needed. But there is a roundtable discussion at five, and we have been invited to a meet and greet buffet meal around six in the evening."

A meet and greet buffet. Rick cringed. Honestly he just wanted to go back to the hotel and call Daisy. His mind was already formulating an escape route.

James tugged Rick by the arm and said to Carl, "Mind if I borrow him for some backup at this booth I saw? I need him to smell out something for me."

Shrugging, Carl tossed a hand out toward Rick. "By all means. Just bring Doug and Jim with you."

Nodding, James glanced to the guards, gesturing for them to follow. Tommy Whitefeather caught a look from him and followed at a distance.

James led the way, pulling Rick along. "Just come with me. We need to talk."

Cringing, knowing what the topic of conversation was, Rick went along only because he knew if he made a break for it, it would cause a scene.

"You know, Howie—"

"Rick," Rick said with a groan.

"No. I am calling you Howie because you have been having a Howie moment, being sneaky around a guy who is trying to help you," James snapped in a low voice so as not to be overheard.

A 'Howie moment'? What was that supposed to mean? Was James calling him a kid? Or just a little hellion—which was what he was when he had gone by the name of Howie. Either way, Rick didn't think it fair, as he was not trying to cause trouble.

"Look, I know what I overheard," James said. "You need to confess. What is going on with you?"

Cringing, Rick didn't want to say.

Sighing, James asked, "Why won't you trust me? We are friends."

Halting, where they stood, Rick gestured for Doug and Jim to step aside and just keep watch while he pulled James into a darker corner in the hallway. "But what if I did something really bad? Something the Seven wouldn't approve of?"

James blinked at him. "What possibly could you have done—short of murdering somebody—that would make us angry?"

With a wince, Rick replied, "What if someone followed me to their death?"

"Did you lead them there on purpose?" James asked seriously.

Rick shook his head. "No."

"Then what is the problem?" Watching him squarely, James waited. "I've already heard the accusations against you, and the situation wasn't your fault."

But Rick did not respond.

"Alright, I'll tell you what I overheard and you fill in the blanks." James heavily folded his arms.

Bracing for the awful truth, Rick flinched.

"You were talking to a girl named Daisy who, as far as I can tell, you are not allowed to speak with." James eyed him carefully as he said this. "And you and she, uh, had an intimate relationship that—"

"Fine," Rick snapped, closing his eyes with grief. "Daisy is a she-wolf I met over the summer. And yes, I got her pregnant. Ok?"

James stared wanly at him.

"I'm sorry.