Tameka's Smile

Chapter Thirteen

When Tameka got home, before she could kick back and relax, the little matter of sleeping arrangements had to be dealt with.

“I’ll sleep with NeeCee.”

“The hell you will,” NeeCee told Bull.

“It’s only fair. Chad is Meka’s protector and he’s sleeping with her. I’m yours so I sleep with you,” Bull said with a wicked grin on his face.

“Step foot in my room and I’ll have a wolf pelt lining the doorway of my apartment,” NeeCee threatened.

“Ew, animal cruelty. I’m calling the people on you. They’ll come, too. I give big money every year to PETA,” Bull said confidently.

Meka’s eyebrows shot up. “People for Ethical Treatment of Animals? Are you serious?”

“Why does that surprise you? It’s my hide they’re protecting.”

It did make a strange sort of sense, she mused.

“Call PETA, NAVS, HSUS, hell, call the KKK. I don’t give a shit. You’re still not sleeping in my bed.” Meka didn’t know who half of those groups were, but she definitely recognized that last one.

Bull tsk’d at her. “NeeCee, NeeCee, NeeCee. Why does it always come back to race with you? I’m a man. You’re a woman.

Let’s do what men and women were created to do.” Meka thought NeeCee was going to choke. Her complexion turned an interesting shade of purple. She stepped in before things got violent. “NeeCee, you take the guestroom. Chad sleeps with me. Bull, you can either sleep on the foldout in the study or on the couch in the living room.” He was shaking his head before she finished speaking. “No can do. I’m her bodyguard. Twenty-four hour a day defense.

Where she goes, I go. To the kitchen, the bedroom, bathroom—

just consider me your very protective shadow,” Bull said and wagged his eyebrows at her.

“Now wait just a cotton picking minute…” NeeCee exploded.

“It’s true. I got orders,” Bull interrupted with a grin.

“Chad…” Meka pleaded. “Do something with your friend.”

“You’re not following me into the bathroom!”

“He does have orders,” was Chad’s oh so helpful comment.

“This is what I think of your orders…” NeeCee spewed forth with a string of cursing that burnt Meka’s ears.

“Oh my. Such language, and from a lady.” Bull delicately placed his hand over his mouth, his eyes rounded in pretend shock.

“Chad!”

“Yes, dear?”

“Handle this or you’ll be sleeping on the couch with him,” Meka ordered, starting to get pissed. She was so not in the mood for this.

He straightened and the amused grin at their antics disappeared completely off of his face. “Bull.”

“I’ll take the couch. Someone has to keep an ear out. Chad can cover the back,” Bull immediately stated in all seriousness.

“That’s what I thought,” NeeCee said with a smug grin.

“NeeCee, you’re being a brat. Stop it,” Meka stated firmly.

“Me?! What about him?”

Tameka threw up her hands. “I’m going into the kitchen to fix me a sandwich.”

A few seconds later, she bellowed, “WHO ATE ALL OF

MY FOOD?”

The next day, the guys focused on beefing up security in the house. Alex sent men to patrol the grounds, both in wolf and human form. NeeCee sat on the back porch with charcoals and a pad, concentrating on her art. Meka did as she promised Rome and called Franklin Carstens’ therapist.

“Dr. Richard Higginbotham’s office.”

“I’d like to speak to Dr. Higginbotham concerning one of his patients.”

“Your name.”

“Dr. Tameka Jones, a former family and marriage counselor.”

“The doctor is with a client right now. May I take a message?”

Tameka left her name, number, and the reason for her call.

“I’ll have him call at his earliest convenience.” Chad appeared in the room’s doorway. “You find out anything?”

“He’s with a client. I left my information for a callback.” He nodded and went back to whatever mysterious thing he and Bull were doing at the back of the house. She heard Chad mutter something about an early warning system. Whatever that meant. Frankly, she didn’t want to know.

An hour later, the phone rang.

“Dr. Jones, this is Richard Higginbotham. I understand you have questions about one of my patients?”

“Yes. A Franklin Carstens.” She explained the purpose of her call.

“I Googled you, so I know you’re familiar with patient confidentiality. Though I can’t betray any confidences, I will tell you this. Mr. Carstens is no longer a client. He ended his therapy, too soon in my opinion. To find the answers that you seek, research his family history. That’s all I can offer you.”

“I understand completely and thank you for your help.”

“You’re welcome.”

She hung up and called the number Rome had given her.

“Rome.”

“This is Tameka. I just got off of the phone with Franklin’s therapist.”

“What did he say?”

“As I expected, not much, but he did say that if you wanted answers, you need to research Franklin’s family history. Dr.

Higginbotham also stated that Franklin ended his therapy too soon.”

“Thanks, Meka. I appreciate your help. Put Chad on the phone, will you?”

“Chad, phone.” He was there before the last syllable left her mouth. She handed him her cell. “Rome.”

“Yeah, boss?”

“You have access to the internet?”

He looked at Meka questioning. “We do,” she answered Rome for him. This supersensitive hearing had its benefits. She didn’t have to wonder what Rome wanted with Chad. She could hear both sides of the conversation clearly.

“I want you to research Emily and her son. Find out where they lived, where she worked, where he went to school…I want to know everything. His therapist said the answers we need are in his past. I’ll have someone here working on it as well.”

“Will do.”

She heard the connection end.

“Do you have a password on your computer?”

“No.” She followed him into the study. He cut on the computer and logged onto the Internet.

“It’s a bit slow, but it will do what I need. Thanks, babe. If you need me, I’ll be in here working. Don’t leave the house without Bull or me with you.”

“I know the drill.” He’d been spouting variations of the same thing since yesterday.

He gave her another steady look before he finally seemed satisfied of her complicity.

One week passed, and then another. NeeCee left and went home. She got a call about a show one of her art dealer friends wanted to set up and went to make sure she had enough paintings. With NeeCee gone, Bull went back on patrol and it was once again just her and Chad, and the pack members patrolling the grounds.

Both Franklin and Frances had gone to ground. Their bank accounts hadn’t been touched, nor credit cards used. It was like they disappeared. Rome had been in contact with the Raleigh police, gathering more information on Emily Carstens’ death.

Tameka blocked it all out. She was a virtual prisoner in her own home. By the third week, she was tired and listless, appetite gone. When she couldn’t even drum up interest for sex, Chad got concerned and called Alex, who made her come in early for a check-up.

“What seems to be the problem?” Alex sat behind his desk in his office while she and Chad were seated on the other side.

She shrugged and looked away.

Chad jumped in. “She’s barely eating, and then only when I make her. She sleeps all the time and when she’s not sleeping, she’s staring out the window, lost in her own little world. I don’t know what to do anymore. Nothing I’ve tried has worked.”

“Is this true, Meka?”

She lifted one shoulder and stared at her nails. Hmm, my polish is peeling. Maybe I’ll redo them…later.

“What about exercise, fresh air? Has she shifted into her wolf form since she’s been home?”

“No, she hasn’t. She mostly just sits around the house.” Meka felt her first flicker of emotion—anger. “I can’t go anywhere without you or Bull with me, and you spend all of your time on the computer. Bull went back to work so I can’t call him.” That little bit of dialogue tired her and she slumped back in her seat, drained.

“What about work?” Alex asked.

“I haven’t been back since I got out the clinic. He won’t let me,” she said tiredly.

“Go back to work, Meka,” Alex ordered.

“She can’t. She has to be protected at all times and the best way to do that is to keep her under lock and key,” Chad vehemently protested.

“Can’t you see this enforced confinement is killing her?

She’s a wolf. She needs the social interaction of others of her kind,” Alex explained.

“She has me,” Chad insisted stubbornly.

Alex took a deep breath. “Chad, she’s a new shifter. She’s not a loner like you. She needs to be around the pack. Not only that, her wolf needs to come out and play before it sickens. If safety is your concern, I’ll arrange for someone to watch her while she’s working. They can even transport her back and forth to work.”

“No,” he gave in with a sigh. “I can take her and pick her up. Rome’s not going to be happy about this.”

“I’ll clear it with him. None of us expected this to drag out like it has. For Meka’s sake, life has to return to normal, or as much as possible under the circumstances. Meka, next week to celebrate my wedding, the pack has a series of events planned.

One of them is a run. Kiesha won’t be able to participate, but the rest of the pack is getting together in our wolf form and spending the night running as a pack. I think you would enjoy it. I expect to see both of you there. No excuses,” the last was directed at Chad.

The alpha has spoken, she thought with an internal grin.

Just the thought of returning to work—and getting free of the house—had her feeling better.

The next day, Chad began escorting her to and from work.

Various members of the pack kept watch while she was at the shop. Now that he had a couple of hours of freedom a day, Chad was able to go into the station a few hours each day. Rome wouldn’t let him back on patrol. Chad told her he’d simply traded one computer for another, still piecing together the life of one Emily Carstens and child.

That Wednesday night, when Chad picked her up from work, she could tell he was troubled. “It’s the damndest thing, Meka. I’ve tracked this woman all over North Carolina. She moved constantly. Worked any and everywhere that she could.

In some places, she’s listed as having a son. In others, it’s a daughter. Even the school records aren’t consistent, when there were any. Many times she home schooled, citing medical reasons why her child couldn’t attend. Reasons that aren’t listed in the files.”

“You think she had more than one child?”

“Not according to the VRU.”

“Maybe their records are wrong. We’re talking, what?

About forty to fifty years ago? Did they even have computers back then?”

“No, everything was manual, but it should be archived into a computer database somewhere by now for easy access if she’d had one.”

“That’s if she had her baby in a hospital. She could have used a midwife and home delivered, especially if she didn’t have much money. Keep searching, babe. Something will come up.” He sighed heavily. “It would help if I knew what I was looking for. You sure that doctor didn’t say anything else?”

“Positive.”

Tameka was antsy. Chad thought it was the full moon getting to her, but he was wrong. The air had a weighty feel to it, like the calm before a storm. Something was going to happen, and soon. She could feel it in her bones. Unfortunately, she was the only who seemed to sense it.

The wedding was this week and most of the guards Alex assigned to the house had gone back to their regular lives. They couldn’t stay indefinitely. There’d been no threats, no hint of a threat. Until something happened, they had other things to do, like celebrate the alpha’s mating.

Chad was no closer to finding what he was searching for.

Instead, what he discovered raised more questions than it answered. Both suspects were still at large. The taps on the phone proved unnecessary, since no one called. Even the watcher they’d placed on the mailbox had been reassigned. Life was slowly returning to normal.

“What time is the run tonight?”

“We’ll meet at Alex’s house in time for moonrise. As soon as it appears, we’ll all shift and run.”

It was almost sunset now. “What if I have problems changing?”

“You won’t. We’ve been practicing. Just remember what I taught you and you’ll do fine. I’ll be there to walk you through it.”

She went to shower and dress for the run, settling on a pair of old faded denims and a t-shirt with her prettiest panty set.

“No one’s going to be looking at your underwear, Meka,” Chad commented dryly.

“I will.” She was nervous enough about getting naked in front of people without the added worry of if her underwear had holes.

He just shook his head.

They drove Chad’s truck, which he’d just gotten out the shop that day. She fretted the whole trip, but her heart really went into overdrive when they arrived and she saw all the people gathered. “I’m not stripping in front of all of them. You run. I’ll sit with Kiesha and keep her company.”

He got out, came around and opened her door. “They’re not going to be looking at you.”

“They’re looking now,” she pointed out.

“That’s because we’re one of the last to arrive. You’re new in town and I rarely come. When it’s time to run, we’ll be forgotten about in the excitement. One of the guys mentioned hunting deer.”

Her eyes got big. “I’m not eating Bambi.” He grinned, showing a lot of teeth. “You’ll feel differently in your wolf form. Come on, it’s almost time.” He gently pulled her out of the truck and toward the waiting crowd.

Meka was doing a good job of pretending to be invisible when Alex called her name. “Meka, come forward.” Instantly, all eyes were on her.

Remembering the lessons Carol had been teaching on pack hierarchy and shifter etiquette, she mumbled under her breath,

“You can’t kill your alpha, Meka. It’s just not done, no matter how much he pisses you off.”

The crowd parted like the Red Sea before her. She walked between them, not making eye contact with any of them until she reached the porch where Alex was standing, a smiling Kiesha to his right, Carol and Mark to his left. “You summoned, oh Great One,” she muttered.

Kiesha snorted and buried her face in Alex’s shoulder, muffling her laughter. Chad groaned behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, fingers lightly circling her neck.

“I can see those lessons are coming along swimmingly,” Alex told Carol, who like Mark, was trying not to laugh.

Meka prayed her face wasn’t turning red. She hadn’t meant for anyone to hear her, but since they had, there was nothing for her to do but brazen it out. Thankfully, Alex seemed more bemused than angry.

Then Alex straightened from his relaxed stance and gave her his full attention, all hints of humor wiped from his expression. Chad’s grip on her neck briefly tightened. In warning or as a nervous reaction, she wasn’t sure.

“Tameka Jones, mate to Chadleigh Wilson and newly formed shifter, you have been nominated for membership into the Raven pack. How do you respond?”

“Ah…yes?” She threw a quick glance at Carol and Mark, who nodded encouragingly. Neither one of them had mentioned this. From the way they talked, she’d thought she was already a part of the pack because of Chad. Although, now that she thought of it, Alex never did say what would happen if she didn’t adjust to being a shifter.

“Pack means family. Within a family, there are rights as well as responsibilities, privileges as well as duties. One of the rights of family is to call on others in the time of need for assistance. As a member of the Raven pack, do you agree to request help when you need it and receive help when it’s offered?”

“I do.”

“One of the primary responsibilities of a pack is to take care of the young, the weak, and old. As a member, do you agree to put their safety and welfare before your own?”

“I do.”

Alex paused a second, then continued solemnly. “Our race is dying. There are fewer females being born every year. Your mating to Chad gives our unmated brethren hope that they, too, will find someone. It gives our sons hope that when the time comes, there may be daughters born that they may bond with. As a young, mated she-wolf, do you accept your duty to this pack—

and shifters as a whole—to try to prevent the extinction of our species by bearing young?”

Chad stiffened and pushed her behind him in a move so quick it made her dizzy. She clutched at the back of his shirt to keep from falling. “The decision to have pups is a private matter between me and my mate and has nothing to do with this pack,” he growled.

Meka, after a brief struggle with Chad—who was apparently determined to keep her where she was—managed to stand by his side.

“On the contrary, it impacts us greatly. Tameka’s daughter, if she has one, may end up being mate to my son or Mark’s.” The crowd began to murmur. Kiesha elbowed Alex in his side. “Way to go, mate. We weren’t going to announce the sex of the baby just yet, remember? Chad’s right. Whether they have children or not is none of our business. That’s a matter best decided between husband and wife.”

“But…” Alex began.

“But nothing,” Kiesha cut him off, glaring at him.

After a brief battle of wills, Alex continued. “Fine. I withdraw the last statement. Anyone having any objections to Tameka Jones, mate to Chad Wilson, becoming a member of the Raven pack, say so now.”

It was quiet.

“All in favor, say aye.”

The roar was deafening.

“Tameka, step forward.”

Alex walked down the steps until he reached the bottom one, with Meka standing on the ground before him. “Look into my eyes.”

His eyes flashed gold and began glow. Meka was sucked into his gaze, then into his very being. She could see herself through his eyes, and through him she felt his intense love for his mate, the pack, and his connection to them all. She became a part of that link. The feeling was indescribable. When she came back to awareness of her surroundings, she was kneeling on the ground with Chad behind her, supporting her.

“Welcome to the Raven pack,” Alex said.

Kiesha, Carol, and Mark seconded it. As Chad helped her to her feet, the sentiment was echoed all around.

Kiesha kissed Alex on the cheek, smiled at the group and went into the house, closing the door firmly behind her.

Anticipation began to build. Some sort of weird energy began to rise. Meka could feel the hair standing on her arms.

Chad started tugging on her clothes. “What are you doing?” she hissed.

“You need to strip. And hurry.” That’s when she noticed he was already naked. So were many of the others she saw when she glanced around to see if anyone was watching, before quickly averting her eyes.

Alex stood back on the porch where the crowd could see him. “Tonight, we’ve gathered to run.”

The crowd went wild, cheering and yelling at the top of their lungs. She even heard a few howls.

“Alphas first, then women, children and elders, followed by the omegas with betas bringing up the rear,” Alex commanded when the noise died down. “Let’s run!” Alex let out a howl and all around her people began to change.

A surge of power went through Tameka and she fell to her knees. Her wolf literally leapt out of her, no coaxing necessary.

It just took over. She looked up to see Chad hovering over her protectively.

What happened?

The combined energy of so many people shifting at one time brought on your change. That’s why Kiesha went inside.

He nudged her with his snout. Come on. Everyone’s leaving.

She rolled to her feet and took off running with Chad at her side. She’d never seen this many four-legged creatures in one place in her life. There were wolves of all sizes and colors, encompassing all ages from preteens to the elderly. She’d discovered that wolf shifters don’t experience their first change until puberty. For some of the pups, this was their first run. She could sense them all, felt connected to them in a way she never believed possible.

It was…exhilarating. Exciting. The world looked different at night with the moon shining down upon them. They ran and played. Occasionally, a scent would catch her nose and she’d run off to investigate. When she dangered of straying too far from the group, Chad would nip at her heels until she was back in position. She chased rabbits, not to eat, but for the thrill of it.

Feeling playful, she pounced on Chad, then took off running. He was hot on her tail, letting her stay one step ahead.

Then he tackled her and they went tumbling through the underbrush. She wrestled with him, laughing when some of the pups joined in on the fun. Chad was being such a good sport about all of it that she was startled when he shook everyone off of him, his fur bristling, a growl of pure fury emanating from his chest.

Meka, take the pups and go back to the house. Lulu will show you the way.

What’s happening? What’s wrong?

Fire. I smell smoke.

He took off, leaving them behind. Several of the males ran with him.

Come along, child. Let’s get these pups back to safety.

Meka wanted to follow Chad, but remembering her oath to put their welfare above her own, she joined the others herding the youth back to the alpha’s house. Kiesha gathered all the children inside.

Meka dressed and was on her way to join them when Lulu came to her. “Your house is on fire.”

She felt the blood drain from her face. “My house?” she echoed hoarsely. “I’ve got to…” she looked around, “I’ve got to go. Where are my keys?”

“Here.” Lulu handed her Chad’s keys which she’d withdrawn from the pants still in her hand. “I’m coming with you. You shouldn’t be alone and that mate of yours is going to need his clothes.”

In the end, Lulu drove. Meka hadn’t been in Refuge long enough to be familiar with the roads, especially at night when time was of the essence.

“My things: my furniture, clothes, pictures. Oh God, everything I own is in that house,” she moaned. “Momma E’s things.” How do you replace memories? she wondered in despair.

“Quit your fretting, child. Maybe it’s not as bad as you think. Even so, it’s just stuff. Things can be replaced. Life is what’s important.”

It was worse. The place was an inferno. The volunteer fire department had arrived. There were people everywhere, shouting orders, running around. It was a madhouse. Lulu pulled to the side of the driveway near the road, out of the way of traffic.

“You stay here. I’ll go see what’s happening. No sense both of us adding to the confusion.”

It was a picture of hell, the black sky lit up by towering flames and plumes of water shooting into the air. The fire crackled and the water hissed. The smoke was thick; the scent strong enough make her gag. The heat must be blistering. She sent up a brief prayer for the safety of the workers.

Tameka got out of the truck and leaned against its side, arms crossed over her chest as she watched her life go up in smoke. She should be happy that they weren’t in the house when it happened, but all she could think of was she’d now joined the ranks of the homeless. The clothes she was wearing was all she had left. She was just grateful she had a little cushion in her savings. It should be enough to replace the essentials and tide her over until she could find another place to live.

The unmistakable sound of a rifle being cocked brought her out of her maudlin musings.

“Step away from the truck and keep your hands where I can see them.”

Meka froze as a thousand thoughts ran through her mind.

The strongest and loudest of them all was what she’d taught the women in her self-defense class. Don’t lose your head and you just might keep it.

“I’m good where I’m at, thanks.” She settled more firmly against the truck, eyes trained on the burning building, where help was just a yell away.

“Move or I’ll shoot.”

“No you won’t. I have something you want. You need me alive,” Meka spoke with a calm confidence she wasn’t quite feeling.

“I can shoot you without killing you.”

Her heart jumped, then reason kicked in. “True, but the minute you fire that gun, you’ll have all of them,” she pointed to the men fighting the fire, “after you.”

Silence was her response. Score one for me.

Lulu should be heading back this way soon. She just had to keep stalling until help arrived. “I take it this is your handiwork?” She nodded to the burning building. She debated calling the woman out by her name, then decided that might not be too wise.

“Yes. It’s amazing what a few cocktail bombs can do. Too bad that beast of yours wasn’t inside when the fire ignited.”

Her wolf bristled at the scorn in the woman’s voice. Not yet, wolfie. Calm down. You’ll get your chance. Let’s find out where she is first. She’d managed to pinpoint the direction the voice was coming from, but still couldn’t see her adversary. “You know, you’ve tried to buy me, scare me, and now you’re trying to intimidate me. Instead of all this…” she waved her hand, searching for the right word, “this…foolishness, why don’t you try talking. Simply explain to me why you want my land so bad?

I mean, it’s not like it’s the only land around. There’s plenty of property for sale around here. There’s a huge lot with more acreage and in a better location down the road a bit.”

“Just tell you why I want the land and you’ll give it to me?” There, in between those two trees about twenty feet away, was a dark shadow. When she moved, the firelight glinted off the barrel of the rifle. Her wolf bared its teeth.

“You think I’m stupid?” Meka could hear the anger in Frances’s voice.

“Since I don’t know you, I really couldn’t say what your level of intelligence is. I’m just saying, you’ve tried everything else. What could it hurt?”

“I know what you’re trying to do. Don’t try that psychoanalytical bullshit with me. It won’t work. I’ve been around shrinks all of my life.”

It obviously didn’t help. Meka bit back the retort, choosing instead to say nothing. Sometimes the best way to get a person to talk was simply to remain silent.

“This should have been mine, you know? He owes me.

They both do.”

Meka caught a flicker of movement out the corner of her eye, but kept her attention centered on the shadow. “Who are

‘they’?”

“Animals aren’t meant to mate with humans, Ms. Jones.

When they breed, the results are…unnatural, freaks of nature.

Like me.”

“You don’t sound like a freak. I’m sure you’re exaggerating.”

“Am I, Ms. Jones? Am I really? Do you know what a hermaphrodite is?”

Tameka searched her memory. “A hermaphrodite is an animal that’s neither male nor female, but both. They have characteristics and features of both sexes, including both sex organs,” she said slowly as her studies in biology came back to her.

“That’s right. Give the counselor a star.” She stepped forward into the muted, flickering light. “An animal, something not quite human. That’s what I am. That’s what they made me.” No wonder she’d had a hard time seeing her. The woman was dressed in all black, with a black skullcap on her head and black stuff on her face, the kind men used to keep their skin from reflecting light at night. She was tall for a female, but then so was Meka. She had narrow shoulders and broad hips. Her face, what could be seen of it, appeared masculine, but the body was female. Suddenly it clicked. This was Emily Carstens’ child, Franklin. “You’re a true hermaphrodite?”

Her tone was doubtful, but it couldn’t be help.

Hermaphrodites were very rare. It was a genetic disorder in which a child was born with both male and female sex organs.

Gender reassignment, a surgery performed to classify the child as one sex or the other, was usually performed within the first fifteen months of life. Intersexuality, as it was called now, was gaining more media attention, especially after Oprah did a show on it. They even had their own organization: Intersex Society of America. There were thousands of people coming forward now, angry with the choices doctors and parents had made for them when they were too young to decide for themselves.

“Shall I drop my pants and prove it to you?” came the angry reply. The woman’s grip on the gun tightened.

“No, I’m sorry. It’s just that the condition is so rare.” Tameka thought for a moment. “So you believe that your condition is the result of Mr. Ned being…”

“An animal, like I said. Take a good look at me and do yourself a favor, get rid of the beast before he impregnates you.” Meka’s wolf flexed again, reminding her of its presence, but she ignored it, too caught up in trying to imagine what life must have been like for this person, born during a generation when people were less understanding and tolerant of sexual differences. There wasn’t even a word in the American language to describe a gender that was neither male nor female, but a strange combination of the two, and no one wanted to go through life being an “IT.” Sounds like her mother wasn’t much help either. From what Chad discovered, Emily never settled on a gender for her child, but switched back and forth between the two. Her innate sympathy kicked in and she tried reasoning with her. “Shifters and humans can’t procreate. They’re two different species.”

“I see they brain-washed you with the same bullshit he tried to sell me. ‘I can’t be your father. Your mother was human. It’s just not possible that her child was mine,’” she spat at Tameka.

“Like my mother wouldn’t know who got her pregnant.”

“Actually, she wouldn’t. Bluntly speaking, your mother was a whore. Spread her legs for any male who came sniffing around.

Ned was just one of many. He was too polite to tell you the truth.”

They both swung ’round in surprise as Lulu’s voice came out of the darkness.

“Umm, Lulu? You think that was wise?” Meka asked, her gaze focused on the rifle, which was now trained on Lulu.

“You take that back,” Frances screeched, finger poised on the trigger.

“It’s time you heard the truth. Ned really loved that woman, would have married her if she hadn’t lied and tried to pin a child on him that obviously wasn’t his. All he asked for was the truth.

Me personally, I wouldn’t have been shocked to hear that she was doing her own cousin. They were always unnaturally close.

You can’t keep secrets in a small town,” she added softly.

“You’re lying, just trying to distract me.” She swung the rifle wildly, back and forth between the two.

Meka tensed, ready to take action.

“Shifters don’t lie. We can smell them. This has gone on long enough. A good man’s dead because your mother still can’t speak the truth. This child lost her home, all because of a woman’s delusions. Ned owes you nothing. Blame your mother if you need someone to blame for the way you turned out. He told me himself he would have raised you as his own, if she’d just been honest. He loved her that much,” she finished sadly with a shake of her head. “Broke his heart when she left town rather than deal with the truth. That’s why I was so happy when he found Emma.” Lulu said to Tameka.

“It’s a lie,” she screamed. “No, I don’t want to hear anymore. You’re wrong.” Her hands came up to cover her ears.

Lulu dove for Meka, knocking her to the ground as the sounds of scuffling filled the air. When she could breathe again, Meka rose up on one elbow and looked. Rome had the woman on her back and was cuffing her. Bull had the rifle in his hand.

There were other deputies in uniform gathered around.

“How did you know she was here?” Tameka asked Rome as she rose to her feet. She turned to help Lulu but she was already standing.

“I still had one officer shadowing you. And, Lulu told us what was going on.”

The woman was on the ground, screeching and hollering.

“You can’t do this to me. This land is mine. He owes it to me.

You all owe it to me.”

Rome spoke over her. “Take her to lock-up and call Raleigh police. Tell them we have Franklin Carstens aka Frances Carter in custody.”

Tameka looked at the screaming woman being dragged to the patrol car and couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. “What will happen to her?”

“She’ll be charged with arson, extortion, and attempted murder. Then the Raleigh police can have a shot at her for the death of Emily Carstens.”

As she leaned against the truck watching the proceedings, she asked Lulu, “You think she killed her mother?”

“I don’t know. Can’t say I’d blame her if she did. It’s a damn shame what that woman did to her,” Lulu commented.

“Emily should have stayed here in Refuge. We’ve got enough stuff going that even if she’d have been born with three eyes and two noses, she’d have been accepted.”

“Did the real father ever come forward?” Meka asked.

“I honestly doubt if Emily knew who he was. By all accounts, she got pregnant sometime during a blue moon.” Tameka shot Lulu a puzzled glance, wondering what the moon had to do with anything.

“Sorry, I forgot you’re not from around here. Things get a little hairy then. I won’t tell you what the younguns call it, but there’s a lot of sexual activity during its peak. From what Ned said, Emily was supposed to spend that time with him. Instead, she ditched him and went to a party thrown by some of the fellows. It turned into an orgy and she was right in the thick of it.

Tried to lie about it later. Said she wasn’t there. For Ned, it was the last straw.”

“Sounds like you two were really close,” Tameka commented.

“We were.” Lulu fell quiet.

Now that the excitement was dying down, she realized someone was missing. “Where’s Chad?” She couldn’t believe he’d missed all the action.

“He went into the house,” Rome stated.