Seal Wolf Hunting (9781402293832) (14 page)

Surely it couldn't be the same reckless idiot who had passed them more than an hour ago.

Then the engine slowed down and they saw the boat idling by the dock. Hell. Now what? Each of them had a skeleton in his bag.

When they surfaced, they realized the driver of the boat was Dusty Cooper, along with his brother, Howard, and the other ranch hand, Jerome, who had been at the auction.

Lori was talking to them, arms folded across her waist. She'd seen Paul and Allan surface, her gaze shifting that way for a second, but then she quickly ignored them as if they hadn't been there, giving them cover in case the cowboys decided to get really reckless and try to run them over.

“I heard you were still up here at the cabin.” Dusty got out of the boat and stepped onto the dock.

Paul was itching to climb out of the water and knock the bastard into it.

“I'm still working on fixing the place up,” Lori said coolly.

“Do you want me to come over and help you?”

A red hawk soared overhead screaming
kee-eeee-arr
for two to three seconds as if warning her that the men were danger.

“No. Thanks.”

Dusty couldn't be serious after what he'd done to her necklace.

“Paul is still helping me. Allan came by to lend a hand too. So we're doing fine and I don't need your help.”

She sounded as pissed off as Paul felt.

“So where are they? Up at the cabin working? We saw them on the dock getting ready to scuba dive, so it doesn't look like they're doing much work for you.”

Paul motioned to Allan, and they disappeared beneath the water.

Lori knew that Paul would be just as pissed at Dusty as she was, but since Paul wasn't able to help her if she riled up Dusty, she continued to play it cool. Not that she wasn't ready to use a jujitsu move to take him down if he tried anything. But she was certain the other two would get involved, and she couldn't handle all three of them at once.

Dusty glanced down at the necklace that she was proudly wearing around her neck. The notion that he had ripped it from her and tossed it into the lake aggravated her all over again.

“Paul retrieved it from the lake for me. Wasn't that nice of him? After you threw it into the water, and I was afraid I'd lost it for good. I've got work to do. See you around.” Lori didn't trust Dusty. He knew Paul and Allan were in the water, yet he'd barreled toward the dock without regard to speed regulations or the divers' safety. She hoped Allan and Paul stayed way below the surface of the water so that if Dusty barreled out of here, they would be safe. She was afraid to look out at the lake to see where they were now and give their location away. Instead, she turned and headed back to the house.

She prayed Paul and Allan were able to dive deep enough to stay out of harm's way.

“Maybe we can see a movie or something sometime,” Dusty called out to her.

She ignored him and listened to him climb back into the boat. It seemed strange that the three cowboys were riding a boat across the lake, instead of galloping across a range on their ponies. She wondered where they'd gotten the boat. They yelled, “
Yee-haw!
” and then tore off across the lake toward where Paul and Allan had been swimming.

She turned then and watched the boat speed away. Her heart racing, she dashed back down the steps and ran down the dock. When she reached the end, she saw a hand grasp the edge.

“Paul? Allan?”

“It's me,” Paul said and set his bag on the dock.

Allan followed behind him and also deposited his bag.

“Where were you when that idiot peeled out of here?” she asked.

“Underneath the dock. When he was talking to you, we swam underwater to reach the dock. The other two men must have been watching you and Dusty. Has he been hassling you since the day you were here together?” Paul asked, getting out of the water. “I thought you hadn't seen him again.”

“I haven't. I think this all had to do with you being up here. Maybe he was trying to learn if you were still staying here to help out.” She stared at the bags, feeling a mixture of relief and sorrow. In their hearts, they'd known her grandfather had died with the rest of their pack members, but still, there'd always been a little bit of hope that he'd lost his way, and they'd find him some day. “Were you able to get all of them?”

“As many as we could find. We need to get these up to the house and secure them.” Paul took Lori's hand in a way that meant courtship and led her back toward the steps to the cabin.

She liked that. And she was past ready for it. She noted Allan's smile when he saw them hand in hand. She really hadn't expected Paul to show that much affection in front of Allan or anyone else in their pack yet, but she appreciated it more than he could know.

Allan agreed with Paul. “I wouldn't put it past Dusty and his buddies to return to further harass you.”

“They'd been drinking. I saw a couple of six packs of empty beer cans lying on the floor of the boat. I'll call Grandma and tell her we got Grandpa's remains.”

They all headed up to the house while Lori made the call to Emma. “We've got Grandpa and the wolf. As soon as Paul and Allan get dressed, we'll come out to your place and bury him.”

Once they had changed, Lori said, “My grandma had a couple of wolf farmers from the next county drive there and dig a hole for the coffin.”

“Is she okay?” Paul asked as he drove them to Emma's home. Though she had acted fine the night before, she might be feeling bluer today. He glanced at the speed limit sign and slowed down a little, mindful of all traffic laws. They couldn't afford to be caught with Lee's bones. The sheriff's department probably wouldn't care about the wolf's bones.

“Yeah, she's saddened but relieved that he'll be with the family.”

“Good.”

Emma lived out in the country and had thirty acres. Since the Greypaws had lived there forever, they had set up a cemetery for the wolf pack centuries ago. Rose, Catherine, and Emma were already there, waiting for them, when they arrived.

A wrought iron fence enclosed the graveyard, which was surrounded by woods to give their wolf pack members a feeling of being at home in their natural environment. Several of the families had been grouped together—a father with his six-year-old son, a mother with her three-year-old twin daughters—as a way to keep the families together even in death. Thankfully, Catherine and Emma had been able to hire farmers and men from a nearby town back then to dig the graves and make the pine boxes and granite headstones.

Now, those left of the original pack gathered around as Paul and Allan laid out Lee's bones—on a handwoven blanket Emma had made long ago—inside the colonial pine box made in the same style as the ones for the rest of their lost kin. She placed his ceremonial deerskin breechclout, leggings, shirt, and moccasins on top of him.

Allan laid the wolf skeleton at his feet, as if it were his companion, like the wolf cub Lee had raised. Paul and Allan added Lee's pistol and his hatchet to rest beside him. The ladies placed wildflowers of yellow columbine, red paintbrush, and white bear grass on top of him. Then last, the blanket was wrapped around the two wolf brothers.

After closing the lid, Paul and Allan lowered the pine box into the hole, and Emma said a prayer. They covered the coffin with earth and gave their silent blessings.

Lori wrapped her arm around her grandma. Emma had been more than relieved to learn of her husband's final resting place in the lake but was glad to move him to where the rest of the pack was buried. But she had been sad too, fighting tears since she learned he'd been found.

Now, appearing a little lost and unable to hold back any longer, she cried, which caused Lori to sniffle.

Even though it might not be legal for them to take Lori's grandfather's bones from the lake, since the lake was state property, it was right for them to bury him with the rest of the family in Mother Earth so he could continue his spiritual journey.

Lori had considered that moving him from his resting place would disturb his spirit too much, but the notion that someone else—a perfect stranger with no connection to her grandfather or their wolf pack—might come across her grandpa and take him to a forensics lab to be studied had made the decision for her. She could just imagine the difficult time she and her grandma would have had in getting his bones back. That would not have been a good alternative. Even in death, he needed to be with the rest of the pack.

While the women prepared the meal, they talked about all that Lee had meant to them. He had taught the younger members of the pack—Allan, Paul, Rose, and Lori—how to find food in the forest to keep them alive and how to move like the wolf even when they were in their human forms. Emma shared how gruff he could be, and how loving and gentle. And Catherine told how he had helped her husband build their first cabin on the mountain, along with others. When the rest quit for the day, Lee and her husband would still be at it, talking about the pack and what it meant to them. It was a sad time, and yet the pack members were glad to be able to share in this and say their good-byes.

Afterward, they ate a meal of ribs, corn on the cob, and watermelon that the ladies had prepared.

Following the meal and conversation, to Lori's surprise, Paul took her aside and said, “I was looking over Emma's to-do list and we need to seal the deck.”

“Hey, let me help with it,” Allan said. “I want to feel like I'm doing something worthwhile.”

Lori eyed Allan for a moment, then suspected the guys wanted to talk. Since she needed to be there for her grandma anyway, she agreed. “I'll go with you to the home supply store, and we can pick out the deck sealant.”

“All right,” Paul said.

They told the ladies good-bye and headed out in Paul's vehicle.

As soon as they arrived at the store, she heard the rumble of a truck engine that she recognized, courtesy of her wolf hearing. As if confirming her suspicions, Paul glanced that way. The truck was parked at Joe's Den of Inequities, but a hedge between the parking lot and the road blocked their view of the truck's occupant.

“It's the hunter's truck, isn't it?” she asked.

Allan looked clueless. Lori realized she and Paul hadn't told anyone in the pack about their run-in with the hunter, the dead elk, and the grizzly—just the police.

“Sure sounded like it. He caused some trouble for us yesterday. Poached an elk, and then invited a grizzly for dinner,” Paul explained to Allan. “I'm going to check it out. Why don't you pick out the sealant we need for the deck, Lori, and we'll join you in a few minutes.”

“Wait. What exactly are you planning on doing?” she asked.

Allan smirked. “Looks like we're going on a hunt.”

“I should go with the two of you,” Lori said, not liking that they might find trouble in there. “I can just envision the hunter giving you a hard time in the pool hall. He might have more buddies there who have been drinking and would jump on the chance to back him up.”

“We're not going to do anything but make sure that the guy who owned that truck is the same one who was poaching in the forest.”

“I'm going with you.” Lori didn't trust that the two SEAL wolves wouldn't get into a brawl and end up in jail.

“See, Paul, if you were our pack leader,” Allan said, “she'd have to listen to what you told her to do.”

“He's not,” Lori said, not that she'd agree with him anyway. She realized then that having Paul lead the pack would take some getting used to. Like Allan said, they had to listen to the pack leader, or why have one?

Paul put his arm around her shoulders. “You want to get a beer before we go shopping for sealant?”

“Yeah, I'd go for that.”

Allan shook his head and walked beside them. “You know what's bound to happen if you start taking her on missions.”

They both looked at Allan, waiting for him to continue, but he only shook his head again.

As soon as they walked around the hedge, Lori saw the Cooper brothers' pickup truck. “Maybe we don't want to do this.”

Paul and Allan glanced in the direction of the truck. “Don't tell me. It's Dusty or his brother's truck. We're not after them, even though they were driving that boat recklessly.”

“Not to mention they could have hit us while we were diving,” Allan said.

Not to mention that Allan and Paul were removing bones from the lake without reporting it to anyone in authority.

“Or that he got violent with you in the lake.” Paul gave Lori a look that said he wasn't giving up being aggravated about that.

“Okay, good to know you don't hold any grudges and no one's going to have any difficulties. If you get into trouble and I go to your rescue,
well
, Emma and Catherine might be annoyed with the lot of us and just leave us in jail if we end up there,” Lori said.

“Do you know how to use a pool cue?” Paul asked her.

“To play pool or to fight?” she asked as Paul pulled the door open and Allan went in first. “Balls are my specialty.”

Paul, Lori, and Allan entered the Den of Inequities, which smelled of beer and whiskey, of predominantly male testosterone, aftershave, and sweat. Paul reminded himself that Lori was a wolf and a martial-arts instructor with her own dojo. She would be all right even if there was a confrontation. He wasn't sure what Lori meant by her “balls” comment, whether it was in reference to her handling Dusty Cooper the last time in the lake, playing a game of pool, or using a pool ball as a weapon.

And here he thought he knew her so well.

As soon as they walked into the place, he and Lori looked around for the hunter and smelled the air for his scent.

“Over there.” Lori nodded with her head to the man who was still wearing hunter clothes, cue stick in hand. He was playing pool with Howard Cooper and the guy Paul had seen at the grocery store and the bank—the motorcycle guy. Dusty Cooper was talking to a woman at the bar. Jerome, the other cowboy, had a drink in his hand while he watched the others playing pool and was the first to see Paul, Lori, and Allan.

He lifted his head in recognition, eyes widening a bit. It was like a wolf standoff with Paul and Jerome eyeing each other and waiting to see what the other would do.

“A drink?” Lori reminded Paul, slipping her arm around his waist.

He maintained eye contact, the natural tendency for an alpha to show he was in charge, waiting for the other man to shift his attention elsewhere. Jerome finally did, glancing back at the bar to see if Dusty knew who had just arrived.

A three-man country and western band was strumming guitars and singing while other men were playing pool at three more tables covered in blue felt. On the perimeter, patrons were gathered around small tables, eating and drinking and sharing noisy conversation. Paul and his group took a seat at one of the empty tables.

They ordered beers while Paul watched Jerome tell Dusty they were here. Lori patted Paul's thigh, dragging his attention away from them.

“You know, if I were a beta, you sure would have me shaking in my boots,” Lori said.

He glanced down at her sandals.

Her lips quirked up. “Or sandals. We're only here to make sure that was the hunter we saw so we can report him to the police, right?”

“You got it.” Paul would have liked to do more than that—like taking Dusty to task for the incident with the necklace. He wanted the men out of the area permanently.

“If you're still mad about the necklace—” Lori said.

“And that they tried to run us over in the water.” Paul cast her an annoyed look.

“Well, yeah, there was that.”

Paul got his phone out and called the police to tell them he had identified the poacher, and where he was now.

When the waitress served their beers, Allan paid for them.

“You know, they're going to have it in for you for calling the police and ruining their pool game,” Lori said.

“Too bad. The problem with men like that is they are stupid enough to poach—and if they get away with it, they'll do it again. Even if they get in trouble for it, they may continue to do illegal crap if the punishment isn't severe enough. The only way to stop them is to deal with it and not let them get by with it.”

Lori took a sip of her beer. “I agree. Totally on your side, Paul.”

Howard took his turn at the game while Dusty watched Paul. Paul gave him a slight smile. Not friendly in the least.

Lori shook her head.

“Hey, we're the good guys here,” Paul said, “and we believe in doing what's right.”

Lori let out her breath. “Yeah, I know, but you're doing your alpha-wolf display of aggression.”

He gave her a predatory grin and was leaning down to kiss her when Allan cleared his throat. “We've got company. Police just arrived.”

“I'll see to them.” Paul left Lori and Allan at the table and headed toward the front door where two police officers had just walked inside.

Several of the patrons glanced in the officers' direction.

Paul showed the officers his ID, motioned to Lori, and said, “Lori Greypaw was with me when we caught the hunter just after he had killed the elk and caused trouble with a grizzly.” Paul pointed out the man wearing hunter clothes, pool cue in hand, who was watching the officers and Paul. “As soon as Lori and I heard the gunfire, we figured he was in trouble. Since I'm a SEAL, I thought I could assist him.”

“And Lori Greypaw?” Officer Killington asked.

“She was worried he might be injured and need help. I couldn't convince her to stay behind. Anyway, we distracted the bear, the hunter got away, and we outmaneuvered the bear. Then we tried to learn where the hunter was headed, a campsite or a vehicle, but we missed seeing his truck before he left the scene of the crime. We saw him in here, both of us recognizing him, and I called you.” That was the good thing about a wolf's sense of scent. While a human's recollections of a person's appearance could be faulty, a
lupus
garou
's combined visual and scent identification of the man made it a sure thing.

“All right,” the taller of the two policemen, Haversly, said.

The officers walked over to the table where Lori and Allan were sitting, and she gave her version of the story, minus the part about Paul “releasing his wolves” to distract the bear.

The one cop was smiling a little too much at Lori. Paul frowned. Had she dated him too?

“Anytime you need us to demonstrate for your class again, just call on us,” Killington said. “We got two recruits from your class, and they're top-notch academy graduates.”

“I'm so glad it worked out for you and for them. They're good guys,” Lori said.

Well, that worked to their advantage, because the officers believed Paul and Lori were reliable witnesses. Both of the men told Paul they were former Army military police officers, and with Paul's SEAL background and Lori's work with them, the officers were more apt to trust their judgment.

The officers glanced back at the hunter, who was no longer playing pool, but standing with his buddies. Then the hunter headed for a back door and the officers took off after him.

Paul said, “Let's go watch his truck in case the police officers don't grab him in time.”

Heading outside, Paul, Allan, and Lori were in place when the hunter came running around the hedge, the sound of footfalls in pursuit. Paul did what he would have done in any case where he was trying to prevent a lawbreaker from escaping—one who happened to be right in his path. He tackled the man and took him down to the asphalt.

“Thanks,” Killington said, and then he and the other officer handcuffed the man. They found a rifle in his pickup with the serial number scraped off, which they seized and would send to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for further investigation.

The one officer read the hunter his rights, and after he finished, Killington said, “Looking to serve some jail time over this, big fine, the works. Assaulting an officer…”

Paul noticed then that Haversly looked like he'd been punched in the eye, the area turning red and swelling a little.

“Resisting arrest, hunting for elk without a license, hunting elk out of season…”

The police officers hauled him toward the cruiser.

“Who knows what else?” Killington said.

“Six months in jail, you think?” Haversly asked.

“At least. And a big fine too.”

If Paul and Lori had had any doubts that the man should be arrested, they didn't now. Not that Paul had been having any doubts.

He glanced at one of the dark windows of the pub, saw the three cowboys watching them, and slid his arm around Lori's shoulders. “Let's pick out that deck sealant before it gets too much later.”

* * *

Lori arrived back at Emma's house, where the ladies had already cleaned up after the meal and were sitting around talking about Paul and her.

They all smiled when she walked in.

“You
know
I heard you talking.”

Emma motioned for her to take a seat.

Lori poured herself some of the pink lemonade in the big glass pitcher on the coffee table and then joined them.

“Well? How's it going for the two of you?” Emma's eyes were alight with eagerness at hoping to hear the good news.

“Well, Paul and Allan have probably already made enemies of the three wolf cowboys on the Somervilles' ranch. And Paul apprehended the poacher we discovered who had killed an elk and turned him over to the police. So he's probably not really a fan of Paul's either.”

Emma tilted her chin down and gave Lori
the
look. “That's par for the course when it comes to
that
. What we wanted to know was if you'd convinced Paul that he needed to settle down and take a mate.”

“You know I'm not going to do anything to convince him to stay if he doesn't want to.” She shrugged.

Rose groaned. “If he liked me the way he likes you, I would be all over him to stay.”

Lori chuckled. “I think he's…thinking about it. You know him. We have to keep suggesting something to him and then he keeps mulling it over and then he makes a decision, imagining that he came up with the idea himself.”

The ladies all laughed.

But Lori was thinking that until he made up his mind, he needed to sleep far away from her.

“Yeah, you've got that right,” Catherine said, then sipped her drink.

“But still, I'm not making any kind of commitment to him if he's not going to make a commitment to the pack.” Lori took a sip of the sweet lemonade. “Oh, this is sooo good. We haven't had pink lemonade all summer.”

“Well?” Rose said. “How
is
it going between the two of you?”

No matter what, Lori couldn't keep from blushing.

* * *

Paul and Allan were each having a beer as they swept the leaves, twigs, and dirt off the lakeside cabin deck. Using putty knives, they cleaned between the boards. Then they washed the deck with a mixture of bleach and warm water. Paul was thinking that he hadn't done too badly as a handyman. He liked working while being out in nature but not getting shot at, just enjoying the view and the company.

“I've been thinking it over. Are you sure you don't want to take over the pack?” Paul asked, waiting for a reaction as they began to apply the waterproofing deck sealer.

“Just because my mother and sister are my family members, you think I have more invested in this. I don't buy it. You're part of the family just as much as they are. Between the two of us? You've always been the bossy one.”

Paul hadn't really seen himself in that way.

“You're
always
in charge. Which is fine with me. I can just imagine
me
taking over the pack, which I could very well manage, but then
you
would be telling me what to do.”

Paul laughed out loud. He supposed Allan was right.

Allan continued to brush the sealant over his side of the deck. “What we really need is a mated pair. I'm not finding a mate and returning here to create the pack.”

“What about Lori?” Paul stopped to take a swig of his beer.

“Hell, yeah. Just what I was thinking.”

Paul wondered why he hadn't realized Allan also had an interest in Lori until Allan said, “She's perfect for you, man. Her hawk spirit guide means she's the visionary. Your cougar guide proves you are the leader of this woeful pack. Me? Mine is the wolf. I outwit our enemies, take advantage of change, love family values, and will always have your back.”

Paul snorted. “You don't even believe in animal spirit guides.”

“Hey, when it comes to the two of you, I do. How many wolves can say that a cougar saved his butt when he was a kid? Cougars fight over the same territory as wolves. A lone wolf cub would have been dead meat at the claws of an angry cougar. Instead, she protected and took care of you until you found your way back to our pack. Not to mention that years later, after you were a full-grown wolf, you came across a cougar, and he watched you but didn't make any attempt to attack you. Didn't chase you off. Didn't run away. Face it, the cougars have your back.”

Paul shook his head.

“Well, it's all true, isn't it? You smelled like a cougar when you found your way back to us. So we knew you weren't just telling tall tales. As to Lori's spirit guide, she's always been the most intuitive of all of us. I used to tease her that she was Lady Hawk because when she was around, red-tailed hawks were too. Besides, she'd sort of outgrown her original name of Little Hawk.”

“The hawk led her to her grandma when the rabid wolf pack struck. And Lori saved her grandma,” Paul said. That had made him believe there was something to it where Lori was concerned.

“Right. That was the first time we knew something was going on with it. It was like that day when we were in such a panic, fleeing for our lives, and each of us—you, me, Lori, and Rose—found our animal spirit guide to lead us out of danger.”

“That would have meant a wolf helped you.” Paul knew Allan had been on his own during the killings. Allan would never admit to believing in a spirit guide.

“It did. It was
me
. I used my nose to find my mother and Emma, and I outwitted the two rabid wolves that tried to kill me.”

“True enough.”

“And Rose's is the dragonfly. She loves the water. She was disappointed that the family cabin wasn't closer to the lake because she's always in the water whenever she has a chance to be. She's better at seeing things from a different angle than the rest of us. If she hadn't been down by the lake chasing after dragonflies, the rabid wolves would have found her. She pursued a dragonfly that flew low enough to keep her attention for three miles until she reached Lori's grandma and forgot all about the dragonfly.