The Blood Moon

Gratitude

"Oh, Del, I'm glad to see you came!"

As the driver walked me into the manor's expansive foyer, I found Scarlett sitting on an embroidered chaise with her bag of knitting beside her. "We've heard some whispers of what has been happening out there today and I know plenty of what happened last night. My heart aches for you." With that she put her little project to the side and rose up with tears in her eyes. "Sorry, everything makes me weepy right now. I just feel so bad for everything you've been through."

"Oh, Scarlett," I said with a slight pout, "don't worry about me. It's been...not great, but I'm here now and ready to sleep."

"Oh?" she said as she waved off the driver, who promptly left the two of us alone and returned to his station outside. "I thought you would be hungry given the fact you've been at the station all day. I can have practically anything whipped up for you. My lord is rather exhausted after spending the day helping my new lady — which is why he wasn't here to greet you — but he made sure a full staff was readily available to meet your every need should you choose to stay with us."

"That does sound tempting," I said with a groan that I wish I had suppressed. I didn't want Scarlett thinking I was ungrateful, but I really didn't need the burden of making a decision in that moment. What I wanted to do was go to bed. However, my stomach reminded me how little I ate that day and how much energy my body expelled. Food would do me good, and it probably would help me sleep.

"Well, maybe something small," I said with a sigh, but also a gracious smile. "What do you have on hand?"

"Meat," she said with a laugh. "Lots and lots of meat." Her eyes then looked out into the distance and her tone shifted to something far from merriment. "A werewolf raided our stables last night and slaughtered many of livestock. We tried to save as much meat as we could so it didn't all go to waste." She then returned her gaze to mine and another giggle lit her face. "Not that I necessarily suggest you eat it. My lord won't touch anything a wolf bit into and I'm not sure he would take kindly to me feeding it to you."

"Oh, right," I muttered, recalling Antonov's argument earlier in the day, "I remember him mentioning that to Everett. But, Everett said that all the wolves had been accounted for last night. Are you sure it was a wolf that did it?"

"Absolutely," she said with a nod. "The bite and claw marks are rather distinctive. There's nothing else in the area that is big enough and strong enough to do that other than a werewolf. What are traditionally apex predators, like bears and mountain lions, can sense the presence of werewolves and naturally steer clear of our town since they are no longer on top of the food chain." She then paused and tapped her chin with her finger. "That being said, there was one odd thing though — there was no scent. The carcasses just had the lingering smell of a deodorant serum, which is strange because wolves rarely, if ever, use those serums."

"Why not?" I asked, my words quick on my tongue as I felt a bite of unease raising the hairs on the back of my neck.

"It wreaks havoc on their senses," she answered with a shake of her head. "It doesn't just suppress their smell from others, but also suppresses their ability to smell. Wolves are marvelous trackers and hunters, so they have other tricks to mask their scent. Although I suppose if this wolf was a bit on the clumsy side...but then it would have to have known it would need the deodorant, which seems weird because they would have to plan beforehand to willfully disobey their alpha...Oh this is just making my head hurt!"

Scarlett flopped back down on to the chaise and massaged her temples, while my aching skull began to burn with a sudden spark of realization.

"Unless they were wearing the deodorant for another reason entirely," I mumbled, my words chopped by the quickening pace of my breath. "There's something there," I whispered to myself. "There's something lurking in the shadows. Someone watched me in the shadows."