Little Wolf

Ch 17 The Wolf Shows Out

I stood, waiting. Ed must have heard us talking because he came out of one of the rooms with Derrick. Ed rapped on the other doors as he came, and the other guys followed him to the living room. The half-dozen of them lined up along the far wall, ready for action.

The basement door flung open. I was glad I wasn't blocking it as Mac had been.

Mac shoved me out of the way, ran out the front door, and heaved into the bushes there. It didn't look like he was in a hurry to leave them. The second round of Mac throwing up in the bushes had all of the guys exchanging looks between Mac and me and Dad, who had finally come up from the basement.

I threw Dad a questioning look.

He shrugged. "I took my time. Maybe I should have gone faster."

I shrugged back and grinned.

I don't know how many times while watching a movie Mom, Dad, and I would shift. One hand, one foot, full shift starting in different areas of the body. It had been like a game of follow-the-leader, each of us matching the other's changes. Control of the shift was something Dad had drilled into me.

"At least Running Elk was able to hold it, " I said, poking fun at Mac's distress.

Dad threw me an indecipherable look and took up a spot on the one couch, waiting for Mac to come back in. I opted for the floor close to Dad, sitting cross-legged, facing the guys, ready for whatever happened next.

A very peaked looking Mac finally came back in. He went straight to the kitchen, banged all the cupboards around, cussed, and finally poured himself a glass of water. Mac stood in the kitchen doorway for a minute, glaring at his group of men, chugging it down. He turned around, slamming the glass on the kitchen table, before coming to sit on the couch across from Dad.

"Tell me I did not just see that," Mac spat out.

Dad shook his head gently.

"My father walked out of the Black Forest. I can't tell you more than that."

"You ever..."

Dad guessed what he meant. He looked thoughtfully at the small group of men standing off to the side before looking back to Mac.

"Twice. The first time by accident. The man was a rapist hunting on the college campus, where I met his mother. We fought, he died. The second time was his mother, at her request. She was beautiful..."

I chuckled a bit when the silence drew out, and Mac got uncomfortable.

"Dad gets to thinking about Mom, and he zones out a bit sometimes. Mom was awesome."

Dad and I shared a smile. After another moment, Mac cleared his throat.

"You think that's what happened..."

He couldn't finish it. He headed to the bushes for a third heave. When he got back as far as standing in the front doorway, I answered his question.

"Without a doubt. Shitty ass handling of it too. Owww!"

Dad had thunked me on the head. "Watch your language."

"Yes, sir." How else can you answer your dad?

Dad motioned to the spot Mac had been sitting and waited until Mac sat down.