Dreamwalkers (15 page)

The world is out of focus. I stumble through
a foggy haze and find myself on a dirt road mostly overgrown with
trees.

he’s coming

Shaking my head, I manage to locate the
dreamer: a man in a flannel shirt, crouched in the bushes. Bottles
and cans clank at his feet. He nearly loses his balance. “Shit,” he
slurs.

he’s coming he’s coming he’s coming

There are voices like hissing whispers coming
at me from all sides. This man hears them too, and swats at his
ears. “I got it! Geez. I’m ready. No, shit, I ain’t ready.
What?”

He has just realized something, looking down
at himself.

“Are you supposed to be turned already?” I
ask him.

My voice surprises him and he actually loses
his balance this time, falling on his ass.

“Oh, shit. How’d you get there?” He rubs his
eyes. “Hey, wait, are you that girl?”

“No,” I say with as much disdain as I can,
turning my face so he can’t get a better look.

“Shit. If you’re that girl, Geo’s gonna kill
me. Shit. What?”

I start walking away. Quickly. Then I slow
down. This guy is having an anxiety dream about carrying out this
plan to attack Daniel. I turn and take note of where this guy is
hidden. This is where they will surround and trap him, here, near
where the road peters out into forest again.

Far up the road, I hear footsteps. Someone
not exactly trying to be quiet. A familiar shape walks toward me up
there on the road.

Daniel.

I wake with a start in my sleeping bag. Of
course I couldn’t talk to Daniel in that dream: it wasn’t my dream.
Still, he was so close...

I can still feel Daniel through our bond, and
I know he isn’t at Wells Road just yet. I’m still unclear as to how
Geo’s pack is going to lead Daniel there. It doesn’t really matter,
so long as my pack is there first.

We turn and head out as soon as I tell
everyone. We’re counting on Geo’s pack not knowing our scent, and
we tread lightly so as to leave even less evidence. It’s early
evening, and we don’t know when this attack will even happen.

(In my dream they were hiding near the edges
of the road, so once we get close we need to be careful, in case
they’re already hiding)

When we arrive, close to sundown, the air
feels stiff and cold and... empty.

Mom’s voice pops into my head

(no one’s here, you’re sure this is the right
spot?)

(yes... maybe they’re planning for a night
attack? I don’t know)

Remy’s voice comes in.

(We should find hiding spots further back
from the road. We’ll wait as long as we have to)

(Good idea)

(And hide your scent)

It isn’t until I’ve found a dried out ditch
behind a log that I realize Mom and Aunt Jenny must have heard Remy
too. Even through all our training sessions, they still hadn’t been
able to establish a telekinetic bond with him. Of course, they
probably still believed they couldn’t do that without bonding to
him first.

The first flakes of snow begin to fall
silently in the darkness.

Even Remy doesn’t know how this telepathy
thing works, how am I supposed to figure it out? Especially when
I’m so tired....

Daniel is so loud I would cringe if I wasn’t
wearing my wolf face. Then again, only short months ago I was just
as clueless about how loud I was. I shift a little, shaking off a
little of the fresh fallen snow.

Daniel

My brain finally kicks in and I remember the
mission. How long have I been sleeping? Could Geo’s wolves...?

Yes.

Geo’s wolves are very nearly silent. Not even
their scent gives them away, only my newfound ability to sense the
empty spaces. They are here. They are waiting for Daniel. And
Daniel is here.

He’s looking for something–me?–whirling
around. He kicks a tree then yelps. I have never wanted to facepalm
so badly. And yet, Daniel is basically the best bait we could have
hoped for.

Can he really not know we’re here?

I watch Daniel sit against a tree trunk and
start banging his head against it. The knocking sound echoes
through the forest. What is Geo’s pack waiting for?

Remy’s mind nudges mine.

(How many?)

I raise my nose in the air and scent them
out. Five, no–more. Eight?

(Eight)

(I smell nine. They’re surrounding him)

Daniel needs to turn, now. If he’s still
human when Geo’s pack decides to make their move, he’ll never fight
them all off. He needs a fighting chance. And I’m not at all
confident that he can turn wolf with no warning.

I decide to call out to him.

(Daniel)

I wait, silent.

(I’m here)

I feel his attention, a new alertness.

(where are you I can’t find you)

(I’m here)

I’m trying to keep my inner voice quiet, and
infuse some direction into it. Trying to say, Come here. Without
actually thinking it.

The scent when he changes is so strong I know
that Geo’s wolves can smell it too.

I focus hard, and push myself more fully into
Daniel’s consciousness–a waking dream. I see a black wolf appear,
and feel Daniel’s shock. More wolves, surrounding him.

Daniel’s wolf wants to fight–the urge is
strong, but I manage to quell it. Run, I will him to run. And he
does.

Only moments later he flashes by.

I lead the attacks. I pick off the wolf in
the rear, blindsiding him and then ripping out his throat just as I
had with the elk. Feeling Daniel’s direction, I cut through the
forest as I sense Aunt Jenny and Mom go after another wolf.

Remy leaps onto the back of the black wolf,
who twists and gets his teeth in Remy’s pelt. I wince at the bite
of pain in my own side. Mom abandons Aunt Jenny to help him.

I reach the first wolf in the chase, who is
literally nipping at Daniel’s heels–I feel a sharpness in my leg as
Daniel is bitten, but then my teeth rip off the enemy wolf’s tail
and with a squeal he releases Daniel’s leg and turns to me. I am
ready for him. My teeth sink into his neck, and I crunch down,
feeling the snap of tendons and blood vessels and finally, a juicy
pop as my incisors shred his esophagus.

By the time I lick the blood from my lips and
look around, I see several wolves racing away through the trees.
Daniel included, running in a different direction.

(Daniel)

He stops and whips around, ready to pounce,
then stares at us in amazement.

(Kayla?)

We approach him. I feel Aunt Jenny’s need to
touch him, to make sure it is really Daniel–she’s never seen his
wolf before, and she doesn’t have the mind connection with him like
I do. He yelps and rushes at me, shifting as he moves until he’s
hugging me around my wolf’s neck.

I shift in his arms. I can’t help myself; I’m
grinning too. His excitement and relief is contagious.

“What just happened?” he asks. “Did you kill
all of them?”

“We managed to ambush them while they were
chasing you,” I explain, smiling and breathing hard. “We knew they
were setting a trap for you, so we got here first. It worked out
perfectly. They never knew we were here. We were able to start at
the back of the pack and pick them off, one by one. Some got away,
but we killed two and injured at least five others.”

“The black one?”

I shake my head. “He was the leader of this
attack, the most powerful one of this group. He sensed our
presence, and took off before we even got close.”

“I couldn’t smell them,” he says. “They
didn’t have a scent at all until I turned wolf.”

I nod. “Pack magic.”

Finally he looks around. “This is our
pack?”

“All that’s left.”

I look at them and raise my eyebrows. I’d
rather we all be naked than just them staring at Daniel and me
being naked. They finally turn, although none of them look
especially pleased about it.

“Mom!” Daniel cries, though he doesn’t hug
her. I guess that might be a little awkward–the mother/son naked
hug. “Aunt Julie!”

Then he notices Remy.

For a tense minute, they just stare at each
other. I have no idea what Daniel is thinking, but I don’t feel
anger, so that’s a positive.

“Who are you?” Daniel asks finally.

“My name is Remy Loupe,” he says.

The silence stretches out. I can practically
see the gears turning in Daniel’s head. Oh, right–Loupe, crazy
Fallon Loupe, okay.

Then Daniel nods, and Remy drops his eye
contact.

I feel like something important has just
taken place. Has Remy just given Daniel leadership of the pack? The
cold is sinking in, so I shift back to my wolf form, and the others
do as well. We should all be able to communicate now, if Daniel is
a member of the pack. Daniel collapses into the snow, bare-ass,
like it’s all too much to take in, never mind the act of
shifting.

(Daniel)

He looks at me, and asks,

(You don’t need me to be your leader, do
you?)

Finally I can say it. I can put it right, the
pressure I put on him.

(I made a mistake, putting this all on your
shoulders. You are strong–but together we can be stronger)

His shoulders droop with relief. He melts
into wolf.

(Together… I like that idea)

And although I have a feeling that Daniel
means something more by “together,” I’m happy. My family is
reunited.

Two days later, we’re back home at our
hideaway cabin, and I am completely frustrated. There’s been a lot
of celebrating, a lot of hugging between Daniel and his mother, a
lot of Daniel telling us about the past three years (minus anything
about me finding him, since I clued him in to that big lie), a few
trips into the nearest town where Aunt Jenny bought (with cash) new
clothes and things for him. Where did she get this money?

The only plus side is that it has kept anyone
from asking too many questions about me and Daniel. There’s still a
lot of work to be done around the house and I’ve made myself
scarce. Dreamwalking, however, has kept me appraised of how tenuous
our situation is. Misty’s dreams are almost always nightmares.
She’s been tied up and blindfolded and taken somewhere in a truck,
somewhere far. The lack of sleep makes me feel annoyed with
everyone and every little thing.

So when I walk into the kitchen to find Mom
and Remy discussing inventory at the kitchen counter, and Aunt
Jenny baking Daniel a freaking cake, I lose it a little.

“What’s our plan now?” I demand.

“Plan?” Aunt Jenny asks, like she hasn’t a
clue as to what I’m talking about.

Daniel looks at me with big sorrowful eyes.
Stop looking so pathetic
, I think at him. His eyes only look
more wounded, and I face Mom and Remy.

“Yeah. Our plan. We’re still under attack,
aren’t we?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Remy
says, straightening up.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. Are you going to tell me you’re
not the leader of this pack?”

I stare at him.

“You led us on that hunt. You became the
alpha then. Am I wrong?”

Eventually I have to look around and take in
everyone’s faces. Even Daniel looks at me and shrugs a little. I
guess I did tell Daniel we’d do this together. I’m not sure I meant
I’d be happy to take over as alpha. Except that I already was,
after the hunt.

I put my hands on my hips.

“Fine. I’m the alpha.”

They continue staring at me.

“So let’s come up with a plan. I mean,
obviously we can’t stay here forever,” I say.

“Why not?” Daniel asks.

“It isn’t safe here!” I shout. “They’re still
going to come after us. We need to strike back at them!”

“How can we put up an offensive with only
five people?” Remy asks quietly.

“We need to get more people on our side. We
could do that. Geo’s just going out and making new wolves. Why
can’t we?” I don’t add,
now that I know we can just make
wolves
,
but I imply it with a glare at
my mother.

For a moment it looks like Mom and Remy are
considering this option. Aunt Jenny continues frosting the cake,
pretending like this conversation isn’t happening.

“It’s not right,” Daniel says finally. “Zeke,
my friend Zeke, he got turned. And it was awful. I don’t want to do
that to innocent people.” Daniel had told us how he ended up living
with Mr. Whittemore and his son Zeke on an isolated farm, how he
was attacked there. I remember Zeke’s nightmare, his half-wolf
face. But I shake it off.

“Being a werewolf is great, and if people
could be turned the right way…” I stop, thinking about Misty, and
Martin Baker, and all the others I’ve visited. “They just need to
be turned… safely…” The gears in my head are still spinning. “Or,
maybe, we could convince the wolves Geo has turned and get them on
our side.”

“I know Zeke would be on our side,” Daniel
says, his face lighting up.

Remy leans back, regards me. “You think it’s
a good idea to sneak into Geo’s camp and kidnap members of his
pack?”

I don’t even know what to say to that.

“We have to find Zeke,” Daniel says.

“You know where he is?” Remy asks coolly.

Shit. Is this the dominance showdown?

Daniel’s shoulders slump, defeated. “No.”

Guess not.

“We do know where Misty is,” I say. “I know I
could find her. And we’re sure to find others when we find
her.”

“I figured we would hide out until Geo forgot
about us, after we found Daniel,” Aunt Jenny says. I can feel her
plaintiveness through our telepathic walls, and understand how she
doesn’t want to lose Daniel again.

“We can’t fight him,” Mom says. “Kayla, you
need to think about everyone.”

“So we’re just going to run away until he
forgets about us?” I demand. “Come on. Geo’s, like, a thousand
years old. I doubt he’ll forget. He’ll just wait. Or worse, his
spies will follow us and just when we think we’re safe they’ll
attack.”