Bayou Wolf

“I trust you. Your dad and my dad went a long way back.”

“I remember,” Angier said.

“So hear me out. What I’m about to tell you is a little weird.”

He gave her a sideways glance. “I’m plenty used to weird in Bayou La Siryna.”

Tallulah knew that. Annie claimed Angier’s wife was “different” and perhaps otherworldly. Her sister-in-law, Annie, was the granddaughter of the local hoodoo queen, Tia Henrietta, and had the ability to hear auras. Tallulah didn’t believe it at first, but she’d learned that Annie did indeed have powers. She’d seen her do it many times, especially during a crisis.

“Around Shelly Angier I hear the ocean,” Annie had said. “It’s especially clear when I’m near her cousins, Jet and Lily. With Jet, the ocean sounds powerful and releases a ferocious beauty of pounding waves. And with Lily...” Annie’s eyes grew dreamy and she sighed. “I can’t do justice to describing her aura. It’s a beautiful voice that sounds like an angel, except the notes are carried out over the sea in waves—rippling and melodic.”

She’d laughed. “Are you saying Angier is married to a mermaid?”

Annie hadn’t laughed. “Anything’s possible in Bayou La Siryna.”

Tallulah tried to gauge the enigmatic sheriff’s reaction to her probe. Her image reflected off his polarized sunglasses. Did law enforcement wear those to deliberately keep people from guessing their thoughts? ’Cause she could read no emotion on Angier’s stern, rugged face.

What the hell. She had to tell him what she’d seen. If he laughed and brushed her off, so be it.

“Go on,” he urged.

“Jeb’s neck... I’ve never seen anything like it. Could it have been a wild animal? A stray dog?”

“The forensic expert will make that call.”

Hah. He was stonewalling her. “I asked what you think?”

“I think you know something,” he countered. “What is it?”

“I’ve seen a wolf roaming this area.”

A heartbeat passed.

“Never seen one in this bayou. That’s all you got?” Angier asked.

“The wolf is menacing. Its behavior is odd. One moment feral and dangerous, and the next it’s—it’s—”

“Spit it out.”

She glared at the sheriff and then pointed to the farmhouse. “I saw it walk up those back porch stairs and then enter this house. And no one said a word after it happened.”

“Anything else?”

“Awful strange that something like this happens just as the new renters come to town.” There, she’d said it.

“Could be you have a bias against them. Considering how much you love this land and have protested their timber clearing.”

“That’s not true,” she said, immediately on the defensive. She’d never insinuate a person had committed a crime based on a personal grudge. “It’s not fair. I—”

“Hey, come look at this!” one of the cops cried from behind the tree line. A buzz of excitement broke out and everyone swarmed under a magnolia, trying to get a glimpse.

She and Sheriff Angier hurried over. The aggressive rookie policeman held up an object and Tallulah stopped dead at the sight.

Feathers and beads dangled in the breeze from a wooden, hooped dream catcher.

Her dream catcher.

She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. She was paralyzed with shock. How had it gotten there? Her memorial to Bo was too far away for the wind to have carried it all the way to Jeb’s. Tallulah wet her dry lips and scanned the crowd. Was she being set up? Maybe by one of the new renters in Bayou La Siryna?

“What the hell is that thing?” one of the onlookers asked.

Sheriff Angier shot her a questioning look, one brow raised. He recognized a Native American relic when he saw one. The Choctaw presence was strong in the area.

“Good thing I’m not one to jump to conclusions,” he commented.

“But—but—”

“Maybe you should explain to the sheriff why you continue to trespass on our property.”

Tallulah whirled around, coming face-to-face with Payton. A very angry Payton.

“You always appear to be snooping around at the most interesting times,” Payton continued. His gray eyes lacked any warmth. All trace of the nice guy had vanished. Now she’d done it. After today, he’d want nothing to do with her. Fine. She was used to being alone.

Matt marched over to them, clearly infuriated. “And you were the one who found the body.”

His loud, firm voice carried and everyone momentarily paused to look their way. Even the tech people loading Jeb’s body into a vehicle and the other cops, who were taking pictures of the scene and scouting the immediate area.

Tallulah’s face flamed. This is what you got for trying to be a good citizen. She focused her gaze on Angier. “If you want to ask me more questions, you know where I live.”

The sheriff nodded. “I’ll be in touch.”

I’ll bet. But she had no answers. No explanation as to why her dream catcher was located near Jeb’s body. She straightened her shoulders and headed to the street, conscious of Payton’s eyes on her. Walking on the road added significant distance to the journey home, but she didn’t care to be alone in the woods after the sight of Jeb’s bloody neck with its jagged skin.

Her legs grew heavy; the whole event had wearied her more than she’d realized. The emotional turmoil had sapped her energy. It would be a long, lonely walk back to her cabin.

And this time, there would be no offer of a ride home from Payton.

* * *

The pack crowded into the living room, awaiting word from their alpha, Matt. The mood was as solemn as the night they’d decided to leave Montana after confronting the unfair accusations of other wolf packs.

Only now it appeared the accusations weren’t false.

Someone among them was infected with the lycanthropic fever. A cold-hearted killer who would stop at nothing to fulfill his cravings for human blood. The fever had been widespread out west. No one knew how it started, only that it spread from one wolf to another through biting. Those infected by the fever were ordered to live at a secured, medical compound until an antidote was developed.

Absolute compliance to this law was strictly enforced. Werewolves had evolved over the years, learned to shape-shift and satisfy their animal nature without posing harm to humans and without exposing their secret nature. But the lycanthropic fever threatened their gains. A series of unexplained human murder victims, all bitten in the neck, all drained of blood, had aroused the attention of the law enforcement and the fear of the community. For now, the murders were theorized as being committed by an unknown serial killer. But if this spread across the country, if word leaked on the hidden world of shapeshifters, their existence would be threatened. It would be a return to the days of wolf and witch trials. A bloodbath that might end their kind forever.

“We’re in a tough position,” Matt began, standing in front of the fireplace. “By tomorrow morning, the law enforcement people in this town will most likely see the connection of the victim’s body here as identical to other victims out west.” He took a deep breath and intently regarded each of them. “One of you is infected. I can’t deny it any longer.”