Artiface of Strength Ch. 07

Sam thought for a moment and then answered, "This has gotten really confusing. Clearly, Walker was lying to you, which after speaking with him one time, doesn't surprise me. It looks like he got the two of you to sign a bunch of legal documents that had absolutely nothing to do with health insurance. This will take some time to sort out, so how would you two like to bring your families for a week-long free vacation at the Whiskey Lake Resort. If you will come up and meet with our lawyers and try to solve this, I will get you set up with free rooms and meals, as well as some spending money for your families while you are there. If everything goes well, we'll authorize a further pay-out for both of you when we get to the end of all of this. How does that sound?"

"Do we still get the two thousand tonight," Nick said quickly.

"We'll make it four," Tom said smiling.

~~~

"You are telling me that it will be safe for us to go on a run here?"

"Yes granddaughter, the Goddess said that the original true People would run for their shaman on the first night when he blessed them."

"Grandfather, I don't understand. True People? Blessed us? You are speaking in riddles again."

"I can't answer your question about 'true People' yet, that is something that you will learn about later, but I can speak to the rest. I am your shaman; Xwun called me to leave the desert and come here to raise a young boy in the ways of the People, and then to bind him to his mate when he brought her to meet me. Tonight, you've had your mating meal in the presence of your mother, and now it is time to begin the change."

"But grandfather, what change? He already shifts."

"The real change, the one that will change the world. We all have our parts to play in this, and even then, we may still lose this battle; but if we do win, the People and the Were will both finally be free to live our lives without interference."

"William was right about you, you know. He said you always speak in riddles and nothing ever makes sense until it's too late to do anything about it."

Ja-mul just grinned and said, "I'm a shaman; it sort of comes with the job. I can tell you this though; the two of you were picked mostly because of the strengths of your character. If you two cannot do this, no one can."

"Grandfather, I just came to ask you if it would be safe to go on our first moonlight run, I didn't come to you looking for a job. I most certainly did not come to you to hear that the Goddess has wound fate through her fingers just to screw with us."

Ja-mul grinned and said, "How do you think I felt? I was only fifteen years old when I was given this job. Leave my desert, go live under the mountain, never find myself a wife, and then watch my grandchildren have all the fun while I just sit back and miss out. That was a kick in the head, I can tell you! And think about poor John for a minute, he's been waiting and lonely for almost five hundred years while you get your mate and this incredibly sexy grandfather right up front!"

Florence snorted at this.

Becoming more serious, Ja-mul said, "But granddaughter, your job comes with more risk than ours did; you may well die trying to save us. I think that may be why your Goddess gave you your mate now, so you could have some time with him before things got ugly."

"You are saying that I'd be wise to enjoy this respite from danger?"

"Yes."

"Just, 'yes'?"

"Yes."

"Grandfather, I think I'm beginning to see why William says that you piss everyone off."

The old shaman grinned at Florence, and said, "Yes."

Florence stuck out her tongue at the old man as she left his side to search for her mate. Finding him speaking to Beth inside of Ja-mul's trailer, she waggled her finger at him and said, "C'mon mate, let's go on our wedding run."

"Wedding run?" Beth and William said as one.

"Our new shaman tells me that it's how this works," grinned Florence.

Again, Beth and William both began talking at once, Beth heatedly griping about one old man trying to change the pack's traditions, while Will was enthusiastically agreeing to go on a run. Beth quickly realized that the young couple only had eyes for one another and had not heard a single word that she had said. She then huffed in irritation and left the room, still grumbling about giving that wannabe shaman a piece of her mind.

Shortly thereafter, the two exited the trailer as wolves. They saw Beth standing before Ja-mul, her arms waving wildly and a whirlwind of abuse escaping her lips. Discretion being the better part of cowardice, the young wolves grinned at one another and diverted course directly away from the argument and into the forest. Florence was reasonably sure that the old man winked at her when they changed direction.

"Now, let's see how fast you are, husband," Florence sent before charging away from William.

"Same stakes as last time?" William sent back, just standing there.

"Think your slow-ass can catch me for a change?"

"I'm planning on it," he sent, as he darted after her.

"Well then, I guess since you are so much bigger than me, I sure couldn't stop you from taking me right on the spot, if...you know, you can actually catch me this time," she sent as she abruptly changed directions to run through a small stream to mask her scent.

"Naughty bitch," he sent back when he appeared at the stream moments later, "trying to mask your scent, so your loving mate can't catch you."

Florence didn't respond this time, she'd darted back into the woods and out of William's sight. She knew that if she sent to him, it would give him more information with which to find her, and she was not going to make this easy on him.

"Maintaining radio silence, huh? It'll go so much worse for you when I catch you now...and this time, you don't have home-field advantage, Flo."

"Florence," she snapped.

"Sucker," he sent, as he immediately leapt to the north, from where the sending had come.

Realizing that he was back on her tail and that silence wouldn't help, she sent, "That was dirty William; is that how it's gonna be? You won't fight fairly?"

"Florence my love, you handcuffed me to a tree, and then you mercilessly tormented me until I exploded. Was that your definition of fighting fairly?"

"Did you enjoy it," she shot back as she changed direction once again.

"Of course I did, but won't you enjoy it when I catch you? Oh, and by the way, you are running directly into a box canyon!"

"You bastard," she sent back as she immediately darted hard to the east.

William didn't respond, he just smiled to himself as he changed direction to match her, content to let her run for a while. He just followed her for the next twenty minutes or so, before he sent to her again, "My darling, I have a confession to make."

"What is it, my horrible mate?" she sent back.

"One, I've almost caught you, and that's a mighty pretty backside that I'm chasing."

"And what is the second part?" she asked.

"There are no box canyons around here; I lied in order to get you to change course."

"You filthy rotten cheater!" she sent back.

"Yes, I saved quite a lot of distance when you turned hard right. Oh, and my love, I'm pretty sure that I'm faster than you as a wolf. I'm reeling you in now that I can see you."

Florence growled at this, but she was afraid that he was right. She was already running at her top speed and she could feel that he was slowly gaining on her.

"Oh and there is one more thing..."

"Yes, cheater, what now?"

"Do you smell the river yet?"

"Oh shit!" Florence gasped as she was forced into a full crash stop in order to avoid running off of the rise she was on and directly into the swift moving river in front of her. Realizing that William was bearing down upon her, she made a quick decision and darted north, upriver. But as she ran, she knew that it was likely over; he'd used his home field advantage to herd her directly to where he had wanted her to go, and it was quite clear that he was now faster than she. Florence had but one tool remaining; being of smaller stature, she was marginally quicker to change directions than he was. She knew that it was a long shot, but if she timed it just right, she might be able to use that to buy herself some time and distance.

She kept a wary eye on him as he came slowly closer and closer to her. She didn't have much to work with, if she darted right, she'd find herself in the river, so her only directions to run were to the left or to continue straight ahead, and he was almost upon her. She knew that he must realize that her options were slim, maybe he'd get overconfident.

She was out of time; he was no more than a pace behind now. She leaned to the right, as if to suggest that she'd turn that way, and then feinted hard left, expecting him to leave his paws to tackle her, and then finally, she threw herself to the right directly toward the river with everything she had, hoping to see him go flying by on her left.

William's linebacker coach had always taught his players to watch a runner's hips; they would tell you where the ball-carrier would be going. Ignore the shoulders and the double-moves and watch his hips and you'd almost always make the tackle. William had always been a good student, and he already knew that Florence was a very strong swimmer; he'd seen it twice now. As he watched her hips, he decided that, he had a new favourite hobby. He timed his leap to coincide with her cut to the right, and he met her in mid-air, his wolf crashing into hers in a tackle that his coach would have been proud of.

As they struck the ground, he rolled her body under his own, and took her throat in his jaws, biting down until he caught just a hint of blood. Along with her blood her pheromones came lancing directly into his brain and setting him on fire. He growled into her neck, "My bitch, I caught you, and under the terms of our bet, you are mine," and then he thrust deeply into her, burying himself into her with one hard thrust.

Florence was sopping wet, both from exertion and from arousal; William's weight along her back caused her front legs to buckle down to her knees as he mounted her. She wasn't about to fight him; he was larger, he was dominant, and he was hers. If he'd done anything else but take her, she would have been sorely upset and disappointed. This was the way of the wolf, and her last conscious thought was, "finally", before her animal lust overcame her and she began to thrust back against his cock, seating it deeply within her as they both began to rut desperately.

William had given up all pretense of being a thoughtful human lover. His wolf had completely taken over; he held his bitch down with his teeth at her throat as he slammed into her with abandon. The fact that her human side had also fled never once occurred to him, he only knew that she was meeting him thrust for thrust, while moaning and howling wildly. When she came, he followed into the abyss, knotting himself within her and flooding her with his seed as he howled an Alpha-like howl. No other wolf would dare approach him while he took his bitch.

Back at the trailer, Beth and Ja-mul were still arguing, albeit less vociferously than before when they heard William's howl of completion. "Sounds like her caught her," Ja-mul said.

"Thank the Goddess," Beth said, letting out the breath that she'd been holding.

"You were afraid that he wouldn't catch her?" Ja-mul asked.

"No one has ever even come close before."

"Mother-in-law, that's why it was important that they ran here instead of back at your lake. He knows this forest as well as she knows her own. Here, he had the advantage. The Goddess sent you all here so they could complete their mating."

"You are actually on their side then!" Beth realized.

"And you were really only worried that she would get away!" Ja-mul said, surprised.

"Maybe we are on the same side then," Beth said.

"Friends?" Ja-mul said, holding his hand out.

"Friends!" Beth said, reaching out for his hand in return, "But enough of that mother-in-law bullshit. That's just for William. You can call me Beth, or you can call me step-daughter. Take your pick."

"Done," he said, grasping her arm in the old way, "but that means that I get to officiate at your mating ceremony!"

She snorted, "like that will ever happen!"

"Oh, I think your Goddess is ready to end the mating stoppage now; this mating was the first one."

Beth's eyes narrowed at this, "what do you know that you are not telling?"

Ja-mul's eyes twinkled as he said, "Step-daughter, have you ever met a shaman worth his fetish who would tell you everything he knows? And before you get mad at me again, just know this...If I tell you what is supposed to happen, then it might not. You wouldn't want that on your conscience would you?"

"Old fool, I'm glad you are on our side."

"So am I step-daughter, your side is way more fun!"

~~~

John's voice erupted on the phone, "You are bringing a what?"

"Evidently he is our di-yin. John, he knew we were coming. He knew everything about us. He says that the Goddess brought him to Mount Shasta sixty years ago. I hate to say it, but I believe the ornery old bastard. He says that he is here to oversee our passage...whatever the Hell that means."

"And you think the Goddess really talks to him?"

"He calls her Xwun and says that the People see Xwun as male, but that it is the same person."

"And you think he is reputable?"

"Oh Hell no, I know he isn't reputable. He's a sneaky old con-man, and he's as crooked as...well, your hind leg, not to mention being a huge pain in my ass. But John, he obviously loves his grandson and now, Florence too, and I think the old bastard is really telling the truth. He knew everything about you, and he says that you missed the obvious when you set up our society; somehow you forgot to include a shaman. He said that you must have really hated the Puritans!"

"How the Hell could he know..." then John stopped. Wait, he knew about that before you spoke with him?"

"Yes John."

"Bring him."

"Oh, he's bringing himself. He's got this decrepit old Willys pickup. He said that he'd just had it serviced, getting ready to come see us."

"He's driving his own vehicle? I thought he was too old for that."

"I think he said that he was seventy seven, John. This, if you've forgotten, is exactly how old we think Florence probably is. Do you think they might be connected?"

"Before this call, I would have sworn the answer to that would have been 'no', but now, I'm not so sure. Oh Goddess, we have a shaman; why does the Lady have such a perverse sense of humour when it comes to our pack?"

"I wish that I knew the answer to that, John. And one last thing, you probably won't like this either. He convinced Florence to take William on a solo run last night. John, William ran her down, and when he took her, his howl was pure Alpha."

"Shit!"

"I'm sure Florence knows, but I doubt that William has a clue yet."

"At least that explains how he ran her down. Beth, get them here as soon as possible. I just got off the phone with Sam; he and Tom are bringing Medina and several guests to stay at the resort. Sam tells me that Medina seems to be nothing more than Burton's pawn, and an unwilling one at that. I'd like to have you back here when they arrive. You are our best asset with humans."

"I will try John, but Ja-mul insists on bringing his truck with him, and I have a feeling that progress is going to be pretty slow."

"Do your best, Beth. Leave him behind if you have to; it sounds as if he knows the way."

"I will John; see you soon!"

John sat and stared at his phone for a while, wondering what else could go wrong. For almost five hundred years, he had managed to avoid having anything to do with a professional clergy, and now it looked like the Goddess was thumbing her nose at him again. Meanwhile, his daughter seemed to have found a unique way to snag herself an Alpha, and while this wasn't completely unexpected, she'd managed to find a completely untrained Alpha. He consoled himself with the fact that at least William was a member of the People, rather than of the Europeans. That would help a little. But he had no idea what to make of this clown, Medina. Sam had suggested that he and his friend Calvillo were about as sharp as marbles. Hell, I'd go for a beer with Tristan, but he's no fun...

Then his phone rang again.

"Billington," he answered.

"Hey John," he heard Jefferson say, "I've got something on your Chimariko tribe."

"It isn't my tribe, Jeff."

"Well, I don't know about that one John, and I don't think you are going to like this much."

"Go ahead Jeff; it's been that kind of day."

"The land you are on. It used to belong to a tribe that was totally wiped out."

John sighed, "Let me guess."

"Yep, when the tribe was nearly destroyed, the few remaining members folded into the Shasta tribe up in the Siskiyou region."

"So the whole tribe died?"

"Debatable I guess, someone in Tribal Registry must have gotten creative. Your George Medina, his family was originally from the Siskiyou region, but they'd never actually been registered. I guess technically, they could be said to be Shasta or Chimariko, but whoever filled out the paperwork filled it out as Chimariko."

"So...technically...his claim to my land pre-dates the Spanish claim?"

"Yes John, but as you well know, the Government almost never sides with Tribal claims."

"So we are now in the position of fighting as white-men to steal land from the true indigenous People?"

"Ironic huh?"

"Jeff, I'd love to cuss you out, but I can't make myself do it, you've been too damned helpful."

Jefferson laughed and said, "What else can I do to help?"

"Glad you asked. Sam and Tom located this George Medina fellow and they will be bringing him to the resort. Evidently he is clueless about any of this and is only Burton's pawn. Do you suppose that you could send a couple of your smart lawyer sharks my way, and get them here as soon as possible? Tell them to bring their mates if they have them, and I'll put them up in suites here at the Resort for their trouble."

"John, for that offer, I'll be coming myself; this looks like too much fun to miss! I'll bring Carol, she's been bugging me to take a vacation anyway."

"Thanks Jeff, I'll book you some train tickets."

"No, don't worry about doing that, I don't even know how many wolves are coming yet. Just set aside a block of rooms for us and we'll be there as soon as we can."

"Thanks Jeff, we'll see you soon!"

After hanging up, John again briefly considered banging his head on his desk, but quickly thought better of it.

"Tristan," he yelled! "Let's go get a beer!"