Artiface of Strength Ch. 09

By ten ante meridiem on Friday morning, Beth had played cowboy and wrangled her herd, hustling all four of the Fresnans into one of the pack's S.U.V.s. Tom had done the driving, and had successfully led them down the mountain and into the city below. Beth had fed everyone during the trip, and all six were now walking into the Lower Sequoia Mall as it was opening for business.

"Okay ladies, we are going to lose the children now. I'm sure that they are going to find the sports bar and go play with their penises or something, but we are going to be doing some more productive, we're going shopping!"

"Tom, you make sure that they buy some decent evening clothes before you babies sneak off to the jersey store, do you hear me?"

Tom rolled his eyes as he drove his charges away from the crazy women; why was it that shopping appealed to women? He made sure that neither George or Nick were actually listening to Beth by murmuring words of 'signed Derek Carr jerseys' into their ears as he led his men out of Beth's firing line.

Continuing to fire away, Beth said, "When those idiots get back, you two are in charge of checking their purchases. If they don't buy anything nice enough to get into the restaurant, you will get stuck eating in your room. Make sure they bought several pairs of everything, you don't want them wearing the same thing into the Restaurant every night."

"You know my brother?" Maria asked suspiciously.

"I know men. Once those babies get a new jersey and have a beer in their hands, it'll be all over, they will forget about anything else.

Nick's sisters laughed at this, and then Margarita asked, "Is Tom any better?"

"Not a bit, and besides that, he owes me a pair of boots today."

"Boots?"

"Umm, he lost a bet. He's gotta buy me a new pair of Ropers."

"Is he your man," Margarita probed.

"Nope, you are welcome to him," Beth shot back.

"And his brother, anyone got her claws in him? No one's got a ring on him?"

Beth instantly stopped walking and stared at the sisters, "Are you two interested in the idiot brothers?"

Maria said, "They seem like they'd be fun. They've got that bad boy vibe."

"Fun yes, sensible no."

"So...are they available?"

"Those two have been available so long that I think their sell-by label has disintegrated into dust. Do you two know how to dance?"

The sisters laughed scornfully at this, "You know we were strippers? Right?"

"Okay...So let me put that a different way. Do you two know how to dance in a honky-tonk?'

"We lived in Bakersfield, of course we honky-tonk. There's a bar there; it's called Trout's," Maria replied.

"...and then there's Buck's Crystal Palace, but that place is for the geezers, mostly." Margarita added.

Beth grinned in response and instantly changed direction in the mall, "Well then, let's go buy the boots first; I'll get you set up with the idiot brothers later."

~~~

Florence was asleep, curled around her mate, lying in the lush grass. As her eyes began to flicker open, she felt the warming presence of her mate at her side and began to snuggle back into his heat when she suddenly remembered the end of Ja-mul's ceremony. Her eyes snapped open at this memory and she sat up quickly. She was reassured to find that William was asleep at her side, and Ja-mul slept nearby.

She glanced around quickly and felt a sense of déjà-vu, even though she was reasonably sure that she had never been here before, it seemed awfully familiar. "This was the home you should have had," a musical voice said softly. Florence turned her head and saw that it was coming from a striking looking woman who was addressing her.

No normal women, she was well over two meters in height, her coloration an ethereal shade of such bright white that she almost glowed. Her features were those of the People even if her coloring was not. Flo idly considered that Beth's cosmetics could probably allow this woman to appear Cherokee, if only they were caked on thick enough.

"This world is exactly like the 'new world' would have been, except there are no human beings in it. No white men, no members of the People; you might call it an alternate world, but I prefer to think of it as a better one."

"Lady..." stammered Florence questioningly.

"Or Xwun, as Ja-mul thinks of me... or several dozen other names over the years, many call me Luna. I'm delighted to finally meet you Florence. I have waited a long time for one of your birth. I think that we can finally put things right."

"Of my birth? What do you mean by that?"

"Would you like to see your parents as they were? They won't see us or even know we are watching them, but you can learn where you came from in the process."

"My birth parents?"

"Yes Florence, are you ready?"

Florence glanced nervously at where her mate continued to sleep peacefully.

The Lady saw the look and reassured Florence that both he and Ja-mul would be perfectly safe here alone. "Indeed," she said, "I am speaking with them now, and he did the exact same thing that you did; his first thought was for your safety. The two of you have a very strong bond for such a new pairing. It bodes well for all of us."

"He'll be safe here? And the old coyote too?"

The Lady laughed at this, "He'd like that. The old coyote... He loves being a pain! And yes Florence, they will be perfectly safe here all alone. Shall we go?"

Reaching down with a glowing hand, the Lady grasped hands with Florence, and they were instantly elsewhere.

They were now in a small cave where a wolf bitch was in the process of birthing her pups. Florence continued to watch as four wolf pups were born, one right after another, and as a huge, scarred wolf stood guard in the cave opening, defending his family.

"That one is you," the Lady said, pointing at the last and largest pup to be born. Now, we'll slide forward in time a little ways and see how things developed."

Florence's vision blurred for a moment and she realized that they were now outside the cave, where the large male was dragging a small doe back to his family for dinner. She watched as three pups came forward and began to feed. She looked for the fourth pup, but he was nowhere to be found.

Sensing Florence's unspoken question, the Lady said, "He died young, it's just you and your two brothers now."

Florence saw the adults were calmly standing guard over their pups feast, and she noticed that the one female pup was now quite a bit larger than her brothers.

"Yes, you grew quickly, but your brothers were not so lucky. The gene that produced you was not so kind to the males."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's jump forward again, but let me warn you, this part is far from pleasant; but watch your parents in action, they gave it everything they had."

Once again, Florence's vision blurred for a moment and when it cleared, she saw that the cubs were even larger, and that the female was now at least half again as large as her brothers. The Lady said, "They were a bit undersized for their age, but by this time, you were huge, much bigger than average. This next part is the unpleasant part."

Florence saw that the family was feeding on a downed calf, and she almost groaned before saying, "Why are they feeding on human food; surely they are aware of the risk?"

But the Lady said nothing for the moment, and Florence was surprised to see that the danger came from a pack of feral dogs, rather than from a rancher with a gun. The pack swept into the family violently, with madness in their eyes.

"Rabies," the Lady supplied.

When it was over, both of her brothers were dead, as was her father and almost all of the feral dogs. The Madam was grievously wounded, and was gasping her last breaths as she lay beside her dead mate. Only young Florence was unwounded, having displayed an unearthly speed in battle that no pup should have been able to produce.

"Why didn't they shift?" Florence asked sadly.

"They were wolves Florence, not Were."

"What?" Florence gasped, "What do you mean that they were not Were?"

"Florence, you were born a full wolf, not Were."

"But...how is that possible?"

"Werewolves were supposed to be a marriage between the best of the People, and the best of the wolves. Only the strongest would come together to lead their combined peoples, but before it could come to fruition the Europeans came to our world with their diseases and their greed. The People and the wolves were nearly destroyed."

"There were never very many Were to begin with, and shortly after the Europeans landed, all of them were gone, most of them killed by diseases that they had never experienced before. The wolves then fell to the white man's agriculture and his herding, and the few People who survived were herded into desolate death traps where they lost their way of life."

"It took generations to bring wolves back from the brink, and now, there are almost no People left who keep to the old ways, but there are a few. Only a bare few left to right the wrongs, and to bring the world back into balance."

"So why did I become Were?"

"You had the gene, and you were the very first of your kind to be brought before the Alpha's Alpha. You are the very first wolf to make the jump since the Europeans landed. Now you've begun to fulfill your destiny by mating the strongest living warrior of the People. If the two of you survive what is coming, you will inherit this Earth," she said, indicating the forest around her."

"What is coming?"

"War."

"Is there any way to prevent it?"

"No Florence, it has already begun."

"Why does it have to be like this?"

"All the usual reasons that motivate Europeans: This time, the gold under your land, and the ever-present fear of anything new or different."

"So what am I supposed to do about any of this?"

"Just live your life honestly, Florence. Give of yourself for the right things and leave no regrets behind. If you live your life trying to make the world a better place, then you win. We win, no matter how everything else turns out."

"Lady, you make everything sound so simple. You tell me that war is coming, but that it doesn't really matter if we win or lose, only that I have to behave honourably. That doesn't make sense to me."

"Why is that so hard to believe?"

"It's the responsibility; you are telling me that the fate of our people depends on me."

"And William... Florence, if you and your mate can't do this, then no one can. And that means that we'll pass into the afterlife, and that won't be so bad either. Sometimes even Gods fade from this world, and usually when that happens, their people go with them. So, just behave honorably, and if we lose, then we will take our honour and go."

"So just stop worrying and do my best?"

The Lady's face broke into a beatific smile, and she said, "See Flo, it isn't so hard."

Florence's face clouded momentarily at the use of her hated nickname, but when the Lady unleashed peals of laughter, Flo realized that she'd been had, and her irritation passed almost immediately.

"Flo...rence, do you have any more questions before I send you back," the Goddess asked, grinning.

"No Lady, nothing else I guess, but thank you for sending William to me. He allows me to be stronger than I was before. Without William, my strength was only an artifice; it was as easy to pierce as tissue paper."

"Make one other happy," the Goddess commanded as Florence felt herself fading from the plane.

When Florence awoke for a second time, she realized that she had shifted and fed at some point during the night. Her belly was full and she was curled up comfortably into a ball with her mate; it was a pleasant way to wake, although it was somewhat chilly as their fire had gone cold during the night.

William was waking as well, and from the comfortable smile on his face, he seemed to be as content with his situation as Florence was. He licked her snout and ears in a wolfish good morning, and Flo knew that waking up with her mate made her life complete. She didn't really care if they were wolf or human, she knew that if they were together, life would prove to be manageable. She leaned into him, curling into his warmth and protection.

She had just gotten relaxed again when Ja-mul yelled out, "Hey, you two better shift back. Triple A will be here before too much longer, and I don't think the repair guy will be comfortable with two wolves watching him work."

Florence growled at Ja-mul momentarily before accepting that their all too brief period of relaxation was over, and that she and her mate would have to shift back and rejoin the human world. It was nice while it lasted she thought to herself.

"I wish that I had a clearer memory of everything that happened last night," Ja-mul remarked. "I hadn't eaten rattlesnake in many years, and now I'm not even sure that I enjoyed it."

"You ate rattlesnake? When was this?" Florence asked.

"You and William caught them last night; evidently you found a nest of them somewhere. I can't say that I'd ever eaten them raw before though. I sure wish I could remember what they tasted like now, but the lights were still popping on and off then; we were in the in-between place."

"Wait..." William said, "We caught, and ate, rattlesnakes?"

"Yeah, a bunch of them, check out the heads and the rattlers," Ja-mul said, showing them a coffee can filled with them. "These came from in-between, and they will have great power."

"...and we didn't get bitten?"

"Oh Hell no, you were both repeatedly bitten, but I think that it just added to the power of the seeds you had eaten; I've never seen a trance last that long."

Florence realized that the old man had played her yet again, and growled at Ja-mul saying, "That 'anti-itch' medicine that you gave us..."

"It worked didn't it. You don't itch anymore, now do you?" Ja-mul replied dryly.

Florence's eyes narrowed as she continued to growl as she took a step towards the old man.

"Now grand-daughter, don't be like that. The Lady wanted to talk to you, and it was the only way to cross the divide. But I will admit that I didn't know that wolves had that strong of a reaction to venom however. I may have to write that down."

"See there Florence," said William, reaching out to calm his mate, "We taught the old crook something new."

"Yeah, so he can be even more dangerous," she spat.

Seeing the now venomous look upon Florence's face, Ja-mul did something he rarely did, he kept his mouth shut. He just lowered his head respectfully and wouldn't meet her glare.

Florence found that continuing to stare the man down wasn't making her feel any better, so instead, she switched gears and began pressing William for details about his conversation with the Goddess. Eager to defuse tensions between his loved ones, William began to explain his experience. He had not gotten far however before the repair truck pulled up, and they were forced to end their discussion before it had really started.

~~~

Back in the city, Beth was just pulling on her brand her new pair of boots. "Hey, you dumb bastard," she sent to Tom. "These boots that you are buying for me; I bet that you didn't know they come in red. Darlin' I've finally found myself some little red boots."

Tom merely chuckled to himself and sent back, "Ah, but remember your promise. You said that whatever I pay for, I get to take off of you."

Beth paused for a moment, and then she decided to tell him the truth. "Yeah Tom... about that... Our new pack number two instructed me to spend all of your money, flirt outrageously with you, and then to leave you hanging with a stupid look on your face. You might remember that she was pretty mad at you guys when we set this up."

Tom snorted, "Oh yeah, I thought she'd freaking explode when Sam brought her your doggy-style t-shirt. I bet she tore that thing to shreds."

"Actually... she brought it back washed and folded. She set this whole thing up in order to get even with you guys."

"No way!"

"Way. She was madder than a wet hen, but she kept it together and then just stabbed you back...hard."

"So why am I buying you boots?"

"Because I'm nice enough to be letting you know that your new number two is smarter than you thought she was. Even back when you two thought she was an easy target, she was just working you two."

"Crap. You are teaching her to act like you do."

"Why thank you Tom, aint you so sweet!"

"That wasn't a compliment, Beth."

"Sure it was, and besides all that, these boots are only a couple hundred bucks and now you get the pleasure of seeing me wear them when I'm dancing."

"You women aint right."

"I still love you like a brother, Tom. So, maybe I owe you one. Which one do you want, Maria or Margarita?"

"What?"

"Evidently these bitches like to honky-tonk with bad boys. Have you got anyone in mind?"

"So, I'm buying you new Wranglers too?"

Beth laughed to herself and closed their connection before waving the sales girl over to let her know that the boots were perfect and that she could wrap them up. She then sent the shop girl to the other girls, directing her to help them find boots for dancing. Her work done, she headed over to the western wear racks and began looking for the perfect pain of jeans, something that would accent her new boots.

As she began to dig through the offerings, she kept a wary eye on her charges, but it was pretty clear that the two sisters would require little supervision, obviously quite happy to shop until Beth ran out of money. Beth knew that was pretty much impossible, so she relaxed and began to consider her own situation.

She knew that Florence was more than ready to take over the duties of running the various businesses of Whiskey Town, and that she probably had been ready for some time now. Beth had not chosen to move forward only because of Florence's past emotional state, Flo had been so frazzled and unhappy that neither Beth nor John had thought it to be a wise move; she had been entirely too unstable. Clearly things had changed though, and the changes were accelerating as Florence was growing into her own skin. It was clear now that she was going to become a very strong Madam Alpha, and while Beth was extremely proud of her adoptive daughter, she wasn't sure what these changes meant for her own life.

Beth had been operating as de-facto Madam Alpha almost from the day of her turning. She loved her job and she was far from ready to retire from it. It wasn't as though she was an old wolf, and no one really knew how long wolves lived anyway. Sam, Tom, and John were all hundreds of years older than she, and none of them had shown any indication that they were slowing down. All three of them looked to be in early middle age, pretty much how they had looked when they had been turned.

What the Hell will I do if Florence replaces me? It's not like I have a mate or a family to focus on! I'm not sure that I'm the one for some sort of senior advisor position. I'll never stand in Florence's way, but Goddess, I sure hope that you have something in mind for me too.

Beth knew that she would have to be patient, but she also knew that this was not one of her strengths. Grabbing an angry wolf by the balls and getting him to change his attitude, she was good at that. Waiting? Not so much. This reflection calmed her though, and she found herself smiling despite the stress.

Well, I guess I can still steer John around. Goddess knows that he needs the help.

And then she sent a silent prayer, "Lady, You know that we've all worked long and hard for you. Please have a new job for us if you are going to take our old one!"