Blood and Chocolate

Bingo added her own interpretation. "Now, baby, use your zombie litter."

"Good one," Jem conceded joyfully.

Vivian settled back into the cushions. This was great. She had an ally. Who would have guessed? She was having the most fun she'd had with anyone in ages, and they weren't even pack. We can be friends, she thought. It needn't be them and us.

But what if they saw her in her wolf-shape? They'd be fleeing down the streets like those teenagers on the television.

"Stop, wait," she said for a zombie that chased some kids down an alley. "Let's play Scrabble."

Jem and Bingo cracked up.

Chapter 15

15

The trees in Gaskill State Park were festooned with crystal raindrops, and thunder still rumbled in distant skies. The air was thick with mist as the heat of the day steamed from the turf into the pewter light of dusk.

Figures wound through the trees and emerged into the clearing - pairs, singles, groups. Vivian watched them arrive from the fallen elm where she perched. Some chattered in hushed, excited tones, others came silently. Most had walked a long distance after the two-hour drive, their cars, vans, or bikes parked along lonely-country roads, in hidden clearings and forgotten lanes  -  anywhere they wouldn't attract a park ranger's eye.

Lucien Dafoe hobbled between two friends, complaining loudly that he was still too hurt to fight. Vivian sniffed in disgust. Her people healed faster than that.

"I hope someone beats the crap out of him," Lucien said, nodding toward Gabriel, who was laughing with a friend. "Someone not so prissy about where and what he can hunt."

Gabriel pulled off his T-shirt and tossed it on the ground. His body was a sculptured, oiled machine straight out of an action movie poster. Vivian caught the smell of his musk on the moist, hot air - the odor of power and excitement mixed with that of cheap strong soap. It made the light fur on the back of her neck bristle.

Over by honeysuckle-strangled bushes stood Willem, Finn, Gregory, and Ulf. Ulf stared beyond his companions, ignoring their cackles and good-humored punches. His thin shoulders were rigid, his fists tight balls at his sides. Vivian followed his gaze and saw two figures entangled in the shadows of a white oak. If logic hadn't told her otherwise she would have thought they devoured each other. The female broke away, laughing, and left the male behind, clutching after her. She stepped into the clearing and revealed herself as Astrid. It was Rafe who pursued her, his mouth still open and wet from her tongue.

Rafe and Astrid! Vivian glanced back at Ulf and understood the taut fury on his face. The slut, Vivian thought. She didn't care who she hurt. Ulf now, Rafe later, if she won the bitches' match after the male Ordeal, and earned the right to claim the new leader as her mate.

"Did you see that?" Esmé sat down on the log beside Vivian and nodded in the direction of Astrid.

"Yeah," Vivian answered. "She's old enough to be his mother."

Esmé's lips twitched; then she tried to look serious.

"God, Mom, you don't approve, do you?"

Esmé grimaced. "No. It can only lead to trouble." She paused, the smile returning. "Most of us only fantasize about it."

"Mom!"

Vivian didn't have a chance to continue. Renata strode up. Her shorts were unzipped and a fluff of tan fur already covered her belly. "Astrid's gonna cause blood between those young dogs one day." She wiped the sweat off her upper lip with a hand that tapered into long, long claws. "I'll kill that alley cat if she harms my son."

"Don't worry, Rennie," Esmé comforted. "Gregory's the most sensible of those fools."

Vivian sniffed. "That's not saying much."

Esmé dug her with an elbow and Vivian shut up.

"So," said Renata to Vivian. "Will you dance the bitches' dance? You're old enough now."

"No," Vivian snapped. She wasn't about to make an exhibition of herself to win the favor of whichever muscle-bound cretin won.

Esmé laughed. "She wouldn't want to hurt her old mom, would you, sweetheart? She's gonna cheer me on."

Fat chance, Vivian thought. More likely die of embarrassment.

A hum of interest buzzed around the clearing. With the first pale glimmer of moonlight over the tops of the trees, Orlando Griffin arrived and Rudy with him. They would act as referees this night, to see that the Law was carried out. The pack drew in and gathered around them to wait for Orlando's word. Vivian, Esmé, and Renata joined the others.