heard.
Just on the human side of a bear's growl.
“ You've said your piece. I will consider it,”
he said firmly. “Now, please go. Leave me in peace. This cold
makes me very tired.”
“ There's more to this isn't there?” I
reached out, clasping his shoulder in rigid fingers. “Why won't
you tell me? Can't you do it for Clarence?”
Franklin whirled. His lips drew back angrily, equal
parts frustration and sadness.
“ Don't you dare use my dear brother's memory to
bribe me. I know you won't believe me, but councilman Emmerick is
right. If you weren't so taken with this human girl and gave him a
little more credit, you'd realize that.”
“ Realize what? ”
I snorted. “It seems to me there are a lot of things I never
realized here, and nobody cares to fill me in. What about the fact
that my mother was the last human in Horseshoe Creek?”
“ Clarence should have told you. I wanted him to
before he died.” Franklin sucked in a loud, thick breath.
I saw the glassy melancholy stewing in his eyes and
relaxed a little. He still cared – even though he was just as
prone to lies and secrecy as the rest of the Elders.
“ Clara was the last one we allowed in – the
last one we allowed to mate with one of us – and for a very
good reason.” Franklin watched me try to speak, and then stop.
I'd lost my words in waiting. “Having you is what killed her.”
Fuck. Now I know he's covering something up.
The slow burning fuse inside me hit its dynamite rod and
exploded. “Tell me the truth, old man! What the hell are you
talking about?”
I lunged forward, gripping his oversized cloak.
Franklin's eyes glowed, big and gold behind his spectacles, the same
animal energy a man brimmed with before he released his bear.
I loosened my grip, but only a little to keep his feet
from leaving the floor. I didn't want to fight him, but I was more
than a match. Youth and regular exercise had their benefits.
“ Don't you get it, boy?” Franklin's voice
was low, hoarse. “Yes, we had all sorts of dealings with humans
in the past. Some of our descendents are probably out there now,
ignorant of their ancestry, except for that horrible ache to taste
blood, to hunt, and to turn when they get angry.”
“ I don't care,” I said.
“ But you need to. Clara died because her body
wasn't meant to carry a shifter child. Neither were the other women
who mated with our males in the old times. And the men who loved our
females...don't get me started. I remember it well...her fever came,
and then the headache like fire. Emmerick and another man –
Rudy, I think – saw to her as best they could. But the stroke,
the aneurism was too much. So was the heartbreak of losing your
father.”
Franklin shook his head. My hands went limp, tingling
all the way to my heart.
“ I don't understand...you're telling me my father
somehow caused this?”
The Elder nodded sadly. “It took Clara's death to
confirm what Emmerick already suspected. Every human woman dies of
the fever just the same. Always a year, maybe two, after giving
birth. It comes without warning.”
My stomach boiled. I wanted to heave, overwhelmed with
sickly shock.
“ The things we do
aren't meant to keep us scared, held up here, locked away from the
outside world. They're mostly for the human's benefit. We really are
a cursed creature, just like Emmerick says. We can't reproduce
without taking life. The only moral thing to do is let go, live our
lives, and say no more. ”
I took several steps backward, still shaking. My head
spun. I thought about Sam, wondering if I'd already doomed her.
For a second, I wanted to forget his words, to guess
that this was some complicated scheme crafted by Emmerick to throw us
all off. But the tense emotions written on his old face were too
real.
Way too fucking honest too.
“ Go home and get some rest, Don.” He gently
laid one hand on my shoulder. “Keep your relationship with this
human girl friendly and productive. Nothing
Just on the human side of a bear's growl.
“ You've said your piece. I will consider it,”
he said firmly. “Now, please go. Leave me in peace. This cold
makes me very tired.”
“ There's more to this isn't there?” I
reached out, clasping his shoulder in rigid fingers. “Why won't
you tell me? Can't you do it for Clarence?”
Franklin whirled. His lips drew back angrily, equal
parts frustration and sadness.
“ Don't you dare use my dear brother's memory to
bribe me. I know you won't believe me, but councilman Emmerick is
right. If you weren't so taken with this human girl and gave him a
little more credit, you'd realize that.”
“ Realize what? ”
I snorted. “It seems to me there are a lot of things I never
realized here, and nobody cares to fill me in. What about the fact
that my mother was the last human in Horseshoe Creek?”
“ Clarence should have told you. I wanted him to
before he died.” Franklin sucked in a loud, thick breath.
I saw the glassy melancholy stewing in his eyes and
relaxed a little. He still cared – even though he was just as
prone to lies and secrecy as the rest of the Elders.
“ Clara was the last one we allowed in – the
last one we allowed to mate with one of us – and for a very
good reason.” Franklin watched me try to speak, and then stop.
I'd lost my words in waiting. “Having you is what killed her.”
Fuck. Now I know he's covering something up.
The slow burning fuse inside me hit its dynamite rod and
exploded. “Tell me the truth, old man! What the hell are you
talking about?”
I lunged forward, gripping his oversized cloak.
Franklin's eyes glowed, big and gold behind his spectacles, the same
animal energy a man brimmed with before he released his bear.
I loosened my grip, but only a little to keep his feet
from leaving the floor. I didn't want to fight him, but I was more
than a match. Youth and regular exercise had their benefits.
“ Don't you get it, boy?” Franklin's voice
was low, hoarse. “Yes, we had all sorts of dealings with humans
in the past. Some of our descendents are probably out there now,
ignorant of their ancestry, except for that horrible ache to taste
blood, to hunt, and to turn when they get angry.”
“ I don't care,” I said.
“ But you need to. Clara died because her body
wasn't meant to carry a shifter child. Neither were the other women
who mated with our males in the old times. And the men who loved our
females...don't get me started. I remember it well...her fever came,
and then the headache like fire. Emmerick and another man –
Rudy, I think – saw to her as best they could. But the stroke,
the aneurism was too much. So was the heartbreak of losing your
father.”
Franklin shook his head. My hands went limp, tingling
all the way to my heart.
“ I don't understand...you're telling me my father
somehow caused this?”
The Elder nodded sadly. “It took Clara's death to
confirm what Emmerick already suspected. Every human woman dies of
the fever just the same. Always a year, maybe two, after giving
birth. It comes without warning.”
My stomach boiled. I wanted to heave, overwhelmed with
sickly shock.
“ The things we do
aren't meant to keep us scared, held up here, locked away from the
outside world. They're mostly for the human's benefit. We really are
a cursed creature, just like Emmerick says. We can't reproduce
without taking life. The only moral thing to do is let go, live our
lives, and say no more. ”
I took several steps backward, still shaking. My head
spun. I thought about Sam, wondering if I'd already doomed her.
For a second, I wanted to forget his words, to guess
that this was some complicated scheme crafted by Emmerick to throw us
all off. But the tense emotions written on his old face were too
real.
Way too fucking honest too.
“ Go home and get some rest, Don.” He gently
laid one hand on my shoulder. “Keep your relationship with this
human girl friendly and productive. Nothing
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