Silver Moon (A Women of Wolf's Point Novel) by Catherine Lundoff Page B

beforehand?”
    “Well, I could smell how scared the boy was and I was covered with blood and everything hurt. But I knew I couldn’t carry him down the mountain in my jaws, not without hurting him. So I guess I was just thinking about what needed to be done and how I could make that happen.” Becca shrugged. “Did I do something special?”
    Erin laughed but seemed to sober up quickly when Shelly caught her eye. “Yes,” Shelly said finally. “You did something special. New wolves can’t make that kind of partial change, or at least I’ve never heard of it happening. Not enough control. Even wolves who’ve been changing for a while have a hard time with it and most can’t do it.”
    Becca tried to figure out if this was a good thing or not. Shelly didn’t look mad, just surprised, so that was something. Erin, on the other hand, looked fit to burst. Her eyes were sparkling and she winked at Becca. And Becca, for a wonderment, didn’t find herself blushing and avoiding eye contact. Nope, this time around, she just smiled back and wondered why this made her neighbor so happy.
    “All right, Becca. I think it worked out reasonably well this time, all things considered. But I also think you got lucky. That you left to begin with is partially my fault: I haven’t been able to pay the kind of attention to you that I should have because of my mom. We’ve talked about it and Erin’s going to train you instead.” Shelly stood up a little straighter and her voice left no room for argument.
    Which didn’t stop Becca from trying. She wasn’t sure she should spend that much time around Erin. It would get weird fast. “Training? But what about her arm?”
    “We’ll manage,” Erin said, her tone quiet and amused. “And half-controlled changes or not, there’s a lot you don’t know about being one of us.”
    There wasn’t much point arguing with that. Becca reached for Ed’s folder and Erin handed it back. “Stop worrying about the house. We’ll make something work out.”
    That was enough to make Becca feel slightly more optimistic. Maybe everything would be all right. Somehow.
    Erin sat down in the chair opposite while Shelly settled in on the edge of the desk. “Next topic. Lizzie said that she took you up to see the cave,” Erin remarked as if she were talking about the weather.
    “Yep. What does that have to do with any of this?”
    “How did the cave make you feel?”
    “I dunno. Kind of crackly around the edges like it was electric or something. And it was creepy, all those women changing into wolves. How come this doesn’t happen to men?”
    Shelly blew her breath out in a sigh, almost like she was expecting to hear something else. “It does happen to men. Just not here and not the same way it happens to us. There are two different kinds of wolves, Becca, and they change for different reasons. Erin, you’ll need to cover that in your training. Do you think we’re creepy too?”
    Now there was a question. Becca looked from one to the other of her friends, seeing them change in her mind’s eye. Shelly’s eyes flickered gold for an instant and Becca decided to go with honesty. “Sometimes. I’m just not used to the idea yet. And I don’t know that I ever will be. Does Pete know? And the kids, other than Kira?”
    Shelly tilted her head to one side. “I don’t keep secrets from Pete if I can help it. Pack business, yes, but not something like this. I was afraid I might hurt him or the kids when it first happened. Kira found out by accident. She says the other kids don’t know and I’m not ready to tell them yet.”
    “How long have you been changing?”
    “Six years.” Shelly glanced at the clock and Becca followed her look. If it was a hint, it was a pretty successful one. She’d be making up a couple of hours for this paycheck at this rate.
    “I should get back. Pete’ll be wondering what happened to me.”
    Becca blew her nose and stood up, feeling better than she had since before