“Sometimes, I really hate being part-wolf,” the old man muttered under his breath. As the door to his store closed, he placed the envelope that Dick Trevor had just delivered into his battered trenchcoat’s pocket. Richard Ford knew that the man’s lingering stench wouldn’t be leaving his coat for a good month, even after washing it a few times.  I love being able to smell a rose from a football field’s length away; a burger grilling over at Maisey’s across the street from my shop counter. But the days when I have to meet people who think a shower is merely a suggestion and then decide to go out in public really makes me regret this snout of mine. He sighed heavily as he flipped the Open sign to Closed. He paused for a moment to let a more pleasant memory filter through his funk. Sarah had carved it during a summer camp and Elizabeth had painted it. He gently ran his fingers over the semi-smooth lettering and smiled. Then another whiff of Dick Trevor blew into his nostrils and Richard snorted in disgust.  This is my favorite jacket. With a soft grunt, he put the offending clothing on the antique coat rack that was only about half as old as its owner.  He switched off the lights to the showroom and walked to his office in the back of the store. 

He had owned Ford’s Hardware for almost forty years now, seeing it through good times and bad. Despite the larger retail stores that had moved in and offered selections he could only dream about, he was such a pillar to the local contractors that they always came to him first. The fact that he was one of the most knowledgeable men in the county when it came to construction, and that most of the local contractors had been coming to the store in training pants with their fathers while Richard always had a lollipop ready for them probably didn’t hurt either.  He had always planned to retire and pass it on to his son Keith one day and spend time out at Cooper’s Lake fishing from dawn to dusk. He had imagined himself out there in a small cottage bouncing grandkids and great-grandkids on his knee while telling them tall tales and stories. Fate, the cruel mistress that she can be, had other plans.

Gazing out at the darkened store, Richard’s mind once again began replaying that day in all its brutality and horror. 

He had just gotten home from taking Kyle to the movies when the living room phone rang. Keith and Sarah, had been trying for years to have another child but were unsuccessful. Then, like a true Christmas miracle, Sarah found out that she was pregnant on Kyle’s ninth birthday. That was one of the happiest winters the entire Harper clan had ever had. Richard’s smile at the memory of Keith opening a wrapped gift from Sarah with a positive pregnancy test inside slowly faded as his eyes began to moisten as the rest of the memory played. Four months later, while Keith and Sarah were off to her obstetrician for their second sonogram, Richard had offered to babysit Kyle. Everything was going perfectly, just another April spring day. Then he had answered that goddamn phone. 

It was a nurse from St. Christopher’s. She told Richard that there had been an accident and that he needed to get to the emergency room immediately.  As tears began to run, Richard, no matter how hard he tried, still could not remember the trip from Keith’s house to the hospital. If he hadn’t had Kyle with him, he’d have gone full wolf and torn down anything in his path, any human onlookers be damned. Just about breaking down the sliding glass doors of the front entrance, he ran straight to the receptionist. She told him in that devoid-of-any-life, overly-practiced monotone of hers that the attending physician would be right out and explain what was going on. I very nearly tore that desk of hers into splinters. This was my family for God’s sake! She’s part of the clan! How could she be so calm when my entire world was caving in?!

It was probably only a minute, maybe two, but, for Richard, it might as well have been an eternity.  Before giving his wolf full reign and tearing the waiting room apart, a short, stocky man in blood-soaked scrubs approached him. 

The slow, measured cadence of his walk, the way Dr. Hooper, Chief of Surgery and Richard’s third-in-command met his eyes unblinkingly, even the stench of sweat and sorrow that clung to the man’s scrubs had told the old man everything before a word was spoken. As Reed held onto the collapsing Richard, he explained what had happened.

 Some kid, barely old enough to shave, let alone drive a car with that much horsepower, was showing off his birthday gift to his football buddies. He lost control and veered into the oncoming lane. He had hit Keith’s car head-on at roughly sixty miles per hour, the speed limit was twenty-five. The impact killed Keith instantly, while the resulting fire and blood loss were too much for Sarah’s wereabilities to overcome and she had just died on the operating table with her baby girl. 

If it hadn’t been for that nine-year-old boy in that old plastic chair too young and too stunned to fully realize just yet what had happened to the three most important people in his life, Richard would have stormed out, found that kid’s parents or whoever the hell had taught him to drive and given him those keys, and then would have been joyfully feasting on their heart without any regret or remorse. While his wolf raged within, those little boy’s wide hazel eyes tore at the man without. Rushing over to Kyle’s side, he wrapped the boy in his arms and both began weeping. 

Back in the present, Richard took the old rag he kept in his back pocket and used to dust off his countertops to wipe away the tears streaming down his cheeks. He let his gaze drift down the aisles of the store and saw ghostly images of Kyle at various points in the boy’s life.

Down that one, Keith showed a six-year-old Kyle the difference between a Phillips and a standard screwdriver and, naturally, the reason why they were different. The boy always was so inquisitive. Over there, a teenage Kyle sweeping the floor, smiling proudly in his Ford’s apron during his summer break. On the stoop outside the entrance, Kyle, a full-grown man, was on one knee proposing to a weeping, nodding Becca while the crew at Maisey’s cheered and offered them drinks and a meal on the house. 

This old store was more than just a place to buy tools and lumber. It was his home, filled with just as many memories as the little ranch house that he shared with Kyle until he had found an apartment of his own. The day would eventually come when he’d have to close the store for good or sell it. He didn’t want to but he knew that he wouldn’t force Kyle to take it over for him. The young boy had grown into a fine man and had his own life to lead. Richard couldn’t be happier or prouder of him. 

The kid did alright for what happened to him. Sarah, you’d be so proud of him. Keith, he looks so much like you that, sometimes, I have to catch myself from calling him by your name. I wish I could have met your little girl. God, I miss you all so much and I wish you could see him. I’ll see you soon enough I suppose. May the wind be always at your back and your hunts successful. I love you both.

Looking out the main display window, he saw the sun starting to set over the diner. He grimaced. Good job, old man! You’re going on and on about the boy being tardy and now, if you don’t get a move on, you’re going to be late to the party! Speaking of tardiness…., he picked up the remote handset he kept in his apron pocket and dialed his grandson. 

“Hey there, Pops,”
“Just checking in on you, boy. Wanted to tell you that Dick dropped off the payment.”

“Great! Guess there’s going to be a little extra for the honeymoon then!”

“Also, you are on the way, aren’t you?”

“Yep. I just finished getting changed and was about to hop in the truck and head out. Want me to pick you up on the way?”

“Not a bad idea. There’s also something we need to discuss.” Richard’s light tone turned serious. “Wolf to wolf.” Richard could almost see Kyle wince at that last statement. Kyle didn’t mind what he was, he just never really cared much about it, much to the older man’s chagrin.  But at least Kyle kept his tone as pleasant as ever.

“No problem. I’ll be over in a few minutes then. See you soon Pops.”

“See you soon.” 

Richard started locking up. The store had been quiet all day and he knew no one would fault him for closing up a little early the day before his grandson’s wedding. He went back to his office to grab his second favorite jacket and waited for Kyle at the delivery entrance in the rear. He’d take the payment over to the bank tomorrow on his way to the wedding and also put in a little bit extra as a surprise. It wasn’t every day, after all, that your only grandson was getting married to the most beautiful EMT in the state. 

Once Kyle picked up Richard, the old truck drove through the small town on the way to Becca’s parents’ house in the woodlands a few miles from the city limits. 

Derrick’s Falls was an anachronism. The town was made up of roughly twenty-thousand inhabitants located in central Illinois. It was a throwback to the imagined ideal that Americans had of the 1950s with a still bustling Main Street full of stores that had been passed down through generations. Carefully planned out, with plenty of landscaping between the houses, businesses, and roads of the town, it never seemed too crowded or too urban. It was just what it had originally set out to be: a nice place to live and raise a family.  

As Kyle pulled onto the forest-shrouded road that led to Becca’s parents’ place, he looked over at his grandfather. “So what is it, Pops? Is this another lecture about me not coming to the last few pack meetings?”

The older man grunted. “No. But since you brought it up, you do have to start showing up more often. Those meetings are important for our protection and pack.”

Kyle scoffed at that. “Protection, Pops? This isn’t the dark ages or the wild frontier anymore. We don’t need to hunt with 24/7 convenience stores around.” He wryly chuckled. “In fact, thanks to those blasted sparkling vampire books, if anyone ever did see one of us, they’d either want a selfie, autograph, or us in their bed. Probably all three. We don’t need to worry about some wannabe knight or gunslinger coming at us with silver blades or bullets anymore.” He glanced over to his grandfather. “Besides, it’s not like those meetings ever change. It’s been the same topics over and over since I graduated high school. No one even challenges your place as Alpha anymore. Everyone seems content with keeping the status quo and not rocking the boat. Things just aren’t the same anymore since your time. About the only thing that they’re good for anymore is helping kids when they hit puberty and their wolves begin to emerge. Heck, between the internet, a pamphlet, and their parents, it would be enough.”

He shook his head. “Pops, it’s weird enough for a kid to find out they’re growing hair in weird places. It’s even weirder when it started growing everywhere that the school textbooks didn’t say they would. Dealing with a cracking voice is bad enough, but suddenly you’re howling at all hours of the night whether it’s a full moon or not, and breaking your nail clippers. That’s pretty scary for a kid.” He paused for a moment. “Especially for a kid who didn’t have anyone who could explain it,” he finished so softly that it took Richard’s keen hearing to even pick it up. Before the older man could respond, Kyle replied hastily, “Don’t get me wrong Pops. You were great at it but there’s still some part of me that wishes it had been Mom who walked me through it. I know you did the best you could and I love you for it but...still,” he raised his right hand in exasperation. “It just didn’t feel like enough. Once I was old enough to understand just how different our family was, I started having dreams about running through the forests with her. We would be chasing down a deer or just running to outrace the wind. I don’t think the content mattered. Those dreams felt so real and it was like I was having something so incredibly special with her even though she was long gone.” He paused to take a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Pops. You were an amazing teacher because you taught me everything that you taught her but I just felt…” he left the sentence hanging in mid-air.

Richard wiped his hand through his close-cropped salt and pepper hair to help settle his thoughts. Taking a deep breath, he started in that soft rumble that Kyle had spent so many nights hearing bedtime stories from. “I know, Kyle. I know exactly what you mean. The bond between a wolf and his/her cubs is an incredibly strong one, stronger than any of us really know I imagine.” He paused a moment. “Any replacement, no matter how well-intentioned or loving, can’t compare to it or make up the difference.” His tone hardened a bit. “That said, your cavalier attitude about being a wolf does worry me though son, and I imagine it would worry Sarah too. We want what’s best for you, that’s all.” Before Kyle could respond, the older man raised his arm to silence him. “But you’re a full-grown man now and responsible for your own decisions. However, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about in the first place.” 

Richard sighed and said, “Pull over here for a second, Kyle. We need to talk.” Kyle silently nodded and pulled off to the berm and put the truck in park. The two men listened to the engine idle for a few seconds before Richard sighed again.

“Lizzy, this is even more difficult than when you had me talk to Sarah.” He looked up past the truck’s roof.  “I know both of you are laughing at my expense right now.” He looked over at his grandson face to face. “Kyle, we’ve been dancing around this for a long time and I should have talked to you sooner but I’ve been too damn embarrassed to do it.” 

Kyle rolled his eyes and looked at the black roof of the truck. “Oh, I knew it! The sex talk! You’re going to give me the sex talk. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable that is at my age?!”

“Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is when you’re explaining it to your daughter,” Richard replied mildly.

Kyle grimaced at the mild rebuke and mumbled his apology. 

“Besides,” Richard continued in that soft rumble, “it’s the Alpha’s duty as packmaster to make sure that those who are going into wolf-human pairings know exactly what they’re doing. Because son,” Richard’s matching hazel eyes were as hard as flint, “I could tell you about wolves I knew who thought they knew everything, took a human to bed, and paid for their mistake in blood and tears. I am not letting that happen to the two of you.” His voice was as stern and solid as a crag. “So, whether either of us likes it or not, you are going to listen to me and you will not move this truck an inch until I’m finished. Got it?”

Kyle hadn’t heard his grandfather use that tone directed at him for a very long time. “Yes sir,” he replied meekly.

Richard’s tone softened a bit as he figured the boy had finally realized the severity of what was going on. “First, there’s a lot more to us wolves than just the perks of night vision, keener senses, and the ability to snap a tree in half with our bare hands. We each have our inner wolf. From the way you’ve been acting, it’s pretty clear that you haven’t been listening to yours nearly as well as you should be, if at all.  That’s my fault. I own up to it. I should have kept on you about it but you’ve got a point too. Things here are too peaceful and maybe all of us have lost a step or two where it counts.” He tried to add a little levity to the suddenly grim atmosphere. “That said, if there’s one thing a wolf loves more than hunting, it’s mating.” Richard didn’t comment on the way Kyle’s cheeks suddenly flushed as he knew the boy was thinking the same thing that he had thought when his father talked to him before he married Elizabeth. “The desire to breed and produce offspring is very strong in us, son. For a wolf, it’s bred deep in our core.  So when our inner wolf finds out what’s about to happen, they can get too excited at the prospect. If you’re not careful son, the wolf can and will take control and the results will be unpleasant at the best, horrific at worst.”

Kyle shook with frustration and then looked at his grandfather. “What do you mean Pops?! Are you saying that no matter what happens that I’d hurt Becca? I’ve been staying up nights worrying about this! I keep having nightmares about turning and slashing her to bits and now you’re telling me that my wolf is growling at the door hungry for the prospect of finishing the job?”

Richard placed a placating hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “Kyle, there’s no need to panic. Wolves mate for life and, there’s no easy way to say this, the more you do it with her, the less the wolf will act up as it settles down and accepts the mating bond. That said, the first couple weeks, maybe a month or so, you have to be careful and let your wolf know that you’re the one calling the shots, not him. Then again, you’re so out of tune with it, it might not even put up that much of a fight. It’d be a lot easier if you had accepted him but that’s water under the bridge now. Just take a few minutes to practice your control exercises before you and Becca get to the starting line and you’ll be fine.” Richard grinned at his grandson. “I mean,  if a wolf had to worry about sex every single time, do you think you’d be here, let alone your mother?”

Kyle shook his head and then had a matching grin. “Good point. Thanks, Pops.” He reached over to hug his grandfather. Once the two separated, he re-buckled his seat belt. “I appreciate the heads-up. I know that you’re only looking for us. I’m sorry I’ve been a jerk about this.”

Richard waved his hand. “Don’t worry too much about it son.” The older man chuckled.  “You took it a lot easier than your mother. Trust me on that.”

Kyle put the truck in gear and started back on the road. “So, Pops, you ready for your toast Mr. Best Man?”

Richard chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I made sure it’ll tell the world how wonderful the bride is and that’s there enough embarrassment for the groom to keep his cheeks red until his plane touches down in Tahiti.”

As the truck turned off the road onto the gravel driveway of Becca’s house, Kyle groaned. “Thanks again, Pops. What would I ever do without you?”

***

Elsewhere, a darkly-painted helicopter landed in a clearing. Disgorging heavily armed men, they broke into two teams of five and started jogging through the thick forest.