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How one week can mess things up.

Ohh, man...

What was I going to do here?

My brother Chris was already dating Tracy Locke.

And I'd accepted a date from her cousin Carson.

Not quite cats and dogs, but you get the idea, I'm sure.

There are times I really do wish the ground actually did open up and swallow people. Like me.

Do it now please and don't bother with the paperwork. I'll do that later.

If life could be so easy.

“Hi.” Tracy, on my brother's arm smiled and held out her hand.

“Hi yourself.” I responded not all that intelligently much to my chagrin, and actually did manage to smile at her. We touched hands and left it at that.

“So what do you two have planned for tonight?” I innocently asked while really wanting to go somewhere and hide.

“Oh, going to a movie after getting something to eat.” Chris calmly told me then hit me with the whammy I really didn't want to hear. “You're looking good. You got plans for the evening too?”

“Don't tease her.” Tracy told him and instantly earned good points in my estimation of her. “A girl doesn't always just gush out what she has planned for a night out.”

I was grateful, but that 'girl' comment almost lost her points on the grading scale there.

“Right.” I smirked instead of pulling my hair out. “Going out with a friend for awhile.”

Tracy smiled at me and asked the killer question. “Want to meet me somewhere in town tomorrow? We could hang out, get to know each other a little.”

“Sure.” I answered before I had time to kick myself into another answer. “Mario's?”

“Good enough.” Tracy grinned. “Say around two tomorrow afternoon?”

“Sure.” I grinned back. Wow! I was going to hang out with my brother's girlfriend. That could have caused a bunch of problems before my birthday, and to be honest, it could do that now too. But part of me liked the idea. “See you then.”

Look at it this way. I wouldn't be competition for Chris. I wasn't a lesbian, that had been driven in to my head with a red hot spike already, and I didn't think Tracy was either. But we seemed to have something in common besides my brother though what that was didn't quite want to come out into the open just yet.

Chris gave me the same look I know I'd given Carly when she made arrangements to 'hang out' with my girlfriends when I'd been a boy.

And I thought it was hilarious. Like I was going to sit with his girlfriend and dissect his performance! That would have just been... Gross.

But he didn't know that and I knew that he would really work to be a gentleman and show Tracy a good time now. Without any idea that it was a huge female plot to keep the guys in line.

I had no idea that guys were so clueless before I changed.

Now.

Carson was coming.

Why oh why did my insides melt every time I thought about that guy?

Oh yeah, what I was wearing. No it wasn't that sexy little red dress.

I was in a pair of nice black capris, a gold colored top that didn't show anything — other than outlines because it was kind of tight — but that's how tops for girls are if they aren't all poofy and fluttery.

Ballet flats, also black, and so what, I'd put on some makeup and worked some on my hair.

A girl doesn't want to look like a slob, after all.

“Cindy!” My aunt called because I'd started heading back upstairs. “Someone is here to see you!”

I got downstairs without touching one of the treads. Really. Being a were has advantages even if you are in human form, and walked to the door.

And there was Carson.

I was really glad I'd taken Carly's advice about panty liners.

“Hi.” I greeted Tracy as I walked into Mario's and joined her at a table.

“Hey, Cindy.” She seemed relieved as if she thought I wouldn't show up. “How was your date last night?”

“Great.” I grinned remembering Carsons arm around me and that goodnight kiss we'd had. “How about yours?

“Good.” She grinned. “Want the gory details?”

“Ewww.” I grimaced. “You were with my cousin. Just glad you had a good time.”

“What? No he's a really great guy and all that?” She teased.

“You'll make up your own mind about that.” I shrugged. “I could gush, get creepy, demand, but it's you and him. I'm just kind of out here watching.”

“I like you.” Tracy grinned at me and shook her head.

“Thanks.” I smiled back and noticed that her smell was a lot like Carson's. Wolf. Bad idea to piss one of them off, but I just got the impression she wasn't like that. “I think I could like you, too.”

“Think?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Hey, I've seen you at school, from a distance, and seen you with Chris from another kind of distance. You don't seem like a bad person, but I haven't really seen you.”

“Good point.” She nodded and smiled even wider. “I know I'm going to like you, Cindy. You don't just judge on surface appearances.”

“Duh.” I shrugged. “Neither do you.”

She laughed and said. “Your cousin is just going to hate this.”

“What?”

“His girl friend is friends with a cousin he lives with!” She laughed.

I couldn't help it. I tried, I really did, but I burst into giggles, wishing that I'd laughed too.

“Come to me child.” The voice was soft, warm and loving, but I was really disoriented. I'd gone to sleep and now I was in what looked like a desert. Not lifeless, there were cacti, little creatures scurrying around and larger ones hunting them. It was a place full of life even when it looked as if it wasn't.

“What?” I asked then saw the silvery glow in the distance. “Never mind. I'm coming, Mother.”

Once I got there I saw HER. And no, I won't, can't, describe her. Don't ask. Either you know Her or you don't. “I'm here Mother.”

“You are beautiful, my daughter.” She told me as I just stood there bathing in Her glory.

“Did you do this to me?” I asked.

“No child.” She assured me and touched my cheek. “What was written long ago must come to pass, I had nothing to do with how you came to be.

“Yet you are strong, and hold what it is to be Coyote well in your heart, child.” She told me. “You can be a worthy daughter possibly the most worthy of mine in many years.”

“But what does that mean? What am I supposed to do?” I questioned almost plaintively.

“You are Coyote.” She smiled at me. “You will find ways to accomplish what needs doing.”

“The baby.” I let out a shuddering sigh.

“Yes, my child, beautiful Coyote.” She replied. “It is to you to save that innocent. And perhaps the world would benefit from that saving.”

“What does that mean?”

“You are Coyote.” She answered. “You will find the answers and a way.”

Well crap.

That dream didn't tell me anything.

But it did leave me feeling pretty good overall.

“Things to do.” I sat up and noticed that it was only four in the morning.

Did I just shrug and pull the blankets back over me?

Nooo.

“Now, how to get out of the house this time...” I wondered while getting dressed in dark clothing and braiding my hair.

The window I'd escaped from the last time was pretty well sealed. No surprise there.

The window on the other end of the hall? Not so much.

Oh it had been upgraded, and was tough, but I still managed to jimmy it, pick it, and get it up.

I really don't think my aunt and uncle expected me to try that trick again. Oh, the fire ladder was gone, too. Safety issue? We're all weres in this house. We could tear out a wall and jump to the ground if it was really necessary. So okay.

Getting down was kind of a challenge without that ladder, though.

I ended up using window frames, little faults in the siding, things like that.

It was actually fun.

Getting out of the grounds was a piece of cake. Angel food, all soft and squishy. I made a mental note to tell my aunt and uncle about those holes in our security as I got through them. But later. Right now I was exploiting them. Yay!

I got suspicious when I reached the wall.

There was a little sign tacked to it with an arrow pointing to my left. It said, This way to exit.

“Dammit, Dani!” I quietly swore as the sign disappeared. “I'm trying to do this by myself, you know.”

“Hey, it's all good, kiddo.” Her voice floated down from the trees. “You did good and that was all you, so come on, play along for a little while here.”

“What, did you leave me a ladder or something?” I grumbled.

“Nah.” She laughed from somewhere above me. “That would be way too easy.”

“Oh, I sure feel better now.” I smirked.

“You like challenges, Coyote.” She answered and her voice was fading as she put distance between us. “Go for it!”

You know, there are times I can understand why some people want to kill vampires.

“Okay, I glared at the trees a that were a decent distance from the walls, enough to not allow anyone, anyone close to normal, access to the wall from them. “That was just nasty!”

I kept wiping the mud off my clothes from crawling through that itty bitty sewer drain and was even more upset that I'd had to cut the grate and move it aside, while confusing the security with extra wires that told the electronic brain that everything was still connected and functioning.

“But you did it.” Dani's voice, full of humor and teasing floated down from the trees. I still wasn't sure which one she was in, by the way. “Good job, kid. You are really going to be something in a few more years.

“You must have been a boy scout or something the way you carry stuff you're going to need before you know you need it.” She kept teasing.

“I wasn't.” I grimaced. “But my brother was. I just took that 'be prepared' thing they like so much to heart, you know. Besides, I had to listen to him practice that oath so much I thought it was getting burned into my brain.”

“Well,” her voice came from beside me and I jumped in spite of the promise to myself that I wouldn't do such a thing again when she was around. “You aren't at all clean at the moment and we both know you aren't reverent at all most of the time.”

“Are you deliberately making things hard here?” I groused and turned to glare at her.

“Yup.” She grinned, stepped back, then lunged forward and kissed my dirty cheek. “Challenge is good for people, you know.”

Sheesh. Out smarted, out maneuvered, and worse, out snarked. There are times you just can't win.

“Okay.” I shrugged and actually let out a little laugh. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Ohh, clever and Smart.” Dani grinned at me. “You are going to be dangerous when you grow up, hon.”

“With friends like you that could kind of get interrupted.” I grumbled.

“No.” She turned very serious and looked me straight in the eye for once. “Friends like me will make sure that will happen.

“Now, go have fun!” She waved mockingly twitched her cute ass in front of me, then just vanished.

Okay, Dani could really be annoying. But I already had the idea that it was lot better, and healthier, being her friend than her enemy.

The family were Harpers, too. No relation, but talk about a weird coincidence.

Roger, his wife Natalie, and their baby girl, Evangeline. Normal, so normal I had no idea why the Hunters would even be interested in them. They weren't weres, obviously not vampires, or magic users that I could spot and trust me, you could smell one of those a long way off if you knew what to smell for.

How weird is that? Depending on scent to identify people and what they are?

All part of being a were, I was discovering, and since coyotes are canine, our sense of smell was very highly developed even when we are in human form.

Which makes some situations kind of hard to deal with at times. I'd already learned to blame allergies when my eyes watered and my nose twitched at times.

I even faked a couple of sneezes here and there just to make my claims more believable.

Back to the non-were Harpers.

I couldn't find one thing that made them stand out even a little. They were so average it was sickening.

And disturbing. No one is that average.

But damned if I could find out why.

“This is so wrong.” I muttered. “I just can't figure out the reason it is.”

“You have discovered their difference, Coyote.” An all too familiar voice came into my head. “The why is not so important as protecting them and their child, as you already know.”

“Dammit, I can't even seem to take care of myself!” I complained then shook myself and let out a sigh. “How can I protect someone else?”

“You have many talents my beautiful Coyote.” The answer came so imperturbably that it was almost irritating. “Use them.”

“Oh that's a LOT of help.” I grumbled, but settled down to watch the house and see if anyone besides me was doing the same thing.

“Take that.” I whispered as I let the air out of a tire on the SUV that had been parked down the street from the Harpers but held that same almost sickening feel I'd come to associate with Hunters.

I was letting the air out gradually, so the people inside wouldn't notice, hopefully. The good thing was this was the third tire I was doing it to.

Were they going to get a surprise when they tried driving somewhere. And when they tried getting out. I'd wired the doors to the frame underneath so they wouldn't open without a lot of noise and difficulty.

Just to let them know the watchers were being watched, you understand.

I really wanted to leave them a note that said, “Boo!” But couldn't quite figure out how to hide it long enough for no one but them to find it.

Oh, I also took their license plates.

“That should be fun.” I grinned as I moved away. “I wish I could be here when the cops come by and knock on the side of the car.”

“Girl, you rock.” A voice I was very familiar with but not the ethereal one interrupted my almost triumphant retreat.

“I wish you'd stop sneaking up on me like that!” I turned to see a grinning Dani and had to laugh. “But yeah, that was fun.”

“You and me.” Dani winked. “The world wouldn't stand a chance.”

“I've been told that I'm Coyote, not a coyote.” I grinned back while wondering about that and not believing it yet.

“Makes sense to me.” She grinned again and laughed. “Generally harmless mischief that could cause big problems if the people you pull it on aren't on their toes. Yeah, I can see that.”

Okay, I know when arguing is pointless. Besides, she was right. At least about what I'd just done.

I'd pranked the Hunters.

Wow.

“Time to head home now.” Dani patted my arm and kissed me on the cheek. “You did really good kid. But you should probably be home when everyone starts getting up, you know.”

What could I do?

I went home and took a shower.

There was an item on the news that morning about a vandalized car that had been found, with some questionable characters in it trying to get out when the police checked on the SUV with flat tires and no license plates.

I wanted to pump a fist in the air when I saw that, but just sat there and watched while pretending to wonder why someone watching someone else would miss their vehicle being vandalized that way.

Okay, off and on right now, life is good. What can I say?

I felt really good when I got to school and just stood there posing and smiling when Carson dropped Tracy off.

He returned my grin and winked at me.

Thank whatever god for panty liners.

I had to go change that, but not my panties.

“Hey.” Carson met me at the door of Mario's with a hug and kiss that had my insides melted so much my stomach could have been my lungs.

“Hey yourself.” I kissed him back then pulled away. “Aren't you supposed to be watching your cousin?”

“That's for show.” He kissed my cheek and grinned. “Someone lots better than me, and more dangerous, is watching out for her.”

“Should you have told me that?” I asked and snuggled into him.

“Probably not.” He let out a sigh. “But you'd have figured that out anyway.”

“You really think so?”

“Cindy.” He shook his head and kissed my cheek. “You are a whole lot smarter than people think a hot girl should be. Of course you'd have figured it out. Besides, you're a were, too. You know how things like this work.”

That last had been in a whisper, but I had to nod. “Misdirection, run the prey into the real hunters.”

“Right.” He gave me an approving look and kissed me again, really kissed me.

Dammit! Why, why did he have to be a wolf?