Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as some more depth is added, along with a good chunk of mystery. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 12

13 October 2011

My mother and the dark wolf were growling and staring each other down for the longest time, as I stood there in some state of fear watching. Out of nowhere, the dark wolf barked loudly at my mother and nearly hit my mother when she slashed at her with his paws. My mom growled even more and barked loudly back. She even advanced some to try to scare the other wolf off, but he held his ground.

“Back off from me and my daughter!” I could hear her yell.

“You need to leave, this is not your territory,” the other wolf growled back.

‘Another were like me?’ I thought. ‘Just how many are in this town? Or how big are these families?’

“Your territory? Says who?” my mom countered.

“The Locke clan,” he replied. “The head of the Were council.”

That perked up my ears. Before I could say anything, he continued, “This is not your land. Now leave!”

My mom growled again, and sniffed the air. Clearly, she knew something that I didn’t I took a sniff, and found that I could smell her as well as the wolf standing in front of us. The wolf in front of us sniffed the air, and clearly he smelled the same thing that my mother did.

“Looks like I’m getting some help, she-wolf,” he taunted.

Help? That couldn’t be good for the two of us.

“You win this round, wolf. But, don’t think you’ve won the war. We came in peace, and we will leave in peace.”

“Then, go,” he said, “and don’t come back unless you want a fight that you probably can’t win.”

“C’mon, Mikaela,” she said to me, as we headed back in the direction of the forest clearing and our belongings.

We headed off through the forest and I was wondering what just happened back there. I ran up alongside Mom and asked, “What just happened?”

She sighed, and replied, “Apparently, we are in the territory of the Lockes, and they don’t take strange wolves in their domain lightly. We also needed to leave, since it would’ve been three on one. And I didn’t want to lose you.”

“Thanks, Mom. But, how is it three on one? There are two of us,” I observed.

“You’re still new in that form, and probably don’t know how to fight like a wolf. Something that I might have to teach you if your wolf instincts don’t kick in when you have to fight,” she explained.

I gulped. I think I had better double check my schedule if I was going to be taking a lot of self-defense classes.

The two of us arrived back in the clearing a short time later and I headed over to where my stuff was on the ground. I looked over at my mother, and noticed that she was once again in her human form, putting her clothes on.

“Just think of yourself, honey,” she instructed.

I nodded, and closed my eyes. I began concentrating on my human form, and sure enough, I felt some pain, less than before, as my body shifted back into my human form. I looked down, and saw that I was still a girl. ‘Oh well,’ I thought. ‘I guess I’m stuck like this.’

I reached over to my clothes and quickly put them back on. I wasn’t shivering as a wolf, probably because of all that fur they have over their body, but as a human, I was freezing my butt off. Over where my mom was, I could hear her laughing. I guess this was some kind of rite of passage for me, although a little warning beforehand would’ve been nice.

Before we headed back to the car, I caught a flash of metal from my bracelet. Normally, I didn’t notice something like that, except that this was a silvery hue, instead of the gold that was the bracelet itself, except for the platinum setting around the emerald. I looked at the charms, and noticed that there was silvery wolf hanging from the bracelet now. I curiously touched it, and found that it looked like silver, but I don’t think that it was silver. I shook my head and tried to brush the thought from my mind. I would worry about it later, after I had gotten a full night of sleep.

A few minutes later, my mom and I both looked decent enough and we headed back to the car. I couldn’t help but get the feeling that we were being watched by something in the forest though. Was it the Lockes making sure that we were leaving? Or was it something else, something that was after me all this time?

--------------------------

15 October 2011

The last couple of days weren’t very eventful, except for the fact that I was back at school working on my degrees again. I didn’t get a visit from any members of the Coven or the Were Council during that time, although I did see Alex a few times, since I now shared more classes with her when my schedule was rearranged. She asked me what it was like to change into a wolf, and I told her the first time was very painful. Although when I tried again, it wasn’t painful at all. My guess that it was only painful the first time, going in either direction, but once that happened, and then you didn’t need to worry about the pain again.

The two of us were walking to her house to study, and the route we decided to take had us walking near some of the other big houses that were in town. I noticed that they were spread all over the place, as if they were guarding territory or something like that.

We were talking about the latest assignment in Classical Myth when this teenaged redhead girl walked in front of us, and just stood there.

“What you doing out here?” Alex asked, when we stopped in front of her.

“I need to talk to you,” she said, staring at me.

“Why?”

“It’s important. We just need to talk.”

Alex looked at me with a look that said, “Really?”

“I’ll meet you at your house as soon as I can, okay?” I asked Alex.

“Alright, you had better be there, or I’ll come looking for you and when I find you, it won’t be pleasant,” she answered teasingly.

Alex walked off towards her house while the teenager and I watched her. After Alex had rounded the street corner, the redhead teenager said, “Follow me, the conversation is not for all ears to hear.”

As we were walking onto her property, one of the more extravagant houses in this neighborhood, I realized that I had seen this girl before. She had come into the comic book shop just yesterday, with another girl. You don’t often see girls in comic book stores, and one does take notice of the irregularities in such places. Although, I was one to talk since I still got all sorts of looks from the guys that frequented the comic book store. They weren’t used to the fact that an attractive young woman was working the counter and knew so much about the comic book universes.

The other girl looked like she was really into comics and had dirty blonde hair. Whereas this girl, she stood out due to her red hair to me. She also looked like she didn’t really want to be at the comic book store. However, when she was close to the counter with her friend, she didn’t smell like the others, there was something about her. She also seemed to stare at me any chance she could get, during the entirety of her visit at the store.

She led me around the side of the house to the swimming pool, which looked the part and was the size of a small pond. It made me a little jealous that someone would have something like that in their backyard. Next to the large pool, was what appeared to be a pool house that looked more like an ordinary house, one that you would find on almost any residential street in America.

She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door to the pool house, and looked up at the house as if she was looking out for something. A short time later, she motioned for me to enter. The pool house was decorated like a cross between a hunting lodge and a beach house. All the hunting trophies displayed though were different varieties of fish.

“Please, take a seat,” the young girl said to me, indicating a chair near the door. She sat down across the way from me.

I sat down in the brown leather chair, while she never took her eyes off of me from her black leather chair. The black leather made her red hair a bit more striking. There was a fish lamp next to her, perched on a lamp table.

"So, Wolf," she started, with her hands pressing against each other in a contemplative pose, "Were you the one that caused all the ruckus among the wolves two nights ago?"

“What?” I replied, surprised.

“Did you cause the Lockes to up their forest patrols with your presence in the forest two nights ago?” she repeated.

“And, what if I did?”

“Then you just stirred up a hornet’s nest,” she answered, putting her forehead into her palm.

“What?” I replied, wondering what she meant. “What do you mean by that?”

“It means,” said a deep gravelly voice behind me, “that you are causing a great disruption in the area, Miss Vance.”

I looked around and saw a tall, bald man standing in the doorway with wearing a sharp suit. He looked the part of someone who you do not mess around with, and also had an aura of authority around him.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Dad, I told you that I could find out the information you wanted,” the young girl complained.

“And you did, Dana. Now, go do your homework,” he sternly replied.

She grumbled and answered, “Yes, Father.”

Dana began to leave the pool house sulking. She clearly wasn’t too happy being forced out of the job she was told to do. When she got to her father, he gave her a quick hug, and said, “Don’t worry, you did fine.”

Dana then left the pool house, and headed in the direction of the main house. Her father sauntered around to the chair where she was sitting, after looking me up and down, and immediately introduced himself in a very business-like tone, “Vernon Stiles, Miss Vance. Head of the Stiles clan.”

"You’re the leader of one of the five clans,” I quickly thought out loud.

He smiled and replied, “Very good, young wolf.”

He gave me the impression that he was talking down to me, like that he was my better and that he needed to lecture me. Sort of like a controlling father figure.

“Stiles?” I muttered. “Cougar?”

He nodded and commented, “I see you’ve been doing your homework.”

“Homework?” I wondered.

“Of course, you are the new Lorekeeper, are you not?”

“What do you mean? I’m just a student at the university, and trying not to step on the locals’ toes,” I tried to bluff.

He chuckled. “Nice try, Miss Vance. But, I’ve been playing poker a lot longer than you.” He pointed to the emerald in my bracelet, “I’ve seen that particular gemstone before, and that was over thirty years ago.”

I looked from the emerald and back to him, beginning to wonder exactly how much he knew. He clearly knew something from long ago, and now I wanted to know what.

“From what I remember about the disappearance,” he continued on, “was that the previous Lorekeeper was a cougar. He was well-liked by the majority of the Weres in town, as well as the students who attended the university. Except for a few people who grumbled about not getting their way, he generally was well liked.

“Then, came the day when he was attacked. He felt like he was being hunted by some unknown foe. It very nearly took out a few unintended targets as well. No one ever heard of him again after he went home that night. I think I might’ve been one of the few people who last saw him alive.”

I was half-paying attention to his ramble until he said that new piece of information. That last part he had just said got my attention in a hurry, as I definitely didn’t hear that part before.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He smiled, as if he had baited me into asking that. “Oh, just something for a later time, Miss Vance.”

‘Damn,’ I thought, ‘am I going to have to play his game or something?’

He continued on with a smile across his face, “So, how do you feel about being the Lorekeeper, judging from that bracelet you’re wearing, which possesses the Lorekeeper Emerald?”
He just smiled at me, like he knew a lot more about what was going on than I did. That was probably true, since he was the head of this family.

“Okay, I guess,” I replied, honestly. “I just don’t know what to do about it.”

“I could help you there, if you would like,” he offered.

“How?” I replied, cautiously.

He just smiled, “Well, I do know some things about the position and the current state of the Council.”

“Such as?”

“The Council is currently in a state of turmoil. The clans are starting to jockey for position, as they believe that some members of the clan are much weaker than they are letting on. The Lorekeeper used to keep everyone in line, and make sure that open war between the various clans did not ignite.”

“Okay…,” I replied, trying to wrap everything he was saying around my head. “How can I do that?”

“You can’t, at present. Tobias Locke, the head of the Wolf clan,” he said that name with a large amount of dislike in his voice, “is an arrogant Wolf that is extremely resistant to change, no offense.”

“None taken,” I replied, seeing as I’ve never met that person, and I generally didn’t know how other Wolves acted, other than very territorial.

“He won’t let you anywhere near the Council, especially in its current state. He’s afraid that someone with your rightful position will upset his plans to maintain control of the Council.”

“Why? Isn’t he the head of the council?”

“Yes, he currently is. Although, there have been some very mysterious happenings going on right now, that is making him look like more like a mob boss than a powerful businessman. I don’t think he will last long, if the Coven gets involved and begins an investigation.”

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing that you should be concerned with. Right now, we need to figure how to get you into your position, so that his murdering schemes are stopped.”

I nodded, thinking that makes sense. If I was the new Lorekeeper for this council, and I was supposed to keep the peace, then I needed to take on my job.

He smiled, and continued on, “I will see what I can do by talking with the other heads of the other families. Maybe together, we can convince Tobias to let you in.”

“You’re going to try to override his decision?”

“Exactly,” he calmly replied. “Four clans united against one. The majority would rule if the motion was put to a vote.”

“That makes sense,” I agreed.

“Good. Then I will call up the other heads and talk to them quietly, to not alert Tobias to our plans.”

He stretched out in the chair a little bit and asked, “Where can I find you, if I need to get a hold of you? Or do you have a cell phone that I could call you at with the info once I get things set up?”

"I do have a cell phone. Do you have something that I can write it down with?"

"Here you go," he pulled out a bunch of Post-it notes of the lamp table drawer, and handed me a post it note and a pen with a grin.

"Thanks," I replied. I wrote down my cell phone number. "Don't lose this."

“Don’t worry about that, Miss Vance. Here's my phone number,” he answered, pulling out one of his business cards from his jacket pocket. “Just in case. Besides, I'd like to stay in touch with you. You're an interesting person, Mikaela.”

That last part was said with a flash of almost gleeful mischief in his eyes, and with a smile on his face. He showed me out to the edge of his property and wished me a good day. When I looked back and saw him head for the main house, I couldn’t help but think something else was up.

I headed to Alex’s house at a brisk jog. I felt like I needed to catch up after spending some much time with Vernon Stiles. He didn’t exactly make me feel welcome or that I could trust him. It was like he was up to something.

The scenery seemed to fly by at times, as I jogged down the streets. I dodged a few people here and there. However, just after I crossed one of the busy streets, I ran smack into a young woman. The collision sent the two of us to the ground.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed.

The young woman had brown hair and striking gold eyes. Gold, that was definitely an unusual trait. She had an alto voice, and she replied, “It’s okay, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

I helped her up, and I ended up looking straight into those golden eyes of hers. They really were striking, and made you want to look into them. It seemed to bring out all the beauty in her face.

“No,” I insisted, “it’s my fault. If I hadn’t been in such a hurry, I would never have knocked you down.”

“Relax,” she calmly said with a smile. “It’s fine.”

The young woman slung her purse over her shoulder, and said, “The name’s Iris.”

“Mikaela.”

“Nice name. Would you care to join me for a cup of coffee, and properly meet each other?”

“I’d like that, but I’m supposed to meet a friend right now.”

She gave a look of understanding. “Ah, alright. Well, if you should ever change your mind, here’s my number.”

She pulled out a business card with a picture of a hawk on it. Next to it, was her number and full name, Iris Malune.

“Thanks,” I replied, unsure of what to make of it.

“If you ever want to meet someone new, I’ll be around for a while. I’m just passing through town on business.”

I nodded, and said, “Well, I should go.”

“I’ll see you around.”

Iris crossed the other street of the intersection, heading off in the direction of one of the coffee shops. I pocketed the card and then headed back down the street to Alex’s house.

-------------------------

When I got home that night, my mother wasn’t there. I could only guess what she had been up to today. She wasn’t due to head back to California for a few weeks. It seemed like she wanted to spend as much time as she could with her new daughter.

I was halfway through watching the news when I heard my door open and slam shut.

“I can’t believe the nerve of those people! They treat us like lesser beings, I swear!” my mother shouted, sounding exasperated.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I went around town to find where these Lockes do business, and I finally found them at one of the real estate agencies. I tried walking in there, saying that I was looking for a place in town. But, they wouldn’t even take me in as a walk-in client.”

“Really? That seems a little weird.”

“I know,” she replied, throwing her arms up and slapping them to her sides. “It’s as if they refuse to talk to me, just because I’m a wolf like them.”
“Then they should want to do business, since you are of kin!” I countered.

“You would think so, but apparently a different kind of wolf is seen as a threat to their territory.”

My mother grabbed a beer out of the fridge, popped the cap of with ease, and flopped onto the chair. I had only seen her do something like that if she had a really long day at work. Apparently, getting rebuffed by the Lockes was equivalent to that.

“Thank you for trying to get them to talk to us,” I comforted my mother.

“Don’t mention it,” she replied, taking a good swig from her beer. “So, anything left for dinner?”

We both laughed as she changed the subject. I pointed to the fridge, as she went to go heat it up.

“I will keep trying to gain an audience with that family,” she said as she went to work to get something to eat. “It’s just a matter of finding a weak spot to exploit.”

“Sounds like you want to take their family down, Mom,” I commented.

“Of course not, sweetie. They clearly have the power around here. And we would be spread too thin if we attempted something like that. Besides, diplomacy can be just as fun as warfare. You just have to pick the right battlefield.”

“Since when were you versed in military tactics?” I asked her, now wondering how well I knew my own mother.

“Ever since I had did a stint in the military. It was a special operations unit, as you can imagine. My parents weren’t too thrilled with the decision, but they still gave their support to me.”

“I see,” I said, with some nervousness.

“Relax,” she commented. “I only use what I’ve learned only if necessary. I just need to change up my tactics when trying to get the Lockes to hear me out.”

My mom continued to finish fixing her dinner, while I sat and thought about what had happened between me and Vernon Stiles today. He did say something about the Were Council being in chaos, as there was some kind of power play in motion. I think that I might have to have a chat with him again sometime soon. Especially if he was saying that he was on my side.

Suddenly, I had a realization. I had only talked with one of the clans, and another seemed to be elusive and dodging my queries since I was another wolf. What if I approached the other three families? Would they be willing to share some information that might prove to be helpful? After all, I was only hearing from one of the five families.

I pulled out my notebook out of my backpack, which was slumped against the couch, that had my notes about the various Were clans around the area. There were three that I still had to check out: the Cordays, the McCormicks, and the Harpers.

‘Harper?’ I thought. ‘Why did that name seem familiar?’

I snapped my fingers in realization. They were the family that ran the dojo. That girl, Cindy, I remember her sniffing me. Maybe she was a Were member of the Harper clan? Would she know what was going on?

She seemed to me to be about the same age as Dana. Maybe she would be willing to give me an in to talk with the head of her family? I think I was going to try to press the Cordays, McCormicks, and Harpers for more information in the coming days. Maybe they were nicer than the other two that I had met.