Page 10 of Glass
4
FELIX
“Heads up,” a young voice calls out.
I jerk my head as a figure steps in front of the light of the moonlight, casting a shadow over the knife I’m cleaning. “Kirkpatrick,” I greet him with a grunt and a nod.
“Slaughter.” He grimaces. “I think we need to talk.”
I grind my back teeth as I lay down the wet cloth half-covered in blood and rise to my feet so that Tony Kirkpatrick isn’t looking down on me. “You took the meeting.” I can tell by the guilty look on his face that he didn’t listen to me.
“I thought you were being paranoid thinking this guy is hunting you out, but then he started asking questions…” He shakes his head as his lips twist in disgust under his thick mustache. “I told him Acadia doesn’t have any wolves, but it’s obvious he knows you’re here somewhere. He seemed to think I could be paid to scope you out for him.”
“That’s because some of your buddies have taken that deal.” I shrug and then cross my arms. Whoever this guy is that’s trying to track my group, he’s getting on my nerves. But I don’t trust Tony enough to share a detail like that.
Tony scuffs his boot across the dirt. “What’s he after you for?”
“You really have to ask?” I snort with dry amusement. This guy Georgie is sloppy, otherwise he would avoid meeting with guys who are never going to help him get face-to-face with me. Tony, among a few other rangers, is an old school rogue. These guys ran this park before I became the official keeper of lost things. They went legit after I came along, a move that’s proved good for all of us.
I tread barefoot across the dirt, closer to the bulk of my pack. The kids have started a wrestling circle; I pause at the edge of their game until they still and all turn their focus to me. Right now, the kids and a few of the old timers are the only ones with me. The others have set up shop in our homes on the island, tucked away where they can safely fish as locals in human form.
I can’t stay still for as long as them, and neither can anyone out here. It’s time to move.
“Start packing everything up early, let’s head in toward Bar Harbor early. No one will expect us to move toward the tourists. We’ll shift for tonight and camp as humans for the next few days.”
Corey steps away from the middle of their makeshift sparring ring and comes to face me. “How far are we planning to go tonight? I took Lane out for practice at dawn, but he’s still struggling to stay shifted and he’s been worn out all day. I’m not sure how far he’ll make it.”
He patiently meets my eyes and waits. Corey is a good kid in spite of how much shit he’s taken on raising his younger siblings. Shelby, the oldest of the five of them, is less involved. I don’t think it’s that she doesn’t care, she just shows it in a different way than he does.
“I’ll take Lane.” I scan the kids until I see Lane sitting on the ground, his clothes covered in dirt, with a fly swatter in his hand swatting at a stray black fly around his head. I have to give it to the kid, he’s easily entertained.
Corey follows my gaze and then puffs up his chest. “I could take him.”
He probably could, but I don’t think he could take the blow to his ego if having the kid on his back slowed him down. I shake my head casually—my final answer.
“I’ll get everyone packing.” Corey accepts the brush off easily. I swear I wish everyone in the pack was as easy as these damn kids are. I can’t believe Tony ever tried to warn me off taking them. Speaking of Tony…
I look back to see him still hovering. “What?” I snap at the man, leaving Corey to get the ball rolling on pack-up. We move areas of the park frequently enough that it’s second-nature to them all. We pick up and move on at the first sign of the slightest problem. And if we get really desperate, we have tactics for moving into town and campgrounds in a scattered way that lets us blend in.
We might be wolf shifters, but we’re chameleons at heart. Always adaptable.
“I need to know who I can trust, Felix.” Tony shuffles his feet and shoves his hands deep in his pockets. “There aren’t supposed to be wolves in this park. If there are rangers saying otherwise, they’re breaking a long-held agreement. I need to know who isn’t loyal anymore.”
“From what I can tell, Oates and Watson have both caved; I don’t think Adams is far behind them.” If only I could replace all the human rangers with members of our ragtag pack, we wouldn’t have to worry so much. But as long as there are humans willing to admit that wolves aren’t native to the park, my shifters are in danger hiding out here.
“It’s a shame we can’t move on.” Tony releases a heavy sigh.
We both know the score. There aren’t a lot of places left in this world for shifters like us. We aren’t true rogues, but we don’t belong with anyone else. Acadia is our home, one built on generations of outcast shifters. Humans can come along threatening our existence all they like, but we’re not going anywhere.
Especially not when we own so much property nearby and make our living on fish and lobsters. Nearly half of the sales from this area come from my guys.
This is our home. No one is chasing us out.
* * *
Tony is long gone by the time we’re packed up and ready to move. Six of the fully grown wolves moving with the pack shift and hook up to the wheeled cart to pull supplies, slipping their necks into the collared loops to help them pull.
Corey rounds his siblings up, bringing Lane to my side.