By the time they got Victoria home the entire house knew that the disappearance had been innocent rather than malicious and there was a definite feeling of celebration in the air. Her mother was waiting anxiously for her at the door, her eight and a half month pregnant stomach taking up the majority of the large doorway.
Katherine couldn't help but feel a tug on her biological clock when she saw Victoria wrap her arms around her mother's stomach with a kiss for the baby and offered her mom the sweaty Toblerone bar that had been the source of all this mess. She glanced over at Quinn without really meaning to and saw that he had a curve to his lips and wetness in his eye. She lowered her gaze before he could catch her watching him intently. She didn't want him to jump to any conclusions on her part, yet. Mom was a title that she wanted someday, just not at the present moment.
She and Quinn received more than one slap on the back congratulating them on finding the little girl so quickly. Katherine took it in stride and tried to brush it off as just another day's work but inside she felt a sense of peace in the fact that, despite all threats, the family was still safe.
Pierre was waiting for them both in his study. He ushered them into the room then shut the heavy door behind them, blocking out the still resounding sounds of the news as it spread and changed in detail from person to person until it resembled a fairy tale ending.
Katherine's feelings of peace evaporated when she saw that the room was already occupied by her three brothers, her mother, and several trackers, one of whom was Rachel. Anthony rose to give her a kiss on both cheeks and Quinn a firm handshake then returned to his seat on the long leather couch and waited for their father to speak.
When he did his voice was soft. "You both did well today. Thank you for bringing Vicky home to us."
Quinn nodded while Katherine mumbled, "You're welcome." The feeling in the room was serious and she felt somewhat reluctant to speak until she was filled in.
Pierre returned to his chair behind the large desk and sat down, tenting his fingers and tapping them against his mouth. For a few seconds, the room was silent as they waited.
"Anthony has brought us some news. His group of trackers managed to find positive proof that there is, indeed, a hunter in Montreal and that he has been responsible for three deaths of pack members. He is one we haven't come across before, someone new or someone really old. Either way, he is smart and appears to know the local areas as well as we do which seems impossible yet is." He looked across the room to the woman sitting quietly in the corner and nodded gravely, "Rachel, please report what you've already told Anthony and me."
Rachel stood confidently, her long blond hair pulled back in a low chignon that was both tasteful and respectful of her position. Katherine could see Anthony watching her and wondered again at their relationship. The thought was fleeting, however, and disappeared as soon as she began her report.
"Jason and I were canvassing the St. Luc area and came across an extremity buried shallow enough for a wolf to be able to smell but too deep for a dog or cat. It was wrapped tightly in plastic with holes punched through so as not to hide the scent. The object was soon discerned to be a forearm," at this, her voice broke for a moment and she cleared her throat, trying to appear unaffected and failing, "a forearm with a tattoo on it that reads "My business is to create."
Katherine's head filled instantly with a cacophony of white noise and she felt her chest swell with grief. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, opening them only when Quinn put his hand on her arm and squeezed, worry and questions evident in his eyes. One glance around the room showed that all of her family was closely watching her reaction to this news while Rachel and the trackers tried desperately to look away from the intimate moment the family was sharing.
Rachel continued stoically, knowing that there was going to be no good time to finish the report. "Both Jason and I positively identified the extremity as belonging to Maxwell Saunders, who was last seen by his sister, Justine, four days ago in the city when he visited her family for dinner. The hunter's scent was all over the plastic covering, as though he had purposely put it there. We came to the conclusion, and was supported in it by Anthony, that the hunter is setting a trap by trying to arouse our sense of grief and rage over the senseless death of one of the gentlest members of our pack; one of our innocents." At this she sat down and lowered her head, her job finished, much to her relief.
The room remained silent. The sound of multiple chests rising and falling was all that could be heard. Katherine found that she couldn't speak and didn't want to try even though she supposed they were all waiting for her to say something.
Instead, she was lost inside a sea of memories from her childhood when she and Maxwell had been practically inseparable and her mother had jokingly called them the married couple.
His eyes had been a pale blue like those of a husky and his hair a dark chocolate brown. He had always looked exotic to her, like a strangely intense angel who thought the world set and rose with her. He had been her first love but not her last.
She felt Quinn's hand on her thigh and was filled instantly with guilt.
The last time she had seen Maxwell, she had told him that she wasn't ready to come home yet and that she needed to spend more time on her own so that she could figure out who she was and what she wanted out of life. That had been almost fifty years ago.
She had thought about him often at first but, after a few years, his face had stopped making cameos in her dreams and she knew that he wasn't really the one for her. She had been too afraid of her own feelings to tell him that face to face so she had chickened out and sent a letter instead. He'd never written back, but Sylvie had told her a few years after that he had moved to the city, opened a bookstore, and had started dating a young woman named Jennifer. Somehow, the knowledge that he had moved on had still hurt even though she knew he wasn't hers to have. Now, hearing that he was dead, his body cut to pieces, all at the whim of a demented hunter, guilt overwhelmed her and she tried, in vain, to push it back.
She had been with him when he'd gotten that tattoo. It was a portion of a larger quote by William Blake, one of his poetic idols. Maxwell had always been a passionate reader and writer so when he had found the quote he'd known immediately that it would be the one permanently inked reflection of who he was.
She had gotten four small stars tattooed on the instep of her left foot, all four over tiny freckles that had been there since birth. She had always joked that the four freckles were her and her three brothers so the stars were a symbol of her family. Wolves tended to stay away from tattooing their bodies since they had to live with their choices for such a long time. When they did get inked, their symbols were intimate and meaningful. Maxwell had cherished his and now some sadistic bastard had used it as part of his sick game. She wanted to throw up or tear apart the room, maybe both, definitely both.
By the time she had gotten a hold of herself enough to raise her head and speak, the room had emptied of all but her family and Quinn. The trackers hadn't known Maxwell as she and her family had, but Rachel had been right about his innocence, his gentleness. He had never wanted to be a part of the offensive or defensive teams that kept the pack safe. He had only ever wanted to create.
"I'm ok." Her voice sounded weird to her own ears and she absentmindedly wondered how Quinn was taking this reaction. He hadn't known Maxwell but she knew that he was smart enough to surmise that he'd been a big important part of her life. She reached out and took his hand now, rubbing her fingers across his knuckles to assure him that everything was going to be alright with her soon enough. He squeezed back and a fraction of her grief fell away.
After she had cleared her throat loudly, Katherine looked to her father and stated firmly, "The last thing we should do is fall into this bastard's trap. No one, and I mean no one, is to go out on a vengeance kick. We need to talk to his brother's and cousins. Oh God, his mother!" She fell silent again.
Sylvie knelt before her daughter and took her hands, "I will be the one to talk with his mother and your father had already called the men of the family together to discuss retribution. You're wise beyond your years to understand that we must not react to this trap." She leaned up and kissed her daughter on the forehead, "Wise and sad." She gestured to Quinn and put Katherine's hand in his, "Take her now, outside, for a run. You two need to spend some time together without the rest of us getting in your way. Go."
Katherine stood automatically on legs that felt a little rubbery and smiled at her mother. Sylvie understood her daughter well. During her years spent at home, Katherine would escape to the forest whenever she was distraught. The trees and the animals would sooth her and restore her peace of mind. She had often disappeared for days on end but knew that would be unacceptable during the present situation.
She pulled herself up, "We'll be back soon."
Sylvie shook her head, "No darling, you'll be back when your head and your heart are healed. We're tough around here. We can manage to hold things together for a few days without you. Go, be together and heal."
Although the pain in her chest felt like a solid impenetrable mass, Katherine felt her mother's love break through and she knew that she would be ok.
♀♀♀
There was little to do before they left.
Katherine kissed and hugged her family goodbye then took Quinn to the kitchen for a quick meal. They would be leaving with nothing but the clothes on their backs and even that wouldn't last long since they would undoubtedly transform into wolves sometime before nightfall. A full stomach and a single backpack with snacks was all they could carry with them on this trek.
The leftover casseroles and meat they found in the fridge tasted like ash in Katherine's mouth. Never before had she enjoyed a meal so little.
It was strange; one part of her mind knew that this was the opportunity that she and Quinn had been waiting for, a chance to be alone with one another and to experience the change together, a process that created a beautiful bond. She knew this but she also knew that it would be tainted by her grief and that was the last thing she wanted. She just didn't know how to get around the problem.
Quinn was quiet as they left the house and headed toward the tree line. His hand brushed against hers a few times but he didn't reach out and secure the connection. Katherine's mind was far away so she didn't notice, much.
She stopped just short of the first evergreen and turned to face him. "We don't need to do this if you don't want to."
This time, he took her hand in his and held it tightly. "There is nothing in the world that I want more than to spend time alone with you, to run with you and be free. It's just that I hate the thought that our first change together will be marred by your grief over Maxwell." He brushed a hand through his hair, leaving it messed up and adorable. "I know it's selfish, Kat, and I'm so sorry, but I just..."
She interrupted him with a touch. Her fingers caressed his jaw and the stubble that had popped up since yesterday. He hadn't had time to shave this morning with all the commotion and panic. Her heart filled with love for him. Love that she hadn't felt for Maxwell, her subconscious reminded her. The truth of that private confession made her feel sick. If she'd only loved him enough he wouldn't be dead now.
She would die if she lost Quinn.
"I understand." She pressed her body against his and breathed in his scent, feeling lost and overwhelmed by the possibility of losing him someday like she'd lost Maxwell.
He pressed his face into her hair and sighed, "I know you do." He tipped her face up to meet his and brushed the lightest of kisses across her lips, "I'll wait until you're ready to change with me. Will you wait with me?"
She nodded, unable to speak. He knew her heart and her mind.
His skin on her hand felt hot when he took hers, intertwined their fingers, and then walked with her, side by side, into the dark forest.