Free Silver Moon (A Women of Wolf's Point Novel) by Catherine Lundoff

been self-defense. The Pack was ambushed, fired upon. Erin had been wounded, maybe others. Whatever happened to these people, they’d had it coming.
    Becca’s mood switched fast enough to give her whiplash. Who was this woman to call her friends monsters? “Seems to me that when you go looking for monsters, that’s all you see. And sometimes you miss much scarier things.” Becca could feel her emotions swirling around like her insides were a washing machine. Great, she couldn’t suppress the thought, more hot flashes coming up.
    “And sometimes, it’s just the monsters out there and they have to be stopped before they do any more damage.” The other woman’s eyes shone with a fanatic gleam, almost silver in the morning light. “That’s what happens when you don’t keep them under control.”
    “Just what is it you have against wolves anyway? Seems to me they mind their own business when you mind yours.” A deep breath later and Becca had herself under control. She thought she knew what she was dealing with now. This woman, this Oya, was like one of the hellfire preachers who came through once in awhile, preaching from their big tent in the park on the edge of town. Zealots and fanatics, she’d always thought they were, and this one seemed one of a kind with them.
    Oya looked down at the table, her shoulders slumping a bit with the movement. She studied the tabletop for a minute before looking back up. “It’s not just any old wolf. It’s the kind you’ve got here. Wolves like yours killed my parents.” She stared back at Becca, her face gone suddenly haggard.
    It struck Becca then that it wasn’t so much grief as it was emptiness, a gaping chasm that had to be filled with a purpose. She almost reached out for Oya’s hand on the table to try and bring some comfort, just like she would have done with any other woman. There was something about this woman that drew Becca in, some kind of kinship that she didn’t quite understand but responded to nevertheless.

    But her story couldn’t be true, it just couldn’t. Her Pack would never kill innocents, right? So maybe the parents weren’t so innocent. Even so, she could hardly ask if the woman’s dead family had been drug dealers or murderers or something.
    Doubt gnawed at her, burrowing its way in. She tried to banish it by thinking about her friends, her Pack. If they wouldn’t do something like that, Oya must be lying. Unless there were other packs. The enormity of that thought left her speechless for a couple of minutes. She hadn’t even thought about there being more of their kind out there somewhere. Cold shivers danced up her arms and she rubbed at her skin feverishly. Then she noticed Oya watching her, the gleam in her eye suggesting that she knew she was getting to Becca.
    A mild surge of pure annoyance swept through her, warming her right back up. She made herself think about James Harrison in the woods. Protection took many forms; if wolves like hers had killed Oya’s parents, there had to be a good reason. Or maybe it was all a mistake and they’d been killed by ordinary wolves or wild dogs. She had to cling to that or turn herself in at the sheriff’s office this very minute.
    “I think you’ve got the wrong idea about the wolves here. But if you can’t get past thinking of them the way you do, Wolf’s Point isn’t the town for you.” Becca could hear the door jangling behind her as people came and went but otherwise Millie’s was getting oddly quiet. It felt as if everyone there was listening in.
    “You warning me out of town?” Oya’s voice was nearly a growl now and Becca bit back one of her own.
    Taking a deep breath, she met the other’s stare. “Yep, I guess I am. I suggest you take your van and your buddies and go back to whatever role-playing crap you were doing before you appointed yourselves Buffy wannabes and came to Wolf’s Point. You’re not wanted or needed here.”
    The other woman glared at her and started to