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

rednecks about the ‘monsters in the woods.’ It took nearly a year to get that settled down, Becca. Do you think everyone here loves us?”
    “Well, you all make it seem like that, what with Lizzie Blackhawk and her whole ‘honor to be called thing.’ ”
    “Lizzie’s smart. The sheriff, not so much. If he hadn’t been convinced that they were just out of towners here to mess things up for a thrill, we’d have been in serious trouble. And then what would have happened with this town? The pack protects Wolf’s Point and keeps it livable. I don’t see you moving to Mountainview, do I?”
    “I thought about it. I tried.”
    “Yet you’re back here. It’s harder to leave than that, Becca. Like it or not, you’re one of us now. The magic does call its own and once it does, you’re in it for the long haul.” Erin blew a breath out between puffed cheeks, and seemed to blow some of her anger out with it. “But I, for one, am glad you’re back.” She glanced sidelong at Becca and grinned.
    Becca flushed a little more. “So how did you feel about it when it happened to you? And how often did you change?”
    “Ummm…just the standard once a month. Why?” Erin took a quick glance around. “On the other hand, that may have to be a topic for a different time and place. We’re starting to attract a bit too much interest.” Erin’s voice pitched lower and Becca looked up to check out the rest of the Millie’s crowd in astonishment. Sure enough, there didn’t seem to be as much conversation as she expected, or quite as many familiar faces.
    She had very nearly decided to change the topic, and rafting was going to be the first thing that came out of her mouth. But then she looked back into Erin’s blue-gray eyes across the table and she chickened out. There was no other word for it.
    What happened instead was that she agreed to come by later and help out with the yard work while her neighbor’s arm healed, maybe pick up some groceries and do some cleaning and talking. Then she bolted.
    Now Becca was staring down at the water rushing by under the bridge and trying to figure out where to begin sorting out her problems, there being so many to choose from. For starters, there was the whole werewolf thing. The hot flashes weren’t so great either, but that wasn’t all of it. The weird knot of emotion she had started to feel whenever Erin Adams was around was icing on the cake. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to think about that too hard.
    So for variety, she thought about Oya’s story and wondered again if any of it was true. She knew she didn’t want it to be but she’d never thought of herself as someone who cut and ran when she didn’t want to know something. There had to be a right thing to do. Trouble was, what was it and what should she do about it?
    Her cell phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her purse and looked at the number. Whoever this was, they weren’t in her contact list and she didn’t want to deal with them now. But then she was feeling that a lot today and it had to stop sooner or later. She let out a weary sigh and clicked the answer button. “Hello?”
    There was a pause before the voice on the other end answered, “That you, Becca? It’s Ed.”
    Becca nearly dropped the phone in the river. She thought about clicking it off instead. But curiosity won out. “Ed? You got a new number, I gather. What the hell do you want?” She pictured him fidgeting in that way that he did, moving from one foot to another while he rubbed his bald patch.
    “Ummm…okay. I was hoping we could start the conversation out some place less hostile.”
    “I’ll bet you were. I don’t share the sentiment, unfortunately. Now what is it? I’ve got things to do.”
    “Well, Hal called. He mentioned you’d been visiting and that you didn’t seem to be doing too well. He was worried.”
    “And he called you? Lotta good that’ll do.” Becca snorted. Here was a reasonable target for the roiling emotions