Chapter 13: Mistrust

There were six people in the search party, three local cops and three civilians. Buffy, Jeremy, Peter, Nick, and Dawn went out to help them. The five of them played the role of good and concerned citizens, scouring the bushes while keeping their noses on alert for anything they didn't want the searchers to find. One thing Buffy and Dawn would have rather they hadn't found turned up early in the quest.

"Got something!" one of the men yelled.

"Is it Mike?" another called, rushing from our sides.

As everyone converged on the scene, Nick's voice rang out, choked with barely contained laughter. "Forget it. It's—uh—nothing important."

"What the hell do you mean?" the first man said. "Maybe this is all a joke to you, son, but…"

The rest of the sentence trailed off as they burst into the clearing to find one of the searchers bending over a shirt, Buffy's to be exact.

Nick held up a pair of white panties and grinned at the sisters. "Wild dogs? Or just Clayton?"

"Oh Goddess," Dawn muttered under her breath. She walked over to snatch the underwear from him, but he held it over his head, grinning like a schoolboy.

"I see Paris, I see France, I see Dawn's underpants," he chanted.

"Everyone's already seen much more than that," Jeremy said as he looked to the sisters. "I think we can safely resume the search."

"So this—uh—wasn't done by wild dogs?" one of the searchers said.

Peter grinned and tossed the shirt to Buffy. "Nope. Just wild hormones," he said as Buffy glared at him. He laughed at her and wondered if she knew how Clay felt about her? Truly felt about her? While most of the Pack seemed to remain oblivious he had picked up on it the moment Jeremy had consented that Buffy join the pack, regardless if she wasn't a werewolf at the time.

Jeremy, two of the searchers, Buffy and Dawn were beating the bushes in the northeast quadrant of the woods when they heard another shout, this time infused with enough urgency to make them run. When they got there, Nick and two searchers were standing over a body. It was the missing man. His shirt collar was torn and drenched with blood. Above the collar his throat was shredded, flaps of flesh hanging from the wound. Empty eye sockets stared up at them. Crows or turkey vultures had found him first.

"Like the others," one man said.

"One difference," another said. "He wasn't eaten. Not by the dogs at least. Birds got to him though. Buggers don't waste any time."

A younger man bolted for the woods. Seconds later, the sound of retching filled the air. When the younger man stopped throwing up, he was quiet a moment, and then ran from the thicket.

"Come here! You guys have to see this!"

They followed the path of the young man's finger. There, in the damp earth, were paw prints.

"Can you believe the size of those things?" the young man said. "Christ, they're as big as saucers. Just like those kids said. These dogs are huge!"

As Buffy surveyed the thicket, her eyes caught sight of something snagged on a thorn bush. A tuft of fur, shining golden even in the shadows. While everyone stared at the paw prints, she grabbed the bit of fur and slid it into her pocket. She really hoped it wasn't hers and that she hadn't lost control last night.

Dawn, who had seen the fur also, looked at the paw prints as she recognized them. They weren't Buffy's. "Buffy and I have to go," she muttered, turning from the thicket as Buffy followed her.

"The fur is not yours," Dawn said once they were far enough away not to be overheard. "It's Clay's. I recognized the paw prints, they were his."

They made their way back to the house and inside. Dawn shouted out as the back door slammed shut behind the sisters, "Clayton!"

Clay appeared in the kitchen doorway, wooden spoon in hand. "That didn't take long. Come in and get the coffee going."

Neither sister moved. "Aren't you going to ask if they found the missing man?" Dawn asked.

"That would imply I give a damn," Clay said.

"They found him," Buffy said.

Clay nodded. "Good, so I presume they're leaving. All the better. Now come in and—"

"I found this by the body," Buffy said, pulling the tuft of fur from her pocket. "At first I thought it was mine."

"But it's not," Dawn said. "It is yours. Your prints were there, too."

Clay leaned against the doorpost. "My fur and my prints in my forest? Fancy that. I hope you two are not implying what I think you're implying, 'cause if you two recall, I was with you two all last night, which is when Tonio says this guy went missing."

"You weren't with us this morning when we woke up," Buffy said.

Clay sputtered. "I was gone five minutes! Five minutes to track and kill a guy? I'm good, but I'm not that good."

"Buffy and I have no idea how long you were gone," Dawn said.

"Yes, you do, because I'm telling you. Come on, you know I didn't do it. Use your heads. If I lost control and killed this guy, I'd have told you both at least about it. I don't hide anything from you Dawn. And Buffy, I don't want to face your wrath, because as the Slayer I know what you would likely do to me if I did kill a human. Besides I'd have asked for you two to help get rid of the body and what to tell Jeremy. I wouldn't have been swimming in the pond while some dead human was lying in our forest waiting for another group of hunters to trip over him."

"You didn't expect an immediate search party, so you thought you had more time. You planned to hide the body later, after you got us out of the way," Buffy said.

"That's bullshit and you two know it. I just told you that I don't hide things from either of you. I don't lie to either of you. I don't deceive either of you. Not ever."

Dawn stepped forward, lifting her face to his. "Oh, really? Somehow, I forget the discussion we had before you bit me, when you told me you had a way for us to stay together. But yet didn't reveal a damned thing. Convenient amnesia, I guess."

"I did not plan that," Clay said. "We've been through this before. I panicked and—"

"We don't want to hear your excuses," Buffy growled.

Clay took a step back from Buffy. "You two never do, do you? You both would rather talk about things I didn't do, and then toss that in for good measure when the opportunity arises. Why do I bother defending myself? You two have made up your minds about everything I do and don't do, and the reasons I do them. Nothing I can ever say will change that." He spun on his heel and stalked back to the kitchen.

The sisters turned the opposite way, strode into the study, and Dawn slammed the door behind them. About twenty minutes later, the study door opened and Nick peeked around. Dawn was curled up in Jeremy's armchair as Buffy lay on the couch. When Nick opened the door, Dawn unfolded herself and straightened up as did Buffy.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"I smell food," Dawn said. "If you can share, you're more than welcome."

Nick slipped into the room and put a plate of pancakes and ham in front of each of the sisters.

"All done outside?" Buffy asked as she and Dawn tore into the food.

"Pretty much," Nick said as he sat beside Buffy. "A couple more cops showed up. Jeremy sent Peter and me in."

Antonio walked through the door. "Are they investigating the scene?" he asked sitting down opposite Nick, next to Buffy.

Nick shrugged. "I guess so. They brought cameras and a bag of stuff. Someone from the morgue is on the way to pick up the body."

"Do you two think they'll find anything?" Antonio asked the sisters.

"Hopefully nothing that doesn't link this killing to a wild dog," Dawn said. "If it seems clear-cut, they should wrap up the investigation pretty fast and devote their efforts to finding the dogs. No sense wasting time gathering evidence when the presumed killers will never see a courtroom."

"Just the business end of a shotgun," Antonio said. "If they see so much as a flash of fur in the woods, they'll shoot. When we need to run, we're going to have to find someplace far from here and Bear Valley."

"Damn," Nick said. "When we find out who's responsible, they're going to pay for this."

"Oh, Dawn and I have a good idea who's responsible," Buffy said as she took the tuft of fur from her pocket and tossed it on the footrest. "At first I thought it was mine that I was not quite acclimated yet to being a wolf that I Changed without knowing it and killed him. Then Dawn saw the paw prints and she knew it wasn't mine."

An hour or so later, Buffy and Dawn were alone again in the study.

"Blood," Clay said, swinging open the study door so hard it smacked against the wall. "Where was the blood?"

"What blood?" Buffy asked.

"If I killed that guy, I would have had blood on me," Clay said.

"You washed it off in the pond. That's why you made up the story about checking the water temperature, to explain why you were wet," Dawn said

"Made up? Why the—" Clay said. "Okay, assuming I cleaned up in the pond and decided it would be easier to invent some excuse for being wet instead of just drying off; you two still would have smelled blood on me. The scent wouldn't wash off that easily."

"The smell would be weak," Dawn said. "Buffy or I would have to been sniffing for it."

"Besides," Buffy reminded him. "I'm new to this remember? And if Dawn hadn't caught the smell of it, I sure as likely wouldn't either.

"Well, then sniff for it now. Come on," Clay said as he looked at the sisters. "I dare you two."

"You've had plenty of time to wash it off," Dawn said.

"Then check my shower," Clay said. "See if it's wet. Check my towels. See if they're damp."

"You'd have covered your tracks by now. You're not stupid," Dawn said.

Clay shook his head. "No, just stupid enough to leave a body in the woods with my prints and fur scattered all around. Why do I bother? Nothing I can say will change either of your minds. Do you two know why? Because you two want to believe I did it. That way, you two can hole up in here and dwell on how wrong you two were to come to me last night, for forgetting what a monster I am."

"That's not what we're—" Dawn said.

"It's not?" Clay stepped forward. "Look me in the eye and tell me that's not what you two have been doing for the last hour."

Dawn and Buffy glared at him and said nothing. Clay stood there for at least a full minute, then threw up his hands and stormed out.

A while later, Jeremy came in. Without saying anything, he walked to the footrest, picked up the tuft of Clay's hair and looked at it, then put it down and sat in his chair.

"You don't think he did it, do you?" Dawn said.

"If I say no, you'll both try to convince me otherwise. If I say yes, you'll use that as ammunition against him. It's not important what I think. What's important is what you two think." Jeremy said. "But let me change the subject for a moment. I know you two have ties in Toronto, jobs, friends. Did you tell them you were going to be out of town?"

"We were in a hurry," Buffy replied.

"I suggest you do that now," Jeremy replied. "We don't want them enquiring why you disappeared, not without something to point the other way."

"He's right," Buffy said with a sigh. "It's why we tend to fake an accident any time we change identities. So there are no unneeded questions on where we went."

"Okay we'll call them," Dawn said.

"Not yet," Jeremy said. "I've sent Nick to round up the others for a meeting."

"You can fill us in later," Dawn said.

"A meeting implies a group meeting," Jeremy said. "A group meeting implies that all the members of the group are expected to be there."

"What if we aren't members of the group?" Dawn asked reminding him of the agreement.

Jeremy let out a sigh. "Once you leave that may very well be the case, and if you do I will honor the agreement. But while you two are here, you are part of the Pack."

"We could remedy that," Buffy said, "we could leave right now."

"Beautiful weather we're having, isn't it?" Jeremy asked, instantly changing the subject.

"Do you ever discuss anything you don't want to discuss?" Dawn said.

Jeremy smiled. "It's the privilege of age."

Buffy snorted. "It's the privilege of position. For guess what, Dawn and I are older than you. Last I checked you hadn't even reached a century, where we've passed two."

Jeremy laughed. "Touché."

Just then the others came in. The first issue of business was no one was allowed to run on the property until the mess with the police had been settled. Issue two involved Jeremy's next plan of action. Once again, it didn't go over well with Clay. It didn't sit too nicely with Dawn or Buffy either.

"You can't leave me here," Clay shouted.

"I can't?" Jeremy asked.

"You shouldn't. It's stup—It doesn't make sense."

Jeremy nodded. "It makes perfect sense. And you're not the only one being left behind." Jeremy continued, "I won't have you, Dawn and Buffy coming along when you three are at each other like this. Besides Buffy is too new to being a werewolf, she needs more time to get acclimated."

"But I didn't do anything!" Clay said. "You haven't even accused me of killing that guy. You know I didn't do it. So why should I be punished—"

"It's not a punishment," Jeremy said. "Whether you did it or not doesn't matter. So long as you three are fighting, I want you here, where the only damage you can cause is to each other … and assorted pieces of furniture."

"Why leave all three of us?" Buffy asked.

"Because I don't need either of them or you. I'm not intending to track or fight anyone. It's simple information gathering. Even if you three weren't arguing, I wouldn't take any of you. It's an unnecessary risk. I want to learn more about these mutts. I don't want to rely on secondhand information, so I'm going myself and I'm taking Tonio and Peter as backup. Nick isn't coming either and I don't hear him complaining."

"It doesn't sound like much fun," Nick said.

Jeremy smiled. "Exactly."

"But—" Dawn said.

"It's past lunchtime," Jeremy said, getting to his feet. "We should eat before we leave."

After lunch Jeremy, Antonio, and Peter left for reconnaissance duty. Once they were gone, Buffy and Dawn retreated again, this time to their room, where they called work and their friends in Toronto.

As they hung up they knew that they would have to go home and soon. Their bosses and friends would get suspicious. The sisters stretched back in bed and rested as they dozed. Suddenly Nick came walking into the room unannounced.

"Do you ever knock?" Dawn said, as she and Buffy sat up in bed.

"Never. I'd miss everything if I did that." Nick grinned wickedly. "Did I miss anything?"

"Everything," Dawn said.

"Guess I'll have to start something myself then," Nick said, thumping down beside Buffy. "It's nice in here. Nice and quiet and very private."

"Perfect for sleeping," Buffy said.

"It's too early to sleep. I have something better in mind."

"We're sure you do," Dawn said

Nick grinned and leaned over to kiss Buffy, then ducked out of swatting range. "Actually, I was thinking of something else for a change. Since we're not allowed to run on the property, I thought maybe the four of us could drive somewhere for a run tonight."

"Dawn and I ran last night," Buffy said.

"But I didn't and I'm going to need to Change soon."

"Then go with Clay," Dawn said. "There's no reason all four of us have to go."

"I've already talked to him. He'll only go if you two will. He doesn't want you two by yourselves, in case the mutts make a surprise visit. "

"I'm sure they wouldn't—" Dawn stopped herself, realizing she wasn't so sure. "Do you have to go tonight? It's been a long day and—"

"I was thinking of a hunt," Nick said.

"I'm not sure we—" Dawn said.

"A deer hunt."

"Deer?" asked Buffy.

Nick laughed. "Dawn, how long has it been since you hunted anything bigger than a rabbit? Not on your own, I'll bet. Plus Buffy needs to learn how to hunt."

"He's right. A hunt would be a good idea," Clay said from the doorway. "Keep us busy while we're waiting for Jeremy. Nick needs to Change and he can't do that here. And as he said Buffy has never hunted, well not as a wolf anyways. Remember I got you both those rabbits last night. So she needs to learn to hunt. Besides I'm not leaving you two behind by yourselves. I'm sure you two can stomach my company for an hour or two."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Clay looked sharply over his shoulder and met first Dawn and then Buffy's eyes. They had driven an hour to a forest a good distance away from Stonehaven. The sisters had listened to Nick and Clay talk. The topics had been varied but the final topic had been where they all would like to go after this was all over. The sisters hadn't said anything but Clay had known the answer was not Stonehaven and he had stalked off to find a place for his Change.

"I'm not sure this is such a good idea," Dawn said to Nick. "Maybe Buffy and I should wait in the car."

"Come on," Nick said. "Don't do that. You two can blow off some steam. Just ignore him."

Dawn and Buffy agreed. Well, didn't actually agree, but Nick took off before they could argue and he had the car keys.

When Buffy and Dawn stepped from the thicket after their Change, Clay was there. He stood back, nose twitching. The sisters eyed him for a moment, and then cautiously started to skirt around him. They were almost past him when he twisted and lunged sideways, grabbing Dawn's hind leg and yanking it out from under her. As Dawn tumbled down, Buffy turned and was on Clay before he knew what hit him. Buffy and Clay rolled through the underbrush, knocking into a sapling and sending a squirrel scampering for a steadier perch. Buffy then leapt to her feet and ran toward Dawn. Behind her, Clay crashed through the brush. After no more than ten yards, Buffy heard a yelp, and then felt the ground shudder as Clay fell. She looked at Dawn who was up ahead and then glanced over her shoulder to see Clay snapping and tugging at a vine caught around his forepaw. Buffy slowed to turn around and go back for him, and then saw him break free and lunge into a run. Buffy turned and followed Dawn as they plowed into something solid, somersaulting over it and into a patch of nettles.

They sisters looked up from where they had landed to see Nick. With a growl they got to their feet. Nick stood back and watched, eyes laughing as Buffy and Dawn disentangled themselves from the nettles. Clay snuck up behind Nick and crouched, forequarters down, rear end in the air. Then he pounced, knocking Nick flying into the nettles. As Nick was struggling to stand, Dawn and Buffy walked by him with a serves you right snort. Nick grabbed Buffy's foreleg and yanked her down. They tussled for a minute before she managed to get free and darted behind Dawn who stood next to Clay.

While Nick extricated himself from the nettles, Clay rubbed his muzzle against first Dawn and then Buffy. Nick walked around them, rubbing and sniffing a greeting. When he lingered too long sniffing near Buffy's tail, Clay growled a warning and he backed off.

Dawn looked to Clay and her sister and she began to wonder. What was up with Clay? Was he trying to be a big brother to her sister? Or was there something more? As she thought over every time since Buffy had become a werewolf they began to run. As she thought about everything she began to realize what only Peter and Clay themselves had known for sure. Clay was not only in love with her, but Buffy as well.

Dawn remembered what had happened before she had been bitten, and she figured that was why Clay had hidden his feelings. Jeremy would not have approved of any sort of intimate relationship with Buffy since she had still been human at the time. Just as he had not approved of her relationship with Clay before she had been bitten.

As they ran Buffy was in the lead as Clay and Dawn jostled for second place, Nick content to stay at their heels. They'd gone about a half mile before they caught the scent of fresh deer. And they stopped to plan their moves. In wolf form they didn't need to talk to plan. Their brains had the instinctual knowledge of thousands of years of wolf instinct ingrained in them and they used that now to decide a course of action.

Dawn walked to the east, sniffed the air and caught the deer's scent again. A lone stag. That meant they didn't have to worry about cutting a deer from a herd. Clay slipped into the forest and vanished while Nick, Dawn and Buffy circled through the woods, getting downwind before following the scent again. They found the stag grazing in a thicket. Dawn crouched and sprang. The deer paused only a millisecond before leaping over the bushes and breaking into a gallop. Nick, Buffy and Dawn tore after it, but the gap between them and the deer grew.

As often happened, the deer made the fatal error of throwing his energy into the opening spurt. They hadn't gone far when he started to slow, wheezing and snorting for breath, too frightened to pace himself.

Dawn found Clay's scent in the air, and ran the deer toward him by veering out one way with a short burst of speed that sent it flying in the opposite direction. As they ran, the stag's fear escalated into panic. It galloped full-out, vaulting fallen trees and careening through undergrowth. As they rounded a corner, Clay lunged from the bushes and caught the deer by the nose.

The stag slid to a halt and shook its head wildly, trying to dislodge Clay. Meanwhile, they caught up. Dawn darted under the deer and sank her teeth into its stomach. Buffy and Nick attacked the deer's sides, lunging and biting and skittering out of the way before the deer could aim a hoof or antler in their direction. Clay was being tossed from side to side, but he hung on.

As Dawn clung to the stag's underbelly, she ripped and sliced, dancing on her hind legs to keep out of hoofs' reach. When she'd torn a gaping hole, she released her grip and clamped down farther up. At last the deer's front legs slid forward. Clay released his grip on its nose and tore into its throat. The deer thudded to the ground.

Once the deer was down, Nick and Buffy backed off and found a place nearby to lie down. Clay lowered his head and looked at Dawn. His muzzle was stained with blood. Dawn licked it and rubbed against him. Below them, the stag's limbs were still quivering, but its eyes stared forward, all life gone. Clay moved over to Buffy and nudged her up and toward the dear and the three of them tore into its side, steam swirled into the cool evening air.

When they'd eaten our fill, Nick approached and began to feed. Clay walked to a clearing and looked over his shoulder at Dawn and Buffy as they followed and dropped down beside him. Once Nick finished eating, he curled up next to them and they drifted off to sleep.

They hadn't been napping long when Clay jumped up, spilling Dawn and Buffy to the ground.

Dawn snapped awake when her head struck a rock. As she scrambled to her feet she nudged Buffy awake. The sisters noticed that they were alone in the clearing. Night had fallen, bringing with it only nocturnal sounds of nature. Dawn growled at Clay as she and Buffy started settling back down to their nap. Clay knocked the sisters each in the ribs with his muzzle and made a show of sniffing the air. They glared at him, but did as he asked. At first, neither Buffy nor Dawn smelled anything. Then the wind shifted and they knew what had made him jump up, the scent of another werewolf.

Zachary Cain.

Buffy nudge Nick awake as Clay bounded off into the brush. The sisters knew Nick would follow as they started to run. They found the thicket where Cain had been watching them from. Nick stuck his nose in, took a deep breath, backed out, and raced after Clay. Cain's scent wove deeper into the woods. Dawn looked to Buffy motioning for her to take the lead. She knew that Buffy's human vision was better than hers because of the Slayer. She just hoped that the wolf had the same improvement.

Bushes crackled to the north, something big breaking through the undergrowth. It wasn't Clay or Nick. They veered north. They'd run about a quarter mile when the sisters the vibration of running paws hitting the ground somewhere behind them. That was Clay and Nick.

Twisting around, Buffy saw a huge reddish-brown shadow burst from behind the rock and run in the opposite direction. Buffy dug her claws into the soft ground to stop, then pivoted and raced after Cain. Only two pairs of footfalls followed: Dawn and Nick. Clay was gone, taking another route in hopes of cutting Cain off like he had the stag. After a quarter mile, he swerved to the east. He was heading for the road, hoping to escape. Ahead, the forest opened up as they approached the road. Dawn swung to the left followed by Buffy, hoping to gain a few feet by anticipating Cain's route. He didn't turn, though. He kept running, back into the forest.

Seeing what Cain was doing, the sisters looked ahead and saw a clearer patch of land to the northwest. When Cain didn't head that way, the sisters did. Nick stayed on Cain's tail, not so much trying to catch him as hoping to run him into the ground. The sisters path led to a rocky hill. Once they were at the top of the hill, they could see the whole terrain. To the east, there was a flash of gold as Clay weaved through the trees. As a nearly black wolf Nick wasn't so easy to spot at night, but after a moment, the sisters saw some trees shake below them. The sisters followed the path of the rustling trees and bushes. They were coming this way. Buffy and Dawn traced the line of their route and moved to the spot where they guessed they'd come out. They were rewarded by the crashing of undergrowth directly in front of them. Seconds later, a massive shape shot through the brush.

Seeing the sisters in his path, Cain stopped. He growled and dropped his head. His green eyes blazed and his dark blonde fur stood on end. Buffy pulled back her lips and snarled. Cain looked at Buffy and then suddenly turned and … ran. As Cain disappeared down the hill, Buffy and Dawn started after him.

They'd gone maybe a dozen feet when something landed on Dawn's back, knocking her legs from under her. Buffy stopped thinking that Cain had gotten the drop on them as she twisted and saw Clay standing over Dawn. Dawn tried scrambling to her feet, but he held her down. Dawn snapped at him, catching his foreleg in her jaws and clamping down, growling. Buffy growled at Clay and she leapt at Clay who ducked out of the way. For a second, Clay hesitated wondering if he could take Buffy. Then he bounded off, not after Cain, but in the opposite direction. When Dawn was back on her feet, Buffy nuzzled her out of concern. Dawn nuzzled her back to say that she was alright. They turned and raced after Clay to the clearing where they'd first Changed. Dawn spotted Clay in the midst of his Change. So the sisters found their own clothes and Changed back as well.

When Dawn and Buffy stormed from the clearing, Clay was already there. "Where's Nick?" he said. "Goddamn it! He's got the keys. Wasn't he right behind you two?"

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked.

"Don't you get it?" Clay asked. "He was distracting us, keeping us busy."

"Nick?" Buffy asked.

"Cain." Clay said. "We were asleep and he didn't attack us. We chased him and he didn't fight or try to escape. He just kept us going in circles. Nicholas!"

"But why—" Dawn started.

"Jeremy. They've gone after Jeremy. Goddamn it!" Clay said. "They've probably been watching the house and we didn't even—There you are!" Nick walked out of the forest. "To the car. All of you. Move!"

They moved.