Chapter 12

Casey stood in front of her freezer trying to figure out what to eat. She was still a little numb from the two beers that she'd had on an empty stomach. She didn't see anything that jumped out and said 'eat me'. She shut the door before she defrosted the contents. Nothing seemed to sound good when she thought of it. Finally she grabbed a can of peach halves out of the cupboard and ate them straight from the can. She thought about calling Lena, but she wasn't sure whether she was quite ready for that reunion yet. She needed to figure a few things out first.

What was she going to tell Mark about Scott? Should she tell him the truth? He had risked his job and could have very likely faced jail time giving her that duffle bag of goodies. Should she return the favor by telling him something that was just as damaging to her life? It was rather heavily weighted against her, though; what's a little theft compared to murder?

She wondered what would have happened if she had simply called the authorities about finding an apparent bear attack victim and hiding the vest and gun. Why didn't I think of that sooner? Because you felt guilty as hell and you needed to cover your crime, that's why. I'm not a very good liar, so what do I tell Mark? Especially as he always seems to know when I'm lying.

She turned on her stereo and dropped in Mozart's Requiem; that always helped her to think. She looked at her answering machine and saw that she had three messages. She played them through and thought once again about calling Lena to assuage her fears, but then Steve's message had left her the most concerned. And she also knew that if she called Lena, that she'd drive up and skip classes tomorrow just to be with her and she didn't want Lena to do that.

She called Steve to find out what was so important. Thirty minutes later she was pacing back and forth in the living room, mad as hell. She felt a tingling sensation crawling across her skin, and snapped out of her internal tirade. She calmed herself down and tried to think about what Steve had said. She couldn't believe that such a nice guy like him would marry a woman that was like that.

What a bitch! She considered what he had just told her about his family situation. That he was the only one in the family that had shown any support for Lena. That his own children had never seen their Aunt Lena; they knew she existed, but his wife had forbidden her presence in the home. That Steve had to sneak out of his own house to see or talk to his own sister. Then, to top it all off, when Lena had been seen in town, she had blown a gasket that night at the dinner table. When Steve swore he hadn't been aware of Lena's presence, Wendy hadn't believed him and had called Lena to tell her to stay out of Choteau, and their lives.

Now, according to Steve, Lena had told Wendy that she hadn't been in town to see her brother but to see her girlfriend. So Wendy, being the bitch that she was, started calling around town to see where Lena's car had been seen. Enter her co-worker Faith, that nosey bitch had told Wendy that Lena's car had been at Casey's overnight. Now, not only was her secret out at work; Wendy was pressuring Steve to fire her because of it.

How did my life get so fucked up so fast? What did I do to the world to get handed this crap? She didn't buy into that religious claptrap about God hating gays. God was about love and forgiveness, not hate and bigotry. So she didn't think for one minute that God hated her. Of course, now that she was a werewolf, things might be a bit different. Well, screw it, if he's pissed at me, then, well, I don't know what I'd do. She needed to get off this train of thought quickly. What am I going to do for a job? She didn't think Steve would fold under and have to explain the big picture to Wendy about multi-million dollar lawsuits that routinely got paid out to people fired simply because they were gay.

Once Wendy found out that her bank account could suffer, that should cool her jets. Faith, however, was a different story. That bitch could ruin her life simply by telling the entire town that she was gay and having a love affair with a professor at a Catholic college. Then Lena would get pressured to move on; they'd never fire her, but it would amount to the same thing.

She suddenly realized what she needed to do. She rushed into her bedroom and quickly dressed. She grabbed her purse and drove straight to Faith's house. She got out of her truck and thought again about what she was planning to say, and smiled. This is going to be so much fun. She walked up to the door and rang the bell. Faith opened the door and stood there open-mouthed.

"Hello, Faith. Just telling your friends about me now, are you? Yes, I can see from the expression on your face that you were."

Casey watched as Faith suddenly paled. Casey spotted the cordless phone on the hall table, and with her newfound hearing, could hear someone calling Faith's name. Casey changed her tactics immediately. She smiled at Faith and started talking really loud,

"WHAT? What do you mean you won't sleep with me again, Faith? I thought you said you loved what my tongue did for you! Why, Faith? You said you loved to feel my breasts against yours!"

Casey grinned evilly at Faith as she went crimson and started to sputter and shake. She looked at Casey as if she was going to hit her, but then she whipped around and grabbed the phone, almost dropping it, before hitting the off button.

"How dare you! You-you bitch!"

Faith was trying to say more, but she couldn't get her mouth to work as fast as her brain.

"Yes, that very well may be the case, Faith, but you started this little war by being one first. I won't tolerate it any more, Faith. If you insist on telling the entire town that I'm gay, then I will tell them you were my first lover. It's that simple, Faith. You'll go down in flames just as fast, if not faster than me. How do you think your little social circle of tattle tales will treat you after that little tidbit hits the airwaves? Which, if I'm not mistaken, already has?"

Casey pointedly looked at the phone in Faith's hand and grinned.

"Get off my porch! Go away! I'll call the Sheriff and have you arrested for trespassing and harassment."

Faith was trying to gain the upper hand but Casey still had one more card to play.

"Yes, you could, but you won't. I'll say this only once, Faith. You fuck with me again and I'll bury you. Now, call your friends back and tell them it was all a great big misunderstanding and a practical joke that went too far. Oh, and Faith, if you test me on this, you'll find out I'm not the little quiet mouse you thought I was. Do you understand me?"

Casey's expression went cold and she stared into Faith's eyes with an intensity that smoldered with menace. Faith started to say something in response, but when she saw the look in Casey's eyes, she stopped. She swallowed and nodded.

"Yes."

"Good. Let's keep it that way, shall we?"

Casey turned and walked back to her truck. She drove off down the street smiling. She still couldn't really believe that she had done that. Two weeks ago, and she wouldn't have dared, but now she was more assertive. She knew that some of it had come from her new condition but after seeing Faith's face and her reaction; Casey didn't mind the change so much.

She considered who else needed a stern talking to, and figured that if she was going to lose her job anyway, she might as well go out with a bang instead of a whimper. She drove over to Steve's house and went into to their driveway. She thought about using the same tactics with Wendy, but then she remembered the kids, and changed her mind. The kids. Damn.

She thought about Steve's daughters and how much fun Lena would have being around them, teaching them things and playing soccer with them on Sundays. Then it clicked. The girls. Wendy might be afraid that Lena would teach them to be gay. How messed up in the head do you have to be to think of that? Ignorance is the breeding ground of intolerance. Hadn't one of her professors said that? It sure sounded right. Well, I'm about to teach that woman something. Casey smiled and got out of the truck and rang the doorbell.

Steve answered the door and his eyes bugged out. He suddenly looked guilty and couldn't meet Casey's gaze. He stammered for a few seconds and then calmed down enough to speak.

"Casey, uh, what are you doing here?"

"Well, Steve, I've just had a friendly chat with Faith. That's been taken care of. Now, I'm here to talk to Wendy. May I come in?"

"Ah, ah, uh, yeah, I guess so."

Steve suddenly changed from being her boss to a scared man about to be lined up against the wall and shot. Casey hid her grin at this observation and the change in Steve's demeanor. She stepped past him and then waited for him to show her in. Steve looked at her and started to say something, but then shut his mouth and shrugged, before shaking his head.

He led her into the living room where Wendy was sitting; both girls were curled up on the couch next to her. Casey looked at them; the youngest was most like Wendy, dark hair and brown eyes. She was only five years old, but Casey could tell she was going to look just like her mother when she got older. The oldest one--seven, if Casey remembered correctly--took after Steve's side of the family. She was petite and very blonde with blue eyes that were just a couple shades darker than Lena's. Wendy was just about to say something when Casey suddenly cut her off and spoke to the girls instead.

"Hello, Michelle and Stephanie, I'm your Aunt Casey. I'm here to talk to your Mom, okay?"

Both girls looked at her with surprise and wonder. They had never even heard of her before, and to see her standing there now telling them that she was their aunt? WOW! Their eyes widened and they looked at Wendy with questioning looks, as if to ask, is this true? Wendy was livid but managed to keep her voice low.

"Go upstairs, girls. Me and Casey have some things to talk about. I'll be up later to tuck you in. Go on, now. Get upstairs."

Wendy was staring daggers at her but she didn't say anything until the girls had disappeared upstairs.

"How dare you come into my house and call yourself that! You are sick and I won't have you or that little-"

Casey cut her off.

"No, Wendy. How dare you! Are you so small minded that you are willing to ruin everybody's lives over your groundless fear?"

Casey stepped closer to Wendy as she got up off the couch to face her. Her anger made her face flush.

"Are you afraid that one of your daughters might 'learn' to be gay because Steve's sister is?"

Casey was really angry now, but then she remembered her lessons and started to exercise one of the calming patterns in her mind.

"It's none of your business what I teach my children. Get out of my house."

"No. You haven't finished learning your lesson yet, Wendy. I'm not leaving until you do."

Casey walked up to Wendy and shoved her down into the couch. Casey grabbed a small chair and set it in front of Wendy and looked her straight in the eyes. Wendy was too shocked to speak, her mouth dropped open and her eyes bulged.

"Shut your mouth before the flies find it. Now, you listen to me very carefully, Wendy. If you keep this up and try to push Steve into firing me, you're going to lose. Steve knows what would happen if he caved in to your wish. I'd sue him for everything the paper is worth. That would mean no more nice things for you or the children, not even a roof over your heads."

Casey could see that she was scaring Wendy now. Wendy hadn't thought that far ahead, but she now knew that it could happen.

"I can see it's starting to sink in now, Wendy. Now, there's something else you need to get through to that little mind of yours; Lena is your sister-in-law and she deserves to be treated a whole hell of a lot better than you have been treating her."

"I don't have to listen to you. You are just as sick as she is."

Wendy's voice finally returned after her anger overrode her shock.

"Oh, yes you do, Wendy, and I'm not sick, you are the one who needs help. Now, here's the deal, Wendy. You are going to chill out about Lena and her lifestyle. You aren't going to use the kids against Steve anymore either."

"Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to order me around? You can't--"

"Oh, yes I can, Wendy, and I will. I have the right because I love Lena with all my heart and because I like Steve, he's a damn nice guy and he's my friend."

Then Casey caught it, just a flicker of the eye, but she knew exactly where that look went and just what it had been looking at. OH MY GOD! Wendy just checked out my tits! I'm chewing her out and she just looked at my tits! Holy Shit! Now it makes sense! She suddenly knew what she had to do and say.

"Steve, you need to go upstairs and read a story to Michelle and Stephanie. Now."

She turned to see Steve just standing there staring at her, his mouth agape.

"Steve! Story, upstairs, now."

Casey waved her hands and snapped her fingers. Steve blinked and nodded. He turned and ran up the stairs, leaving Wendy and Casey alone. Wendy started to say something, but Casey shushed her.

"Wendy, listen to me. Lena is my girlfriend and lover now. That means you can't have her."

Casey sat and watched Wendy go white as a sheet. She looked at Casey in terror and shot a glance up to the stairway.

"No, Wendy, I won't tell him. You will. When you are ready, you will tell him. It'll be tough, but you know what Wendy, Steve's a lot smarter than you think he is. He's also a lot more understanding too."

"How did you know? Does Lena know?"

Wendy was starting to panic.

"Wendy calm down. I saw you check out my tits while I was chewing your ass. It clicked; it was the only thing that really made sense as to why you would treat Steve's sister so badly and then take it out on your kids. Wendy, shame on you. Are you that scared of being tempted, or is there something else?"

"There's something else."

Wendy suddenly stopped. Casey shook her head.

"What, Wendy? I won't tell Steve, unless you say it's okay. Look Wendy, I don't hate you. I'm annoyed with you, but I don't hate you. Now what is it?"

Casey could see the turmoil on Wendy's face. She was still trying to be angry, but she was now more scared than anything else.

"It was Stephanie, when she was really young, maybe just two years old at the time. She said something. She had just started making sense with some of her words."

Wendy looked at Casey again and then at the stairway. "She pointed at Lena's picture and said 'pretty Leenee', and I got scared."

"So? That's it? You did all this because of that one comment?"

Casey was starting to get annoyed again.

"No, it wasn't just that. She was looking at the picture with a strange look on her face. I never thought I'd see that look on a two year old. She was pointing to the picture and she said that. I swear it was a look of want on her face, Casey. My little two year old wanted Lena."

Wendy started crying. Casey sat down on the couch next to her and put an arm over her shoulder. Wendy flinched and started to pull away, but Casey stopped her.

"Wendy, chill out, I'm not putting moves on you. I'm trying to help you. Okay?"

Casey watched Wendy carefully; she didn't want a huge scene on her hands.

"Okay. Thanks."

"That's what friends do, Wendy. We help each other. I am Steve's friend and I would like to be yours as well. Would that be okay?"

"Yeah. I guess that would be okay. You are the only one that knows about me."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Wendy."

"What do you mean?"

Casey saw Wendy's panic starting to rise again.

"I mean, Lena is the smartest person I know and she is damned perceptive. My guess is that she knew and that's why she never pushed the issue over you not wanting her around. She may not know all of the reasons, but I would venture a darned good guess she knew you were attracted to her. I doubt if she realized that you were upset because you thought Stephanie was attracted to her. Now the question begs to be answered, Wendy; what now?"

"I don't know. What if Steve finds out and gets really mad?"

"Wendy, I don't think he will be mad. Well, he might be for a little bit, but he'll come around. He obviously loves you, I know he adores Stephanie and Michelle, and he loves his sister. So, yeah, he might be a little miffed about how much grief you have given him with this, but it won't last. He'll deal with it and will be happy if you let Lena back into the family. If Stephanie still has a crush on Lena, well, so what? Lena's my girl and nobody, not even that little cutie, is going to take away my Lena. Understand?"

Casey smiled to take the edge off her words, but Wendy had already started smiling, long before Casey did.

"Yeah. I never would have guessed it about you, Casey. I even saw you with a boyfriend once, so what is the deal with you and Lena?"

"Well, up until I met Lena, you're right; I wasn't inclined to date women. I had a bad breakup with a guy and Lena gave me a shoulder to cry on. Well, that led to me realizing that Lena was cute as hell and I found myself attracted to her. Some looks were exchanged and then one thing led to another, and, well, we love each other. We are hopelessly crazy about each other, and I am very happy. So, you can look, but no touching, got it?"

Wendy laughed and nodded.

"Thank you, Casey. So, what do I tell Steve? He's up there right now wondering if we are killing each other."

"I have an idea. Why not let me go up there and finish reading the story to the girls? While I'm doing that, you can talk to Steve. Trust me, Wendy, he'll understand."

"Okay. Aunt Casey, huh?" Wendy smiled.

"Yeah, uh, it was the only thing I could think of when I walked in."

"Well, Aunt Casey, go upstairs and read to my girls while I talk to my husband."

"Yeah, why don't I do just that? What a great idea! Too bad I didn't think of it first."

Casey gave Wendy a grin and walked up the stairs. Casey heard Steve's voice and followed it to the bedroom door. She looked around the doorframe and watched for a minute.

The girls were in their beds and Steve was sitting in between them on a chair with a book on his lap. He was looking from one daughter to the other as he read the story. It was obvious from watching him that this was the same story he told them every night, he never once looked down, but flipped the pages as if he were reading it. Casey smiled and thought to herself, yeah, I could do that. She stepped into the doorway and both girls looked at her with big round eyes.

"Hi, girls. Steve, why don't you let Aunt Casey here finish the story and you can go downstairs."

She smiled at Steve and nodded, before looking at the girls to see what they thought of the idea.

"Oh, okay. Uhm, would that be okay with you girls? Can Aunt Casey finish the story for me?"

They both nodded but didn't say a word. He smiled and patted them both on the head.

"Okay, I'll be back up in a little bit to tuck you in and kiss you goodnight."

Steve turned to look at her and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"You'll have to wait and let her tell you. In the mean time, what page are you on?"

It didn't really matter about the page number. The girls were voraciously curious and Casey never got a chance to read any of it. They wanted to know all about her and how she was their aunt. So, she told them about her and Lena being really good friends; almost like sisters. Casey watched Stephanie closely when she mentioned Lena's name but there wasn't any difference from her reaction than that of Michelle's.

Casey figured as much. Wendy had over-reacted and misread her daughter's reaction. Wendy had read too much into that look because she had those feelings for Lena and was feeling particularly guilty about it.

Steve came back up the stairs and stood there listening to Casey talk to the girls. He was a little perplexed at Wendy's confession and apology. He wasn't mad, just disappointed. All that time lost when they could have been a closer family. Well, it looked like it was going to work out okay anyway. The girls liked Casey and he could tell that Casey liked them, and was good with them. He stepped into the room and the girls shouted 'Daddy!' at the same time. They were disappointed that Casey had to go so soon.

"You both need to get to sleep; you have school in the morning."

They whined but smiled when Casey gave them each a goodnight kiss on the forehead before stepping out of the room. Casey went back downstairs and when she walked up to Wendy to say goodbye, Wendy hugged her.

"You'd better not be doing this just to cop a feel."

Casey smiled and hugged Wendy back.

"God, you are as bad as she is, no wonder you two are in love. Thank you, Casey, for everything. You were right, he wasn't mad."

"I told you he'd surprise you. That's why I like him; he's a nice guy. You're lucky too, Wendy."

Casey winked at Wendy. Steve walked in and looked at the two of them standing there and grinned.

"You know, this doesn't change anything, Casey. You still have to show up for work tomorrow morning at eight o'clock."

"Yeah, good old Steve. Business first. Okay. See you tomorrow morning. Oh, and Steve, let me tell Lena, Okay?"

Steve and Wendy nodded and waved as she left. Casey got in her truck and drove home. She got inside the house and heard the phone ringing. She wasn't sure she was ready to talk to Lena just yet, but she needed to at least let her know she was home and safe. She picked it up before the answering machine did.

"Hello?"

"So you're back. Is it fixed?"

The cold tone of Mark's voice came out of the handset.

"So to speak. One thing got fixed, the other stayed."

Casey didn't really want to get into this conversation with him tonight.

"What got fixed?"

"You don't have to worry about that duffel bag, it got buried in a deep hole and nobody will ever find it. As for the other, well, I have to go and spend a few days a month out in the deep woods."

"Why did you bury it? Don't you still need it; you know we still haven't caught him?"

"I don't need that stuff anymore, Mark. I thought you'd be relieved to know that it will never be found."

"Yeah, I am sort of, but what about Scott? He's still a threat as long as he's out there."

"I don't need it anymore."

Casey hoped he'd get the message and drop the subject quickly.

"Oh, I don't want to know, do I?"

Marks tone became quiet.

"Ask me no questions, Mark, and I'll tell you no lies."

Casey used that old song title which seemed to fit the situation perfectly.

"I see. Well, um, now what?"

"Like I said, I have to go out in the woods for a few days each month and everything will be fine."

"You won't go shifting and rampaging through town?"

Mark sounded dubious and pissed.

"No, Mark. No rampaging through town. I go to work tomorrow and things will eventually get back to normal."

She tried to believe that, but somehow didn't think it would really be true.

"Did you find him? Dagomarus."

"Yeah, he helped me and he'll continue to help me control this. He's staying out in the forest though, he's not coming back to town."

"Oh, okay. So, what are you going to do now?"

Casey could sense the relief in Mark's voice at the news of Dagomarus and that he wouldn't be coming back, but she also read between the lines with his question. Damn it boy, don't you ever give up?

"Well, I thought I'd just go back to work this week and then either go see Lena or have her come up here. Actually, I know she's coming up here. We're going to have dinner together."

Casey didn't add, with Steve and his family. Anyway, Mark didn't need to know every last detail.

"Oh, so you and her are really going out, then?"

Mark sounded disappointed. Good.

"Yeah, we are, Mark. Exclusively."

Give up you bastard. She didn't want to think of him like this, but he wasn't giving her much choice.

"Oh. Okay. Well, I'll talk to you later then. Bye."

Casey was relieved and annoyed. Glad that he didn't push the Scott issue, but pissed that after all they had discussed last week, he still had the balls to think he could have a shot at dating her. What was it with him? She half wondered if it wasn't some sick infatuation because he had seen her having sex with Dagomarus and he'd been turned on by it.

Well, Mark was a smart guy, and the trend was usually that the smart ones were the really kinky ones. That made her stop and think for a second. The smart ones are the kinky ones. Lena was really, really smart; and she had already admitted to her that she was a pervert. Casey had assumed she meant her thing about the feet. That seemed rather mild for someone as smart as Lena, especially when she was insatiable in bed.

Thinking about Lena like that made her skin tingle and feel warm. I have to call her; I can't put it off any longer. She dialed Lena's number from memory.

"Hi, lover, I'm back."

Casey had to hold the receiver away from her ear for a second as Lena squealed in delight.

"Yes, I'm okay."

"No, I'm a werewolf, Lena."

"Yeah, I know, me too. However, not all things are bad; Scott won't be a bother anymore."

"No details, Lena. He just won't be bothering me anymore, that's all."

"No, don't come up tonight, Lena. You have classes in the morning and I also have to go to work."

"Yeah, I want to really bad too, but you know I'm right."

"Yeah, I think we can arrange dinner some night this week."

"No, why don't you come up here for dinner. I have something really special planned for you and I would like to cook for you."

"You are insatiable, and I love you too."

"Goodnight, my lovely Lena."

Casey hung up and walked into the bedroom. She stripped off her clothes and crawled into her nice soft bed. Where she could curl up under the covers and smell Lena's scent in the sheets and the pillow next to her. Yes, this was good enough for the first night back to reality. She snorted when she said that to herself. Reality, what the hell was that?

Casey awoke to the sound of birds and crickets loudly serenading in her ears. Had she left a window open? She got up and checked, no, all the windows were closed. She swore to herself and shook her head. This enhanced hearing is going to drive me nuts!

She was ravenously hungry so she grabbed a flat of eggs and the slab of bacon out of the fridge and started heating up the skillets. She cooked herself six eggs and a dozen slices of bacon. She pulled four slices of Texas-style toast from the toaster and heavily buttered them before smothering them with honey. She was wiping her plate with the last piece of toast when she became cognizant of just how much she had eaten. Damn! If I keep this up I'll blow up like a balloon!

The funny thing was, she didn't feel like she had just eaten that much, and she still felt slightly hungry even after all of that. She drank the last half of the pitcher of orange juice as well. The bacon had been a little on the salty side of decent taste. She made herself a pot of coffee and reveled in the smell; drinking a cup before the pot was really ready. Taking the first super-strong portion out of the carafe to get that jolt of concentrated caffeine. She took a few sips and felt the rush as it hit her system. Whoa! It never hit me like that before. Maybe I'd better cut back a little. It did have the effect of curbing her appetite though, just like she had planned.

She went back into her bedroom to get dressed and while she was trying to decide on what to wear; she looked at herself in the mirror. She was pleasantly surprised to see how well toned her body looked. WOW! She looked like she could have been a professional gymnast. Hey! I think I like looking like this! No, I know I like this! Even after eating that horribly unhealthy breakfast, she didn't feel bloated or queasy like she would usually expect. In fact, she felt energized and slightly hyperactive. Well, my grocery bill is going to be quite a bit higher than last time.

She picked out an outfit that highlighted her lithe new body and smiled at herself in the mirror. Yeah, this is nice. It really is a good thing Lena isn't here right now; I'd never make it to the door dressed like this. She snickered and grinned, yeah, Lena is going to be really surprised when she sees me. She grabbed her purse and headed out the door. She wanted to get to work early and see how much backlogged work she was going to find. She pulled up to the back door and saw that Steve was already there, but nobody else was. Good, this will give me a few minutes to talk to him about Faith and her plans for Lena

.

She went inside and walked over to his door. He looked up and smiled.

"Good morning, Casey. How are you feeling? Ready to get back to the grind?"