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          "Come along father! I guess I need to teach you just how alive I really am!" He picked her up and swung her through the air. "Oh Maggie, you have no idea how glad I am to see you. I thought you were dead and it was all because of me." "Stupid man. Did you think I was that altruistic? Everything happened so fast that I forgot to tell you my complete plan. Raking him with my tainted claws got the poison into his system faster. Even after his skin healed over, all it did was trap it inside. Maybe you could have taken him down, and maybe you needed some help. The main idea was killing him off, and together we did that." "Yes we did. Hey! Watch!" He stepped out of his overalls and dropped them to the ground. He then changed; slowly, until he was a big, feral, Dire Wolf. "Look what I can do!" Maggie returned to her feral form. "Nice. Do you want to try it out on me?" "Uh, I'm not sure you'd survive it!" "The regular wolves did." "What?" "At the sanctuary!" "Oh that. To be honest, I'm not sure that anything happened. They might have been able to take me on as a human, but not like this I think." "Ok. Human it is then. I'm not picky." His growling laughter frightened birds from the overhead branches. "You're still definitely you, aren't you?" "And you were expecting someone else?" "I wasn't expecting anyone to come here whatsoever, so you have no idea how happy I am." "Speaking of happy, I'm supposed to extend the appreciation of Verona's mom to you. I told her I would do my very best to relay it." He morphed back into a human. "Come on. There's an open patch just ahead we can sneak into." "Is it the cemetery?" She asked, wagging her tail. "No! That would be disrespectful!" "Come on father, they're all dead. How would they know or care?" "I'd know!" "Well duh! That makes it all the more titillating!" "No! Somewhere else!" She relented and they went into the spot he had previously chosen. She was jumping around, acting like a totally happy pet, rather than a frightening Halloween apparition.  She ran around in circle before falling over dizzy. "Here?!" "Here is fine." He got down on his knees, ignoring the sticks and leaves. Maggie dropped her front down and stuck her ass high in the air. Her backside was vibrating in anticipation. Edward was so happy to have her back that he would have done anything she insisted on, but he was glad she had the common decency to do this in a less somber place than the cemetery. She was wet with anticipation and he was so relieved to know she was alive that he would have done her on the kitchen table at the farmhouse. He plugged into her and savored the feel. It was more than sexual; it was gratification at having her back. His depression over the past few days had been mitigated only by the discovery of this place. Now he had people to share it with! She was so happy to have found him, and after only just a few days, that she would have done anything for him. Having lost him, she knew now how much he meant to her. She only hoped he still felt the same way after he and Verona got married. She was in heat now, and unless they did something soon, it would pass and they wouldn't have another chance to have a child for a while. She wished she could give him a cub. She knew her biology was too immature. She wasn't stupid. She was glad no one was treating her like a child. She couldn't help how she was. She just wasn't a doll-playing kind of girl. There were too many scents to sniff and trails to follow. She was already set when it came to a mate. She loved him so much she'd even share him. Edward was totally into her. Her body was relaxed and supple, and as he plowed into her, he heard those familiar yips and growls. She did love playing the adult games, and he loved playing them with her. He still was unsure how their future was going to play out, but then, if asked how it was going to happen in the days before he had met her, his answer would not have included this! It was nearly an hour later that the two of them walked back to the house. Maggie was wobbling on two legs, naked as a jay bird. Edward would have carried her, but she refused. She opened the Rover's door and pulled out her clothes. She threw some at her father. "Here! I thought you might need something that would fit, and since I moved us out of the hotel, they were handy." They dressed, and knocking politely, entered. Reynaud and Marcus were sitting next to each other in a couple of old chairs, and Lupenia and Sophia were on the couch jabbering away a hundred miles an hour. Verona's eyes lit up. "Welcome back!" "Back from where?" he asked teasingly. "From being lost. I didn't get a chance to hug you before." "Are you sure it's wise?" "No, but I don't really care. Do you?" He was pretty sated right then. "What the hell! Come here!" He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the floor. She kicked her feet as he twirled her around. Sophia smiled at the energetic display. "Oh to be young again!" The gentleman watched with interest, but disaffected interest. They remembered being young too, and all that went with it. They were only slightly jealous. Marcus held up the box. "This was a remarkable find. I was just telling Rey about it. I've been filling him in on some important details that were withheld for a long time." Edward set Verona down. "Such as?" "Such as the real identity of your grands. We were supposed to protect them, and ultimately we failed. Since almost everyone from town was gone, and since we were the only ones left, we just hushed the whole thing up." "You mean the werewolf hunter?" "Yes, just that. What were we going to tell the authorities? That our brethren were killed by an assassin using silver weapons? And we had no bodies. I showed you their markers, not really their graves. They turned to dust and ash, like any good werewolf does." Rey nudged his way into the conversation. "But you never said what became of the hunter." "Food. Stripping all the silver off of him was a chore, but I have good gloves in the barn. Ma said we should bury him, but I didn't want to leave  any evidence for anyone to find. I rather figured someone would follow him to finish the job, but it hasn't happened yet. Doesn't mean I haven't been watchful all these years. I sort of figured this Edward fellow was a thrill seeker. We still get people driving down here to see the site of Wolf Creek. Of course they only know it as a legend." "Legend?" asked Edward. "Yeah. We figured news would get out eventually, so we made up a fake legend. We threw in witches and werewolves, and here and there a bit of truth, and then made it into a big, blown-out-of-proportion story. It caught on. It's subsided in recent years, but you still get people coming down to see what's left of the town." "So you made up a story more unbelievable than the truth to hide behind?" "Yep! Folks believe what they want to. They come down here looking for the horrors, and once in a while they find them." "What?" "Son, it's simple. The missus and I will, on very rare occasions, give the people what they want. Sometimes it's a howl, or a pair of red eyes in the darkness. And every time the sheriff comes to investigate, he apologizes for the trouble and leaves. No one in these parts wants to play the part of the fool, and the best way to keep them guessing is to mix it up once in a while." "I'd think you'd want to keep a low profile and keep folks away." "Nice sentiment son, but we have to eat once in a while." "What about the potion you guys have." "Have you ever tried it?" asked Marcus.

"No." "Then drink some sometime. You'll have your answer there. The stuff's as bitter as a twice scorned spinster." "But then you can eat without feeling sick?" "Pretty much yes. It's a sad state of affairs for our kind. We used to roam the hills and valleys hunting deer and wild boar. But years of dilution of the pure blood line has weakened our "were" side. Back in the day, killing humans was more a matter of punishment. We never killed more than was necessary, and even then, we tried to be discrete. Killing a criminal is still killing, but it often gets ignored." Maggie piped up. "Like in the book!" Sophia smiled, but she looked confused. "What book dear?" "The Taronum thingie." "That's Taborum Maggie." "Yeah, that's it. The Taborum. It has the old code written in it." "How do you know of the book and the code?" "Because I read it on the way here!" "Rey?" "I contacted Brother Carcharoth and he sent it to me. We are trying to unravel a few mysteries, like who Edward's grandparents were." "I know that now. Their last name was Bourbon." "What?!" Rey looked to his brother-in-law for an explanation. "Sorry Rey, but we were told to never tell anyone they were here, and that included you. They had several last names to keep people off the scent. To their family they used Rougarou, and to other folks they used Marquette." "Jacques and Marie Marquette were really Bourbon?" "I'm afraid so. Young Edward here visited back in the day, though his memory of it is cloudy." "Mindwipe?" "I think so.  It would make sense. I think maybe his parents feared for his life and did it, though when and why we'll never know." Verona sat up. She turned and looked at Edward. "It can't be!" YOU! You're that little Marquette kid?" He suddenly felt like all eyes were on him. "I don't know. Am I?" Verona was suddenly filled with the giggles. "Oh my God! I've had the hots for that skinny little kid that used to visit down the road?" Maggie was confused. "Father was here before?" He patted his knee for her to climb up on it. "I guess so. I don't really remember very well. I get snatches of memories, sort of cloudy and smudged. But I think I was here a few times. I do remember my grandparents, but not much else." "Weird. What's a mind wipe?' "One word dear. It's sort of a hypnotic suggestion. It blocks memories from coming out into the open. If Edward's parents did it, then they must have had great reason. It's normally only done on people you need to have forget about your existence. It beats killing everyone who discovers your secret." "Mindwipe," she repeated. "Can it be reversed?" "Maybe. There isn't much need for undoing it. But that would have to be done by the people who originally did it." Edward caught that. "People? Plural?" "Yes. It takes two, one to hold the mind while the other fixes the memories. It's not done lightly. It takes a toll on the ones performing it." He leaned back and Maggie fell back against him. "This is so weird. I wish I knew more about what was going on." Rey stood. "You're not the only one girl. We have a pile of mysteries, and it seems that as soon as one is answered, two more spring up. It's like we have our own personal Hydra to slaughter." Edward grabbed Maggie by the waste and gently squeezed. He felt her butt cheeks squeeze against his thigh. "What about my box? We started talking about that and got distracted." Marcus picked it up off of the coffee table. "Yes, I was showing it to Rey. As I said, we know it was made by Leonardo da Vinci for Isabella d'Este. It was passed down in dowries and made its way to the Bourbon family estate.  After the problems in Gévaudan, it was passed on to Rene Bourbon, the son of Madame Antoinette Bourbon. They were never allowed to leave the family estate and for good reason." "Because they were werewolves?" "That's a given. But then so were the kings. They didn't have the power to change, whereas other family members did. So you can imagine the rift that caused. Most of the Bourbon history that the world knows is a fabrication. There are branches that have been erased from the history books. Rene was the youngest son of Antoinette, and the heir to the box. Technically the king had the right to it, but the decree was that it went only to a family member who could change." Maggie was all ears. "So whatever's in it is valuable?" "So it is said. But we no longer know what it is." "So where's the key to open it?" Marcus' face fell. "We don't know. We hoped it was near where Edward found the box, but we searched to no avail. So unless we find it, the box will remain closed." "Can't you break it open?" Edward about dumped her. "Maggie! Even if the box was empty, it must be worth a fortune! It was made by one of the most famous scientists and artist the world has ever known. Reynaud coughed into his hand. "As well as being the bastard son of a peasant woman." "Your point.?" "The bastard son of a werewolf..." "Oh. How many of us have there been in history?" "Oh, mostly the great ones. You'll have to read the book." Maggie was bouncing on her knee, feeling agitated. Then she sprung up and ran out of the house. When she returned she was carrying an enormous book. She shoved the stuff on the coffee table onto the floor and opened it up. "This key?" Edward looked at the page. It had a coat of arms in amazing detail and below it a drawing of an ornate key. He did a double take. "It can't be."