Three’s a Clan Read Free Page A

supernatural beings as not as valuable, not as worthy. We were returning to the exclusivity we’d had before the Matheo had taken his mate. It was not all that long ago. One hundred and fifty years, the miasma reminded me.
    And in a flash of memory, I was back on the plantation.
    We had taken slaves at the time. It was an easy source of blood, and we took care of them and fed them better than any of the other farmers. Some knew of us, some we compelled. All were loyal.
    Amelia, our cook and my friend, found me that day. She was screaming for help across the fields. I was by her side by the time the wolf emerged from the forest. I knew in an instant what she was. She was filthy, she was wild, and the blood that covered her paws and snout let us know she was a killer. I pushed Amelia behind me.
    “Run through the fields, go to the house. Take all you can with you. I will stay and fight.”
    “Miss Michelle, can you kill it?” Amelia knew of me, but like most of the staff, she did not ask questions. When masters provided as well as we did, the staff ignored the unpleasant.
    “I can. But it is possible it may escape me briefly. I don’t want anyone hurt. Now… go .” I put some compulsion behind the final word and Amelia ran as fast as her arthritic joints allowed.
    The wolf began to circle me. The spikes of dried blood in her fur formed a wicked looking armor. The wild in her eyes stabbed me. I had fought werewolves before. We were not unknown to their kind and some came looking for a fight from wherever they might find a formidable opponent. This was not a were looking to expend some energy. This was an animal that had once been human.
    Father’s presence from behind me was welcome. “Where did she come from?”
    “The woods. Amelia saw her first. Had I not been close, I have no doubt we would have lost her. That blood on the snout is fresh.”
    Father sniffed the air. “She has killed. Human from the smell. Hmm. I wonder.” The last bit was mumbled. He wasn’t aware of me anymore. He was in his head again. The Matheo had been looking for something recently.
    He never shared where he went on his walks, but he came back motivated. There was always some new place to go, some new career to conquer. That same look played along his features now. What was he up to?
    His power pulsed as he yelled to the beast. “ Change !”
    My body shuddered as much as the wolf’s. But as the fur thinned, and her bones popped, I was amazed. Father had forced the change. The snarls and yips turned to screams. As her bones reformed, a dirty naked woman lay before us, panting. She was very thin aside from her distended belly. I couldn’t be sure, but I would put money on the fact that she had killed out of madness, a common side effect of extreme hunger. Any werewolf who was to that point of starvation could lose control around the meaty humans in the village.
    The summer had been dry and rough, and much of the wild life had either perished or been hunted out of the local reserves. Why hadn’t she just turned to her human form and tried to blend in for some food? Even with the filth and emaciation, her cheeks flushed and the creamy peach of her skin would have put her in the arms of a farmer’s son in a heartbeat.
    I watched the shewolf cower as Father approached her. He knelt before her as her back hit the fence post she had leapt over moments ago.
    He seemed to be evaluating her as he said, “You hold endless possibilities inside you.”
    I had no idea what he meant, but I knew what he was doing when the tingle of his voice rolled out toward our visitor.
    “You will follow us inside and allow the women to bathe you. You will not harm anyone on this plantation, and you will use manners among us. Stand and go.”
    The wolf was fighting him. Her movements were jerky, not serene, but she went. She was in his chambers by sundown.
    Like I said, this miasma thing was a pain in the ass sometimes. Shaking off the memories and visions from