Moon Called

On one page, I wrote down: Drug experiments/buying new werewolves? and on the next Why replace Bran with Adam?

I set a hip over a three-legged stool and tapped my pen on the paper. Other than the tranquilizers that had killed Mac, there was no physical evidence of any other drugs, but Mac's experiences seemed to indicate that there were more. After a moment I wrote down: Were Ketamine/silver nitrate/DMSO the only drugs? Then I wrote down the names of people likely to have knowledge of all the drugs. Samuel, Dr. Wallace, and after a thoughtful pause I wrote Auriele, the chemistry teacher. With a sigh I admitted: it could be anybody. Then, stubbornly, I circled Dr. Wallace's name.

He had the ability and a motive for making a tranquilizer that would render him harmless to the people he loved. I quit playing with my pen. Or would it?

Wasn't the vampire's Kiss a tranquilizer? It was possible a submissive werewolf might have come out of it like any other tranquilized animal, groggy and quiet. Stefan had said that only some wolves became problematic. Samuel had come out fighting, with his wolf ready to attack, just as if he'd been trapped.

I thought of the broken manacles Adam had left behind in his house. He'd put his reaction down to Jesse's kidnapping-but maybe that was only part of it. But, that was a side issue for now.

I looked at the second page. Why replace Bran with Adam?

I brushed my finger over the words. I wasn't certain that was the motive, but it was the kind of motive that would leave bodies on the ground without discouraging the perpetrators. They left Adam alive when they could easily have killed him, so they wanted something from him.

Bran had been Marrok for almost two centuries. Why would someone get desperate to change the way things ran just now?

I wrote down: want change.

Bran could be a bastard. He was a ruler in the old-fashioned despot sense-but that was something the werewolves seemed to want. Under his rule the werewolves in North America had prospered, both in power and numbers-while in Europe the wolves waned.

But would Adam be any different? Well, yes, but not in any way that I could see would benefit anyone. If anything, Adam would be more despotic. Samuel said that Bran had considered using Adam as the poster child for the werewolves-but it would never have worked. Adam was too hot-tempered. Some reporter would shove a camera in his face and find himself flattened on the pavement.

That was it.

I sucked in my breath. It wasn't change that someone wanted-it was to keep everything the same. Bran was pla

Suddenly it didn't seem so odd that one of Adam's wolves might have betrayed him. (I wasn't as confident that my instincts were right as everyone else seemed to be.) But I could see how one of Adam's wolves could feel that aiding the enemy had not been a betrayal. They were preparing the way for him to take power. No harm was supposed to have come from their raid on Adam's house-but they wouldn't be discouraged by the deaths there. Werewolves die-and their wolves had died for a cause. A wolf like Mac, who wasn't even pack, wouldn't be a great loss when measured by what was at risk.

The betrayer could be anyone. None of Adam's pack had any personal loyalty to Bran.

I took out the card Bran had given me and called the top number. He picked up on the second ring.

"Bran, this is Mercy." Now that I had him on the phone I wasn't certain how much to tell him-far too much of what I'd put together was pure speculation. Finally, I asked, "Have you heard from Adam?"

"No."

I tapped my toe. "Is… is Dr. Wallace still there?"

Bran sighed. "Yes."

"Could you ask him if he developed a tranquilizer that works on werewolves?"

His voice sharpened. "What do you know?"

"Nothing. Not a damn thing, including where Adam and your son are right now. Just when are you considering bringing the werewolves out in public?"

"Samuel's missing?"

"I wouldn't go that far. The whole pack is with them-they just haven't bothered to check in with me."

"Good," he said, obviously not surprised that they hadn't seen fit to keep me updated. "In answer to your previous question-I believe it is something that must be done soon. Not this week nor next, but not a year from now either. My contacts in the FBI laboratories tell me that our existence is an all-but-open secret right now. Like the Gray Lords, I've come to the conclusion that since coming out is inevitable-it is imperative to control how it is done."

See? Werewolves are control freaks.

"How many people… how many wolves know about this?" I asked.

There was a pause. "This is pertinent to the attack on Adam?"

"I believe so, yes."

"Most of the wolves here would know," he said. "I haven't been keeping it a secret. Next month at the Conclave I am going to make a general a

He didn't say anything more, just waited for me to tell him what I'd been thinking. It was pure speculation, and I was opening myself up to ridicule by saying anything at all. I sat on that stool and realized that I had my loyalties, too. I was not a werewolf, but Bran was still my Marrok. I had to warn him.

"I have no proof," I told him. "Just a theory." And I told him what I thought had happened and why.

"I don't have any idea who it is," I told the silence at the other end of the line. "Or if I'm right."

"If it is a werewolf who is unhappy about revealing himself to humans, it seems odd that there would be humans working with him," Bran said, but he didn't say it like he thought my theory was stupid.

I'd almost forgotten about the humans. "Right. And I don't have much of an explanation about the drug tests that Mac told us about either-other than maybe they were worried about dosage or side effects. Paying for new-made werewolves seems like a lot of risk with very little benefit."

"When two wolves are fighting, having one of them drugged could greatly influence the outcome," said Bran. "I like your theory, Mercedes. It isn't perfect, but it feels like you're on the right trail."

"He wouldn't have to worry about the loyalties of humans," I said, thinking out loud.

"Who?"

"Adam says that one of the wolves who attacked his house was someone he knew, a wolf who shared his rebirth."

"David Christiansen."

"Yes." It didn't surprise me that the Marrok would know who I was talking about. Bran managed to give the impression that he knew every werewolf anywhere personally. Maybe he did.

"David works with humans," Bran said slowly. "But not with other werewolves. I wouldn't have thought he would ever be a part of a plot that included rape-Changes like that experienced by your Alan MacKenzie Frazier. Still it is something to consider. I'll call Charles and see what he makes of it."

"He's still in Chicago?"

"Yes. You were right; it was Leo. Apparently his salary wasn't enough to support the kind of living he wanted to enjoy." Bran's voice sounded neutral. "He didn't know the wolf he sold the young victims like your Alan MacKenzie Frazier to-there were six of them altogether. He didn't know what they wanted the young ones for, either. Stupid of him. The Alpha's second is the one who set up the deal, but Charles is having difficulty getting any more information out of the second because he has left town. It may take us a while to find him. The rest of the pack seems to have been unaware of what was going on, but we are breaking them up anyway."

"Bran? If you hear from Samuel or Adam, will you tell them to call me?"

"I'll do that," he said gently and hung up.