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            One of the wolves leaned over and

spoke to the human girl."Was your mate not to follow you

after your clever ploy?""No, he was not supposed to follow

me. And he didn't. I watched them get into the cars and drive off, just like

they were supposed to."Edward was listening, but none of

this made an impression on him. His ability to comprehend was very low right

now. He was running on fumes, so to speak, in the intelligence category. His

pool of functioning, thought-producing brain cells was somewhere in the lowest

four percentile at the moment. But what he did know, he knew without a doubt."Mate!"He pounced on Maggie and began

licking her face. The other wolves were happy to see him too, maybe even more

so than she was. She was still genuinely angry at him, but after a minute or

two of persistent licking, she pushed him away with a laugh."You big fucking idiot! What are

you doing here?"He said nothing. He had said the

only important thing in his head. He wasn't requesting an action, but declaring

that he had found his match. In his head, he knew that something had happened

to her, so his joy was reflected in his whole body. Nothing looked quite so

incongruous than a giant feral werewolf wagging his tail and licking a young

girl."Edward?" She was trying to get him

to revert to being human.He pounced around like a puppy

looking for a toy to play with. He had been consumed with the irrational need

to do battle, and it had been siphoned away in one happy moment. Now his feral

madness had been abruptly switched to play mode. He pounced on some of the

normal wolves, who were of course on their way back to the sanctuary. They

happily engaged in play with him, knowing full well in their limited intellect that

he was the greatest of the great when it came to lupine kind. And here he was acting like a cub.Maggie tried to get his attention

to no avail. He had a harem of females presently paying attention to him, and

while he knew she was his chief mate, he also knew that mating in general could

be done with any female.When he continued to ignore her she

kicked him in the balls.He hardly noticed. But he did turn

and glare at her for a moment. "Mate!""Yes Edward, mate. What the hell

happened to you?"He paused and dug into his brain."Death."She was suddenly concerned that someone

close to her had died in the battle and that she had somehow not noticed. "Who died?"                That

stumped him for another moment. "You did."                She

fell to the ground. "Of course I died you idiot. How else do you think my

father; my real father was ever going to let go of me?"                "You

dead?"                She made

a face. "God you can be really stupid when you bulk up like this. What happened

to your real mind?"                He just

sat there with a blank look on his face.                "Look

Edward, I made it look as if I died to throw everyone off. It had to be believable

just like back in Wisconsin at the farmhouse. Only this time, I had to make it

look especially real. Do you understand?"                "Mate!"                She

sighed. "I can't believe you. Is that all you can think of right now?"                "Mate is

alive!"                "Yes, I'm

alive you towering piece of moronic masculinity. But now, you either need to

change back to being human, or you need to assume your smallest form. I can't travel

with you looking like this!"                "Danger?"                "Yes,

but only from being seen with you. What did you do this time to fry your brain?"                "Brain?"

he asked, tilting his head to stare at her quizzically.                "Yes brain.

The stuff inside your head."                He

shrugged. "Not know brain. Why mate want smaller form?"                "Because

then you'll blend in with the rest of us. I promised to see these fine cousins

of ours back to the sanctuary."                "Sanc-tu-ary?

Cubs?"                Maggie

frowned. "Yes, as a matter of fact, you may have cubs there. For Christ's sake,

I think you might have cubs all over the place now. I can't keep track of what

the hell you're fucking from one day to the next."                "Mating!"                "Yes,

mating. There is something to be said for your ignorant, stupid forms, but

right now I need Edward with a brain. Or else I need you to look like a normal wolf."                "Brain?

No brain. Smaller?"                "Yes, like

you've done in the past."                In his

effort to please her, he seemed to dimly catch on to what she wanted. His

darkness changed, and his size decreased until he was still the largest one there,

but only marginally so.                "That's

a good boy. Now keep close and don't get distracted."                Maggie reverted

to her feral wolf form and headed off, aware that the rain had subsided and

that their time was running out. The pack made good time, finding that the rain

had headed north, and that they were soon back into it. Maggie thought this was

a good sign, for it might keep the humans inside a little longer than normal.

She really didn't want a repeat of the last time.                As luck

would have it, they got to the sanctuary while it was still unattended. In

single file they made their way inside until they were all in, and that's when

they realized that Edward didn't have a clue and was sniffing from cub to cub,

wagging his tail and yipping like an idiot. His colors weren't so unobtrusive

as to blend in with the others, and he and Maggie increased the total body

count by two. One way or another they were going to be discovered, and while

Maggie might be able to fool the human caretakers, Edward was likely to muck

the whole thing up.                "We

have to go!"                "Go?"                "Yes go.

They will be fine here, but you and I must leave. If they find us, they'll

begin to get suspicious about all the strange happenings here."                Edward

thought about that. He remembered this place. He remembered it was fun. Why did

she wasn't to go? It must be danger. There must be some danger lurking in the

area.                "Protect!"                "No.

The only danger I'm in is of getting completely pissed off at you and just

leaving you here. The only reason I won't do that is because you'll likely kill

a bunch of innocent people because your brain has turned to mush!"                "Brain?"                "Oh God!

Don't start that again. Look, if we're mates, that means you'll do whatever I

tell you, right?"                "Yes!"                "Good.

Follow me. I promise you we'll come back to visit and see if any of these cubs

are yours, but for the moment, we really need to leave."                He

stared at her and at the rest of the wolves, and something clicked in his head.

He headed for the way they had gotten in and went through first, waiting for

her to follow. She sighed and clambered under the fence, taking the time to

hide the depression with leaves and debris. Only then did she look at him.                "I was

going to stay here for a while you jerk. I figured I'd let matters calm down,

but no, you had to be all smart-like and find me."                "Leave?"                "Yes,

in a way I was going to leave. But not for good. I wanted everyone to think I

was dead so that no one would come looking for me ever again. But somehow you

figured it out. I don't know how, but you did."                "No."                "No

what?"                "Avenge!"                That

was a big word for his brain, but he remembered that he was going to kill

someone or something.                "Shit!

You were coming back to do battle again, weren't you? Why would you do that?"He had no answer. In his present

form he couldn't express feelings like love and dedication. They were mates and

that's all that mattered."Alright Edward, first things

first. We have to vacate this area as soon as possible. I don't want to risk

being seen. Second of all, we need to get you back in your right mind. You getting

all feral and stupid on me just isn't going to cut it." "Brain?""Yes, that would help a lot."Sadly, he had no idea how to

reactivate his brain. A smart person might be able to act dumb, but a dumb

person definitely cannot act smart. Nor could they automatically correct a

problem that was like the default setting on a computer. This was how his brain

wanted to be, free from worries and with all the crap cut back to the mere basics.

He knew about food, mating and battling. What more did he need to remember?Since he was keeping to his smaller

self, she figured they would make their way back to Pittsburgh on foot. They

had been heading away from it to get the wolves back to where they belonged,

but now they reversed course and headed west and south through the wooded

areas, avoiding as best they were able the most heavily populated zones.She had to think of some way of

jogging him out of his present state. She could see where his famous ncestor

would have been difficult to restraint or control. His mind was running on a

shoestring and a rubber band right now. As some might say, the hamster on the wheel

had gone and died. The lights were on but no one was home.She was feeling less angry with

him, for she was beginning to see that despite his apparent stupidity, he was

as well meaning as ever. She had been pretty hard on him at the end, just

before she made her dramatic exit. Poor Billie too; he didn't have any idea why

she had wanted the things she had asked for. Thankfully, Leonardo had helped

with her plan, though she figured he might crack under pressure and tell

everyone what he had done.The chemical combination placed at

the bottom of the ravine was the same one they used in those silly firework

snakes you can get around Independence Day. All she had to do was set it aflame

and hightail it out of the area. Blinding the two males had been to make sure

no one caught on to her plan. She almost hated to do it, but as she knew they

should both recover, it wasn't such a difficult choice to make.After that she was going to sit

tight for a while. Yes, her apparent death would cause grief, but then, people

had the habit of doing the same shit to her. Let them stew. Let them wonder. Only

Leo had a notion of what she was doing, and with any luck he was already on his

way back to the Vatican.They stopped to rest for a bit,

choosing the shelter house of a small park. It wasn't dry inside, but it was

less damp than the ground. Maggie saw the area was deserted, so she morphed into

her human self and sat on the sea of a picnic table, scratching Edward behind

the ears. He eventually rolled over and begged for a tummy rub, which she got

down and gave him, finding a smile on her face.She was going to have to learn to

live with his faults, because there were times when he was too damn cute for

words. This was one of those times. If only she had a way of getting through to

him. She needed a direct line. To his brain...She did! She nearly forgot she

could keep track of his whereabouts with it. She tapped into his mind, finding

the conscious and mentally active part hidden away in a dusty corner. It was

seemingly intact, just put to pasture until his body needed it again. As his

feral self, that was a need that would be long in coming. She touched it with a

little mental smile."Edward?"There was nothing.She tried again, "Edward, it's me,

Maggie."There was the faintest of responses,

a bare shaky, tenuous thread between her mind and his."Mags?"