Pepper had a lovely log home for pack meetings, with 250 acres of woods and a covered stone patio for outdoor gatherings. Most of her pack members had log homes of their own situated all over the territory to afford them privacy, but close enough that they could gather as a pack whenever they needed to.
“What if Eric could chase away Waldron permanently?” Susan asked.
“Then what? What if he expected something in return for his help? Our pack? Our land?”
“You? If I were the pack leader, I’d seriously be considering it.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not interested. We’ll continue to deal with Waldron like we have since he moved into the area with his pack two weeks ago.”
“I don’t think Waldron will get the message without someone taking him to task, physically. As alpha as you are, you couldn’t beat him as a wolf. Not one on one. Not like you took that other wolf down.” Susan moved her leg off the table and winced. “I’m going to call it a night. When do you see the Boy Scout troop tomorrow to talk about being a forester?”
“First thing in the morning, and another after that. And I have two sessions after lunch, so I’ll be hanging around the area. I’ll have someone stop in to feed you while I’m gone.” Because Susan was using crutches, she was staying with Pepper for a couple of days. Longer, if she needed to. But Pepper didn’t want her to have to try and do for herself right now.
“Thanks for putting me up for a couple of nights.”
“No problem, Susan. You know I always enjoy your company. If you think of it tomorrow, you could give Eric Silver a call and tell him that you’re all right. I’m certain he’d like to know that. While you’re at it, you can thank him for the rescue, and if it comes up in the conversation, ask him if he’s okay.”
Susan smiled broadly at her. “You are interested in him! But I doubt he’d want you to know if he was injured. Macho wolf syndrome, you know.”
“Possibly. Unless he wanted to get our sympathy. The doctor said it should take about four weeks for your leg to mend, which means half or less time for us. Just don’t put any stress on the leg for now. You don’t want to increase the fracture.”
“No, that’s for sure. It already hurts enough. I hope Pauline can run things until I return to work.”
“Pauline will be fine, but I’ll run over there to check things out. You don’t have to worry about anything. Just rest.” Then Pepper raised her brows. “You didn’t do this on purpose did you, to get some time off? You know I’d spell you for a while if you needed vacation days.”
Susan laughed and hobbled off to bed, saying good night.
Pepper retired to her bedroom, hoping she could figure out a means to keep Waldron away from her pack and her lands without having to take more drastic measures. He’d been scent-marking all over her territory, and so had some of the males of his pack. She’d taken him to task for it, but what else could she do? They outnumbered her more than two to one, from what he’d said. She couldn’t complain to human law enforcement that Waldron and his men were peeing all over her property. She still wouldn’t give in to him no matter what. But it could be a real problem for a wolf pack if they ignored it.
She tucked herself into bed, thinking about Waldron attacking Eric and drawing blood. She should have told Susan to call her when she learned how he was, if he was willing to tell her the truth.
*
His injuries throbbing, Eric answered Sarandon’s call while he got on the road to return to Silver Town. “Hey, what’s up?” Like Eric, his brother loved the outdoors. He was a guide for anyone who needed one—photographers, nature lovers, hikers, and rock climbers. He loved doing it all.
“Just a heads-up; I might be a little late to the forestry careers talk tomorrow,” Sarandon said. “I’ve got a Lepidopterist Society meeting first thing in the morning so the members can count butterflies and identify different varieties. If we have a big showing, we’ll be there a while. So I might have to talk after you do.”
“I’ll let the Scout leaders know,” Eric replied. “I’ve got other business to attend to after I speak, so if I’m not there, just give your lecture and I’ll meet up with you after lunch at the next Boy Scout campground. They’ll love hearing what you do. I have something I have to do afterward, and I’ll take care of it during lunchtime.”
“I thought you said you had the whole day scheduled to talk to troops.”
“I do. We have two other Scout troops camping in other areas to meet, but when everyone’s busy with lunch, I have other business to take care of.”
“I thought we could get lunch together. We don’t often see each other during the duty day.”
Eric suspected his brother sensed something was up. He couldn’t get anything past Sarandon. His younger brothers, sometimes, yes, but not Sarandon. Even though the quadruplet brothers were only minutes apart, he and Sarandon were the closet to each other, just like Brett and CJ were close.