“Guess what, Marla? That wonderful picture of Kane finally sold at the gallery. I was by there today after work and it wasn’t in the window, so I asked inside and they said someone who collects art featuring wolves bought it yesterday.”
The whole table suddenly went silent and Elise looked around in puzzlement. Everyone was frozen in place. Helen, Carrie, and John appeared surprised. Marla’s face had turned white as a sheet and she was clutching the edge of the table tightly. Turning to Kane, Elise discovered why. Kane was glaring at Marla, and without a doubt, he was absolutely furious.
Helen was the first to speak. “I’d forgotten all about that picture. I’m surprised that you allowed it to be displayed, let alone put up for sale, Kane. It’s not like you at all.” Carrie and John nodded in agreement.
“And what picture would that be?” Kane’s voice was a deep, low growl.
Elise swallowed nervously. Something was going on here, but she didn’t know what. “It... It was a picture of you in your wolf form, down by the lake.” She glanced at Marla, who looked ready to leap and run at any moment. “Um...Marla said Ryne had taken it a while back. It was very good. I really liked it,” she ended weakly.
“Marla, how could you?” Kane’s fist hit the table, rattling the dishes and causing everyone to jump.
“N-n-now, Kane, calm down. It’s not what you think,” Marla stuttered, pushing her chair back.
“How can it not be what I think? As a favour to you and Ryne, I let him take that picture with the express understanding that it was a practice shot, never to be shown. Now I find that it’s been on display in a public mall for several weeks and you never thought to tell me? That is directly disobeying my orders!” Kane stood up and towered over Marla, who seemed to be trying to disappear into the floor.
Gathering her nerve, Elise stood up and stepped between the two, placing her hand on Kane’s arm. “Kane, calm down. It really was a great picture. You’d be proud of it and there’s no harm done. Besides, no one will ever know it’s you.”
Kane shook her hand off and glared. “No harm done? Didn’t you say the picture went to a collector? A collector of wolf art, who no doubt has other similarly minded collectors examining his purchases. What’s going to happen if one of those people notices that there’s something unusual about that wolf? That the proportions are off, the slant of the forehead is different and the set of the ears isn’t quite right? And don’t you think someone might question where such a large wolf might have come from? To the average observer a wolf and a Lycan are identical, but we know differently. One of the collectors might decide that there’s a new undiscovered species in the area and start poking around here, looking for tracks and dens, maybe setting up time-lapse cameras or traps. What’s going to happen then? Hmm? I’ll tell you what. We’ll be constantly looking over our shoulders, worried about being discovered.” Kane whipped his head around and snarled at Marla. “We’ve spent years in this community, trying to stay below the radar. Your little stunt here might just have jeopardized the well-being of every member of this pack!”
Marla started to cry. “Kane, don’t be angry with me. I...I didn’t want to do it. I know how you feel but...” She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. “I have a confession to make. About a week after the challenge, Ryne came back to see me. He needed money to leave the area and start fresh somewhere else, and he wanted me to sell off all his remaining pictures. I said I could find buyers for all of them, but not the picture of you—I remembered what you’d said—but he was desperate for money and I...I loved him and I wanted to help. I never thought that the picture could endanger the pack. I...I’m so sorry.” With that, Marla ran from the room. A minute later, her bedroom door could be heard slamming shut.
Kane stood with his fists clenched, a muscle working in his jaw, then he shoved Marla’s chair against the wall and stormed out.
*****
Elise woke the next morning and saw that Kane’s side of the bed was undisturbed. Had he been so angry that he’d not come home at all or had he been out on a patrol? What if he’d come across Ryne and there’d been a fight! Anxiety filled her as she imagined him lying injured somewhere with no one even aware he was missing.
Hurriedly she threw on her clothes and ran downstairs to look for him. He wasn’t in his office or in the kitchen and there was no note on the fridge. Worrying her lip with her teeth, she wondered who might know what was going on. Thankfully, at that moment John walked in.