Page 101 of Wolf's Chance

A random thought from folk tales and TV shows blurted out of my mouth with little thought behind it. “Like the moon controls you to shift? Like werewolves on TV and in themovies? Full moon and you go all furry?” I wasn’t sure which one I insulted, or maybe it was all of them, because three very hard stares centered on me. Except Doc, who was covering his mouth, and I knew he was trying not to laugh at my ignorance. “No?” I guessed. “Sorry?”

“Furry?” Caleb shook his head slightly. “We can change at will,” he told me. “The moon has very little influence over us.”

“But the moon’s your Goddess…” I’d heard of sun worshippers, and honestly, put me on a white sandy beach with a frozen margarita, and I’d happily join the flock.

“Notthemoon,” the older doctor corrected. “It’s figurative, and the moon has a lot of influence over us.” The latter was said for Caleb’s benefit, I was sure of it.

All I knew was it was making my head hurt. “Can we just accept I don’t know anything about you people, and I think it is better if that continues. I just want the visions to stop. I want to stop pouring my heart and soul into a painting only for Caleb or one of you to rip and burn it.”

“‘You people,’” Cannon commented. “So judgmental.”

“Our people,” the older man spoke clearly, “are a gift from the Goddess. Humans with a little moremagicin them,” he said with a wink. “We are stronger, healthier.” His eyes took on a knowing look as he spoke to me. “We age differently, we rarely get sick.”

Sounded like they got more than agift, it sounded like bliss. “Rarely sick?” I asked, and I knew why no one was surprised when I asked it. “Then why do you need doctors?”

It was Doc’s turn to shift in his seat uncomfortably. “They don’t really need me,” he explained. “I rarely get to treatanyone here, but Cannon allows me to work here, test some theories.”

Test? My mouth dropped. “You test onthem? When they are animals?”

“The ethics of it are simpler than animal testing,” Caleb of all people spoke. “It’s consensual and the test subjects can use their voices to relay results.”

I didn’t like it, but I said nothing. It wasn’t my business. My attention moved back to the other man. “And you?”

“I’m a conduit for our Goddess. Like your men and women of faith.”

“He’s a shaman,” Caleb said to me. “Through him, Luna speaks.”

Religion. Abelieverwasn’t something I would have pegged Caleb for being. “Theology wasn’t my major,” I muttered. “And I don’t have the brain capacity for this conversation even if it was.” Looking at the four of them, I sighed. “So, what did she say? How do you fix me?”

The shaman said nothing as he considered me, then turning to Doc, he asked a question I already knew the answer to. “Definitely human?”

“Yes.”

The shaman shook his head. “I smell it, but I don’t believe it.” He studied me some more. “This illness they tell me you have?—”

“ME,” I corrected. “I have chronic fatigue syndrome.”

“It makes you tired?”

“It’s more than that. Just think of me as permanently exhausted.” My tone must have been more bitter than Irealized, because Caleb dropped his hand to my shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze.

“A mask, perhaps?” the shaman mused. “You’ve had this all your life?”

“No, I got it when I was a teenager.”

His gaze sharpened, which was remarkable for a man with impaired sight. “What happened?”

“I got an illness. ME’s an aftereffect of that.” I felt the weight of Caleb’s stare. “Maybe,” I added reluctantly.

He sat back in his seat, considering. “Your parents died?”

“Foster parents, yes.” He looked up at Cannon in question, and I explained. “I was left,” I told him. “I don’t know who my parents were. Or if they’re alive. I was in the care system, John and Jan fostered me, and they gave me a home for six years.” I avoided looking at Doc as I spoke.

“Did you have your illness before or after?”

“I caught glandular fever after they died.” I saw his look and elaborated. “They were killed in a car crash. I went back into care.”

“John and Jan…” Cannon spoke for the first time.

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