Blood of the Maple

without provocation or warning. Had she been anything other than what she is, she would be dead.”

Parker saw red. Only Amara’s touch and the soft chant Brian began kept him from losing control over his beast, hunting down that furry fruit and picking it until it bled. “Who?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Amara took his head in her hands and faced his beast. “It’s done. If they haven’t learned their lesson, perhaps a night helpless in the woods will teach it.”

“Where they’re vulnerable to anything that comes along,” an anonymous voice yelled. “And who is to say she didn’t kill them and is standing here lying to us now?”

Ugly murmurs began yet again. Dragos was preparing for the moment when Parker finally lost it.

Ash faced the townsfolk. “We saw everything. Amara was the victim, not the entire wolf pack of Maggie’s Grove.”

All the wolves? All of them? “Even Jason?” Parker growled.

Amara started. “Jason?”

“Right here.” The wolf waved, his face red. He had a fresh scar along one cheek, the mark of a claw. Parker hadn’t damaged the were; had Jason’s alpha done that? “I didn’t go. I didn’t think it was right.”

Huh. The only wolf who would survive this was the one he hadn’t expected to act sensibly. “Good.”

“Parker. Let it go, sourpuss.”

That got his attention. He stared at Amara, and the beast receded at the sight of his sotiei’s smile. “Sourpuss, eh?”

“I humiliated them, proved I’m stronger than all of them. Let them live with that.”

He ground his teeth. He really wanted someone to hurt, but he bowed his head. “As you wish.” He lifted her hand to his lips, his eyes on the crowd. He wanted everyone to know that only Amara could stay his wrath. Maybe it would make them think twice before taking her on.

Besides, if she had left the entire Maggie’s Grove wolf pack dangling from the trees, his wife had proven beyond a doubt that she could take care of herself. Let them chew on that for a bit.

“What’s being done to bring the witch to justice?” Mina returned their attention to what was important: finding and stopping Terri.

“We’re going to try to lure her into the open.” Dragos relaxed only marginally, meeting Mina’s challenge head-on. “We could use Parker and Amara as bait.”

“Not Amara.” Parker spoke without thought, his first instinct to protect Amara.

The elbow that dug into his side was sharp and pointy. “Yes Amara.”

He glared at her.

She glared back. “Don’t you growl at me, mister.” They both ignored the startled chuckles of the townsfolk. “She killed Ken. I want her to hurt.” There was horrible pain in her eyes, pain that should not be there. She’d truly loved that boy.

He had to find Terri, and soon, before she did any more damage.

He cupped her cheek and tried one last tactic, knowing it would fail. “I won’t be able to control myself if she harms you. You know that.”

She leaned into his caress. “Then don’t. Feel free to kick her ass big-time. Please. I want to watch. I’ll even bring popcorn and a video camera so we can relive the happy moment over and over.”

“So? How are we luring her out? Are we using this meeting? Because if I were her, and unafraid to attack in public, this is the first place I’d go.” Greer walked the rest of the way onto the platform, his blond hair glowing brightly under the lights.

“We need the wolves.” Dragos stared at Greer. “Amara, please free them.”

“No.” Mina held up her hand, imperious down to her toes. “The wolves stay where they are. They attacked Amara. They need to be taught a lesson, a hard one.”

“And if they don’t learn it?” Dragos followed Greer with his eyes, frowning slightly when Greer stole Dragos’s seat. He seemed puzzled by the dryad with the easygoing smile.

“Hi. I’m Greer. And you are?” The dryad held out his hand to Kate. She ignored him, shuffling papers on the table, but the tense set of her shoulders screamed her disdain. Greer shrugged and put his hands behind his head, but Parker caught a brief glimpse of mischief and wondered what he was up to.

“Then they find another place to hunt.” Kate sniffed, scooting away, but Greer grabbed her seat and pulled her closer, to her dismay. “They could always try heading west. Say, Alaska?”

“No, they couldn’t.” Ash hopped onto the table. He crossed his legs and blocked Kate’s view of the crowd with his broad back. “The feral dryads living there already know what happened, and they’re a little more aggressive than we city folk are. Not a single wolf would return if they went there.”

There were gasps in the crowd. “What?” The naiad was on her feet again. “Why?”

Mina turned on the woman. “You idiot. You fool! Haven’t you been listening? The pack attacked a dryad in the woods, and not just any dryad. They attacked a fucking hamadryad!”

Amara stiffened. “A what?”

Where had Parker heard that term before?

Ash’s mouth went tight. “Glinda knew you were different, but she didn’t understand how different. We tried to explain it to her, but she was afraid of what you might be subjected to if you found out what your true purpose is. You were far too young to take up your duties when you first shifted. You could have been killed.”

“And until you felt ready to talk with us, we couldn’t interfere.” Greer’s expression was serious for once. “You weren’t old enough, and Glinda wanted you to have as normal a childhood as possible. As she was your guardian, we were forced to comply with her wishes, whether we wanted to or not, until you came of age.”

“She came of age years ago,” Parker pointed out.

“Not for a tree, she didn’t. Schwedler maples are full grown at—”

“Twenty-five years.” Parker groaned even as Ash nodded.

“And that is when we could have interfered despite Glinda’s wishes. Until then?” Ash shrugged. “We were forced to stay away, no matter how badly we wanted to teach her, bring her into the fold. She’s…precious.” The awe on his face when he looked at Amara had Parker’s hackles rising.

Greer kicked his feet up on the table, narrowly missing Kate’s coffee cup. “A hamadryad is literally one with her tree in ways no ordinary dryad can possibly understand. It’s like the psychics and sensitives among humans. They have senses normal humans don’t. You commune with your tree the same way a normal dryad does, but when your life or the life of something you care about is in danger, you can be partly tree, using the strength and stamina of the forest to protect and defend. You are a guardian in the truest sense of the word, and to attack you is to attack every dryad, every tree and plant, every elemental in that forest. The only reason those wolves who attacked you lived is because you chose to show them mercy. If you hadn’t, the forest would have finished what you’d begun. With or without you.”

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Mina piped up, her gaze raking over the townsfolk. “There is no being rarer than the hamadryad, not even the Meliae.”

Parker cleared his throat. Mina winked at him. “Except vegetarian vampires.”

Parker made sure he had a good grip on Amara’s elbows. “So basically you’re telling me she’s a weretree.”

The dryads gaped. Amara rolled her eyes.

Greer threw his head back and laughed, nearly tipping his chair over.

“Uh. Yes. I suppose that’s one way to look at it.” Ash looked like he wanted to laugh too, but he didn’t.

“And you three are?”

The dryads exchanged a glance.

“Oak, Birch and Ash—we rule the forest and all its inhabitants,” Ash answered. “In the same way the alpha rules his pack, we rule the creatures who call the forest home.”

“And Oak rules them all.” Ash, Oak, Birch and Yew were the four sacred trees among the druids, with Oak reigning supreme. So where was Yew?

Mina nodded. “Very astute.” She raised her chin proudly. “And that means Amara is under my command.”