Dead in the Family

on an aggressively muscled body.
    If I’d had a “Bad to the Bone” alert on the brick path up to the front porch, it would have gone off just after Corkscrew set his foot on it. “Danger, Will Robinson,” I said out loud. I’d never seen Camo or Corkscrew before. Hamilton Bond got out of his truck and came over to join the little group, but he didn’t come up the porch steps to stand beside Alcide, Corkscrew, and Camo. Ham held back. Jannalynn joined him. The Long Tooth pack appeared to be both expanding its ranks and rearranging its pecking order.
    When I answered the knock on the door, I had my hostess smile in place. The bikini would have been sending the wrong message ( Yum, yum, available! ), so I’d pulled on some cutoff jeans and a Fangtasia T-shirt. I pushed open the screen door. “Alcide!” I said, truly glad to see him. We gave each other a brief hug. He felt awfully warm, since all my recent hugging experiences had been with the less-than-room-temperature Eric. I felt a sort of emotional ripple and realized that though Camo was smiling at me, our embrace hadn’t been a welcome sight to her. “Hamilton!” I said. I nodded at him since he wasn’t within hugging distance.
    “Sookie,” Alcide said, “some new members for you to meet. This is Annabelle Bannister.”
    I’d never met anyone who looked less like an “Annabelle” than this woman. I shook hands with her, of course, and told her I was pleased to meet her.
    “You know Ham, and you’ve met Jannalynn, too, I think?” Alcide said, inclining his head back.
    I nodded at the two at the foot of the steps.
    “And this is Basim al Saud, my new second,” Alcide said. It was pronounced “bah-SEEM,” and Alcide trotted the name out like he introduced Arabic people to me all the time. Okeydokey. “Hi-dee-do, Basim,” I said. I held out my hand. One of the meanings of “second,” I knew, was the person who scares the shit out of everyone, and Basim seemed well qualified for the job. Somewhat reluctantly, he extended his own hand to mine. I shook it, wondering what I’d get from him. Weres are often very hard to read because of their dual nature. Sure enough, I didn’t get specific thoughts: only a confused blur of mistrust and aggression and lust.
    Funny, that was pretty much what I was getting from the misnamed Annabelle. “How long have you been in Shreveport?” I asked politely. I glanced from Annabelle to Basim to include them both in the question.
    “Six months,” Annabelle said. “I transferred from the Elk Killer pack in South Dakota.” So she was in the Air Force. She’d been stationed in South Dakota and then reassigned to Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, adjacent to Shreveport.
    “I’ve been here two months,” Basim said. “I’m learning to like it.” Though he looked exotic, he had only the faintest trace of an accent, and his English was much more precise than mine. Going strictly by the haircut, he was definitely not in the armed services.
    “Basim left his old pack in Houston,” Alcide said easily, “and we’re glad he’s become one of us.” “We” didn’t include Ham Bond. I might not be able to read Ham’s mind as clearly as if he were human, but he was no big Basim fan. Neither was Jannalynn, who seemed to regard Basim with both lust and resentment. There was lots of lust going around the pack this evening. Looking at Basim and Alcide, that wasn’t too hard to understand.
    “You have a good time here tonight, Basim, Annabelle,” I said, before turning to Alcide. “Alcide, my property extends maybe an acre beyond the stream to the east, about five acres south to the dirt track that leads to the oil well, and north around the back of the cemetery.”
    The packleader nodded. “I called Bill last night, and he’s okay with us spilling over into his woods. He’s not going to be at home until dawn, so we won’t be bothering him. What about you, Sookie? Are you going into Shreveport tonight, or staying home?”
    “I’ll be here. If you need me for anything, just come to the door.” I smiled at all of them.
    Annabelle thought, Not effing likely, Blondie .
    “But you might need the phone,” I said to her, and she jumped. “Or some first aid. After all, Annabelle, you never know what you’re going to meet up with.” Though I’d started out smiling, there was no smile on my face by the time I finished.
    People should make an effort to be polite.
    “Thanks again for the use of