Chapter 7: The Change

*Lucas*

The land between the Taylor's and Binetti's houses had been the center of several disputes between the two families for years. Both families had been a member of the community for generations, but it was only when Galen Taylor married into the family that the problems started. Every year it seemed like Galen was trying some new scheme to gain control of the property that belonged to the Binetti's but was tended to and used for hunting by the community. Galen was a former member of the Irish mob, and we all tried to be welcoming when he gave up the life for love and married one of the Salvatore sisters. We were all on edge with the union, the Irish had been pushing their way across the midwestern states, and eventually eliminated all our allies in Mississippi. Land was sacred to us and conceding to the loss of any property in New Orleans was a bloody battle.

One dispute that led to the oldest Binetti with one arm was when Galen had surveyed the land and went so far as to bring in a construction crew to start building a structure. That night I saw more red than I had cared to see, luckily nobody had lost their lives. After that my father demanded peace and forbade Galen to try anything, with the understanding that he would be kicked out if another war started. However, almost every week for several months Titus and I had been out here doing night patrols because the Binetti's had made complaints that the Taylor's were digging some sort of trench. We had never caught Galen digging and the Binetti's filled in the trench weekly, but last night the oldest Binetti son, George, went out to check why he had heard tractors run in the middle of the night and hadn't come back in the morning.

"Galen's not so dumb that he would kill George, is he?" Titus asked as we idled in my G-Wagon outside the Taylor home.

"I wouldn't put it past him. I never liked the guy, thought he was a weasel from the start." I answered, not caring about my current duties. I was over this bullshit with Galen and had more important things to focus my time on.

Titus grumbled something that I assumed was a smartass comment. The light from the screen porch illuminated his scowling features, "Where's your head at man?" mumbling again.

My head was stuck on the stubborn look of Kennedy walking out my front door. She hadn't argued when I told her to leave but the defiant posture, she held was admirable. She was tougher than what her delicate looks portrayed. I was about to stop her and tell her to come back, but I needed to wrap my head around the fact that she could single handedly take down a billion-dollar company on something that I ran schemes on daily. Thank God she didn't argue with me, I hadn't been able to hold in my anger after she closed the door. I didn't want her to see me like that, and I was hoping I didn't upset her so much that she wouldn't accept my apology and come back to work tomorrow. Although I wasn't sure why I wanted her to come back, I had spent the weekend before and hell, the whole morning plotting ways to get her out of our lives, and now all I wanted was to grovel at her feet and see her again.

"Do you think Kennedy would accept a new car from me?" I thought back to how her beat up corolla barely had attached doors and a working engine.

"What?" Titus questioned in utter disbelief, "I thought you wanted her gone and now you want to buy her a car?"

"I changed my mind," I decided right as the words came out of my mouth, "I think she will be good for the company. You should have seen her today, she was brilliant."

Titus's mouth worked for several moments, "You like her?"

"I don't know her. I only thought it would be more reliable and safer for her to have a new car, and what about you? You were basically on top of her at lunch."

"I do like her," Titus said fondly, "there is something that feels familiar to me. I might not be an emotional person, but I am not blind or an idiot, the way you and her watched each other's movements was obvious. There is something between the two of you. And the answer is no. There is no way she would ever take a car from you. She is the hardest working person I know and would never accept charity, in fear that it was pity."

I chewed on his words for a while. He was probably right, but I was going to do it anyway. "When did you become so chatty?" I asked as I got out the car door, "One morning with a woman and you're mister emotional, hugging people left and right.

He punched me in the shoulder, "Ass."

We both took a step on the splintered wood of the front porch of the Taylor's house, it creaked and groaned under our weight. I pounded on the flimsy screen door, "Galen, get your a** out here!" I yelled through the door.

Footsteps hurried inside for several moments, and finally the lock on the front door clicked open. A heavy-set woman with what looked like a hospital gown answered the door. Her massive chest flopped down to her belly button without the support of a bra. Fiora Salvatore, had been a gorgeous woman in her youth, my father had even gone on a few dates with her before meeting my mother. After one year of marriage with Galen and his manipulative ways, she had stopped caring. Stopped caring about herself, her family, and her home, she only cared about her husband.

"Where is your husband?" I interrogated, not wanting to deal with this shit anymore. This was going to be the last Galen caused trouble. It was their final warning and then they'd be out.

"I have no idea?" The lie easily slipped through her lips.

I heard Galen before I saw him, the stupid clumsy ass was so loud the people down the street could hear him. Turning, I stood face to face with the barrel of a shotgun. Galen's finger slid around the trigger. Without a second thought I rapidly swiped my left arm across my body, jerking the barrel across my chest and over my right shoulder. A deafening shot rang out next to my ear, the pop excruciating, wood from the siding of the house burst into tiny pieces. Ripping the gun out his grasp, I brought the steel and wood weapon down on my knee and broke the solid piece in half. Roaring, I clutched the back of Galen's neck, and forced him hard down on his stomach.

"Submit." I growled.

Galen lay shaking on the filthy ground but refused to answer me.

"Submit." I yelled, pushing down harder on the back of his neck.

His body quivered under my grasp, white hair sprang up from his arms and legs, claws grew out of the tips of his fingers, his nose and mouth growing into a snout with sharp teeth that were at the point of rotting away, causing his breath to reek. That son of a bitch was shifting to get away from me. I glanced over at Titus who had already transformed into his massive form, thick black wiry hair stood on end as he snarled at three wolves crouched in a poised attack at the front door, they must've been Galen's illegitimate children.

I released my grip on Galen and let my body go. Let the tension from the situation and the day slip into its most natural form. The release was euphoric, my paws brought up a cloud of dirt as they hit the ground. All my senses immediately sharpened, my animalistic instincts called to me, ready to fight.

Galen made a move, but instead of going towards me, he turned and ran into the black of the night. I spun on my hind legs and took after him.