Empire of Wild

The morning after Mere’s funeral, Joan wakes up at Ajean’s home. While drunk the previous night, she told Ajean her story about seeing Victor, and Ajean believes her. Ajean also tells Joan that Mere was killed by a rogarou. Joan thinks more about the legend and suggests that Heiser could be a rogarou: “[I]t’s him, it’s got to be. I know that smell” (70).

While Joan ponders what to do next, she thinks about the last time she saw Victor. The previous autumn, almost a year ago, Victor and Joan got into an argument. They were arguing about some land that Joan had inherited from her father. Although she had no plans to develop or build on it, she loved going there, and it gave her a sense of connection to her family. However, Victor knew they could get a lot of money if they sold the land to developers. After Victor and Joan argued, he left the house, and she never saw him again. 

Joan recalls a memory of an incident that occurred when she was 13 years old. Mere, Ajean, and one of Joan’s great aunts expressed that she needed to be more cautious, but she ignored them and walked alone on a deserted road.