Chapter 10: Will

Chapter 10: Will

I had never felt something so strong take charge of me before. This force that beckoned me to head into Fiddler’s Green was more powerful in magnitude than the immense rage, hatred, and bitterness that coursed through me uncontrollably at times.

This force had a language of its own. I could feel it directing my course as I raced through town. The sun shone mercilessly from above, taking away my advantage of shifting into a wolf. I could not shift in broad daylight in front of all these townsfolk.

Still, my legs turned into powerful pistons as I blazed past buildings, cars, and people. If I closed my eyes, I could sense Alexis’s presence. If I focused harder, I could feel the pain she was feeling. But the good news was, there was still a bond between us, a bond alerting me of her current state. This meant that despite the danger she was in, she was still alive.

The surge of the electrical force in me shone a beacon-like light in my eyes, illuminating the only skyscraper in front of me. Is that where Alexis was? How had I missed the giant letters etched along the length of the building? Edward Beckett was dead. How was his enterprise still running in this place? Why did the building say Beckett Pharma?

What madness was this?

I approached the entrance of the building, cursing under my breath as I saw groups of people coming in and out of the building as if it was just business as usual. I would not be able to shift in front of them. If I aroused suspicion, the many guards who patrolled the premises would be alerted. There had to be another way.

Alexis was inside, this much I was certain of. As to who was torturing her, who had kidnapped her, the mystery prevailed.

A counterintuitive thought struck me out of nowhere. Perhaps it would be wiser to enter the building in the evening. To wait it out. The last time I was so bold, it cost me seventy-six years of my life.

Haste was not the answer here.

Patience was.

***

It turned out that I got my opportunity before nightfall. At around five in the evening, the doors of the building swung open, letting out everybody who worked inside. I counted more than a hundred people just pouring out of the building. I would not get a better opportunity than this.

I emerged from my vantage point and merged into the pouring crowd, utilizing the sheer numbers to my advantage. As I entered the building against the stream of outpouring people, no one stopped me or noticed me. Still, the stark contrast of my casual attire would sooner or later draw attention. Stealth had been my ally so far. It wouldn’t be my ally any further.

I gazed across the lobby area and saw the signs for the bathrooms. A half-formed plan came to my mind. In the rush of people leaving the lobby, I darted across the lobby and went inside the men’s room.

A guy was standing at a urinal, whistling loudly. He had exactly what I needed. I stepped onto the urinal next to him.

“Hey, listen, buddy, there’s plenty of space for everyone. Why don’t you go stand over there?” He said, looking at me amusedly.

“I apologize for what I’m about to do next,” I said, and before he could get a chance to register what I had said, I banged his head against the wall. The man crashed to the floor, his pants still between his knees. I felt sorry for the poor bloke for what I had just done to him, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

I dragged him into one of the stalls and propped him up on the toilet. I took off his coat and tie and then snatched his card off his neck. I tucked my t-shirt into my pants and wore his coat over it. On second thought, I ditched the tie. No one was going to take that careful a look at me, not when I had the official company card slung around my neck.

Before stepping out of the men’s room, I locked the stall with the unconscious man from the inside.

Then I headed into the lobby, a little surprised at my ingenuity. The bond tugged at me again, bringing my attention to the present. From the lobby, I stepped into the elevator, skating past the guards who were patrolling the interior.

“Where do I go from here?”

My intuition prompted me to press the button for the fifteenth floor. It was strange that a small town such as Fiddler’s Green now had a skyscraper that went all the way to thirty floors. Then again, there was nothing I would put past someone who shared Beckett’s last name.

Perhaps a child? In all my time in Edward’s prison, he had never mentioned a child. To think that that deranged person possessed the ability to have a family while keeping me locked in his basement. Unbelievable.

Just as I had finished my musing, the elevator doors slid open on the fifteenth floor.

“Alexis?” I called out.

The floor plan was immense. There was just one large room on this floor, with several glass walls and glass doors serving as barriers. Test tubes, pipettes, beakers, and flasks containing multicolored chemicals were placed along the shelves and tabletops. The air smelled of ammonia and nitrogen. A pungent smell if there ever was one.

I stepped into the fifteenth floor, scouting the surroundings for signs of anyone here. From where I stood, it was hard to scan this maze of tables and shelves and lab equipment. I began moving inwards, pushing doors that swung soundlessly, letting me deeper into the laboratory.

It was only when I saw the syringes lined up neatly that the terrible memory of Edward injecting me with chemicals resurfaced in my mind, paralyzing my senses.

Had it not been for the bond’s electricity coursing through me, I would have cowered there, frozen with fear, but I realized that something bigger than me was at stake here: another person’s life.

“Alexis? Where are you?”

I perked my ears when a faint, muffled sound came from deep within the laboratory. I raced through the lab, slamming open doors, and finally came to a terrifying sight.

On an operation table, with all four of her limbs strapped and her mouth gagged with a cloth, Alexis lay helplessly, her eyes showing absolute fear.

“Ah, I was wondering when you would show up,” a deep voice said from behind me. My impulse took over, and I jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a crushing blow from a gas canister. I shot one look at Alexis to gauge how much she had been tortured. Her nose was caked with dried blood, and her face was bruised purple.

What wretched good-for-nothing had lifted a hand on her? I swiveled around and saw the man who had just tried to hit me.

He bore an uncanny resemblance to my captor. The same hair, jawline, and eyes.

“Before I rip you apart, muscle by muscle, limb by limb, tell me what you have done to her!” I roared. This time, I welcomed the rage that flooded through my body, filling me with manic strength.

“Ah, I did nothing to her except knock her out. This one believed that you wouldn’t come to save her. I told her nonsense! Of course, the great Wilhelm Grimm, the fabled werewolf, would come to save his mate,” the man said and laughed. He set the canister on the floor and walked over to where I stood.

“I believe introductions are in order, although, I must say, I already know everything there is to know about you,” the man said. “I, Wilhelm, am Blair Beckett, son of the man you so violently murdered on his deathbed.”

My eyes began seeing red. My body began quivering uncontrollably. I grabbed ahold of the metal railing of one of the tables and steadied myself. “Free her, and I may grant you the mercy of explaining your actions before I take your life.”

“Ah, so violent. So angry!” Blair laughed. “Why would I free her, Mr. Wilhelm, when I want to kill you in front of her? I hear there’s a special sort of pain reserved for wolves when they see their mates die. A pain so strong that it drives them insane.”

“I am about to introduce you to some pain that’s going to drive you insane,” I said.

“So be it! A battle! Ever since I saw my father’s mutilated corpse in his bed, I have been yearning for the opportunity to take revenge! Fate has been so kind to grant me the opportunity,” he said.

“Do not speak to me of fate!” I yelled and threw myself onto him. I grabbed him by the sides and crashed him into a glass wall.

Immediately, Blair kicked me in the midriff and pushed me off.

“My father was a pacifist. He did not believe in fighting. His was the domain of the mind. I’m not like him. You see, I believe in the ability to defend yourself. You will find that my resolve is equal to yours.”

“You talk too much,” I said, getting up to my feet.

“Ah, ah, tsk, tsk. Would it be a fair fight if you shifted into a wolf? Come on now, let’s not resort to cheap measures. There are enough lethal chemicals at my disposal in this lab that would drop you dead within seconds. If you fight me, you fight me as a human,” Blair said, lifting his hands and coiling them into fists.

“So be it,” I said, rolling my hands into fists of my own.

I finally gave in to the rage that I had been wrestling with. I let it control my fists. I let it possess my body. I dodged each blow that Blair threw my way and advanced upon him with a frenzy coursing through my veins.

My first blow crashed my fist into his chin, and my second blow knocked the air out of his lungs. I wasn’t done. I brought my knee up in a quick arc and hit him in the face, feeling a deep satisfaction as my kneecap connected to his teeth. Then I grasped him by the shoulders and flung him across another glass wall.

For all his talk, he was a meek fighter. He just lay there, writhing, unmoving, moaning.

I turned around and went to Alexis. I undid the four straps that tied her to the table and stripped off the tape from her mouth.

“You came,” she whispered.

“I…”

“Behind you!” Alexis yelled.

I rolled around just in time to block Blair’s blow. The cunning man held a syringe with glowing liquid inside it in his hand. I slapped it away from his grasp and grabbed him by his head.

“Don’t hold back now, you brute,” Blair spat blood on my face.

Perhaps he underestimated the severity of hate I had for his father, the same hate that I extended to him for threatening Alexis’s life and for luring me into a trap. I recoiled my head and crashed it into his head. The blow did nothing to me, but it knocked a few of his teeth loose.

Surprisingly, he did not give up. Instead, he pulled me back and threw me into a cart loaded with test tubes and beakers. Glass crashed into my face, dazing me out.

“I have had my eyes on you since the moment you escaped. I’ve been spying patiently on every single of your developments. Do you think you can train your pack of dogs? You? You ancient fossil?”

Blair took advantage of my dazed state and delivered a spinning kick to my face. I brought up my hand and caught his kick in midair.

As I pulled him by his foot, my arms suddenly started shifting into their wolf form. My fingernails extended into lethal claws, digging into his skin and drawing blood.

“Will!” Alexis yelled from behind, but I was too occupied with fury to pay heed to her. Rather than try to control it, I directed that malevolent energy into shifting into my wolf form.

Blair crawled away from me, his hand disappearing behind his back. His face betrayed the horror he was feeling. As I leaped into the air, crossing the distance between us, I saw him take out a handgun from behind him.

I came down upon him, my claws striking away the gun from his hand before he got the chance to shoot it.

“Turns out we’re both cheaters, huh, Will the wolf?” Blair laughed.

I dug my claws into his torso and pulled, fulfilling my promise of rending his flesh. He screamed as his skin came loose and blood spurted from his chest.

“Will! Stop!” Alexis jumped out of nowhere and threw me off Blair’s bleeding body. “You can’t kill him.”

Perplexed by her behavior, I shifted back into my human form and approached her.

“You ask me to spare this man, this vile vermin who beat you, bound you, and used you as bait?” I asked. I was addressing Alexis, but my eyes were constantly fixed on Blair. I had torn gashes into his chest, gashes that would leave a scar forever, reminding him of his mistake.

“You already have red in your ledger, Will,” she said. “There’s blood on your hands. I…I just don’t want you to have any more blood on your hands. Can you please understand this?”

Gently, she placed her hand on my chest, coming close to me.

“Feel it in your heart,” she said. “You don’t want to be a murderer. This is beneath you. Don’t let rage take hold of you. Do not let your anger overpower your senses.”

I stepped away from her, approaching Blair. I lifted him by the collar of his shirt and made him look me in the eyes. “Had she not pleaded on your behalf, you would have been rotting in hell with your father right now.”

“Seems like you’ve got a keeper,” Blair said.

“I am sparing you this time. The next time, I will not be considerate. If you so much as think of coming near my pack or me, I will unleash the wrath of Fenrir upon you. You’ll wish you were dead, but I’d deal you a fate far worse than death.”

“Oh, yeah? What are you going to do? Trap me in a basement against my will?” Blair cackled. “Come on. Don’t listen to your lady. Do it. You know you want to do it. Kill me!”

“Will, please!” Alexis moaned from behind.

I threw him on the floor.

“Coward!”

I did not have to kill him, but I did not have to take his shit, either. I brought my boot down on his face, crushing his nose and knocking him unconscious.

“Not that you can hear it, but that’s for hurting her face,” I growled.

He did not move. I could see that he was breathing, but other than that, Blair was unconscious.

“Are you hurt?” I asked, finally directing my undivided attention to Alexis. I lifted her face in my hands, inspecting her facial injuries.

“No, it just hurts a little, but I’m okay,” she said. As I noticed the flush on her cheeks, I quickly let go of her face.

“You’re safe now,” I said. “Now, stay this madness and come back home.”

Alexis took a couple of steps away from me, looking at me with disbelief.

“Come home? Are you crazy?”

I could feel it coming back, the ire, the vehement fury, the impulse to lash out at her. I tried to hold it back.

“Yes. A wolf without her pack is susceptible, vulnerable,” I said. “You belong with the pack.”

“No. I don’t think I do. And I’m not coming back! And why do you care? You rejected me and humiliated me in front of the entire pack!” Alexis yelled.

She left me without a rational recourse. I had no control over what I did next.