Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

J ax

A horrific stench.

Most humans wouldn’t be able to detect the typical scent of a wolf. They certainly had no realization if they were being stalked by one. They were pleasantly protected until wandering close to a beast’s den or near newborn cubs.

The typical wolf had no interest in humans, certainly not for food. While they didn’t like to feel threatened, they enjoyed their life, their keen senses allowing them to feel protected.

Wolfen were similar in nature. Our senses were especially keen, able to detect our kind several hundred yards away. We could see in the dark, perform acts of strength that were only typically seen in the movies, and could run faster than a typical human male.

Tonight wasn’t about detecting a family of Wolfen happily enjoying their lives in their nice homes with large screen televisions, maybe preparing their children for bed for a busy school day.

This night was about a hunting mission to try to discover any clues as to whether my mother and the council were correct in their heightened level of anxiety.

When I was younger, I used to allow my wolf to come out for no other reason than to run harder and faster than any humans ever could. Pain hadn’t been an issue then as I’d shifted often enough, savoring every moment of becoming nothing more than claws and canines. It had never been about the hunt then, just the freedom my wolf allowed me.

It seemed with every passing hour my wolf was more eager to come out to play.

And to hunt.

The moment I’d dropped Sedona off at her car, I’d gathered the same pungent odor of the creature that had been stalking her. I’d been unable to decipher whether another Wolfen was keeping tabs on the one considered the potential great leader of all the packs. Or if it was a degradation of our kind, a beast determined to destroy us. It was frustrating as fuck not to know for certain.

One thing was clear to me. I needed to shift more often to develop my highest level of senses.

What I could tell was that while he’d left the area, his trail remained disgusting.

I’d resisted following her, at least too closely. I owed her my trust even though I knew she was lying to me.

The call had been about her work. I’d been awake. I’d heard her side of the conversation. Her whispered words had come through loud and clear.

A morgue had always fascinated me. Maybe because our lives were so much longer. I understood grief but had never truly experienced it.

Even with the physical loss of our father. Not that he was dead. My mother certainly wished he was. Leaving her for another woman, a human no less, hadn’t been his finest hour.

She would kill him if he ever entered her territory.

I’d parked close enough that I could keep an eye on what was going on. The fact that a body had been brought in wasn’t unusual. The timing was strange, but if there was a murder investigation, time was often of the essence.

Not that I bought the reason she’d left. She was being pushed. By the look of the woman in the pantsuit who’d arrived seconds after Sedona had walked into the facility, I’d say the FBI was involved.

Perhaps Mother had been right.

I’d resisted my urge of storming inside, instead concentrating my efforts on following the trail of odor. It had led me to the outskirts of one of our nicer parks, the entire area surrounded by woods.

I’d consider it a pristine hunting ground, an area not policed at night. The town had been deemed safe, one of the safest in the Midwest. Now this shit. Whether the fucking werewolf creatures were feasting on animal or humans, if the beasts wanted to keep themselves well fed, it was the perfect place.

Yet the entire situation was unnerving.

I’d contacted both brothers after devising my plan. Assistance would be greatly appreciated since I had no clue what I could be dealing with. Even before spending a lovely evening with Sedona, I’d tried to find as much information as I could about the old lore and any purported meanings.

Our kind was notably secretive about everything. Of course we had reason to be, but I was the son of the matriarch. That should provide me with some clout or at least additional clearance in learning important information.

Apparently, I was wrong.

Every phone call I made had been shut down.

I noticed a car pulling into the parking lot. At least one brother was obviously eager to hunt.

It wasn’t the best option or a good decision, but I wanted to see for myself what we were dealing with.

Especially since dear ole Mom wasn’t being completely forthcoming in allowing us to be told what she anticipated the future would look like.

“Are you becoming a pervert now?” Riker asked as soon as he approached. “Oh, wait, you already are.”

“Very funny.”

“Hey, I don’t mind the outdoors, but I was having a nice dream when you interrupted me.” He yawned and stretched on purpose.

“We need to start tracking the wolves.”

“Are you talking the big dudes with fangs?”

He was cracking himself up, but in truth, I found no humor in what was happening. “This is serious. Can’t you smell them?”

“Dude, I’m not dead. I can smell them. I did earlier when I went home.”

Exhaling, I was surprised he was taking the potential war so casually. We weren’t equipped for engaging in battle no matter our genes or heritage. “We wait for Chase.”

“Sorry, buddy. He’s not coming. He called me after you two talked.”

“He still doesn’t buy anything he was told.”

“Not in the least. Plus, I think he was with some chick. You know how he is.”

Yeah, I did. Chase was nothing but a hard-edged playboy. When I pulled out my weapon, Riker snorted.

“You’re planning on shooting a gargantuan wolf with razor-sharp teeth?”

“If necessary.”

“I bet bullets won’t work.”

“They are human when not in wolf form.”

“Yeah, but we survive. We heal,” Riker reminded me. “It takes time, but unless you pop us right in middle of our cerebral cortex, we will survive. But hey, I brought one too. There are also some murderous humans in town.”

“Thanks for reminding me. I’ll sleep better tonight.”

“I doubt that since the sun will be coming up in about thirty minutes. I suggest if we’re going to actually hunt instead of talking, we get going. I like you but not that much.”

“You’re hilarious tonight.” I took off jogging into the woods. I’d opted for jeans, a sweatshirt, and hiking boots, which had delighted Sedona.

“Hold on. You’re the track star. Remember?”

He followed behind me, moving quickly through the woods. Thankfully, he’d dressed appropriately as well. While I had no intention of shifting, using our other attributes could prove beneficial in our search.

It had been a very long time since we’d hunted, the last time when we were teenagers. There’d been a point when keeping certain skills intact had been encouraged, including by our mother, but times had changed. Attitudes had changed.

Our lives had changed.

I hoped now we wouldn’t regret the choice of becoming more human instead of following our natural instincts.

Riker was a fast runner, more so than I was. He’d also kept up his physical shape, preferring using his home gym to any other sport. I preferred the outdoors, hiking and rock climbing. Unfortunately, with our business thriving, I hadn’t managed to get in a recreational session for well over a year.

It showed tonight in how fast I was sprinting through the trees. We had a lot of ground to cover in a short period of time. If any of the lore was correct, the beasts hunted only at night, daylight preventing them from enjoying the shift.

But I could be wrong.

The idea they shifted because of the full moon was bogus, but at least the bright light provided relief from the myriad shadows. As expected, my eyesight was much keener than it had been only days before.

The hunt was exhilarating, my blood racing and my heartbeat high.

“I missed this,” Riker said when we made it to a clearing.

“Yeah, so did I.” I took a deep inhale and turned my head. “We’re close.”

“I smell the bastards. Four of them. Maybe more.”

“We need to be careful.”

“Hey, dude. Careful is my middle name.”

Even here at this moment when we were facing a situation where we could be in over our heads, the man could joke. I did love that about him. “Uh-huh. I’ll remind you of that when you do something stupid.”

“Like what? By the way, I think we should bring the bastards out in the open.” He didn’t wait for my thought on his idea. He simply issued a wolf howl. The sound permeated the forest and almost immediately, all the night creatures became silent.

When it was all quiet again, I tipped my head in his direction. “Well, you just did something stupid.”

“No pain, no gain. Right? Come on, brother. Let’s rouse these fuckers. Wanna do it in wolf form?”

He was serious, not that I hadn’t wanted to shift since I’d arrived. I’d also craved doing so since the night at the bar.

“Come on,” he said in a chiding voice. “It’s been a little while but it’s like riding a bike. Right?”

I gathered a stronger whiff of their repulsive stench. They were casing the area, still partially in human form. That could change at a moment’s notice. Still, it wasn’t that we were forbidden to shift but were required to do so only when absolutely necessary.

“Buddy. Yo. Earth to Jackson. We don’t have all night. I can feel their hot breaths.” Riker was exaggerating as he usually did, but it still wouldn’t be long before we were confronted with them.

Not that the transformation took more than a minute or two. Then again, it had been a long time since I’d put myself through the agony. Canines and eyes were one thing. Not painful.

A full body shift was like being pulled apart by being tied to two semis, both backing up.

I think that was from some horror flick from thirty years ago I’d watched a few nights before when I hadn’t managed to sleep.

But it was true.

“Fine,” I told him. “Let’s do it.”

“Let’s find somewhere to put our clothes. And the weapons. God forbid a kid finds them or worse. We don’t need to add to the murder rate.”

I couldn’t help but glare at my brother. He was worried about clothes when we could be facing a group of wolves that could best us. I wasn’t in the mood to die today. I placed my weapon under some brush, realizing at least he had a good point. While he was searching the area, I’d yanked off my sweatshirt and boots.

Once devoid of them, I sensed they were surrounding us. They could smell our DNA. They were waiting to see what we would do.

“Better hurry, bro. We’ve got company and I think they’re foaming at the mouth.”

“I’m with you,” he said.

He was the first to issue another howl as he closed his eyes, preparing for the shift. There was no way to describe the white-hot pain or the way my eyesight was instantly clouded as the transformation began.

We’d been taught to endure agony in our lives. Hell, I’d shifted the first time when I was five because I didn’t know what the hell I was doing and had gotten angry with my best friend, Joey. He’d stepped on a firetruck I’d loved, cracking the ladder and I’d gone berserk. It had taken two Elders to keep me from beating my buddy to death because I didn’t know my own strength.

From there, my mother had sat me down and explained things to me and to Riker. We’d learned more about our history and what was expected of us as ‘decent fucking human beings’ as she’d called us. We’d been taught how to shift, a male Elder taking the place of our deadbeat father.

We’d trained both physically and emotionally to become wolves, learning defensive tactics as well as offensive. Which of course two wild boys had preferred. Not long after that, Chase had begun his training. From there, our mother had mandated it as a regime for all boys and girls.

That had been before the council took over all Wolfen business.

But after the training was concluded in about two years, nothing else was expected. We knew how to shift. We knew how to keep control. We were able to make our own decisions, but told that if we broke the law, Wolfen rules and protection wouldn’t apply.

As the anguish built to an intolerable level, I feared others of our kind would cease to accept the brutality of the transformation. Pain was a great deterrent. Why put yourself through that?

My body was shaking already, claws ripping from skin on my hands, bone cracking then breaking. As my canines grew, dropping from the roof of my mouth, my jaw was smashed.

Lights floated in front of my eyes before becoming as clear as a wolf’s.

As soon as my snout developed, I felt the mind-numbing ripple of my backbone and was forced to drop onto all fours.

By that point, my thoughts became entirely different, my needs bordering carnivorous. I was suddenly famished.

The earth was shaking as I threw back my head and howled. Anyone close would think we were nothing but gray wolves, our cries carrying.

But we were anything but a typical wolf.

There was no hesitation as the shift was concluded. We bounded into the thicker part of the forest, eager and willing to chase our prey.

The chase was freeing, more intense and exciting than I’d remembered. I moved quickly, the power of my muscles allowing me to jump over anything that got in my way. We stumbled onto a makeshift campground. The stench had gotten worse. This was a killing ground.

I issued a low growl and shifted my attention to Riker.

“They’re not yet ready to turn,” I told him.

“They’re fucking dead. Dead. And they’re coming back to life. I feel like I’m watching a zombie flick.”

“Worse, brother. Worse.”

So it was true that the dead could rise. While our deaths didn’t come easily, we didn’t return to life once we’d entered the final darkness. The knowledge was good to discover.

It was also disturbing as fuck.

The lore was real.

They were now running, not yet shifting into the monsters they were about to become.

But soon.

Too soon.

We needed to stop them.

As we neared where they were, Riker and I stopped, eyeing one another. We could easily communicate in our wolf form. We’d developed a range and type of speak when we were kids that was entirely our own. At least that was working as it should.

The four humans had been mauled by one of them, all coming together like a bloodied group of monsters from any slasher flick. I gathered a whiff of blood and drooled from the thirst that threatened to push me over the edge.

Normally two to four wasn’t the best odds even for dangerous wolves, but at this juncture, the men were little more than cadavers, although eager to transform. They stunk to high heaven of the fucking beast who’d turned them. I wondered if one had killed all four or if there were others.

A deep whiff indicated a single creature had done them in. At this point, their brainwaves were still not functioning as they soon would. We had two options. Allow them to shift into whatever they would become, which meant they would be stronger.

Faster.

Becoming indiscriminate murderers.

Or we could humanely end their lives.

“What’s it going to be, bro?” Riker asked mentally.

Killing of humans was against our laws, those of the Wolfen. But they were no longer human. “We strike.”