Love Among Shadows

by Smokey Moment

  Legend walked between the trees and disappeared into the forest. He needed to go home and relax. The night was a waste and he needed to unwind. It was frustrating. He was tense. And he hoped Trinity was not in his bed. He wasn’t sure he would be able to resist her.

  A

  knock on the door, awakened Legend from a much needed restful nap. His bed felt much better than the ground he laid on, while waiting on his mark. “Yeah,” he shouted, as he walked to his door. Legend opened it wide. Aesir nodded and walked past him. “Good morning to you too,” he said, as he shut the door and followed Aesir to his kitchen. Legend sat down on a stool as his brother raided his refrigerator.

  “You hungry?” Legend asked. “Just looking for some fruit. Zen wants me to go all the way into town for some fruit. You have anything?” he replied. “Yeah look in that bottom drawer.”

  Aesir grabbed two plums and shut the fridge door. He tossed them in the air then sat them on the counter. Legend could tell he was there for more than fruit. “Anything else. I need to get some rest. I have something to do later,” he said. Aesir looked seriously at him. “Yeah… I figured. You never told me what pop wanted. Why was he here? He never comes here. He’s never came here to see me. He always makes me fly back home to see him. It must have been pretty important,” Aesir said, sounding skeptical.

  “He gave word from our forefather’s. Things you know I’m forbidden to speak on. I can tell you that its nothing. Nothing for you to worry about. Just something I have to do. That’s all. Don’t worry. If it was something critical, I would tell you. You know I would,” he said, as he got close to his brother. The men looked each other in the eyes. A sign of respect and understanding. Aesir nodded. He trusted Legend, even if he was a bit jealous of him.

  Legend could always sense his brother’s jealousy. It had been that way since they were young Lycan boys. Their mothers were rivals, vying for the attention of their father. Archaeus brought his sons together in order for them to bond and get to know each other. But soon they were living on separate sides of the globe. And the young Legend and Aesir didn’t see each other again until years later. Legend was not only the first born son, he was the only offspring born to an alpha female. He was royalty. And he was favored by Archaeus.

  Legend was forbidden to speak about anything that related to spirits and the divine rulings. It was against the rules to openly speak about the spirits. Their words were for the enlightened. Only a select few had a connection with the ancestors. And only the ones chosen to carry out their wishes were allowed to speak about it.

  Legend never heard from the spirits, despite countless hours of chants and begging the spirits to send him a sign. He always felt enlightened. Special. But he never received proof of his divinity. He was the son of Archaeus. The grandson of Adolfus. He should have had the ability to communicate and get clarity on his purpose. He sought understanding of his life and what his journey should be. But instead of getting messages from the spirts, he was relying on his father. A man who served himself first. Legend loved and trusted Archaeus. But he also felt his father wasn’t being completely open and straight with him. And no matter what his suspicions were, his father’s word was all he had. So the way things were, Archaeus received messages, and he relayed them as ordered.

  L

  egend lay in his bed, his hands down his pants looking up at the stars. He was heavy in thought and reminiscing about his past. He fondled himself softly, thinking of human women. Their sensuality. The looks in their eyes when they were attracted to someone. It could be subtle. And something about it turned him on. It was his secret desire. The forbidden fruit. And his desires made the mission he was on, so much harder than it should have been.

  The face of the woman he saw at bowling alley, flashed before him. Something about her intrigued him. It was a shame she would have to lose her life. It was not his call. It was spoken and ordered, and so it would be carried out.

  He turned his head and looked over at the clock. It was fifteen after eleven. He had slept all day and was restless. The night was still young. He had class the next afternoon and he planned to go into town and buy supplies at the local store. He needed to look the part. He hated to enroll, but he needed to cover all basis. If two women arrived, it could take several classes before he discovered which one was the hybrid. He had no name. And the only clue would be her eyes. Seeing them under the right light could take days. Maybe weeks.

  He let out a loud sigh and sprung from the bed. He needed to get out. Enjoy some music and laughter. He needed something wonderful before he embarked on something treacherous. Legend had an idea. He put his clothes on and exited his back door. He was going back into town.

  A trio of women laughed and joked, as they opened the door to the Crazy Horse. The music thumped. Its beats felt and heard before he reached the door. The sound resonated. Cars and people came and went. Crazy Horse was one of the most popular bars around. Legend walked up to the door. It burst open, as two young women came staggering out. A cigarette tumbled to the ground as the women chuckled, and then held each other’s hand and ran across the street. One young woman looked back at him then whispered to her friend. Legend blushed, then turned his attention back on the door. He held it open for another small group of women. More whispers as they looked at him enticingly.

  “Excuse me,” a woman said, as she walked inside. She seemed to be in a hurry. Legend caught a glimpse of her side profile. She was attractive. She seemed familiar. He sped up hoping to see her. The perfume she wore was light and wonderful. She had sprayed it all over, blocking his ability to smell her vagina. Legend loved the way human women smelled. It was erotic. It did things to his manhood. It was better than the smell of a female werewolf, in a way he couldn’t quite explain or understand.

  Legend watched the back of her as she continued walking towards the bar. A man bumped into him, spilling his drink on his own shoes. “Excuse me,” Legend said. The man glared at him. “Watch where you’re going asshole. These are five hundred dollar shoes,” the guy bragged, as his friends walked up.

  “What’s going on?” one man asked. “This drunk asshole trampled me. Because he trying to get to some bitch. You better watch it,” he said. “I said excuse me,” Legend said, his voice low and direct. He stood staring at the men. His eyes piercing theirs. The men looked at each other. Something in his look gave them pause. His eyes glowed red under the special lighting of the club. Legend was unaware that his eyes were red. He wondered why the men stared so intensely at him. He was prepared to fight. He would only wound them. Anything else would have the entire police force looking for him.

  “Dave... Chill man. He didn’t mean it. Cut the man some slack,” one of the men said nervously. He didn’t know what to make of the stranger’s eyes. “Hey dude… It’s cool. Have a drink. On me. No worries man,” the man said, hoping to diffuse the tension. “I’m good. Thanks,” Legend said, as he turned and walked away. The men looked at each other.

  “What the fuck was that? Did you see his eyes,” one man said. “Damn Dave! Next time, can you pick a fight with someone who doesn’t look like they could kill us all in a nano second,” another man said. Legend turned back and gave a final glare before stopping at the bar. He could hear them. And he wondered what they meant. He wasn’t under the light of the moon. His eyes were fine.

  An hour passed. He had several more drinks before the bar would be closing. The music sounded good. The strumming of the guitar strings, and the beat of the drums, were sounds that spoke to him. He loved all kinds of music. He gulped his cognac down and ordered another.

  Couples danced to the disco beats of the nineties hit group C&C Music Factory. Legend smiled. He liked to watch humans dance. He wished he could get up the nerve to dance. It seemed unnatural. He figured it was a lot like making love and he could do that for hours. But he couldn’t relax enough to enjoy himself.

  He watched and smiled. One woman stood out. He turned his body towards the dance floor. He had
a front row seat to her erotic show. She twisted and turned in a sexy way. Legend found it sexually stimulating. Her body was perfect. Her bare back was to him. The dip in her dress showed off her beautiful smooth skin. The dress grabbed her body completely, showing how curvy and toned she was.

  The view of her backside had him in a trance. Her ass was perfect. He imagined himself holding it while he entered her. Something about the way she moved looked like sex without the sex. Legend waited to see her face. It would be disappointing if her face didn’t match her spectacular frame. Soon she turned slightly. He could see the side of her face. It was the woman who passed him when he entered. People on the floor seemed to be looking his way. He realized they were looking at him. Some people looked away, as not to be rude. But some continued to stare at him.

  But Legend ignored the spectators. He was too fixated on the woman. Soon she turned around. Her backside now facing her dance partner, to the man’s delight. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him. She gently pushed him away, then giggled at his advances. She smiled and threw her hair back. Her eyes closed as she took in the music. Legend wanted her. He had never wanted a woman so badly. It didn’t help that he had not had sex in months.

  The woman opened her eyes. Legend furrowed his brow. It was the beautiful woman from the bowling alley. And her eyes were glowing red. It was his mark. The hybrid wolf he was stalking. The half breed he needed to destroy. She stared at him. She furrowed her brow at him. He was handsome. She remembered passing him the night before. But his eyes were glowing red. and she took notice. She slowed her movements. Perplexed. Legend turned and walked towards the door. He didn’t need her to be able to place him. “Hey,” a young man said, as he touched him on the shoulder. Legend looked menacingly at him as he continued toward the exit. But the liquor had the young gentleman unable to read his vibes.

  “Hey, dude… Where’d you get those contacts? They’re cool as shit man,” the friendly guy said, smiling, as he tried to keep up with the charismatic stranger. Legend had caused more attention than he bargained for, and the red eyes didn’t help. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Legend said, as he rushed to get out the door. He looked at himself in a mirror on a wall behind the speaker. The sight of his glowing eyes shocked him. He stopped and stared, then looked back at the woman on the dance floor. Her attention was still on him. Legend moved fast.

  “What the fuck,” he blurted, as he walked to the door. He looked up at the lighting. He was shocked that the light, cast off by the special bulbs, exposed his special cornea’s. A trait distinct to his kind. And a visual cue to their difference from humans. It was something they could hide so long as they didn’t get seen by human’s, under the full moon’s light. But now this was a new threat. A major setback in his world. Legend wasn’t sure what the light bulbs were made of and why they were able to do only what the moon had been able to. He would need to find out. But for now, he had to get out from under it.

  “Hey!” a woman shouted, as he pushed past her. He continued to move quickly. He couldn’t worry about it now. He needed to get in position. He still had a mission to fulfil. She could exit at any moment. Closing time was near.

  Hours went by. Legend glanced at his watch. People had begun to exit in pairs and large groups. The bar was closing soon. He watched from the shadows between two buildings. He pulled his hood over his head and waited. Suddenly the door opened. He was shocked to see the woman walking alone. Legend narrowed his eyes. He watched how she moved. She was tipsy but otherwise okay. She was not heavily intoxicated. If she were, it would make things easier. She would be dead before she knew what hit her. Legend moved quickly across the street. The woman stuck her hand down her purse. Soon the chirp of her car alarm released the locks.

  “Valentina! A few of us are going around the corner. You hungry?” a man shouted from the curb. Legend kept walking, looked forward and keeping his head low. Valentina reached in her purse again to grab her phone then turned around slowly, as Legend passed. She was oblivious to his presence. She looked at the caller i.d., as he walked close by her. Valentina answered her phone then looked back.

  “No. Go on without me. I have to go. I have to get up early tomorrow,” she shouted. The man waved then ran across the wide four lane road. “Hey. What happened to you. You changed your mind?” she said, as she walked slowly to her car. Valentina looked around. She kept her call brief, talking for a few seconds before hanging up.

  “The alarm of her car sounded again, as the doors unlocked. Valentina opened the door and slid in slowly, taking care not to fall. Her five-inch heels were becoming difficult to walk in after a night of dancing. Valentine kicked them off. “Uh,” she moaned, as she reached down and rubbed her toes. “Mmm,” she moaned, as she looked out her window. She was parked between two cars in the back of the lot. Valentina sat back. She could hear someone laughing. She looked in her rear-view mirror, distracted as she gathered herself. She felt tipsy but fine enough to drive. “I wish I could snap my fingers and be home,” she said, as she put the keys in the ignition.

  Suddenly, Valentina was snatched out of the front seat and pulled into the back like a rag doll. Valentina tried to scream but her voice was muffled be a hand. “Don’t do that again,” the voice said, as she lay on her stomach. Her dress up over her hips. Valentina could feel him between her legs. She thought he would rape her. If it were just a robbery her wardrobe would surely turn it into something more. Her short, backless dress and thong underwear, were enough to tempt a man bold enough to be in her car, grabbing her. She was vulnerable. She laid on her belly mad that she didn’t pay more attention. The setting and timing were right. The bar wasn’t closing until another forty minutes. They were at the back of the lot. If he wanted her, he could have her easily.

  Valentina cried. Her muffled sniffles made Legend regret grabbing her. “What do you want? Please don’t hurt me,” she pleaded. She shook uncontrollably. The fact that he said nothing made her more nervous. “Please. What do you want?” she pleaded. She could hear him breathing. She felt he was thinking. Looking down at her. Getting turned on by the position he had her in.

  Suddenly the man began searching her. He looked over her body and felt across her back. “Close your eyes,” he said, as he flipped her over. He threw a blouse from a pile of clothes she had in her car, in her face. He continued rubbing his hands across her skin. He seemed to be searching for something. His movements were frantic. He moved her dress up and looked at her stomach and chest, then turned her head in the opposite direction, as he continued looking for the signs. “What are you doing?” she asked. “Quiet,” he replied, as he turned her head side to side and felt behind her ears.

  Valentina wasn’t sure what to make of the man whose face she hadn’t seen. He was not raping her. She was there for the taking, yet he hadn’t taken her. He didn’t rob her. The gold bracelet and leather and diamond bezel watch were easy takings. The man sighed loudly. Valentina’s breaths increased. She couldn’t see what was happening and she hoped he wouldn’t shoot her in the head. She would die and would have never seen it coming. She wanted to know if she was going to die. “What do you want. Are you going to kill me?” she asked, as she held her hands up. She thought he had a gun that she just couldn’t see. “I have money in my wallet. Please!” Valentina cried.

  Legend was dumbfounded. He saw no bite marks. Suddenly he paused. There was one area he hadn’t looked. Legend looked around then pulled Valentina’s panties off, as she shrieked in fear. Legend put his hand over her mouth. “Don’t do that,” he warned. Valentina nodded. Legend leaned back. He looked down. The mark of a Valkan was prominent across her vagina. Legend was in shock. She was not born that way, she had been created. Probably from the heat of the moment in a sexual attack. Legend sat back. It was an unexpected discovery. Someone had made a Ruid. And the location of the bite mark suggested they had been intimate. There could be a child involved. There was more to this. He couldn’t kill her. If she had given
birth to a child, he would need to locate that child.

  He rubbed his head then looked over at Valentina. He couldn’t see her face. He thought of ending it at that moment. It was why he was there. He closed her legs then opened her car door. “Don’t get up until I’m gone. Or I’ll be forced to come back,” he said. Valentina remained silent. Her body still trembling from fear. It seemed her ordeal was over. She could hear him running away.

  Legend got out and ran towards the alley. Valentina jumped up and held her shirt to her bare breast. She placed her hand over her mouth and cried hysterically. Frozen and unable to move, she cried for several minutes before jumping in the front seat. She drove quickly out of the lot, barely missing the tail end of a car that was driving by. The driver laid on his horn in anger. Valentina looked back. She couldn’t see clearly. Her eyes watered uncontrollably, distorting her view. She ran every red light along Lexington Boulevard, defiant and mad at the world.

  “Ahh,” she screamed, banging her hands against her steering wheel. She was filled with anger. Consumed in fear. She couldn’t believe what had happened. Her luck couldn’t be that bad. This was the second attack. It was time to reflect on her decisions. On her life. It was obvious she was not paying attention to her surroundings. What was she doing to cause the attacks? What clues was she missing?