by Sarah Noffke
Hugo lay awake, feeling like he was being roasted by the pain. The cold air breezed over his open wounds, basting him in more torture. Nothing could ever be worse, he thought. And then he heard approaching feet and looked in that direction, seeing his intestines lying on top of his stomach. Things could get worse, he thought. But then through his fuzzy vision he saw the figure, covered in white and black hair. The mustang, the one he had wanted to befriend, approached through the mist, its head down.
What can be done for you? the horse said in Hugo’s head.
Hugo tried to shake his head, tears pouring down his cheeks as he attempted this. Nothing, he said, grateful he didn’t have to use his voice.
You see now why I couldn’t trust you. I knew what you were, the elegant wild horse said.
I know, Hugo said, his body starting to shake all over, his head turning into what felt like fire.
The horse took a step forward, lowering its head. I am sorry this happened to you, the horse said in his head.
I am too, Hugo said, his vision turning black in spots. Will you please do something for me?
Yes, the horse said simply.
Knock down the door so the dog can get out, and take down the gate so the chickens are free. I don’t want them to starve, Hugo said, suddenly not feeling any pain. Suddenly not feeling anything.
In your final moments you think of the animals? the horse said.
In all moments I think of the animals, Hugo said. And Markie too, he thought.
You are good. In another time, if you were not part wolf, then we might have been friends, the mustang said, lifting its beautiful head and looking out to the property Hugo had built.
I would have liked that, Hugo said, closing his eyes.
Peace to you, Animal Talker, the horse said just as Hugo let out his final breath, slipping away for good.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“Wolf X appears to have a higher genetic wolf component than the men in the original pack. It was reported that he wasn’t wearing clothes in werewolf form, probably due to a massive growth in muscles and bone structure.”
- Lucidite Institute, Werewolf Project File
“Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck!” Adelaide said, throwing papers from her desk. She was aware that Pops and Lucien could hear her from the other room and she totally didn’t care. Where the fuck was her book! She had it and then it was gone. Completely disappeared. And soon she was going to have to start questioning people, which would only draw attention to her and the book. She might even have to touch people to find out answers, and that was the most frustrating idea of all. But her book! It was gone! Ren’s book. She hadn’t even read half of it and now it was gone. But where? Who would take her book? The people in the Institute weren’t thieves. They were the ones who stopped thieves.
Adelaide picked up her comforter and hurled it in the hallway with a grunt. A clean white sheet sat crumpled on the bed. No book. She’d had the book in the strategic department. Then she didn’t have it. Maybe Kaleb took it as a prank. If that was the case then he was dead. She didn’t care if he had the most useful skill. She’d murder him with hypnosis.
“Bankey,” Lucien said, tossing himself into the crumpled blanket. His red hair was a stark contrast to the white comforter as he snuggled into the mess lying on the ground. Sometimes it amazed Adelaide when he played, since he was often serious, like her father. Lucien actually took after Ren in most ways. But still he was a child and children were meant to play.
“Lucy, where’s my book?” Adelaide said, squatting down and looking at her son, like he had answers to this mystery.
He rose from the mass of blankets and stared at his mum, a sudden seriousness on his face. Then the boy pointed at the hallway. “There,” he said with a slight lisp.
Adelaide turned her gaze to the empty entryway that led out to the Institute. “Yeah, I agree. That wanker Kaleb probably has it,” she said, rising and starting for the exit.
Kris’s heart nearly fell out of her chest when the toddler pointed straight at her, convicting her of taking the book. She was invisible though. It was simply coincidence. The little boy couldn’t have known that she had the book.
Kris moved to the side when Adelaide breezed by her. She was able to slide out behind Adelaide when she left her residence, before the automated door slid back closed. The invisible girl didn’t know why she’d followed Adelaide to her apartment. Curiosity maybe. Or maybe she was stalling. She had the book and knew it was what Mika wanted. All she needed to do was go to the dry dock and wait for the next submarine to leave the Institute. Then she’d be generously rewarded and hopefully given an even cooler case.
Kris stared at Adelaide’s back as she stomped through the stainless steel hallways of the Institute. But was there really a cooler place to be assigned than the Lucidite Institute? This place was like being on a ship in space. An underwater space ship. And the people were fascinating to watch. They were nice and talented and more intelligent than any group Kris had ever seen. Even their leader, Trey, was compassionate and ruled with a tender smile. Maybe that’s why she was stalling. She wasn’t done studying this secret society of Dream Travelers.
“Kaleb!” Adelaide roared outside a door before knocking furiously at it.
A moment later the stainless steel door slid back to reveal a brown-haired boy standing in the opening with a pursed smile. “I don’t want any Girl Scout cookies, but thanks for asking,” he said. Kaleb was the jokester of the pack, Kris had observed. Connor the damaged one. Rio the guy’s guy. And Zephyr was the stoic leader. Kris had enjoyed watching them interact, all having different personalities that complemented each other. It would be interesting to see the dynamics shift as more werewolves were added to the pack. Then Kris silently admonished herself for the thought. She was supposed to be gone from the Institute, she thought, pressing her hand to the book residing in the bag at her side.
“Do you have my book?” Adelaide said, her voice still loud.
“So you aren’t selling cookies? I’m surprised, because—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Adelaide said, cutting him off. “Answer the question. Do you have my book?”
“I don’t, but—”
Adelaide turned at once, again interrupting Kaleb. Apparently his answer was enough for her. And the girl with fiery red hair nearly knocked into Kris as she sped by, her eyes narrowed with anger.
Chapter Thirty-Five
“Grant Walker has exhibited a higher degree of aggression than other subjects. This is believed to be due to the wolf DNA, which was substantially increased in this experiment.”
- Olento Research, Canis Lupus Project File
It had to be the wolf’s fault. That was the only explanation, Zephyr thought as he thumbed over his dog tags. There was no reason that a guy like him would be drawn to a girl like Rox. It was laughable to even consider taking a girl like her to meet his parents, not that that was even an option for him anymore. He wasn’t going home. No more Sunday dinners. No more holidays, just him and his parents. Their family had been a small one. “Our precious nuclear family,” his mother used to call them. However, there was more love between the three of them than in a mass of siblings and aunts and uncles. The Flournoys preferred things small, quaint. They were minimalists, and more importantly, his mother always said Zephyr needed a girl who took care of him. He didn’t think she’d approve of an FBI agent with a dirty mind and slutty wardrobe.
The chair beside Zephyr swung out. He’d been lost in thought and didn’t even notice that Rox had entered the conference room. It was like that lately; since he’d been at the Institute he’d let down his guard. That had never happened before. And if he was honest, his guard was usually down when Rox was around, but he wasn’t sure why when it should have been reinforced.
She hiked up her leg and placed her foot on the leather seat, sticking her knife down into a sheath hidden inside the knee-high boot. Then she tossed her flipped out blonde hair over her shoulder and gave Z
ephyr a small smile.
“You really are starving for attention, aren’t you?” he said, giving her a repulsed look. “Did you grow up the youngest and were forgotten by your family most of the time? Is that why you try so hard?”
She laughed, smoothing her hand over her knee and up to her thigh where her cutoff shorts started. Leather boots and jean shorts. Yeah, his mother would probably donate all of her cardigans to Rox if they ever met, just out of charity for the girl who was obviously defunct when it came to fashion and modesty.
“I’m an only child and also the center of my parents’ lives,” Rox said with a laugh. “I don’t need attention. Can’t help it that you are fascinated by me.”
“Mild interest coupled with an ability to overlook your many flaws isn’t really attraction, but whatever,” Zephyr said, his eyes skirting down briefly to her leg still resting on the seat in front of him. Damn, why did she have to be so sexy? Not romantically sexy, but robustly sexy.
Rox opened her hiked up leg to the side, revealing a little more of her inner thigh, an impish grin on her pink mouth. “Mild interest, huh? That didn’t feel like mild interest last night.”
Zephyr’s blood beat in his head. A warmth spread through his groin. This was the wolf’s fault. This wasn’t Zephyr. He didn’t want the girl in front of him. She was a mess. Yes, an FBI agent, but also a train wreck waiting to happen. And Rox had probably been like that ever since she learned her skill was pretty much being invincible. A girl like her didn’t know what it was like to be hurt. To fear death. She would probably die from old age, not ever finding a challenge that could kill her. And Zephyr would probably die from the damn wolf making him do something incredibly impulsive, like jumping over a chasm to get to Rox.
He cleared his throat. “What happened last night?” he said and then slapped his forehead. “Oh, that’s right. I totally forgot, which means you’re forgettable.”
Rox leaned her neck to the side, cracking it loudly, an amused look on her face. “That’s funny because those noises you made didn’t sound like you’d easily forget what I did to you.”
“Sorry I keep giving you the wrong impression,” Zephyr said, leaning forward when he really only wanted to lean away. He was calculated. Balanced. That’s why he’d been a captain in the Special Forces. He knew how to control himself and make decisions when in intense situations. However, right then he didn’t feel at all like himself. The leather of Rox’s boot was cool under his palm. When had he done that? Put his hand on her boot? Looking up at Rox standing tall made him feel suddenly put into submission. And the satisfied look on her face just sealed that feeling.
“Please tell me that you’re thinking of being a shoe salesman and are practicing your skills on Rox,” a girl’s voice coated in a British accent said at Zephyr’s back. He spun around, taking his hand off Rox’s boot to find Adelaide. Again he’d let down his guard.
“I was helping her sheathe her knives.” Instantly Zephyr felt dumb. What the fuck was going on? He was lying and it made no sense and yet he’d gotten himself into this situation.
“Or you were putting the moves on Rox and she’s now fired,” Adelaide said, looking delighted.
A loud laugh popped out of Rox’s mouth as she slid her foot off the chair and to the floor. “You think I want rabies? I’m only teasing the dumb dog, so don’t you worry, Freckles,” she said.
Adelaide gave Rox a long discerning look that said “I don’t believe you, hooker.” Or maybe Zephyr just embellished the last part. Probably.
“Speaking of rabid dogs,” Adelaide said, thumping a file down on the conference room table, keeping a few folders still cradled in her arms. “There’s been another attack in Los Angeles. Another mutilated lady and this time an eyewitness saw a werewolf attack the lady from a third-story window.”
“When was this?” Zephyr said, pulling the folder open.
“A week ago, the night that you all changed,” Adelaide said, turning to watch the rest of the team enter. Rio and Kaleb took seats, but Connor stood beside Adelaide, giving her a strange look, a question written on his face.
“What?” she said, pursing her lips at him.
“Third story is kind of a distance to view anything with accuracy. And if it was the night we changed then it would have been dark in the street,” he said.
“When did you become a fucking detective?” she said to him, not looking impressed.
Zephyr skimmed the room. It was getting fuller, now with four werewolves. He couldn’t imagine how it would look in a few weeks. What would it feel like to have all the werewolves around the table? A gentle pressure clamped over his chest. A feeling of security took residence inside of him. And then it depleted a bit. Except for Orion. The pack would always be short one. Orion was gone, of that he was sure. It’s like he’d felt his spirit blotted out when Wolf X picked him up and broke his neck. Zephyr hadn’t even realized he was connected to the stranger, but now he knew it. He was connected to all of the werewolves. Maybe for that reason he should be worried since he’d recently felt another jolt in his system, like a new werewolf had been hurt, or maybe blotted out. Zephyr shuddered at the thought.
“I think Connor is just trying not to jump to conclusions. It’s hard to consider that someone from the pack mutilated a woman,” Zephyr said, leafing through the file. This was one of many attacks in Los Angeles. The dates matched up with the nights they changed. Every seven days there had been a woman attacked, usually brutally. And in a number of the cases, a werewolf was seen or reported to be involved. The authorities were dismissing this to different factors like lighting, disguises, or gang activity.
“Yeah, well, you may not want to believe that a man from your litter would do something, but I’m going to need you to consider the facts,” Adelaide said. “The truth is that most people are bad and couple that with new angry genetics and super skills, they might be employing this for selfish gains.”
Connor lowered his chin and regarded Adelaide with a raised eyebrow. “Your cynicism is really enchanting,” he said.
“Oh shut it. I’ve got other bloody business to disclose to you all,” Adelaide said, shuffling the folders in her hand. However, the pages started to leak out of one and when another began to slip to the side, Adelaide’s hand darted for it, allowing the other file to fall toward the floor. Connor reached down in a blur, catching the folder before it touched the ground. As he rose his face took on new shapes. The lightness was replaced with a flare of anger. His eyes narrowed and Zephyr was on his feet at once.
“What is it?” he said at Connor’s side. Connor was now staring at the file with contempt.
Slowly he turned and looked at Zephyr. “Wolf X has struck again…” He then closed his eyes, probably gathering intel from the folder in his hand using his psychometry. When he opened his eyes, they were glowing green. “He murdered Hugo, a werewolf who was described as one of the most gentle among us.”
“No,” Zephyr said in hush, looking toward Adelaide. She merely nodded. “Why is he murdering the pack? Doesn’t Olento Research want us back?”
“I’m guessing that he’s lost control, based on what the agents found,” Adelaide said. “I had a news report from Roya and it has just come to pass. There wasn’t enough time to stop it. I sent agents out to retrieve the body and they say it looked like an act of pure aggression.”
Zephyr nodded. That made sense. Missions were done cleanly. When passion and emotions entered into situations, they turned ugly and violent. “We need to go after him,” Zephyr said, looking to Connor and then Rio and Kaleb.
“I agree, but I can’t have you just running off,” Adelaide said. “Kaleb has another case for the strategic department, so you can’t take him. Connor, you haven’t been cleared by the doctor yet. So you three,” she pointed at Zephyr, Rio, and Rox, “will go after him, but not yet. We have a window of time when we know where he’ll be, on his return to Olento Research.” Adelaide turned to Connor, who still looked to be simmering with q
uiet anger. That wasn’t going to serve him. Zephyr would have to help him control his emotions. Adelaide snapped at him, angling toward the folder. “Give me,” she said.
He started to hand her the folder and then turned and stalked out of the room, with the report.
Zephyr turned to go after Connor at once.
“Don’t,” Adelaide said. “Let him go. He’s just angry. He’ll get over it.”
“But the location,” Zephyr said. His shoulders were higher now, no doubt due to the stress of the moment.
“And I have an incredible memory and don’t need the file. The location is the DFW airport in two hours,” Adelaide said. She wasn’t exaggerating about her excellent recall, because she’d inherited her father’s photographic memory. However, that didn’t help her with remembering all the details from his book, since she hadn’t studied all the pages and the ones she had were so cluttered with words. Grief coated her stomach with unease. She had to find that book. Somehow she had to figure out how it had disappeared. Not having that small object was cutting off her spirit little by little.
“Wolf X flies commercial?” Kaleb said with a laugh. He was looking more confident after his last case. Actually he’d been successful with disarming the bomb and made the whole case go along much more smoothly than if the strategic department had to rely on other methods. He might be the best thing to happen to the department since Adelaide came along.
“Probably flying out on a private jet,” Adelaide said.
“Okay, you two ready?” Zephyr said to Rio and Rox.
“Whoa, problem is, you dogs are due to change tonight. As much as I want to go after Wolf X we can’t do it tonight. Instead, I’m sending agents to track him. This might give us a way to find out where Olento Research is located. If we can find the location then we can take Mika Lenna down,” Adelaide said. It was a good plan and Trent had approved it at once. She felt like she was working from the end, like Ren would have done.
