by Aila Cline
The scent of a group of Lycanti was unlike anything I had experienced, almost overpowering with its intensity and insistence. Each werewolf has his or her own particular bouquet—one of the five around the fire even smelled like a spicy cinnamon. We had approached downwind. And creeping silently along, they would not think anything of the soft steps of woodland creatures. With a start, I wondered what I smelled like to them. Can you imagine a werewolf who smells like peppermint or bubblegum? How could anyone take you seriously after a first impression like that?
With the ease that they interacted with each other, they could have been gypsies or campers settled around the fire after a long day of mini-adventures. But as Josh and I approached—yes, I had gotten his name on our almost silent trek to this site—their conversations ceased. I took them all in, beautiful like five sleek gods and goddesses gathered in the firelight. Their clothes were obviously for utility and not for the sake of modern fashion. Ragged jeans, torn shirts and if they had shoes, just a pair of flip flops. Only Josh wore clean, Calvin Klein Jeans and a tapered Aéropostale shirt. Then again, I knew why. Lycanti are prone to wild passions, and we can’t control the Change when it happens. It’s pretty hard to keep a good wardrobe because of this. Yet another impracticality of normal life. So the two men and three women staring at my nudity was not something I was comfortable with, but I knew they had no problem with it. But I felt completely exposed, and I couldn’t stop the blush from stealing over my face.
“This is Emily,” Josh said unceremoniously. “She’s with us.”
There were no smiles, but then, no hostility either. The two men just nodded; two of the women ignored me completely. The last of the women, a petite blonde, scowled at me until I looked away. Josh put his hand on my shoulder.
“They haven’t eaten today,” he explained. “But we’ll hunt first thing in the morning.”
Biting my lip, I tried to think of a subtle way to explain that I had never hunted anything. I may have been trained as a Slayer by Will, but I had no bow and I had a feeling that we would not be hunting other Lycanti. I could tell him anything he wanted to know about the running habits of a pack, how to lure in Lycanti females with pheromone extract, how males were almost impossible to catch because they were only driven by their hunger and Slayers refused to use human bait, or how Luka was probably using all these skills to hunt us as we measured each other up in the flickering light.
Suddenly I was cold and tired and nervous. I hadn’t felt it before, but the night had deepened and now I was surrounded by six hungry werewolves. I had never heard of cannibalism among our kind, but then, I had been hungry enough to devour the flesh of not only the Lycanthrope who Changed me, but also the Lycanti man I loved as I killed him. That, and I knew next to nothing about the habits among Lycanti packs. I’d been a werewolf for what? A few months? Give or take a few weeks?
Suddenly Josh pulled me to him, and our skin exchanged heat. I shivered with pleasure.
He nuzzled my neck, kissing it playfully. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you some clothes tomorrow, sweet one. Let’s get some rest,” he said softly.
Nothing had ever sounded better. I nodded and let him lead me to a pallet of blankets that by scent were unmistakably his. He lazily slung an arm and leg over me, shielding me from the cold even more.
“I won’t let anyone hurt you, Emily,” he murmured.
And suddenly, I felt safe. But as I lay there surrounded by his luxurious musky scent, I fell into a deep sleep, completely unaware that I had just been claimed in the way of the Lycanti.
Please keep in mind that at this time, I was only nineteen years old and had only been with Will, my Lycanti lover who showed me the ways of passion, but could never teach me to control my emotions enough to control the Change. In turn, I had never spent a great amount of time with any of the other Lycanti or Lycanthrope. The most interaction I had with them was at Will’s mother’s wedding. Maria’s wedding in Mexico had provided me with the interesting opportunity to mingle with werewolves, and subsequently have a female Lycanthrope killed because of me—Luka’s sister. Obviously, even though I was human at the time, things just never seem to work out when I run into others of my kind. We are too different…or I am too tame.
After spending the night curled against Josh’s warm body, I felt safe. Everything seemed to be okay again. I still mourned Will, and my guilt was tantamount, but life seemed to be going on in a way that would once again seem tolerable.
His grin that morning seemed to confirm it. “Good morning, lovely.”
He stood in one fluid movement when our eyes met, clothed himself in stylish jeans and an Abercrombie shirt. In my eyes that morning, he looked as delicious as any underwear model come to life from the stills of an ad. He walked towards the campfire, where others were already stirring and speaking in low tones.
“Come,” he said in the same tone he had used on me to beckon me to follow him after our lovemaking. It was not forceful, more like an invitation.
Still wrapped in one of his blankets, I strode to the fire, confident that my new pack would be like a family.
A voice met me at the campfire, that of the petite blond who had scowled at me the previous night. “Gods, she’s fat.”
A very bitchy family.
Josh chuckled lowly, but the others laughed outright. My face burned, but I was determined to make our first real interaction a positive one. Since my Change, I had learned to let go of the self-consciousness about my body that had plagued me as a human. Werewolves did not place the same emphasis of physical beauty on their kind; from what Will and Luka told me, they loved to watch muscles ripple under the skin and study the glow of health. What had I learned in boarding school? Oh yes, don’t make the first impression the worst impression.
“Now, Layla, don’t be cruel,” Josh chastised. “Not everyone was born to hide behind stick insects on a daily basis.”
I giggled at this. Layla was truly nothing but bones.
She shot a glance at me that was a dark as pooled blood. “I will know who to eat first if we fail to hunt this morning.”
Josh placed his hand on the small of my back. “She’s mine.” He gazed out among the pack. “Would any of you fight me for her?”
A warm shiver ran through me at his words. He wanted me, surely!
Of the five seated around the fire, only the woman Layla met Josh’s eyes. “No one would want such trash. There is too much of the human about her. Look at her. She is utterly terrified of us.”
Josh nodded. “Which is why I claim her. To teach her.”
One of the men stood.
“Yes, Xavier?” Josh asked.
The man’s dark braids bobbed as he spoke. “Has she accepted you as master?”
Josh turned to me then, his gaze so intense that I blushed.
“Will you allow me to protect you and to teach you our ways?”
His voice was so alluring, so didactic and calm in a world where I knew no tranquility.
“Yes,” I said instantly.
“And you will call me Master?” he asked softly.
“Yes.”
He turned back to Xavier and the others. “She acknowledges herself as my property.”
Xavier nodded. I found the eyes of the other man upon me, and they were sad. He looked away.
Josh’s voice interrupted any further musings I could have on the man’s thoughts. “We will hunt this morning.”
“About damn time,” Xavier said loudly. The others murmured their agreement.
“From the stockade,” Josh added.
The other male’s face twisted up. “We have no need. There is plenty of game here.”
Josh looked at him sharply. “I want to teach Emily our ways.”
Xavier looked at the man and slyly asked, “Worried about your sweetheart, Sam?”
The man looked away again, his eyes refusing to meet anyone’s. Xavier approached him to elbow him jovially in the ribs.
“I’ll try not to get
him,” Xavier said playfully. “He’s usually one of the faster runners. And he always puts up a fight when anyone but you wants him.”
I watched the exchange wordlessly. Josh seemed to be watching me closely for a reaction, but as I had no idea what they were speaking of, I could not offer any feedback for him.
Xavier whooped and started north, Sam and the others trailing faithfully behind. We kept a distance, silent but close, a few feet in between us as if there was an invisible rope tethering me to him.
Once more, Josh led, and I followed. I felt like even my soul was cocooned by his protection, and therefore incapable of having individual thoughts. I cannot recall any attempt at curiosity during this walk; I just trod along after this, absently ready for breakfast.
At first, my mind could not wrap itself around what I saw. Cages. At least ten cages appeared seemingly out of nowhere from the woods, camouflaged by deep green and black paint, but the eyes that peered out of them could not be masked. They were the eyes of the hunted.
Josh paused to let me take in the sight. “I see no need for our kind to ever go hungry.”
I swallowed what little spit I had in my mouth and licked my lips.
Xavier interrupted my thoughts. “Will we take them with us?”
I watched Josh’s face, knowing instinctively that he had an answer to everything, even to a question which seemed like nonsense. How could we move cages as we traveled?
Josh measured me, his eyes never leaving my face as he answered. “No. We will be gluttons over the next two days to garner strength for the journey.”
Sam’s sharp intake of breath alerted me to the imminent tragedy.
“Wait,” I said, shaken out of my stupor. “We’re going to eat them?” My voice raised an octave or two in pitch as I nodded to the captives. “Them?”
“Yes,” Josh replied calmly. “We’re going to eat them.”
The blood drained from Sam’s face and I felt his pain. “We can’t,” I shrieked. “It’s wrong. It’ disgusting. It’s…”
“The way we live,” Josh stated. “We are Lycanti. They are nothing.”
“They’re people!” I argued.
His backhand stung my pride and my face, and I hit the ground with a heavy thud.
“They’re cattle. We are the wolves, Emily, and we have come to feast.”
Layla’s wicked chuckle assailed my dizzied senses. “And there’s no shepherd to chase away these wolves.” I watched, one by one, as they Changed, hungry for the feast of flesh laid before them.
I cannot relive the bloodshed of that morning. I can’t. I’m sorry but as I sat there on those damp leaves, inhaling the heavy scent of nature and sickly-sweet, torn flesh, I cannot honestly say that I separated myself from the Lycanti beast within me. Every vow I had made to the sanctity of humanity deserted me, and I cherished the taste of salty, hot, decadent flesh on my tongue, never knowing that this was Josh’s test of my self-control. He knew he owned me now. My hunger marked me as a true Lycanti.
Emily
I opened the door. Luka slinked into my apartment, his nose suddenly twitching.
“A werewolf who likes cats?”
I smiled. “They’re tolerable. I had one before this life.” I sighed. “I miss him sometimes, but Sita is really Rachel’s cat. She just puts up with me.”
“Where was she when I came over last time?”
“Who? Rachel or the cat?”
“The cat of course. Believe me, I did not fail to notice your human companion, no matter how hard I tried.”
“I had Rachel shut her up in the laundry room. I had hoped to bring you back with me, and I knew she would be a distraction.”
Sita sidled over and pushed against my leg ever more insistently as if my confirmation of her earlier imprisonment offended her.
Luka shrugged. “Stranger things have happened. Did you really think she would bother me more than the human?”
I rolled my eyes. “Maybe. You’re like a hormonal woman these days.”
He chuckled. “So where is the human today?”
I pushed Sita away. “Shopping. And she has a name.”
“She’s human, that’s enough for me. And she did not strike me as the shopping type.”
“No, but she is tactful enough to make up an excuse not to be here while we are. Part of her endless, painfully pitiful humanity, I’m sure.”
He ignored my comment and instead shifted Micah so that the baby could see Sita as he used his foot as a wriggling toy to catch the cat’s attention. She took the bait and pounced, causing Micah to giggle uncontrollably. Luka continued the ploy when he saw how happy it made Micah. We had just returned from buying clothes for the trip to Mexico. The apartment felt empty without Rachel there, but I was grateful for her absence.
“Smart girl,” he said while taking in my apartment. I wondered if he was talking about Rachel or about me. We had been so intent on arguing with each other the first time he was there that he studied nothing on that trip. I knew the things he’d be thinking. Double-paned windows showed a cautious side; Rocky Horror Picture Show posters hinted at my darkly creative, fun side. His eyes darted to a picture of Rachel, Micah and me at the zoo a month earlier, the dusk sky blanketing us in gentle twilight.
“Speaking of your esteemed babysitter, have you noticed that your friend is knock-kneed?”
“She’s not my friend. I know not to confuse that fact. She’s an acquaintance and my roommate. And she’s not knock-kneed—they’re just slightly crooked.”
He snorted. “Either way, she cannot be able to run very fast.”
My eyes flashed to his face in suspicion but he merely grinned wolfishly back at me.
“Do you really think I would eat her?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted shakily. “You’ve changed so much that I don’t know how you’ll react to anything anymore.”
“Yes, well, you live with a woman who cares nothing for you, and then tell me if you feel like sunshine every day.”
“If you don’t like it, then leave.”
He shook his head violently and threw the hand that wasn't wrapped around Micah. “You still do not understand, do you, Emily? You cannot walk away from a Bond. It is until death do we part—the human ceremony with your ways of divorce makes a mockery of the Clan’s.”
He put Micah down on the floor, which delighted my son to no end as he crawled after Sita. She darted away.
I stayed silent, just watching Micah crawl across the floor and stop to play with a toy. If Luka was so cock-ready to honor the Bond even after what he knew about me, about Brooke, and about himself, then let him. I would chase after no man, especially not one so scared of the Lycanthrope. I had seen Josh rebel against them and remained unpunished; the Lycanti could and did defy the authority of the Lycanthrope and live. I knew that now.
“When do we leave?” I asked, redirecting my attention to him after swearing myself away from asking about his unhappiness again.
“Soon,” he replied lowly. “Very soon. You have your passport?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll book the flight tonight when I get home.” He smiled fully then, and I saw a glimpse of the old, less-tortured Luka. “Coach okay for you?” he asked mischievously.
I quirked an eyebrow at his playfulness. “Coach? Broke lately, Luka? Not enough halflings running around in the woods for the Lycanthrope to pay you decently? Should I sell some of my clothes to pay for my ticket? We could always have a garage sale.”
He chuckled. “Well, you know how much baby formula sells for these days. We could probably hawk Micah’s and make a pretty penny.”
“Oh?” I asked noncommittally. I gestured toward Micah. “And what would my son eat, pray tell?”
His smile never wavered. “You did say he loves Rachel.”
I laughed. “I don’t think she’s quite his taste. She’s lactose intolerant.”
“Oh,” he said knowingly. “You’re right—not enough calcium. And I d
on’t want him to get spoiled by such easily-caught dinner—her being knock-kneed and all.”
“Slightly crooked,” I growled playfully.
He shrugged. “Whichever. She would probably still taste like soy.” He made a face and I laughed. “No Lycanthrope in history has ever been a vegetarian—not a good time to start. It’d probably mean civil war.”
“You’re insane,” I said, completely smitten and amused by him again.
“Yes, I know, but you like it.”
I nodded. “I must say that I prefer you like this.”
He smiled gently, sadly almost. “I will try harder in Mexico, Emily. The longer I am with you, the easier it is to remember my old self. It is hard to be happy without your best friend around.”
“That’s good,” I said, trying to keep his mind off Will. “I had worried that it was your old age making you forget your old self,” I quipped. “It just creeps up on you like that, you know. First you’re forgetting yourself, then gumming your food, then wearing diapers and speaking in one syllable words.”
He grinned. “Well at least Micah and I will have something to talk about.”
I laughed at the image and hugged him. He seemed surprised, but did not push me away. His arms came around me and his body felt completely relaxed against mine. Only his tight grip betrayed his waning composure.
“I missed you,” I said into the folds of his shirt.
He kissed my hair. Something dropped in my stomach.
“Me, too, Em. Me, too.”
We stayed locked to each other for some time, but nothing happened, I swear. We needed that moment of absolute forgiveness. That easiness had to be reestablished between us so that Mexico, and thereby the Lycanthrope, would not break us apart. Tomorrow we would go united to face them, and Luka would protect and vouch for me. Everything would go as planned for me. Nothing could stop it now.
The Lycanti
Shame crept over me later that day. I watched as the others buried the bones, wiped their faces and hands of the blood, and lounged in complete satiation. Josh walked among them, laughing and teasing, lighthearted and proud of the successful slaughter of the caged humans. He stopped and chatted briefly with Layla and Xavier; Sam’s face went completely white, but I was so caught up in my memories of earlier that I did not bother to listen to their conversation.
