by Cate Farren
Realization dawned at last. Valko could hardly hide his shock. This was something he hadn’t expected in a million years.
Coy is in love with my father.
The supernatural community were quite progressive when it came to issues of homosexuality. They hadn’t been infiltrated by homophobic religions, and so they came to see same sex couples as the norm. Love is love, they said. Why shun it? A lot of supernatural species lived a long time, some were immortal, so what was the point of saying certain kinds of love were wrong? Why spend eternity denying who you were?
Even then it was difficult. Even supernaturals had to live among bigoted humans.
“You’re in love with him,” said Valko. The words seemed to make so much sense. “Shit, why did I never see this?”
It was obvious now that he thought about it. There were signs, but Coy had been the master of misdirection.
“I’ve kept it hidden for so long,” Coy explained miserably. “That’s why Tracey and I got divorced, though she didn’t know the specific reason why I grew so distant. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t concentrate. Seeing him every day and not being able to tell him how I felt was killing me.”
“Nobody in our wolf community is homophobic,” said Valko. He felt a little sorry for him. “Heck, most shifters are bisexual anyway. It’s just in their nature. Even I…” Valko hesitated. He hadn’t told anyone this, ever, not even Rian. “When I was waiting to go to Nam, I met someone at training. He was called Paul. We had a thing. I fell in love – and then he died, got blown up. I closed myself off from ever finding anyone again until…”
He looked back, hearing, feeling, Alanna moving about in the main part of the cabin. He smiled.
I’m getting off topic. This isn’t about me and Paul, or Alanna.
“So you helped Rian in a coup because you were in love with my father,” Valko stated. “That makes sense.”
“I thought the only way to stop these feelings was to see your father dead,” said Coy.
“But he’s not dead, is he?”
“Rian’s keeping your parents alive so the rest of the supernatural population of Chapel Green, particularly the sheriff, don’t come down on us. They’re essentially hostages. As long as Rian’s new regime is left as it is, then they’ll be safe.” Coy sighed. “He even called off the winter conference. You should’ve seen the look on his face, wielding such power…”
It answered his question of why the rest of the supernatural community weren’t doing anything. They didn’t dare risk the lives of two high ranking alphas. He was a little disappointed in the Chapel Green supernatural council, though. He at least thought they might be concerned over what was going on in their midst. His father was a member of that council. He had friends in it.
And what is Chapel Green’s sheriff doing while all this is going on?
“I didn’t know Rian was such a calculating son of a bitch,” Valko confessed as he mused on his former friend. “How long has he been planning all this? He couldn’t have come up with it on the spur of the moment.”
“He’s been planning this for over ten years, Valko,” said Coy. “I suspect he wanted this a lot longer than that, though. You know what his dad was like.”
“Yeah. I do know.”
Rian’s father, Rian Senior, had been a troublemaker. He’d been a drunk and a wife beater, and in the end, he’d been exiled. Rian had accepted it, despite the fact that he’d idolized his father. When Rian Senior later turned up dead, having choked on his own vomit while on an alcoholic binge, Rian Junior hadn’t even cried.
Shit. Maybe Rian blames us for his father’s death. Could that be why he betrayed us?
“Valko,” Coy begged.
“Don’t talk to me, or I promise I’ll let Alanna drain you dry,” he snapped.
“I really am sorry. You have to believe me.”
Valko studied the old man’s cracked, broken face, even now healing some of the worst of the damage. He appeared genuine. Even Valko could tell that.
“I do believe you,” Valko admitted. “Right at the end there, you hesitated to kill me, which means you still care about me and my family.”
Valko turned and walked away, leaving the man to stew in his own guilt for a while. What he intended to do with him now he had no idea, but the thought of letting him get away with his betrayal gnawed at him.
Closing the door to the barn behind him he said, “You heard all that?”
Alanna nodded. “What do you think?”
She was sat perched on the edge of his bed, and watched him intently. She didn’t show any emotion whatsoever. She was waiting for him to explain things on his terms.
“I think he’s deeply ashamed at what he’s done,” said Valko, though it pained him to admit it. “It doesn’t excuse what he did, but his own guilt is hurting him more than I ever could – and believe me, the urge to kill him is so great, I could howl. Heck, I almost changed into a wolf I was so angry. I say almost, but even then the wolf wouldn’t come.”
He listened at the door, expecting to hear Coy trying to trying to escape. Nothing.
“What are we having for dinner?” he asked, eager to change the subject.
“We’re just leaving him in there?” said Alanna.
“All night,” he replied. “I’m not bringing him in here. I can’t bear to look at him.” When he saw Alanna’s worry he said, “He’s not going to kill Bella, and he’s not going to change.”
“Just…gag him anyway. We’re having company this evening.”
Valko wasn’t sure he heard her right.
“You invited someone over?” he asked incredulously. “Why? I thought you were a hermit?”
“This is still my house,” she explained. He noticed that her original British accent only started to seep through when she was angry. “Besides, that’s my business.”
“Alanna…”
“Let me just get dinner ready. And gag Coy. I don’t want him screaming out during dinner. It might upset Adrian.”
Now it was just the the two of them again. There wasn’t a cow or an angry werewolf acting as a buffer between them.
He said, “I think we should talk first. About…”
“Grab a shovel from the barn and clear some of the snow away outside so Adrian can get near the house,” she ordered. She kept her eyes off him. “I’m sure it won’t be too strenuous for you.”
“I want to kiss you.”
“Don’t. Just…don’t.”
He grinned, stepped forward, and placed himself in her direct line of sight. He idly scratched his belly button, and exposed his midriff and the tight pectoral muscles that years of hard work had created. He was sweaty from torturing Coy, and the hairs of his treasure trail were matted and wet.
She gulped.
“What if I just grabbed you and kissed you and didn’t stop until you wanted it more than I did?” he asked.
She shot forward like a blur, lightning fast, and grabbed him in an arm lock. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t free himself without dislocating his shoulder. He actually quite liked the physical contact. He could feel her breasts pressing into his back.
She brought her mouth to his ear and whispered, “If you grabbed me like that, I’d kill you.”
“Your nipples are harder that diamonds,” he said.
“I notice that’s not the only thing that’s hard.”
She flipped him over her shoulder and onto the floor. He landed on his back, the obvious sign of his erection tenting his pants. He felt he ought to be embarrassed but he wasn’t. It only made him like her more.
“That was better than a kiss,” he told her.
“So you got what you wanted then,” she quipped, and turned to head to the stove.
***
“Are you seeing that vampire?” Coy asked.
Valko closed the door behind him, which closed off the tempting smell of cooking meat. He could see by Coy’s wide eyes and twitching nose that he was hungry.
“That’s none of your business,” said Valko. He looked around for something to use as a gag.
Coy smiled. “I’m glad you’ve found someone. You shouldn’t be alone.”
He picked up an old rag off the floor. It seemed to be a piece of cloth, maybe from the pants he’d worn when he’d first found himself here. It certainly smelled like him.
“It can never work out between the two of us,” Valko explained as he twisted the fabric into a better shape suitable for a gag. “She has her life here, and I’m going back to claim the life that was stolen from me. I can’t ask her to leave.”
“You’re going back?” Coy spluttered. “Are you completely insane? You’ll be killed!”
“How can I not go back?” he demanded. “For all I know, Rian could snap and kill my parents whenever he wanted. I have to save them. I have to get back what that bastard took from me.” He thought for a few moments about what he really wanted. It wouldn’t do for him to lie, especially now. “I think a part of me wants revenge too. No, I know a part of me wants revenge. The human part wants to see him suffer. The wolf part wants him to bathe in his own blood for going against the pack.”
“I wonder what the ancestors would say,” Coy mused.
“It’s almost the full moon, when we can commune with the ancestors. He’ll find out then.”
Valko liked to think the ancestors would punish Rian for his treachery, but they’d never directly interfered before. The only thing they were likely to do was ignore him. Being shunned by the ancestors would be a serious blow for any wolf, but that was a bland punishment. Rian needed to bleed. He needed to die a painful death.
But what would happen to me? Would the ancestors shun me for acting out of revenge rather than the good of the tribe?
“I wish I could help you,” said Coy. “I really do.”
Valko pulled himself back to the here and now. It did no good to wonder about what the ancestors would or wouldn’t do. “You want to help me now? How can I ever trust you again after what you did?”
“I want to make it up to you,” he begged. “Please.”
The man was being true and sincere. Any idiot could see that.
“You stood by and watched as my sister was killed!” Valko roared. “I’ll never forgive you for that.”
“Valko…I’ll never forgive myself.” Coy’s bloodshot eyes were beseeching, begging for forgiveness. “I was just confused and lonely and bitter, and I thought taking away everything Leonard had would make me feel better about myself. But I was wrong. I was horribly wrong.”
“Not so wrong as to volunteer to find me and kill me.”
“I had to do my part. But I could’ve killed you and I didn’t. That has to count for something.”
“At the end you hesitated, but you sure put up one convincing argument beforehand that you wanted me dead.”
They heard clashing pans in the kitchen and Alanna swearing to herself. They both laughed. The vampire often made a lot of noise when she was cooking. It wasn’t dinner time unless she was fouling the air with her curse words.
“Please,” said Valko. “You don’t have to forgive me but know that I want to help. You can’t go back there on your own. You’re not fit, and Rian has the whole ranch and that part of the town sewn up. He has some pretty ardent followers, you know, some of which are a lot more bloodthirsty than he is.”
Valko knew that trusting him would make him naïve. But what choice did he have? The man seemed genuinely repentant.
Do I have it in me to trust him? Or do I just kill him and bury his body in the woods somewhere as punishment for his wicked deeds?
It was nearly the full moon. Valko knew that the ancestors would shun Coy, just as they’d shun Rian. But if Coy truly wanted to make amends, then only their wolf forebears would know the truth.
“Do you really want to help?” Valko asked.
“Yes.”
Valko was tired of arguing. He was tired of looking at this man. If Coy wanted to help, then so be it. He’d never forgive his godfather. When this was all over, Valko take great pleasure in chucking Coy out of town. But for now, they could be allies.
“Fine,” said Valko. He hoped that he was doing the right thing, hoping the ancestors didn’t see him joining forces with Coy as some sort of betrayal in itself. “Alanna has a friend coming over for dinner tonight. Stay quiet while he’s here, and I’ll think about accepting your offer of help.”
“Thank you, Valko,” Coy whispered.
Valko was about to leave him to it, to eat dinner, forget the man even existed, but thought up one last parting shot.
“Do you remember the time that mom and dad went to Italy for their second honeymoon, and Vasilka and I stayed with you for the week? That was the best time of my life. You became more than a godfather or an honorary uncle to me. You became my second father. You’ve desecrated those precious memories. I hope you can live with yourself.”
He closed the door behind him. Coy was weeping.
Chapter 11
Alanna felt like the whole world was crowding in on her. One minute she was on her own, and now she had two werewolves and a human who was coming to visit. It was a little overwhelming, even if a portion of her was excited to be a part of the community again.
I’m going to learn more about Desdemona.
She felt so close to her goal she could almost taste it. It terrified and thrilled her in equal measure.
What am I doing making dinner? I should be down in the mine, digging, digging.
I am so sick of digging.
She fanged out, her anger and frustration making her crave blood and mayhem. The mine had been her life for so long now. She even dreamed of its rocky, dusty interior.
She heard the scraping of a shovel outside. She smiled, knowing Valko was busy. Their prisoner was unguarded. Just a sip of his blood would make her feel alive. She wouldn’t kill him.
Alanna turned from the stove and stalked to the door to the barn. She put her hand on the knob, trembling. She hadn’t tasted proper blood in such a long time. It called to her.
Valko would see me as a monster if I attacked Coy.
She shrugged her shoulders. He was leaving her anyway. What did it matter? He couldn’t be with her. She couldn’t be with him. She might as well give him another excuse to leave.
Coy’s blood smells so damn good. I could drain him dry. Valko hates him anyway. He might even like seeing the traitor die.
She grinned and opened the door. When she saw the frail old man, tied up, beaten, hopeless, she closed the door on him. She sank down against the door, twisted her hands, bit her tongue, and tasted her own blood seep down her throat.
“I’m a monster,” she whispered.
Her father had been right to despise her. The sheriff had been right to exile her. She was a monster.
“Alanna?”
She looked up to see Valko standing before her. When had he come in?
“What’s happened?” he asked as he knelt beside her. He took her hand to stop her from shaking. “Talk to me.”
“I almost killed your friend,” she whispered.
“He’s not my friend,” Valko insisted.
“I thought I’d gotten over my bloodlust. I thought it was behind me. But one sniff of a werewolf’s blood, and I was back to being the murderous bitch I was when I was exiled.”
He held her hands close to his face, and kissed her knuckles.
“He’s not dead,” he insisted. “You fought through it.”
“Soon this will all be over,” she said. “Soon I won’t have to suffer through this ever again.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, confused.
She smiled and pulled her hands away from him. His touch was just too beautiful.
“Dinner will ready soon,” she announced as she stood up and headed back to the stove. Composed. Stable. “Set the table.”
***
Alanna opened the door with the widest smile she could summon. Adrian walked towards
the house along the path that Valko had dug through the snow. He was pulling a small cart behind him covered with black tarpaulin. He looked exhausted.
“Let me handle that,” she said as she charged forward. “You’re an old man, for God’s sake!”
“I can handle it,” he complained.
“Go inside and warm yourself by the fire. That’s an order.”
He smiled and did as she ordered. Curious, she lifted the tarp a little. There was a 21inch color television set, a VCR, several tapes, a lot of books, and a new fangled cassette player. It was a delight.
She picked up one of the video cassettes. She’d heard about home VCRs on the radio. It was astonishing. You could play your favorite movies any time you wanted! Miraculous.
“What’s gotten you so excited?” Valko called.
She turned to him, unable to keep the childlike joy out of her voice. “Have you seen this? It plays movies! You can tape TV shows! Science sure is advancing at a rapid rate.”
“What kind of movies do you like?” he asked.
She showed him the VHS in her hand. “I like this! The Spy Who Loved Me! I’ve read all the Bond books.”
“We can watch it after dinner.”
She smiled as she and Valko carefully transferred all her new goods into the cabin. It felt like Christmas. She felt like there could be hope in her life after all, despite the earlier setback when she’d almost killed Coy. Things could be better, despite the fact that her werewolf was leaving soon.
He’s leaving…
***
“So what does a werewolf do?” Adrian asked.
Her new guest’s enthusiasm was contagious. He was interested in everything to do with the supernatural world, and she enjoyed telling him everything she knew. She felt like a teacher imparting words of wisdom to a child.
I was going to become a teacher once upon a time.
She hadn’t thought about that in a while. Before she’d been turned into a vampire, she was going to become a teacher at the witch school. She’d been looking forward to it. She knew she’d be an excellent teacher because she understood magic and she knew how to talk to children.
