A Werewolf's Saga, The Beginning (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 3)

by Michael Lampman

Odan listened and couldn’t agree fast enough with everything he heard. They were all right. It was time to stop this before they spilled any more blood.

  “I am pleased to hear this Kenar. The Elders all wish to have the same.” He looked at Rochie and Rana and saw them together. “We told you to stay out of the world, my children. Why have you disobeyed our wishes?” He kept his voice calm. He didn’t agree with Devish, or what he did. So he was happy to see them again. The fact that they obviously violated his wishes meant a whole lot more to him too. In fact, it made him feel happy beyond words.

  Rochie began to answer him, but Rana beat him to it.

  “We met up with Kenar and decided to assist him with this endeavor my lords. We agreed with his intentions and only wished to help.” She gave them the softest smile. This was so like her.

  Rochie didn’t like her getting this involved with this, but now it was too late. In many ways, he felt proud of her right then. He loved her more than he ever did.

  Odan looked back to Satar, who looked pleased with all of this, so he only breathed with total relief. It seemed the fight wasn’t going to happen after all, and he liked this. He was in no mood to do battle against his own children.

  Satar thought the pleasantries were enough so he stood up.

  “Very well then.” He left his throne, reached behind it and took his bride’s hand into his. He led her out between all of them. “There is still one of you who do not see this. He feels so much violence. He feels so much anger.” He stopped her and stepped towards Kenar. He looked straight to Jameson, and stared into his eyes. “I am here to offer the same peace to you, my young friend.” He even bowed to him.

  None of them could believe how pleasant this now looked. Few of them saw this happening like this. A Walker, a Blood Walker at that, has bowed his head to a human. It just had never happened before, and it made all of them collectively gasp in disbelief.

  “I have come for my sister’s safe return to her home.” Jameson didn’t care what anything meant or was. He just knew one thing and one thing only.

  Satar heard his young voice shake some, but knew that it was not because of fear. He felt the boy’s pain. Knowing all of this, he found himself truly admiring his youthful strength. It only made his love for Lina so much more than it ever was.

  “I know this is how you feel my young human. I know how much you love your own. I understand it, as I understand her.” He stepped between the boy and Kenar and raised his right hand to the boy’s chest. “I offer my hand to you, as a friend, and as family.”

  Again, everyone there gasped with this. None of them knew what to say, or what to do.

  Devish was something else entirely. He knew so much more than they ever would or could. Watching his father reach for the friendship of a human was enough.

  “This has gone too far father.” He stepped past Odan, and pushed his way to the center of the group. His rage only grew within him with every step he took. He was right. He had heard enough.

  “This does not have to happen, my son. None of this needed to happen.” Satar didn’t even turn to look at him. He of course didn’t need to, to see what he felt for him.

  His father refusing to look at him only added to his rage. “I humored you with this long enough. I cannot allow you to bring them together. I cannot allow you to welcome them into our clan—into our family.”

  Satar could only bow his head with disgust. “You are the only one who does not see what I am truly seeing. You have done so ever since her death. There is so much more to the humans than you could ever possibly see because of your lust for blood. They are so much more than even we are. They possess a soul.”

  Devish scoffed.

  Odan nodded—simply. “Of course they do, but what does it matter to us?”

  Kenar shuddered hard. “All of you knew this?” He now felt weak. Apparently, he was not as strong as he thought he was. He knew none of this.

  Adollo sighed. “The great and powerful Kenar saw nothing.” He smiled.

  Kenar felt himself blush. He felt weaker than ever.

  Satar didn’t care what anyone thought. “It matters because if they have found one, than so can we.”

  Devish hated this. “He is planning more than that.”

  He wasn’t alone with this disgust.

  Odan now stepped forward. “What are you speaking of Devish? What is your father planning to do?”

  “He intends to welcome the boy into the clans. He plans on elevating the human female as his bride.” Devish saw it in his mind, a thousand times over. He wasn’t going to say anything about it, but now, he didn’t have the choice. His father was about to speak blasphemy and he just couldn’t let it happen. It was not a part of his plans.

  Again, a sharp gasp echoed throughout the room. No one there knew what to say.

  “Impossible. No human could ever wed one of us. It is against our very blood. It goes against the bloodlines we live.” Odan shook his head with true violence behind it.

  Satar turned to his friends. “And why not?” He looked to her beautiful face. “What law is it that speaks of such a thing for not being right?”

  Odan now had enough. “Satar, you are not serious. You cannot do this without the council’s approval.” He just didn’t understand anything he had heard, and it rankled him to no end. He couldn’t believe that he, his oldest and dearest friend, would say such a thing.

  Satar turned to him. “I do mean this. He looked at his bride again. “I will prove to all of you that we can exist in a new way with the humans.” He stepped to her and took both of her hands into his. With them secured, he looked at his son. “Release her and let them see the truth of our love.” He smiled. “The truth of her love for me.”

  Odan gasped, as he watched Adollo also step forward.

  Like Odan, he felt sickened by this. The human race possessed life for only one reason. They were food and nothing more.

  Devish watched his father. He watched Odan and Adollo, and knew that they stood with him. Inside, he was torn. His father had shown him more love in the past few nights than he had shown him in decades—his entire life. Another part of him couldn’t resist the anger for what his father was intending to do and wanted to prove to him what it would mean. In the end, without any real thoughts of anything else, he sided with his latter part. He would show his father how wrong he was, and the only way to do it was to show him the truth. He had to show him how she really felt about him, so he released the block. He dropped his mind from hers.

  Kenar now knew how bad this was going to be. He looked at Jameson and his heart clenched his chest.

  Lina stood there motionless. Her mind was nothing but a haze of blackness, but suddenly, the light shown through the mist. The light looked blinding. It was defying. It terrified her very soul.

  She saw her father’s face as it went pale. She saw him fall to his knees, and saw the animal behind him in full power. She saw his deep red eyes. She felt them burn to hers. The feelings overwhelmed her all at once, as those eyes turned black.

  She next saw him on top of her, penetrating her, seducing her every essence with the stench of death. She tasted his foulness. She felt his touch, scorching her flesh. With it all there again, with it as powerful as any horror she had ever felt, she screamed.

  The sound boomed. Her mouth fell open in an agonizing screech.

  Satar blinked. “My love?” He truly felt her pain. He felt her disgust. He felt her revulsion for him. “No.” It blew his mind.

  They watched her collapse.

  “Father!” she finally screamed.

  “No!” Satar tried to pull her to her feet, but she would not come. She would not go. She just collapsed like a pile of nothing to which she now fully felt. “No!”

  Devish could only smile.

  The sight burned through Satar’s very heart. “You did this to her!” he growled. His eyes flared to red. They burned with the heat of everything his son had just done to him.

  Odan took
one single step back, surprised by his friend’s reaction. What did he expect to happen? What foolishness did he intend to see?

  Kenar saw everything, and grabbed Jameson fast.

  For the boy, he had seen and heard enough. “You sons of hell!” He reached for his sword, but found nothing there. In his built up rage he had forgotten that he was unarmed. Still in that feeling, he truly didn’t care. He fought against the Wanderer’s grab. He watched his sister cry and collapse. “You will not take her!” He broke free.

  He rushed Satar fast.

  He grabbed him from behind, with all of his strength; he tackled him hard to his right. Satar didn’t see him; he didn’t feel him, and it made him go down as easy as any human would fall. He fell to his knees.

  Devish watched the boy tackle his father hard. At first, he was going to let it happen. At first, he wanted his father to feel the full wrath of the pain that he had caused, but it was only at first. He was his flesh and blood after all. No human would ever cause them pain. No mere boy would do him harm. No prey would pounce on the hunter’s back.

  Kenar’s fears exploded, and now, he watched them come true. The fight had just begun.

  Devish brought out his natural form. His face curled, and twisted into a half bat, half wolf’s snout. His skin flashed to white. His form grew tall as his feet protruded out into massive wolf’s paws. Black charcoaled colored claws flushed out from the tips of his fingers.

  They watched him turn. They watched him rush to his father’s side.

  He grabbed Jameson by the back of his arms and lifted him up off his father’s back. He turned to the boy with all of his thirst. He reached to his neck to strike.

  He didn’t get any further than that.

  Satar felt the boy leave his back. He felt the emptiness and saw his son’s change. Within an instance, he knew what he had to do, or more likely, what he couldn’t let happen. He knew right then that he had to save the boy. He had to do it for her.

  All of them watched as Satar turned. They watched his face turn to a deep dark gray. They watched his nose and jaws push out into a massive wolf’s snout. They watched deep gray fur explode all over his body and face.

  As a wolf, Satar stood up behind Devish and grabbed him hard. He grabbed his arms. He squeezed them just as fast.

  Pain ripped through his arms, and with it, he wasn’t able to maintain his grip. His arms went numb, as did his hands. He dropped the boy just as fast.

  Jameson fell to his backside with a resounding thud.

  Devish roared. The sound boomed off the walls like a thunder clash. It exploded with fury. It resounded with an utter shock of pain.

  Satar, slightly taller in wolf form than Devish was in his natural form, lifted him off his hind paws, and without so much of an effort, he tossed him back behind him.

  Everyone watched him fly through the stale air of the room. They then watched him strike the far wall to the left of the throne.

  He banged it hard. The floor thudded with all of his weight as he slid down it, on his right side.

  Odan had enough. “Stop this madness!” He stepped between Satar and his son. His arms went out, as he stood strong. “This must stop.” He stared his old friend down.

  Satar roared, bellowing a large and deep sound, but after it, he did settle down. He did quiet. He didn’t move. He listened to his friend.

  Jameson climbed to his hands and knees. He kept his aching right arm to his chest. He looked to his left, and there, not two feet from him was Lina. He went to her side, and still on his knees, he pulled her shoulders to him with his strong good arm.

  “Lina? Oh please Lina talk to me.”

  She did turn to him.

  Seeing her eyes, he did finally break. Tears flew down his face.

  “We have to get you out of here.”

  She heard everything. She gathered her wits. Her mind suddenly cleared, and she focused her thoughts. How she did it, she would never know, but she did take her brother by his waist and pulled him with her to their feet.

  Jameson loved her more.

  Kenar stood still with Rochie, Rana, and the others as none of them moved. As for him, he did what he could to help the female human regain her mind. It really wasn’t hard to do. He just helped her to focus her thoughts.

  Satar watched her stand. He watched her brother with her. He actually didn’t care seeing her with him. He admired it. He admired them. What was more important was that she was helping him stand. He calmed even more as he watched her strong again.

  Devish picked himself off the floor. He felt numb. He felt winded. He felt angrier than ever. He let his father know this with a sharp hissing roar that bellowed from his lungs.

  All of them turned to him at the same time.

  He brought out his wolf eyes from the back of his mind. He focused on them. If his father wanted to play this game, he was not going to disappoint him. He turned without a second thought.

  His gray skin turned. His fur flew out from every pore. His snout protruded. His claws grew large. His canines roared.

  Fully formed into a large gray wolf, he pushed hard, and rumbled across the stone floor.

  He actually came to Odan first, and swatted him aside.

  Odan left his feet. He didn’t expect the swing. He didn’t expect the blow. All of it caused him to fall back and to his right.

  He fell into Adollo, and both of them fell to the foot of the throne.

  Free and clear, Devish pushed hard into his father’s chest. They came together with a loud and thunderous smash. The sound was like a smack, as skin and flesh came against their equals. It bounced off the walls and sounded like a large reverberating clap.

  They watched the two gray wolves now take each other’s arms and spin. They danced. They tugged. They flew from side to side.

  Odan picked himself up in time to watch them roll on the floor to the other side of the room. Only the wall stopped them from moving further. Watching them snap their jaws. He listened to their growls. He couldn’t believe how far this had gone.

  “We have to stop them.” Adollo also stood back up, and he too couldn’t fathom this. He hated what they had become. He turned to Odan for guidance. “We have to do something.”

  “It is time to leave.” Jameson saw his chance. With Lina at his side, he pulled her to follow him to the door.

  Garreth saw them move.

  Patrice moved to them before he could, and she grabbed Jameson’s right shoulder and stopped him before he could take another step.

  “You are not leaving with her.” She didn’t know what in the hell was going on and she didn’t care. All she knew was that she was still with the Walkers. She had to do their bidding. She had to stop them until they told her otherwise.

  Kenar saw this and had to intervene. “They must leave.”

  Patrice felt shocked with this. “They have not ordered this. We cannot let them go until we know that it is alright to do so.”

  Garreth agreed with her. “We must stand with them Kenar. We do not have a choice.”

  Kenar shrugged hard. “We do have a choice Garreth—Patrice. We have to make the correct one now.”

  Rochie and Rana watched this with the gravest alarm. Neither of them wanted this.

  She didn’t intend for it to go any further than this. “They are right Kenar. This is not our fight.”

  Rochie just shook his head. He agreed with his sister. “We must let them decide this Kenar. We have no other option.”

  Kenar took a deep breath. “Do you think this is the ending to this, well it is not? This is only the beginning.” He meant this. Seeing them, seeing their wrath, seeing their pain and intentions, he was the only one that did.

  Satar gained the upper hand quickly. He pushed his son under him and held him firmly down. After all, he was the father, and he was the son. When he did, he was able to look back up.

  He saw his bride. He saw his beloved Permona. He saw her being held by the Wanderers by the door. Seeing this, he
roared. He let his hatred fly.

  All of them heard him, and turned.

  Odan turned from his friend, and looked to the door.

  Adollo did too.

  They saw the Wanderers with the humans.

  Kenar saw the rage in all of them. He knew what it meant. “There is no going back now. They intend to blame all of us for this.” He hoped this would work and convince his friends. They were Wanderers. They were brothers and sisters. They had to stay together.

  Patrice simply couldn’t agree. “No.” She was no rebel. She had no intentions of standing against her family, so she turned to Odan. “I have her.” She let her eyes turn blue.

  Kenar truly felt ashamed with her reaction, even though he did understand it. He did understand her. “Patrice no, we have to stand together.” He too let his eyes sparkle. His also went blue as he felt his power come forward in his mind.

  Patrice turned to him with a fleeting glance. “I am making a choice.” She let her power fly from her mind.

  Instantly, and terrifyingly, he felt his body go numb. He felt all of his power fade from his spine. He felt her lock him down where he stood.

  Rochie saw this and hated everything he felt. “We do not have to do this. We do not have to fight ourselves.” He feared for his friend.

  Rana saw his thoughts. “No brother. Patrice is right. We have to stand with our families.”

  He heard this and felt his heart stretch out into a thousand different pieces. He felt his soul split in two. “We have to stand as one.” He didn’t understand how she could not see this. He couldn’t believe that she stood her ground.

  Seeing them turn on each other, Jameson was able to break free from Patrice’s grip. He turned with Lina, and together they headed for the door.

  Satar watched this and it made him roar again.

  He moved. He pounced. He left Devish and flew himself at the door. He couldn’t stop his rage. He couldn’t stop his needs. He simply wanted her back.

  He came at them so fast that they didn’t have the time to react.

  Being closer to him, Patrice suffered the full blunt of his stride. He plowed into her before she ever saw him coming.

  She left her feet. She flew backwards and smacked the wall behind her. In doing so, she lost Kenar’s body in her mind.