Howling Dead

by M. H. Bonham

  Tom bared his teeth in defiance. Kira looked up at him and circled slowly. “Are you challenging me?”

  Tom looked down, caught her gaze and then moved away. “No, ma’am.”

  “Good. See that you don’t,” she said. “You can work for me, or deal with my anger.”

  Tom nodded. “What does your friend look like?”

  Kira quickly filled the young werewolves in on the specifics of the man they were looking for. Many already knew the Enchanted Forest, and they understood that this man had created it.

  Alaric nuzzled Kira as she watched the kids disperse. She turned and met his gaze. “I’m sorry if I overstepped by bounds.”

  “Not at all,” he said. “Let’s go inside. Felan makes a mean buffalo steak.”

  CHAPTER 54

  After dinner, Kira and Alaric took a walk through downtown Denver. The air was warm with a light breeze. No clouds hovered in the sky. Kira looked up at the gibbous moon that had been full only a few days earlier. The city lights obscured most of the stars, but Kira could pick out a few as they walked together toward Cherry Creek.

  “It’s a beautiful evening,” Kira said, taking in the drowsy scent of the cottonwoods and Russian olives that grew along the banks.

  Alaric smiled; his teeth gleamed in the dusk. “Yes, it is,” he said. “I should take you to the mountains where you can feel the alpine breeze against your fur and smell the sage and tundra flowers. I know a place where the columbine, Indian paintbrushes, anemones, and buttercups fill countless meadows above the pine and aspen. It’s amazing to see them in the summertime. I could take you where only the elk roam, along the fourteeners and away from people.”

  Kira closed her eyes, trying to imagine it as they walked. “Sounds lovely,” she said. “I didn’t know you were such a poet.”

  “Don’t let that get out,” he said, stopping and taking her hands. She opened her eyes. He was standing close to her; she could smell his wild, musky scent. It frightened and enticed her. “I wouldn’t want my reputation ruined.”

  “Don’t worry,” she said, thinking back on Cathal and the young wolf who had tried to rape her. “I don’t think anyone would think less of you.”

  “Good,” he said. “But I wonder what you think of me.” He brought her hands to his lips and kissed them gently.

  A pleasant shock ran through her and she smiled coyly. “I think you should take me to the mountains. I’d like to see them sometime.”

  Alaric hesitated, long enough for her to slide her fingers from his hands. “You’ve never been to the mountains?”

  “No,” she admitted. “Susan wanted to go, but we were also so busy with our work that we never had the time.”

  Alaric shook his head. “I have a home up there.”

  “You do?” She blinked. “What do you do, Alaric?”

  “What do you mean?” he said, cocking his head in a very wolfish way. In the moonlight, Kira found it nearly irresistible.

  “You have to do something to make a living. Megan is a vet; Trevor is a landlord...”

  “Oh, money.” Alaric waved his hand. “That’s so mundane.”

  “And so necessary,” Kira said. “Are you the owner of The Grey Wolf?”

  “Part owner,” he said. “But then, I own a lot of property.”

  “Land baron?” she teased.

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  A silence ensued. Kira followed him into the park along the grassy path. She wondered where he was leading her. At last, they walked up a small hillside and he stopped. She stopped, too, and looked into his eyes.

  He grinned wolfishly and took her hands. “I bet you’ve never seen the stars.”

  “I’ve seen them,” Kira said, trying to pull away. “There’s one there.” She pointed to a bright star that outshone the city lights.

  “Sirius,” he said. “The dog star. Somehow very appropriate.” He drew closer. “I’m talking stars, Kira. A universe of them. And to see you there, beneath that sky among the pines...” He ran his hand through her hair.

  This time, she did not pull away when he touched her, nor did she flinch as he raised her chin to kiss her. He was warm and inviting as his lips pressed against hers. He pulled Kira close, and she slid her arms around him.

  “Sounds beautiful,” she murmured.

  “As beautiful as you are,” he said between kisses. His lips traced her jaw line and wandered down her neck. “You know I’ve wanted you since I first saw you.”

  “At The Grey Wolf?” she asked, pressing tight against him.

  “No, since the last full moon,” he said, gently nibbling her neck and sliding his hands over her breasts. “I knew you were beautiful in either form.”

  Kira lightly bit his jaw. “Is that so?” she said playfully. “Well, then, catch me!”

  With that, she transmuted into a wolf and leapt from her clothing, leaving Alaric speechless.

  Don’t you want me? she teased again.

  Suddenly Alaric was the great black wolf. He charged at her, but she dodged. She was fast and leapt right over him as he ran for her. Alaric tried to stop, took a tumble, and shook himself off as he got up.

  Alpha, she called, twitching her tail. She ran toward the river and led him on a chase in the moonlight. Kira was amazed at how fast she actually was. While Alaric had sheer power and mass, she was quicker and more nimble; capable of evading a larger animal. Where he was strong, she was fast. Together they made an unstoppable team.

  She led him up the banks toward City Park; the city a bright backdrop for their romp. Kira slowed down as she crested the hill and he caught her, grasping the fur along the back of her neck with his teeth. They rolled once, twice and then Kira found herself in human form, looking into Alaric’s handsome face again.

  He kissed her, this time holding her down to keep her from bolting once more, but in truth, she needed no such restraint. She groaned under him as she felt him enter her, and felt the shockwave of pleasure with each thrust.

  Kira rolled him over, getting on top and gasping as the cool breeze prickled the sweat on her skin. He pulled her close —kissing her, running his tongue down her neck and laving her breasts. Kira screamed as pleasure rolled through her. Again, and again. She lost count after five, and still he was relentless. Alaric gripped her and rolled her over again; his body shook. A low growl rumbled in his throat and she felt his release. He collapsed, panting, on top of her.

  For a few minutes, Kira lay staring up at the moon high above them. In the June breeze, she was beginning to grow cold again now that the exertion was over. She snuggled closer to Alaric to stay warm.

  Alaric’s eyes opened. In the pale moonlight, the gold glinted with amusement. “Again?” he asked.

  Kira grinned back. “I wish! It’s been so long.”

  A silence ensued as a strange look entered Alaric’s eyes. He shook his head. “I forget, you’ve only become a lycanthrope recently.”

  “What does that matter?” she asked.

  He smiled. “Nothing, beloved. Nothing.” He ran a finger along her bare skin and she shivered involuntarily. “Are you cold?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Sorry.”

  “No need,” he said, getting up and helping her up. “We’d best get moving—we made enough noise to attract unwanted eyes.” He gazed at Kira. “You are beautiful.”

  “And you are incredible,” she said. “Had I known love could be like this...”

  He flashed his charming wolf grin before transmuting. I’m not bad as a wolf lover either, he said.

  She laughed and turned into a wolf. I’m already going to be sore tomorrow.

  She heard Alaric’s deep throaty laugh come from his wolf body as he started back toward Cherry Creek. Get used to it, he said. I’m not letting you go.

  CHAPTER 55

  They ran quickly, returning to their clothes like two fleeting shadows. As she picked up her clothes to dress, she found Alaric gazing at her.

  She laughed self-consciously.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve never had a man who thought I was sexy.”

  Alaric bared his teeth as he pulled her half-naked into his arms. “That’s a shame,” he whispered in her ear. “But lucky for me.” He began kissing her slowly down her throat.

  “No, not here,” she whispered. “Someone will see us.”

  Alaric pulled away, but only reluctantly. She could see he was ready to make love to her yet again. “Later?” he asked hopefully.

  She grinned as she tugged on her shirt. “You bet!” She looked at her clothes and frowned. “I need to go back to my apartment and see what happened. At least I’ll need a change of clothes.” She shivered. “But suppose the police are waiting for me?”

  “They won’t be,” Alaric said, taking her hands in his own. They were warm and comforting to her. “I told you, your cop friend isn’t going to implicate someone who just saved his life.”

  Kira felt queasy. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive,” he said, brushing her hair back. “No one is going to believe that you’re a werewolf, and he knows it. Certainly not without proof.”

  When they were dressed, Alaric turned to her. “Let’s go to your apartment. We’ll see if anything they took might provide a clue to where your friend is.”

  K

  Kira walked beside Alaric, her arm laced in his. She stole curious glances at him. He was a handsome man and a great lover—it puzzled her that he didn’t have a wife and kids already. Her own situation, she could understand readily—when you were a contractor geek, you didn’t find many meaningful interpersonal relationships. Not when you were always moving to a new city for a new job. Occasionally geeks could find someone to marry, but if they married normal people—that is, not engineers—they often ended up divorced within five years.

  Kira remembered that all too well. When she had run into Tim Smith from her first job, he had filled her in on what had happened to everyone in her group; all ten engineers had gotten divorced. Kira couldn’t blame their spouses, either—when you worked sixty-hour weeks on a regular basis, family life suffered.

  She felt a soft touch to her chin. Alaric was looking into her face. “Why so pensive? We’ll find Spaz.”

  She smiled. His golden eyes glinted even in the darkness. “Oh, I was just thinking.” She paused. “I never really had a decent relationship with my line of work.”

  “You’re a programmer, right?”

  “Sort of,” Kira said. “I’m a systems administrator. That means I’m responsible for making sure everything runs right. But you know, once I fix the computers, they usually don’t need me. So, I go where the jobs are.” She sighed. “Only, there aren’t any jobs. The damn dot-com bust.”

  Alaric looked sideways at her. “You don’t need to leave anymore...”

  “I do if I’m going to make a living,” she said. “I don’t expect Trevor...” She stopped as Alaric gripped her arm. “What?”

  Alaric pulled her away. “By Mani, what sick bastard...?”

  Kira turned and looked despite herself. On the ground was the half-eaten body of Megan Olson.

  CHAPTER 56

  Kira found herself shaking. Bile rose in her mouth as she stared at Megan’s naked corpse. She was barely recognizable. Even through the smattering of blood, Kira could see her features and strands of blonde hair; but it was her smell that Kira recognized—she hadn’t even realized she had associated a smell with Megan. The werewolf part of her was enraged; the human part made her throw up.

  The werewolf that had attacked Megan, had fed on her. Her throat was ripped out and considerable portions of her torso and organs were gone. The werewolf had slashed her face and stripped much of the flesh away from her right arm. Kira turned away and lost her dinner and continued until there was nothing but dry heaves. She felt Alaric’s arm around her back.

  She wheeled around. “What kind of person does this?”

  Alaric’s face was grim. “A psychopath,” he said. “No werewolf feeds on another. It isn’t done.”

  “Well, evidently this one didn’t get the news.” She closed her eyes and found herself crying. “Why? What did Megan ever do?”

  “I don’t know, but there’s another body under that tree.”

  Kira looked up. She could just see the mangled body of a large man lying on his side. Even in the scant light, she could tell he had been brutally mangled. Alaric walked over to the body and came back shaking his head. “It’s Mike.”

  “Mike Fowlkes? Megan’s cousin?”

  “Yes.” Alaric looked grim. “Do you have a cell phone?”

  “Yeah, who do you want me to call?”

  “You know that cop friend of yours?”

  Kira felt a pang of fear. “Won’t he...?”

  Alaric shook his head. “Call him. We need help.”

  K

  Kira shivered as she waited for Jim. She sat maybe twenty feet away from the body, watching Alaric as he snuffed the air and the ground, still in human form. She guessed that since he’d been a lycanthrope all his life, many of those same senses spilled over from his wolf side.

  Jim had sounded anxious when she called. His voice had been mixed with worry and relief. The first thing he had asked was if she was all right. Kira smiled, despite herself. He actually cared about her. She gave him her location and hung up the phone.

  Despite it being a warm night, sitting not far from Megan’s and Mike’s corpses made her skin rise in goose bumps. The stench of death was overwhelming to her lycanthrope nostrils. She could smell blood, urine and excrement mixed with the reek of torn bowels and raw meat. As a werewolf, she knew she should’ve been excited by the carrion smell, and yet the wolf part of her was outraged. Maybe because Mike had stood up for her. Maybe because Megan had been like her.

  Like her. Kira blinked back her tears and stared at Megan’s hair. Megan was blonde haired and about Kira’s size. Same weight and close enough in age. Kira paused as she tried to remember Megan’s form as a wolf. She was a little smaller than Kira—but in the dark, would anyone even notice?

  Surely, a werewolf could have distinguished between Megan and Kira—or could he have? If he didn’t know Kira or Megan well enough, perhaps their scents might have even been confusing. After all, Megan hadn’t been born a lycanthrope—she had been bitten. Just like Kira, only not as violently. Did Normals who were bitten smell like werewolves or did they have a different scent? Maybe they smelled too much like humans.

  The implication was too unnerving for Kira to ponder. Could the rogue wolf have been looking for Kira and mistaken Megan for her? And when he attacked, had he realized he had the wrong girl, but been forced to go through with it because Megan might have known of him? And maybe Mike was a witness, so the rogue wolf had to kill him too. Kira guessed that a veterinarian who worked on werewolves pretty much knew the entire pack. They probably knew their murderer.

  A scent Kira had smelled before was mixed in with Megan’s scent. It was the scent of the murderer. She closed her eyes, shivering involuntarily. She wondered if she remembered the smell from her attack, but quickly reminded herself that she had still been a Normal before the full moon. So, where had she smelled this wolf?

  Sirens stirred her out of her reverie. Alaric stiffened and headed back to her. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Let me handle it.”

  The first car that pulled up was none other than Jim Walking Bear’s. He brought out his flashlight and swept its beam in their direction, flashing it briefly over them. “Kira? You okay?”

  “Yeah, okay,” Kira said in a voice that didn’t sound convincing to her ears.

  Jim walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. His lips pressed against hers and she felt herself respond to him. For a moment, there were just the two of them. She felt safe with him, as opposed to with Alaric, who enticed the wolf. “I was worried about you when you fled. Are you okay?”

  A small noise pulled her out of her reverie and they broke apart. Kira turned; Alaric stared at them
both. She opened her mouth to say something, but found that the words had left her.

  “What happened?” Jim asked. He turned, and his flashlight’s beam fell on the gruesome discovery. “Oh my God.”

  “It’s Megan Olson and Mike Fowlkes,” Alaric said quickly. “A rogue wolf killed them.”

  “The werewolf vet,” Jim said, the official police mask sliding back over his features. Two cops came out of their police cruisers and joined him. “The victims are over there—I need you to search for evidence.” He paused. “I’ll be back in a moment to get your statement,” he said to Kira before turning to go with the two officers.

  Alaric came up behind Kira and gripped her shoulders. As she turned to him, she saw the anger smoldering in his eyes. “I don’t want you seeing this man any longer.”

  Anger welled up in Kira. She turned to him. “What? You can’t order me around. I don’t belong to you.”

  “Actually, you do,” Alaric said. “Wolves mate for life. By lycanthrope laws, you’re my mate.”

  CHAPTER 57

  I’m your what?” Kira didn’t even realize she was shouting. “You’ve got to be god-damned fucking kidding me!”

  “No, I’m not,” Alaric said. “When we made love, you became my mate.”

  “Bullshit!”

  Alaric looked affronted. “You didn’t object earlier.”

  Kira felt her face flush. “Well, yeah you’re a great lover and that was really great, but…” He voice trailed off as Alaric’s gaze narrowed.

  “You’re my mate,” he said. “You will not see that man again.” There was a hint of a growl in his voice. Kira was both frightened and enraged by his tone.

  “You have no right to dictate to me how I should act or behave,” Kira said. Her voice took on the ominous tone of the wolf. “Last time I checked, this was America and people don’t belong to other people…”