by Sarah Noffke
Hunter knew that once a month Daisy went out with the girls and always had a car service pick her up because she liked to get drunk. She was pure trash, just like all women. Men had stresses and responsibilities and reasons to drown themselves in liquor, but women had none of that.
Just as his hands started to shake with the familiar adrenaline, he pulled the SUV to the curb. It was similar to the one he’d stolen and trashed a few days ago. Usually Daisy was the first girl picked up, and then the car swung by the houses of the other girls. Tonight there would be a change in plans.
Hunter honked the horn three times, which was the signal the car service used.
A girl in a short black skirt and sleeveless top ducked her head out the door, looking confused. She slid back inside for a moment and then exited, her purse over her shoulder.
Hunter pulled his cap down over his eyes, hoping the dark disguised him well. He rolled down the window as Daisy approached, a puzzled look on her slutty face. “I hadn’t received a message that the car was here yet. And the service said—”
“That car broke down. They sent a backup,” Hunter said, feeling his pores widen and his mouth start to ache. “Get in!” he barked at the girl.
“Oh, okay,” Daisy said, clambering for the door handle. “I guess we need to remain on schedule.”
Before Daisy was even all the way seated in the middle of the row, Hunter punched the gas, launching the SUV forward. The claws pressed through his fingers, extending until in place. He jerked the steering wheel toward the curb, veering up on it, making the SUV jump.
“Hey, are you all right?” Daisy said, fumbling for the seatbelt.
“Shut up,” Hunter said. The wolf was taking over now, its white-hot anger masking his vision.
“Excuse me!” Daisy said. “Pull over. I won’t be talked to that way.”
“I said, shut up,” Hunter said again as the sharp hairs slipped through his skin, piercing the jacket he wore. He pressed down on the gas pedal, sending the car barreling down the residential road, cranking the steering wheel hard when his road came up earlier than expected.
“Look, please just pull over. I don’t want trouble,” Daisy said, real fear making the words sound desperate.
“It’s too late for that,” Hunter said, slamming on the brake hard when the dead end of the road arrived. He threw the SUV into park and spun around in time to catch the girl dialing on her cell phone.
A scream that hurt his ears and also thrilled his insides shot out of the girl’s mouth. He reached for the cell phone, his movements a blur. Once it was in his hands he crushed the device, making the screen go black.
“What are you?” she said, leaping for the door handle only to find that it had been broken off.
“I’m the one you thought you could take down. You tried to ruin me and now I’m going to destroy you,” Hunter said, angling around the seat, making his way to the back. Close-quarter conflict was the most fun. The wolf could smell her. Vanilla and lilac. But under that was the smell of meat, ready to be devoured.
“No, please, no,” she said, jerking on the broken mechanics of the door handle, then reverting to slamming her fist on the window. “Someone help me!” she screamed, tears already streaming down her face.
“No one is going to help you. Just like no one helped me. All because of you, you little bitch,” Hunter said, crawling over the console, inches from the vibrating flesh. He could already taste her but vengeance was all he really wanted.
She halted, snot running down her nose into her mouth. Daisy’s red eyes blinked, her eyelashes sopping with tears. “Hunter? Is that you?” she said, studying his face, or that which she could see under the hair.
“Yes, I’m free now. More importantly, I’m stronger than ever and ready to punish you for what you did to me. You had me arrested,” he said, holding up his clawed hand and poking it into her cheek before dragging it to her chin, leaving a red mark as he did. She froze, her eyes low and pulsating with fear.
“I’m so, so, so sorry,” she said. “Please don’t hurt me.”
A gruff laugh, absent of joy, rang from his throat. “I’m going to hurt you worse than the others,” he said. “I’m going to make you pay.” It was the wolf talking, but it knew what to say. The wolf wanted to take up the fight for Hunter. They were a team.
“Please,” the girl said, closing her eyes, pressing them tight as more tears spilled forth.
Hunter pressed back against the back of the front seat, taking in the girl squatted by the window. Maybe he should open the door and let her run. The chase would make this more fun. He went to reach for the door, thinking he could use his claws to get it open. Just then, Daisy reached down, grabbing into her purse. He didn’t catch what she snatched until the spray hit him straight in the face. A chemical burn screamed in his eyes, nose, and mouth, sending him back pushing the pepper spray away, rubbing his face with his fur-covered hands.
In front of him he heard the girl scrambling. He growled as he forced his eyes to open, even with the burn. Daisy was halfway over the passenger seat, headed for the front. Hunter knew the best way to fix his own injury, to quiet the scorching pain, was with blood. Once his face was nestled deep into the flesh then the pepper spray wouldn’t hurt so much. He ran his nose across her legs, which were flailing in the air as she tried to pull herself all the way over the head rest. The sound of the door handle clicked just as Hunter sank his large canines into her calf, tearing it from the bone. The blood splattered across the back window as Hunter shook the meat in his mouth, enjoying the taste he’d longed for. Retribution.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.”
- German Proverb
With his eyes scanning the space, David Sanders entered the safe room. He’d remained quiet as Zephyr showed him around the Institute. It had felt odd to be ushered through an underwater facility and then put through a strange scientific procedure. Aiden had simplified the process to make it less invasive. However, David still looked jarred from the experience.
“What color are your claws when you change?” Rio said, probably trying to relax the guy or at least draw a word out of him.
“Um, greenish. Kind of a hazel sort of color,” David said, his eyes trailing over the meat stacked in the corner.
“That’s cool. I can’t wait to see that. Mine are just plain ol’ black,” Rio said.
“Well, you’re going to have to wait,” Zephyr said, clapping a hand around David’s shoulder. “He unfortunately has to change in the other room for safety purposes.”
“Oh yeah, that makes sense,” Rio said, smiling wide at David. “Wouldn’t want you to be around us if you don’t change. That might get a little ugly.”
“That’s because you can’t control your temper when changed,” Rox said, tapping the door frame. “Come, David. I’ll take you to your cage.” She snapped in the air at him.
His tentative eyes met those of Zephyr, who gave him a sympathetic look. “I hope the procedure works. We’ll talk tomorrow, after the change,” he said.
“Okay, thanks,” David said, heading for the exit.
The door slid back just as fangs, sharp and shiny, ripped through Zephyr’s mouth. His gaze turned on the pack. Rio, Connor, and Kaleb stared back at him, their eyes glowing. “Party time,” he said, letting out a howl that felt entirely natural.
The three men joined him in a chorus.
“David, can you hear me?” Aiden said, his voice sounding over the speaker in the room adjacent to the pack.
“I can,” he said, pacing, his eyes floating from side to side.
“Try and relax. I’m showing an elevated heart rate,” the disembodied voice said.
“Right, I’ll try,” David said, pausing and taking in a long deep breath, his eyes closing as he did. When they flipped open the hazel green glowed brightly.
“Do you feel the change happening?” Aiden said. His words wer
e followed by sharp claws piercing through David’s fingers. The werewolf screeched, a deep cry resonating in his throat.
“What’s going on? Are you all right?” Aiden said, a frantic edge creeping into his voice. “Your blood pressure is elevating.”
A single fang punctured David’s mouth, and the other one felt stuck. Clapping his hand to his head, he screamed out again. The pain from the lodged fang was too much. It was going to split his head wide open. Then he pulled his hands back as the claws retracted, but not all of them. Violently he began to shake all over, feeling his pulse like a drum in his head.
“Ahhhhhh!” he screamed, the agony overwhelming him. It partnered with the panic and he fell to his hands and knees.
Overhead he heard something. A girl, the one with the blonde hair, wrapped her hands around his shoulders.
“Let’s have you lie on your back. Aiden has given me instructions on how to help you,” Rox said, her words rushed but calm. David held his head up, tears filling his eyes.
“Please make it stop,” he managed to get out.
She nodded, rolling him over to his back just as he was overwhelmed by uncontrollable convulsions. He rocked forward, knocking hard into her. The girl seemed unfazed by the assault, pressing him back down by the shoulders.
“Aiden, I think he’s starting to seize,” she said, pulling a syringe from her hip.
“Give him the sedative now!” Aiden said, alarm in his voice.
With her teeth the girl pulled the cap off the syringe. David reached out and grabbed her hand with the little control he had left. “Tell my sister I love her,” he said, knowing none of this mattered anymore. Knowing this was his end. He shook all over, only half making out the confused expression in the girl’s eyes, and then everything stopped all at once. The tremors. The pain. David’s heart. Taking the wolf out of the man had killed him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“There’s always the hyena of morality at the garden gate, and the real wolf at the end of the street.”
- D.H. Lawrence
“What happened?” Zephyr said, when Aiden led him into the lab the next morning. David’s body lay on an exam table. His hands were only half covered with claws. One fang rested on his bottom lip. And there was none of the usual hair that the werewolves had on their arms and face. David’s eyes were closed and Zephyr knew using his heightened hearing that his heart didn’t beat.
“I’m still looking into it. I’m conducting an autopsy this afternoon. I’m so sorry,” Aiden said.
Zephyr stared down at the dead body, a deep sadness welling up inside of him. He didn’t even know David, but instinctively cared about him. Grieved his death like he would a lifelong friend. Last night when changed, he froze suddenly, something in him seeming to break off. That had to have been the moment that David died. He’d felt it. Knew it, but also didn’t know the specifics. He was becoming accustomed to these feelings. Learning to trust them.
“This is my fault,” he said, turning away from the dead body, anger banging in his head like a detonation.
“Don’t be absurd. This is part of the risks that David was aware of. He still agreed to the procedure,” Aiden said, the usual cheer gone from his voice.
Zephyr brought his eyes up to where Kaleb, Connor, and Rio stood, shoulder to shoulder, heads low. “I had a bad feeling when I volunteered David for the procedure. I should have trusted it,” Zephyr said, confessing, hoping that would absolve him of the torment pounding in his heart.
“Z, you can’t put this on yourself. That same thing could have happened to me. I was aware of the risks, just like David,” Connor said.
“It won’t be happening again because I’m paying attention to my feelings connected with you all. I’m not going to ignore them anymore. You can trust me,” Zephyr said, and then spun around to where Aiden stood cross-armed. “You share a responsibility in this as well. No more of my men go through reverse conversion until the procedure is fully tested and proven safe.”
“I wish I could make that promise, but with science it is about trial and error,” Aiden said.
“Well, then no more reverse conversion experiments. None of my werewolves will be lost trying to find a cure. We will just stay as we are,” Zephyr said, his voice steady and conviction laced into each word.
“Let’s not give up just yet. I’ll innovate the process and do some research. Studying David’s body will help me figure out what went wrong,” Aiden said.
Zephyr ground his teeth together. “No more testing unless we’re sure.”
“Isn’t it worth testing? If you can remove the wolf, wouldn’t you want to do that?” Aiden said.
“You can’t understand this, but remaining a werewolf for the rest of our lives isn’t the worst possible future. You may look at us like we’re cursed, but we aren’t. Innovate your process and we’ll see, but going forward don’t think of us like we’re flawed and you’re trying to fix us,” Zephyr said, his anger now boiling over. The wolf wanted to tear forward. Slam Aiden against the wall. Rip at him. However, Zephyr stayed into control.
“Of course. I’m sorry if I came across as disrespectful. That wasn’t my intention,” Aiden said, his voice calm and sincerity heavy in his eyes.
“Okay,” Zephyr simply said and then turned to the entrance, hearing the footsteps and the racing heart of the person approaching. Something was wrong. People’s hearts and steps only raced like that when there was urgency.
Roya swept into the room, her face red and blonde hair flying. She paused once in the room, her eyes falling on David’s dead body at Zephyr’s back and then to him. “Trent told me to come straight to you with my newest report. He wants Kaleb and Rox on a case,” she said. The girl was small, but she had a confidence that felt big.
“Yes, of course. Anything to help the Institute. What’s going on?” Zephyr said.
“It’s Adelaide,” Roya said, hesitating. “She’s in danger. In my vision, Mika captures her at Parantaa Research.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Man is to man either a god or a wolf.”
- Desiderius Erasmus
This was another thing that was Zephyr’s fault. If he could have just been a better, more effective leader then Adelaide wouldn’t have put herself in danger in order to catch Mika. He should have been the one finding information on Olento Research. Zephyr would have to be stronger, more successful, going forward. He’d have to step back up into his role as captain and take the risks that could turn the tables.
Turning to Kaleb, Zephyr read the shock in the kid’s face. He was endeared to Adelaide. It was evident in their interactions. Like she was the sister he never had. The one who actually accepted him, unlike his real sisters. “Kaleb, get the full debriefing from Roya on the way to get Rox. You two work with Trent on a strategy to successfully rescue Adelaide. And do it fast. No one gets hurt,” Zephyr said. “Well, except Mika,” he added.
“I want to go too,” Connor said, stepping forward.
Zephyr paused, appraising him. Of course he’d want to go. But was he ready? His training was limited and after what happened in Dallas, he wasn’t sure how Connor would react in battle. He’d proven that he was reactionary and emotional in fights, which wasn’t the best combination. It wasn’t the worst, but Connor might not make the greatest decisions if faced with losing something he really wanted.
“Yeah, okay,” Zephyr finally said. “I want you all back here in twenty-four hours.”
“You got it, boss,” Connor said, his eyes buzzing with worry.
Yawning, Adelaide checked over her shoulder as she hurried down the all-white hallway. It was so early that the receptionist wasn’t even at her desk in the lobby. Adelaide guessed she had most of Parantaa Research to herself. The security guard was actually napping when she breezed by him.
Her heart tightened with nervousness when she swiped the badge over the access pad next to the “suspicious” lab room. It glowed bright g
reen and she pushed the door open. The other door at the far end seemed to stare at her, taunting her with the secrets it surely held. She’d seen the frantic look in Drake’s eyes when he caught her before. They were hiding something in there that they didn’t want anyone to know about.
Adelaide rushed for the other door just as a crash sounded behind her. She sucked in a sudden breath, turning to find a glass beaker busted into shards on the white linoleum. Her eyes darted around, trying to figure out how it had happened. There wasn’t anything around it. She backed toward the mysterious door.
“Who’s there?” she said, her eyes buzzing around the room, still unable to find what pushed the beaker over the side of the counter.
Her back met the door and she spun around, afraid of what she’d run into. Adelaide drew in a steadying breath and reminded herself that the room was empty. She was fine. Shaking still, she slid the badge over the scanner and yanked the door open, ready to see what Mika was hiding. She wasn’t prepared for what stared back at her. Never would she had have expected to see that.
Adelaide hiccupped on her breath. Her large green eyes widened. Her awareness shifted to include something new. “What in the fuck?” she whispered.
Behind her another crash. Adelaide slammed the door shut, spinning around. One more beaker lay in pieces on the floor. Something, or more likely someone, was trying to get her attention.
“Ren? Is that you?” she said, her eyes on the broken glass. A third beaker slid across a foot of space and then slipped to the side of the countertop, teetering before spilling over the edge and breaking. “Okay, I get it. I’m leaving,” she said, rushing for the door.
The hallway was empty when Adelaide exited. She took off at a sprint in the direction of the elevators. Without a doubt, she needed to get out of there. At her workstation she could dream travel to the Institute. Doing it here would be too dangerous since it took a few moments to generate her body on the GAD-C. Her feet moved faster than ever as she rounded a corner and rushed straight into Alexander Drake. Adelaide halted, staring up at the man only inches from her.
