Deep Wolves (Across The Wolf)

by Wilde, Rhea

  “Would you like to know the truth, Ms. Ariel?”

  “Yes.”

  He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. I leaned in closer to better hear what he was going to say. I knew that my relationship with Vaughn was out of the ordinary. I didn’t want to fall in love so deeply with a man if things were going to change.

  “These men,” he started. “They don’t usually date women as they are. They change them. I can sense that he’s changed you, even just a tiny little bit.”

  “You can sense that?”

  “It’s very slight,” he said as he nodded. “But when you get to be my age, Ms. Ariel, you start to notice the little differences. Young women, they quickly become enamored with the men they fall for. And that’s the last you’ll ever see of them. They are no longer just young women.”

  “So he’s going to change me then?”

  “No,” he shook his head. “That’s what makes you so curious, Ms. Ariel. You’ve come into my tavern every single day and though I can sense the change, you’re still you. This man you’re with… He’s holding back. He’s denying his very instincts to keep you as you are.”

  Phoenix had only confirmed what I’d already suspected. Vaughn was an animal. He wanted me to be his Alpha despite using every effort to deny himself.

  “M-maybe I am changed,” I said. “Maybe he wants me as I am now.”

  “Perhaps. I don’t know what his motives are, Ms. Ariel. But you say you’ve been with him for months now and you still manage to make it into my shop.”

  I sighed as I took another sip of the tea. I only wanted to make Vaughn happy and be whatever it is he wanted me to be. But he was holding himself back so that I wouldn’t lose my own humanity.

  “It’s not impossible,” he said to me.

  “What?”

  “I can see the frustration in your face,” he said. “You don’t hide it very well.”

  I started to blush as he smiled at me.

  “Yours is a curious case, Ms. Ariel. I’ve seen and met many men like the one you speak of. I’m sure he’s good-looking, handsome, built like a creature from the heavens. But without even meeting him, I know that he’s different.”

  “What? How can you tell that?”

  “As I said, Ms. Ariel. You’re still speaking to me right now.”

  “So it is possible for us to go on like this? I can be in a relationship with him as it is?”

  “Yes,” he nodded. “In fact—and I don’t mean to get your hopes up—I have heard stories. Myths, if you will. The… alcohol that you imbibe every night. You can grow immune to it. If you’re exposed to it for long enough, it may not affect you.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “The symptoms you have from your hangovers. Your red eyes. Your stability. The thoughts that run through your head and cause you to no longer think straight. It will all go away. The intoxicating effects of the alcohol will no longer affect you.”

  “And I’ll be able to think for myself…”

  He nodded silently to me. I looked down at my cup. I thought about what would happen if Vaughn no longer had that effect on me. I loved what Vaughn did to me, despite the negative effects and his protest. I was beginning to dread the possibility of no longer being able to experience the bliss only he could give me.

  “But it is just a myth,” he said. “Not everything you hear is true and this might be the case. Some alcoholics only grow more dependent.”

  “But what if it is true? Does that mean he’ll no longer be able to… change me?”

  “Is that what you want, Ms. Ariel? To be like him? Because I can assure you that it is just as much a curse as it is a gift. Once you become that, the longer time passes, the less chance you’ll be able to go back.”

  “I… I don’t know…”

  “Just know this, Ms. Ariel. This decision isn’t yours to make.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I haven’t met this man. I haven’t seen him. But they’re all capable of the same thing. If he wants you to be like him, then he will change you. There is no doubt about that. He is not giving you the courtesy of making the choice for yourself. There may come a time when he will make that choice and you will no longer walk into my tavern.”

  “Why?”

  “Because nothing I have in the back can cure that.”

  He stared at me solemnly. I swallowed anxiously as I thought about everything he had just said. I knew what Vaughn was. But I never really considered what he was truly capable of. Phoenix was right. If Vaughn wanted me to be a wolf like him, it was up to him and him alone. Nothing I did would be able to encourage or deny him either way.

  “Thank you, Ms. Ariel,” he sighed.

  “Thank you? For what?”

  “For listening to the ramblings of an old man.”

  He smirked at me and I couldn’t help but chuckle. Regardless of whether or not it was what I wanted to hear, I appreciated his honesty.

  “Thank you, Phoenix. The cure for hangovers and relationship advice. If people knew what you offered, business would be booming.”

  “Curing hangovers I can handle. The ups and downs of a relationship are much too uninteresting for an old man like me.”

  “Then I thank you for listening to me ask about my relationship.”

  “That wasn’t relationship advice, Ms. Ariel. That was life advice.”

  He winked at me before pushing himself up off of the table. Phoenix disappeared into the back and I looked at the last remaining bit of tea in my cup. I rested my elbow upon the table and put my head into my hand. I turned to look out into the city and thought about everything Phoenix had just said to me.

  The shop was silent. My head was clear. I could think straight. As I looked through the window of the tavern, I watched all of the people go about their day in the city. I thought about the ordinary lives they lived and what they did just to make ends meet.

  I was in love with Vaughn. There wasn’t any question of that. But I was beginning to wonder if he really felt the same way about me. He was a man and he was a beast. I wanted both of them to feel the same way about me but as it stood, only one of them truly felt that way.

  The conflicting feelings I knew I was forcing Vaughn through forced me to sigh. I sipped the last of the tea in my cup and slowly made my way out of the tavern. I joined the rest of the people that were going about their ordinary days and finally headed to work for the night.

  Chapter 3

  It was the end of another long day for most people but that meant the night was just beginning for me. Here at The Arrested Bar, men came here to gawk at the waitresses and women came here to look for someone to go home with. And all of them came here to drown their feelings and forget about everything else they’d been through that day.

  I had gotten used to the rowdy atmosphere of the bar at this point. Even though I wasn’t as obsessed with tips as I used to be, it was nice to see a crowd of people to keep me on my feet.

  I made my way around with tray after tray of beer. Glasses and pitchers and bottles were shuffled from the counter to the tables spread throughout the room. I walked to the sound of the music the live band played, occasionally catching the conversations around me. It mostly consisted of men discussing their latest exploits at work to impress the women around them. The girls who came here to enjoy their time off weren’t the only ones victim to this. Frank the owner knew that pretty waitresses meant more business, so all of my coworkers were victim to every attempt of lame flattery. There was a time when even I might have fallen victim to their charms but with Vaughn in my life, I didn’t have to worry about any of that.

  The rest of the women I worked with were like my sisters. We were all in this together and the bar was like a war zone we were trying to make our way through.

  One of those waitresses was May, my best friend. The Chinese girl I met when I first came here welcomed me with open arms and she was always there to ease me through the nights it got difficult. Tonight was
n’t particularly hard but it was nice to know that I had someone here to go through all of this with.

  As I leaned up against the bar and waited for the next order, May took the spot next to me.

  “What do you think of the new girl?” she asked me.

  She pointed with her head at the blonde woman across the room. She was a good-looking girl that stood out for so many different reasons. Her shirt was tight on her body and showed-off the size of her breasts. Her jean shorts were cut so short that they barely covered her ass. I couldn’t blame her for dressing the way she did. She had the body to pull it off and the men she was serving loved every bit of it.

  “She’s gorgeous,” I said. “What’s her name?”

  “She says her name is Alex. She’s pretty much the total package. Just when I thought I was going to be the one raking in the tips, Frank managed to find another beautiful blonde. I thought Summer running off would have meant that I would be the hot one here.”

  “Yeah…”

  Everybody had assumed Summer had just left. I witnessed what Vaughn’s clan had done to her. Her body was so dismembered that it was completely unrecognizable. I had to hold back the bad memories I had of that moment and the thought that I would never see her again.

  “What’s the matter?” May said as she tried to console me. “You’re not thinking about Summer still, are you? She’s fine. She’s in some better place now. Probably found some rich guy and ran off with him.”

  “Yeah, if you say so,” I sighed.

  I took the last order of drinks and put it onto my tray. Getting back to work would help me get my mind off of the memories that Alex was beginning to stir.

  As the night wore on, the bar patrons continued to drink like they had just gotten in here. I didn’t complain because more people meant more tips. And the reward of seeing Vaughn after a night of hard work made it that much sweeter. There was a time when I would complain about having to spend my nights here but now I worked with a smile across my face the entire time.

  Alex proved to be as efficient a waitress as the most seasoned veteran. She made her way through the crowds and flirted with all of the men. It was clear that she was the most popular girl of the night. I laughed at May’s obvious frustration of not being the highest-tipped waitress. But even though I was having a good time, I couldn’t help but think about my old coworkers.

  Summer wasn’t the only one. Sasha returned to The Agency, which was her real job. I never got the chance to properly thank her for saving my life but at the same time, I knew that if I ever ran across her again she would have bad news for me. The only wolf I was concerned with was Vaughn and if her business brought her back to this town, it meant that something had gone wrong.

  But despite my wandering thoughts, it was business as usual at the bar. The night wore on and I counted the hours until I would get to see my boyfriend again. Some of the patrons finally started to leave. With Alex waiting on most of the tables, I finally had a moment to take a break. I took a seat at the bar and sighed a deep breath. My black shirt smelled of alcohol that had been spilled upon it. I wiped some of the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand and leaned up against the counter of the bar. I turned to the television that was hanging in the corner and watched as a news report came on.

  “…New York City police are investigating an apparent mass murder deep within the heart of the city. Earlier this morning, police responded to a report of bodies being discovered by a man walking his dog next to an abandoned building off of 14th and Broadway. The police described the scene as brutal and violent with body parts spread throughout the entire building. They have yet to determine how many people were killed. Detectives are still determining the motives for the killings as the dismembering of the bodies seems to have been done with no rhyme or reason. Police have no leads and are currently seeking any possible witnesses to the crime. Investigations are ongoing…”

  I watched the news report and felt a shudder run through my spine. There was a terrible feeling burning inside of me. Something that I couldn’t shake. It was spinning around in my stomach and almost made me sick. The report reminded me of everything that happened all those months ago. It felt like it happened just yesterday. I was trying to shake my mind of what happened to Summer and the news report wasn’t doing anything to help.

  “Hey!”

  I nearly jumped out of my seat as Zoe slapped me across the back. I turned and looked at her then breathed a sigh of relief. The spunky blonde’s demeanor was usually something that made me laugh and she must have noticed that I didn’t greet her as I normally did.

  “What’s going on, Ariel? You okay?”

  “I-I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

  “Are you sure? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

  “N-no,” I sighed. “I… I’m just tired, that’s all. It’s been a long night and I think I need to get some sleep.”

  “If you say so.”

  Zoe shrugged her shoulders and hopped off of the seat to attend to some customers. May took her spot and leaned in close to me.

  “All right,” she said. “You can tell me.”

  “Tell you what?”

  “You can tell me what’s wrong. I know you can’t tell Zoe everything but you know you can trust me.”

  “Nothing’s wrong,” I sighed.

  “Oh, come on, Ariel. You have to do better than that.”

  She stared at me and it was clear that I couldn’t get away from her without giving her some response. Summer’s death was always on the tip of my tongue. It tore me up inside to know that everybody had forgotten about her and assumed she had moved on. I knew the truth and it was a secret that I was having more and more trouble keeping.

  “Fine,” I said. “It was the news. Something I saw.”

  “What about it?”

  “They were talking about New York. There were some murders there. Really bad ones. They were a lot like the ones that took place here.”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “I don’t know,” I shrugged my shoulders. “I’ve just got a bad feeling about it.”

  “Of course you have a bad feeling about it. Why would anybody feel good about a bunch of people being killed?”

  “No, May. It’s more than that. It’s… I think the same thing that was happening here is happening there, too.”

  “But the murders stopped happening here months ago. Do you think the murderer moved to New York?”

  “No but—”

  “Ariel, listen,” she said as she grabbed my shoulders. “You worry too much. There hasn’t been a murder in this city for months. New York is miles away from here. Why are you letting yourself get worked up over this?”

  “I-I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling.”

  She rubbed my shoulders in an attempt to console me. May’s voice of reason wasn’t enough to get me to stop thinking about what was happening, even though it was all the way in New York. Maybe it was just bringing back bad memories. But knowing that my friend was here to support me provided me the comfort that I desperately needed at the moment.

  “I don’t know why Frank always has the news on,” she said to me. “All it does is make people depressed.”

  “Depressed people drink more.”

  I half-smirked at her and May started to laugh.

  “Good,” she said. “I’m glad you haven’t lost your sense of humor, Ariel.”

  “I’ll be fine, May… Thanks.”

  She smiled at me and I felt just a little bit more relieved. It didn’t shake the feeling I had completely but it was enough to ease my stomach up just a bit. We watched the news together and enjoyed the happier stories that were being reported.

  It started to get late. The bartender announced last call and everybody started to drunkenly make their way out. The band stopped playing and packed their instruments away. Alex dealt with the last of the customers that were enamored with her. Zoe and May sat at the bar and counted tips with one another. I start
ed to wipe down the tables and bring the empty glasses to the back to be washed.

  I heard the bar door open and the cold night air rush inside. The door closed shut. A strange feeling washed over me as I listened to the sound of the slow footsteps. I turned my head up and looked at the man that had just entered the bar.

  He stood out from any man I’d ever seen before. His hair was white like an old man’s but he had the youth of someone who had barely gotten out of high school. His dark suit was perfectly tailored to his slim but firm physique. Everything about him was refined and elegant. From his tie to the pleats in his pants, he looked as if he had spent hours making everything straight.

  He took a seat at the bar and the calm expression remained on his face.

  “Last call, fella,” Frank said to him. “If you were planning on getting drunk, you should’ve come earlier, my friend.”

  “That’s all right, sir,” the man said in a curt voice. “A glass of prune juice.”

  “Prune juice? We don’t have any prune—”

  “Any juice will do.”

  The man sat there stiff as a board as Frank poured him his drink. May and Zoe had stopped counting their tips and were now staring at the man. Before Zoe could do anything, May jumped up out of her seat and leaned up to the bar next to him.

  “Hey there,” she said to him in her seductive voice. “I haven’t seen you around here.”

  The man remained silent, not taking his eyes off of the bar in front of him while he took a sip of his drink.

  “I said hey,” May repeated. “Why are you sitting at the bar all by yourself? You have a bad day.”

  The man slowly turned his head to May and looked her up and down. She leaned away from the bar and placed her hands on her hips to show off what she had to offer. The man then sighed and turned his attention back to his drink. May looked at me furiously before taking a seat back next to Zoe. I would have laughed at the reaction she had gotten just like Zoe was at this exact moment but something about the man bothered me.

  Just as quickly as he appeared, the man got up from the bar and placed a small stack of bills underneath his half-finished drink. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. He wasn’t from around here. That was obvious. He had business.