Wolf Soul: Vol. I of the Wolf’s Howl Trilogy

by Raquel Paiva

  “Miss Lúcia! I've called you countless times. You shouldn't be out there at night. What if the creature appears? Furthermore, Mr. Fernandes is sweltering in fever. Come inside, please.”

  Lúcia immediately ran inside, alerted, temporarily forgetting the strange thing she had sensed outside. She went upstairs to the room where Pedro was lying. The messenger was drenched in sweat and when she pressed her palm against his burning forehead, she gasped.

  “What are we going to do, my lady? At best, the doctor will only arrive in two days.”

  Lúcia did not know what to do either. She had no knowledge of medicine and all they could do was to hope that Pedro would stay alive until the men arrived with a doctor who would properly treat him.

  “I picked up some herbs that my father used to use to make tea whenever we were sick. I'll prepare some. Adélia, please get a cloth, wet it and put it on his forehead.”

  Adélia did not wait for a second order and Lúcia busied herself with the tea. Pedro was a robust man, but the trip’s hardships had weakened him greatly. The maid placed a cloth soaked in cold water on his forehead. She had also brought a bowl of water with her to refresh the cloth when it warmed up. Moments later, Lúcia arrived with a steaming pot of tea. Pedro had fallen into a restless sleep. He kept rolling from side to side on the bed as if he were having a seizure. He threw the wet cloth down several times and Lúcia struggled to get him to drink the tea. It kept spilling over his chin and neck.

  “Please, Mr. Fernandes, wake up and drink the tea. We need to keep you hydrated.” Lúcia pleaded, trying to keep his head bowed with Adélia's help.

  But Pedro kept thrashing around. The fever was still high, he was dripping in sweat and was in such agitation that he almost fell off the bed. Only after an hour of distress and unsuccessful attempts to calm the messenger down, did the little tea Lúcia had managed to give him start producing some effect. Gradually, Pedro calmed down and his breathing became more regular. He was babbling, however. Scattered and meaningless words, or so Lúcia thought, as she could not relate them to anything she knew. One of them, however, caught her attention, because it was the only one that Pedro repeated several times.

  “Amélia...” Pedro muttered in his sleep. “Amélia...”

  VI

  “Fresh meat, the young lady.” Shorath roared when he saw Luvinus approaching. “What a delight she will be.”

  Shorath had observed Luvinus from a distance and thus discovered the existence of Lúcia. He had also felt the man’s presence and didn’t particularly enjoy the feeling of something the soldier had brought with him. He had not found out yet exactly what it was, but he decided to be careful, at least until he was sure of what that strange presence was.

  “Please don't hurt her. She is already suffering enough with her father's death. The father YOU murdered!”

  The alpha ignored him.

  “And she’s so vulnerable. Oh, how it delights me! I love innocence. And you nearly attacked her too.”

  “What was it that I felt?”

  “Now, my friend, what do you think it was? When you were a man, did you never feel the desire to be with a woman? Do you think those desires disappear when we become werewolves? On the contrary, they become even stronger.”

  Luvinus swallowed hard, staring at his alpha who was rejoicing with his own thoughts. Of course he knew very well what he had felt, but he wanted his alpha to explain to him why that desire was so uncontrollable. So that was it. The wolf nature accentuated his sexual desires to the extent that they almost took him over. He had wanted to rape Lúcia. The mere thought made him feel enormously disgusted by himself and a shiver ran down his spine. Shorath kept teasing him.

  “You only managed to control the momentum because we are in waxing crescent. When you are under the Full Moon you will not be able to.” The alpha revealed. “Your lust will be too strong and impossible to suppress.”

  A flush of anger rose in the omega’s chest, but he knew that Shorath was right.

  “You are a despicable creature.” he snarled. “Were you like that as a human being already? Or did you lose all of your humanity when you became a werewolf?”

  Shorath fell silent and stared at him. For a few moments, Luvinus thought that the alpha would lash at him, such was the fury that his eyes showered him with. But Shorath just turned his back on him with a roar:

  “You don't know anything about my life.”

  And he walked away. Luvinus went after him and clapped a paw on his shoulder, making Shorath turn abruptly, surprised by his subordinate's audacity. Looking at him in the eyes, he said to Luvinus, as he pulled his paw away sharply:

  “Don't challenge me again, omega.”

  “Do no more harm to this unfortunate soul, I beg you. I swear to you, if you try it, you'll have to kill me first.”

  Shorath laughed contemptuously, through a grotesque grin of sharp teeth.

  “You are too insolent for an omega, Luvinus. You have been trying to keep the humanity still left in you for a hundred years, but that only serves you as torment. Do you think the girl will accept you with open arms when she sees you? She or anyone else? If you show yourself as you are, humans will soon find a way to kill you. Don't you know that when humans don't understand something, they immediately try to destroy it? It’s in their blood and that is why they kill each other. The unknown is a threat and understanding takes effort. The only solution for them is to destroy what they fear.”

  Luvinus bowed his head. He didn't want to admit it, but in that respect Shorath was absolutely right. Everything that the human mind did not understand it immediately considered a threat. It only felt safe again once that supposed threat was eliminated. He remembered his sister Beatriz's reaction when he finally gathered the courage to show himself and she had laid eyes on his werewolf looks for the first time. She did not recognize him nor did she even try. His appearance was monstrous, he had to admit. He always went out of his way to avoid his own reflection, but occasionally he had seen it in puddles and streams of water. With an enormous pain in his heart, he had to admit that if he saw such a monster, he too would look for any kind of weapon to defend himself. That was what Beatriz had done all those years ago.

  When he approached his old home that night, he stood by the door, unable to knock. Instead, trying to sound as harmless as possible, he whispered:

  “Beatriz.”

  He heard his sister's heart leap inside her chest. She was immediately alarmed and fear irradiated so quickly and powerfully from her body that it made Luvinus dizzy. Suddenly, he had a feeling it was not a good idea to show himself. She would never understand. But it was already too late. He couldn't leave now without talking to her.

  “Who’s there?” she asked, her voice dying in her throat.

  Beatriz’s senses were all alert. Who could be outside calling her name? Could it be the same person who had brought the rabbits for food? And what were this person’s real intentions?

  “It's me, Ludovico, my sister. Do not be afraid. Despite my appearance, I will never harm you.”

  Beatriz was unable to utter a word. That didn’t sound her brother’s voice. There was a stranger or an enemy on the other side of the door and she was all alone. The terror clouded her thoughts and paralyzed her body. Luvinus felt her fear grow further, her heart nearly jumping out of her chest. Oh, what a bad idea that had turned out to be! Rather let her believe he was dead and gone forever. How could he have been so foolish? For a few seconds he pondered on running away. Perhaps she would wake up the following morning thinking she had dreamed all of this or that despair was making her imagine things.

  “If it's you, show yourself.” Beatriz whispered in a small leap of courage.

  There was no choice for him now but to stay. His long claws were unable to open the hooks that she had tightened, so Luvinus tried to push the door open. Due to his nerves and growing tension in his body, he did it a little bit harder than he had intended. That’s when it all went wrong as the l
ogs on the other side tumbled down and spread all over the place with a deafening noise that scared Beatriz even more. His heart sank deeply in his chest as he realized the hooks were now broken and the door would not remain up for longer than a few seconds. The smell of fear coming from his sister was now unbearable.

  “What are you doing?” she cried out loud. “Show yourself.”

  It was all wrong. Everything had been wrong ever since he had been transformed. But at that moment all he could do was to obey the brutal and merciless force of his destiny. The door finally fell. His sister was holding a lantern and held it higher so that she could see him better. Standing by the entrance, Luvinus saw the horror on her face when her eyes met the creature that was claiming to be her unfortunate brother. He felt her blood freeze in her veins as well as his and, for a moment, neither of them could breathe. The little colour that still remained in Beatriz's face disappeared, leaving her looking even more cadaverous. Dread danced ruthlessly in his sister's eyes. Eyes that stared right back into his own. Luvinus panicked and raising a hand pleaded:

  “Do not be afraid of me, my dear sister. It's me, your brother, and I'll never hurt you.”

  But as soon as he finished uttering those words, Beatriz started screaming hysterically. She threw the lantern at him. Luvinus dodged it and, much to his horror, he saw it land on one of the hay bales she kept inside. It didn’t take a minute for the fire to start spreading all over the poor hut.

  “Oh my God! Oh my dear Lord!” Beatriz shouted, she was in the deepest despair Luvinus had ever seen and felt in her. “Please have mercy on me, for I have suffered so much,” she cried.

  Luvinus was terrified. The flames were spreading too quickly. He had to do something now and, without thinking, he walked into the house and went through the flames in a desperate attempt to save his sister. Beatriz ran from him and grabbed a rake. She threatened him:

  “Go away, demon. You are not my brother, you are the Devil sent to destroy us!”

  “Beatriz, if you stay here you will die. Give me your hand and let's get out of here. I swear upon everything sacred that I don't want to hurt you. For God's sake, believe me!”

  The last words hurt in his chest, burned his throat and consumed him with despair. His sister had completely lost her mind and started attacking him with the rake. The fire continued to spread menacingly. Luvinus tried to grab Beatriz against her will but she kept shaking the rake in the air trying to hit him. She missed his arm by millimetres.

  “Beatriz! I have to save you.”

  “Go away. I would rather die than fall into your treachery, Satan.”

  The werewolf approached her again, in a final attempt to grab her and flee. Still, he would no longer be able to save his father, who in the midst of the chaos, woke up in shock and moaned from the bed, terrified. However, this time, Beatriz's rake had better aim. Luvinus felt no more than slight scratches when it hit him, but his chance to escape was now gone. Perhaps the best for both would be to die, if fire could kill him. He fell on his knees, consumed by despair, surrendering to the flames. Beatriz tried to attack him again, but the fire caught on her clothes. She dropped the rake and started screaming louder, unable to avoid the fire. Luvinus jumped at the unexpected opportunity of his sister’s distraction and was about to grab her when suddenly something grabbed him instead and dragged him out of the hut at the speed of light. Luvinus’ head was spinning, everything was just a horrible mixture of fire, smoke, pain and terror. His eyes, however, kept staring at his sister who, much to the terror of both, was now completely on fire, crying like a doomed soul in a perfectly hellish scenario. He saw her drop on the floor and the hovel being completely devoured by the demonic flames, while Shorath and the rest of the pack dragged him away him away into the forest.

  “Not even your sister, who shared the same blood with you, believed you had good intentions.” Shorath reminded, interrupting the omega’s flood of sad memories and calling him back to the present. “How do you expect a stranger to?”

  Luvinus’ heart sank and hurt with the mention of his unfortunate sister. Even though it was never his intention, he had been responsible for her death and he too would have perished if Shorath had not rescued him from the fire. Such were the bonds of an alpha to his pack, even if it included a rebellious and disturbed omega.

  VII

  The following day, Pedro's fever had dropped considerably and he could finally sleep more restfully. Lúcia and Adélia were exhausted. They hadn't slept all night fighting death away from the young messenger. Adélia was unable to resist her fatigue so when the first beams of sunlight cracked the horizon, she asked for permission to retire to her room. Lúcia dismissed her but decided to stay next to Pedro who was still fast asleep. She sat down on the chair and eventually also gave in to the weariness that enveloped her, falling into a deep sleep. It was already midmorning when she opened her eyes again. She looked at Pedro, his breathing more regular. He had survived the night. Lúcia looked at him and thought of the mysterious name he had spoken during his restless sleep. Amélia. Who could she be? A sister? His bride? Pedro finally woke up and their eyes met. He smiled at her. He immediately knew that Lúcia had been by his side taking care of him. If he was still alive, it was because she had spent the night trying to keep death from his fever-weakened body. Lúcia smiled at him too and stood up.

  “You must be hungry. I'll get you something to eat.”

  She went to the kitchen to get bread and milk that Pedro ate as if it were the best meal he had ever had.

  “Thank you for everything you have done for me, Miss Lúcia. I owe you my life.”

  “You don't have to thank me. I would do it for anyone. I hope you are feeling better.”

  Pedro leaned against the bed frame, not without struggling.

  “I know I was very ill, but I have no memory of what happened to me during the night. I can't remember anything. I remember feeling distressed and a thousand thoughts plagued my sleep, but I don't remember a single one.”

  Lúcia smiled. Pedro had been extremely agitated, which was normal considering the violent fever that had assailed him. She herself had doubted whether they would ever be able to save him. But she could not stop thinking about Amélia. Pedro had called out to her so much that Lúcia thought she might be his wife. Pedro, however, had no wedding ring on his finger. She felt compelled to ask him, but then thought it would be too nosy of her. Especially when he was still recovering.

  “Miss Lúcia, I wish I could get some fresh air. I would like to go outside, even if just for a little.”

  “Oh, but I cannot allow it, Mr Fernandes. You are still very weak. You can't go outside yet. I shall open the window for you though.”

  She got up and did what she said she would do. The day was pale and overcast. A light breeze blew between the branches of the trees and caressed her face. It was then that something caught her attention. Behind the fence that divided her backyard from the bush, exactly where the night before she had been picking the herbs to make tea, she noticed the broken tree branches. Lúcia could almost swear that the day before, the tree was intact. Even more disturbing, the branches were so thick that no human hands, however strong, could have ever broken them. She then remembered the strange noise she had heard and swallowed hard as a cold chill ran down her spine. There was no longer any doubt that something had been watching her while she was picking the herbs. Who or what could it have been? Could it be the same creature that had taken her father and all the other men in the village? But if so, why hadn't it attacked her too? Suddenly, she felt Pedro's hand on her shoulder, still weak.

  “You have to go to bed again or else...”

  He cut her off.

  “I just want to tell you how sorry I feel about your father’s fate. I know how painful it is. I did not read the letter that he sent to Lisbon asking for help, but from what Captain Nogueira told me afterwards, I know that it is something very serious. Hopefully he will arrive tomorrow with his soldiers.”

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