Captured Moonlight

by Erin Kelly

  Spike chewed on his bottom lip and didn’t look so confident in his words, but it would take time. Korban gently pat him again and then turned his attention to Hati, whose ears had perked up since Blaze began to remove the bullet from Freki’s chest. “Let’s get you back on two legs again buddy,” Korban said with a smile then reached for Hati and concentrated, his eyes locked with Hati. “Hati, come back to us. Come back to your pack.”

  The tan wolf whimpered and then began to shift back. Hati panted and groaned, and soon was himself again. He coughed and shook his head, for a moment disoriented like Blaze and Spike had been and then his eyes fixed on Korban again. He gave a lop-sided grin then as he got up on his feet he pulled Korban into a hug. “Thanks to you, buddy.”

  Korban hugged him back. “You’re welcome Hati.”

  “Seriously, Korban. You saved my life and got us the hell out of… well, hell.” Hati clapped his shoulder as he stepped back, and firmly shook Korban’s hand. “I’d say I owe you one, but well, I owe you a lot more than that, brother.”

  “If you guys can give us a ride home, believe me, we can call it even,” Korban said.

  “I got it!” Blaze exclaimed as he carefully pried out the bullet from Freki’s chest.

  They gathered around, watched as Blaze used the knife and his finger to pry the bullet from Freki. Blood covered the small metal piece and his hands were slick with it. But he didn’t flinch, didn’t yelp, and Sophie’s vision filled with tears of relief. “It wasn’t silver; the bullet he used wasn’t silver.”

  “Well I’ll be damned,” Geri exhaled with a low whistle and shook his head in wonder as Freki suddenly moaned and began to cough and wheeze.

  “Ahhh, oww,” Freki groaned weakly as Geri embraced his brother.

  Blaze turned to the others and held up the blood-soaked bullet carefully between his fingers. “He’ll need to rest, but I can already hear his heartbeat getting stronger. The bullet was probably restricting blood flow, but it’s not silver. He wouldn’t be healing if it was. Sophie’s right, I wouldn’t even be able to touch this if it was.”

  “Davey said it was silver but he enjoyed mind games. Maybe he led us all on,” Korban had never felt so relieved that Davey had lied.

  “You lucky bastard, you gave us all quite a scare,” Geri growled at his brother but he couldn’t hide the relief in his eyes. “Let’s get him back to camp and get the hell out of here.”

  Skoll nodded and helped Geri get Freki up and resumed carrying him again.

  “As for that ride home, consider it done, friend. We’re packing up camp and getting the hell out of dodge as soon as we can,” Odin went over to Val’s side and took her hand in his. “I want my pack and my family as far away from this nightmare as possible. We can drop you two off in Syracuse, not a problem.” He glanced to Spike and Blaze. “What about you guys? Where are you headed?”

  “I’m going to head back to my camp to get my things and get on the next flight I can back to London,” Blaze said. “I think I’ve spent enough time on holiday here.”

  Korban grinned. “So the British werewolf in New York is headed home?”

  “I’ve had quite enough torture while here in America, enough to last me a lifetime. Please don’t add terrible jokes to the long list of complaints I’ll be surely sending to the embassy.” Blaze groaned, and then smirked despite himself. “What about you, Spike?”

  Spike glanced back nervously again, still fidgeting and anxious. Clearly it would be some time before he felt safe again. “I… I can’t go back!” He yelped and suddenly lunged for Sophie. “I can’t leave him like this!”

  She cried out in surprise as he grabbed her by the arm, yanked the keys from her pocket and began to race back towards the barn.

  Korban’s eyes went round in horror as he realized what he was doing. “He’s going to free Davey!”

  19: SYNDROME

  Spike streaked across the clearing as fast as he could. He was almost to the barn door when Korban and Blaze caught up to him and grabbed him by his beefy arms. The large man flailed and struggled to free himself from them. “Let me go! Please! I’m doing this for all of us!” He was hysterical; his eyes wide and round as they darted around fearfully. “If we let him go now he’ll forgive us, he won’t be angry for long, you’ll see!”

  “No! You are not letting that madman on the loose again! Not as long as I’m on American soil!” Blaze growled.

  “Please! If we let him go, he’ll forgive us! If we keep him trapped in there, and the police come… we can’t let them take him away!” Spike began to wheeze and hyperventilate. “They’ll put him in quarantine; they’ll never let him go! You know what it’s like in there! We can’t do that to him!”

  Pure panic and fear rolled off him like thick, choking cologne. Korban glanced from Spike to Blaze. “What’s wrong with him?”

  “I haven’t got the foggiest idea,” Blaze grunted as Spike continued to writhe against him. “He’s gone completely nutters. I thought if anyone would want to get the hell away from here it would be him. Davey used to beat him terribly if he so much as looked away when he was giving him an order. He was extra cruel to him; you saw how he would go on about his weight and things like that. He was even worse to him before you showed up.”

  Korban struggled to get the keys from Spike, but he clutched them tight in his fist. “Spike! Listen to me! You have to calm down! Take a deep breath.”

  “We need to let him free! It’s not right to leave him like this!” Spike began to sob.

  He had to calm him down and stop him from freeing Davey. There wasn’t much choice left but to try to use his power again. “Spike!” He barked his name like an order, and the larger man jumped as if he’d struck him.

  Korban winced. He didn’t want to force someone to do things against their will like Davey. He kept his gaze on Spike now that those fearful eyes were on his, and he said in a gentler but still dominant tone, “Spike, you need to calm down. Take a breath.”

  The large man trembled, kept his gaze on Korban. Once again he felt that odd floating sensation, but this time it didn’t yank him from his body. Images flashed in front of him from Spike’s past. He witnessed as he spent summers up in the Adirondacks at his camp for years, hunting and fishing. He was known as a gentle giant by those who knew him, a good guy with a lot of friends who would join him on his trips. Until one year when he was attacked by a dark brown werewolf during a full moon night.

  He spent time in quarantine, restrained to a clean white hospital bed. Korban’s stomach felt queasy as he watched the endless circle of white lab coats poke and prod him. Until one day, when his father, a man who resembled him only more salt and pepper in his beard, showed up and told him he was going to be his sponsor. He felt an all too familiar relief flow through him as he was able to return home.

  Things seemed to be going well for Spike. To celebrate his freedom, his father took him on a hunting trip to the Adirondacks once again later that month, for old time’s sake. Only that night during the full moon Spike had been caught in one of Davey’s wolf pits, and Davey had recovered him the next day.

  Unlike the time he’d spent in Davey’s mind, it was more like watching the scenes on a screen in front of him. They weren’t as high definition, but they were informative. He shook his head suddenly, and blinked, looking at Spike in a new light. The larger man seemed calmer and in a daze.

  “Steven,” Korban said to him now, and Spike’s eyes went round in surprise. “You aren’t Spike. Davey called you that, but your true name is Steven Edson. You don’t have to go to him. He doesn’t own you. Your father has probably been worried sick looking for you all this time, if he’s not in jail himself. He was your sponsor, right? Like my best friend RJ is mine.” He pat Spike’s- Steven’s- arm. “He needs you like you needed him. You don’t owe Davey anything after what he did to you.”

  “But the police…” Spike protested weakly and trailed off as his lower lip trembled uncontrollably. His eyes still he
ld a glint of fear.

  “He will serve his time, they’ll put him in quarantine, and maybe he’ll get a sponsor who can help rehabilitate him,” Korban hoped not, and after what he’d witnessed he doubted that Davey was ever going to breathe free air again once he was locked away. But he was okay with that. For now, he had to soothe Steven’s worries and get him away from that monster before he fell back into Davey’s hands. “You did what you had to in order to survive, Steven. You became Davey’s obedient Spike. You aren’t that man or wolf. You are Steven Edson, and your father is out there waiting for you buddy. Let’s get you back to him, okay?”

  Tears welled in his eyes, and he handed Korban the keys as his hand uncontrollably shook and rattled them. “Please help me. Help me go home, Korban. I want to go home.”

  “Okay, big guy,” Korban gently cuffed him into a hug. “Let’s all go home.”

  With Blaze on one side of him and Korban on the other, Steven headed back into the forest, away from the barn and Davey’s hold on him. This time he didn’t look back.

  ~*~

  When they arrived at Val and Odin’s camp it was around nine o’ clock at night, and even as exhausted as they were they began to pack up the campsite. Blaze accompanied them on their way there to make sure Spike didn’t turn and run back. Thankfully, it seemed that moment had passed.

  Val made sure everyone had clothes, sandwiches, and a beer in their hands to have something in their system before they began to clean up and prepare to leave. Korban lingered by the edge of the site, sitting next to Blaze on a fallen log. “Are you sure we can’t talk you into hitching a ride with us?” he asked.

  “I appreciate it, but I’m afraid I’m more of a lone wolf, of sorts,” Blaze watched the others and Korban could swear he saw a glimpse of longing in the British man’s eyes. Still, he kept that stereotypical stiff upper lip when he met Korban’s gaze. “Thank you, Korban. For everything you did in there. We wouldn’t be free again without you. You and Sophie, and these wolves.” He chuckled, shook his head. “So many wolves in the mountains. To think I thought it would be nothing but peace and quiet out here.”

  “So you came all the way from London to here for a vacation? I know the Adirondacks are beautiful but I’m surprised. A long airplane ride seems like it would be hell as a werewolf, I can barely stand to take a bus sometimes,” Korban wrinkled his nose. “It’s going to be a long ride home, but I’m actually looking forward to it, for once.”

  Blaze chuckled. “It’s definitely a test of your control, but if you travel during the right time of the month it’s not so bad. My advice? Take a holiday during a new moon, while your wolf is taking a nap.”

  “I’ll have to remember that,” Korban grinned.

  Blaze went quiet for a moment before he turned to him, a serious look in his eyes. “I came here for work, not for leisure. A foolish, personal journey,” he began, then took a deep breath and continued. “I was working on a case. A string of murders in London. We thought maybe we’d had a Ripper copycat on our hands. It happens from time to time, but this time it was different. I followed the clues, but this wasn’t your average serial killer. Turns out he was a werewolf, and I didn’t know it until it was too late.” He paused and frowned. “I tracked him down for two years. Over in London the rules are a bit stricter, the quarantines much more… difficult to get out of. I spent the entire month before my first full moon rigging my flat so I wouldn’t be found out. I studied every piece of literature I could to keep my secret under control. I couldn’t lose my job, or I’d lose my chance to track down the one who infected me. I’d lose my revenge.”

  Korban listened raptly and sipped his beer as Blaze continued. “I found out he had made his way to America and took a sabbatical to follow him here. For a great while he was two steps ahead of me. He knew I was following him and thought he could lose me in the forest up here. Or maybe he had hoped to face off, wolf to wolf. When he vanished I set up camp, bought an old camper for cheap and stocked up the place. I wasn’t leaving this forest until I found him and made him pay.” He paused again and frowned. “I spent months up here, and lost him. I was about to give up at last and head home to look for fresh leads when I found myself victim to one of the wolf pits. And the rest, as they say, is history.”

  Korban mirrored Blaze’s frown as he told his tragic tale. “What did he look like, this man- this werewolf you hunted?” A sneaking suspicion began to bubble into Korban’s mind.

  “He was about your height, built similar to you but a bit thinner and pale skinned. Red hair, blue eyes. Looked like a pretty harmless fellow, but sadly the worst monsters always do.” Blaze said, then curious, asked, “Why?”

  “I think I know what happened to him,” Korban grimaced at the memory. “When I saw Davey’s memories I saw how he was turned. I think your red-haired werewolf was caught before you in one of his traps. Davey… he ate him, and became a werewolf.”

  Blaze stared at Korban for a moment. “You’re serious? He…” he trailed off, shook his head and chuckled darkly. “So in the end, Davey was the one who got him. I should thank him.” He smirked as Korban gave him a worried glance. “Don’t worry; I’m not going to go running back to set him free or anything like that for it. It’s just… well, life is strange sometimes, isn’t it?”

  Korban nodded in agreement. “Amen to that, my friend.” He raised an eyebrow as another thought dawned on him. “Do you know how to even find your camp from here?”

  “It can’t be too difficult to track down. It’s an old silver Streamline, a little rough on the outside but the inside is still in pretty decent shape.” It was his turn to raise an eyebrow when Korban choked on his beer. “You all right, Korban?”

  “Yeah,” Korban chuckled to himself and then lifted his bottle to Blaze’s. “Life really is strange.”

  ~*~

  Sophie helped the others get things loaded up, but didn’t let Korban out of her line of sight. As the others folded tables and chairs and gathered up their belongings, she took down her tent and gathered up the clothes and sleeping bag. Every few moments she glanced up to make sure he was still there, still safe. She watched as he toasted with Blaze, smiled as she heard his laugh. It warmed her heart and filled the hole that was there in his absence.

  “You know, it really hurts a guy’s feelings when your boyfriend returns and suddenly you’re not even giving him the time of day anymore. Even after he was mortally wounded,” Freki said, his voice and breathing still a bit strained as his chest healed. “Shame, really, you never told me how ugly he is compared to me.”

  “Keep it up, Freki, and I’ll put a few more holes into you,” Sophie teased him back playfully, then added, “I’m glad you’re feeling well enough to be yourself again.”

  “I’m sure a kiss from a fair maiden would help me feel better faster,” Freki winked, coughed and winced at the pain as it flared up.

  “I’m sure it would,” Sophie smirked, and then chastised him. “You really should be resting.”

  “You know me, I’m not one for following orders,” Freki said coolly, but winced and delicately touched his side. “It hurts no matter what I do right now, so I figured at least out here I’d have the pleasure of your company for a little longer anyway.”

  “You really scared us back there, you know. The way you acted when you got shot, I thought… we all thought you were going to die,” Sophie said with a worried frown. “I’m so glad it wasn’t silver.”

  “Me too,” Freki grimaced. “It hurt so much, and it still hurts. I can’t even imagine what it would be like if that bullet had been silver. But we got Hati back, and we rescued Korban and the others from the evil villain. I guess that makes us heroes. Too bad it seems like my princess is in another castle.”

  Sophie only smiled and shook her head at him. “You’re hopeless, Freki,” she said, then went over and gave him a gentle hug. “When you do find the right girl, I know she’s going to be lucky to have a guy like you.”

  He smiled a
t that. “I’m going to miss you when you’re gone.”

  “I’ll miss you too,” she said, her expression sobered a bit. “I’m short a best friend after my sister tried to kill me more than once. Perhaps if you and I stay in touch, you’d be up for the challenge?”

  Freki grinned. “It would be an honor to be your best friend.”

  She brightened up and held up her pinky to him. “Pinky promise you’ll stay in touch then?”

  He curved his pinky to hers and winked again. “Pinky promise.”

  Val stepped out of the RV and headed over to them. “We’re almost ready to hit the road. Before we do, mind if I have a minute alone with Sophie?”

  “Sure, no problem. Someone much smarter than me said I should be, ow, resting, ahh, anyway. Which I will, after I go check on one thing,” Freki limped stiffly over toward Geri who was loading up the trailer. “Talk to you more while we’re on the road Sophie.”

  Val was quiet for a moment. Sophie followed the female werewolf’s gaze as it roamed over the campsite. Her yellow eyes were filled with warmth, adoration as she watched her pack together. Odin and Geri were fueling up their motorcycles with red gas cans. Skoll was actually smiling, joking with Hati and Steven as they finished loading up one of the compartments alongside the camper. Korban and Blaze stomped out and buried the dying embers of their last campfire. They still had the road ahead, but there was something final about the scene before them. The happy end of a long, painful, and stressful chapter of their lives.

  “I don’t suppose we can talk you and Korban to making tracks with us? The open road isn’t so bad, especially with good company around,” Val glanced to her.

  Sophie smiled and shook her head. “It’s tempting, believe me, but we’ve been away from home long enough.”

  “Well, shoot. Here I was hoping I wouldn’t have to say goodbye,” Val sucked in a deep breath, then let it go with a heavy sigh. “I hate goodbyes.”