The Vampire's Wolf

by Jenna Kernan

  Lewis stared at Mac. “You want to tell me anything?”

  Mac swallowed but remained at attention, feeling his weight on the balls of his feet as he resisted the urge to change into his wolf form. When unsure, Mac generally feigned ignorance. He held his blank expression, perfected in basic training.

  “Sir?”

  The colonel didn’t know about her. He couldn’t. Could he? Still Mac felt the sweat break out on his forehead. If anything happened to Johnny because of this, Mac would never forgive himself.

  Lewis spoke to the captain but kept his gaze directly on Mac. “Run it again, Steward.”

  Captain Steward clicked away at the computer keyboard. The man sat erect with a serious expression that gave the impression of disapproval. He glanced at Mac then back to the screen. Was this about Johnny going off base?

  Mac stood motionless until the colonel waved him forward. Mac had the feeling he didn’t want to see what was on that screen. Colonel Lewis pointed at the monitor and Mac followed the direction he indicated.

  “Our camera caught this on Sunday at zero six thirty. Can you tell me what it is?”

  Mac’s skin began to crawl as he stared at the blurry, frozen image on the monitor. The shape was unrecognizable.

  “I’m increasing the resolution and slowing it down as much as possible,” said Steward.

  The colonel barked at Steward, “Run it again.”

  Steward’s movements were as crisp and mechanical as any Marine’s. He didn’t look at Mac as he set to work. Mac’s stomach dropped as he saw the image was from the back of his compound. Something swept up the wall, something wispy and white. It showed for an instant and then shot up toward the rooftop and out of frame. The captain clicked a few keys, and a still image of the effusion filled the screen. Mac knew what it was. It was Brianna leaving the compound the first time she’d seen Johnny. She’d moved too fast for him to see, but not too fast for the camera, apparently. Johnny had missed one. Mac calculated the angle and realized the camera was in the woods, pointed at his bedroom window. Son of a bitch. His jaw tightened. The surveillance was not for them, but also of them.

  “You want to tell me what the hell this is?” The colonel pointed at the screen.

  Mac moved closer, checked the time stamp to confirm his suspicion and shook his head. “It looks like wood smoke.”

  “Smoke can’t change direction,” said Steward, never taking his eyes from the screen. “This thing is moving so fast the naked eye wouldn’t see it.”

  Lewis lifted his busy eyebrows at Mac. “Steward here thinks you’re hiding something.”

  The shark in Mac’s stomach swirled in a circle and took a bite of the lining of his stomach. They might be searching the compound right now. No, they weren’t. Johnny wouldn’t let them in. He knew that, but still his pulse raced.

  “He thinks Johnny knocked out those cameras on purpose.”

  Mac glanced at the captain, who narrowed his gaze. Then he cleared his throat. “If he were hiding something, sir, I’d know.”

  That much was true.

  The corner of the colonel’s mouth ticked upward for an instant. He held Mac’s stare long enough to make him uncomfortable.

  “I told him you are a good soldier and you follow orders. I vouched for you, son. I’ve given you a lot of leeway with Corporal Lam. That kind of special treatment comes with strings. I thought you understood that.”

  Mac’s hands began to sweat. He gripped them into fists.

  “But Steward here thinks that Johnny can understand things. He thinks he saw him writing something in the dirt. You see anything like that, Sergeant?”

  “No, Colonel, sir.” His throat went dry.

  “We’d want to know if Johnny is showing signs that he remembers who and what he was. You got that, MacConnelly?”

  “Sir, yes, sir.”

  “You see anything, you tell me ASAP. That’s an order.”

  “He wouldn’t be able to see this, Colonel,” said Steward, eyes still glued to the screen.

  “That would explain why the sergeant didn’t report anything,” Lewis said to the captain, but then added. “Doesn’t explain the cameras though.” He rubbed his prominent jaw and exhaled through his broken nose. “Maybe we need to bring you two in. Our intel suggests that vampires can fly. If those vamps are hunting you, you’ll need backup.”

  “Sir, request permission to remain in our compound, sir.”

  Lewis pressed his lips into a thin line. “I don’t want you hurt, Mac. And I don’t want Johnny hurt any worse than he already is. I feel responsible for you both.”

  Mac understood that feeling and the weight of duty that he lifted each morning where Johnny was concerned.

  “Yes, sir. We appreciate it.”

  Lewis gave him a winning smile. “You do, but as for Johnny, he still growls if I get too close to him.”

  “He doesn’t mean anything by that, sir.” Mac needed to speak to Johnny about that, but not near the compound. Too many eyes there. Did they have microphones, too? He recalled his conversations with Brianna this morning and his stomach heaved.

  “I expect you two will be fighting vamps in the future. But sometimes the enemy comes to you. You did well against those two, Mac. But it was even odds, and they might have been scouts.”

  “If there were more, sir, we’d scent them. They can’t just sneak in and out of our territory.”

  “Who the hell knows what they’d do? They are fast, smart and unlikely to come at you head-on. They have a better chance of killing you if you don’t see them coming.”

  “Those two didn’t take us, sir.” But one nearly had. It was only Bri’s warning that told him which way the attack had come. “I haven’t seen any evidence of any more bloodsuckers. No scent, no trace. Nothing, sir.”

  “All right. But eyes open and stay alert. You catch their scent and you haul ass here. You got that?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. Now report to the lab for testing.”

  He wanted to go check on Bri and tell Johnny what had happened. Instead he saluted and was dismissed.

  They’d caught Bri on video. Maybe the colonel was better equipped to protect her, but then who would protect her from the colonel? Not only that, who would protect the colonel from her?

  Mac spun and crossed to the exit in two long strides, then looked back at Lewis.

  The colonel was still human. Being around Bri might kill him, and if she learned how to use her gifts she could make him dance like an organ grinder’s monkey.

  But that was not why Mac was keeping his mouth shut. Not for Lewis and not for Johnny. It was that damned kiss. She’d turned him inside out. God damn, he was defying orders.

  Mac made it to the door and had his hand on the knob when the colonel called him back.

  “Oh, and Mac, remember, Johnny is only out on a trial bases. If I find out he’s screwing up he’s back in lockdown.”

  Mac thought of the woman’s clothing Johnny had mustered and flinched.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Chapter 10

  After three nights here, Bri still jumped at every unfamiliar sound. During the long, lonely afternoons, when Mac was away, Johnny guarded the compound but stayed out of doors, so it wasn’t clear to Bri if he was keeping intruders out or her in. Possibly he was just avoiding her. Today, she was more nervous than usual because both Mac and Johnny were gone and all she had for protection was a radio.

  She stayed clear of the windows, because Mac said cameras could detect changes in light even though the blinds were drawn. She listened to the rain hit the glass and wondered if it was changing to snow. He’d left on the TV but she was afraid to change the channel and afraid to add wood to the fire. What if the cameras saw smoke from the chimney hours after Mac and Johnny had gone?r />
  When she heard the truck engine, she hid in the bedroom, as Mac had instructed. Finally, she heard him calling for her to come out. She darted from the room but her smile died as she saw him, supporting the eight-foot werewolf who wobbled on legs that seemed unable to support him.

  “What happened?” she cried, rushing forward and taking a position flanking Johnny’s opposite side without even thinking what she was doing.

  “Don’t know yet.” Mac steered them to the futon in the living room. They almost made it when Johnny groaned and collapsed, taking Bri with him to the ground. She landed under Johnny’s massive arm with her chest and head on the futon. That thick pad kept her from any serious injury. But according to Mac, she could heal from all such injuries anyway.

  Mac lifted Johnny’s inert arm and together the rolled his big body onto the mattress.

  “Is he hurt?”

  “Drugged. Has to be oral, since they can’t get a needle into him. They just snap off.”

  “Gas would work, or what about his gums? They could inject him there.”

  He stared at her a minute and then drew back the loose skin of Johnny’s upper lip, revealing his fangs and the black gums that matched his skin. Sure enough, there was an abrasion and a small circular bruise around the needle puncture. Someone had done a sloppy job because Johnny’s tongue had been lacerated, as if someone had sliced through it with a knife. It was a nasty gash, deep and raw. “Probably used a pole because he won’t sit still for doctors or medical techs, and he hates the veterinarians.”

  “Veterinarians? You can’t be serious. He’s a soldier, not an animal.”

  “When you arrived you thought those were the same things.”

  “Well, I’ve reconsidered. I never really met an enlisted man before. I thought people who joined up were underprivileged or...” She let her words trail off.

  “Or what?”

  She looked uncomfortable but she spit it out. “Delusional.”

  “And now?”

  “Well, it’s not a job I’d want. But you two aren’t what I expected.”

  That made Mac give a harsh laugh. “I’d imagine not.”

  She studied Johnny, who was sprawled on the mattress, his head lolling and his eyes rolling back in his head. He looked dead, Mac realized, and he immediately checked Johnny’s breathing to find it shallow but easy to discern.

  “I think they used him for target practice again.”

  “Let’s make him more comfortable.” Bri headed for the kitchen and returned with a moistened dish towel. Then she brought it back and tried to bathe Johnny’s face.

  Mac held her back. “Wait over there,” he said motioning to the far side of the room. “He can be hard to control when he comes out of anesthesia.”

  She stared up at him, and he thought she might turn tail, but instead she just handed over the cloth and moved where he indicated.

  Mac washed the blood from Johnny’s snout and then laid the folded towel over his open eyes. A few minutes later, Johnny started to growl. Mac stood between Johnny and Bri. Next his friend roared and bolted to his feet, running blindly into a wall and then scrambling up.

  Mac usually met Johnny in his wolf form, but he hadn’t wanted Bri to see him for what he now was. Now he recognized his mistake, because his gunner had the advantage of size.

  He inhaled, caught the scent of a vampire, turned to Bri and charged.

  Johnny barreled toward her, teeth snapping, blood dripping from his jaws as the wound on his tongue broke open again. Mac met Johnny’s charge. Together they tumbled and hit the opposite wall.

  Johnny rolled from his grip. Mac’s heart stopped and an instant later a pulsing burst of fear flooded through his veins. If he bit her, she’d turn or she’d die. Mac called the change, allowing the fury to fill him, take him. As the pain tore through him, the fear beat in his heart. What if during that split-second transformation, Johnny got a hold of Bri?

  Johnny wobbled, unsteady as he charged Bri and Mac leaped, catching Johnny before he reached her. She stood frozen in terror. Mac knew he’d never forget the horror etched on her face. As he carried Johnny to the ground, Mac noticed a vibration about her, as if she stood in her own private earthquake. For a moment he thought it a trick of the light, but in the next instant she vanished.

  “No,” Mac said but the word came out as a roar. But she was gone.

  Mac and Johnny crashed to the floor. He held Johnny down as his gunner dropped his head back and groaned. Mac held on as Johnny went slack, coming to his senses Mac hoped.

  If Johnny had hurt Bri, Mac didn’t know what he would have done. One more mistake to live with. One more responsibility to hold in his heart. Johnny struggled, but Mac held on, waiting for him to come to his right mind. This was the drug, not Johnny.

  He knew when Johnny was back, because of the regret he saw shining in his friends clear yellow eyes.

  Mac swung his gaze from his gunner and scanned the room, roaring. Where was she? He couldn’t call out to her, not in this form. Was she outside again? Was she on camera right now?

  Mac rolled to his feet. Johnny followed, looking about and then made a whining sound that Mac had never heard before. He ran to the window, but when he tried for the kitchen, Mac strong-armed him. He wasn’t 100 percent sure that Johnny was back from the sedation and damned if he’d let him near Bri until he was certain.

  Johnny scented the air and a moment later crawled out the kitchen window. Mac followed. If she’d gone this way they’d have caught her on the surveillance cameras. He glanced up, noting that the cameras were now housed in a protective cage. It seemed the colonel didn’t want any more “windstorms” causing breaks in their surveillance.

  They made it to the exterior wall, where her scent trail went straight up. Neither could follow it, so they headed toward the compound exit at a run and ran through the gate as the colonel’s jeep arrived.

  He couldn’t have seen the footage so fast. Could he?

  Lewis swung from his seat and marched toward Mac, his tight jaw a ready indicator that they were about to get their butts handed to them.

  Lewis aimed a finger at Mac. “Change back, now, Sergeant!”

  Mac retreated to the compound with Johnny at his heels. Mac returned less than a minute later, hastily tucking in his shirt while Johnny hung back.

  “You said you’d watch him,” snapped the colonel.

  “Sir?”

  The colonel barked at his driver, who hustled around the jeep, jogging as he booted up a laptop, which he offered to the colonel.

  “You do it,” he growled, and then to Mac, “Look at this.”

  The driver set the laptop on the hood of the jeep. Mac watched the blurry image that he thought might be Bri. But then he recognized Johnny running for the woods on all fours, a pink pillowcase clutched in his jaws. He actually breathed a sigh of relief until he met the colonel’s narrowing gaze.

  “Damn clusterfuck. It’s already on YouTube. Calling it a Bigfoot sighting!”

  Mac glanced at the screen, saw an RV flash by and understood. It was the panty raid he’d gone on for Bri.

  “You want to tell me what you are doing while Corporal Fido is stealing...” He looked to his driver who began to rifle off a list ending with “six thongs of various colors and four bags of frozen vegetables.”

  The colonel removed his hat. Rubbed the bristle on his head and then jerked his hat back in place.

  “If you can’t keep him in bounds, he goes back with us.”

  “Yes, sir. It won’t happen again, sir.”

  “Your ass if it does.”

  Mac watched the colonel stride angrily away, forcing his driver to jog back to the driver’s side to keep pace. Once inside Lewis banged the top of the vehicle with his open hand as a signal to start, and the jeep lurched
away.

  Mac scraped his knuckles over the bristle on his jaw and turned in a full circle. The colonel hadn’t seen Bri’s exit. Or at least he hadn’t seen it yet. The home movie had been taken several days ago but apparently just hit the Internet or just reached the Colonel’s attention. As for the surveillance, Lewis appeared to be about twenty-four hours behind. That gave Mac a few hours to move Bri. But first he had to find her.

  * * *

  Mac felt his world collapsing around him, and all he could think to do was run. He knew it was a mistake to take her in. Because of her, they might lose everything.

  Mac turned to discover Johnny already searching for a scent trail. He followed, letting Johnny track, staying in his human form, telling himself it was so he could communicate with Bri. The colonel hadn’t yet seen Bri’s latest on-screen appearance. What would happen when he did?

  Together they raced through the pine, jumping over gullies and dashing up inclines. All the while Bri’s scent trail grew stronger. Mac told Johnny that he wanted to move Bri somewhere beyond the surveillance.

  A few minutes later Johnny stilled, sighted her first. She sat on a large gray boulder, knees drawn to her chest, forehead on her knees. She was as still as the rock that grounded her. The breeze ruffled her hair and the sleeve of her pink T-shirt.

  Johnny pointed.

  “Yeah. I see her.” He cast his friend a long look. “You coming?”

  Johnny shook his head and looked at the ground.

  “It wasn’t your fault. You were drugged. You’d never hurt her if you weren’t coming out of that stuff they gave you.”

  Johnny looked away. They both knew that he had tried to hurt her the night they’d found her and that he wasn’t pleased at Mac’s decision to protect her. Mac rubbed his neck.

  “Nothing happened. She’s fine.”

  Johnny pointed and then pretended to wipe his eyes. Mac looked at her again and had to agree with Johnny. She didn’t look fine. She looked like she was crying.