by Ian Thomas
“Whatevs, little man. I can make you love me like a sister.”
“Fuck you!” Jason yelled, getting a foot between the seats and kicking her in the face.
“Fucking rip you to shreds,” she shouted back, lunging for him.
Colton caught her face in his clawed hand, fur poking out of his shirt cuff. While he reveled in being a werewolf, he hated the control it took to keep it in check.
“Enough!” He pushed her away violently. She hit her head on the dash and looked at him sulkily. “Behave or die. Your choice.”
_ _ _
Colton was losing control, Jason thought. He had marginally more control on the wolf than he had over the vampire. And that was minimal to say the least.
Thinking about control, he was about to lose his. The change was close. He could feel it; Eddie had taught him how. It would start as fire in the blood, searing through his system, consuming him. The gut punch was his organs turning on themselves, feeding the change.
Faking the change back at Matteo’s had been a gamble. Since The Ordeal Mouth had made him sit through enough werewolf movies to know what it looked like. Jason had never imagined he’d use that knowledge. Ever. But it was either some b-grade acting or the wolf was gonna kill that guy.
Didn’t take much to know that Colton wanted him for a reason. His young progeny for a purpose. One that wasn’t intended for Matteo’s home.
He wasn’t going to have to fake it soon though. The change was getting closer. With a small smile, Jason decided he’d welcome it. Becoming a wolf in such a confined space would only hurt them.
“You’re the first wolf I’ve sired in seven years,” Colton was saying. “The first in a long time I’ve been able to guide through the change.”
“You couldn’t guide shit,” Jason threw back. His blood was boiling, skin prickling. “Why didn’t you guide me last month? Too busy hanging out with Gretchen fucking Wieners here I guess.”
Colton didn’t understand the reference. Holly did though, Jason saw, her eyes narrowing at him.
“Beside what do you need me for when you already got a pet wolf.”
“You referring to me?” the driver demanded. “I ain’t no one’s pet.”
“Looks like a dog, barks like a dog, still comes when called,” Jason continued.
“Somerset’s a new friend,” Colton said.
“Still a pet.”
“I’m gonna gut you, fool.”
“This is the wolf’s rage talking. Lean into it. Let it consume you. The change will cleanse you, strengthen you, remake you. You want this.”
“Like fuck I do?!” Jason shouted, pushing himself away from Colton and hard up against the car door. He was terrified of the bullshit spewing out of Colton’s mouth.
“Don’t talk to him like that. He’s your maker. Your god.”
“This from the chick into next level date rape,” Jason said, remembering just how much of a crazed psychopath Holly was.
“Gonna gut you good,” the black man yelled.
“You know what,” Holly spat, “screw you. You’re a nothing, a pathetic little dick-licking coffee donkey. He’s given you power. A chance to rise above the mind-numbing averageness that your pathetic life was gonna be. You should be thanking him. You should be on your knees, worshipping the ground he walks on. Not just down there to suck dick.”
“Enough!” Colton yelled, turning on her, his own change triggered. “He has more value than you. So, shut the hell up.”
Jason saw his chance.
He pulled the door handle and kicked backwards out of the car. The road came up fast. Clear of the car, he tucked into a ball as he was flung into the car’s wake. Skin tore on the hard surface but surprisingly little else was damaged. Unsure if it was the imminent change or just stupid luck, he found himself sprawled in the street, limbs intact, head reasonably clear. As he stood, he felt the fire in his veins and the gut punch of his organs work overtime.
Not long now he panicked, seeing the quiet street around him.
“Hey, buddy, you okay?” a man yelled out.
“Yeah, just college hazing,” he shouted back.
The car had screeched to a halt down the street. They’d come back for him, Jason feared.
Turning, he sprinted towards Matteo’s. He needed to get to the cage. Changed he would be dangerous on the street. And Colton would win.
The change subsided as he ran. Something wanting him to keep going, push past the city, beyond concrete and glass to the wild. Change where he would be free to hunt and kill. Back in the wild.
But he couldn’t leave his friends.
Bolting up the steps of Matteo’s, he slammed the door shut and locked it. Then checked on the others. Eddie and the guy on the stairs were still unconscious. Whatever force that had been holding Matteo had gone and he was sitting on the floor, a shadow of his former self.
“Matteo!” Jason called out and ran to him. The man brightened when he saw him. “I got away. Don’t think they’ll risk coming back.”
Matteo seemed to sag with relief.
“How do we fix this?” Jason asked.
Matteo pointed to the floor near him. A phone.
Matteo // 21:32
Rowan! I need your help!
Please come!
From what Jason knew Rowan was staying at Rebecca’s, alone as per her request.
“How’s this gonna work with your change?” Jason asked, forgetting he wouldn’t get an answer. Matteo pulled himself to his feet, unsteady at first. Pointing to the man on the stairs, Matteo then pointed to Jason and made a carrying gesture with his arms. When he went to pick up Eddie, he stumbled.
“I’ve got him,” Jason said, having laid the other man on one of the couches. He collected Eddie and soon laid him on the other couch. Looking up, he saw Matteo had retrieved a silver knife from his study, holding it by its roughly strapped leather grip.
“What’s that f-for?” Jason asked, nervous as he felt the change surge again. What grace he’d bought during his dash to the house was wearing off.
Matteo pointed the knife to his face.
“You’re going to cut yourself a mouth?!”
Wiggling the blade at Jason answered one question but raised another.
“You want me to cut you a new mouth? Are you tripping?”
Setting the weapon on the table, Matteo pushed past the younger man and stood over Eddie. He grabbed him by both sides of the head and snapped his neck. This time back into place.
When he turned back, there was no room argument.
“Fine,” Jason said, picking up the knife. He could feel the silver burning even through the leather strapping. That’s why Matteo couldn’t do it. It’s too torturous.
Sitting before him, Matteo waited.
The problem was the whole area between mouth and chin was smooth. No trace of lips or where his mouth had been.
Just as Jason was about to make the cut his whole body clenched painfully. He felt like a hand had reached inside him, grabbed his guts, twisted them about and then was yanking them out. This time no running would push it back down. He was gonna change and he was in the open.
“Here goes.”
Feeling where Matteo’s teeth were beneath the skin, he went to the middle and took a deep breath. He was really going to do this. And now. He felt his nails sting as the claws started to grow, his mouth sore and feeling very full all of sudden.
Nervous, he stuck the knife into Matteo’s face. Within a second there were lips and a mouth, the knife hanging in Matteo’s open maw. Carefully, he took Jason’s hand and withdrew the knife.
“Silver often breaks magic. It’s a wolf thing.”
“Oh thank god. Was worried I was gonna Joker your face there for a minute.”
“Me too.”
“That’s unsettling.”
“Come on,” Matteo said, taking the knife and setting it on the coffee table. “We need to get you downstairs.”
“What about you?”
<
br /> “I’m coming with.”
Gripping his arm, Matteo all but pushed Jason down the stairs to the basement. He stumbled twice. agony buckling his legs out from under but Matteo held him steady. A look at the Pack Lord showed his own change was starting, teeth sharper, eyes golden. But he got him to the cage and locked him in. Startled, Jason watched as Matteo locked the heavy door and leaned his head against it. Finally his body sagged with relief, his sigh long and shuddering.
“You okay?” Jason asked.
“By tomorrow I should be.” He flicked the main lights off, leaving on dimmer spots at floor level. Matteo then stripped off and lay himself onto the table. His breathing deep. When he jerked on the table, Jason knew the Pack Lord’s change had started.
That was the last thing he remembered. Pain tore through his body, bones popping, skin stretching, muscles burning as the dark rage enveloped him.
XIII
Exhausted, Rowan opened the door to her apartment.
Home, she thought.
A petulant meow drew her attention to the counter where a black cat stood, arched back, leaning toward her.
“Hey, Ozzy,” Rowan sighed, happy to see the cat. Finally someone who wasn’t going to hover, waiting for her to break. That was mean, she decided. Staying at Rebecca’s had been the best return to the city. They’d been wonderful. Supportive, passive, absent.
However, her other friends had been less…wonderful.
Matteo // 21:32
Rowan! I need your help!
Please come!
She could, probably should, reply. Even see him. After all, he was like a brother to her and she needed family right then. Him and Mac.
But Rowan still couldn’t bring herself to make contact. Was she angry at them? Did she blame them? Had Matteo not done enough to keep them safe?
Michael was his responsibility. As much as a 32-year-old werewolf was anyone’s responsibility. But since Dominic’s death, both Michael and Max had been in under Matteo’s care.
And now Michael was dead.
And Max?
Oh Max, she thought.
Now that she was back in the world, he was the only person she wanted to see.
Not Matteo. Not McLachlan. Well…not yet anyway.
That much talking would drive her mad. With Max she’d never have to worry about the talking. Sure, there’d be tears but Rowan had already decided she had a lot more crying in her.
Stroking the cat, Rowan smiled as his purr erupted and he started walking back and forth before her.
“I know, I know. I missed you too.”
Osiris butted her arm with his head, rubbing himself against her, then continued to pace on the counter.
“And you’re probably really hungry too. I know. Michael…” Jumping off the counter, the cat ran into the bedroom, across the bed and out the partially open window. “Nice seeing you too, brat.”
The bed was unmade, sheets disheveled from where Michael had thrown them back a few mornings ago. For a moment she thought about slipping beneath the covers to lie where he had, rest in his space, feel him one more time. Then she saw a discarded t-shirt and briefs on the floor. They’d been sitting there since before she left.
He always had been the King of Stop and Drop, she smiled sadly, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Outside, Osiris sat cleaning himself on the fire escape. He stopped and looked at her for a second, then continued his groom.
“Did Michael open that?” Rowan asked the cat, unconvinced as Michael hated how the Persian from upstairs would sneak in and eat Osiris’ food.
“No, I did.” The voice was familiar behind her.
Daniel.
He was in the doorway. Looking as real as the day he had died.
“Well, we did get him together and I figured he was pretty much going to destroy the house,” he said, his voice like silk in her ears.
“And you couldn’t have changed the litter box?”
“Oh, ya know I hated doing that?”
Rowan started to cry softly.
From the doorway, Daniel moved to her. But when he reached for her, she only felt…emptiness. Her heart breaking all over again.
He drew back, almost self-conscious. In life he’d been anything but cold.
“I miss you.”
“I know,” he replied, his voice so familiar it hurt.
“Do you miss me?”
“I never need to,” he smiled and the world seemed to brighten around her. “I am worried about you though.”
“I’m fine,” she said reflexively. “Besides the dead men in my life and all that, just peachy.”
“That’s what I mean,” he replied sternly. “I can feel a…difference in you. Even from over here.”
“What the other side of the room?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Well do you blame me?”
“I came to check on the cat, not get into a fight.”
“Really? You risked crossing over for a cat? Where were you when I wormed him?”
“Colton.”
“Fun,” she snapped.
“No, really,” Daniel said. “He’s more powerful than before. How do you think he’s stayed hidden for so long? He’s studied darker magic than has existed in this realm for millennia.”
“We talking end of days?” she asked.
“Possibly, maybe, it’s unclear. But whatever it is, it’s gonna be a harder fight than any of you have handled before. Clouded with emotion.”
“Only gonna make killing him that much easier.”
“You don’t kill,” Daniel said shocked.
“Watch me.”
“There’s a helluva price. You willing to pay it? Lose yourself in the process?”
“Worked for you, didn’t it?”
“Hardly. I almost paid that price. You were the one who pulled me back from that. Who’s gonna do that for you?”
“Not you,” she said, hating the words as they came out.
He was struck. “This is not who you are.”
“I’ve changed, Daniel. Seems losing a lot will do that.”
“You haven’t lost me.”
“Oh really, what do you feel like for dinner? Wanna see a movie? Big ‘splody, smash-em-ups are all the rage today. Maybe hold your cat. He misses you.”
Wrenching the window up she reached for the cat but it jumped to the railing. Out of reach.
“Come ‘ere damn cat.”
Not out of reach enough as it was grabbed and pulled into the bedroom.
“Here,” Rowan said, turning back to the empty room. Restlessly, the cat pushed against her and jumped out of her arms for the dresser. He watched in silence as she sank to the bed again, crying.
XIV
Blurring at one edge of the moon eased Seth’s mind. The wolves were men once more. He would hold true to his word and tell Gracchus of the recent events.
Rumors would spread fast. He was surprised it hadn’t.
But then only he and Rufus knew about the dead werewolf.
And the vampire who killed him.
“The full moon’s over,” Rufus said, on the roof behind him. “You’ll take this to him?”
“I said I would.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“To make sure I do it?” Seth spat, turning to his friend.
“No,” Rufus replied, voice ragged. The wolf’s death had been hard on him. A memory from the Pack War, the final battle, Seth recalled. Amid the chaos of the final battle, Rufus and Michael had fought side by side. Rufus never forgot such acts, his loyalty knew unfathomable depths. “As support.”
Seth softened. He walked over and put a hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“You’re a better friend than I deserve,” Seth said. “You’re the leader we need.”
“I–” Rufus croaked, his eyes on Seth’s lips. The vampire was conflicted. Seth could see it playing out on the other man’s face. Rufus was older than him. A former slave who had never reg
ained a sense of himself even as a vampire. For decades he had yearned for Seth, denying himself in the interim, aware the feelings would never be reciprocated.
“Rufus, you are my friend and my brother. You’re worthy of better than me, you have to see that.”
Rufus pulled back, hurt. It was fleeting, then his stoic, hard edge returned.
“He waits.”
“Rufus,” Seth called out.
Would it be so bad, Seth had often wondered, to be with someone who loved him so deeply? Carys didn’t. She might say she did, but their relationship was built more on lust than anything else. Passively, Seth allowed what they had to continue. No longer a relationship, but more a tug of war. He pulled, she pushed. She pulled, he pushed. Always a dance of sex and power that never grew old. Yet he never felt fulfilled. Not like he did with Rufus. And while he’d never thought of himself as gay, Seth knew he’d find a greater emotional and physical richness with his friend than with Carys.
But did he deserve it? The thought gnawed at him as much as his bloodlust.
Silently, Rufus waited at the door. Strong and proud, he was a far better man and vampire than Seth would ever be.
They found Gracchus in the main chamber. Most of the court was present, restless and hungry. Violet and Damon were there, eager to venture into the night to feed. Carys stood apart waiting for Seth, a twist of her lips the only affection she gave away upon seeing him.
“My lord, Gracchus,” Seth announced, dropping to his knee. While not a proper court session, protocol called for formality at all times. Beside him, Rufus mirrored his actions.
“Rise.” The regent’s inflection betrayed his surprise. Quickly, the room fell silent.
“I bring grave tidings.”
“What is it?”
“Three nights ago, a rogue vampire killed a werewolf.”
Shocked, the room drew a collective gasp. The implications of the rogue vampire killing had been one thing. Another had been the pattern of the both kills. However, this…well the accords were done for.
“They’ll come for us!” someone yelled.
“We must fight!”
Similar laments and battle cries rang around the chamber. As Gracchus tried to calm the room, Seth looked to Carys. What did she make of this? Her pale face was rigid, eyes narrowed hatefully. But not at him. No, her eyes were locked with the one next to him. Rufus.
