The Wereling 1: Wounded

by Stephen Cole

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  Bloomsbury Publishing, London, Berlin and New York

  First published in Great Britain in 2003 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  36 Soho Square, London, W1D 3QY

  This electronic edition published in July 2010 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  Text copyright © Working Partners Ltd 2003

  The moral right of the author ahas been asserted

  All rights reserved

  You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise

  make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means

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  may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 978 1 4088 1382 9

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  Also by Stephen Cole

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  The Wereling trilogy

  Wounded

  Prey

  Resurrection

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  The Thieves trilogy

  Thieves Like Us

  The Aztec Code

  The Bloodline Cipher

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  For John Leonard Smith

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  CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

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  PROLOGUE

  It’s late. The moon, full and fat, is blindingly bright through the window above Kate Folan’s bed. It’s not a comforting light. It only makes the wide night sky seem even blacker.

  Kate can feel it through the glass, bathing her sweating skin like iced water.

  She’s so hot.

  She leans over and heaves open the window. Her shaky breath mists out and mingles with the humid night air. She lifts the damp, dark hair from the back of her neck, to expose it to the cool breeze.

  So many scents and sounds carry in from outside …

  There’s a tiny electric buzz sparking in her bones. It tickles and warms her, as if her whole body is itching on the inside and she has no way to scratch. It’s maddening. Dizzying.

  Kate shuts her eyes, shakes her head. She wants to let go. To lose the fear and the doubts – just give in to the craving. Why should she fight it? This has to happen …

  Kate’s heart begins to pound. It feels like a fist knocking against her ribs, so hard it hurts. She can see its movement beneath the soaked white cotton of her nightclothes.

  The moon seems incandescent, like it has caught fire.

  Kate knows now. It will happen tonight.

  The burning heat now pounding through her body seems to be melting her bones. The pain is delicious, irresistible. Kate wonders how she could ever have wished it away.

  The change feels maddeningly near now. Why won’t it come?

  Kate clutches the bedclothes, panting for breath, filling her lungs with the scents of the night. She could howl with pain and frustration.

  So close …

  She bites her lip, tastes the iron tang of her own blood – then smiles as, under the moon’s gaze, spasms of sheer exhilaration shoot through her.

  It has begun.

  Kate laughs feverishly as her bones begin to shift. Muscles tear and ripple. Teeth twist into spikes. Silken hair sprouts from every sweating pore. She shucks off her damp, clinging clothes, rolls over on to her front, then giddily raises herself from the bed.

  Her heart beats sure and strong. This room, these things, these meaningless possessions, none of them are hers. All she owns is the nightworld outside – and everything in it.

  She leaps through the window on to the roof outside, then down to the grassy verge leading into the woods. She glories in her speed, her agility.

  Soon she is bounding over sweet-smelling earth. At last she feels alive. Feels she belongs. She catches the sweet smell of a frightened animal close by. She slips through undergrowth towards it. A deer, startled, bursts from its hiding place and starts to bolt. She matches it for pace, watches it swerve and dance with fear.

  Finally she tires of the chase, and slams the animal to the ground. Her claws tear into the deer’s flank; her jaws close around its throat, sharp teeth piercing the downy neck. Blood floods over her lips. It’s everywhere, sweet and sticky, she is bathed in it. Exultant, she raises her head and howls her thanks to the moon …

  The scream tore out of Kate as her eyes snapped open.

  She jolted upright in her bed, trembling, gasping for air. She pressed her hands to her face, fingers searching the smooth clammy skin as hot tears poured over them. Then she gagged. The dream had never been so vivid; the blood had never seemed so real.

  The moon was just a soft glow through her flimsy curtains, but Kate feared even that intrusion. She pushed sweat-drenched hair from her eyes and turned on her bedside light. Looking around at the familiar objects in the room, she reassured herself she was normal. For now …

  But the images of the dream wouldn’t fade this time. The moon. The blood.

  The exultant wolf.

  That’s going to be me, she thought, still trembling. That’s what I’m going to become.

  Kate dreaded the day she would think those thoughts not with fear and guilt and shame – but with pleasure and pride …

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  CHAPTER ONE

  The forest was silent and still, the hush almost expectant. Like the place was waiting for something to happen.

  Tom Anderson shivered as he stood there in the crisp morning air. He zipped up his hooded sweatshirt, then pressed on through the sprawling spruces and towering pines. Their cold Christmas smell filled his head as they stood untouched by fall’s orange fingers. The trees scratched at him and scattered needles as he left the trail to push further into the thick undergrowth.

  Moments later, Tom stopped again. It was crazy, but he couldn’t help feeling there was something in the forest, lurking just out of view. Watching him. He looked all around him. Everything remained still.

  The silence began to creep Tom out so he crashed on noisily, just so there was something to hear. What a lame idea, he thought as he struggled through a tangle of vines into a clearing. Been watching too many late-night movies. But he looked again for any trace of movement in the trees and bushes, just in case.

  ‘What’re you complaining for?’ Tom asked himself, crossly. ‘You wanted some space to yourself, remember?’

  Snatches of conversations came back to him as he walked on.

  His mom, pleading. ‘I know you’re sixteen now, Tom, but you can go camp
ing with your friends next year, honey. Just one more family vacation, OK?’

  His dad, red-faced and scowling. ‘One last family vacation. That was the deal, remember? You know this means a lot to your mom.’

  His kid brother, Joe. ‘You never want to hang out with me these days, Tom. You’re just no fun any more.’

  His buddy Corey, shaking his head in sympathy. ‘So your parents really are making you go on vacation with them? You sure flunked out there, man.’

  Finally, himself. This morning. Stomping out of the family’s holiday cabin in the Seattle hills. Slamming the door behind him. ‘Seven days stuck here is going to drive me crazy!’

  Tom felt a twinge of guilt. He knew his mom would be upset again. He knew his dad would be calming her down right now, telling her it was OK. He’d be spouting the usual garbage about Tom being at a ‘difficult age’. That one really ate at Tom. What was ‘difficult’ was having no time and space to himself! Hell, at sixteen he should have a little independence!

  Right now, his friends would be camping out at Yosemite, having a real vacation. Tom was missing out on that for a week of being the obedient son.

  A twig cracked underfoot, sounding like a rifle shot. Tom’s heart thudded. He looked quickly around, half-expecting the sound to have brought something out of hiding.

  But nothing moved.

  The sun began to emerge from behind the billowy clouds overhead. Tom felt its warm touch on his skin. Pushing away his thoughts, he pressed on along a winding path. Somewhere ahead of him a welcome noise whispered into the silence: the rushing and gurgling of fast-running water.

  ‘You’ll love the river,’ his father had promised him on the long drive from Denver. ‘Me and Gramps used to make camp there, when I was a kid. It’s some sight.’

  Tom had just yawned. ‘Sure I will, Dad. A river. Awesome.’

  Now, as Tom followed the sound, it grew louder and throatier. Finally it led him into a leafy glade, drenched with sunshine. A sloping shelf of mud led down to the riverbank. White light sparkled in the clear waters speeding past. Tom smiled. ‘OK, Dad,’ he said. ‘So maybe you were right.’

  It was a pretty awesome sight. The chill had gone from the air, and the walk had left Tom hot and sweaty. The water looked too good to resist.

  ‘But you can’t go swimming there,’ his dad had continued. ‘The current’s too strong. Drags you down into the rapids. You’d never escape,’ he’d warned.

  Tom hesitated, listening to the roar of the water. Now the river had dared break the silence in the forest, he felt more confident. He wouldn’t swim. But he could try a little wading. It wouldn’t be so bad in the shallows. Then he’d go back to the cabin and tell Dad about how the old river had worked its magic, just as it had on him and Gramps. Dad would be pleased and Mom would forget about all the arguing.

  He kicked off his Nikes, stripped off and scrambled down the bank. Maybe he’d bring Joe to the river later.

  The water was dark up close. Tom drew a sharp breath, then, keen to get the shock of the cold over with, he splashed quickly into the river.

  When he was up to his middle he crouched down, whooping as the water closed over his shoulders. He grinned and shivered. Then he shut his eyes, held his nose, and sank his head beneath the shimmering surface.

  It was a shame Joe wasn’t here, Tom thought. He felt a pang of guilt. Joe was right: Tom hadn’t had much time for him lately. He and Joe had always played this game whenever they went to the swimming pool. Sinking in the water like stones. Enjoying the weird way sound filtered through the water. Feeling the pressure in their heads. Seeing how long they could hold their breath.

  Suddenly Tom heard something. A kind of muffled roaring sound, carried to him by the murky ripples of the river. First he thought it was just the pressure of his lungs wanting air; the dizzying rush of blood thundering in his temples. But the noise got louder – somehow angry, even threatening.

  The clear water began to churn rhythmically around him. Something was approaching.

  Tom burst up choking from the surface of the river. He wiped his dark hair back from his eyes, blinking rapidly as he tried to get his bearings.

  The roar came again, low and guttural. Terrified, Tom groped blindly for the riverbank, tumbling forward through the water.

  Something was wrong – the river was getting deeper, not shallower. At last, his eyes cleared. He was looking into the centre of the river. He twisted his body around to face the bank.

  Big mistake.

  Towering above him on its hind legs, barring his way back to safety, was the massive bulk of a full-grown grizzly bear. Its dark fur was sleek and wet. Heavy brows were knitted over black beady eyes. Its jaws gaped wide open as it bellowed in anger. Huge arms reached out for him. Dagger-like claws scythed the air.

  Tom stared around wildly for some kind of escape route. There was none. The bear roared again, powering its heavy frame through the water towards him. Tom panicked and backed away. He must’ve disturbed the thing digging its den ready for the winter. Wasn’t that the kind of thing bears did? He tried to focus, clear his rush of thoughts, but the water was up to his chin now. Only one fact about bears came to mind.

  They eat anything.

  The creature lunged forward, its huge body bearing down on him. Tom fell backwards at the same moment, as the riverbed gave way beneath him. He launched into an awkward backstroke, splashing his feet up at the bear and shouting to try and scare it off.

  The animal watched and snarled, but it didn’t try to follow Tom out into the water.

  Tom felt relief surge through his shivering body. Then he froze mid-stroke as he felt the current coiling round his arms and legs, dragging him away.

  ‘The current’s too strong,’ Dad had told him. ‘You would never escape.’

  Tom cursed himself. The bear had only let him go because it knew these waters better than he did. Bracing himself, Tom launched into a powerful crawl, aiming for the far side of the bank. It was only fifty metres or so.

  His arms windmilled until they cramped, but Tom found the bank was getting further away, not nearer. He was being tugged downriver.

  ‘Drags you down into the rapids.’

  Tom saw the huge form of the bear dwindle to a dark speck, and the glade vanish from view entirely. Then his head dipped underwater as the river picked up speed. Frantically, he kicked his legs, trying to keep afloat, but it was impossible to keep upright now. Tree branches dangled temptingly overhead. He bobbed up with arms outstretched, desperately grabbing for one. Fir needles grazed his fingers, but slipped from his grip. The sky spun crazily above him as the water whirled and foamed, dragging him under again and again. Each time Tom’s head reached above water he gulped for air.

  Then all the breath was slammed from his body as the current swept him into a massive rock. Choking on water, Tom realised the rapids were just getting started. He tumbled past one more huge rock, worn smooth and round. He reached for it clumsily, but was going too quickly now to hold on. He was still reaching out for the boulder when he smashed his head against another. The world turned red as blood washed into his eyes. The current was dizzying, he was like a rag doll helpless in the grip of a whirlpool. Head pounding, too weak to resist any longer, Tom felt himself going down for what he was sure would be the last time …

  For a few moments Tom was sure he must be dead. Then sensation began to creep cruelly back into his body. It felt like someone was holding a blowtorch to his freezing skin. His legs cramped up as if his muscles had been slammed in a vice, and he cried out. He was alive all right. Death could never hurt as much as this. A trickle of blood ran down his cheek from a cut above his eye.

  He reached for his calves, trying to rub the muscles into easing off. Where was he? How long had he been lying there? Many hours. It was growing dark. The moon was full and heavy in the greying sky, like a huge boulder about to drop and crush him.

  Thick mud slurped at his shoulders. He was lying in shallow waters. Fu
rther out, Tom could hear the foaming rapids.

  How far down the river had he drifted? Tom surveyed the rushing water. A little way upstream, a line of stones stuck out of the water like a row of bald heads. They acted as a kind of breakwater. If he’d knocked into one and then been pushed behind the line … Yeah, that was it. The gentler current had then carried him here to the river’s edge.

  Tom took a deep, shuddering breath. He’d made it. He’d had an unbelievable adventure, but he’d made it. Through the pain, through the shock – or maybe because of it – Tom found himself laughing.

  Until something growled behind him.

  His first thought was that the bear had somehow found him again. But the growl seemed somehow … different. Too exhausted to turn around, Tom let his head fall back. He had a crazy upturned view of the gloomy riverbank, and his weary brain fought to make sense of it.

  A stretch of slimy mud. A tangle of vegetation. Weird, misshapen tree roots reaching out deformed fingers. Two narrowed yellow eyes, glinting, low down in the shadows.

  The eyes came closer and the shadows seemed to swallow him whole.

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  CHAPTER TWO

  ‘How’re you doing?’

  Tom could barely hear the voice. He was back in the freezing water, deep down and drowning.

  ‘C’mon, wake up, huh? Hey, what’s your name?’

  Why should he wake up? He knew he would start hurting all over again if he woke up; if he let himself be dragged back to life. But the water was growing warmer already, and thickening, until it felt more like blood.

  Tom shook his head; moaned softly. As his body began to thaw out, he felt the pain creeping back into his muscles.

  ‘You’ve been asleep for ages.’

  The blackness was melting into blues and purples, a swelling bruise over his vision. Tom’s body started to thud, like the echoes of a giant’s footsteps were hammering on him. He felt sick. He wanted to go back into the cold, numb darkness.