A Werewolf's Saga Books 4, 5, & 6 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 2)

by Michael Lampman

  “If I didn’t, things would have been different. Things would have been worse.” Robert bowed his head again.

  “But you let her live a lie.” Sasha felt for both of them, but at the same time, her own defense of what she was herself, came out with what she said. The thought of being something else—being someone else—haunted everything she was and more. Animal in her or not, she was what she was meant to be.

  “I couldn’t risk what she could do.” Robert let go of the wall and turned back to his sister. “She became the person I always hoped she was. Since that night, I gave her a new life.”

  Jimmy listened, thinking, burning with questions. “That night?” That part stuck out the most. “What night?”

  Robert looked over to him with both cheeks soaking with tears. “The night that it all happened. The night she changed to the woman you know today.”

  “What happened?” Jimmy did feel for the man. Would he have done what he did? Now, truly thinking about it, he just might, and he hated himself for it too.

  Robert wiped both eyes with the back of both hands. He then looked back to Rachel. “That was the night of the final battle. The night the truce was forged.” He turned to Jimmy.

  Jimmy met his eyes.

  “The armies of humans gathered against Devish. They grew tired of living just to survive. They fought back, and a great battle raged.” He thought about that night, and living many more from then, he should have forgotten some of it but didn’t. It still seemed so fresh. It seemed like it was just yesterday he witnessed all of it. It felt all so clear. “Two worlds collided.” He left the wall and walked back to the center of the room. “Blood flowed over the trees. It flowed over the world. The walkers were winning the fight. The humans were near collapse. Many people died. Many more changed forever. When the dawn came closer, the humans were defeated and that’s when it happened. That’s when everything changed.” He looked back to Jimmy and nodded towards him. “Kalima changed.”

  Jimmy blinked. Now, more than ever, he wished he could remember what happened. He figured it would help them with everything that was now happening to them. But again, his mind seemed blank. Kalima kept quiet. He didn’t even stir. “How did he change?” He forced him to ask instead.

  “He turned against Devish. The two mighty beasts fought one another.” He turned to the others in the room one at a time, and then back to Jimmy again. “I wasn’t there to see how everything unfolded, but when I did see what happened, Devish was staked. Kalima was victorious, and Rachel was blocked.”

  Brandon squeezed Sasha ever so tightly to the point to where her hand went nearly white. It hurt some so she had to tell him to relax.

  Rachel also blinked.

  Jimmy swallowed hard and true.

  Robert walked next to his sister and again took her right hand into his left. “When the walkers realized what happened, they gave up the fight. With Devish gone, and the black wolf no longer with them, their fight seemed hopeless. They forged the truce.”

  Jimmy shrugged. Everything he heard made sense to him somehow, but that was all he had. Without his memories, everything seemed like a haze. Everything felt like a fog. With that being like that, he turned to one of the other questions raging in his head. “What does this have to do with them going after Rachel now?”

  Robert smiled to his sister and then turned. “Only four people know where Devish was interned. Other than Devish, those three are now standing right here in this room.”

  Sasha and Brandon gasped. Sasha asked what was obviously on both of their minds. “Why not go after anyone of you? Why her?”

  Robert turned his head to her so fast that it made her jump some. “It makes sense. Going after the black wolf, memories or no memories, wouldn’t give them anything. He would never tell them, even if he could.”

  Jimmy nodded with that. He knew he wouldn’t.

  “Going after me is the same result. But Rachel? That’s different.” Robert looked to Rachel again and saw on her face the look of utter disbelief.

  She believed what he told them, but she just couldn’t believe how she was important to everything. To her, she could remember their childhood. She could remember growing up. She remembered their parents. She remembered going to school. She remembered a life that now didn’t seem real. Everything felt like a lie, a story told just for her.

  He would agree with everything she felt.

  “But if she can’t remember, why would they go after her? That doesn’t make any sense.” It was Brandon’s turn to ask something. He never felt like a fifth wheel before now.

  Robert nodded to him, but never turned his head. “Whoever put the block on her can lift it. There are ways to search her mind. With the block, she could never defend herself.”

  Rachel heard enough. She pushed herself away from Robert and walked to Ross who was standing behind them. She stopped right in front of him and turned back to the others. “I can’t believe this.” She slapped both arms to her sides. She felt almost like she was about to jump right out of her own mind. This all seemed too surreal. It seemed lost. She felt lost entirely within it. “I remember my life. I remember a world before this. How can that be nothing? And now you’re telling me that it’s all fake. It’s made up. It’s not real.”

  Everyone felt for her.

  Jimmy even wanted to rush her, and take her in his arms and hold her tightly. When this all began, when he became this beast, it took everything he had to straighten it out in his mind. It took a long time to reason it into his life. In some ways, he was even still doing it. And now here she was, doing, living, dealing with the exact same that he did.

  Robert reached her before he could move. “It is real Rachel. And he’s the truth of it.” He motioned to Jimmy with a wave of his right arm towards his back. “Haven’t you ever questioned why you feel something for him? Haven’t you ever wondered how you came to understand all of this…werewolves, vampires, and magic so easily? It’s because it’s already been there in your life. It’s always been a part of who you really are.”

  She listened, and suddenly, everything that happened rushed back into her thoughts like a flood pouring over a falls. She saw Jimmy standing there, in the basement of Ravenswood the night he came to find her. She saw the wolf, powerful and awe-inspiring standing in front of her. She could remember that she did feel afraid, but not worried. In fact, he felt natural—almost like he was always supposed to feel to her. Seeing that, feeling the way she felt, everything suddenly felt real.

  Seeing her eyes lighten, Robert knew that what he said finally sunk into her mind with a flash. “I see you do understand it. You understand everything.” He took her hands together within his and held her firmly in front of him. “You know this world Rachel. You know everything about this, deep inside you, but just don’t remember it. You just know it.”

  Rachel could feel the emotion of everything run through her. The knowing felt like a pain. It felt like agony. It told her that it was real. He was right. It was inside her. It was a part of who she really was.

  Robert felt her and wrapped his arms around her tightly, hugging her to him with all his strength.

  She welcomed his warmth. She welcomed his strength.

  Jimmy stepped forward to both of them. Suddenly a new feeling rushed over him like never before. He suddenly felt coldness within him. He felt almost disjointed some. He felt alone. The feeling made him stop and sigh.

  Behind him, Sasha let go of Brandon and walked over to him, and she wrapped her arms around him from behind and held him tightly to her chest.

  Brandon stood there motionless. He bowed his head. He felt for everyone and more. He didn’t know what to think, but suddenly, a sound came to him from behind him. It came from behind the door. It came to him from behind the walls themselves.

  He could hear the sounds of several cars’ engines hum. He could hear the sounds of rubber on asphalt. He could hear the sounds stop and be replaced by what sounded like doors opening. Soon, the sounds of
footsteps on tar echoed. He heard the creaking of leather. He heard a door open, and then the footsteps again. They were moving towards them. They were inside the building and coming right to the room.

  “Everyone, I think someone’s coming?” He turned to the door, moved to it, and stopped right in front of it. He placed an ear to the door, and could now hear what sounded like people breathing. A clicking, pulling sound followed that.

  Jimmy and Sasha turned.

  Sasha sniffed the air, and what she smelled, faint and low, coming from the other side of the door, seemed like people. Humans were there. They were just at the door, and she couldn’t believe it. “Their human?” She left Jimmy and stepped behind Brandon. “Why are humans here?” She turned.

  Just behind Rachel and Robert, she saw Ross holding something in his right hand. Before she could say anything, a popping, snapping sound came from him and carried a whistling sound through the stale air of the room. Jimmy jerked forward some just in front of her.

  He felt a slight pricking sensation to the back left shoulder. Feeling it, he reached with his right hand and found a cool cylindrical tube like thing sticking out of his back. He pulled it out and brought it out in front of him, and saw what looked like a dart of some kind. A cool icy feel raced through his back, down his arms, and into his chest. He recognized the feeling. He tried it once, and it almost destroyed him and Rachel forever.

  “The drug?” He looked at Sasha. Heard a whistling sound past his ear and watched a similar looking dart strike her just above her left breast.

  She felt it instantly, and reached for it just as fast and pulled it out. She held it in front of her, in between Jimmy and herself. “What the hell?” The ice raced through her chest. She could feel it flow to her throat and head. It felt like someone had just poured ice water on her, but only it was coming from inside her, not on her. She could only blink with the feeling. She could only sigh with all of it.

  Brandon heard the sounds, turned from the door, took one-step towards Sasha, when the door behind him opened. Her heard it, turned and found what looked like a pistol pointing at his chest. A banging, pounding sound blared out in front of him, and a pinching burning feeling followed it to his chest. The bang flowed through him from that spot and spilled him to his knees. He felt suddenly heavy. He felt almost winded. He did feel weak.

  Robert turned from Rachel, turned towards the bang close to Jimmy and watched Brandon behind him hit the floor hard to his knees. He followed him up to the door and saw the weapon. Just after seeing it, he heard another long bang reverberate around the closed in room. A smack, burning, shot of pain followed it, and it ran right into his right shoulder. Pain erupted through him instantly. It caused him to reach up with his left hand as he grabbed the pain. Like Brandon, it pinched him to his knees.

  Rachel felt him fall to her side. She saw Jimmy flinch. She saw Sasha gasp. She watched Brandon fall. She heard the bangs. She saw something over her left should and noticed that it looked like a gun. She turned, seeing the look on Ross’ face.

  He smiled as he pulled the trigger. He smiled when the door opened and he watched three of his men step inside the room.

  Jimmy watched three men come through the door. They were dressed in all black. They looked like swat team members from some television show that he used to watch when he was human. Two of them carried rifles. One used theirs and he saw it come at his face. He tried to duck, but he didn’t move fast enough as it struck the left cheek hard. The blow stung some. His skull seemed to bounce off it. The motion carried him to his right and it knocked him to the floor. Everything happened too fast to think straight.

  A second man rushed in and grabbed Sasha and flung her to her right. He tossed her to the wall.

  She hit rather hard with her right shoulder and the pain from the impact threw her to the floor. She rolled over, experiencing the pain ringing through her head.

  A third man aimed his rifle into the room. “No one fucking move!”

  Ross lowered his gun. “Nice timing Mister Douglas. I was beginning to think that you were not going to come.” He walked around Rachel, stepped over Sasha and joined the three men at the door.

  Rachel, being the only one of them that wasn’t injured, spoke what all of them wanted to say. “Ross you bastard! What are you doing?” She felt truly shocked. She thought he was with them, but in the end, he obviously wasn’t. Seeing this, feeling all of it, she wanted to explode.

  “I did tell you that I know who owns me my dear. I’m just doing what they asked me to do.” He stepped behind his three men, when another two came to the doorway behind him. His smiled stayed on his face. “You are all far too trusting.” He took a deep victorious breath.

  Jimmy heard him while still on the floor. He rolled over grasping the side of his face that hurt the most. Right now, at that moment, everything did. His broken pride hurt worse than his face. I shouldn’t have trusted him. “You son of a bitch. Why? What’s in this for you?” He shuddered some from the pain. He had to slow his breathing down some to prevent himself from passing out. The pain was that intense.

  “Why you of course Mister Walls. I’m taking back what was mine in the first place.” He looked at everything he accomplished.

  Jimmy felt nothing but rage. He looked in on himself, and saw nothing else with him. He had that damn drug in him again, and with it, he knew that he wouldn’t see Kalima. It prevented the change. He felt angrier than ever. “If you want me, then take me. Leave my friends alone.” It took everything he had to say what he did.

  “Now, why would I give up having all of this?” He raised his arms out and waved them over everyone. “Why would I give up a vampire, two werewolves, and whatever the hell he is?”

  Jimmy blinked. “And Rachel?”

  “Oh, not her. She’s too important to my boss.” Ross looked down at him. He felt right again, there, standing over him like this. “She’s going to Vincent.” He smiled.

  Robert picked himself up to a sitting position. “You know of Vincent?” He did everything he could to catch his breath. The pain in his shoulder felt incredible. It felt overpowering. With it there, he knew he would never be able to concentrate long enough to move anything with his mind. This Ross knowing Vincent explained that for him. He told him how to immobilize him. He told him that pain would do the trick.

  “Of course. His…well family…owns the labs. They offered me a chance to make everything right again. How on earth could I resist that?” He felt beyond gleeful. He felt like the world was right again. Everything was back to where he wanted it to be.

  “Why?” Jimmy clenched his fist. Even doing that made his head ring some behind his eyes.

  “I was enjoying the little show you guys gave me.” Ross let his pride flow. “The story. What you all seem to not know is that they don’t want her to find someone?” He turned and looked to the two men behind him. He then looked back to Jimmy. “They want her, because they already have found him.” His smile flared over his face, making him look like some evil clown ready to destroy a child’s favorite toy. He just lacked the makeup to do it justice.

  “What?” Robert concentrated on breathing. In fact, he felt close to passing out himself.

  “He’s already here my boy. Devish has been here for years.”

  Robert bowed his head. His pain raced through him like lightning. He should have known all of this. He should have seen it coming.

  “Now take these four to the cell we prepared for them, but leave Doctor Garland here. It will be dark soon. We want her to be ready for her trip.” Ross turned and headed to the open doorway, stopped in the middle hallway, and turned back around to look in the room.

  The five men came in and each went for one of the injured separately. The fifth kept his weapon trained on everyone in turn.

  They dragged Sasha out of the room first. Brandon followed her, and Robert went next.

  Jimmy was the last. “You bastard! You’re betraying your very own species!” he screamed as he
was pulled down the hallway, felt himself turned, and brought into another room. The man carrying him by the shoulders tossed him to the floor, where he landed right next to Brandon. Seeing all of them there, he watched the door to the room slide shut at his feet. He heard it click, guessing it was locked.

  With all of them gone, Ross smiled at Rachel as he watched the fifth man close the door between them. With it closed, all was finished. Now, all he had to do was wait for the night. All he had to do was wait for his just rewards.

  Rachel felt helpless watching all of her loved ones pulled out of the room. She felt even more helpless when the door to her newfound cell closed. She stood there unable to move. She watched everything happen, and when it finished, she did—could—do nothing but cry. She cried for all of them.

  35

  Jimmy rolled over, found Brandon, sat up near him, and looked to the center of the room.

  Sasha picked herself up and came to the both of them. She of course went to Brandon and leaned over him, taking his right hand into hers. “Brandon, are you well?”

  He laughed some. It took a lot to do it. “I’ve been shot. How do you think I feel?” He smiled. His face felt extremely numb. His whole body felt almost sluggish like he hadn’t slept in days.

  Sasha looked to Robert as she watched Jimmy reach him and sit him up against the wall just to the right of the door. “What did they shoot you with?” She had to ask. She had no idea what was really going on and needed to know as much as she could. She also looked inside her mind, and didn’t—couldn’t see the wolf. It seemed lost, and it made her feel naked. She hated the feeling, and just wished it would end.

  “It must be silver?” Robert clenched his shoulder. He could feel his own blood ooze through his fingers some. It felt rather strange. It had been a long time since he felt it like this before.

  “Why silver? I thought that only affects those like me and Jimmy?” She squeezed Brandon’s hand.

  Jimmy kneeled in front of Robert, and looked to his shoulder. Blood covered his hand and it went down his shirt. He was bleeding badly.