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

by Michael Lampman

  She nodded, understanding that much, but there was more. “Who is Kalima?” That was a good place to start.

  He felt surprised with this one. “How do you mean?”

  She shrugged. “If Kalima could survive the bite and heal from all wounds, how could you change in the first place? How did that even happen?” She watched his eyes go down again. “I’ve never understood how that happened.” She could see him thinking. She could feel him trying to figure it out. His jumbled thoughts must be confusing him, that look said.

  He nodded, understanding her need to understand. Surprisingly, he knew the answer, and gave one to her without thinking any more about it. “I’ve always been what I am. I’ve always been the wolf.” His own surprise exploded through his chest. It seems that I remember everything after all. It just depends on being asked the question. This thought helped him relax. He took it to mean that he was right about that too.

  She felt surprised by hearing this. She had no idea what that meant. “How is that possible?”

  He shrugged again. “I am what I am.” He turned and looked back at the clearing, and seeing it, he knew that he would have to start a fire and wait there for them to come. This thought did not surprise him at all either. After all, it was what they planned to do, back then, back when the times ended.

  She shook her head, but shrugged with it too. “You were born a wolf. How is that possible?”

  He looked back to her pale white face and sparkling green eyes. “I was.”

  This got her thinking some, so she spoke up with some of those thoughts. “Who were your parents?” In those thoughts, the idea came up that Kalima had always been something much more than they ever truly understood. Why all of the black wolves were different was there too. It seemed they were all much more than any of them ever knew, and that thought always intrigued her. A black wolf walked on their hind paws. They were bigger. They were stronger, even stronger than Nightwalkers. They were special. It made sense that they were more than a simple carrier of the bite. Thinking about his parents, thinking about that strength, it had to mean something. She just was not sure what that meant.

  He looked down towards her feet again, but saw nothing. Inside, the answer hurt him because of what it meant. His answer to her would have to do, because it always did. “I never knew them. My father died before I was born. My mother died not long after I was.” He looked back up. “Kalima’s family that is.”

  She nodded, seeing his face. He looked like pain. His answer was full of it, so she returned his smile. He didn’t like where this questioning went, so she figured it was best to get back to his plans. She owed it to him to take everything else slowly. “Well…What do you have to teach me?”

  He nodded too, thankful that he could move on. He didn’t mind the questions, but like everything else inside his past, he hated having to remember them. Again, he now understood why he wanted to forget them in the first place. Who wouldn’t do it if they could?

  He reached up, took both of her shoulders into both of his hands and held her firmly to him. He stared into her eyes. “I’m going to teach you how to block your thoughts. To do it, I need you to look inside yourself. I need you to find the wolf’s eyes, but instead of bringing them forward, ask them to think. Ask them to cloud your thoughts. Ask the wolf to help block yours too.”

  “How does that do anything?” She swallowed hard.

  He continued to stare. “Our wolves have instincts. They rely on them, and because of it, they are hard to read. They don’t think like you and me.”

  She nodded. It sounded so simple that she did what he asked her. She closed her eyes and looked to the back part of her mind. There, she found the wolf staring back at her. Please think. Please cloud our thoughts. Please block them. The eyes, yellow and shining brightly back to her, blinked. In some way that she did not understand, they even seemed to smile back to her. Seeing this, she understood what it meant. She smiled to them, to herself, and with it, opened her eyes.

  “Well?” He smiled.

  She returned it, halfway and hesitantly. “You tell me.”

  He nodded. He looked at her and tried to see her thoughts but couldn’t. She looked blank. She felt dark, and this was good enough for him. “You did well for your first time.” He nodded again.

  She watched him drop his arms back to his sides. “Now would you please tell me what in the hell we’re doing here?” She chuckled some under her breaths. She could not wait to know. She could not wait for her chance to fight back.

  He nodded again and took a deep breath with it. “We have to build a fire.”

  She shrugged with this. “What?” She did not expect it.

  He laughed. “We have to let them know that we’re here.”

  Again, she shrugged. “Who? Who do we have to let know that we’re here, and for what?”

  “The others.” He left her, walked to the edge of the clearing and stopped there. “The other black wolves are coming.”

  Before she could ask anything else, a deep echoing howling came from the trees. It rolled over the hills. It bellowed over the air. Hearing them, she heard a familiar sound. They sound like me. They sound like us. Soon, she realized something else about the howls too, and this made her shiver some with it. How many are there? There were too many of them to count. Hearing them, she swallowed hard. She blinked hard too. “There are other black wolves.” She watched him head into the clearing and stop in the center of it. She then watched him head back to the tree line, grab some long branches and pull them back to the center of the clearing. She now could not wait to see what was going to happen next.

  6

  As soon as everyone left the house, Danny looked at his grandfather with ever wanting eyes. He could not wait to hear everything, and now that they were alone, he figured that now was the time. He did not care anymore as to how crazy this was going to be either. He just wanted something. He also wanted to help if he could.

  Joseph did not want to, but he did begin. “I’m sorry Danny for getting you involved in all of this. If I could have done it without you, I would have.”

  “What is going on here?”

  Joseph led him to sit down on the sofa with him.

  Danny did.

  Robert watched this, and could not believe that he was still going to have to wait. They were wasting time. They were heading down yet another path that he didn’t want to go down. Yet again, it did not seem like he had the choice. Others were going to do what they had to do, and whether he agreed with it or not, they were going to do it anyway.

  “As you probably know by now, things are not exactly what they seem to be.” Joseph tried getting comfortable but knew that it was now hopeless. Nothing was ever going to be the same again.

  Danny felt that this was an understatement if there ever was one. “Who, or what, are those people?” He remembered their strength. He felt their cool and damp skin. He heard things that sounded even more farfetched than that. After asking his question, he took a deep breath, and was ready for it to begin.

  So did Joseph. “They are called Walkers Danny. They are not like us. They are different than people.”

  “Like what kind of different?” His eyes grew wider. His mind did the same thing.

  “They are vampires Danny. They are wolves. They are creatures of the night. They are a different species of this world.” Now that he said it, he expected the normal deluge of disbelieve that all people have when they learn about the truth—the truth that this world is not what they were told it was. “They are monsters of myth and they are real. They are right here, and they live side by side with us.”

  Danny shook his head. In an overly odd way, everything he heard made sense to him. After all, he had heard some of this before. “Okay. You have told me some of this before.” He looked his grandfather straight into his eyes and now, sitting there with everything that happened around them, he was even more convinced that his grandfather was so very different from what he was before. He could see
it in his eyes. He could hear it in his voice.

  Joseph heard this and his thoughts exploded hard. “I did?”

  Danny nodded. “Yes. A few years ago—back when I was a kid—you told me that some things exist—really exist, and that I must prepare for it someday. Don’t you remember?”

  Joseph shrugged, thinking back to the real Joseph, the one that once held this body, and could remember saying something about werewolves and creatures that live in the shadows. His friend, it seems, beat him to the punch. He told his grandson some of this already so he would be prepared for doing what he was now doing. Now thinking this, now knowing it, he felt relieved. He loved his friend, now even more before.

  “You’re not my grandfather, are you?” Danny now swallowed hard. Everything he felt, everything he thought, now made complete sense with that one simple question, and with it, he finally breathed. He finally relaxed.

  Joseph heard this, listened to his mind, and also relaxed. “You’re a very gifted young man Danny.” He looked to Rochie behind the sofa, saw his golden glow, and turned back to him. “You are right. I’m not Joseph. I have everything he was but I’m not truly him.” He looked down at his own golden colored hands. “My real name is Kenar. I am what is called a Wanderer, one of those who were born with the gifts of the Walkers. We are their children. We are special.” He now said it, and now, he had to wait for what he felt sure was going to come next—anger, loneliness, and loss for the one that the young man knew, and now understood was no longer there. In other words, he expected the worst.

  Danny had none of this. “What gifts?” He felt relieved even more.

  Kenar kept his head down. “There are so many.” He looked up and back to Rochie again, before looking back down. “There were only twelve of us born. Our gifts vary from one to the other. My gift was the ability to read thoughts. I can see what the Walkers can, even though I can’t see what people do.” He looked back to Rochie. “Rochie there has long life. He can also move objects with his thoughts, and see through the eyes of those around him. Others can infiltrate others and control them.” He looked back to Danny. “We are all reborn when a body comes to us.”

  Danny listened, feeling fascinated, but when he heard the part of the body, he, himself, cringed some. “You were able to take my grandfather’s body during the coma.” A single tear glistened in his left eye. “He is gone then…my grandfather?”

  Kenar looked down but only briefly, and looked up again. “He is. He let me come here because he was my friend.”

  In a way, Danny felt even more relieved with hearing all of this. He had already accepted his grandfather’s death when he slipped into the coma, so when he came out of it, he was just happy to still have him. Now knowing that he was gone, that he was dead, really dead, he felt better because of it. It all felt odd. The fact that he was still physically there only added to everything else. “I understand.” He nodded, bowed his head, stared at his own hands, and then looked up again. “Thank you for telling me the truth.” He even smiled.

  Kenar returned it. “You truly are a special man, Danny. I am honored to share you with everything your grandfather knew. I’m very proud of you just as he was.”

  Danny wiped the tear. He then took a deep breath.

  Robert nodded. Hearing that this was over with, he left the dining room and came back in to the living room.

  Danny looked up to him, and watched him come to the back of the sofa.

  Robert bowed his head.

  Kenar thought about everything, and now knew that it was time to get back to doing what he and Rochie had to do. “We have to do this Rochie. We have to call the others.”

  Robert met his stare. “How do we know if they are even looking for us?” He crossed his arms over his chest. Again, this was just a big waste of time—time that they did not even have.

  Kenar gave him a smile. “They are. I can feel them. There is someone at the flames. They are waiting for us to come to them.”

  Robert nodded. He was out of excuses. If they were going to call them, it was time to get to doing it. “All right then. Let’s do it.”

  He walked to the sofa.

  Danny stood up, and walked to the bay window at the front of the living room.

  Robert then sat down on the sofa with Kenar.

  Kenar faced him and let his eyes flow blue.

  Together, they moved to the fire. Together, they saw the flames.

  They were not alone.

  7

  “How far is this cove place?” Brandon asked. He followed Sharlia and her driver after getting out of the car and heading down the street. He still did not know why he was coming, other than him being some sort of a super vampire, something that he did not quite believe, but he only hoped they were right. After what happened with him and Sasha, he doubted he ever would. If it were not for Jimmy, he would not even be there, so how could he do anything different. It just did not make sense. In either way, he just went along for the ride.

  When the three of them stopped at a small park along the waterfront on the north end of Long Island, they were there. Seven people were already there, standing in the center of the park.

  Seeing Maxwell, her good friend for ages, Sharlia rushed him fast. They embraced strongly just seconds after reaching him. “Thank the gods you are well.” She kissed his cheek.

  He kissed her back. “I am thankful that you too are well my lady. I feared the worst when I found the home as it was.” He released her but held her with both hands by the shoulders. “What happened?” He bowed his head. “How could they have done this?” He looked afraid, maybe even a little ashamed.

  She looked to the others with them, and saw their faces. She saw the young Nightwalker Tommy. She saw Fandara. She saw Unari, she saw Francis. There was not one wolf in sight. “Is this all?” She felt relieved by seeing them, but at the same time, she felt more hurt than ever. So few. So very few survived. She was about to look back to Maxwell, but someone caught her eyes. Seeing him, she gasped. She knew instantly who he was and just as instantly, her eyes flared red. Her mind—her hatred—flared right along with them. “You!” she screeched. She pulled away from Maxwell and rushed the young man fast.

  The man, maybe younger than Brandon, didn’t have the chance to defend himself as Sharlia lifted him off his feet. In all fact, he chose not to fight. He was not there for this.

  Watching his lady’s reaction, Maxwell rushed her fast. “My lady?” He stopped by her left side. He did not touch her. He did not have the strength, but he did have to make her understand. “He is not with them. He came to us to help. He is a friend.”

  Seeing a Gorhan there, a Gorhan that more than likely helped to destroy her family, she wanted nothing more than to take his life without another thought about it. He did not deserve to live. He did not deserve anything for what his family did to them.

  “My lady?” Maxwell pleaded. “He came to help.”

  Brandon watched her speed, didn’t know what to say, and so said nothing. He just stood there and watched her attack.

  The young man, maybe even a boy, just gasped. He even went rather limp. “I…” he felt her grip tighten around his neck. He tried to breathe but had trouble even doing that.

  “My lady? He came to help us. He is not with his family.” Maxwell took her left elbow in his hand and squeezed her gently. “He is not with them.”

  She heard him and relaxed her grip some. “Why?” She did not intend to let him go, but only relaxed her strangling him to hear what his answer was. “Why would you violate your family to help us?” She of course did not believe him. Why would she? She would never again trust a Gorhan, or anything they would ever say or do. Besides, no one left their family. No one would ever dared do it. It was their most important law.

  With his windpipe cleared some, he did manage to say something. “I am not with Vincent. He is not my master.” He looked from Sharlia’s blaring red glare and looked to the young man standing behind her. He looked right at Brand
on. “I follow him.”

  Sharlia knew whom he was referring and nodded. “How do you know who he is?” She still did not believe him. No one forgoes his or her family like this. It just does not happen.

  The boy cringed some. “I was with Devish when he attacked him and the female wolf. I was there. I saw him.”

  Hearing this, Brandon’s eyes turned red. Just the thought of having Sasha hurt like that, and the fact that this boy was there and let it happen, brought every bit of rage to flow through him like a fire. Without another thought, he came to the other side of Sharlia and stopped there. “Kill it.” He showed his fangs.

  Seeing him, the boy cringed again. He knew that he would get this response, and that explained the reaction, but at the same time, he knew what he felt. He knew who he was.

  Sharlia smiled. “I will if he does not explain why he is here.” She motioned to Brandon, and turned back to the boy. Right then, right at that moment, she trusted Brandon. She did not know him at all, but now that no longer mattered. His reaction showed her his strength. His anger proved to her who he was. He was a true Walker. He was a true leader of the clans.

  Brandon didn’t like this, but did calm down some because of it. He too wanted to know more. In a way, he wanted the boy to beg for his life. He was more than just this simple raw emotion, but right now, he did not care. Sasha’s pain needed to be answered for. His own sense of anger and hatred needed to have revenge.

  The boy’s eyes began to water over some. “I follow the true son of Michael. He is the rightful heir. He is my rightful master.” He looked paler than ever.

  Sharlia smiled with this. “You did not even know that he still lived. How can you know to come here with my family?”

  “I did not know. I will not follow Devish. I will not follow Vincent. I follow those who must be avenged.”