Wild Life

by Girl, Breukelen

  Lost in her thoughts and attempting to ignore the ache and pain building in her shoulder joints from the straining of being hung up. Cassidy’s head shot up and her eyes darted around as the sound of a wolf’s howl echoed through the woods around her. There was more than one of them. Her heart thudded in her chest quickly. What if the scraggily Joey wolf was just waiting to signal back to that wolf of his find, so they could all take a bite out of her?

  She looked at the scraggily wolf before her, it stood up abruptly on all four legs, it’s body tense, it’s head moving from side to side and dipping to the ground as if trying to pick up a scent. It’s ears twitching back and forth quickly.

  It didn’t call out to the other wolf. Cassidy watched it’s movements closely. The only thing she could attempt to do if it decided to turn on her and jump up at her, was pull her tied up legs up, as much as she could into her chest. To put distance between her and the wolf. But that might be harder to do, considering how she was strung up. Any movement was likely she’d just hang herself instead. Still, being hung was probably better than being consciously savaged to death, her mind reasoned.

  Addison would come for her. She assured herself. He’ll come for me.

  “He’ll come for me. Zac will come for me.” Cassidy rasped out loud. Causing the scraggily wolf to turn around and look back at her menacingly. He growled at her, unpleased with her remark.

  Cassidy held the gaze of the scraggily wolf. It was like he understood her, she thought silently. How was that possible?

  The sound of movement in the dense woods in front of her caught both their attention. But the scraggily wolf had been distracted by Cassidy’s positive affirmation and it only turned around in time to see a large grey wolf, explode from the bushes in front of it, teeth exposed and snarling as it pounced onto the scraggily wolf, tearing and clawing at it as they rolled to the ground and out of Cassidy’s sight range.

  Addison had followed the various scent trails of the kidnappers through Arden woods and despatched Jules and Paris and Vaughn off to each of them. Whilst he’d followed the trail that seemed to double around, contain two familiar metallic fur scents, that rang red bells in his wolf brain as Cassidy’s kidnappers. He’d followed them to the small clearing in the woods, where he’d spied Cassidy strung up in a tree, a hangman’s noose around her neck.

  He’d heard her say “He’ll come for me, Zac will come for me.” And the lycan guarding her, turn around to growl at her. It’d made him smile, with teeth bared and he’d taken the opportune moment to leap onto the unsuspecting lycan.

  The lycan was no match for Addison’s werewolf. He was not only far more superior as a fighter and out weighed the scraggily lycan by three and half times it’s body weight, he was also fuelled with utter rage. And Addison didn’t care who received the brunt of his rage. Just as long as his blood lust was sated and those responsible were dealt with by him and his pack. Anything, as long as Cassidy was made safe again.

  Addison’s teeth sunk into the side of the lycan’s head and he gnashed and tore, feeling the gooey pop of the inferior wolves’ eye as it was mangled beyond repair and pulled from the socket of the lycans head. The lycan yelped in pain, it’s body trying to twist out from under Addison as he pressed his fangs further into the flesh of the lycan and pulled, tearing at fur and muscle. He wanted to pull the skinny wolf completely apart, piece by piece.

  He had no desire to be honourable, to keep the lycan as a prisoner to be interrogated by the Manhattan Maen. He just wanted the lycan, all the lycans involved in Cassidy’s kidnapping, dead. And so he kept tearing, pulling the flesh off the lycan until blood gushed out onto it’s limp, fur covered body and sprayed Addison’s own fur with it’s quick, and as far as he was concerned, far to merciful death.

  A second werewolf howl sounded. Addison dropped the lycan, what was left of the raggedy beast, from his jaw and lifted his head. It was Vaughn, advising them he’d got his kill. Which meant there was still Julian to go on their last adversary. Paris had scored the first Lycan kill without much fight, it seemed. Not that it was that surprising. Paris was a superior fighter and werewolf. Addison would expect nothing less from his pack leader, unless Paris was in the mood to toy with the lycan at his disposal.

  Addison lifted his head high and howled back, letting his call carrying through the woods, to his pack mates in various locations through out it. He dropped his head after the howl and looked back over at Cassidy, strung up in the tree. Padding around to the front of her, he looked at her.

  Cassidy’s eyes took in the sight of the very large wolf before her. Grey and beige he was coated in blood. Presumably from the littler scraggily wolf she could no longer see. And as scary as the large, blood coated wolf should have been. She felt no fear at seeing him. There was something familiar about the wolf. Cassidy couldn’t figure it out. But it was an instinctual feeling of certainty. That and the wolf didn’t look at her like she was a meal. It’s eyes looked on her with…kindness and…adoration. Cassidy blinked. How could that be?

  The large wolf backed up from her, further away. “No.” Cassidy choked out. “Don’t let me be wrong.” The large wolf opened it’s mouth, it’s tongue lolling to the side, as if smiling back at her. Cheekily she thought. As it dropped to it’s belly and started to twitch and shake.

  “No. No. Don’t die.” She screamed hoarsely at the wolf. He’d protected her from the smaller wolf, she was sure of it. Tears strung her eyes and rolled relentlessly down her face. “No.” she managed hoarsely. “No, please.” The large grey wolf, was all she had out there in the woods with her. For her. She couldn’t handle being left alone, again at the mercy of whatever else decided to come her way.

  But the wolf wasn’t dying, she realised as a weird shimmer eloped it’s twitching body and literally changed before her eyes, to the half curled up form of a male human body. Cassidy’s eyes went wide and she let out a strangled gasp. A familiar, human body, covered in a tribal design tattoo. Naked and curled in on himself.

  She waited and watched as Addison, slowly gained consciousness, his eyes covered by his hair and looking straight up at her. Addison pushed up off the ground and shook the haziness from his head.

  “Note to self, fast shape shifts, always carry side affects” he muttered to himself more than her. Like dizziness. “Cassidy.” But he didn’t have time to wait for it to pass, he had to free Cassidy. Get to Cassidy, that was what his mind told him.

  Addison staggered to his feet and Cassidy watched as his knees buckled and he straightened, steady himself before walking towards her. He moved quickly, his eyes not daring to look into her facial expression. His eyes falling on her rolled down underwear and her exposed breast. His mind filling with anger again. He’d been too merciful on the lycan.

  The thought of one of those lycans let alone all of them, touching Cassidy, it was enough to drive him made. He glanced away and back at the rest of her lower body. He wasn’t sure he could take it if she looked at him with fear. And at the same time, he needed to know. Had to know if she thought him a monster. An abomination of nature and humanity. Addison drew his head up just before he reached for her ropes. He held Cassidy’s gaze.

  Tears glistened her eyes and she smiled softly at him. Addison’s heart pulsed, almost throwing itself at his ribcage with happiness. He hadn’t expected that. Then Cassidy started crying and choking with the rope around her. He raised a hand before her face, and focussing on his fingers, shifted them to the claw of a wolf with talons for nails. He watched her eyes widen in fascination before he swiped at the rope around the tree branch, cutting it free in one swipe.

  Cassidy collapsed downwards, crying out from the pain in her arms as they moved and Addison’s claw shifted back to a human hand. In time for him to catch her as she fell down. He pulled her into his chest.

  “I got you.” He muttered as she cried into his chest. “I got you.” He said, loosing the noose around her neck with one hand and flinging it off her. He held her against his na
ked body tightly. “I got you, you’re safe now.” He said softly to her, kissing her forehead. Even as he didn’t believe his own words. “It’s going to be alright now. I got you.” He said scooping her up in his arms and carrying her out through the woods.

  Addison carried Cassidy in silence as she rested against his chest. The plan to get her back and deal with the Lycans as they saw fit, had gone down well. Easily. The lycans had been no match for the werewolves of the Manhattan Maen. Julian had been advised by the last minute, by Paris, to allow his Lycan to escape and evade their capture.

  When Addison heard that his eyes sharpened on Paris. “Why? I thought the plan was to kill them. To show them they cannot come after our women.” He ground out at Paris, as Cassidy rested against him, snuggled into him, in the back of the car they’d come across in. A blanket was thrown over her near naked form and she remained quiet. Not having said a word to anyone, not even Addison when he’d carried her back to the car.

  Not that Addison figured she had to say anything, after all she’d gone through. But it made him uneasy all the same. But he put down to her being in shock.

  “We’ll make him pay in the end. But we need to know, who set this up. So we can end this properly. Directly. That’s the Manhattan Maen way.” Paris said back at Addison, holding his gaze, before looking at Cassidy.

  “I’m glad we got you back. You’re safe now.” Paris said at her. Cassidy nodded her head at him, her arms wrapping tighter under the blanket, around herself.

  “We’ve got to get her checked out at a hospital.” Julian stated, speaking up for the first time since entering the car.

  “We’ll take her to a friendly one.” Paris said, facing back around in his seat as Vaughn drove them back out of Staten Island. “Then we’ll deal with whoever set this thing into motion.”

  “I’ll get guards for post on Cassidy at the hospital.” Julian said factually, producing a cell phone from his jeans pocket. He was topless and in just jeans, bare feet, that still held dirt on them. Hitting speed dial on it and looking out at the window as he spoke rapidly in French into it. Cassidy watched them all, taking it all in.

  Werewolf. Loup Garou, that was the French word for it. The word flew into her mind. They were werewolves. Paris, Jules and the other male she didn’t know. And Zac. He was a werewolf.

  They were a pack of a werewolves. The Manhattan, what was that word? Mean, Maen? That was their pack. It was like solving a jigsaw puzzle. Cassidy suddenly felt like she actually understood Addison. His reluctance to be with her on an intimate level. It had something to do with him being different. With him being a werewolf.

  Addison looked down at the woman in his arms, wrapped under the blanket covering them both. His heart lurched, at the vacant look in her eyes as she stared out at the passing scenery from the car window.

  He recognised it as shock. And yet it still saddened him to see the vibrancy he’d become accustomed to seeing in her eyes, her facial expressions, gone.

  21

  Cassidy was admitted to a hospital where the staff were familiar and aware of the Manhattan Maen werewolves. They knew how to not ask particular questions, and to keep curious eyes and concerns at bay.

  Paris walked out of Cassidy’s room and noted the two Manhattan Maen werewolves on guard duty that Jules had arranged. He walked over to Addison who sat in one of the hard plastic chairs outside her room.

  “You should go in there.” He said softly to his second in command. “She needs to be reassured, comforted right now.”

  “How is she?” Addison asked quickly.

  Paris sighed heavily. “Doctor checked her out, she’s got some rope burn on her wrists, around her neck. It cut in deep around her neck, might leave some scars,”

  Addison frowned. He didn’t want Cassidy marked by this ordeal, having to remember it again and again when she looked at herself.

  “A slight dislocation of her right shoulder, which was popped back in, but otherwise, she’s okay. No open cuts, or scratches. Doc took a sample of her blood anyway to run for lycanthropy tests. But she’s pretty sure, Cassidy’s clean. You should go in there.”

  “What about?” Addison gulped down the words in his throat. He could barely bring himself to think it. “The way I found her, the torn clothing the…”

  “Doc said rape test kit was negative. Go in there, just go to her. She needs to be with you, she’s been through a lot. Cassidy has a lot to process.”

  “How can I go in there?” Addison asked standing up to face Paris. “I’m the whole reason this happened to her in the first place.”

  “Are you?” Paris replied. “Then why did a pair of lycans come after my pack mate too?” He fired back at Addison. “Go to her.”

  “So it’s an attack on our pack?”

  “Yes. For what reasons, I don’t know yet. But I will. Go to her.” Paris said putting a hand on Addison’s shoulder warmly.

  “I…I don’t think I can face it, if she can’t…handle me. If she doesn’t want…me. After seeing me shape shift back in the woods. She knows now and…”

  “It’s better that she knows now. You had to tell her some time. Go to her. Talk. Be with her.” Paris said dropping his hand off Addison’s shoulder. “She shouldn’t be alone after that ordeal. She needs you and you need her.”

  Addison looked at the door to Cassidy’s private hospital room.

  “Did she ask for me?” He asked Paris.

  Paris looked sadly back at his friend. “I think she’s still in shock. It’s been rough for her. I know if it were me in there, I’d appreciate a familiar face to comfort me.”

  Addison looked away from the door and jammed his hands in his jeans pockets.

  “I can’t. I just, I can’t.” He said walking away from the hospital room quickly. Paris sighed and watched his friend leave.

  Jules walked back down the corridor towards Paris, passing Addison as he did so. Stopping long enough to ask Addison what he was doing and when he realised he was leaving. Before starting to throw heated words at him and pointing to Cassidy’s room. Addison shoved his friend aside quickly and kept going, his head down.

  Jules walked up to Paris. “He can’t just leave her like that.” Jules stated angrily. Paris nodded his head sighing heavily.

  “I know.”

  “But how can he…” Jules stated looking back down the vacant corridor where Addison had been. Jules shook his head and walked over to the door to Cassidy’s room. “She deserves better. He should damn well do better for her.” He stated putting his hand on the door open.

  “Jules?” Paris said turning to face the other werewolf. “Take it easy on him okay? He’s new to this.”

  “To what? Being responsible?” Jules fired back bitterly. Shaking his head, pushed on the door and walked into Cassidy’s room.

  “No, to being in love.” Paris said softly.

  23

  “Where’s Bg?” Addison asked some hours later, when he’d returned to Paris’s apartment. Not seeing or sensing the young beta werewolf.

  “She is back with the Breukelen while we finish this thing.” Paris stated looking at his friend. “We are going to finish it Addison, you can be sure of that.”

  Addison nodded his head. He didn’t really feel like he’d finished the fight yet. He couldn’t really say why. Killing the lycan should’ve given him a sense of satisfaction, of placating his inner wolf. But he still felt wired. Off balance as it were.

  “So what’s the plan?”

  “We’re gonna take a leaf out of Bg’s book.” Paris stated slapping Addison’s shoulder as he grabbed his jacket and car keys. “And put on a little show of defiance. This time, for the tri-state council.”

  Addison smiled “Trouble in the name of Bg, how original.” Addison followed Paris out to the Porsche.

  Bg’s show of defiance, had been to drag a quarter of her werewolf pack, the Breukelen into Manhattan Maen territory on a lunar weeknight. A big no-no to any werewolf. Then to literally put on displ
ay, in the most public of ways, one of the Manhattan Maen alpha werewolves, Gabby Colton, for utter humiliation and exposure for what she was. Bg had used weapons to make her point, the ultimate humiliation with Gabby. To bring down her alpha abilities at a time, a lunar eclipse, when Gabby could not fight back.

  This was just a regular lunar week. All werewolves had their normal abilities to shape shift, to fight back in wolf form. Addison had never used weapons before in a fight. He didn’t see the correlation between Bg’s highly personal attack on Gabby with what Paris was getting at.

  “How so?”

  “That lycan I had Jules let go. Did exactly what we expected him to do. He ran to the one responsible for all this. Lycans, not terribly smart when it comes to strategy, but big on the whole survival thing. Who’d have thought?” Paris said jovially as they got into the car and sped off from the underground car park. “Think about it. Why would a werewolf pack, or any werewolf for that matter, send a lycan to do their business for them.”

  Addison frowned. “They wouldn’t. Most werewolves can’t pass up a good fight.”

  “Exactly. Unless, say, you don’t have pack resources. You’re not really known for being much of a fighter by werewolf standards. Or unless you have plenty of willing, and able lycans at your disposal.”

  Addison’s head snapped around to look at Paris. “You mean…” Paris nodded his head. “And why would you attempt to do such a bold thing as kidnap a pack leaders pack mate, on one of the largest werewolf packs in New York, unless you were attempting to make a point.”

  “A point that the tri-state council, wanted to make heard.”

  “By all in the werewolf community of New York. Not just the Manhattan Maen.” Paris continued on. “Why would you take on such a big pack fully prepared to fight those attacking them if you didn’t expect some sort of retaliation in return? I had all the councillors rounded up and they’re being held at Crescent again. Currently they are under the guard of all patrons in there. Which is just about every Manhattan Maen werewolf who would normally go there. I’ve realised all human staff for the night.”