Agnes said nothing as they prepared to leave. She simply watched from the porch as Edie climbed into the passenger seat of the motorhome. Edie pressed her hand against the window as the motorhome pulled away. She could have sworn a tear ran down Agnes’ cheek. Edie almost cried herself. She was still torn as she turned her attention out the window and watched as Yeager took them out of the gate adorned with the metal wolf’s head and away from the ranch to find Cassie.
“We’ll find her, Edie,” Yeager assured her. Edie turned and smiled at the mysterious biker that had become her friend over the last few months.
“I know,” she replied. There was no way she wasn’t going to go after Cassie but leaving Agnes hurt. Edie felt an attraction to the girl she’d never experienced before. She felt some kind of connection and leaving Agnes behind was like leaving a part of herself. “Yeager?” she asked.
“Yeah?” he replied.
“What was it like when you met your mate?” she asked. Yeager tore his attention from the road and stared at Edie. After a moment, he smiled and began to tell Edie about the day he met his mate, the woman he was made for, the woman that was made for him, the woman he never should have let slip from his grasp.
~~O~~
“Don’t worry. I just need to take some blood to run some tests,” Phillip told me. I relaxed a bit but still this whole situation was maddening and frustrating to say the least. I felt trapped, abandoned and betrayed. In fact, Yeager’s disappearance was bothering me more and more. Why would he leave? I just couldn’t figure it out, but suddenly it hit me. I kissed Gerard. Rather, he kissed me. Did Yeager see that or hear of it from someone? I wouldn’t put it past Violet to make sure Yeager saw me kissing Gerard. This whole trip was a set up from the get go.
I attempted to shift again but nothing happened. I could feel the wolf inside of me longing for escape but I couldn’t bring myself to transform. Something blocked me from reaching inside as I did in the Sierra Nevada forest when Yeager needed me. I found a way then but now I was prevented from shifting by something I couldn’t sense. If only I knew what prevented me from becoming a wolf, maybe I could find a way around it or through it.
“Why can’t I change?” I asked pointedly as Phillip tied a rubber tube around my upper arm and then readied the syringe.
“Pheromones,” he told me as he found a vein in the crook of my elbow and thumped it with his finger.
“What?” I asked.
“Pheromones. It’s an airborne hormone, more or less, that tells the body to shut down the processes that allow a person to change. I discovered it. Highly useful when we find a young child that hasn’t learned to control their instincts,” he told me with a hint of pride and then sank the needle into my arm. Blood began to flow forth into the clear vial.
“Like Agnes?” I asked. I tried hard to remain calm, just like back at the diner when bikers got mouthy or when Dolan made trouble. I had no choice. I could run but I wouldn’t make it far. I wasn’t fast or nimble and I was far outnumbered. Without becoming a wolf, trying to escape was futile.
“Why, yes. We did use it on her. Once Violet had coaxed the girl into her human form, we administered the hormone to keep her that way until we could reason with the girl,” Phillip told me as he pulled the vile free of the syringe and inserted another.
“How is it administered?” I asked innocently. Phillip was onto me, however.
“Sorry, can’t tell you that. Nice try, however. We’re finished. See? Painless just like I promised,” Phillip replied still trying to be my friend.
“Why do you follow her? Why do you want to hurt me?” I asked him as he bandaged my arm.
“I don’t want to hurt you. Neither does Violet,” he told me. I didn’t believe him. Philip stood and went to the door. “She’s finished. You can escort her to her room,” he told the guards. They came inside and waited for me to follow. I did so dutifully but I expected to be taken to the room I had been given the night before. Instead, I was taken to a room on the third floor, a room that was nicely decorated but had bars on the window and a lock on the door. They shut me inside but I didn’t hear them leave. They were probably standing guard at my door.
The minutes passed and I finally lay on the bed and tried to reason through the situation I found myself in. Yeager was gone along with Edie. But now I suspected Yeager was either forced to leave, which was doubtful, he wanted to leave, which didn’t seem right either, or he was tricked into leaving. That sounded like Lady Violet. I was sure she had arranged it somehow. The question was would Yeager come back for me? That I couldn’t know but if he’d seen me kissing Gerard, or heard of it, it was likely he was gone for good.
If only I could change into a wolf, I’d have a chance, albeit a small one, of escaping. Pheromones? I got Phillip to reveal the method they used to prevent me from shifting but not how it was administered. He wouldn’t tell me and that made me wonder. If he wouldn’t tell me, did that mean I could somehow stop the effect? Several ways of exposing me to the pheromones came to mind but each was either implausible or would have affected others around me. Obviously, the others could shift. If only I could reason how Violet had managed to expose me to the pheromones, maybe I could reverse the effects.
For now, however, I was stuck in my human form. I tried to shift again to make sure and once again, nothing happened. The wolf inside of me was eager to be free, as always, but I couldn’t do anything about it. Suddenly, a sadness and hopelessness crept over me. I resisted the temptation at first but soon it was overwhelming. I turned over, curled up into a ball and began to sob. Reality was setting in. I was a prisoner, a captive, and there was nothing I could do to change that.
As my emotions flowed freely, I began to wonder what might become of me. Dreadful and horrific scenes played out in my head, Violet and Phillip doing unspeakable things to me. All of it was fantasy and conjecture but I somehow knew this wouldn’t end pleasantly despite assurances to the contrary. But more than anything, losing Yeager and Edie hurt the most. That thought, that reality, tore me up inside and left me raw and exposed.
My mate and I were separated and we may never be reunited. Yeager had said something about that, about what happens when one mate loses the other. He described it as a life of longing and pain. I knew what he meant now. Already, the thought of it made me feel sick. I knew I loved Yeager. I had from the beginning, despite what Violet claimed. I was even surer of it now. Without him by my side, I was lost. But the worst part was that it was all my own doing. I insisted on coming here, though I was sure now that I would have been dragged here one way or another if Lady Violet had anything to do with it. I betrayed Yeager’s trust, kissed Gerard and enjoyed it.
I broke down at the thought, the sadness enveloping me completely. For how long I lay there in my makeshift prison cell sobbing, I wasn’t sure but I was woken by the lock being turned and the door being opened. I must’ve have fallen asleep and the fact it was obviously late afternoon meant I’d been sleeping for hours. Lady Violet came in and she closed the door behind her. The lock clicked again.
“There are clothes in the closet, child,” she told me. I still wore the wool coat and shoes she had brought for me that morning.
“Don’t call me that. I’m not your child and we’re not friends. Cassie will do,” I said flatly. I still felt raw but I had cried it out. I was in control of my emotions though they still ran deep.
“All right, fine. I don’t ask that you like me. I only ask that you do as I want,” she said.
“You didn’t ask. You kind of kidnapped me and sent my mate and best friend away. You’ve stolen my ability to become a wolf. I’ll do as you please but it’s not as if you left me any choice,” I replied coldly.
“That...man left of his own volition. He was rather angry when he caught you with Gerard. I can’t say as I blame him. It didn’t take long for you to betray him around another shifter,” she told me. I tried not to let it bother me. I knew now that she was lying but I couldn’t help it.<
br />
“You’re a bitch, you know that?” I spat out at her.
“Yes, I do. I get what I want, what is good for our kind. I’m not out to hurt you but it has become obvious you aren’t as submissive as I’d hoped. So be it. I’ll do whatever I need to ensure our survival, Cassie. Besides, I couldn’t let the fabled Wolf Mother live, now could I? Not one as dominant as you are. I won’t give up my position that easily,” she said and I gasped as she did.
“So that’s it. You mean to kill me?” I pressed.
“Once I’ve gotten what I need from you, yes. In fact, that’s a necessary part of my plan, not to mention part of the fun. I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore what you think of me. You’re trapped here and no one is going to save you. I hate your kind. Rogues! They disgust me. Wolves are made to submit but some of you just refuse to acknowledge my dominance. I can’t wait to see you die, Cassie. One less troublesome rogue wolf to have to bring into the fold or kill trying. And by the way, know that when I’ve taken what I need from you and you’re dead, I’ll track down your mate and that boyish girl and kill them too,” Violet said coldly.
“Good luck with that, Yeager’s twice the wolf you’ll ever be. I take it back. You’re not a bitch, you’re insane. As long as we’re tossing threats about, let me add my own. I will get out of this. I will hunt you down and when I have you on your back, your eyes wide with fear and begging me for mercy, I will tear your still beating heart from your mangy chest and the last thing you’ll see before it all goes black will be me devouring it,” I said calmly but with an unmistakable edge of menace.
“An empty threat seeing as you can’t even become a wolf, child,” Violet said as she turned and left me alone in the room. So, she meant to kill me. What exactly she needed from me, I had no idea but whatever it was, it would leave me dead. That reality, however, didn’t scare me. Just the opposite. It motivated me. I was determined to make good on my promise, to kill that old bitch and eat her heart. How was the only question? That I had yet to figure out.
~~O~~
Yeager and Edie sat finishing their dinner in a small diner somewhere in Utah. Edie picked at her meal, chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes. “Not hungry?” Yeager asked with half of his own flat iron steak getting cold on his plate.
“Not really. I thought we’d find her by now,” Edie said. Yeager hoped they might too but they hadn’t seen any sign of her. They had asked at just about every gas station, restaurant and truck stop along the way but nobody had seen the girl with the shock of white hair among her otherwise black locks. Yeager was beginning to wonder if Cassie had gone another way. He couldn’t scent her at all and considering she left her phone in the motorhome, he worried they might not ever find her.
“We’ll find her,” he assured Edie though he needed some reassuring himself.
“I can drive if you need to sleep,” Edie offered. Yeager had been up for over thirty-six hours.
“No, I’m good. I might take a little run. That always kind of resets my body clock,” he said. Edie opened her mouth to reply but she didn’t say a word. Instead, she stared past Yeager as her jaw fell open. When he heard the bell on the door of the diner ring, he turned. Agnes strolled in, all in black as usual.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Yeager asked with both surprise and anger in his voice.
“Please, you must listen to me,” Agnes pleaded. Yeager looked at Edie but the girl was in no shape to answer. She just stared at Agnes. “Please. I know where Cassie is,” Agnes added. Yeager turned towards her again.
“Where?” he demanded.
“She never left Wolfsbane,” Agnes said. Yeager nodded towards the booth they occupied and Agnes took a seat next to Edie.
“So you lied to us?” Edie asked.
“No, I told you what Lady Violet said to me. I’m taking a huge risk being here, just like I did to be with you last night,” Agnes replied. That took Yeager by surprise for a moment but he dismissed it and focused on Agnes.
“She had you send us on a wild goose chase? Why?” Yeager asked.
“From what I gather, Cassie ran off after Gerard pushed himself on her. She was out all night in the mountains above the ranch. Violet found her and brought her back this morning after you left. She’s going to hurt Cassie. They took blood for some tests but I don’t know why,” Agnes explained. Yeager growled.
“So, why should we trust you?” Yeager asked the girl.
“Because I hate Lady Violet. Because she’s kept me under her thumb for years. Because she’s kept me from changing so I couldn't leave or challenge her. I want to help you get Cassie back,” Agnes said and looked at Edie. Yeager waited until Edie looked at him and nodded.
“I believe her,” Edie told the big biker.
“All right. Fine. So why can’t you change?” Yeager wondered.
“I didn’t know for the longest time but I figured it out. Violet and Phillip developed some kind of hormone that prevents it. When we breathe it, our ability is turned off. They’ve found some kind of antidote that prevents the hormone from affecting them. I doubt you can change right now,” Agnes told Yeager. He tried to change subtly, just his fangs. Nothing.
“Shit! Is it permanent?” he demanded.
“No! It’s in our clothes. Violet has always provided everything for me. My clothes have always been covered in it. I’m sure she did the same to yours. Even though you didn’t wear that suit, the hormones were all over your bed. But it wears off quickly. I’ve snuck out of the house at night, taken off the clothes and within an hour or two, I can shift,” the girl told Yeager and Edie.
“Why didn’t you leave when you found out?” Edie asked.
“I was afraid. I was on my own when I was little and beyond that, Wolfsbane Ranch is all I know. I’m not afraid anymore. I want to get away and help Cassie too. Violet isn’t the alpha she pretends to be. She’s strong but she uses the hormone to prevent the pack from changing until it suits her needs. She uses it to ensure she stays in charge and only the most trusted members are allowed to change freely. Well, them and the thugs she pays to keep the rest of us in line,”
“Like Dolan?” Yeager asked.
“Like Dolan,” Agnes confirmed.
“What are we going to do?” Edie asked.
“We’re going to head west, after a trip to Wal-Mart for new clothes,” Yeager said.
“West?” Agnes wondered. The ranch lay to the east.
“Yeager, you can’t give up on Cassie,” Edie exclaimed. Yeager frowned at her.
“Really? C’mon, Edie. I’m not abandoning her but we need help and I know where we can find plenty,” Yeager assured Edie.
“Murphy?” Edie asked.
“And many, many more. Agnes, you need to go back,” Yeager said but Agnes was already shaking her head.
“No, I can’t!” she said.
“You have to. You have to help free Cassie otherwise she’ll just become a helpless hostage. After she’s free, were going to tear that place down. I’ll protect you, I promise,” Yeager assured the young shifter. Agnes looked at Edie who nodded reassuringly.
“All right but you have to promise me you’ll come. If Violet finds out I’ve betrayed her...,” Agnes replied but didn’t finish her thought.
“I swear, I’ll get you and Cassie out of there,” Yeager repeated and then stood.
“OK, but what should I do?” Agnes asked. Yeager tossed a couple of twenties on the table and gestured for the girls to follow. Yeager explained his plan as he stuffed his clothes into a trash bag and then did the same with Cassie and Edie’s clothes. Once the clothes were bagged up and he had told Agnes what he wanted her to do, he told her to go and watch over Cassie, to do whatever she had to do to keep her safe.
“I’ll do whatever I can. I swear,” Agnes told him as they stepped out of the motorhome.
“We’ll be there the day after tomorrow at dawn. You stay safe, Agnes. You’re a strong girl and I bet an even stronger wolf. Don’t be afraid of what you
are. The wolf will know how to defend itself,” Yeager said. Agnes nodded and then suddenly hugged him. Yeager hugged the girl back.
“Thank you,” she told him.
“No, thank you,” he replied. Then the girls turned towards one another. Yeager wandered off to find a trash bin but he looked back and saw them kissing and both girls had tears in their eyes. Yeager knew the truth they had yet to discover, that Edie had only guessed at. Agnes had found her mate. Yeager continued on to let the girls have a moment alone. When he returned, Agnes was gone. Yeager smiled at Edie and winked.
“What?” she asked as she wiped a tear from her cheek.
“Nothing,” Yeager replied as he stepped into the motorhome. “C’mon, kiddo. Let’s go get Cassie,” he said as he disappeared inside. Edie smiled and followed him. Moments later, they were headed to get help. Yeager needed backup. He was going to war.
~~O~~
I stared out the window after a mostly sleepless night. When I wasn’t trying to figure out the source of the pheromones that prevented me from shifting, I was wondering exactly what Lady Violet had planned. As I wondered where Yeager was, I heard the lock on my door click open. I turned from the window to see Violet entering my room. “Good morning, child,” she greeted me wearing her phony smile as she closed the door behind her.
“Come to gloat some more?” I asked. I was through crying and wallowing in self-pity. I was set on making my threat of the previous day a reality, though I still had no idea how I might accomplish that.
“I’ve come to tell you that things are almost ready. Tomorrow morning will be your last. Then, I’ll get what I need,” Violet said.
“I appreciate it,” I replied sarcastically. Violet’s smile disappeared for the first time and it was replaced with a sneer that seemed to fit the woman better than that phony smile ever did.
“Confident and defiant to the end. You know, I lied. You’re not special. You’re not even the first. I find a girl like you every year or so. Like you, they are born to a human mother. Most come willingly to me, eager to be a part of something bigger than themselves and fooled by my promises. They want to believe they are special but not you. You required much more work and still you’ve managed to resist,” Violet explained.
Wolf's Bane Page 7
