Mother of Wolves: A dark suspenseful paranormal shifter origin novella (The Dark Creatures Saga)

by Ella Stone

  I managed a few more private moments with her. Nights when I knew Dimitar was far away on the command of the Duchess. I would go downstairs and sit cross legged on the floor and we would talk to each other as if there weren’t bars and a beast between us.

  “How old are you?” she asked me one night. I sat as close to the cage as I felt I safely could. I was well fed and had no intention of hurting her, but I had seen my kind provoked to bloodlust by as little as a pinprick.

  “Not that old.”

  “Older than me?”

  “Yes?”

  “Older than Victor?” She nodded towards the wolf, whose green eyes had remained fixed on me since the moment I had entered the dungeon.

  “No, I am not as old as Victor,” I replied with a hint of indignation. “I was not turned all that long ago. Although it feels like a lifetime.”

  “I know what you mean. Some days, I can barely remember my family’s faces and yet, other times, it seems only yesterday I was taken from them.”

  “I understand,” I said, and I did. I wanted to say more. To tell her that I would try again to find a way to free her and the others, but I didn’t want to offer false hope. This, I had learned myself, could be more dangerous than no hope at all.

  She reached her hand out through the bars towards me.

  “Do you think we could go back? Even if we could escape here, do you think we could ever go back to the lives that we had?”

  I pretended to mull over the question, chewing on my lip, with a pensive gaze as if it were something I had never considered. But the truth was, I had. A thousand times, if not more.

  “I think we would be able to make new lives,” I finally replied and, when she looked me in the eyes, I knew she understood whole-heartedly what I meant.

  Production of the serum was still slow, thankfully, although it was getting quicker with every passing day. Six more humans had been turned to wolves on the day that the Duchess summoned us all. I took a place close to her, on her left—a loyal servant.

  “I have news. The physician has found a way to maximise his production of the serum. Tomorrow night, we will have enough to transmute all the remaining humans. And then we will have our army. An army so dauntless, so ruthless, that our kind will never fear anything in this world again. And you, my children—” she extended her arm out to encompass us all and, when I met her gaze, I smiled, fangs on display, although it sickened me to my stomach to do so, “—you are the ones who have helped make this happen. And you will bask in glory for all eternity. On the next full moon, I will march my army to every other vampire lord in the land. And they will know, once and for all, that our kind is invincible.”

  I cheered with the others. Clinked my glass against theirs. And, on the inside, I died for the thousandth time.

  7

  EVE

  The next week, when the physician arrived, he was accompanied by Rhett and Dimitar and every other vampire that had ever entered our dungeon—bar the Duchess herself.

  I had seen Rhett only once since the night of the squirrel. And, while I hoped it was for safety that he had kept his distance, I had worried that he was regretting his decision to try and help me. My choice not to escape on my own when I had the chance had, at least, earned me a little favour with my fellow prisoners, who now looked on me as a friend, a confidante, who could be trusted. Not that it had much relevance any more. There was little use knowing people’s names and former occupations, if the only sounds they could make were growls and howls. There were twelve wolves amongst us now. A number, I could tell, which was about to be considerably multiplied.

  “Each take a collar, tubing and serum,” the physician ordered. “Make sure it has all been administered before completing the process with the scratch. One vampire per human.”

  The screaming began immediately. Struggles broke out, as the vampires each chose their victim and entered the cages. Even the wolves paid notice, tipping back their heads and howling. This was it; this was the moment that my life, and everything I had ever hoped for, came to an end.

  “I get to do this one,” Dimitar said, baring his fangs as he looked me up and down. “I’ve been looking forward to this.”

  My chest tightened. I don’t know which I feared more, the procedure, or who was going to perform it. I had no doubt that he could make the single scratch alone more torturous than any other in history. My eyes went pleadingly to Rhett.

  “Please,” I whispered, tears welling in my eyes. “Please.”

  Dimitar stood at the cage door, hands on the lock. At that moment, I believed my last action as a human might well be to throw up on a vampire’s shoes.

  Rhett appeared at his side.

  “I thought the Duchess asked you to oversee proceedings.”

  “I am. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to take long.”

  He shoved the key in the padlock and opened it with a click. Bile rose in my throat. But he barely managed a step, before Rhett moved around him and blocked his way.

  “Do you not think it would be wiser to ensure that all the other vampires are doing their jobs, rather than indulging your own personal caprice?”

  “My personal caprice?”

  “That’s what it is, isn’t it?”

  He laughed, his eyes moving from me to Rhett and back again.

  “Oh, and I suppose you’d be willing to take my place, would you?”

  “I will go where I am needed.”

  “I’ve seen the way you look at her,” he snorted. “The way you two look at each other. It would be amusing, if it wasn’t so pathetic.”

  “I don’t know what you’re on about. I was just thinking that if things don’t go to plan, the Duchess wouldn’t be too happy with you if she discovered that you had disobeyed her orders.” He nodded to the far corner of the dungeon, where a vampire had taken hold of a prisoner. Her fangs were out and only inches from the human’s neck.

  A flash of fear crossed his face. “Fine, you take her.” He stepped to the side, crossing the room in the blink of an eye before grabbing the wayward vampire by the throat. “What did I say about no biting?”

  With Dimitar now actively supervising the rest of the vampires, Rhett stepped into my cage.

  “This is it, isn’t it?” I could feel the tears tumbling down my cheeks, but I couldn’t wipe them away.

  “I should have… I wish I had…” Rhett looked down at his hands. It took all the strength I possessed not to reach up and brush his pale cheek.

  “You did what you could. You kept me alive this long.”

  “It’s not enough.”

  “It’s more than others got.”

  He nodded silently. “I am sorry. I don’t know what comes next. The Duchess says she wants an army for the next full moon. I should have tried to get you out again.”

  I didn’t know which was worse, the terror I felt for what was to come, or the heartache of seeing Rhett broken by his failure to save me. How? How had we come this far in such a short time? How could I be feeling like this for a…a monster. But we had shared a moment in time. A broken fragment, together.

  The tubing that was to be shoved down my throat hung limply in his hand. I reached out and took it.

  “We need to get started, or he will come back and finish the job himself. Do you think it will hurt for long?” I asked, in spite of myself.

  “I don’t know,” he whispered. “I hope not.”

  The sooner it was done the better I thought, as I forced the pipe down my own throat fighting the gag reflex. When the cold fluid hit my stomach, a sharp pain immediately stabbed at my sides. Moments later, it spread up my torso, freezing the air in my lungs.

  Without a word, Rhett pulled me to his chest and held me there. His arms were strong in their embrace. That was what I tried to focus on, as tears now weaved their way down to my chin.

  This is what it feels like, to be held by someone who loves you, I realised, pressing myself closer. I had finally found love, at the very end of my
human existence.

  Even after everything, I am glad for that moment. Glad that I lived to feel an embrace so secure it felt unbreakable. Yet I knew it had to end. Fighting against the choking coughs, I pulled the tubing back out of my throat.

  “Do it.” Each word felt like a dagger in my throat. “Do it now.”

  The final sound I heard was Rhett’s voice, whispering into the darkness. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I could not stop this.”

  Then all I felt was pain.

  8

  EVE

  Every cell in my body was on fire, with a burning so intense I thought it would turn my bones to charcoal. The screams of my fellow captives disappeared, as the transformation took control. My bones snapped and reformed within me. The pain shot down my spine and across my shoulders, all the way to the tips of my fingers and the ends of each toe, with such ferocity I didn’t think I could possibly survive it. And yet I did.

  I only realised I was still alive, when the pain had lessened to a dull throb and my eyelids fluttered open. I had survived. I know that this all happened in just a few heartbeats, but it seemed longer than a lifetime. And, when I looked around, I knew everything had changed.

  The sights, the smells, the sounds which should have been so familiar were all different. Strange noises filled my ears. I could see vampires talking, only metres from me, but failed to make out a single word that was being said. Something else caught my attention from further away. What was it? With ears pricked, I focused on the sound, instinctively recognising it for what it was: the beating of an owl’s wings, clearer than a new-born baby’s cry. I could sense every feather, every swoop and dip, in my mind’s eye. I wanted to immerse myself in this new world. I wanted to know what else was out there. But a new, muffled sound close by brought my attention back to the dungeon.

  Rhett. He was still beside me and his lips were moving but I couldn’t understand him. As his hand came towards me, I opened my mouth to speak. A snarl flew from my lips. When I looked down, I saw my legs were covered in pearly white fur. My fur. I was a wolf or, rather, a girl trapped within a wolf. I lifted my head back to him, straining to make sense of what he was saying and communicate with him.

  “It’s okay. I’m still here,” I tried to tell him but, once again, the sound that came from my muzzle was guttural and fierce.

  He grabbed the metal collar from his belt, ready to clamp it around my neck

  “No, you don’t need to use that, Rhett. It’s me. Please understand it’s me. It’s still me.”

  His eyes shone in fear, as he grabbed the back of my neck.

  “Please, Rhett. It’s me.”

  “He can’t understand you.” The voice seemed so near, it made me shiver. “Just like you can’t understand them.”

  My hackles rose. “What’s going on?” I growled.

  “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

  “Victor?”

  “I’m here.”

  “It’s not just Victor, I’m here too.”

  “Martha? Can someone please tell me what’s happening here?”

  “We’re not sure, but we can speak to each other.”

  “We can all hear what another wolf is saying, Victor added. “From that first moment, when Martha and I were transformed, we could communicate with one another.”

  “I...I…” I pawed at the ground, claws scraping on the stones, as I whined. Other, muffled sounds, began to grow louder, as did noises from beyond the dungeon, from outside in the forest. Not just the owl now, but mice, bats, so many animals. Too much noise assaulting my eardrums. It was all too much.

  “Eve, focus on us.”

  “You’ll be fine, you just need to focus on us.”

  “Focus, Eve,” I repeated their words to myself, unable to think any of my own. “You’re all right. You will be all right. You have to be all right.”

  Over and over, I repeated this mantra until, slowly, my mind began to steady itself. When I had finally managed to block the sounds from outside, I concentrated on one single thing. My own heartbeat. The strength of it. Slow. Continuous. It wasn’t easy, though. I could still hear voices in the background, but it was as if they were inside my head, not coming through my ears. Only as I grew confident, knowing which thoughts were truly my own, did I dare to speak to them again.

  ‘Is that why you were so calm when you were first turned?’ I asked.

  “Somehow, things never seem quite as bad if there’s one person out there who you know is listening to you,” Martha replied.

  “And I was definitely listening,” Victor added. “I didn’t have a choice.”

  They laughed and I shook my head again. New feelings were rippling through me, so fast I couldn’t keep track of them. Fear, excitement, loneliness, terror. Others’ emotions, all surging through me.

  “Yes,” Victor said, in an answer to a question I hadn’t even verbalised. “We get to feel what everyone else feels too.”

  “You can hear what I am thinking?”

  “We can hear and feel everything.”

  My stomach churned. Having people in your head was one thing, but them knowing my every thought? No. There had to be some boundaries.

  “You can learn to block some of it out,” Victor said, once again answering my question before the thought had even fully formed in my mind. “But we can’t block out everything. Not things that apply to the whole pack.”

  “We’re a pack?” This time I had asked an actual question.

  “It’s the only explanation we can think of,” Martha said.

  “And, another thing—what happened the other night.”

  “What?”

  “The growling.”

  I finally realised what Victor was trying to explain to me.

  “When Rhett was trying to help me escape?” I asked.

  “We couldn’t understand his words. He’s a vampire. A male one. And when a man, vampire or not, comes to take a girl in the middle of the night…”

  He let me finish the rest. “You thought he’d come to hurt me?”

  If I’d still been human, I would have cried. They had tried to save me. They had still cared.

  “When the others started shouting too, we were certain,” Victor continued. “I gave the command.”

  “You gave the command?” I repeated his words. “You are the Alpha?”

  “I am.”

  It was so obvious now. None of the others spoke over him, every single one of them hung on his words, myself included.

  “It was not until you just changed and I could feel the longing and hurt at what you had lost, that I realised he was not trying to hurt you,’ Victor said.

  “He shielded me from transformation for as long as he could. He tried to keep me safe. Until today, when there was nothing more he could do.”

  There seemed no need to hide the truth from Victor. He would know it all anyway.

  “It was not your fault that we were stopped.” I reassured them. “Besides, I would never have left without the others.”

  “We know.”

  I was starting to get used to these voices inside my head.

  “Like I told you, you’ll be able to block them out with practice,” Victor said.

  “You’re only saying that because you’re the Alpha,” Martha added. “I’ve had to listen to what’s going on in your head twenty-four hours a day for weeks now.”

  Several of the other wolves agreed.

  Victor growled in response. “That’s enough. As soon as the vampires leave, we will have to explain to the new wolves how all this works.”

  They were still hanging around. Some spoke with words now unintelligible to my inner ear. Some poked metal bars into our cages. As hard as it was, I chose not to engage in all the discussions going on inside my head. Instead I tried desperately to understand the words spoken out loud. Though all my efforts were futile.

  When they had finally gone, Rhett returned with a chair and placed it by my cage, then rested his head in his hand
s. My heart ached at the sight of him. It was impossible to know how long he stayed there, silent and unmoving. All sense of time was lost to me now, and I could hear no words. The wolf pack, busy reassuring its new members, gave me as much privacy as they could, but it was not an easy task. I could hear them, there in the back of my mind. Before he finally left, he placed his hand on the bar nearest to me.

  Should I lick it? I thought, forgetting that thoughts were no longer private.

  “No!”

  The command came through like a knife in my skull. I yelped and gasped for breath. The words and pain were excruciating. The yelp came out as a growl. Rhett backed away. A moment later he was gone.

  “I am sorry,” Victor spoke in my head. “But they cannot, they must not know that any humanity remains in us. Not with what else we can do.”

  I was still trying to recover from the painful command of the Alpha and the departure of Rhett. It took me a moment to latch onto his words.

  “What else can we do?” I asked.

  The wolves who had been turned before me began to whoop in excitement, although only in their minds. Their bodies remained placid and relaxed. “Show them. Show them!”

  “Victor you must.”

  “David will do it. He has the most control.”

  David, I remembered, another older man. Although what it was that he could do, I couldn’t imagine. I couldn’t even have dreamed.

  Later, I thought how strange it would have looked had someone seen us. How bizarre it would have been to see three dozen wolves turning in perfect, silent synchronisation to face one, large male. Not a male wolf, but a human man. How had he been spared the procedure? This didn’t make sense. His hair was somewhat straggly and his limbs more muscular than average but, otherwise, he was unremarkable. A series of howls came from the new wolves.

  “Quiet.”

  It took me a moment to realise that the command had come from me. Several small yelps echoed in protest, but then there was silence, nevertheless. I looked back to the man, David and, as I did so, the light finally dawned.