by Dena Christy
Dark Wolf
Dena Christy
Contents
Copyright
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Coming Fall 2015
18. Dark Vengeance
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Copyright © 2015 by Dena Christy
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Chapter 1
Kate Townsend stirred on the creaky old cot. She had to blink several times to bring her eyes into focus. Sterile florescent light bounced off the institutional green walls of the stark barren room. Her cot was the only piece of furniture in it, and it was a utilitarian piece. She had no idea where she was or how she got there.
The cot creaked as she shifted her weight and sat up. The place was eerily silent, no sounds of people in the hall, no announcements over a PA system, nothing but utter silence.
Where am I? She got on her feet and swayed for a moment as the room swam before her eyes. Taking a deep breath she managed to steady herself as she grasped the cot’s cold metal headboard. There wasn’t even a window to look out, so no hope there of seeing where she was. She looked at the door, it didn’t have a window either, and appeared to be typical of a big institution.
She walked over to it, her bare feet scuffling on the floor. Taking a deep breath, she grasped the door handle and pulled as hard as she could. To her surprise the door swung open towards her, creaking on its hinges and she narrowly avoided hitting herself in the face. She hugged herself, her hands rubbing up and down the thin cotton sleeves of the shirt she wore. She had on matching drawstring cotton pants, and they looked like the kind of clothes someone would wear if they were in a hospital for an extended stay. Cautiously, she peeked her head through the doorway and looked left and right. There appeared to be no one in the hall, and the only noise was the buzzing of the florescent lights over head.
Kate had no idea which direction she should go, and she supposed it wouldn’t matter, so she chose to go to the right. She walked as quietly as possible down the hall, her body hyper alert. Anxiety twisted her stomach, and she tried to calm herself down. She supposed waking up in a strange room in a dead silent building would stretch any girl’s nerves.
As she approached the end of the corridor, where it intersected another corridor, she thought she heard voices. Creeping closer to the corner, she cocked her ear, surprised at how close the voices sounded. She carefully looked around the corner but there was no one there. Strange, she could have sworn she heard someone talking. She went to the left of the new corridor, and realized the voices were coming from a room on the left side of the hall. She edged closer and pressed her ear against the door. The voice came through surprisingly clear considering the door was made of the same thick metal as the door on her room.
“How long do you think it will be before she comes to?”
“It shouldn’t be long now. She’ll make prime breeding stock, and it’s a shame that she’s not for the likes of us.”
Breeding stock? Kate lifted her ear off the door and her eyebrows drew together in a puzzled frown. Was she in some sort of veterinary hospital? Why would they otherwise be talking about breeding stock? So far the conversation on the other side of the door wasn’t enlightening her on where she was and what she was doing there. She pressed her ear to the door again, and her body went cold when she heard her name being spoken.
“The boss says Kate Townsend is not to be touched. He has special plans for her. If you are feeling the urge for a woman you’ll have to look elsewhere…”
Kate slowly backed away from the door, a twisting nauseousness hollowing out her stomach. Someone was holding her here, wherever here was, and they had plans for her. Kate edged farther away from the door and backed up until she was back in the corridor she’d come from. Confused thoughts raced through her head as she tried to piece together what she’d learned from the brief eavesdropped conversation. They were breeding something here, some big boss had plans for her, and one of the men was looking for a woman, and it couldn’t be her. She didn’t know what to make of what she had heard, but she wasn’t going to stick around the find out. She walked down the hall, her bare feet slapping out a quick rhythm as she went past the room she’d woken up in. She wouldn’t find any safety in there, and her best bet was to get the hell away from this place.
She made her way to the other end of the corridor. There was another short hall leading to the right, with a door at the end. She rushed to the door, and eased it open. She looked around what appeared to be a locker room of some sorts, and strained to hear if anyone was inside. No sounds came to her and she cautiously walked into the room. The cold from the floor seeped into her feet, and as she eyed the closed oversized lockers in front of her she got an idea. Perhaps she could find something else to wear.
She stepped up to the first locker and opened it, disappointment flashing through her when she saw it was empty. She hoped she would have better luck with another, since she could hardly get very far wearing only thin cotton pants, a shirt and bare feet. The second locker revealed men’s clothes that would be way too big for her. She kept it in mind as she continued to open empty lockers. When she resolved that she would have to take what she could get, she opened one more locker, hitting the jackpot when it revealed a woman’s street clothes, complete with running shoes. She quickly changed out of the outfit she had woken up in and put on the other woman’s clothes. The fit was close, the top only a little tight across the chest. The shoes pinched her feet a little, but a least she was better protected. She donned the light jacket that hung on the hook inside the locker, and felt something hard inside the pocket hit her hip as the she swung the jacket on. She reached inside and pulled out a car key fob, with some sort of bar coded card attached to it. She slowly closed the locker door as she looked at the key fob. She pressed a silver button on the side and the key flipped out like a switch blade.
Kate’s heart pounded as she contemplated stealing a car. She’d never broken the law before, but she was desperate to get away from this place. There was no way she could get away on foot, and she didn’t want to take the risk of hitch hiking. This may be her only shot of getting out of here. She wished the unknown woman had also left her purse in the locker, but it appeared she hadn’t. Kate’s eyes darted over to the first locker she had looked at, the wheels turning in her head. The woman might not have left her purse, but she wondered if a man might leave his wallet or at least some loose cash. She darted over to the first locker and opened it again, looking through it with fresh eyes. She ransacked the clothes, and could find nothing when she went through the man’s coat. She picked up the pants that lay in a heap on the bottom of the locker. They felt a little too heavy, and Kate grinned when she went into one of the pockets and retrieved a man’s worn leather wallet. She opened it and peered at the driver’s license. Mr. David O’Connell was kinda cute, but obviously too trusting of his coworkers if he was going to leave his wallet in a locker. She pulled out money from the wallet, and carefully put it back inside the pants before dropping
them back onto the floor of the locker.
She turned her head when she heard heavy footfalls coming down the hall, although for the life of her she couldn’t figure out how her hearing had gotten so good. She quickly closed the locker with as little noise as possible and darted over to the door marked exit at the far end of the room. Her heart sank when she tried to open the door and saw it was locked. She frantically looked around for some solution as the footsteps got closer and closer. The door at the other end of the room opened with a heavy bang and Kate darted behind the last bank of lockers. She opened one of the lockers behind her, thankful it was empty when she heard the rumble of male voices. She managed to squeeze herself into the locker, and held the door open a small crack as she looked out and waited for the coast to clear.
“Has Alicia been in here? I swear I saw her at the front desk about five minutes ago.” One of the men said as the pair approached the door right by Kate’s hiding spot. Kate held her breath as the man who had spoken stopped and sniffed the air like a dog would.
“Who gives a shit where Alicia is, I want to go for a run. Things are dead here tonight, and I need to expend some energy. Let’s just get out of here.” The other man said as he moved his buddy over, and raised something he held in his hand to the small black box beside the door. A beeping noise and a green light on the box followed the man’s actions. He pushed opened the door and looked back at his companion.
“You coming Dave?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Dave said as he took one last look around the locker room before leaving through the door.
Kate’s breath whooshed out as she sagged against the back of the locker. She took a few moments to calm her pounding heart, and then slowly eased open the locker door. She straightened up and reached in her pocket for the key fob with the small card attached to it. It occurred to her that unlocking the door might be the card’s purpose, and she hoped she was correct. She raised the card to what she could now see was a sensor pad, she cringed when she heard the beep. The green light appeared and she sagged with relief when she was able to push the door open.
She eased through the door, her eyes darting around, but she could see no one, not even the men who had come through a few minutes before. It was late evening, and she felt uncomfortably spotlighted by the security lights over her head. She could see the building was an L shape, and she hugged the wall until she came to the place where the other wing of the building jutted forward. She was conscious of the crunching of the gravel underneath her sneakers, but she couldn’t worry about it. She could see the parking lot in front of her and it took all her will power not to run for it.
Once she left the protection of the building she felt as naked and vulnerable as a new born baby. There weren’t that many cars in the parking lot. She pulled out the key fob and pressed the button with an open lock on it and a short distance away a dark sedan blinked it’s lights. She made her way to the car, and jumped when she saw something out of the corner of her eye before she could reach it. Ducking behind the car beside her, she looked to see what it was. A pile of clothing lay in the middle of the parking lot. Just a pile of clothes. Kate sagged against the side of the car as she focused on calming her heart rate.
She made her way to the targeted car and slid inside. She stuck the key in the ignition, but before she could start the vehicle, she saw two shadows moving at the far end of the parking lot. She slid down in the front seat, hoping she wouldn’t be seen, and she blinked when she watched what looked like two giant wolves pad into the parking lot. She continued to watch in fascination as the wolves made their way toward the building. They stopped at the pile of clothes, and Kate watched in horrified fascination as both animals dropped to the ground and began writhing and contorting. Her heart hammered in her chest when she saw them become a blur of limbs and then finally stand up on two legs, as men.
“What the fuck?” Kate mumbled under her breath. She would have sworn what she’d seen was real, but how could it have been? Wolves didn’t turn into men. Her stress from this evening must have been too much for her, if her mind was conjuring up images like that. She watched as the men picked up the clothes and walk toward the back door of the building. Once they were inside, she turned the car on, determined to put as many miles as she could between herself and this weird place.
* * *
Dany Cavanaugh straightened his tie and shrugged his shoulders back as he stood in front of the heavy mahogany double doors of the Cavanaugh Corporation boardroom. His lips tightened as he thought about how far the secret society his great grandfather had built had fallen. What had started out as a small group meeting in the shadows, working to further an agenda of werewolf dominance, had been replaced with a faceless, nameless corporation whose only concern was the bottom line. His father had incorporated the society, which did have some legitimate business that generated income. The money created from these businesses was used to fund the society’s less legitimate schemes. Unfortunately, with the incorporation his father had gotten a taste of the kind of life and power that legitimate sources of money could bring. He had even changed the societies name, from Faolchú Dubh, which meant Dark Wolf in gaelic, to the rather bland and innocuous Cavanaugh Corporation.
He had all but abandoned Faolchú Dubh’s more traditional purpose of furthering the werewolf agenda, to pursue money and prestige. This change in purpose had caused Dany to arrange for his father to have a rather convenient accident, thus enabling him to take over the CEO chair. His grandfather would have spun in his grave if Dany had allowed his father to pervert the society’s original purpose. What Dany had been unable to do is destroy the board of directors, since he did need the corporations profits to fund his pet projects. Being CEO of the corporation had certainly enriched Dany’s bank account, but at a price. He longed to rewind the clock, so he wouldn’t have to answer to the stuffy board, who had no vision, and didn’t seem to realize that in order to take over the human world, one needed to spend money. Thus far Dany had tried to work within the parameters of the corporation, but it was getting more difficult with each passing day.
He tilted his head from side to side and heard his neck crack, and now that he felt loose and relaxed he was able to face those penny pinchers who held him accountable for everything.
He raised both hands and pushed the heavy doors with his enhanced werewolf strength so they opened harder and faster than those who hung them had intended. May as well make an entrance. He strode confidently through the door and faced the startled eyes of his board of directors.
“Gentlemen,” he said as he marched to the head of the long table that dominated the room. He took his time in taking his seat, looking each member of the board in the eye before he spoke. “I was surprised to receive your summons. It almost makes me believe that you don’t think my plans for this corporation will succeed.”
“Forgive me for saying so,” Albert Donaldson spoke up after clearing his throat. He had been Dany’s father’s best friend, and had also been the biggest thorn in Dany’s side since he had taken over the helm as CEO after his father had died. He shared his father’s love of legitimate money, and had fought against every attempt that Dany made to push his werewolf agenda through the corporation. Thus far Dany had always had the other member’s of the board on his side, but it was getting more difficult to hold sway over those members with each failure of Project Dark Wolf. “But the board has become very concerned by the laser focus that the Order of Odin seems to be turning on the Dark Wolf Project. When we endorsed, however reluctantly, your plans to create a serum that would help solve our breeding problems, we were under the impression that it would not cause any undue attention. With the Order’s sting operation, which has shut down our wolf holding facility, you have left us with little choice but to abandon the Dark Wolf Project.”
Dany clenched his teeth to keep the sneer fighting to curl his lip from showing on his face. He looked at other members of the board and saw none of them would make eye contact wit
h Albert, which was a sure sign of submission in his kind. He knew very well who the true opponent was, and it was Albert. He’d had just about as much as he could take from his father’s toad, and he decided today was the day he was going to do something about it. As a smug smile planted itself across his face, he realized that he could send a very important message while he was at it. The weight of the long, thin silver stiletto he always carried inside his suit jacket seemed to pulse, and he knew now was the time to deal with Albert in the manner he had always wanted to.
He stood and stared deep into Albert’s eyes as he made his way to Albert’s side of the table. He came to stand behind him, and knowing Albert as he did, he knew the other wolf would not show any intimidation in front of the board and would refuse to look at Dany standing behind him. Albert was under the mistaken impression that he was the alpha of this particular group, and he was about to learn that was not the case.
“I’m going to give you one chance to rescind your decision. Dark Wolf will be a success and it will bring about the reign of the wolf.” Dany spoke from behind Albert as he silently slid the stiletto out of this jacket. He was sure that Albert thought he was addressing him alone, but in actuality, Dany already considered Albert out of the equation. He raised the stiletto and jammed it into Albert’s ear, and he stirred the blade while it was inside. His opponent’s body jerked and spasmed as Dany irreversibly damaged Albert’s brain, and after several long seconds Albert stiffened and then went limp. The weight of his body fell against Dany’s blade, which was still in his ear, and was the only thing holding him upright. He jerked the blade free and Albert’s body fell forward until his head hit the boardroom table with a heavy thunk.
“At this time,” Dany said as he wiped the blood off the blade using the back of Albert’s coat. “I’d like to bring this issue to a vote. I would hate to proceed with our plans if it is not fully endorsed by my board of directors. Now all those in favor of continuing with the Dark Wolf Project, please say aye.”
