by Lola Gabriel
If only my mom could see me now, Ferren thought to herself as she glanced down at herself. I wonder what she’d have to say about this?
Ferren heard muffled voices nearby, and her ears twitched as she tried to focus on the words, but somehow they still remained a muffled mess. She wondered whether Kodiak had truly left, and whether that young woman with the long hair was also still here. She wondered whether she and Kodiak were a couple, and was a little outraged at herself for actually becoming a little jealous at that thought.
Everything was confusing to her. Not even her own thoughts and emotions were making sense.
Sure, Kodiak was incredibly attractive, and he had something that appealed to her in a way she had never experienced before, but she couldn't automatically assume that he’d just magically fall in love with her. Besides, that was the last thing she wanted. She didn't have time for love in her life.
A cold feeling washed over her as she realized that she might just have to leave her old life behind.
Her life which she loved with every part of her now seemed too far out of reach.
6
Kodiak barged through the doors of the front room where Jett sat lounging on the sofa. On the far wall was a large window overlooking the dark dungeon, its glass tinted heavily but only on the one side. Kodiak and Jett had a perfect view of the dungeon, but anyone in the cells only saw a black panel. The doors slammed loudly behind him and he paced around the room with annoyance. It was the weirdest encounter he had ever had in his life. First, he imprinted on this strange and beautiful woman, but then he figured out that she had no idea why she was there, what he was talking about, or anything about the people who were attacked. Even though her memories were foggy and unclear, her fear and confusion were real, and it struck a chord inside Kodiak. It was the same fear he felt among his brothers the night their home was destroyed in that fire, the same confusion felt by other new-bloods he had encountered in his life, and the same level of hopelessness that he had felt most of his life.
Kodiak had wanted to give up many times in his life, but for the sake of his brothers he didn't. After the fire it was even worse, but he had his pack to think about. He had to be strong, or at least appear strong. This whole ruse, this facade he had shown for the last six decades was starting to crash down around him.
All because of her.
He couldn't allow that to happen, even though he knew it was not something he could control.
Jett turned to him with a frown. “How did it go with Little Miss Savage?”
“She’s not that savage. She’s just afraid,” Kodiak pointed out, his face tense, and he glanced down through the window at Ferren.
She lay on the floor of her cell in her wolf form, looking exhausted and conflicted. Moments ago she had tried to rip apart the cell and her chain, to no avail, of course. The dungeon had been specifically designed to keep even the strongest wolf contained. Kodiak tested the cells with most of his Zetas and none of them could even make a dent in the bars. Kodiak even locked himself in a cell and couldn't get out, so they were confident that there was no escape from it.
“She should be afraid,” Jett scoffed.
His jaw clenched and he lowered his gaze. “She’s telling the truth,” he answered quietly and bit his bottom lip.
“What?”
“She’s telling the truth. She has no idea why she’s here, or that she attacked someone or something in the woods,” Kodiak said firmly and looked at her.
“How is that possible?” Jett exclaimed and stood from the sofa.
“She’s a new-blood.”
“No, that can’t be right. I saw her attack like an elder. There’s no way she’s a new-blood,” Jett stammered and shook her head.
Kodiak ran his fingers through his hair as her emotions engulfed him like a giant wave. Ferren’s fear had been strong enough to confirm that she was not the one who attacked all those people. As a new-blood, she was strong enough to do much worse to a person, but her human side was still very dominant. He easily detected all her emotions, and most of her memories as a child.
A human child.
Her memories were so vivid that it made Kodiak long for a childhood he never had, and it was both overwhelming and terrifying for him. He wasn't used to someone bringing all those feelings to the surface. He didn't know how to handle those emotions, but he knew that he couldn't allow her to make him feel vulnerable. He had learned that being vulnerable was showing weakness, and he couldn't afford to look weak. Not in front of Jett, or his pack. He was the Alpha, and no new-blood was going to change that or make him look undeserving as their leader.
“Kodiak?” he heard behind him, and he turned around. He looked at Jett, who stood a few feet from him with a worried expression on her face. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, of course. I was just thinking of what to do with her,” he muttered.
“Oh, I thought you were thinking of how incompetent I was as a Beta,” she answered with a sigh of relief.
“Why would I think that? You’re the best I have,” Kodiak stated.
Jett smiled briefly, but something else was bothering her. Like Kodiak, she was extremely good at hiding her emotions. The only feelings she willingly shared were those of anger, rage, and dominance. Like Kodiak, she also had a reputation to uphold. Even as a Beta, she had to be seen as fierce and strong. There was no room for weakness in a pack. “I failed to notice that she was a new-blood, and you can tell that by just looking at her.”
“I have different abilities than you have, Jett. You shouldn't beat yourself up about it.”
“So, you’re not questioning my integrity and competence as a Beta?” Jett inquired with a surprised tone.
“No, of course not. You know what you saw, and I believe you. You did what you thought was right at that moment,” he answered.
Jet bit her bottom lip and nodded apprehensively. “So, what are we going to do now?”
“A few things. I need you to stage an abduction in her house. Mess it up a bit,” Kodiak ordered with very little emotion on his face.
“It’s already done. She put up quite a fight, remember? That whole place is a mess, which is a pity. She had a really nice house,” Jett answered.
“Has,” he said abruptly. “She’s not dead.”
Jett looked at him and as she was about to say something, he interrupted her. “You didn't touch anything, or leave anything behind, did you?”
“I’m not a rookie, Kodi,” she contended and noticed the way his shoulders relaxed slightly.
“Good.”
“How long do you think it’ll be until we see her face on the news?” Jett asked.
“It shouldn't be long. Her boyfriend should realize she’s gone by now,” Kodiak answered with a hint of disdain in his tone.
“She has a boyfriend. Interesting,” Jett remarked.
He turned to her and frowned. “Why exactly is that interesting?”
“You know how humans are. They get desperate when the people they love are in danger,” she answered.
“Aren't we like that as well?” he grumbled.
“What is up your ass again? Every little thing I say offends you, it seems,” Jett insisted.
“It’s her emotional overdrive. It’s affecting me more than I thought it would,” he admitted.
“I never thought I’d hear you say something like that, ever.”
Kodiak turned to her and sighed. “That makes two of us.”
“I think we should send her to Pike,” Jett suggested, glancing over at Ferren through the glass. She immediately noticed Kodiak’s nostrils flaring and she frowned.
“No, I think it’s better if she stays here,” Kodiak answered sternly and turned to an exasperated Jett. “So will I.”
“Are you insane?”
“Maybe, but she’s scared and could probably do with some reassurance right now, don't you think?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Jett narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re sweet o
n her, aren’t you?”
“I’m not going to even answer that.”
“You didn't have to. You’re normally merciless, especially to those who attack on your turf without consent. She does it,” Jett said and motioned to Ferren, “and you try to help her through her transition. You pity her. You defend her. Why, and for what?”
“It wasn't my choice to,” he snapped in irritation and glared at her, his green eyes flashing with authority.
Jett’s sapphire eyes hardened as she realized what Kodiak meant and lowered her gaze. “Right. Mother Nature’s the bitch here.”
“You can go now, Jett. I’ve got everything under control here,” he mumbled dismissively, ignoring her grumbles.
“I bet you do,” Jett muttered as she turned and left.
The door slammed behind her but he kept staring at Ferren through the glass. He stood like that for a few minutes, before he stepped over to a locker and opened it. Soon Ferren would transform back to her human form, and she’d need a few items of clothing.
He reached inside the locker and grabbed a shirt, pants, a jacket and a pair of boots, and closed the locker again. He walked to the large steel doors and went into the dungeon. As he approached the cell, Ferren glanced up at him with her bright blue eyes, her nose crinkling slightly.
“You’re going to need these soon,” he said simply and slid the pile of clothes through the bars and into the cell. “Get some sleep.”
Ferren’s eyes were still focused on him, but she didn't move an inch. Kodiak still detected the abundance of fear and confusion coursing through her veins and he crouched down beside the bars.
“You know, Ferren, I know this is scary and confusing. You might be thinking this is all a dream, that you’re going to wake up and be back in your house, and that this never happened,” Kodiak stated, his voice soothing and low. “This is real. You were bitten by a wolf and now you’re one, too. Well, almost. You’ll transform back into a human soon. Then on the last night of the full moon, which is in two days, you’ll transform again and then you can shift whenever you want.”
Ferren pushed herself up slowly and stared at him with bright eyes. She suddenly let out a deafening bark and growled at him.
Kodiak stood and stepped back. “I know you’re frustrated, okay?”
Ferren barked again and bared her teeth at him. Her stance was aggressive and threatening, and he completely understood why. He couldn't say that it had been the same for him, as he was a born-blood, but he had seen many humans transforming into wolves, and no matter how calm and collected a human was before the transformation, aggression reached its peak, especially on the full moon.
“Ferren, listen to me,” he said, still as calm as could be, because he knew that hostility, even the slightest bit, would only make things worse. “I’m not going to hurt you, and I won’t let anyone else hurt you either. I promise you that.”
Kodiak had not uttered a more sincere sentence in his entire life than the one he just did. His eyes glowed slightly and it seemed to calm Ferren down a bit. She sat down slowly, never taking her eyes off him.
In all honesty, Kodiak couldn't take his eyes off her either. It had been a long time since he saw a copper-haired wolf with eyes the color of a clear sky.
He reached his hand out to her and she raised her snout, allowing his fingers to lightly touch her muzzle. “Nice to meet you, too,” he whispered, feeling every cell of his body ignite.
I could get used to this feeling, he thought to himself, but knew he and Ferren still had a long way to go.
The sunlight cast a ray of light across the dungeon floor, and Kodiak rolled his shoulders as he opened his eyes sleepily. He had not intended on falling asleep, but he was rather exhausted. He glanced over at Ferren’s cell and noticed that she was fully dressed in the clothes he had laid out for her. She must have transformed into her human form just before sunrise, and gotten dressed to avoid any awkward encounter. She lay with her back to him, not moving, and her breathing was slow and relaxed.
“Ferren?” he called out, his voice echoing through the cells. “Are you awake?”
“I figured it out.” Her voice sounded less shaky than it did before. There were a few seconds of silence and he watched as she pushed herself up from the ground, turning toward him. “That’s why you’re keeping me locked up.”
Kodiak glanced at her and smiled slightly. Even though she had had a rough night transforming, she looked even more beautiful than the first time he saw her.
“Because I’m a werewolf.” Her statement was clear and concise, and Kodiak liked that. It was only the term she used that was a little less to his liking.
“We prefer the term wolf. Werewolf sounds too fable-ish.”
“This is not possible. There’s no such thing as people turning into wolves.”
“Transforming,” he corrected her.
She gave him a look of disapproval and shook her head. “Am I not supposed to stay a werewolf—”
“Wolf.”
“Do you always correct people to the point of frustration?” Ferren inquired, and a lock of copper hair fell onto her face.
“Yes. I was told it wasn’t a very good trait to have,” he answered with a chuckle.
“Well, whoever that was had a point,” she griped. “As I was saying, am I not supposed to stay a wolf until the moon isn't full anymore?”
“No, it doesn't work like that,” he answered and glanced at her face. “You don’t know much about us, do you?”
“Frankly, I didn't know you existed, so, no,” she replied. “My mom and I used to joke about it, but I never believed in any of it.”
“Any of what?” he asked, clearly intrigued by her life and her beliefs in the supernatural.
“Vampires. Werewolves. Witches. All of it.”
“Oh, we all exist. We just have a knack for hiding ourselves away from humans,” he explained nonchalantly and noticed her facial expression contort with disbelief. “You think we’re the complicated ones. Humans are so much worse. Humans are fragile beings, but they think they’re invincible, unbreakable even. One snap of their bones or cut in the right place, and they die so quickly it’s almost pathetic,” Kodiak rambled, disgusted that he sounded just like his father at that moment.
It was true, though. Humans were fragile little things, unlike wolves, vampires and witches.
“I can’t believe I am actually having this conversation,” Ferren muttered.
“I can imagine it would be hard to take in,” he said, trying to sound a little more sympathetic.
“Did you go through all this?” she asked as she turned to him.
“No, I was born this way.”
“And when was this?”
“I was born in 1444.”
Ferren’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “That would make you five-hundred-and-seventy-four years old.”
“Five-hundred-and-seventy-three. My birthday’s not until July,” he corrected her.
She shook her head in disbelief. “This is completely ridiculous.”
“And why is that?”
“You’re almost six-hundred years old, and you look...” She paused and Kodiak suppressed a smile. She huffed and turned away. “You know how good you look.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he grinned.
“Aren’t you supposed to age?”
“Sure, we do age, just at a much slower speed than you humans do. Every twenty years for humans is a year for us,” he explained.
“So, you’re my age.”
“Yes,” he answered. “You’re really good at math.”
“So what do you do? What does someone do for five-hundred years on this earth?”
“We traveled a lot, my family and I. I was born in Italy, as were all my brothers and my mother. My father was from England and he met my mother in Venice. We came to Massachusetts in the early seventeenth century, and traveled through the states as they were discovered. We eventually settled in Minnesota, a few t
imes.”
“Why a few times?”
“Humans became smarter and started to realize we existed. It was very much swept under the rug at that stage. That’s where most of the folklore stories come from,” he explained.
“They’re not stories, are they?”
“Not at all.”
“This is insane,” she whispered. “So, I’m going to be alive for centuries to come? I’m going to see the people I love get older and eventually die, and be all alone?”
“You’re not alone, Ferren,” Kodiak said simply, but his words carried more meaning than they had ever had.
Kodiak was not used to being this kind to an outsider, but the imprinting made it impossible for him not to be.
“Where’s your family now?” Ferren inquired and turned to him, her eyes watery from the impending tears.
“They’re gone. My brothers are scattered all over the country, and my parents are dead.”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “What happened to them?”
“They were murdered,” he answered, and she stared at him with wide eyes. “Ferren, there’s something you need to understand about our kind. There are millions of us, but we don’t all get along. We have our packs that are our families, and we’d protect them no matter what. There are also packs out there who are power-hungry and would kill to gain new members, or territory, or just because they can. There’s one pack in particular that we all keep away from. They’re called the Crescents. Each member has a crescent moon tattoo on their hands or their wrists, for easy identification.”
“What makes them so special?”
“Special isn't the word I would use. I would rather say feared and dangerous.”
“They kill for fun.”
“Yeah. They’re brutal and merciless and they’ve executed an entire pack because one member stole gold from them.”
“That’s terrible.”
“They’re practically untouchable, so we’re always on guard. They have a very distinct scent as well. You’ll know when you smell one.”
“Isn’t there something I can take for this? Something to stop this from happening?” she asked, breathing heavily.
