Awaken: Book One: London

by Limelan Z

  He took a step towards me, eyes bright. ‘Wolf.’ Wolf? That suddenly made “pack” make sense. But I wasn’t any more in the know. Did he mean werewolf? That sort of thing? I decided to clarify.

  ‘Werewo—’

  Someone dropped a tray of glasses nearby and we all turned to look. All except Wolfe. He kept his eyes trained on me. ‘Come with me to somewhere we can talk.’

  I shook my head and then stopped. It was instinctive to want to be back on my own again, but I had spent years searching for someone like me. And here I was presented with a potential family. Or, at least, someone who thought they knew me. I was completely unprepared. What should I do?

  Fi chose that moment to appear. She somehow managed to slide into the group and move next to me. She hadn’t got any drinks, I noticed. ‘Sorry to interrupt,’ she said with an easy smile, coming close and resting her hand against my back. ‘Ceri, can I have a quick word with you?’

  I sent her a look and nodded. ‘Yes.’

  It was clear Wolfe didn’t want me to go, but he didn’t make a scene. Still, I felt his eyes on me as we walked away. Fi waited until we were back by the bar and cloaked by other guests before speaking.

  ‘What was that all about? One minute, you’re supposed to be watching Alex, and the next I see you disappearing into Wolfe’s inner circle.’ Inner circle? Had it looked like we were just having a chat? It hadn’t felt that way. I rubbed my arms.

  It took me a while to decide what to say. I didn’t want to paint him in a creepy light, given that he might actually have known me all those years ago and thought I was dead. After all, there was a good chunk of time I couldn’t remember. But then, I didn’t want to explain everything to Fi. I’d never told anyone everything I can remember. Oh, I had been tempted. A lot. But it’s difficult to leave yourself open like that. Especially given that you have no proof of what you are.

  ‘He seems to think he knows me. Apparently, we knew each other a long time ago.’

  ‘And you don’t remember him?’ She was pretending to have only a passing interest. It was the decent thing to do, I supposed, given how shaken I clearly was.

  I shrugged, feigning indifference. ‘Not really,’ I said honestly. Because I didn’t. Even if he knew me. Even so, I had a feeling that was about to change.

  Chapter 2

  I woke up in a cold sweat the next morning when my alarm went off. I wasn’t ill again, I had just had some weird dreams. My heart was pounding wildly – I could hear it in my ears and feel it thundering in my chest. I had to whip off the covers and stand on the soft carpet of my bedroom for a while before I was able to calm down.

  I didn’t usually remember my dreams, and those that I did were never this violent. I had dreamt I was naked and covered in blood. I was pretty sure I could hear screaming, but I can’t remember for certain. There was no clear story to the dream, just sort of flashes of things. Violent things.

  Teeth.

  Blood.

  Flesh.

  I needed a distraction so I went straight to the lab. I had thought I’d made it pretty early but Vince was already there labelling test tubes. He was shuffling about in time to the music blasting from his headphones. As soon as he saw me, he put the loudspeaker on.

  ‘New indie band,’ he shouted above the music. ‘They’re playing at the club tonight. Want to come?’ Vince was every inch a music lover. Mainly indie folk groups, which was easy to tell from his usual attire of waistcoat, shirt and cord trousers, but he’d listen to anything with a good beat. He also carried his guitar everywhere. He was good. And I’m not saying that because we we’re friends.

  ‘Depends how much work I get done.’ I laughed as he danced across the room. Then he started exaggerated spins towards me. He was snapping his fingers too.

  I set down my bag. When I turned around, he was right beside me. He leaned an arm against the wall behind me and looked down at me from behind shaggy dark hair. ‘You have to come, Ceri,’ he said theatrically, ‘I need you.’

  I rolled my eyes and quickly swapped my jacket for a lab coat. I hated to admit it, but I fancied him. And I was pretty sure he did me as well. At least, the majority of the time we flirted mercilessly. But we’d been friends too long now to do anything about it. And it probably was a bad idea anyway, given that we were colleagues as well. Still, flirting with an attractive co-worker is fun! And flirting with Vince was easy. He had an easy charm that made him instantly likeable, and I was pretty sure that under all those layers he had a good body too. At least once a month, he’d go off climbing somewhere.

  ‘It’s hard for us both,’ I said, pressing him back with one finger until I could slide passed without further contact. I made it as far as the sinks – right by the door – when he grabbed my hand and spun me back. He forced me into a jazz-step dance. Now, I don’t dance. I also don’t like being tugged. But, for Vince, I begrudgingly made an exception. I grimaced as I was swung and spun in time with the music. ‘I have a meeting I need to prepare for,’ I called above the beats.

  ‘So do I!’ He caught me around my middle and slid up against my back.

  ‘Then maybe we should get to work?’

  He laughed in my ear, a low sensual rumble, and spun me around again. ‘Yeah, maybe.’

  I pulled my hand free and moved over to turn off the speakers. ‘You really can’t dance,’ I lied as soon as the lab was returned to its normal volume.

  ‘Pfft – I have all the moves.’ He did, damn it.

  He walked back over to his test tubes but froze a foot in front of them. I frowned a little but didn’t think any more of it, and focussed on setting up my own experiment. A moment later the door opened and the Zosimos Wolfe walked in. He was only wearing jeans and a shirt but somehow he looked like he’d stepped straight out of a magazine. He glanced at Vince but walked straight over to me.

  ‘H-How did you get in here?’ I asked, though the university didn’t exactly have the best security. I imagined a trillionaire could get away with going wherever they wanted to as well. Was he going to want to talk in front of Vince? How would I explain the connection?

  ‘You needed time yesterday but we still need to talk. Though, perhaps I should speak to Vincent first,’ he murmured softly.

  ‘You two know each other?’ My question was ignored. It didn’t really matter, I already had my answer. Vince turned around slowly.

  ‘Do you know who this is?’ Wolfe asked him calmly.

  ‘Ceri Hatherton. She’s been working here for the last three years.’ His voice was flat and direct. I frowned. Part of the reason I liked Vince was his similar disregard to authority. Which he seemed to have lost around Wolfe.

  ‘Three years?’ Wolfe seemed surprised. ‘And you did not report it to me.’

  Vince glanced across at me. ‘She’s human.’ Human? Had the Vince I worked with really said that? I swallowed, suddenly nervous. Vince was like Wolfe? Vince was like me? I couldn’t believe it. I’d spent the last three years with someone who didn’t die and hadn’t had a clue!

  Wolfe folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the counter where I was. ‘It appears you hide your scent very well.’ He was talking to me as you would an old friend. I couldn’t repay the compliment.

  Vince looked at me again. ‘You’re not human?’ He sounded almost hurt as if I had deliberately been lying to him.

  ‘As good as,’ I said irritably. ‘You’re not human?’

  Wolfe was still watching me. ‘He is one of us, Ariane.’

  ‘Ariane?’ Vince’s head had shot up at that name. I frowned. ‘I thought that was just a story.’

  ‘No. She is very much real.’ His eyes suddenly changed from dark brown to be stained with fire and bright gold again. I wanted it to be a trick of the light, but knew it wasn’t. I had seen the whole transition, not just the before and after like last night. ‘And alive.’ I set the beaker I was holding down in case I dropped it.

  ‘Why have you been watching me?’ Vince asked me. He look
ed uncomfortable.

  ‘I’ve not,’ I said irritably.

  He let out a long, shaky breath. ‘How haven’t I noticed what you are? We’ve known each other for years!’ He seemed genuinely worried. As was I. I could hear the blood humming in my ears.

  I took a deep breath to calm down. And a step away from Wolfe. ‘Will someone please explain to me what is going on?’

  Wolfe cocked a brow. ‘You have no memory of us at all? You have no memory of what happened?’ They weren’t really questions.

  He was being no help so I turned to Vince. ‘What’s this all about?’

  Vince glanced at Wolfe before answering. ‘Ceri,’ he said slowly, ‘if he’s right – if you are Ariane – then you are the most powerful wolf that ever lived.’ Wolf? There was that word again. ‘And the least in control.’ He swallowed. ‘You murdered thousands and then disappeared.’

  Murder? That wasn’t me. I couldn’t hurt anything, expensive plants aside. After I’d woken up on my own all those years ago, I had been anything but violent. I had been scared. I had spent years running and hiding from daylight and from people. It had taken me a long time to walk around in public. A long time.

  I realised that I had been holding my breath and cleared my throat to cover it. ‘It’s not me. I haven’t died yet, but I’m pretty sure I’d notice if I grew fur and fangs once a month.’ Wolfe seemed to dislike my attempt to lighten the mood, but Vince was still stuck in confused-mode.

  ‘She doesn’t know? How is it possible not to know? What about the moon? Surely it would make her crazy to be alone.’

  Wolfe slowly shook his head. ‘Apparently, not.’ He gave me a careful look over. ‘I cannot say yet how you survived the Intervention, but it is strange if your own pack cannot recognise you.’ I guessed werewolves lived in packs like wolves. ‘Vincent should have picked up your scent immediately. It is a concern that you were in London for three years before anyone noticed you.’

  I frowned. ‘I’ve been in London over a hundred years.’ It felt strange to say it out aloud. I didn’t talk to anyone about my real age or my real life. Ever. I buried the need to check that no one outside the three of us had heard. I could feel myself getting nervous – my throat was dry and my heart was beating faster.

  ‘How—’ Vince took a step towards me but stopped himself. ‘Ceri, your eyes!’

  I blinked. I didn’t know what he was talking about. I felt Wolfe’s hand on my shoulder, and then an instant later he was on his back on the floor and my hand was around his throat. My nails were digging into his skin, drawing blood.

  How had that happened? Had I blacked out? I couldn’t remember moving. A wave of anxiety washed over me. I shivered and threw myself off him.

  I was breathless as I stared wide-eyed at a speck of red on my fingertips. Had I drawn blood? I looked up. Vince was lifting himself out of one of the sinks and there was blood running from his left eyebrow. Had I put him there? My body broke out in a sweat. It was cool and sickly against my neck. Wolfe edged towards me, hands outstretched.

  ‘Ariane,’ he said in a voice as thick as treacle. ‘You are calm. You are safe.’

  Somehow, all fear left me. His words seemed to wrap around me like a warm blanket. They reassured and settled the unrest in my stomach. As if it didn’t matter that I had just attacked a virtual stranger and a friend in my workplace. As if it didn’t matter that I had had no memory of it or control over it. As if it was all okay.

  I leaned into the sensation, eager to get out of my head – out of my panic. Even if it meant giving up control for a moment. Because that was what it meant. That someone else could take control.

  A part of me hoped it would last. Which meant I couldn’t trust it.

  Chapter 3

  Wolfe wanted to take me and Vince back to his house, and I easily decided that I wasn’t going to get any more work done that day. It took less than an hour to get there, but the whole drive was in silence. Everyone else seemed to have something to think about as well. I was still trying to understand how Vince had ended up in the sink, and trying not to think about how my finger nails had been cutting into Wolfe’s neck. There was still a little blood under one of my nails. I wanted to pick it out but it didn’t seem like the kind of thing to do in polite company. So I let it sit there like a stark reminder of whatever it was that had happened.

  I would have to scrub them really well when I got back to the flat.

  Wolfe’s house turned out to be a huge building in Mayfair. At first, I had thought it was a grand hotel but it was more like an embassy. He owned all the floors and the men who guarded the entrance worked for him.

  Doors opened before he even made a move to go through them. I followed him carefully. I didn’t want to hurry to keep up his pace, but nor did I want to end up miles behind staring at the artwork on the wall. Vince was walking behind me. I slowed a little so that I could walk next to him – a familiar face at my side might make me feel less like I was being watched – but he simply slowed as well so that he stayed behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at him, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. Was he pissed at me? I must have spooked him back at the lab. I still had no idea what I had done. Had I attacked him?

  We took a large marble staircase up to the next floor and followed a gilded corridor to a huge ornate oak door. It was at least twice the size in height of a normal door and three times the width. The man stood in front of it moved to open it but hesitated when he saw me.

  ‘She is one of us,’ Wolfe informed him without slowing his pace. The wood swung out of the way immediately. I glanced at the doorman again. Had he been unable to pick up my scent either? Was he a wolf too? I shivered a little as I thought on how many people we had passed so far. Were all of them werewolves?

  I rubbed my brow a little and tried to remember precisely the way we had been weaving through corridors. If something happened, I might need to find my way out of the maze alone. As if sensing a change in my mood, Wolfe glanced back at me. I straightened and pretended to be staring at the furnishings. I didn’t want to show him any weakness, even if he could scent me better than the others.

  I curled my nose a little and sniffed the air. If I was a wolf like them, perhaps I would be able to pick up their scents. If werewolves smelled different to humans, surely they would stand out?

  But I couldn’t smell anything; I was coming off a cold, so it wasn’t surprising. Anyway, I was pretty sure that in the three years I had known Vince, I would have picked up a werewolf smell if I was able. I gave up and rubbed my ordinary nose.

  We walked through another doorway and instantly there were people rather than doormen scattered around. They looked normal enough. Most were tall, broad-shouldered and looked incredibly fit. Though there were some men and women in suits, most looked casual, and a couple were wearing tracksuits. As if expecting me, their eyes were glued to me as I walked through them. Inadvertently, I sped up a little to be closer to Wolfe. If he was the guy in charge, hopefully he’d be able to step in if anything bad went down.

  Wolfe pushed open a door to a large, comfortable looking living room. There was a huge TV on the wall and four giant and well-used leather sofas. There was other furniture as well, but a few moments after we entered the room they became obscured by the crowd that had followed us in.

  He moved to stand in front of the TV and motioned for me to join him facing the room. Vince stayed in the crowd. There were a lot of them. They wouldn’t all fit in the room so they had spread out into the corridor as well. The ones near the front were sat on the floor to afford the others a better view. They had done this silently as if following some unwritten rule. It seemed strange to see people in suits crumpling them up on the floor to make room for the guys in joggers. There must have been a hierarchy.

  ‘This is Ariane,’ Wolfe announced when most movement had settled. I swallowed a lump in my throat as what must have been a hundred pairs of eyes shot to mine. A nervous buzzing started in my ears. It was the same buzzing I had fe
lt back at the lab before my blackout. I tried to calm myself down and watched Wolfe. Their reaction meant that they had heard my name before. They all knew who I was.

  ‘She smells human,’ someone called.

  ‘She’s not.’ It was Vince’s voice. I looked through the crowd to find him. He was near the back of the room by the light switches.

  Wolfe nodded. ‘The Intervention did not kill her, as we believed. Elvira has already been alerted and seeks to understand what this means. But the Intervention used old magic and there are few alive who remember it. James, find out what you can with the Braxe.’ He began barking orders to people in the room, who nodded as they were assigned tasks. I took the opportunity to stare at them.

  ‘How do you know it’s her?’ My eyes fell on a woman with arms folded stood near the front. Her eyes were fixed on mine. They were green and piercing. For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to pull away. She didn’t care that staring was rude so neither did I.

  Wolfe took the question, along with the others in his stride. ‘I know her scent.’

  The woman cocked a brow but stayed staring at me. I felt my heart strain a little in my chest. It thudded wildly. ‘But we do not? Why has she come to London now?’ I wondered whether I should be responding to these questions myself, but I was too busy trying to control my reaction to the room. Was I having a panic attack? My ears were humming.

  ‘She has been in London a long time.’ I could tell a number of them were surprised by that. Still, I didn’t look anywhere other than at her. I was going to win this staring contest, damn it!

  ‘How do you know it’s really her?’ Someone else had asked that question.

  ‘It is her.’

  The woman I was locking eyes with suddenly turned her full attention to Wolfe. I blinked and in an instant everything had changed again. I must have had another blackout. I was now crouched by a fireplace I had not noticed before, one hand gripping the marble and the other braced on the wall. Wolfe was kneeling beside me, a hand on my shoulder. I let out an involuntary yelp before clamping my hands over my mouth. Was I going to hyperventilate?