Awaken: Book One: London

by Limelan Z

  I frowned. ‘But, if Wolfe never saw me as a human, how did he recognise me?’

  ‘Scent.’

  ‘You couldn’t scent me,’ I protested.

  ‘I’m not your mate. I’m also not Wolfe.’

  There was a bad taste in my mouth. ‘Is my wolf mad because Traye was mad?’

  ‘It doesn’t work that way,’ he said with certainty. I hoped he wasn’t just trying to make me feel better. ‘In theory, you’re bound to your maker. That means that, just like your mate, you’d rather die than hurt them. But you killed Traye. That takes you off the chain!’ He laughed a little. ‘It’s pretty funny, really. You did a lot of stuff that is supposed to be impossible.’

  I remembered what he had said upstairs. ‘Like attack a wolf in human form?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he let out a long breath, nodding. ‘Although, people can do it, you have to be really strong to be able to take one on. And you’re really strong.’ He sat up a little. ‘Which is all part of the reason I thought you weren’t real. And the fact that you’re a woman. Women’s lib hasn’t really reached werewolves. Your position in the pack is down to strength and dominance. The men tend to be stronger. There are female alphas but they’re rare.’

  For some reason, that didn’t surprise me.

  ‘And then you just walk in and knock a few people over.’ He laughed at that but I frowned. ‘That’ll go down well with the older generation.’

  ‘Born in 1812 and you’re not part of the older generation?’

  He smiled. ‘I’m one of the babies of the group.’

  I rubbed my eyes. I knew nothing of this world. ‘So, Wolfe is in charge here? He said this was his territory.’

  ‘Yeah, but he’s alpha. That doesn’t mean he made everyone in his pack, it just means he’s the most dominant. We are bound to him. We fight for him and he will fight for any one of us.’

  ‘Alpha? Is that why your eyes keep hitting the floor every time he says anything?’

  He shrugged. ‘Pretty much. He’s in charge. We have to have a strict chain of command to stop everything descending into chaos.’ Obedience didn’t seem like something the Vince I knew would go for. But then, I guessed he didn’t have much choice. ‘We’re pack animals. It’s how we survive. Without a pack to ground you, the moon can drive you mad.’ He sent me a look. ‘Unless you’re Ariane, apparently. I don’t get how you’re not mental.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ I said, twisting myself around to face the desk. ‘I’m getting there.’ I picked up the pen and readied the page, resigned in the short term to my cage. At least until I got a better handle on who I was. ‘So, what do I need in this place?’

  Chapter 5

  Apparently, money was no object, so Vince and I had decked out the cell with a huge TV, video games, speakers, and anything with a four-digit starting price we could think of. By the time Wolfe came back, it was nearly midnight and Vince and I were playing some racing game in between slices of pizza. Vince stopped playing as soon as he entered the room. I scowled at him.

  ‘That is going to get really annoying,’ I said. I paused the game and stood up. ‘Are you aware that you turn him into a statue every time you walk into a room?’

  ‘It is a sign of respect. As my mate, you should be afforded the same courtesy.’

  Vince flinched at his words. ‘Well, I don’t like the power play.’ I’d hoped he would take offense at my words. He didn’t.

  ‘You are a wolf,’ he said as if that would explain it. ‘You informed your friend that you would be staying here?’ Wolfe asked, although it wasn’t really a question.

  ‘Yep. She was thrilled.’ Fi had virtually exploded down the phone that I would be spending the night with Zosimos Wolfe. I hadn’t mentioned anything about the night after that, but I hoped I wouldn’t have to. Twenty-four hours would hopefully be enough to get a feel for what was going on. ‘Did you speak to your sparkly magic lady?’

  He frowned at my choice of words. ‘Elvira is a well-respected witch. She is aware of the situation and making her own enquiries.’

  I watched him take in the purchases we had made using his credit card. He did not look impressed. ‘You told me to make it comfortable.’

  ‘Indeed.’

  ‘You don’t like the TV?’

  ‘Let us hope it lasts longer than the one upstairs.’ He sent Vince from the room and closed the door, then leant against it. Was it time for my interrogation with the big boss? ‘Has any memory returned of earlier?’ His voice was low.

  I shook my head and sat on the desk on the opposite side of the room, setting my feet on the chair. ‘No.’ I was increasingly uncomfortable but didn’t want to show it. I pretended to have an itch and rubbed my leg. I didn’t like that I had apparently attacked people. I didn’t like that I had no memory of it. And I didn’t like I would be spending the night in a windowless room underground. ‘Vince reckons it’s a defence thing. I don’t remember anything from the time I was turned until after the Intervention.’ I was using all the right lingo, but it didn’t sound right coming out of my mouth. Wolfe didn’t seem to notice.

  ‘You have no memory of me at all.’

  I rubbed my calf again. ‘No.’

  ‘And no feeling of familiarity when we are near like this.’

  I took him in: from the tailored shirt to the expensive shoes. He was the very definition of “other” to my jeans and t-shirt. I shook my head. ‘How come you are able to recognise me? Apparently, no one ever saw me in human form.’

  ‘I know your scent. You were never in human form because you did not know how to change,’ he dismissed. ‘You are supposed to learn that from your alpha. Or whoever turned you.’

  ‘And I didn’t.’

  ‘No,’ he agreed.

  ‘Because I killed him, apparently.’ He said nothing. Had he known Traye? ‘Was I ever part of a pack?’

  He seemed to think on his words. I didn’t like that. I didn’t want a filtered history. I wanted facts. However unpalatable they were. ‘You had no pack when we found you. You did not allow any other being into your territory.’

  ‘So how did you find me?’

  ‘Our pack, along with a number of others, was sent to kill you.’ My brow rose. I had to admit, I was surprised. Though in a way it made sense that someone would try to kill me. If I was so very crazed and dangerous.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘I recognised you as my mate and you recognised me as yours.’ Whatever that meant.

  ‘And the others didn’t attack?’

  ‘No. They did.’ I watched him fold his arms across his chest. ‘Those from my pack refused to fight against me and the other packs were soon weakened. You joined us.’ I frowned at the look on his face. Surely, that was a good thing?

  ‘But…?’

  He met my eye. ‘You had no control. At first you took down our enemies and the pack did not mind. But soon you acted on any negative pack emotion. You could not control yourself. I could not help you. Our pack alpha sought out an alliance with the witches and they did this to you.’ Had he not always been the alpha? I wanted to know more. About the witches, about whatever else was out there, about the Intervention.

  ‘What exactly did they do to me? I am human, for the most part. Except that I eventually heal from almost anything and don’t seem to age.’

  He drew in a breath. This was a difficult conversation for him. ‘When you were turned, you were a child. The child was lost, scared. She stepped back. Your wolf took over to protect you both. I believe that is why you could not change from wolf form and why you cannot remember anything now. The Intervention forced control to your human.’ His voice was hard. ‘When we could not scent you, we believed you dead. It was thought that your human had died when your wolf was born and then the Intervention had removed the wolf, so there was nothing left of you. We believed you dead.’

  ‘Except I wasn’t dead.’ Because my human had always been there and because giving control back to it hadn’t killed my wolf.
‘Why don’t I age? Why didn’t I grow old and die when the human was put in charge?’

  ‘Your wolf is dominant. She keeps you alive, Ariane,’ he said casually.

  ‘My name is Ceri,’ I corrected. He may have known my wolf but he didn’t know me. He didn’t like the correction. I didn’t care.

  ‘Your wolf is dominant and your human is weak.’ Well, my human didn’t appreciate the insult. I narrowed my eyes. ‘You may be able to cage the dominance, but it will not let you die. Have you ever noticed that you heal faster than most?’

  There, he was definitely wrong. ‘No. I heal quite slowly,’ I delighted in telling him. He seemed surprised.

  ‘What about illness?’

  ‘I catch fewer colds than most people, but I always assumed that was just because I’ve built up a better immune system over the years.’

  He blinked in shock. ‘You catch colds?’

  ‘I take it werewolves don’t,’ I said dryly.

  ‘Have you ever caught a serious illness? Or sustained injury?’ I wondered if he was concerned about me, but the look on his face was one of supreme irritation. I rather liked.

  I gave a nod. ‘I had typhoid once. That was pretty bad. And meningitis, but the drugs they gave me worked quickly. I’ve had pneumonia a few times.’ He was suddenly very still. I couldn’t read his reaction. I didn’t find it that surprising that I’d been ill. After all, being around so long, I was bound to catch something. ‘A scythe sliced into my side, once. Right through to the bone,’ I continued. ‘There’s no scar, though. That took months to heal and there was a pretty bad infection for a while. I nearly lost my leg once and I’m quite surprised I have all my fingers.’ I could have gone on, but there didn’t seem much point. He got the picture. There was a strange look on his face. ‘Is that unusual?’

  ‘That you are so careless with your body or that you healed?’ He was angry.

  I glared at him and let out a short breath. ‘I wasn’t careless with my body,’ I grunted. ‘I was alone and hungry and had no money. Most of this stuff happened whilst I was working. You may not remember, but health and safety wasn’t that big a deal four hundred years ago.’

  He frowned. ‘And you could not hunt,’ he said. It was a statement. ‘You are weak. If you had been able to turn, you would not have had to rely on others.’ He clenched his jaw. It took me a while to realise that, even though he was angry, it wasn’t at me. It was at whoever had been involved in the Intervention.

  ‘Vince said you killed most of the people involved in what happened to me.’ I probably could have phrased that better. He was clearly wound up. But, then again, I didn’t appreciate being called weak. If there was one thing I was, it was resourceful. I’d done pretty well for myself given that I’d been alone. It’s hard to blend in when you don’t age, have no birth record or national insurance number.

  ‘I thought my mate was dead.’

  ‘Do you only get one?’ He shot an angry look at me and moved as if to open the door. I seemed to be an expert at pushing his buttons. At least that was something, given that he was perfectly matched to push mine. I waited for him to storm out.

  But he stopped. He drew in a slow breath and turned around.

  ‘You only get one.’

  ‘And you don’t get to choose who it is?’ I rather enjoyed that I had annoyed him.

  ‘It is a bond between wolves. The humans need not like each other.’

  ‘That’s handy.’ I sent him a cool look and then frowned. ‘Then how come the woman upstairs – Leonor – wanted to be your mate?’ I could tell I was asking irritating questions. He was struggling to take them in his stride. Presumably the others didn’t question their alpha so bluntly. No doubt any questions were raised with tact and were less personal.

  ‘Once the mate bond is acknowledged, you are mated until death. My human recognised you as dead but my wolf did not. Leonor’s wolf hoped to be mated with mine. Once mated, you can breed with that person only.’ I swallowed. Children? I had wanted children a long, long time ago. I had assumed I could not have them. I could feel my eyes pricking with a longing.

  ‘Do I have children?’

  He watched me for a long time. He seemed sad too. ‘No.’

  I rubbed my nose and pretended to be fixing something with my t-shirt. It was a lot to take in. I could have children? As long as they were with him.

  I decided to change the subject. ‘Does it hurt when you change?’

  He was restraining himself. ‘Yes.’

  ‘How long does it take?’

  ‘It depends on the wolf. The more dominant can do it in less than a minute. For the others, it takes longer.’ He stared at me a moment. ‘I will show you.’

  He pushed off the wall and stalked towards me. He stopped too close and began to remove his clothes. I was happy to see the shirt go – it’s not often that you get to see muscles like that off a TV - but when he started on his trousers, I jumped off the table. ‘Woah! Maybe keep those on?’

  Without pausing, he pulled them off and all beneath until he was completely naked. I turned around and covered my eyes. Yep, he was definitely naked! ‘Clothes get in the way,’ he said. ‘Look at me.’

  I bit my lip and wrapped my hands about my middle. Holding my breath, I turned. Slowly. He was facing me and oh, so naked. I forced myself to hold his eyes. It was difficult. I could tell I was blushing furiously.

  ‘Do not run. The wolf reacts badly to fear.’

  I frowned a little and was about to suggest we do it another time when the change began. His skin started to look as if it was burning, and then started swelling. I glanced up at him but he had closed his eyes. His jaw was clenched in obvious pain.

  His body was beginning to change shape. He was growing into some kind of creature beneath his skin. I heard bones snap and watched skin split. A moment later, he dropped to the floor. I thought about running, but where to? The bathroom? The locked door?

  I held my breath as his spine snapped into an animal shape. I could hear him panting, but it was more of a rough snorting than a pant. His nose had been replaced with a long muzzle. I saw a glint of white teeth and then, an instant later, fur seemed to sprout from his new skin. It was a shaggy long, thick fur, like that of a lion’s mane. It was black and coarse.

  There was no mistaking him for a wolf, although he was certainly a predator. Even beneath that fur, I could see more predatory muscle than any normal animal would have. He was the size of a lion – maybe bigger. His head came well above my waist.

  He gave a quick sneeze before turning to face me. I assumed that was a sign that he had finished changing. He lowered his head a little to let me get a good look at him. Though he was huge, fully-changed he looked more like a big dog than a wolf.

  I carefully reached out a hand to touch his head. As soon as I felt the fur under my fingers, I let out the breath I had been holding. He was magnificent. A predator, of course, but so beautiful in his power. He leaned a little into my hand.

  It didn’t take long for me to relax around him. Zosimos the wolf was instantly more likable than the human. After a while, he nudged me back over to the sofa. Somehow, in this form, I didn’t mind doing what he said. I’ve always liked dogs – especially the big fluffy kinds. I laughed a little and sat down. He jumped up next to me and nuzzled my hand up so that he could rest his head on my lap.

  ‘Bit presumptuous of you,’ I said, but he looked so sweet – the vicious werewolf looked so sweet – with his big brown eyes. ‘Fine.’ I put one hand on the back of his head and absentmindedly petted him. He seemed to like it, so I continued and flicked on the TV with the other hand.

  Chapter 6

  I fell asleep to Cary Grant in black and white, and woke up to a woman with heavy black braids in a tight suit leaning over me. It took me a while to realise that I was lying on my side in bed. Wolfe, dressed and in human form, was spooning me from behind. I quickly pushed him off and forced myself upright.

  ‘What time is it?’
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br />   The woman glanced at her watch and smiled. ‘A little after nine. You would have slept longer, but I’m afraid I needed to check your health and Wolfe has business to attend to upstairs.’

  I glanced back over my shoulder at him. He had rolled onto his back and was enjoying a stretch. ‘Can I get a ride into work after,’ I said. One of the benefits of university research was that you could make your own timetable...most of the time. Of course, it usually meant that you never stopped working rather than got to take loads of time off.

  Wolfe stood up. ‘No. You are staying here.’

  ‘I have a job.’

  He gave a dismissive shrug and moved to put his shoes on. ‘You are here until we know you’re not a danger.’

  I rubbed my brow. We’d had this conversation before. A lot, in fact. And I wasn’t in the mood to start another fruitless argument about it. I let out a short breath. ‘You’re going to need to figure that out sooner than you’re doing. I can’t take more than a day or two off.’ I had stuff to do. Sure, it wasn’t that important, but it was stuff. And I needed a lab to do it in.

  I stood as he moved over to where I was. ‘When you have not tried to kill someone in twenty-four hours, I will review letting you out.’ Letting me out? I got the feeling he was choosing his words to deliberately wind me up. I fought to conceal my rising anger. It was also possible that he was just very annoying.

  ‘So, you’re going to leave me here all day?’

  ‘Of course, not,’ he said, taking a step back towards the door. ‘Cara is going to give you a health check, and then Vincent will watch you until I return this evening.’

  I scowled. ‘Vince has to work too.’ Not that I objected to spending the day with him. It turned out he was a pretty good TV companion. I just didn’t like the way Wolfe was ordering everyone about as if he had a right to. And I didn’t like the way they were blindly doing what he said.

  ‘He can collect work for you both to do here.’

  I followed him a little way to the door. ‘It doesn’t work that way. I work in a lab. I need chemicals and things.’