by B F Worlds
THE LAST OF HER KIND
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2018 by BF Worlds. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchased only authorized editions.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 1
Focus had always come easy to her. It was as natural as breathing, shifting through the different stimuli in her environment. Breathe in. She filtered out the crowd gathered around her, their gentle murmurs and their expectant gazes, until she was left with the wind and the wildlife that made its home in the field. Breathe out. She blocked out the buzzing of the insects and the scraping of small mammals digging in the dirt. Breathe in. She made herself numb to the warmth of the sun and the tickling breeze. Breathe out.
Everything was gone, except for her.
Dean opened her eyes. She was ready.
She raised her left hand and bit down on the side of her thumb, pressing down with her canines so she didn't have to gnaw through her tough skin. Only a couple of drops welled from the small cut, coating her tongue in a metallic taste that made her want to spit. Most members of her people loved the taste of blood and were quite addicted to it, a quirk of their evolution, but a few like her couldn't stand it.
Her disgust was tempered by the warmth of the change. It started in her belly and rapidly spread outwards, making her sigh in pleasure. It was like falling into a warm bath, filled with chocolate. Decadent and relaxing. She knew that the feeling was caused by a flood of powerful endorphins, another perk of evolution, that made breaking bones and shredded muscles feel pleasant.
This was the second pitfall she'd had to surmount in her training. Less disciplined changers would get lost in the pleasure. It took an act of will to separate herself from the feelings and return to the clarity she started with.
In her pack, they were taught that the animal and the man were two separate entities sharing the same mind. Changers struggled to find balance between the two sides from the time they were born. Warriors were those who conquered their animal and bent it to their will. She imagined the divide in her mind as an invisible wall, a barrier that kept the animal's wilder instincts at bay. As the change progressed, she could feel that barrier coming down and her wolf stepping forward, its ears pricked in curiosity as it felt her attention on it.
Halt.
The warmth drained from her body, leaving her muscles sore and her skin crawling uncomfortably. She winced as her bones grated against each other, slow to settle in their new positions.
Dean gave it a few moments to be sure that her body had adjusted before she released her senses, letting the world flood back in as she took stock of herself. From how far away the ground was, she concluded she'd gained some height. Her clothes were barely holding at the seams, but her limbs felt lighter than air when she gave them a good shake. She flexed her fingers, working out the lingering kinks as she admired her short claws.
Her attention was drawn to the figure that strutted over the grass, coming towards her. Lucien looked the mythical being the world thought him to be. Despite her increase in height, Lucien's seven foot plus frame still had a few inches on her. He was thick as a tree, with strong features and dark eyes that matched his dusky skin tone. His hair was tied into a thick braid that hung down his back, tied about with a gold thread. Normally, his expression was unreadable as stone, but a small smile tempered his heavy gaze as he stood in front of her.
"How does it feel?" he asked in a booming voice. "Are you stiff?"
Dean rolled her shoulders and went through a few stretches. Feeling a touch of flare, she took a step back and jumped, doing two full back flips before deftly landing on her feet. A wave of laughter rose from the crowd. Lucien remained stoic.
"Very well. Now, can you speak?"
Yes. That was what she intended to say. What came out was a strangled garble that shocked her. She tried again, the muscles in her throat visibly straining, and all she got out was a high pitched squeak. She was glad blushes couldn't show beneath her fur as her cheeks flamed from the embarrassing sound. The third try yielded nothing better and she growled in frustration.
"Enough of that," Lucien chided. "Let me have a look." He grabbed hold of her jaw, heedless of her fangs, and worked it about so he could get a clear look down her throat. "There doesn't appear to be a problem with the change. Maybe you just aren't ready yet. You have mastered the animal. That is enough glory for one day."
Dean let out a deep breath. He was right. She was plenty accomplished already. There was no harm in letting it rest for six months, when the next test would happen. No harm except to her pride. One more try. Focus.
"Noooo,"she said slowly. The tiny victory emboldened her and she tried it again. "No." It came out much crisper. "Ah ca' speek." The words could barely be considered intelligible. It would need work, but it was a victory, a sentiment she knew Lucien shared by the full smile that curved his lips.
He threw an arm about her shoulders and turned her to face the crowd; a collection of men and women dressed in red and black uniform, a snarling wolf head on the back of their vests.
"WARRIORS!"
They snapped to attention, their backs ramrod straight, arms flat against their sides. "Yes Alpha!" they shouted in unison.
"Welcome your new comrade!"
As one, they threw their heads back and howled. Their disjointed voices melded, blending into one harmonious note. Lucien joined them, his deep tone a sharp counterpoint to the music. Dean was last to join in, the wolfen sound carried much easier by her changed throat.
CHAPTER 2
As soon as the howling died down, Dean was whisked away from the field and carted off towards Lucien's house atop the Warriors' shoulders. Their compound was not very large, but it contained a community. There were three main buildings; the Alpha House that was located furthest from the entrance, the Armory right beside it that housed the Warriors, and the Mess Hall in the center that served communal dinners every night. The rest of the space was taken up by individual homes with small plots of land attached to them. Each family contributed to the pack in different ways and their yards reflected their roles; gardens, chicken coops, pig pens, and unfinished wood projects.
It was inevitable that their parade drew attention. Curious heads leaned out of windows and looked up from their work. Children too young to be preoccupied with chores ran out to join them, adding their small voices to the cheering and off key tunes. Dean recognized all of them. She enjoyed their reactions, especially those of the other wolves her age. Respect. Anger. Jealousy.
Apathy. And...other emotions that made her grateful for the fur covering her face again. On their march, the crowd tripled in size.
The lot of them ended up on the steps of the Alpha House, where they were met by the imposing figure of Barclay Amarok. Bar wouldn't be considered classically beautiful. Her features were too sharp, her lips were too thin, and she was nearly as big as her husband. The pack didn't value beauty half as much as they valued strength and the alpha's wife was strong enough to handle any wolf. Not that she needed to. Her warm demeanor could tame the wildest of them with one smile.
She barreled toward them, gently but forcefully pushing wolves out of her way. "Move, move you pests! Let me see her. There's my girl!" She scooped Dean up in her arms and twirled her about, cackling loudly. "I knew you would do it today!"
Dean smiled through the hug, which she imagined looked a little odd with her altered maw. Bar finally let her down, ruffling the fur atop her head. She had to look up to meet Dean's eyes now and the action seemed to make her smile wider. "Look at you, you little beast! I remember when you were only about the size of my knee. Now you're taller than me by a head! And look at those teeth!"
Dean wanted to respond, but didn't want to risk her garbled speech. She focused and found her wolf, stretched out and relaxed, waiting for her direction.
Sleep.
The wolf closed its eyes and warmth spread through her body. Now that she wasn't controlling every inch of it, the change came much quicker. In a second, she was standing in her human form, smiling wide enough to make her cheeks hurt. "What do you mean, you giant? I've made it only to your waist, at most!"
It was an old joke between them. Bar chuckled. "Cheeky thing. Suppose it'll only get worse once you're strutting around in the uniform. I'll still turn you over my knee, pup."
Feeling wicked, Dean turned around and bent over, offering her butt for the threatened whooping. The crowd hooted and threw out catcalls, but Bar didn't rise to the bait. "Alright, alright! You young ones run back to your mothers. The rest of you in the house. And go through the back! I don't want you tracking dirt through my front room."
"I'd be careful about teasing my mate like that," Lucien said, jogging up the steps. She held out her arms and he stepped into them, dipping her in a long kiss that made her giggle when they finally came up for air. "The last wolf that dirtied our carpet is hanging over the fireplace."
-
By the time the Warriors had cleaned up, Dean's parents had arrived. She was a even mix between the two. From her father, she had received her six foot two frame, darker coloring, and muddy brown eyes. Her mother was responsible for her soft features and short, wavy hair.
Lok and Deava stood together talking with the alpha pair, but her father broke away when he saw her. Dean was scooped into the air for a third time and she tried not to groan in annoyance as her father beamed at her.
"I'm so proud of you, little bird!"
"Father," she hissed. "Please let me down. This is embarrassing."
Lok snorted at the protest as he obliged, setting her on her feet gently. "Wasn't it just yesterday this rascal would be climbing all over me, begging for up?"
The adults laughed while Dean hid her face in her palms. "I was five."
"Five, twenty-five, a hundred, same difference. You're still my pup." He ruffled her hair and she couldn't help smiling at the familiar gesture. "A credit to our blood too. The youngest Amarok to master her wolf in a century."
"It was all thanks to the training I received from Master Lou. All I did was follow instruction."
"And humble to boot!" He turned to his brother with a smirk. "She doesn't get that from our side of the family."
"Definitely not," Lucien agreed.
"Of course," Barclay chimed in. "The Amarok men are all heathens." She looped her arm through Deava's, flashing the smaller woman a bright smile. "It's up to us women to make sure our children grow up with any kind of manners. A fine job you did, Dee."
Deava smiled while remaining silent, as she tended to do in company. Bar was understanding and shifted the attention away from her. "Let's not just stand here. Everyone's at the table. If we don't feed them, they're liable to start eating each other."
-
Every building in the compound was built by the pack. When the Alpha House was built, the dining room was constructed first and every other room was designed around it. It could seat a hundred comfortably. The younger children polished the wooden the floor every other day, maintaining its shine. Three long tables were lined up vertically in the center, plump cushions arranged along the perimeter for seating instead of chairs.
The Warriors only took up a third of the available space, jostling each other as they took their places. There was no order to the seating except for the head of the table, where the Amarok family always sat.
Lucien sat at the head of the table. Barclay was at his right, followed by their son, Lamar. Normally, Dean's family followed the same seating order, her parents followed by their children, but it was a special day. Dean was given a place of honor beside her uncle and her sister was absent. Her place remained empty out of respect, but the young Warrior felt the gap in her family keenly.
Dozens of plates brimming with food were crammed on the table's surface. Changers preferred meat and part of Dean's future duties would be hunting for the pack's dinner. With humans pressing in on the mountain, large prey was scarce and closely monitored. They couldn't afford to be picky over their protein. As a result, all manner of prey had found its way onto their table; squirrels, birds, even the occasional raccoon. Tantalizing smells curled through the air, but all hands waited under the table as they waited for their alpha's direction.
Lucien took his time to stand, drawing a hush as he reached his full height. He touched the gazes of everyone in the room, nodding to himself as they each looked away, acknowledging his dominance over them.
"The world has changed," he started. "It has changed much since my ancestors, the first of our kind, roamed. Then, we were unquestioned rulers, unrivaled in strength, with whole continents under our dominion to run freely across."
Roars of approval and outrage met his words. He let them go on for a moment before raising his hand and silence fell again. "Now we hide from humans, vampires poison our lands with their impurities, and the Fae plot against us in secret. The blood wolves have all but died out. This, for all we know, is the last free pack of our kind in the world.
However! Though small in number we may be, we are strong and, with each generation, we grow stronger." He paused and looked toward Dean. She didn't have to be told to stand, popping up into a sharp salute; her right fist pressed against her heart, her left fist pressed against the base of her spine.
"Hail! Deanna Anadaya Amarok, a child of the alpha line, youngest to master her wolf in five generations. Lead with your heart, but beware your back, for our enemies are many."
The Warriors roared in approval, banging their hands on the table. This time Lucien didn't quiet them, but raised his voice to be heard over the thunderous noise.
"FOR THE GLORY OF OUR BLOOD!"
The ruckus grew impossibly louder. Dean's sensitive ears began to ache with the onslaught of sound and she breathed an inaudible sigh of relief when Lucien retook his seat, reaching out in front of him to the nearest plate to cut a sliver of meat free. It was symbolic. The alpha always ate first, then the rest of the pack.
Changers had voracious appetites. Soon, all their mouths were too full of food to make noise.
CHAPTER 3
The food was cleared away quickly and the drink was brought out. Normal alcohol wasn't enough to intoxicate a changer. Their bodies processed it too fast. The different races all had different tricks to make it effective. The blood wolves mixed theirs with blood from their prey. Fresh, it could trick their bodies into initiating the first phase of the change. The rush of chemicals slowed their immune system, allowing the alcohol to take effect.
Dean couldn't stand the stuff
and didn't prefer the company of drunk wolves. They tended to end up in one of two places: in a stranger's bed or the bad end of a brawl. Neither were places she wanted to be, so she grabbed a bottle of water and excused herself to lay in the backyard.
She preferred sleeping outdoors most nights. It set her wolf, constantly forced to endure the quirks of mankind, at ease being in a familiar environment. The breeze carried a hint of frost that told her fall was coming to an end. Dean loved the winter. She believed her kind were built for the harsh season. The cold could never penetrate their thick coats and the weather cooled their bodies, which tended to run feverish.
Her random thoughts shifted to a light doze. Just before she could fall into a deeper sleep, the peace was shattered by heavy footfalls. Dean jumped to her feet in an instant, her body tensed for a fight as she scanned the darkness. Her shoulders relaxed as she recognized Lamar exiting the house, swaying as he came off the last step.
Changer genes were passed through the father and the children typically took after their sires much more than their mothers. Lamar was practically the spitting image of Lucien, though he was not quite as tall and he had his mother's frosty blue irises rather than the alpha's darker ones.
A goofy smile curled his lips as he held out a nearly empty wine bottle to her. "You left the party so the party found you!"
Dean brushed away his offering with a scowl, her nose wrinkling from the heavy scent of alcohol wafting off him. "What are you doing Lamar? You know I don't drink."
