He had his bag packed and in the car before his mum could call for him again. He scoffed down a quick breakfast and clambered into the back of the car with Chuck and Dwight on either side of him.
“I will restrain you or knock you out if I need to,” Dwight said through clenched teeth. Things were strained between them since Lee had attacked him.
“It’ll be okay,” Chuck said to Lee, his smile looking strained.
Lee slouched down as much as he could, put his headphones on and closed his eyes. He thought that if he was going to be stuck in a car with his family for four or five hours, he’d rather not have any reason to get angrier than normal. Listening to more of Dwight and Chuck was likely to do that.
Wilda had told him that Dwight’s hostility and Chuck’s awkwardness stemmed from the power and strength of Lee’s wolf, and they didn’t know how to handle it. Everyone heard stories of the wolves who, when they first showed themselves, took over entirely and it was a mighty battle for both the werewolf and their family to get it back under control. But, Wilda had said, no one ever expected one of those wolves in their families, or expected to be one of those wolves. She’d told Lee that they all still loved him, and that even though they needed some help with his wolf, it would all turn out fine.
Lee wondered what fine was. Would it be the loss of his wolf altogether, was he going to learn to control it and remember it in human form, or was he going to have to go and live in the wilderness alone for the rest of his life? Waves of fear for the future flooded him as he drifted into a fitful sleep.
****
Lee woke up when the car stopped and got out as soon as Chuck had stepped out of the car. Without a word to his family, he picked up his bag and took it to his dorm. Ben’s belongings were on the bed and strewn around his half of the room, but he was obviously not there. Lee lay down on the bed, hoping that a few hours without others would calm him down.
He avoided as many people as he could for the rest of that day, all night and all the next day. He was still pretty wired up when Ben came knocking on the door.
“I thought you were asleep before so I left you be. The bonfire’s about to get started. Want to come out?” Ben sounded nervous and Lee hated to think his best friend was scared of him.
“Sure, that sounds good. How long ‘til moon up?” Lee replied, yawning and getting up.
“Not too long, I don’t think. I can never remember exactly what time it’s supposed to be.” Ben appeared less nervous and Lee felt his mood lift a little.
Lee, Ben, and the other wolves would dance around the bonfire until moon up, when those who were going to shift would, and the others would either continue dancing, or go to bed.
Amber found him as soon as he arrived at the bonfire. She kissed him full on the mouth and gave his butt a squeeze.
“How are you?” she asked, winking.
“Wolfy,” he laughed.
They danced together, almost as one body, until the first howls of the moon rang out.
Lee ripped off his shirt, pants, and shoes and waited for the change.
****
The fire blazed in the corner of his eye and the night was bright with moonlight. He smelled his female next to him and he watched as she shifted. When she was in her true form, she nuzzled him and he nipped at her.
Another male came up. He recognised the scent but growled as he got too close to his female. The other wolf whined and backed away.
He turned and ran into the woods in a direction that other wolves had not gone yet and his female followed.
They gambolled through the trees, taking pleasure in one another whenever they felt like it, and hunting as they went. At times, the wolf was interrupted as they momentarily turned back into their human form, but he used the human body to meet his own needs. His female shifted back and forth when he did, so they fit together in either form.
Towards the end of the night, he lay down with her by the bonfire. As they lay, curled together, he snapped at any others who came to close. Eventually, the others left or fell asleep, and he finally felt safe to fall asleep as well. He looked towards his already sleeping female and snuggled down for the night.
****
The wolf awoke the next morning, his human body shivering with the morning chill. It angered him that his human body was so weak and feeble, but he could no more shift into his true form during the day than he could fly.
He used the funny hands and utensils to have his breakfast. The ‘coffee’ stuff the humans drank was delicious, that he could not deny.
After breakfast, he wandered off into the woods. His female said she could not come, so he wandered alone.
He heard sounds of footfalls and crouched down, growling.
A figure emerged, arms raised.
“It’s okay, Lee,” it said, moving towards him. “It’s just me, Conall.”
He sniffed the air; he did indeed recognise the scent as one of the pack’s elders. He stopped growling and stood up.
“What do you want?” he asked, his voice gravelly.
“Ah... I see. Okay, well... I wanted to talk to you about your wolf.” Conall sat on a log and gestured for him to do the same.
He sat on the ground. “I am the wolf.”
“I figured. So, this makes things slightly more awkward.”
“How so?”
“Well, we need Lee to gain control of his wolf...um...instincts-”
“Why?” he interrupted.
“Um, well because we wolves can’t just go around killing everyone.”
“Why?”
“That is a good question. Look, it’s just not the done thing. Lee needs to be able to be himself and you, you can’t just take over every full moon, and especially not when he’s in human form.”
“I ask again, why?” He was getting tired with this wolf, but he supposed he should hear him out. Perhaps if he and Lee worked together, the wolf could be active all month, not just during the full moon.
“Because, then Lee isn’t Lee.”
“But what about me? When he is Lee, I am not me.”
“I suppose, but you are really only a part of Lee...”
He growled. A part of him knew this Conall was right; he would not exist without Lee, but he was becoming more powerful every month and he had hopes he could take over from Lee eventually.
“I know... I know how you feel. My wolf was strong when I was turned as well. It took me years to control it, you know that... Well, Lee knows that.” The man appeared to stop to gather his thoughts.
He decided he was done with the conversation and launched himself at the man. The man, however, was too fast, and he just saw the fist as it collided with his head.
****
Lee woke up in his dorm room, his mother sitting on the side of his bed and Ben hovering around anxiously in the background.
“What day is it?” he asked, feeling groggy and physically exhausted.
“The night after the last full moon night...” his mum said slowly.
Lee groaned. “What did I do this time?”
His mum laughed softly, but it was Ben who answered. “You tried to attack Conall, but he decked you. You spent the rest of the full moon either hiding in the woods on your own or off with...” he stopped and looked at Wilda before continuing, “Amber.”
Lee looked at his mum, who avidly avoided his gaze.
“We thought we might stay here for another couple of days... So you can have a chat to Conall.”
Lee nodded and tried to sit up slowly. His head swam a little, so he took his time. His mum offered him an arm and he leaned on her as he stood up.
“I’ll let you have a shower and get changed and then you should go and see Conall. Almost everyone has left, so there are no classes today; you’ll find him in his office.”
Lee nodded and made his way to the small bathroom he and Ben shared. After he took a long, hot shower, he felt marginally better. He pulled his t
owel on and stumbled out into the bedroom area.
“Feeling better?” Ben was now sitting on his bed, reading a book.
“Ugh...maybe. What the hell was my wolf doing?”
“Nothing untoward, few beers, lots of dancing. Unless you count what he did with Amber,” Ben snickered.
Lee felt his face flush, his groin go warm and his anger start to rise at Ben. He breathed as deeply as he could and felt himself relax slightly.
He got dressed and supposed it was time he spoke with Conall, who he was sure would be gloating over the great shiner on the side of Lee’s face.
Chapter Twenty-Four
E
llie stomped along the corridor, feeling mighty sorry for herself. Her boyfriend had cheated on her, she’d fallen for another guy but he’d gone off with the same girl her boyfriend cheated with, her magic was on the fritz and even Archibald couldn’t help her, her sister was still on death’s door and she had no way of helping her and, to top it all off, she had like two months until the end of the year and exams.
Melissa, Gwen and Kim stayed close by and tried to boost her spirits – although they had no idea about the magic-related problems.
“He was no good for you anyway,” Melissa would say about Charlie.
“Yeah, he obviously has no taste and doesn’t deserve you!” Gwen would agree.
“You’re better off without him or that stupid Mike.” Kim would nod.
Ellie would sigh and they would go through yet more ways in which Mike and Charlie were awful and she was wonderful, and how she would meet a lovely new, older guy at university next year – because that was very exciting... If only they knew how old Charlie really was!
Then came the woes about them not attending the same university.
“I can’t believe you’re going to that Academy place!” Melissa would announce.
“It’s going to be awful not seeing you every day!” Gwen would say.
“We’re going to be totally bummed without you,” Kim would agree.
Ellie would sigh again and explain it was a family tradition and she couldn’t change it now if she wanted. Which she did. But, she couldn’t. Because applications had closed and she’d only applied for the Academy while they were open because she was all excited about magic at the time.
What a waste, she thought.
She’d decided, over the last few weeks since Morg was hurt, that she would renounce magic and not be a witch anymore. Her family and Miriam, on the other hand, weren’t going to give her the satisfaction. She did try hard for them. She had decided that she would wait until university started, she’d enrol in no magic-related subjects – good luck, she’d think to herself – and then she would never have to practice again. But, until then, she tried her hardest. Only, her hardest was actually just a slight fizzing of power... She was so burned up, she didn’t even have to pretend to hate it.
Lee waved at her, pulling her out of her thoughts and she smiled back at him. Then, noticing Charlie next to him, she scowled.
“How have you been?” Lee asked.
“How’s Morganna?” Charlie tried to catch her eye.
“Things have been better,” she replied, ignoring Charlie. “I just can’t wait to get to uni and not have to ever practice magic again!”
Lee took a step back as though shocked. “Um, okay. But, you’re still going to the Academy, aren’t you? We only applied there because you made us.” He indicated to Charlie as well.
“I have no choice now. Applications are closed and I don’t think my marks will warrant a late application to anywhere else.”
Lee nodded, “I know what you mean. I’ve been doubting if going to the Academy is such a good idea lately.” His face clouded over and Ellie wasn’t sure if she should mention anything about his regulating troubles or not.
Just as she was about to say something, the bell rang.
“I guess we’d best go,” Lee said.
“Pet... I-”
“Bye, Lee. I’ll talk to you later.” Ellie hurriedly turned around before anyone said anything else.
“Sorry, man,” she heard Lee say as she left.
She sighed and fought back the tears. Nothing felt like it was going right anymore. She felt like she’d lost control over her whole life. She breathed deeply, trying to dissipate the panic settling in her chest.
She would find a way to get through it – a non-magical way.
****
Charles sat in a pub, eating a meal and drinking some beer, when a tall, redheaded man walked in. By his scent, he was also a vampire. Charles was on instant alert. He had not met many vampires in the last few decades as he had lived as far under the radar as he possibly could. He had known many, courtesy of his sire de Savage, when he was at the height of his blood-crazed days and had travelled with a court of them.
The man looked over at him and nodded in greeting. Charles nodded back.
The man went to the bar, said something so quietly even Charles could not pick it up, and then sat right across from Charles, at the very same table.
“Red,” the man said, unsmiling.
“I beg your pardon?” Charles replied, trying not to choke on his meal.
“My name. Folks call me Red.”
“Ah, cannot imagine why.” Charles smiled, hoping the man would brighten somewhat and make him feel slightly less uncomfortable.
Just as Charles thought this Red person might lean across the table and break his neck, or something just as drastic, a huge grin spread across his face and he laughed heartily.
“What might I call you, feller?” Red asked, wiping a tear from his eye.
“Charles.”
“Charlie, you say? Haven’t met a Charlie in a long time.”
Charles winced. He had not been called Charlie in an age. To him, it signified a time in his life he had forgotten and chose not to even attempt to remember. It meant humanity, which at first had been an awful weakness. Now, it only symbolised loss, as he plodded through his miserable, rat-filled existence.
Red sniffed. “You smell of nothing but rat.” He wrinkled his nose in obvious disgust.
Charles would have turned red if his blood still pumped.
“I...uh...changed my diet.”
“Why the hell would you have done that?”
Charles felt rather indignant at this intruder’s...intrusion.
“I got sick of killing people.” He decided not to go into all the detail about the guilt and the shame he felt in association with killing people.
“Lord, boy. There are other options than to live off rats!” Red exclaimed. Charles was not sure about being called ‘boy’; he was centuries old by now and this Red did not look like he was all that much older when he had been turned.
“You do not?”
“No, of course not!” He leaned closer to Charles, leaned back again as his food and drink came, then leaned closer again. “Did your sire not teach you that?”
“I have a feeling my sire rather likes the killing aspect of feeding,” Charles said, now feeling even more guilty about the lives he had taken.
“Gosh darn, Charlie!” Red stuffed his mouth full between words. “You ride along with me for a while and I’ll show you how to do it, right. No vampire should go about living off rats... Bloody dirty, vile creatures.” Red shuddered. “Would you like that? Me teaching you I mean...”
Charles thought about it for a moment. It certainly would be nice to not have to live off the disgusting rats’ blood he had rationed himself. If he did not have to kill people... Well, that would assuage his shame and allow him to feed guilt-free. How would he feel about his past transgressions though? Would it make them feel worse? Knowing there was another way? No, he decided, with every life he did not take in feeding, he felt he would make up for the one’s he had already taken. Besides, he was sick of living like some animal; it was time he lived well again.
Red was looking at him and he nodd
ed. “All right then, you can teach me.”
Red smiled and motioned to the publican for more beer. “We’ll have a rollicking good time, Charlie, you just wait and see.”
Charles could not really call his early days with Red ‘rollicking’, but he did find the lessons useful. On one such lesson, Charles was standing with Red in an alleyway, watching people go past.
“Now, finding yourself a target is no easier when you’re not going to kill them than when you would. You still need to pick one that won’t be terribly missed.”
“What? Why?” Charles worried that Red was not actually as much of an advocate for not killing as he said he was.
“Accidents happen, mate,” he replied. “Besides, sometimes you just need to kill.”
Charles was slightly horrified by that announcement and was not sure he would ever think it would be okay to kill again. But, he supposed, Red surely knew what he was talking about.
“That one, there!” Red pointed to an obvious prostitute – hardly more sanitary than a rat, Charles thought bleakly – and shoved Charles out of the shadows.
Charles walked up to her, putting on as confidant an air as possible.
“Want some, love?” she asked him. He indicated she follow him into the alleyway. She primped and preened her dress, or the rags that were the remnants of her dress, and followed him.
He pushed her up against the wall, as commandingly as he could without outright hurting her. She giggled and he mentally rolled his eyes. He pushed up against her, nuzzling his way under her chin. She sighed and moaned as though he was the best lover she had ever experienced. He rolled his eyes again – prostitutes!
He took a deep breath, remembering what Red had said about controlling his impulses. He opened his mouth slowly and, just as slowly, lowered it onto her neck forcefully enough to pierce the skin. She cried out at first, but he drank slowly and, as Red had promised, by allowing the bite’s powers to take effect, she became more docile and willing.
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