by Kimbra Swain
“Why are we out here? Can’t I just run as a wolf?” I asked.
“No,” he barked at me.
We finally stopped near a fallen tree, and my father sat down on it. He patted the log for me to join him. I huffed as a defiant child would.
“Why are you fighting in school?”
“Because I like fighting,” I replied.
“Son, I will beat you if you lie to me again.” He meant it. I’d received a few blows from him for my smart mouth. I knew he’d beat me to a pulp. My werewolf blood would heal any damage which was one reason a fight didn’t bother me. I always won them. “Now, tell me why you are fighting? Does it have to do with me?”
“You might as well beat me.”
He sat on the log, and I waited for the blows to come, but they didn’t. He pointed at the grassy patch between the log and the bank of the creek.
“You were made right there. Your mother was a fairy woman who promised me an Alpha heir. I got exactly what she promised, but I also got a Faeborn wolf out of it with a stubborn streak like his mother.” I knew my mother was a fairy. Some of the kids at school had told me. That was the first fight. I’d beat one of them black and blue because he said I was the bastard Alpha. He said I’d never be fit to lead the pack. He also said no one would accept me, and that eventually, they would murder my father. “I’ve tried to reason with you, Son, but I think you should go live with your mother for a while.”
“No! I am a wolf,” I said, lurching up off the log.
“Yes, you are, but you need to see what else you are. You can’t keep getting into fights,” Father said. “It’s not the way of things.”
“The men fight at the bar every weekend,” I said.
“Aye! They do, but they are men and have earned that right. You haven’t earned shit.”
I felt a cool breeze behind me, and a tall woman with dark hair and deep brown eyes appeared. Her ears lifted to a slight tip and when she smiled, my insides curdled.
“What is the meaning of this?” she said.
“Take him with you. He will not obey me,” Father said.
“I don’t want to go with her!” I protested.
In that moment, I saw my father’s Alpha for the first time. “Sit down on your ass and shut the fuck up. This isn’t a discussion.” The wave of authority slammed into me, forcing me to sit.
“Looks like you have it under control,” the fairy said. She turned to walk away.
“Araxia, please. Take him with you,” Father begged. I’d felt his power, but I saw his weakness, too.
“Why should I?” she asked him.
“Dominick, tell your mother why you have been expelled from school three times,” he said. Once again, the authority hit me, but not as hard.
My mouth moved on its own. “I’ve been challenged by the wolves who think my father is weak. They believe he will be the downfall of our pack. They say that the bastard son of a fairy woman will never lead the pack.”
Father knew why I had been fighting. He’d brought me here to get away from it even though it would probably mean the death of him.
“Please take him so they do not kill him,” Father said.
“They will not kill him, because they know I will spread through the pack like the plague. I will kill them all if they touch my son,” she said.
“You care about him. I knew you did. Please, Araxia, take him.”
“No, you have an obligation to me, and you will not get out of it so easily.”
“He is your son.”
“He is your son,” she spat back at him. “You wanted him. You got exactly what you asked for, Alpha. You allowed your wife to make a deal for you while you sat back on your haunches. You are weak. I do not want him. He’s half of you. A feeble, pathetic excuse of a man. Do not summon me here again. There will be consequences.”
She walked away this time, and he didn’t stop her. I stared at him as he gathered what was left of his dignity.
“Come. We will go home.”
He didn’t speak to me the whole way back. He allowed me to stew in the conversation. My father had allowed Regina to bargain for him with a fairy who now held a contract over him. I wondered what the contract was. Her words dug deep into me. Half of me was him. I was fighting to prove that I wasn’t as weak as he was. I wanted them to know I could hold my own.
When we arrived back at the house, I ran to my room despite him calling after me. I didn’t come out for three days. Regina finally coaxed me out to eat when Father wasn’t home.
“He told me what she said.” She sat with me at the table watching me eat a plate of baked chicken, rice, green beans, and biscuits.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said with my mouth full. “She’s right.”
“No, she isn’t, Dominick. I love your father, and I did negotiate on his behalf. That doesn’t make him any less of an Alpha. He’s just not very good at being an Alpha. You will surpass him as the leader of this pack. I know you aren’t my son, but I will be proud of you when that happens.”
“Yeah, well, it ain’t gonna happen. Do you know why? Because the men in this town will kill him, then you, then me. And if you don’t think that’s true, then you need to wake up, Regina.”
I stood up from the empty plate. I’d intended to thank her, but I despised her as much as she did me. She’d undermined his authority, and the entire pack would pay for it in blood. Even at that age, I knew what it meant for our family. Before I locked myself back in my room, she got in the last word.
“He didn’t take you to her to punish you. He’s trying to save your life.”
Six
When I turned sixteen, they would allow me to take part in the full moon hunts. I’d waited for the day to arrive when I could run the wild forest and swamps surrounding our little town. There were two other kids my age who would join us for the first time.
As the bright moon rose above the town, I waited in the town square with my father for the other men of the pack to arrive. None of the guys from school wanted anything to do with me. I was happy to be a loner, so it didn’t bother me. This was the one function I’d waited on for such a long time. Free to run. Kill. Whatever my wolf wanted to do.
My father greeted the males of the pack. “Good evening. We gather this full moon to celebrate those who have come to age since the last. Among those are Gerald Nesmith. Leo Champes, and my son, Dominick Meyer.” The men clapped lightly in respect. “Tonight, the woods are ours to claim.”
We started at the canoe dock and then made our way along the river into the forest. I felt the beast inside of me clawing to get out.
“No need to wait, Son. Run along,” he said.
He knew I’d been waiting for this day. I shifted quickly and dashed into the forest following the scent of several deer. We hunted the weak or the sick, but we always hunted big game. Sometimes a lone wolf would kill a rabbit or quail, but we craved meat to sustain us.
As I ran, I felt the wind flicking through my fur, heightening my senses. Following the scent of the deer, I grunted to my father that I had located a potential kill. In mere moments, he was on my heels.
His voice reverberated in my ears. “Your scent is wrong. There is nothing here.”
“There is. Please trust me.” I’d spent years trying to please my father, but he never complimented me. I played sports at school and dominated. I got a job on the weekends and my boss proclaimed me to be a dedicated worker. It didn’t matter to my father. He never saw himself in me. He only saw the fairy there.
He abandoned me, leaving me to follow the scent on my own. That didn’t matter. I could kill a deer without help. When I neared the group of deer, I slowed my approach, making sure I was downwind of them. Then I watched in the darkness. One of them swiveled its head, sensing the danger. It didn’t matter. I’d detected a sick one in the group. I knew I could take it.
Bounding out of my hiding place, I angled straight for the ill prey. The others skittered away, but this one moved slower. Wit
h one jump, I laid my fangs into its neck, dragging it down to the forest floor. I snapped down again, and the deer fell limp.
“I have killed for the pack. Come and partake,” I called out to my fellow wolves, but none came. Sitting down, I waited for my Alpha to eat first, but he did not come.
In frustration, I paced near the dead body. Then, my father’s voice echoed in my head.
“Gerald Nesmith has killed for our pack. Join me in celebrating tonight’s kill.” I’d been reduced to just another member of the pack. Instead of answering his call, I sat down and enjoyed my own kill.
After eating my fill, I shifted back to human and sat in the grass by the bank of the river. The moon hovered over me. I stretched my neck up to its light. Closing my eyes, I found satisfaction that I had killed on this hunt, and that there would be many more to prove my worth to my father.
“Dominick!”
I jumped out of my skin and turned around to find myself surrounded by naked men staring at my ignored offering.
“Father! I told you I could smell them. See, I killed it for you,” I said, seeking his approval.
“I ordered the pack to join Gerald for his kill. Why did you not heed the words of the alpha?” he asked.
“I’d already killed. I told you when it happened, but you did not answer.”
“Did he contact you?” Creed Martin asked. Creed had always been a thorn in my father’s side.
“He did not,” my father said.
“He killed after the order to return. He consumed a kill without his pack. He lied to his Alpha. What will his punishment be?” Creed asked. The others nodded their head in agreement.
My father grimaced.
“No, please, Dad. You must have heard me. I called out to you. I wanted you to be proud of me,” I pleaded.
“We will return to town,” Father said without looking me in the eye. “Restrain him.”
Creed grinned with evil joy as two other men tied my hands. We walked back to town, and we alerted everyone to our return. Some women already waited on us. The two men who had tied me guided me to the punishment post in the center of town. To the naked eye, it was just a post in the middle of the town square. To the pack, it represented punishment to those who disobeyed pack rules.
“Father, I swear to you that I called upon you to enjoy the kill.”
My father had left me for a moment to retrieve Regina from our house. The other families gathered as the men tied me facing the post with my hands above my head. I’d seen the public punishment. I would be flogged, and my father would do the flogging.
“Dad, I love you. I just want you to be proud of me.”
Father ignored my pleas.
“Members of the pack, this punishment is for ignoring a kill call, partaking in a kill before the Alpha, and lying to the Alpha before a host of his fellow wolves. There were many in our company who saw the incident take place. Of those who joined the hunt, is there anyone who would speak to the innocence of this man?”
No one spoke. I forced back the tears. My father had turned against me. The kids from my early school days were right. I’d never lead this pack.
“Dominick Conell Meyer, I sentence you to 20 lashes for your rejection of our laws and customs,” Father said.
“I’m not lying.”
My father finally spoke to me just before the whip tore into my skin.
“I know.”
Seven
The wounds healed after two days. Regina tended to them, but neither of us spoke to each other. My father never came into my room to check on me. I heard her begging him to make amends, but he only shut her down.
The scars on my body lasted months. I consistently chose ‘skins’ when playing sports. I showed them to everyone that would look. That the Alpha of the pack would beat his own son to prove his power even when he knew that he was wrong.
The scars on my heart still remain. I never forgave him for that night.
By the time I reached eighteen, it was unbearable. Father became more and more distant, not only from me, but from Regina as well. His grip on the pack tightened, but more and more of his support faded away. He became angry and drank his guilt away at the bar.
One night he came home in a terrible rage. Regina tried to calm him. He struck her so hard that she hit the floor. Before he could do it again, I stood between him and her.
“This is rich. Of course, you would take her side. You only exist because I allowed my wife to convince me to fuck a fairy whore. You are a bastard child,” he slurred.
“You will not hit her again.”
“She is my wife. I can do whatever the hell I want to do. I’m the fucking Alpha!” he screamed. He teetered on his feet.
“You will have to get through me to get to her,” I snarled, showing him my fangs.
His fist caught me in the lower jaw, but I stood firm. Refusing to strike back, I watched him seethe. He hit me again, but I didn’t budge. He cursed me, then stumbled to the bedroom. I turned to help Regina off the floor.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” she said.
We heard him hit the floor, trying to take off his boots. She lunged toward the bedroom, but I gripped her arms. “Let him fall. He deserves it.”
“He’s right, you know. I was stubborn, and I made him do it. He’s hated me ever since, but I don’t think he hated you. He still doesn’t hate you. He hates himself.”
“It doesn’t matter now. I’m leaving the pack.” She stood with her mouth open to protest, but I continued. “You can come with me. Without an heir, and let’s be honest I’ve never been his heir, they will kill him.”
“I can’t leave him,” she said.
“He will die. He will take us down with him,” I said, begging her to come with me. I don’t know why I thought I could convince her to come with me. She was bonded to him.
“No, Dominick. You go. I’ll be fine,” she said. “Your mother once told him that she would never let them kill you.”
I hadn’t seen my mother since she’d told my father that in the woods. “You are the only mother I’ve ever had,” I said, tossing one last bit of heart and hoping she would walk out that door with me.
Her lip quivered and tears ran down her face. “I wanted to love you like a mother. I failed him, and I failed you.”
“No, you didn’t. I don’t hate you, Regina,” I said.
She patted my cheek. “I’ll make you some sandwiches for the road. Don’t forget to pack something warm; it’s about to be the rainy season.”
I nodded, conceding that she would stay and die beside him. Rushing to my room, I grabbed my duffle bag, stuffed two sets of clothes in it, and some toiletries. I put on my best boots and grabbed my duck coat. When I returned to the kitchen, Regina stuffed a huge bag of food into my duffle.
“Won’t you change your mind?” I asked.
“No,” she said. I looked around the house I’d grown up in, listening to the loud snoring of my father in the bedroom. It was home, but now it felt like hell. “Dominick, you are a good man. Go out there and don’t be your father’s son. Or your mother’s son. You show them what they should have been.” I hugged her for the first time without being forced by my father. Her frail arms wrapped around me and squeezed.
I felt the tears fall, so I turned quickly on my heel to get out of the house. I took the side road out of the neighborhood and the back alley away from the still populated bar. When I walked past the welcome sign to our town, I stopped and looked back. I swore that I’d never look back again.
Eight
The good thing about being a wolf was that I’d never go hungry. However, there were several packs in Louisiana, and I had to be careful not to hunt on another pack's land. I took odd jobs from town to town. Never staying in one place very long, I traveled at night. Sometimes I’d hitch a ride just to get a little further.
Wandering around the state, I was definitely lost in more ways than one.
I’d just finished helping an older man lay
carpet in his office. He’d paid me in cash, so I stopped at a roadside diner to have a greasy cheeseburger and fries. I happily chomped on my burger when a woman came and sat down beside me. She had legs like stilts. I immediately thought about her wrapping them around my body as I pounded away at her. I’d kept my dick in check back home for my father’s sake, but now, I could fuck whomever I wanted. It just turned out that I had terrible taste in women.
“Where ya headed?” she asked, fluttering her fake lashes at me.
“I’m not buying,” I said to check and see if she was a prostitute.
“I’m offended.”
“Sorry. Had to check.” I felt bad, but she’d interrupted my perfectly good heart-attack lunch.
“No worries. You are cute enough that I’d let you fuck me for free even if I was a prostitute.”
I nearly choked on my burger. “The hell you say?” When she touched my arm, I jumped out of my seat. “What the fuck?”
She stared at her hand, then back at me. “I thought you were a wolf.”
“I am,” I hissed, moving back to my seat and half-eaten burger. “What are you?”
“I’m from the Otherworld,” she whispered.
“I don’t sleep with fairies,” I said.
“Would you let a fairy suck your cock?” she asked. My cock said yes, my mouth said no.
“I’m just here to have a burger, then get out of town.”
“Are you a loner?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“That’s sad. What did you do wrong?” she asked.
“Faeborn,” I replied, taking a side-handed jab at her.
She noticed. “Ouch. You wound me, but I like it a little rough.”
“Seriously, um, what is your name?” I asked.
“Phoebe,” she said, sliding her hand up my pants leg, then over my crotch.