by Lilly Wilder
I staggered along and eventually I had to give up and rest. My legs were screaming and as soon as I stopped I sank onto the ground and heaved in heavy breaths. I gulped in air as though it was water and let my body enjoy some ease. The glade was filled with soft grass and I lay down, knowing that I needed to rest if I was to continue on my journey. The need to soothe my aching muscles overrode my fear of being caught. I must have put enough distance between myself and them now to be confident of an escape. I figured I had at least an hour before Matt awoke, perhaps even longer, and then he’d have to go back to the clubhouse and tell the others. Then they’d have to scour the forest, not knowing in which direction I’d gone. I breathed a little easier as I thought it through and it became clear to me that they wouldn’t be able to catch up.
As far as I was concerned I was completely free and there was no chance of them finding me. I breathed a little easier and a smile crept upon my face. I thought to the future. Part of me just wanted to leave this all behind and not even think about it again, but I knew that if I didn’t come forward other women might be at risk. I couldn’t let that happen. I would expose them for what they were and the hammer of justice would slam down upon their heads. I would be a hero and, ironically, it might even catapult me to the fame that Mom had always wanted for me. Everyone loved a true crime story. I was certain that I’d be interviewed for all the daily talk shows and I might even have a book or a Hollywood movie made out of my ordeal. Maybe Scarlett Johansson could play me…what a dream.
Mom would probably say that the trauma was all worth it if something like that came out of it. What a cruel joke fate was. This is why I didn’t like to believe in anything grander than mere chance pulling my life along, for if there was such a thing as fate then it had a malevolent sense of humor.
I was so exhausted that I probably could have stayed there for the rest of the day. My legs were heavy and my mind was dazed. My clothes clung to my body with uncomfortable sweat, but I knew if I stayed there I would lose all the advantages I had gained. I pushed myself up with a groan and continued forward, ignoring the lancing pain in my legs. The loneliness was getting to me though and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching me. I glanced around. Shadows danced, but I saw no other person, yet I couldn’t get rid of this feeling.
So I started to sing.
My voice was not nearly as pure as it had been on stage, since it was bleeding with desperate breaths, but hearing an actual sound calmed me. I sang some of Mom’s old favorites. I kept my voice soft and low in the hope that it wouldn’t travel far and give my position away.
*
I had been walking for the better part of the day and was just about ready to drop when I suddenly heard a sound that chilled me to the bone. I stopped singing and the air went quiet around me, apart from some rustling in the trees, and it was more rustling than what a simple breeze could cause. My chest tightened and fear crawled like ice down my throat. My pace slowed. They couldn’t have caught up with me could they? I retraced my steps and thought about everything I had done, wondering if I should have pushed myself harder, or taken another path. I glanced behind me, trying to see if I had left a trail of footsteps lodged in the ground, but there was nothing there. I wracked my brains to figure out how they had found me, when suddenly a grim conclusion came to my mind.
If it wasn’t them, it was something else. Something dangerous.
A hunter.
I gulped as I continued moving, hoping that it was simply my mind playing tricks on me and there wasn’t actually anything to be worried about. My furtive gaze darted all around me, trying to parse the woodland for the threat I was certain lay in wait, but I could see nothing. Still, some primal instinct told me that I was in danger.
I started to run. As my body moved into a sprint I saw a black shape move to my left. It circled around, and then suddenly a wolf broke through the forest before me. Branches cracked and leaves were ripped away. The wolf, bigger than any I had seen before, loomed above me. Its teeth were so white, stark against its black fur. Its eyes were beady and dark, and it stared at me with death. A low growl rumbled like thunder and I crawled back, searching for a way out, but two more wolves accompanied it, both of them as black as night. I shook my head and pressed myself against a tree. I clutched at the trunk for safety, and clawed at it, trying to climb it to at least escape their grasp, hoping that I could wait them out, even though they looked strong enough to uproot a tree entirely.
I groaned as I glanced over my shoulder and looked at them coming towards me. I could see the desire in their eyes, wanting to tear me apart. Tears cascaded down my cheeks as I was completely helpless. I had gone from one bad situation to another, and from this there was no escape. I meekly surrendered in tears, falling to my knees and bowing my head. I closed my eyes and prayed that it would be over quickly.
And then there was a howl.
I looked up, fearful of more wolves, but these were different. One was huge, bigger than all the others, with grey fur covering sinewy muscles. Another was tawny brown, lithe and fierce. The one that came charging in with the most ferocity and passion was a white wolf. He was lean and mean, every muscle in his body seemed primed for combat. His ears were flat against his head and his black nose was pointed forward. His jaws were opened and they hissed death. The three ran in like a blur, thundering around me. I held up my hands around my head and screamed, trembled, wishing that the world would swallow me up and take me away from this forsaken place. I turned and watched the whirlwind of wolves as they sought battle with each other. The black wolves turned their attention away from me and formed a defensive posture. The white wolf ran forward, ahead of his two allies, snarling with bestial fury. He threw himself in between two of the black wolves and they went tumbling around, their tails twisting and the fur blending into a blurred vision of violence.
The bigger grey wolf crashed in like a tank. He went straight for the remaining black wolf, butting heads. The black wolf lost its balance and fell with a whimper. The grey wolf slashed and clawed. Blood spurt out in a crimson wave. The tawny brown wolf did not fight. It stood in front of me, acting like a shield between me and the violence. It didn’t make sense at the time. Was this how wolves behaved?
The white wolf yapped and bit at the two wolves around him. The tumult was so chaotic that, at first, he seemed to have the advantage. He tore flesh and fur away from the wolves and the forest was alive with the yelps of pain and the growls of fury. The initial advantage had been taken away though. Once the black wolves regained their footing they asserted themselves and swiped at the white wolf. Jaws snapped, powerful enough to crunch through bone. I gasped at such a display of animal strength. It was more intense than anything I had witnessed before and I feared for my life. I tried to move, but I was paralyzed with terror. There was nothing I could do but watch.
The white wolf wriggled and squirmed to try and assert his dominance again, but it seemed as though he had acted too rashly. He gave as good as he got, but the two big black wolves seemed intent on destroying him. They tore a chunk of flesh out of his shoulder, which sent him staggering back. If I had been the white wolf I would have retreated, but the vicious animal was relentless and would not give any quarter. Even though he was wounded he snapped back at them and tried to fight. The tawny brown wolf growled and I wondered if he was going to join in to defend his brethren, but he didn’t need to. The grey wolf howled loudly as he charged in and stood next to the white wolf, bringing his huge paw down in a vicious swipe that cut the black wolf along the side of the face. The black wolf yelped in pain and now the odds had suddenly changed. With one of them dead already and with the huge grey wolf standing alongside the white it seemed as though they had little chance, even though I could sense some of the power that surged through their bodies.
They snarled and backed away as the grey and white wolves reared their bodies ready to strike out. I could almost see the moment when they realized that thi
ngs hadn’t gone the way they had planned. They backed away, and took their terrible anger with them. The three wolves howled in unison as a final warning cry to the black wolves that they had won.
They had won me.
Fear gripped my soul as I realized that I had just substituted three wolves for three more. I pressed myself tightly against the tree and moaned, shaking my head as the wolves turned towards me. They panted because of the vigor of battle and slowly turned their beady gazes upon me. Breath caught in my throat and I wasn’t sure what to think when suddenly I locked eyes with the white wolf. I knew those eyes.
They were golden.
Chapter Eight
I didn’t understand how it was possible at the time, but those eyes were the same eyes as I had seen when I had awoken during the ride away from the bar. I thought that it had been a simple trick of the mind, and even at this moment I was still convinced that something was wrong. After all, I was exhausted and flooded with fear. My mind was in complete disarray. Then it happened. I’m not even sure how to describe it. The wolves stepped towards me and I thought they were going to take me as their prey, that this had all been some battle over a piece of flesh and I was going to be their dinner. My heart shifted from hope to despair and I believed that whatever respite I had been given it was only a temporary one, but then the air shimmered around the wolves. Their bodies started to shift. Fur receded and they reared back on their hind legs. Their faces flattened and took on human features. The whole process looked as though it must have hurt, but the men bore it with a stoic quality and then, by some miracle, there were no longer three wolves standing before me, but three men. Jack, Buck, and Matt.
I blinked and rubbed my eyes, but that was the moment when I started to believe in the impossible.
*
I’d barely had a chance to process the information when Jack stormed forward and tugged me up.
“I told you not to run away! Do you have any idea what they would have done to you?” he raged. His face was like thunder and he glared at me. His hand was rough again. He held me like he owned me.
“Don’t treat her like that! She’s been through a lot. You should be gentler,” Matt said, rushing in to my defense, even though I had hurt him.
“Oh don’t get me started, Matt,” Jack turned and scowled, not letting go of me. “This wouldn’t have happened if you had just listened to me. I told you to keep her inside. We almost lost everything because of you.” Matt was silenced.
“This whole thing is trouble. I told you from the beginning. There’s no way the Hunters were going to let us get away with this. We should have attacked them from the outset, reminded them who’s boss,” Buck folded his arms and didn’t seem to care about me at all. He barely looked in my direction and seemed more concerned with facing into the distance, towards the direction in which these Hunters had run. While the three bickered I wondered if I was ever going to get a chance to speak. I wrestled my arm away from Jack’s grip, which would only make it bruise even more, and pulled myself away.
Jack looked shocked that I would even dare try to escape.
“Whatever they would have done to me wouldn’t have been any worse than what you’re doing,” I said sullenly.
Jack laughed, but it was a laugh that was completely devoid of humor. “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” he spat.
“No, I don’t, because you won’t tell me anything,” I shot back, glaring at him. My emotions ran wild and my entire body bristled with manic energy. I trembled with anguish, angry that I had been so close to escaping only to have the chance snatched away from me. At least I knew how they had tracked me though. With the nose of a wolf it would have been easy to track my path. God, when I looked at them I could barely believe they had just transformed from wolves. What the hell was I doing? I was certain that I had to have been hallucinating, but everything else seemed entirely real and I could do nothing but go with the flow and hope that somehow this would all end up making sense.
“We should tell her Jack. It’s not going to do any good keeping the truth from her, not now that she’s seen this. She was going to find out anyway. Maybe once she knows she’ll understand better,” Matt said.
Jack turned away and breathed deeply, closing his eyes for a moment as he tried to calm the energy within.
“What you’re about to learn has been a secret for a long time, for generations in fact. I would have preferred to wait for you to learn about our story, but I suppose it cannot be helped now. You should sit down. This may take some time,” he began. I glanced towards Matt, who looked away from me. Buck scanned the horizon to ensure that nothing disturbed us. I did as Jack asked and sank to the ground, eager to finally hear his tale and shed some light on what the hell was going on.
*
“It all started a long time ago,” Jack began. “I tried to tell you last night that there are greater forces in the world, but you wouldn’t listen. I needed you to have more of an open mind before I told you all of this, but now I have no choice, so I hope that you take everything I say in good faith. Nobody quite knows how werewolves came into existence, but the fact is we have been a part of the world for a long time, as long as humans. But there have always been few of us. We have kept track of the bloodlines through the years to ensure that our brood remains pure. Our packs require excellent breeding to remain strong and for years the system was flawless. But then the world began to change. There were more opportunities calling to people, seducing people. The world became a bigger place and suddenly members of the pack wanted to leave to pursue other things. The numbers dwindled and the fear is that we’d start to lose our way of life. The fewer of us there are, the harder it is to repopulate. The werewolf gene is recessive. If we were to mate with a human it would be lost. We need someone borne of a wolf bloodline to breed with,” he said.
“But that…that doesn’t make any sense. I’m not of a wolf bloodline. I’m just a regular girl.”
“No, you’re not. Your father was a wolf,” Jack said.
I gulped. “No. how do you know?”
“He was one of us, but he died. The wolves that found you are called the Hunters. They have been our rivals for a number of years now and will do anything to stop us. They killed him. One by one they have been hunting us over the years, trying to take our place as the most powerful pack. They have been hunting you too, trying to keep you from us. Trust me, they would have done far worse things to you,” Jack said.
My mind reeled. I could barely believe what he was saying.
“No…no…this doesn’t make sense. This is all too much. It’s just crazy.”
Jack sighed and turned to the others. “I told you she wasn’t ready. What’s the point in telling her when she’s not ready to believe?”
“She will believe, she just needs time,” Matt said.
“She’ll only try and escape again. We need to keep her chained up this time,” Buck snarled.
“No, wait,” I said, hating that they were talking about me as though I wasn’t even there. “I just need time to understand. How can this be possible? How can you even exist?”
“Is it so hard to believe that such a thing is possible when there are so many other miracles that occur every day? Nobody knows for certain why we have been given this gift, it is just the way things are. But you have seen it for your own eyes. There is no use in disbelieving. Only acceptance can set you free.”
“And my father?”
“His name was Jake. He was one of the best of us. He was our leader for a time. He met your mother, but the Hunters got to him before anything could happen. They knew he was seeing someone, and they wanted to know because his offspring would be desirable, either a powerful male wolf or a pure female carrying the wolf gene. There has always been a tradition where the females carry the wolf heritage. We believe it’s from Mother Moon. Your father did not tell them who your mother was, so none of us knew, but then at the bar when you started singing I
knew that it could be no other. In your song you carry the legacy of the wolves, and after we met you it was clear. You are his child. You can be our future. Your place is here with us. It is what he would have wanted.”
It was so much for me to take in. I had no idea how I was supposed to process it all. I had never known anything of my father, and now I was suddenly being given so much information it was difficult for me to handle.
Jack leaned down. His breath was warm and sweet. “I know you do not understand, but we must take you back. Your place is with us. The future of our pack relies on you,” he said. I was so numb that I could do nothing but nod in reply and be led up by his hand. We walked back to the clubhouse and it didn’t seem to take nearly as long as it had taken me to flee, but perhaps that was because my mind whirled at a million miles an hour, struggling to understand my place in the world and how everything fit together.
*
We were back in the small room where I had started the day with Matt. Jack pointed to a picture on the wall.
“That’s him,” he said. I peered at the faded photograph, at the man who was purportedly my father. He was tall and broad-shouldered. He had a leather jacket on and a round helmet upon his head. A handlebar moustache was thick, and he certainly seemed the type Mom would go for. He smiled widely and his eyes twinkled with delight. Surrounding him were the other members of the MC, or the pack, looking so happy as though nothing could harm them. My gaze drifted to the next photo, one in which he was absent. The smiles were gone from the faces and there were fewer people. Clouds gathered in the distance as though a great storm was rising.