The Wolfborne Saga Box Set

by Cheree Alsop

  “It’s beautiful,” I said. “I’m honored that you extended your invitation to me.”

  “I didn’t take you to be a schmoozer,” Sutter said in my ear with a tone of approval. “Pretty smooth.”

  Godnik glanced at me. “Your portfolio was impressive to say the least. Did you really kill a polar bear with a recurve bow during a snowstorm?”

  “That picture took some work,” Sutter noted.

  I bit back a curse at Sutter’s embellishments and nodded. “Yes, it was my spare. The string broke on my other bow. I’m pretty sure the bear wanted my jerky.”

  Godnik nodded. “Terrifying. I had a similar encounter with a grizzly, but didn’t end up as lucky.” He pulled up his black collared shirt to reveal four thick scars that ran across his torso. The wounds were old and healed, but it was obvious the toll they would have taken.

  “I’m sorry to hear it,” I replied. I tried to sound sincere.

  “Liar,” Sutter said.

  I ignored him.

  Godnik shrugged. “I was sixteen. My dad felt it was time for me to prove myself to the Hunters, so he flew me to the middle of the woods with only a pistol, a knife, meat, and water. He said not to call in for pickup until I had a kill of my own worthy of the name Godnik.”

  Curiosity got the best of me. “So did you call when the bear injured you?”

  “Of course. He’s a coward,” Sutter said in my ear.

  Godnik nodded. “Of course. Holding one’s entrails gives one a chance to step back and evaluate the really important things in life. He disowned me when I got home, and I was grateful for it. His harsh love made me the man I am today.” Before I could ask what kind of man that was, he said, “Bitter, greedy, and ready to kill anything that moves.”

  “Including you. Remember that,” Sutter said with worry in his voice.

  A chill ran down my spine at the dead honesty of Godnik’s tone. I was fully aware of him watching me, gauging how I would respond. I kept my face carefully expressionless as I thought about the appropriate response. My mind switched to an image of Fray and her clipped, disapproving tones.

  “I would have gone back to hunt down the bear as soon as I could leave the bed.”

  He nodded with an appreciative smile. “I did. Had a grizzly skin on my floor before I was seventeen. Dad started talking to me again, but it was my turn to disown him.”

  I didn’t know what disown meant. I had never heard of anyone disowning another person. It wasn’t as though they owned them in the first place. But the thought of a child and a father not speaking to each other made me sad for reasons I couldn’t put into words.

  I forced myself to say, “I’m glad you got your first kill at such a young age.”

  He laughed at that. “Not my first, just the first real predator.” He winked at me. “But you and I both know what the real hunt is all about, don’t we? I’m excited to be there for yours.”

  “What was that?” Sutter asked in my ear.

  “Be there?” I asked aloud in surprise.

  He nodded as he led the way to the doors at the end of the hall. “Of course. You don’t think I’d miss out on our annual Great Hunt, do you? All the best Hunters will be there. They’re already talking about their targets, and you should see the new facilities. They’re state of the art!” He slapped me on the shoulder with enough force that I wanted to bite him before he said, “You’ve come just in time, my friend. Prepare for the Hunt of your lifetime!”

  “We might be in trouble,” Sutter said, his tone touched with panic.

  At Godnik’s motion, the two men standing at attention near the doors pulled them open. My breath caught at the sight before me.

  The room was wide enough to take up the back half of the mansion. Heads from every species imaginable lined the walls like some macabre audience who watched the gathering with impassive glass eyes. A set of stairs led down to a wooden floor that had been polished until it glowed. Men and women conversed in groups and pairs in outfits ranging from tight nylon overlaid with leather armor to actual chain mail and steel-plated jerkins and pants. Everywhere I looked, guns, bows, knives, sai, katanas, whips, and other weapons I didn’t even recognize fairly bristled from the audience. I felt under armed and ridiculously clothed.

  Godnik cleared his throat. At the sound, all talking ceased and at least forty pairs of eyes turned to face us. A chuckle burst from one, and then a guffaw from another until most of them were doubled over and laughter rang off the walls.

  “Why are they laughing?” Sutter asked.

  I turned my head and pretended to cough before I whispered. “The clothes. You got that one way wrong.”

  “Sorry about that,” Sutter replied. “I looked up hunters and ordered what I found.”

  I cursed inwardly and made a mental note to talk to Sutter about the extreme difference between hunters and Hunters. Fortunately, they appeared to have a sense of humor.

  “Alright, alright.” Godnik held up a hand and the racket ceased immediately. “I’m glad that you also appreciate the humor our new friend has brought to our gathering. Allow me to introduce Zevron Wolfslayer.”

  I cringed inwardly and wanted to call out Sutter for coming up with such a ridiculous name to go with the even more ludicrous outfit. They were sure to see through my front now. Surely putting wolf in my last name as well as continuing to use Zev which meant wolf would give me away. He didn’t think they were that stupid, did he?

  “Welcome, Zevron Wolfslayer,” came the reply from the group below us.

  I met interested gazes, but none appeared hostile or accusatory.

  “Thank you,” I replied when I realized the silence indicated that I was supposed to say something. “I am honored to be among your esteemed members. I’ve longed for something like this my entire life. To be included as one of you for this chance of a lifetime is more than I could have hoped for.” I glanced at Godnik, “I can’t wait to participate in your highly-acclaimed Great Hunt.”

  “Nicely put,” Sutter noted in my ear.

  A cheer of anticipation ran through the crowd. Talking erupted among them, breaking me free of their speculation.

  Godnik smiled at me. “You’ve a knack for public speaking. Can I ask what you do in your life outside of hunting?”

  I tried to come up with an appropriate response, but mall clothing assistant, demon slayer, and vampire minion didn’t seem as though they would be well received.

  “Say anything,” Sutter said. “Hurry! Garbage man, dog catcher, infomercial rep. Anything!”

  To my relief, Godnik shook his head before I could choose one of Sutter’s random selections. “My apologies. We make it a rule not to ask about personals outside of the Hunters. It allows us to be who we want to in here. Please forgive me.”

  “Forgiven,” I said with a nod. “I’m still learning the ropes, so it’s me you’ll have to be patient with.”

  Godnik smiled. “Allow me to show you around then.”

  He led the way down the stairs to where two of the Hunters eagerly awaited him.

  “Zevron Wolfslayer, this is Vampire’s Bane and Sir Scourge of Dhampirs.” Godnik winked at me. “Sir Scourge came to us from her Majesty’s Hunters.”

  Sutter gave a low whistle. “They’re worldwide,” he said in a tone of horror.

  “Pleased to meet you, Wolfslayer,” Vampire’s Bane said, holding out a hand.

  “You as well,” I replied.

  It was harder to shake Sir Scourge’s hand. The thought of a dhampir slayer made me want to crush his fingers. It would have been so simple. A little squeeze and he would drop to his knees, the bones of his right hand obliterated. A punch to the jaw and a quick twist of the neck would leave him lifeless on the floor, no longer a threat to Fray or the other dhampirs.

  “It is always fun to introduce a new Hunter to the thrill of a real Hunt,” Sir Scourge said. “I look forward to seeing you out there.”

  “If you shoot him in the field, perhaps it won’t count as mu
rder,” Sutter muttered. “Maybe they can put his head on the wall with the animals where it belongs.”

  I couldn’t have agreed more.

  “Show Wolfslayer around, won’t you Bane?” Godnik asked. “I have a few things to wrap up before we choose our targets.”

  “It’ll be my pleasure,” the man in the black trench coat replied.

  “I wanted to ask you about the targets,” Sir Scourge said to Godnik.

  Their voices mixed in with those of the room as they wandered away.

  “I’ll introduce you to a few of the chaps,” Vampire’s Bane said.

  I walked beside him around the room. Pictures had been spread across the long side tables. At a glance, I saw the portfolios everyone was speaking about. Photographs of Hunters standing beside slain lions, tigers, grizzlies, and sharks filled the frames. I fought back the urge to roll my eyes at one of me with my foot on a massive rhino. My pasted head was at a strange angle from the neck. In the next picture, I, or whoever’s body I had been cropped onto, crouched next to a massive pale lion whose head lolled on its paws.

  “Beautiful, aren’t they?” Bane asked. “It’s a thrill to hunt the biggest four-footed game known to the natural world.”

  He pointed to a picture of himself. “That one took me weeks to make a kill. His lionesses were sure protective of their chosen king.” He grinned. “It takes a true Hunter to take down such a ruler in his own realm.”

  I glanced at the picture and then stared at it. Horror filled me when I realized that he was crouched next to the same lion as mine! I wanted to strangle Sutter and end both of our misery before I was shot as an imposter.

  “That’s impressive,” I said quickly. I gestured further down the table in an effort to distract him. “And who are they?”

  The man who called himself Vampire’s Bane willingly obliged. He told me about the Hunters and a few of their stories, and then turned away from the table to introduce me to others with names even more outlandish than my own. I was grateful that Sutter had at least gotten that part right.

  “Demon Destroyer and Silver Wolfkiller, please meet Wolfslayer,” Bane said.

  Sutter chuckled in my ear.

  Silver Wolfkiller held out a hand. “It seems we have a common enemy,” she said.

  A jolt of adrenaline ran through me that the thought that she was referring to Godnik.

  “Ah, yes,” I said carefully, then just to be sure, “And that is?”

  She laughed. “Werewolves. I’m referring to our names, of course. I’m Wolfkiller and you’re Wolfslayer. We may be after the same targets out there.” She gave me a smile and batted her eyelashes.

  “Adorable,” Sutter said dryly.

  I realized with a start that she was being flirtatious. I let go of her hand a bit quicker than I probably should have.

  “Don’t mind my wife,” Demon Destroyer said. He grabbed my hand and shook it. “She’s always interested in the newcomers. But get her out in the arena and she’ll forget humans even exist.” He gave the woman a fond smile. “She won’t stop until she adds another phalanx to her collection.”

  “Did he just say phalanx?” Sutter asked.

  The word was familiar, but I couldn’t place it anywhere. I could hear the info tech typing away. He then hissed in a breath.

  “Zev, you’re not going to like this.”

  I couldn’t say anything. I merely nodded to Vampire’s Bane and said, “I wish her luck.”

  “Tell me you smell something disturbing,” Sutter said with urgency in his voice. “I mean, you can’t tell me, but cough if you do.”

  I did. Various conflicting and confusing smells had assailed my nose from the moment I crossed the mansion’s threshold, but it was far stronger in the ballroom. The scents of vampires, dhampirs, and werewolves all warred together, but I couldn’t see any sign of them. However, the odors were old, not fresh. If they came from the new targets, wherever they were being kept, it wouldn’t make sense. These smelled like the trophy heads on the walls, but I couldn’t see them. I coughed quietly.

  “Phalanx,” Sutter repeated in a monotone voice as though he was reading, “Is a long bone in either the finger or the toe whose length exceeds their breadth.”

  He said this at the same time that Demon Destroyer slipped his finger beneath the collar of his wife’s hunting jerkin and fished out a chain. Several items hanging from it clacked together when he dropped the necklace onto her chest.

  “Destroyer, really,” she chided. She threw me an exasperated look and explained, “It’s considered bad form to flaunt your kills before a Hunt. Afterwards, it’s fine. We’ll tell stories and eat the feast Godnik puts out and then you can hear all about them.” She slipped the necklace beneath her clothes. “But for now, you’ll have to wonder about all these Hunters and what kind of prowess they really possess.”

  I followed her gaze to the individuals around the room, but my thoughts stayed with her necklace. If each of the finger bones on it belonged to a person she had killed, she had at least ten murders to her name. I wondered how many of the other Hunters around the room wore as many, if not more, beneath their clothes. The thought was sickening. My stomach twisted and I felt as though I was going to throw up.

  The sound of retching came through my earpiece.

  “S-sorry,” Sutter said. “That’s disgusting.”

  More retching followed. My stomach hurt and I wanted to do the same, but I couldn’t lose face. Fray’s life depended on it.

  “Don’t worry,” Silver Wolfkiller said, misinterpreting my expression. “You’ll have a chain of your own soon enough, I’m sure of it.”

  “I can’t wait,” I told her in a level tone to the sound of more retching.

  Godnik interrupted any further conversation by proclaiming in a loud voice, “Time to choose your targets! Everyone follow me to the dungeon.”

  I thought he was being dramatic, but as I filed with the others through the doors at the other end of the ballroom and walked down the long, winding stairs, I realized that we were indeed going to a dungeon.

  The smell of iron mixed with the burnt wood scent of fear and the sage odor of sorrow. Pain, blood, and the clove and apple scent of hunger circled in to create a nauseating cacophony. I had to breathe through my mouth the further we climbed down. By the scent, there were many dhampirs, witches, warlocks, and even werewolves.

  My steps slowed at the last smell. I hadn’t thought about the possibility of running into other werewolves. They would know instantly that I was an imposter. If they gave me away, I would be thrown in with them in a heartbeat. I wasn’t sure how to tell them I was a friend instead of an enemy.

  “The reception is getting bad,” Sutter said in my ear. “He did say the word dungeon, didn’t he? Be careful, Zev. This is getting even more dangerous.”

  “Coming, Wolfslayer?” Demon Destroyer asked. He glanced at my leg. “Is the injury giving you trouble?”

  I grasped onto the question like a lifeline. “Injury, yes. It, uh, acts up when I take the stairs.” I forced a little laugh. “And Godnik has plenty of those.”

  “Yes,” the man agreed with a chuckle of his own. “He certainly has a flair for the theatrical, but I find it makes the setting feel that much more exotic. I think when we reach the arena that you’ll be able to appreciate how much work he has put into the new sets. You’ll truly be able to find the setting you thrive in the most in order to hunt a prey far more dangerous and exhilarating than the biggest of lions.”

  We stepped through the open door at the end and my heart sank.

  Everywhere I looked, people had been caged and chained in rows upon rows of cells. How was I to find Fray, and the question that scared me most, what would I do if she wasn’t there?

  “Welcome to the choosing,” Destroyer said in a hallowed voice. “Take your time. The Hunt won’t start until midnight. Godnik expects us to look every one of them in the face and choose the prey who challenges the deepest parts of you.”

&nbs
p; A shiver ran down my spine at the reverent anticipation with which he said the words.

  “H-how many do I choose?” I managed to get out with a mostly steady voice.

  “Two for your first time,” Destroyer replied. “In a Great Hunt like the one you were so fortunate to join, all of the targets will be placed in the arena together and so you might find yourself Hunting prey you did not choose, but the knowledge that they are there being Hunted while you are Hunting prey of your own is enough. Choose wisely.”

  He left with his last two words echoing in my ears.

  Chapter Nine

  “I can’t do this.”

  “Calm down,” Sutter said in my ear. “Breathe. Tell me what’s happening.”

  I wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn’t keep from staring at the individuals in the rows of cages. Hunters walked between them, looking at each captive as though he or she was a piece of livestock at an auction. The huge, low-ceilinged room was far too silent for the number of people in it. The Hunters didn’t speak and those behind the bars ignored them as best they could. The captives wore meager coverups, simple shorts and black tank tops to give the viewer a better idea of what they were up against.

  “They’re choosing who they want to kill,” I said in a whisper that was probably too loud, but I couldn’t help it. “They’re murderers, Sutter! And nobody’s stopping them!”

  “Quiet,” he barked loud enough to get my attention. “Pull it together, Zev. Fray is counting on you!”

  I closed my eyes and squeezed them. The world felt as though it would tip on end at any moment. My whole life I had grown up thinking I was the monster. I had lured humans to my vampire Master. I turned into an animal. I spoke to demons.

  Yet when I opened my eyes, the humans I saw were the monsters. They weren’t led by anything but their own sick desire to kill. They didn’t have a voice in their head brainwashing them from the moment of their birth.

  Fray’s voice spoke in my mind from a not so distant memory. We had been talking about whether we would hunt humans or demons. Her answer had been firm. “With demons at least it’s black and white; they’re just bad. When they come here, they want to kill and hurt and maim to feed on the anger and rage.” Her voice lowered. “With humans, at least from what I’ve seen, they’re completely gray. There’s not one that’s entirely good and not one that’s completely bad.” She turned her gaze on me. “I wouldn’t want to be the judge of who is the good guy and who is the bad. At least with demons you know your place.”