Wolfen

by Alianne Donnelly

  “Move!”

  He didn’t.

  Sinna flattened her hands against the door. “G-go, B.” Don’t make them hurt you any more.

  The closest guard kicked her door, making her cower away. “Shut up!”

  Sinna went right back to the keyhole. Bryce’s eyes had turned feral. He somehow stood taller, muscles bulging thicker. His upper lip pulled back in a savage snarl, and Sinna gasped at the sharp fangs that filled his mouth.

  More footsteps. “What’s the holdup?”

  “He won’t move.”

  “Are we asking his opinion now?”

  A gunshot rang out.

  Fresh blood seeped from Bryce’s shoulder. He didn’t even flinch.

  “The next one goes through your brain.”

  Nothing. And he still hadn’t looked away from her.

  Following his gaze, the newcomer changed tactics. “Or I can shoot her instead.”

  That got a reaction. Bryce lunged, nasty spikes embedding into his neck, but it was enough to get his point across. Five armed men jumped away, weapons up and ready to fire. Bryce didn’t seem to give a shit. Even as he bared his teeth, blood trickled from his mouth. He must have punctured his trachea. It had no effect on him.

  “B, just go!”

  “Get her out here,” the new guy ordered.

  A key shoved into the lock, blocking her view, then the door opened. Sinna was pulled out by her hair. The new guy pointed his gun barrel at her temple. “You want to see her brains all over the floor?”

  Bryce growled so hard, he vibrated in place.

  “Then move,” the new guy said, dragging Sinna along the floor like bait for Bryce to follow. The guard deliberately held her low enough to keep her off balance. Her hair tore out, her eyes watered, but she didn’t dare look away from Bryce. He was dangerously close to the edge. His eyes bore into hers, focusing with such intensity, Sinna was afraid of what would happen if she blinked.

  When they emerged into the light, the new guy drag-tossed her to the ground at Aiden’s feet. “You okay, little bit?” he asked, but his hard gaze was fixed on Bryce coming up behind her.

  Sinna sniffed, and pushed to her feet. “Yeah.” She wiped at her wet face. Each brother was flanked by a team of commandos who looked all too willing to turn them into minced meat. Sinna ignored them, their guns, and their orders to stay back, and went up on her toes in front of Bryce to carefully pull the collar spikes free of his neck. She could only move them a little. If she pulled too hard at the front, the spikes would embed in the back.

  Bryce showed off his fangs when she reached for him, but he didn’t bite her. Sinna was more than a little relieved by that.

  Someone clapped in applause, and Sinna turned, unwittingly showing Bryce her back to face the newest threat. “Ach, ya, the nurturing soul of the Wolfen. A remarkable genetic glitch no one had ever intended.”

  Next to her, Aiden shuddered. “God, it’s like Ah-nold come back to life.”

  A white-haired, bespectacled man in surprisingly good shape for his apparent age, chuckled and gestured for them to follow. As one unit, the gunmen forced Sinna and the brothers forward. But somehow, no matter which way they pulled her, Sinna always felt Bryce at her back. “Yes, you will forgive me. Even after decades of careful integration, I fos never able to shed this ax-cent.”

  He led them into a walled-off section of the camp, much like a courtyard reserved for VIPs. Sinna noted the green, manicured lawn, and the flowers in the window boxes, and wondered if she’d somehow entered an alternate universe. “Welcome to my home. I am most happy to see there are still some of you alive out there.”

  Sinna frowned. “You know what we are?” Did everyone know about Wolfen, except her?

  “But of course. The first generashons are unmistakable. I did not believe my men when they told me about you. I had to see you all for myself, und now that I have…” He turned to face them and bowed. “I am honored to make your acquaintance.”

  “Yeah, the pretty neckwear is a real nice touch,” Aiden retorted. “Really makes us feel like part of the family.”

  Again, the old man chuckled. “My boy, I may be old, but my memory still serves. I know quite well how you little rascals liked to bite.”

  Aiden frowned. “Do I know you?”

  The old man shrugged easily, and settled onto a bench. “Perhaps you might have recognized me years ago. But much has changed since then, ya?”

  Clearly not the answer Aiden wanted to hear. “Who are you?”

  Their creepy host smiled. “In nineteen seventy-seven, the first human-animal hybrid child fos born. It fos a historical breaksru, but the child, sadly, fos not complete, forever frozen in a shape neither human, nor beast, und incapable of living on its own. An invested lab technician looked at this poor creature with its tail und paws und human head, but canine nose, und called it ‘wolfen.’ That technician fos me, Klaus Koch. I named you all. I brought you into this world und handed you over into the care of your den orderlies.” He smiled wider and raised bushy eyebrows expectantly.

  “Am I supposed to be impressed?” Aiden asked.

  Klaus shrugged. “Perhaps in time. I am the closest thing to a father you ever had.”

  “I’m sure all you sick old bastards liked to think so,” Aiden shot back.

  One guard whaled a black baton across his back, dropping him to his knees.

  Klaus clucked his tongue, shaking his head. “There is no need for that, Victor. We are all friends here.”

  “Mother fu—”

  “Ah-ah. There is a lady present.”

  Bryce’s growl rumbled against Sinna’s back.

  “Come forward, my dear.”

  “I don’t think so.” Sinna stepped back instead, close enough to feel Bryce’s body heat. He huffed, stirring the hairs that had gotten pulled loose of her braid.

  “Do you think I would hurt you? Never!”

  “You must think I’m an idiot. I saw those women out there.”

  Klaus impatiently waved that away. “They are nothing. They are too weak to survive out there on their own, und too wild to live among us. But you, my dear, you are a work of art. All of you. Beautiful specimens of evolooshon.”

  Sinna wanted to punch him in the throat. No one deserved to be treated like that—no one—no matter what they were.

  “So what now, Pops, you gonna put us in a cage again?”

  “You would be no good to me in a cage,” Klaus replied. “Do you believe in God, my friend?”

  “I’m not your friend,” Aiden growled.

  “But do you? Because, you see, I think God brought you to me. You are the answer to my prayers.”

  Bryce huffed, and Sinna glanced back to gauge his state of mind. He looked just as wild as he had down in the catacombs, but now there was a calculating gleam in his eyes, as if he was studying his opponent, choosing the most effective form of attack. He wasn’t listening to anything Klaus said; he was looking at the old man like a puzzle he would tear into to see how it ticked.

  To be the focus of all of that fury… “Your God must really hate you.”

  13: Aiden

  A smartass with too much time on his hands once said, ‘You can never outrun your past. No matter how fast you go, or how far you manage to get, it always catches up to you.’

  Yeah, buddy, I’m there.

  And, sick fuck that I am, I’ve got Perry Como singing It’s A Good Day in my head.

  ~

  “The answer’s no,” Aiden said, and damn, it felt good.

  “You will not hear what it is I want from you?”

  Aiden shrugged. “Don’t care. Answer’s still no.” And it’s a good day from morning ‘til night.

  Klaus’ mouth twisted with displeasure. Oh yeah, Aiden remembered him, all right. He’d worn that same expression whenever a test result didn’t come out how he’d wanted it. A firm believer in second chances, Klaus would repeat the test until the Wolfen child had healed in the prescribed time frame. H
e’d called it honing. Or, in his accent, hohning. To this day, Aiden had an insatiable urge to punch anyone who used that word in any of its forms.

  “Nevertheless, I will tell you anyway.”

  “Knock yourself out. I’ve got time.”

  It was easy for Aiden to cop an attitude. Bryce and Sinna were a different story. He didn’t look at them—that would telegraph weakness—but his senses picked up on things humans wouldn’t notice right away: how Sinna was more afraid to turn her back on Klaus than on the rabid monster ready to snap his leash, or how Bryce lapped up that trust and didn’t stray farther than a half-inch from her. He was so close to losing it; a sharp sound or a fast twitch of movement could easily set him off. But for the first time, Aiden believed someone besides Bryce might survive the carnage. The way his brother sniffed at Sinna, even in this state, he recognized her scent as familiar. She had his blood, and that meant something, no matter how much Aiden had downplayed it. But would it be enough?

  “Have you noticed a difference in the converts of late?” Klaus asked. A loaded question, if ever there was one.

  Aiden cocked an eyebrow.

  “But of course, you must have. They are everywhere, ya?”

  It satisfied some petty little part of Aiden to withhold the answer Klaus so clearly wanted to hear. Sinna, bless her heart, followed his lead and stayed quiet.

  “They are changing.” Klaus took off his glasses to polish them with a square of pristinely white cotton. “Necessity is teaching them to hohn their minds und work together.”

  Aiden’s teeth scraped together and a muscle in his cheek twitched.

  “They are becoming more and more like a truly demonic vershon of the Wolfen. They learn our tricks und adapt strategies. Wolfen blood used to bring them out of hiding in packs. But no longer. There are seven groups of more than twenty converts around these forests, und when they smell the blood, they spread out, hunting for humans instead.”

  “That’s why you have those women chained up out there,” Sinna said. “You bleed them so you can be safe? So converts won’t think to look in here?”

  Klaus made a face. “Ya, but you see, it is no longer working. The creatures come out after dark, closer every night. I’m afraid very soon they will be at our gate.”

  “My heart bleeds for you,” Aiden retorted. “Really. If my hands were free, I’d even show you how much.”

  The asshole with the baton flexed for another go at him. Aiden bent to duck the swing, using the guy’s momentum against him. One hard knock, and the guard was on the ground. Aiden laid his size fifteen boot onto Victor’s neck and leaned his weight on it, just short of crushing the guard’s spine. “Fooled me once already. You don’t get a second chance.”

  Someone yanked on Aiden’s chain, and spikes dug into his neck. He maliciously pushed down harder, until good ol’ Victor moaned before Aiden relented and allowed them to drag him off. The spikes had pierced skin, but nothing else. He shook himself hard to dislodge them. They tore across his neck, but the wounds were shallow and healed in seconds.

  Klaus continued as if none of it had happened. “That is precisely why you will help. You care nothing for humans, but you care for your own. What if I told you I may have found a way for us both to be satisfied?”

  “I’d call bullshit.”

  Klaus laughed. “I knew you would say that.” The “you little rascal, you” was implied. “I will show you something, und you will reconsider.” He got up and left the creepy-ass Stepford front yard, and the rest of them followed.

  The large building Aiden had thought to be a supply store was something much, much worse. Klaus waved off the guards, opened the door with a flourish, and beckoned them inside.

  Sinna looked at Aiden uncertainly. He merely shrugged. This was all kind of freaking the shit out of him, too. He just hid it better, because he had a badass reputation to uphold.

  There were more guns on the inside, so those who’d leashed them stayed out, keeping hold of the chains. Sinna wasn’t bound, but she wasn’t a real threat. Compared to the males, females were at a severe physical disadvantage, so nature had balanced the equation the only way she could by giving them more defensive pheromone production. Shame it only worked on converts.

  Sinna walked into the building first, followed closely by Bryce. The sharp chemical smell put Aiden off until the last second, when one of the gunmen made to shove him again. He stepped into the chamber and seriously wondered if someone had slipped him some ‘shrooms.

  The room was roughly twenty-by-thirty feet of low-ceilinged open space filled with tables and candles strategically positioned in front of mirrors to maximize illumination. Vials, beakers, and bottles of various substances covered every available flat surface, and batches of nasty-looking potions bubbled away over small fires. In short, an alchemist’s wet dream. The only thing missing was the mad scientist squinting into a microscope, scribbling “Double, double, toil and trouble” into a massive, leather-bound tome.

  Oh no, wait. There she was.

  In the far back corner, surrounded by candlelight and unstable chemicals, the apparent brain of the operation looked up from her work to blink big owl eyes at the intrusion. She had a delicate round face, a small nose, and a mischievously pointed chin; straight hair cut short, sticking out like stray feathers from a nest. She was adorable. Which meant evil.

  Klaus waved an arm to proudly encompass his achievement of medieval proportions. “This, you see, is where my solooshon to the convert problem will come from.” His accent had gotten thicker in his excitement, making him almost unintelligible.

  Aiden couldn’t help himself. “A problem you created.”

  “A wrong turn on de path to greatness,” Klaus said dismissively. “No discovery is wisout a price.” He snapped his fingers at the female. “Dee, de formula.”

  Even by the low light, Aiden saw her cheeks turn pink. She said nothing, but her displeasure was clear, until she stood up, and Aiden realized it wasn’t displeasure, but embarrassment. The girl, who couldn’t have been a day older than Sinna, limped over to a set of wooden shelves and picked a vial from the bunch. Her step was uneven, her right leg dragging as if her knee didn’t work properly. Aiden’s keen eye picked out that it was shorter than her left, damaged somehow, but her long, wide pants hid any evidence of what it might have been.

  Dee came within arm’s reach of Klaus, just close enough for him to take the vial and shoo her back to work. As he held the glass container up to the light, Aiden followed the girl’s slow retreat to her work station.

  “You see this?” Klaus swirled the clear liquid inside the vial. “It is the base for a deterrent. One small drop will take down whole legions of converts. No Wolfen needed.”

  That last bit was spoken so deliberately, it brought Aiden’s attention back to the old man, as Klaus knew it would.

  The old man smiled. “I see your interest is piqued.”

  Understatement. Even Bryce had started coming back to himself. They shared a speaking look, and Aiden knew Bryce thought exactly the same thing he did.

  Son. Of. A. Bitch.

  A few hundred miles north, at the Wolfen stronghold in Montana, a team of their best and smartest was working on the exact same thing, with a hell of a lot more computing power and resources. They’d already synthesized several variants, each one a dead end.

  That Klaus might have actually done it, or had come close to it—or hell, that he even thought he had—pissed Aiden off. Not because someone had come up with a solution before his own team, but because it would come from a man who’d sell it to the highest bidder, rather than give it away to benefit his own species, as Aiden’s pack would have done.

  “The formula is almost complete,” Klaus said. “It is only missing a single compound to be effective.”

  “How can you be sure it’ll work?” Sinna asked.

  “Because I designed it from the original genetic material of the very first convert.”

  Aiden believed him.
A sneaky weasel like Klaus would have been high enough in the food chain to have access, but still low enough not to raise any red flags. Hell, Aiden wouldn’t have been surprised if the converts hadn’t been an accident at all, but a careful orchestration of a disease Klaus had hoped to profiteer from when he miraculously came up with the cure.

  Sinna had no such suspicions. The possibility of a world without converts got her so excited, she dropped her guard and let curiosity get the better of her. “So where’s the last ingredient?”

  Klaus held up a finger. “Ah, that is where you come in.”

  “Careful,” Bryce growled in warning, earning a look of surprise from Klaus.

  “Be very, very careful what you say next,” Aiden added, hands clenching into fists.

  Klaus set down the vial and waved for them to go outside again. Sinna couldn’t tear her eyes away from it, but Aiden had other concerns. The girl with a bum leg was watching them from across the room. Aiden would have given his left nut to know what she was thinking. Seeing she’d attracted Aiden’s attention, she dropped her gaze back to her work, but as Aiden backed out of the room, she glanced up one last time.

  Challenge accepted. He gave her a feral smile.

  Out in the courtyard, Klaus paced back and forth, mumbling to himself like he’d inhaled too many fumes. He shook his head. “No, no, that won’t do…”

  Aiden leaned over to Sinna. “Dementia setting in nicely, I see.”

  “Can it be true, what he said?” she whispered back.

  Aiden twitched a shoulder in a noncommittal shrug.

  Klaus suddenly stopped and faced them, as if he’d had an epiphany. “You will join me for supper,” he said, with no small amount of triumph.

  “Sir,” a guard protested.

  Klaus threw his hands in the air. “Bah! Very well. I will tell you. I fos working on this formula, when the inerts converted und made a mess of everything. We panicked. The soldiers destroyed the labs, burned our research; everything fos obliterated. I only had a small portion of the active compound, und I managed to hide it by injecting it into my daughter, Helena.”