Cursed Wolf

by Stacy Claflin

  The stinging in my arm intensified and the area around it heated. My headache throbbed. Something dug into my rib. My hair tickled my cheek. I tried again to move but was still immobilized. So, I tried moving just an arm. Nothing. A finger. It moved!

  I had some control over something. I wiggled the next finger over, and then the next until I had tested each one. They all worked. It was at least something—a starting point. I tested my palm. It barely budged.

  “She’s starting to wake,” said the familiar feminine voice.

  I held back a groan, not that I could’ve made a sound.

  Footsteps grew louder as they came my way, echoing on what sounded like a tile floor. “Put some more of that into her IV.”

  More of what? Were they going to make me go back to sleep? I wiggled my fingers in protest.

  Something icy-cold ran through my body, starting at my arm and moving out in waves. The pain in my head squeezed again, this time focusing on my temples. Sleepiness overtook me, and I couldn’t fight it.

  When I woke, I immediately moved my fingers. I still had control over them. Next, I tried my entire hand, and it moved! I tested my arms, but they resisted. I strained, trying to open my eyes. They fought against me, but I managed nothing more than a slit.

  The room was dim, the only light coming from the beeping machines next to me. Tubes ran from me to the machines. I fought to move, but found only my hands and feet would cooperate. Everything else refused. I put all of my effort into opening my eyes. They budged a little bit more, but continued fighting me.

  A sleepiness clung to me, but I had to fight it this time. There was no telling how long I’d been there, and I needed to get out.

  How had I gotten to this place? I strove to remember. Small flashes of images ran through my mind, but I couldn’t figure out what was real and what wasn’t. Someone named Wilder. A beautiful young witch. A funeral. Tombstones. The wolf essence stone.

  I gasped and flailed around, restraints digging into my arms, legs, and around my head.

  The wolf essence stone. That was the key to all of this. I had no idea how, but it was central to everything and had to be how I ended up in this place.

  “She’s awake again.”

  “Good. Let her wake. We’re ready to find out what she knows. You gave her the truth serum?”

  “Yes.”

  My mouth went dry. Who were these people? And more importantly, what did they want to do to me? I wrestled against the restraints, but they dug into my skin. And when they did, searing pain shot through my body. I cried out, but discovered even my mouth had been covered.

  As I writhed against the painful restraints, some of my memories grew clearer. I could read the names on the gravestones. Tobias Foley, Victoria Foley, Elsie Sheeley, Wilder Foley, Lakelynn Foley, Aria Yamamoto—Jet and Ziamara’s daughter?

  Two people appeared from a mist between the trees. They were beautiful. The man reminded me of Toby, but he was no relative I’d ever met. The woman also reminded me of him, but also of me. They both spoke to me, but the sounds didn’t reach my ears.

  Something struck my head. It took me a moment to pull myself back to the hospital-like room. Something else hit my head. My ears rang, and voices sounded from somewhere. I groaned as pain radiated around my skull. This was definitely not a hospital.

  “Wake up!”

  I forced my eyes to open again, this time getting them about halfway. My blurry vision managed to focus on a young brunette woman with a fancy updo and a pantsuit.

  She smacked my cheek. “Do you hear me?”

  I tried to speak, but my words came out as only muffles through the barrier.

  The woman reached for my face. I flinched, but she didn’t strike me. Instead, she ripped a large piece of tape from my mouth.

  I cried out.

  She narrowed her eyes. “Oh, grow up.”

  She was familiar but I couldn’t place where I’d seen her before.

  “Where’s the stone?” she demanded.

  I reached for the necklace, but my arms wouldn’t budge.

  “Answer me!”

  “If it’s not on my neck, I don’t know.”

  “That’s convenient.” She pressed a button on the side of the bed, and I moved upward until I was sitting. “Where is it?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t even know how I got here.”

  She scowled. “You didn’t have it on you when I found you.”

  “You’d know better than me.”

  “Are you claiming to not remember that, either?”

  “It’s the truth.”

  The woman picked up a cup and threw the yellow contents on me. All I could do was close my eyes to keep it from getting in them. “This can be easy or hard. Your choice.”

  I opened my eyes and clenched my jaw. “I don’t know where it is! You won’t get anything out of me since I don’t know anything.”

  She stepped closer. “But you had it.”

  “Yes.”

  “You released Fenrisúlfr.”

  “Right. He’s imprisoned again.”

  The woman furrowed her brows. “How did you find the map pieces?”

  I glared at her.

  She aimed a fist at me.

  “They found me.”

  “I beg your pardon?” she exclaimed.

  “I said, they found me.”

  “Oh? They just up and flew to you?”

  “No. Half the map called to me. Then the stone called me.” Why had I just told her that much?

  “Called you? On the phone?”

  My headache squeezed around my skull. “I just heard it calling my name. I followed it.”

  Her expression tensed. “Why you?”

  “I have no idea.”

  She pulled out a knife and pressed it to my throat. “No idea?”

  I swallowed. “No.”

  “We’ve been looking for the stone for centuries. We couldn’t even locate either piece of the map. Yet you, a run-of-the-mill werewolf, found the stone and unleashed the beast in one fell swoop?”

  “What can I say? Fenrisúlfr has a soft spot for me. Or he did. I doubt he cares much for me now.”

  She dug the blade into my skin until blood spilled out. It took all my self-control not to react. We stared each other down until the woman spoke. “What does it do? Does it break the curse of the moon?”

  “For whoever’s wearing it.”

  “It’s supposed to break the curse. As in, for all werewolves.”

  “Maybe it does. It wouldn’t come off me, so we couldn’t do much.”

  She pulled the knife back. “What do you mean it wouldn’t come off you?”

  Why had I been so insistent on releasing the admiration curse? I could’ve used it to walk out of this place.

  “What did you mean?”

  “It wouldn’t come off. I tried. It cemented itself to me.”

  “Interesting.”

  “That’s not exactly the word I’d use, but okay. Can I go now?”

  She raised the blade. “Not until we have the stone in our possession.”

  “We?”

  “I’ll be the one asking questions.” She struck me, slicing my cheek. “How did the stone come off?”

  “A witch.”

  “Which witch?” She stepped closer.

  “I don’t remember her name.”

  She pressed the knife under my eye. “Think harder.”

  My heart thundered against my chest. I struggled to take a normal breath as I pushed through the drugs they’d given me to try and remember. “I think she was the one who spelled the stone.”

  “Think?” She pressed the blade harder against my skin. “Or know?”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have pumped so many drugs into my system if you wanted answers! I can’t think clearly.”

  “We gave you nothing to harm your memory. The truth serum should have—”

  “Truth serum? Why don’t you believe me, then? How could I lie?”

  Her
nostrils flared. “How could you find the wolf essence stone with so little knowledge of it? You could easily be unaffected by the serum.”

  “I’m saying more than I want to. Believe me.”

  She stepped closer. I could smell a floral perfume. “Who do you think we are?”

  “The secret werewolf society.”

  Her face paled. “How did you—I mean, you’re so full of it. There’s no secret society.”

  I glared at her. “You aren’t as hidden as you think.”

  She smacked me across the face. “Who is the witch?”

  Blood pooled in my mouth. I spit it out toward her. “I think her name starts with an A.”

  “Oh, that’s helpful.” Sarcasm dripped from her tone. “That’ll lead us right to her.” She turned behind her. “Did you hear that? The witch we’re looking for, her name starts with an A!”

  “What do you want from me?” I demanded. “I don’t have the stone, and I don’t know where it is. I know next to nothing about the witch who cursed it and also wants it.”

  The woman turned back to me. “She wants it? You didn’t mention that before. Does she have it now?”

  “I don’t know.”

  She hit me across the other side of my face. “Does she have it now?”

  I spat out more blood. “How would I know? My mind is a mess, thanks to whatever you’ve been pumping into me. Maybe she does have it, since it’s not on me. I wanted to get it off but couldn’t.”

  “You’re crazy.”

  “Wear the thing and see if you change your mind.”

  She pulled out a tablet and slid her finger around the screen before turning back to me. “You have nothing else to tell me?”

  “There’s nothing to tell because I can’t remember!”

  “We’ll see about that.” She pressed a button, and the bed underneath me flung back to the flat position.

  A man came over. “What do you need now?”

  She huffed. “Put more of the stuff into her IV.”

  “No!” I needed to stay awake to figure a way out. “I’ll think of something. Just give me some time. Let my head clear!”

  The cold feeling ran through my body, and despite my protests, my eyelids closed.

  Chapter 19

  Toby

  We stopped at the edge of the hill and hid behind some dilapidated cars. Down below stretched an unimpressive run-down factory—clearly empty because of the graffiti and multiple broken windows. The building took up much of the property, which was surrounded by a tall chain-link fence. Beyond a large gate, two armored vehicles were parked alongside several expensive black cars. Two semi-automatic gun-bearing guards in full bulletproof gear stood in front of a set of doors. Another set of doors farther down was boarded shut and covered in something black.

  “What now?” Jet asked.

  I rubbed my chin and thought about it. “We’re going to have to take down the guards. The other entrance is going to be too much effort, and the broken windows are too high to try to climb into. Aside from that, the guards would certainly see us trying to get in. We’d have to fight them, anyway. Our best bet is to sneak in and kill them—from a distance, if we can. We have enough guns that if we take them by surprise, they’ll go down.”

  “Or,” Soleil said. “I could sneak down and drink all their essence. Then you can run in and save both your energy and your bullets.”

  I shook my head no. “You’ve already filled up on the witch’s essence. You’ll make yourself sick.”

  “I’ll live. Remember when I drank all the essence from those wolves who killed Brick? And besides, I didn’t drink all of Azure’s essence.”

  I turned to Jet. “What do you think?”

  “You were pretty ill after drinking all that essence in the barn.”

  Soleil stood taller. “I survived. And now Victoria’s in danger. I can do this. More than that, I want to.”

  I glanced back and forth between my friend and the two guards. One pulled out a cell phone and spoke with someone.

  “Okay,” I said. “But we’ll be right behind in case anything goes wrong.”

  “It’s so cute that you’re worried about an angel of death.”

  “Valkyries aren’t immune to death. You’ve said so yourself.”

  “I’m a lot stronger than you give me credit for.” She marched toward the hill’s slope.

  I turned to the others. Our entire pack, minus Ziamara and the baby who were back at the vampire castle, stood behind me along with several of Gessilyn’s coven—her father, Johan, and her sisters, Roska and Frida. “I’ve got the stone. If I need to shift, Jet is your alpha and you listen to him. Got it?”

  Everyone spoke their agreement.

  “Good. Let’s take down these dogs.” I spun around and hurried after Soleil. She had almost made it to the fence. I darted behind cars, poles, and the occasional tree.

  Soleil found a weak spot in the links and pulled them apart. I waved the pack to follow her. We all squeezed through and went after her, hiding behind an old electrical shed. Soleil squatted behind a Mercedes and waited until both guards had their backs to her. She stepped out and her wings burst out of her back. Within seconds, the guards turned to her, mouths gaping. Swirling purple mist flowed from them. They both flailed their arms and legs until they collapsed onto the concrete. Soleil’s wings retracted, leaving holes in her shirt, and she turned around, wiping her mouth. Her eyes glowed brighter green than usual after drinking essence.

  “Let’s go!” She waved toward the doors. “We’ve only got about five minutes before these guys are supposed to check in with the leaders.”

  “How does she know?” Bobby asked.

  “She can read their minds when drinking their essence.” I ran toward her and pulled one of the semi-automatic weapons from a guard. Jet grabbed the other. I took off the bulletproof gear from one and handed it to Elsie who was used to living as a human.

  “Why me?”

  “You’re out of practice.” I took the other one and handed it to Stella, who only recently had been an actual human. Then we all raced inside. The hallway was dirty and dingy—exactly what I would’ve expected from an abandoned building and nothing I’d have expected from an ancient secret society.

  It was the perfect cover.

  The dust and debris on the ground was most disturbed to the left. I gestured in that direction and followed the path, searching for hidden cameras but seeing nothing. If there were any, they were well-disguised, probably hidden under garbage.

  We crept down the dusty, grimy hall in silence, avoiding the broken tools and equipment in our way. Whoever we were dealing with had done an impeccable job of hiding their scent. I’d never have guessed anyone had been in there recently. We came to a fork in the path.

  Jet arched a brow at me. I studied the two paths and waved toward the one that had more dust kicked up than the other. We turned left and made our way until we reached a set of stairs. Something within me urged me up the stairs despite the dust and debris being more disturbed down the hallway.

  The first step creaked and the next one groaned. Jet threw me a worried glance. I kept going. There was no way I would ignore the growing feeling in my gut. We were headed the right way. I kept my new weapon ready.

  Behind me, someone grumbled about this being a waste of time. I spun around unable to tell who had spoken, still holding the gun in place. “How dare you speak like that when enemies could hear us? That’s exactly what they want us to think. Do you think they had the armored vehicles and the guards out there for show?”

  Nobody responded. I turned around and we continued up the creaking, groaning stairs as they wound around, taking us up a few stories. As we came to a landing, a guy twice my size stepped in front of us and aimed a gun our way. Without giving it a second thought, I shot him. He wore no bulletproof gear and went right down.

  I stepped over him and peeked into the room. It appeared to be a waiting room, and it was nothing like the rest of the
building. There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere, and the walls were covered in expensive art. The magazines on the tables were current—the same ones at the grocery stores. Instrumental music played from hidden speakers.

  There were two closed doors. I marched to the nearest one and turned the handle. It was locked. I strode over to the other one. It was also locked. Everyone looked at me expectantly. I had no more clarity on the situation than them, but given we knew Victoria was in this building—maybe even on the other side of one of the doors—I had to decide one way or the other.

  I raised a finger in the air, indicating for them to be ready for action. Then I knocked on the door in front of me.

  The door slowly opened. A skinny man in a lab coat came out, staring at a tablet. “John, I told you—”

  “Do you have Victoria?” I grabbed his collar and yanked him close, glaring into his eyes.

  “Sam! We—”

  Someone shot a gun and the man went limp in my hold, blood draining from his forehead. I let go, and he crumpled to the ground. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  I stormed inside a dim hallway with metal walls and a stark white floor. Machinery hummed nearby. I sniffed the air but couldn’t pick up a trace of Victoria. The place was so sterile, it didn’t surprise me. The only scent I picked up, other than from our pack, was the dead werewolf now propping the door open, his blood pooling on the white ground.

  Our footsteps echoed as we crept down the hallway. It was only a matter of time until we were found. Then I would demand to know where my wife was being held.

  A man more burly than the guards outside stepped into the hall. His eyes widened when he glanced our way.

  I aimed my gun at him. “Where’s Victoria?”

  He turned toward the room. “Claire!”

  I shot him and rushed into the room, ready to take down anyone else who got in my way. The room was filled with dozens of monitors and high-tech equipment I didn’t recognize. The screens flashed back and forth between various scenes—including images of rooms at Moonhaven.

  My blood boiled. Those wolves were going down.

  I stormed into the next room. More monitors and equipment. This time, the screens showed people’s faces. Again, many from our pack flashed on the screens. I shot one of the monitors.