Unnaturals

by Dean J. Anderson

  Eleanor stepped back. Raw energy washed out of the boy as he twisted and transformed into Wolf. She could not look away as the alpha towered above her, twice her height and jet black.

  She couldn't help herself. `Goddess, you're beautiful.'

  The wolf snorted at her, then tilted his head. She heard it as well, a wild howl from down at the lake.

  She crushed the urge to touch him. Muscles expanded in his chest and Eleanor covered her ears. The cry of an alpha so close could deafen. Vibrations shook the floor under her. Tears filled her eyes and his howl cut into her. Then came a shocking silence and she stood alone, unable to shake the ringing from her ears.

  She staggered and fell against the windowsill, seeking his form out in the night — hoping she had been right.

  CHAPTER 17

  Wilson sat back in the chair. Lilly cleared his plate away as he looked at the next steak that sizzled on the grill. His hunger had eased but the need for more still persisted.

  `You're going to have to stop doing that,' he said, looking right at Rose. She had been staring and he could no longer ignore it.

  She started. `What?'

  `Staring at me like you're a stalker.' Wilson stretched, watching her squirm under his gaze. She was odd.

  `I didn't mean to.' Rose looked away to Lilly. `I've never—'

  `We've never met someone like you,' Lilly said from the grill.

  Wilson smiled again. He liked Lilly.

  `In what way?' He'd had girls interested in him before, but not like this.

  `Well,' Lilly moved around the grill with his plate, a steak on it, `for starters, we've never met anyone who has been touched by Darla, who has a father so, ah, unique as yours, and who can eat so much in one sitting.' She placed the plate in front of him, taking a chair beside him.

  `Yeah, well, I'm hungry.' He cut into the steak and began to eat, enjoying the taste. `You cook a mean steak, Lilly.'

  `Thanks.' She picked up her drink and sat back.

  He relaxed. Lilly had a great vibe about her and he felt comfortable.

  `So what happened to you?' he waved a fork at Rose. Her face had nearly healed but her hair was still patchy. `Get into a fight?' She made a noise and he saw Lilly kick her under the table.

  `Rose learnt a wise lesson on the island, that not everything is what it seems.'

  `So who did you piss off? Renee, Mum or Dad?' Wilson ate as he waited. He wanted to know for sure. Renee had given Rose a hard look earlier.

  `All three,' Lilly sighed as Rose sank in her chair. `She has a knack of doing that, irritating the most dangerous people in a room.'

  `Well she scored the trifecta this time.' Wilson grinned at Rose, enjoying the blush that crept onto her face. `But you will heal, though?'

  Lilly answered. `Yes, some injuries take time, and it seems ones inflicted by Renee take a lot longer.' Lilly moved and Wilson got a different vibe off her. She was going ask him something.

  `The girl Sally, the one you spoke to on the phone. She knows… about everything?'

  His light mood faltered. `No.' The steak suffered as well, his knife tearing into it. `Sal only knows about the normal side of me. The rest is not for her. She doesn't deserve to suffer from it.'

  `You think this, us, our world, is a threat to her? That is why you hide the truth from her?'

  Wilson didn't answer. This was the one question he struggled with each day.

  `I'm sorry.' Lilly edged away from him. `I did not mean to pry. It's just that we saw her with you on the island. She seemed to be very relaxed with you.'

  `You saw us. Where?' He frowned, trying to remember having seen Lilly.

  `As you went to the restaurant,' Rose muttered. `Lilly saw you with the tall blonde bim— '

  Wilson caught his plate as the table slid out from underneath it and screeched across the floor tiles. The edge slammed into Rose, sending her flying across the kitchen. Then the table slid back into place, and he replaced his plate on it. `You're right. She has the knack all right.'

  Lilly put her glass back down. `Yes. Sorry about that. Since the island, I've found I'm less inclined to be passive.'

  `You saw Sally and me, then? Did you know who we were?'

  `No,' Lilly's tone softened. `I will be honest and say I was jealous of Sally, tanned and out enjoying the night with you. It's not something we get to do a lot. Dating is hard when you don't age and have to move a lot.'

  `Eh? Eleanor looks like she's about forty and Nikki is about thirty.' He tucked away the uncomfortable thought of Lilly being jealous. He didn't want to think about it.

  `Phat!' Rose stood up and spat blood on the floor. `That's it. I'm going upstairs. You can stay here and flirt with him all you want but even I can see he's in love with the bimbo.'

  `Rose,' Lilly's tone was dangerous. `Shut up and leave before I lose my patience.'

  Wilson didn't move other than to swallow the last piece of steak. Rose opened her mouth then shut it. Lilly cracked a knuckle and it boomed loud in the silence.

  Wilson thought he should say something. `I don't mind talking to you, Lilly.' He gave Rose a small curl of the lips, and then grinned at Lilly. `You're fun to be around.'

  `Thank you, Wilson. I appreciate that.' Lilly smiled at him with a sparkle in her eye while Rose stood fuming.

  `Whatever!' Rose stormed past. Wilson bit down a grin as Lilly raised an eyebrow at him.

  `Sleep well, Rose,' Lilly said as Rose reached the door. `Let Tashia know I'm doing my best to care for Master Wilson.'

  Wilson flinched as the door slammed shut behind her. `She is so pissed off at you.'

  `Guess what, I just don't care anymore.' Lilly stood, picking up his plate. `I'm going to cook something for myself now. You want another steak?'

  `Yep. And thanks Lilly, but I can cook it myself.'

  `I don't mind…'

  A wild howl shook the room, followed by a scream of terror. Wilson leapt up. Lilly's eyes went wide.

  `Rose!'

  Wilson moved first but Lilly was right behind him as he ripped the kitchen door open.

  `No!' Lilly tried to push past him but he grabbed her arm.

  A huge black wolf stood between him and Rose, who was lying on the floor. He blinked. He should have felt fearful, but mostly he was curious. The wolf didn't feel dangerous. `Wait.' He held Lilly back and stood his ground.

  `Let me go and cover your ears,' Lilly said as she struggled to break free.

  Energy hummed as Wilson stared at the wolf, holding its gaze. Recognition flickered in yellow eyes.

  `Lilly. No!' Eleanor stood above them on the stairs. `Rose fainted, that's all. Let him pass.'

  `He won't hurt us,' Wilson said. He pulled Lilly back, watching the wolf he felt he knew. `Trust me.' He put his arms around a trembling Lilly, and moved her back with him against the wall.

  The wolf peeled his lips back, flashing huge teeth in something that was almost a grin. Long nails tore into the floor and he leapt past, little chunks of marble skittered after him.

  Wilson grinned. `Awesome.'

  `You're kidding me.' Lilly began wriggling in his arms. `The biggest alpha I have ever seen just, just destroyed a marble floor and you say awesome?'

  `Yeah,' he said, not ready to let her go, but unsure why. `Got to appreciate the fact he was a magnificent wolf; and very big.'

  `You can let me go now.' She had stopped fighting him; her hands rested on his arms.

  Wilson resisted the urge to smell her hair. He let her go.

  Lilly glanced at him and went to Rose. `She's fine. Eleanor?'

  Wilson followed Lilly's gaze. No one stood on the stairs.

  `You want a hand?' he asked, as she lifted Rose in her arms.

  `Best if I take her upstairs and get her cleaned up.'

  Lilly bit her lip and Wilson nodded.

  `I'll be back shortly, we can have something to eat and, um, talk some more.'

  `Yeah.' Wilson felt himself smile. `I'd like that.'

  `Promise
me something.' Lilly looked down at him from the stairs, Rose mumbling in her arms.

  `Sure.'

  `Don't leave the house. Wait for me. I want to eat with you.'

  `Okay.' Wilson watched Lilly go upstairs and disappear into a hallway. The house felt suddenly empty. He looked around the room for any sign of Eleanor. He kicked a big chip of marble across the floor. `And I thought my place was a madhouse.'

  He pushed the kitchen door open and wandered back in, stopping at the sink to tidy up, hoping the chore would distract him from worrying about Sally. He had heard her relief when he called earlier. Lying to her had been hard for him but the truth was not an option.

  Wilson wiped up the plates as he tried to avoid the view through the huge window at the end of the kitchen. He'd had enough surprises for the day.

  Ralph ran. Conscious of what Eleanor had done, freeing him of physical and lore restraints, he knew he could now prove himself to Renee.

  Voices erupted into his pack link. His cry had been heard.

  `Jesus H Christ!'

  `What's the hell is going on?'

  `Boss, they heard you in the mountains. What's up?'

  `Shut up.' Ralph slid to a halt, watching flashes of body heat thrash near the lake. `Get your coats on and get here now. Intruder at the estate.'

  `Si, boss!' echoed threefold through his pack link. He could sense their morph. They would come. Bloodlust filled the air.

  Ralph absorbed the pheromones, letting his Wolf taste them and respond. Two heartbeats boomed out near the lake. One was Renee's. Neither was human.

  Saliva filled his jaws as he circled, moving silently through the bushes, controlling his Wolf, knowing what its anger had already cost him. Colours and shapes flashed in the darkness as he watched and his anger refused to stay quiet.

  Red hair flashed in the moonlight.

  Renee.

  A living darkness covered her, slashing at her flesh, showering a fine mist of blood.

  Hers.

  Wolf took over and lunged at the darkness.

  Wilson leant against the kitchen bench.

  `So,' he paused as Lilly chopped the vegetables so fast her hand blurred, `how's Rose?'

  "Put out. Hasn't been her day, you might say.' She stopped at the sound of a motor revving, followed by the squeal of tyres. Wilson glanced out of the window but saw nothing. Lilly shrugged and half-smiled with what looked like victory.

  `Sounds like someone left in a huff.'

  `She'll calm down.' Lilly focused on the vegetables again. `Ever since I turned, Rose has been a pain in my side. We used to need each other. Her to lead, me to follow. I never really saw any other way until...' She glanced at him and Wilson could feel his face burning again.

  Liking Lilly seemed to be harder to resist. He needed to redirect fast. `About before, you mentioned that you don't age?'

  `No, yes, kind of.' She dropped the vegetables in the hot wok beside her. `We're born just like you, are babies like you, but then have a much longer childhood.'

  `How much longer?'

  `About fifty years.'

  `Fifty years?' Wilson watched as Lilly worked the vegetables in the wok, stirring in a sauce.

  `Yes, it's trying being young for so long, but puberty makes up for it.'

  `How?' He dipped a finger into the wok and winced as she smacked his hand.

  `We change overnight. Child one day.' She turned and faced him, hands out, inviting him to look. `Like this, the next.'

  Wilson bit his lip. Lilly had changed her clothes to shorts and a blue singlet. Her demonstration was definitely for his benefit. `Um, does the change hurt?'

  `Like a bitch.' She turned back to the wok and Wilson caught himself staring at her legs.

  `But it's worth it,' she said. `When I had mine a few years ago I had no idea how much everything would change. My gift came to me, people treated me differently and shopping took on a whole new meaning.'

  `Shopping?' Wilson laughed at his question as Lilly plated up her meal, grinning at him.

  `Yeah, of course. A girl has to have new clothes after fifty years of wearing kids' stuff.'

  `I suppose,' he said, enjoying her humour. `I'll get my steak. You sit and eat.'

  `Yes, Master Wilson, as you command.' She nodded and sat at the table.

  Her words brought a frown that darkened his good mood. Was she serious?

  `Relax will you?' she said, looking over her glass of juice.

  `Sorry, just still getting used to, well, you know.'

  Her smile pushed his frown away.

  `Sure do. It's weird for us discovering we're not the only ones here who are different.' Lilly popped a fork full of food into her mouth as he sat down.

  `About that—' The hairs on his arms stiffened.

  `What's wrong?' Lilly moved fast to join him, hand on his arm.

  `Spider sense is going nuts.' He glanced at the huge window at the end of the kitchen.

  `What! Oh, you mean— Wow, you have that.'

  `No idea what to call it.' His knees buckled and Lilly's grip changed to hold him up.

  `Wilson!'

  `It's that wolf,' he muttered. `I feel him, in my mind.'

  `Goddess!'

  Lilly's warm hands flared bright. The cold of the kitchen floor raced up his back.

  `I don't understand, Wil. How can this happen? You're not a wolf.'

  A familiar rumble echoed in his mind. Dad. `Not me, not me. It's Dad.'

  `I don't understand.' She touched his face.

  `Sorry,' he slurred. Chaos swirled in his mind. `We're all connected. Since the island, I get flashes; feelings.'

  `And now? What is it you feel?'

  `Dad — fighting the wolf.'

  CHAPTER 18

  Ruth lay on the huge bed, listening.

  `They sound mad, or angry.' She ran her hand through Nikki's hair as she enjoyed the sensation of lips and tongue on her navel.

  `They are fighting, yes,' Nikki said, looking up. `But it isn't the Mason and Renee we know. We are safe in here.'

  Ruth closed her eyes as a finger trailed over her sex. `This is amazing but… but the sounds they're making are frightening.'

  Nikki pressed her lips onto the heat of Ruth's sex, making her squirm in delight, momentarily forgetting the sounds outside. `Perhaps we need to make our own noise?' Nikki whispered.

  Ruth gasped at the delicate touch of her tongue. `Oh yes, yes.' Ruth let her body respond to the waves of pleasure, arching her back, wanting more. `You're a tease,' she whispered, hands wound into Nikki's hair.

  A howl of agony filled the air. Pleasure vanished, the heat of desire replaced by a cold clawing in her stomach.

  Nikki leapt up and went to the window.

  Ruth sucked air into her lungs, rolled off the bed and joined her. She tried to swallow. `That's not them, is it?'

  `Fuck, no,' Nikki cursed, pulling on clothes.

  Another wail rose above the snarling and more howling erupted. Ruth trembled as goosebumps tightened across her arms and back. `You're not going out there, are you?'

  `I have to. Ralph's stuck his big nose into it.'

  `Ralph?' Ruth grabbed a pair of shorts and a shirt out of the wardrobe.

  `What are you doing?'

  `You're not going out there by yourself.'

  `Listen, you can't—'

  Ruth waited as Nikki stared hard at her. `I'm wasting my breath, aren't I?'

  Ruth kissed her on the cheek. `You're a fast learner. Who's Ralph?'

  `Renee's old boyfriend. They never really went out but he's been hanging around her since he was a boy.'

  `And he's out there? Is he like Renee?'

  `He's a wolf.'

  Ruth stopped trying to pull a shoe on and looked at Nikki. `You're telling me that there's a wolf is out here?'

  `Not exactly.' Nikki went to the window. Ruth took her hand. `Ralph has human form most of the time, and he's one of Gaia's wolves. They're soldiers, smart, conscious in their wolf form and can 'pat
h, a bit like Mason and Renee.'

  `He's here because of them, isn't he? Damn it, why didn't Renee say something?' Ruth followed Nikki to the door.

  `Because the moment Renee found someone her curse can't kill, she forgot everything else.'

  Ruth stopped and pulled Nikki back. `Renee is cursed? How?'

  `Look, she's never been able to have sex or be with a man. She kisses them and they die. She kissed Mason and, well, you know the rest. Renee has been searching for someone a long time and now Ralph will likely get himself killed.'

  A chorus of howls and wailing grew down at the lake.

  `Ralph's pack is here.' Nikki stepped outside and scanned the trees.

  `You're scared.' Nikki's scent had changed and her hand was sweating.

  `Wolves can't be hurt by Darkells' energy. Bloodells can do some damage, but really it takes simple brute force to stop one.' Nikki glanced back at her. `Plus I don't have the respect Renee has with the wolves.'

  They looked down towards the lake. The ground rippled. Nikki's fear had triggered Ruth's gift.

  `Is that you?' Nikki held her tight, her nervousness clear. Ruth's protective urge grew.

  `Yep. Warming up, just in case.' Ruth flashed a smile as power fed into her. `I'll handle any wolves wanting to bite and you can look out for our two.'

  `You're serious?'

  `This last year has seen every nasty creature imaginable try to kill me and my family.' Ruth let the energy build into a soft blue glow on her free hand. `Now I can fight back.'

  `I'm impressed,' Nikki said as her own gift grew to match Ruth's. `Just remember, no one here is the enemy. Just stun if you have to.'

  `I'll do my best.' Ruth looked at her hand, hot with Gaia's energy. `Is it wrong to feel exited?'

  `No,' Nikki grinned at her as they moved off. `I've been excited since I met you.'

  `Shameless flirt,' Ruth smiled, following her towards the lake.

  Bone grated in his leg. He could feel it tearing at his flesh.

  Hot blood wet his hands.

  His Wolf, gone.

  The air churned as a tree shattered, sending shards at him.

  `This is nuts, Ralph,' Ricco said as they sheltered behind a fallen tree. `We're getting our arses kicked. She is not happy to see you.'