Unnaturals

by Dean J. Anderson

  `In the city you call Sydney. They intend to crush the Darkells first. Bemeon will kill all who stand against him and feed upon the humans of Sydney. Then he will be unstoppable.'

  `How is this possible?' Renee asked, looking more like Huntress. Scales raced across Mason.

  `A portal will be opened by his priestess and he will come. It was she went to your home seeking her child.' She leaned against Ralph. `I had planned that you would kill her there, but my plan failed.' A sob shook her. `Ruth was taken.'

  Ralph put his arms around her. What was it about her?

  `It is not your fault,' Mason said, touching her arm gently. `You helped her—'

  `We still cannot trust her,' Renee snapped. Her fingers dug into Mason's shoulder. Anger clouded her eyes. `She is not one of us. Her story has too many holes in it.'

  Mason flexed his shoulders. `Scarla is with us, understood?' Ralph heard the finality in his voice.

  Renee's lips went white.

  `Sirens. Time to leave,' Ralph said, breaking the moment.

  Mason glanced at him, nostrils flared. He can taste it too, Ralph thought. Conflict.

  `Agreed. Hands,' Mason said.

  Renee was still wrapped around him, fuming. Jumping was something Ralph had still to get used to. But he trusted Mason. He gripped Mason's arm, and Scarla reached out to touch him.

  `Back to the warehouse?'

  `Yes. Scarla, hold on please,' Mason extended a hand.

  `Okay,' she said, taking his hand and looking straight at Renee. `You have the gift?'

  Mason looked at the tiny scaled hand wrapped in his.

  Don't linger on it, please, Ralph thought, aware of his own discomfort in seeing Mason touching her. What was Renee feeling?

  `Interesting,' Mason said, looking closely at Scarla. `We have much to talk about.'

  Sirens wailed. Hurry, man, Ralph thought. Many footsteps approached, then his senses cut short and there was only the cold of the jump.

  Wolf. It was everywhere, covering him. Mason exhaled, focusing on the faces around him. All Wolf. Everywhere.

  Excitement and anger blended with the wall of Wolf surrounding him. His vision bled red. Hunter shifted in him.

  `Steady,' Renee said, pulling at his arm. `We're at the warehouse. Some of the packs are here.'

  Another breath and his vision cleared, less Hunter and more Mason. They were just faces, men, women. All staring. The familiar grey walls of the warehouse rose in the background. Asphalt warmed under his feet. He had jumped back to the car park.

  Movement. Ricco, at his side, guarded. `Mason. Eleanor explained it to me. This spot is kept clear. It is your jump spot. We will always ensure none stand here.'

  `Inside.' The anger and excitement fed his own. He felt humanity on the verge of slipping away. He wanted to be Hunter, to kill and take his revenge.

  `Um. My hand.'

  Fine scaled fingers wriggled in his hand. It was Scarla, naked and watching him with wide purple eyes. `Stick with Ralph. Go get some clothes on.'

  `Okay.' She blinked and smiled with teeth that invoked a soft rumble from him. Scarla made him feel more like Hunter. `Will this do?'

  Scales rippled. Her hard pink nipples vanished and the soft curve of her sex disappeared under a shimmer of colour while they watched. Clothing made of scales covered her, barely. Renee's nails dug into his skin.

  `Just.' Mason nodded at Ralph and turned away, eyes closed. He had felt Ruth's touch for an instant. A whisper perhaps?

  `Dad!' Wilson stood in the doorway, waving, face conflicted. `This way, quick.'

  Mason headed for the door. Ricco and Ralph brushed past him, acting as an escort through the crowd. He could see the glances from the watching crowd, some stiff, others excited.

  `They're with us,' Renee whispered beside him. `Stop looking at people as if they're a threat. You make them nervous.'

  `I don't have the time to make friends here,' he said, looking at her.

  `You don't have to,' Ralph said, letting Mason past into the warehouse. `These are my kind — Wolves. When the elders get here it will be me who speaks to them, not you. Understand?'

  `Agree with him,' Renee said.

  `Done.' Mason didn't stop or ask Renee why. He could see Wilson pacing inside. Nikki stood beside her mother, looking pale. Heat greeted him as he entered. Tiny fingers of white flame crackled over Wilson. `You're doing that? The fire?'

  `Yes!' Wilson snapped back.

  Mason paused. The fire was not the cause of Wilson's agitation. He was stressed in a way that went a lot deeper. All the sounds and voices around him faded; Wilson's voice was all he wanted to hear.

  `They're coming here, to Sydney.' Wilson didn't ask, he knew. `This isn't about us any more, Dad. I know that. Something very bad is going to happen. It's big.' He stopped pacing and stood, looking right into Mason's eyes.

  `Nikki's child, I can feel him. He's frightened. My brother speaks to me when he can. Dad, my brother can speak to me. He knows what's coming. That's why he is growing so fast.' Wilson's voice trailed off. Mason could see his eye glaze over for a moment. Then he grinned. `And so is my sister.'

  `What?' Mason glanced at Nikki. Twins?

  `Mum's pregnant, Dad.' Wilson took him by the shoulders, his hands hot, intense. `You hear me? Mum's pregnant.'

  A daughter? Ruth? Tears warmed his eyes. For so long after Wilson, he and Ruth had tried for another child and he'd dreamed of a daughter. Somehow, in this chaos, the impossible had happened.

  `Dad?' Wilson leaned in, eyes closed. `Promise me,' Wilson pressed his forehead against Mason's, `promise you're going to be here after all this. Don't lose yourself to the thing inside you.'

  Mason hugged him. He struggling to speak, his heart was so full of love. How could he manage to say what burnt hot in his heart? The words stopped his throat.

  `I hear you, Dad,' Wilson whispered, holding tight.

  He sighed, so grateful words weren't needed. Everything he wanted to say could be said in the way they held each other. He would do anything for family, the most precious gift of all.

  `We all can hear you,' Renee whispered, her hands on his shoulder.

  `That's why,' Eleanor said softly as she joined them, Nikki by her side, `I and so many of our kind are drawn to you, Mason. Under that warrior is a real person, fighting for a purpose we believe in ourselves. We too want to protect our children, our family, regardless of who we are.'

  `Truth,' Ralph and Ricco said in unison, their Wolf heat touching him on the back.

  `You understand, Dad?' Wilson let him go. `We need you to be that savage darkness. We need Hunter. But it is you we want back. Give me your word. Say it.'

  Mason hesitated. Many eyes rested on him, waiting.

  They knew he could be lost to the darkness, become the monster. Love would bring him back.

  To his family. His children.

  Wilson had asked for his word knowing that for him, a Douglas, it would be binding in every way, down to the genetic level.

  `I give you my word. I will come back.'

  CHAPTER 36

  Pete leant against a cold, shadowed wall and listened to the howl fading in the cool evening air. The Fund warehouse loomed across the street. He shivered.

  `I hear you,' he muttered, watching the steel security gate close again. He knew the men and women flocking to the warehouse were Wolves. All of them moved with the same fluidity his brother had displayed after his Wolf had tried to come.

  `Why are you here?'

  He twisted. The youngest of Ralph's boys watched him warily. Justin? He was bigger though, and his eyes had changed. Flecks of yellow floated across the iris.

  `You're not one of us.'

  `No.' Pete forced himself to relax, keeping his hands visible. At ease. No sudden movements with a Wolf, he remembered. Especially one suited up, looking like he was ready to jump.

  The Wolf tilted his head, as if listening. `You want Mason.'

  Pete hesitated, recognising he hadn't
been asked a question.

  `He's busy right now.' Justin lifted his head and looked at Pete, eyes brightening. He grinned, more kid than Wolf. `He knows you're here, but now is so not a good time.'

  Pete took a deep breath, not caring how busy Mason was.

  `I have something I think he'll need.'

  The kid disappeared and the Wolf stared back at him. Pete willed himself still, under the sudden shaft of cold spiking his arm. For a moment of madness he wondered if the leather had burnt away under the assault, but of course it hadn't. He struggled against checking the concealed sheath strapped on his forearm.

  `You do know what's happening?' Justin looked past him.

  Sounds that could only be claws on concrete filled the air. Wolves moved about the city openly and unafraid, their howls as much a part of the cityscape as the sound of traffic had been.

  After the attack on the Douglas home, the Fund mobilising and the media frenzy that followed, he had an idea something big was happening. `Not exactly. It's about Bloodells, and I'd say you expect it's going to get a lot uglier.'

  Justin nodded, Wolf shifting under his skin. `They have Mason's wife. They have Ruth.'

  Pete sucked in a breath. Shit.

  The Wolf closed his eyes and a distant chorus rose in the night air. `An ancient darkness comes. Hunter calls us to fight and the streets will run red with the blood of our enemy. War is coming, and you need to leave, to find a safe place to be with your family.'

  When he opened his eyes, the Wolf was under control and he was Justin again.

  Pete shook his head, sure that what he had Mason would need. `I have something belonging to the Bloodells,' he said, watching Justin closely.

  Wolf flared. Justin studied him, nostrils flaring. His gaze seemed to linger on Pete's arm.

  Here it comes, Pete thought. He'll sense it.

  `Your brother was one of us,' Justin said, relaxing. `Huntress shared her thoughts about you. She likes you a lot. Her compassion for our kin runs deep.' His eyes glowed bright, and then faded as he spoke.

  `Come,' he said. `She says to bring you to her.'

  She says? Pete double-checked, searching for signs of a comms device on Justin. There was nothing. Goosebumps tightened across his body.

  What had he just witnessed? He would have expected Mason to have eyes everywhere, but this was weird. He had to ask.

  `So,' he managed to say as Justin loped towards the warehouse. `It's a Wolf thing then? You being able to communicate with Renee and Mason?'

  Justin stopped, stiffening, and glanced back. `Huntress is like us, born to hunt and live free.' He turned to face Pete, eyes bright yellow. `You're a cop. You've seen the worst of humankind. That's a fraction of what Mason has seen. Or done.'

  Pete wondered at the look of desolation on the young Wolf's face.

  `The part of him that has the darkness, that is Hunter. We fight at Hunter's side, but never share his mind. Only she can do that. Only she can look into the abyss and bring Mason, the man, back.'

  Pete blinked. Justin strode off. Breathe, he told himself and he did, surprised Justin had so rattled him. He jogged to catch up, reaching the Wolf as the security gate began to slide open. `Mason is Hunter?'

  `The man is Mason,' Justin said, not looking at him. `When you see Hunter in battle — then you will understand. Trust your instincts.' He stopped. `Be warned, Pete. Make no eye contact here.'

  Pete's questions stalled — except for the one that was answered as soon as they stepped into the compound. He could feel the many eyes fell on him. The Wolves numbered over a hundred.

  Making no eye contact here!

  `So we're sure they're coming to Sydney?' Max looked up from his desk. Mason nodded, watching Wilson sit down beside Sally. Promises had been made. Now they all had to be strong.

  `I'm sure.' He looked at Scarla, holding Ralph's hand and almost afraid to let go. She was dangerous but fragile in the same breath. `Sydney, it seems, is where they're going to stage their event tonight.'

  `The Bloodells want to strike at us first,' Eleanor said, moving away from Nikki. `They know we are the Family who can best stop this happening. The other clans are smaller and scattered across the country. The Bloodells will be expecting us to come tonight.' She glanced at Lilly. `And bring Lilly with us. Ruth is leverage—'

  `No.' Mason paced, with his mind clear. `There is no bargaining with them, you know it. They will kill Ruth once they have Lilly.'

  `They know of you as well,' Eleanor said, moving between him and Lilly. `They know you as a Hunter they have feared, yet with Bemeon coming they must believe they will succeed. If they have already begun to open the portal, they cannot stop. That, perhaps, is to our advantage.'

  `How bad is this going to be?' Wilson asked, frowning. `I mean, how many of them are there?'

  `Many,' Eleanor said, not taking her eyes off Mason. `And once the portal opens all the Twisted, the makings of Bemeon, will come through.'

  `Not all of us beyond the portal are like that,' Scarla muttered, straightening.

  Mason felt something touch his mind. Ruth? No. It was cold, powerful and close.

  `You're from his world?' Renee moved past him, letting him try to focus on the presence.

  `Yes, and many of us true bloods do not want Father's vision to come true.'

  Her tone snapped Mason back to the present. `Father?' He moved a fraction. Scarla had scaled armour not unlike his own. It raised the question of how much like the monster god he was.

  `I am his daughter. He placed me in this world to do his children's bidding. That bitch had a collar otherwise I would have come to you sooner.'

  Mason shivered. Cold brushed him again. Powerful. Urgent. Trying to get his attention.

  `Pete is here.' Renee seemed hesitant to move away from Scarla, but Mason let it go. Outside, quiet had fallen and the sense of immense power hovered over them all.

  `Pete?' He headed for the door, Renee close behind. Could she feel it as well?

  `What's wrong?' she asked, taking his arm.

  `You can't feel that?' Mason's desire to run became stronger as he reached the warehouse door.

  `No, I feel nothing.' Her grip vicelike, Huntress formed beside him.

  Pete stood waiting outside with Justin. The air was thick with the scent of Wolf as the packs stood silent. Watching.

  Fear. He could smell Pete's fear. White-faced, he back-pedalled. Mason saw it and smiled a Hunter's smile. Pete had something. Something that called to Hunter. Something that wanted him.

  Hunter came, unbidden. Mason let control slip away.

  He would take it from Pete. It would be his.

  Pete froze when he saw Mason. Humanity had vanished and cold, hard, alien eyes stared back at him. Had it been a mistake to bring it here? Was this the darkness Justin had spoken of?

  He glanced around, looking for escape. Mason came for him, less of the man and more of a scaled monster with each step.

  Red flashed and the girl appeared between them.

  `Stop!'

  What the hell had he got himself into? Even Renee had changed. Her skin was white marble, while her hair made a mane down her back. Long, black claws extended from her fingers and toes.

  `Mine,' Mason rumbled, scales jet black, eyes boring into Pete.

  `What is wrong with you?' Renee moved closer to Mason, and Pete managed to breathe.

  `He can feel it calling to him.' The newcomer was small, scaled, almost naked and everything about her screamed at him to run. He hadn't seen her come, but she stood beside Renee, unafraid.

  Pete blinked.

  `Explain yourself, fast, Scarla!' Renee snarled, and Pete could feel the tension around him thicken like soup.

  `It seems this human has found something.'

  Scarla walked to him. Fear and desire made sweat run down his back. He couldn't look away from her.

  `Oh, relax,' she said, and his body responded immediately. `The fact he is human yet can hold it is very odd, though.'


  `Scarla!' Renee snapped. Mason pushed her aside and Pete went cold.

  `Stop!' Scarla touched Mason on the arm and Renee grabbed him again.

  Pete tapped the leather sheath on his arm. `What is this thing?'

  `Show Mason, but do not let any other touch it.' Scarla's smile showed too many teeth for his liking.

  Pete flicked the sheath open and the bone handle came perfectly to his hand. Cold. `I was given this today. After what happened at the beach.' Pete held the dagger up. Yellow, thin but razor sharp. Mason growled and Pete glanced nervously at Scarla.

  `You can feel it calling you, Mason. It does that. Fickle thing. It seeks out the strongest, those with the most dark energy. No human should be able to hold it like that.' Scarla moved closer to Pete. A dark sweet scent called to him.

  `But I am human.'

  `Are you? Tell me, what has happened to this so-human man recently?' Scarla drew blood with her nails, tasting him. He shook at the sight of his blood on her tongue.

  `Mason healed him,' Renee snapped, distrust in her eyes.

  `So that's it. You've been touched by Mason's gift. The dagger recognised it, knowing you would carry it to the source.'

  `Enough!' Renee pushed Mason back and grabbed Scarla. `What is it?'

  Pete glanced at Mason, his face creased in a frown. Much of the hardness had gone, leaving the man showing under the scaled armour. He caught the flash of movement. Ralph appeared behind Mason, more Wolf than man.

  Pete's gut churned. Scarla shook Renee off and raised Pete's hand overhead. `This is my father's lower rib.' She flicked a toothy grin at him then looked at Renee. `The human holds Bemeon's own bone dagger, gifted to Agnes.'

  `And this is a good thing?' Pete blurted. Renee bristled at Scarla.

  `Yes.' Scarla let him go and reached for Ralph. `The dagger wields much power.'

  `Except I cannot touch it,' Mason said, human again.

  Pete let himself relax. With Mason back, the tension had reduced.

  `It called to me, trying to make contact.'

  `Yes,' Scarla whispered, eyes bright. `It would bond with you, letting its darkness meld with yours.'