Chosen Wolf

by Stacy Claflin

  “Are you hungry?” Alex asked.

  Though I’d eaten as much as I could all week to prepare for ravaging hunger, I was still famished. I nodded.

  Alex tightened his grip around my shoulders. “Let’s get you into the kitchen.” He turned to Toby. “You can go outside. I’ll make sure Victoria’s okay.”

  Toby plunked his rear end on the floor.

  I rubbed his fur. “I hear the pack howling for you.”

  He stared at me, his eyes piercing me to the soul.

  “I love you, too. But they need you, and I’m in good hands with Gessilyn, Soleil, and Alex.”

  “Isn’t Ziamara around, too?” Gessilyn asked.

  I shook my head. “She usually stays awake all month and then sleeps while Jet’s in wolf form.”

  “Can’t say that I blame her. If I were a vampire married to a werewolf, I’d do the same. Since I’ve completely exhausted my resources, do you mind if I call on the vampire queen? She has far-reaching resources that I can’t touch. Her son-in-law is a former dragon king.”

  Alex shook his head. “I can’t believe all the inter-species marriages.”

  “It’s a strange mix of the old world and new right now,” Gessilyn agreed. She turned to me. “Do you mind if I involve the vampires?”

  Toby whined.

  I looked over at him. “Is that a whine of agreement or a protest?”

  He whined again, and I still couldn’t tell his intentions.

  “If Tap can’t help us,” Gessilyn said, “then we’ll be out of options, Toby.”

  Soleil ran down the stairs. “Tap says to bring her over.” She glanced my way. “Are you up for a run through the woods, or should I transport you?”

  “Can I eat first?”

  “Yes, come on.”

  We all went into the kitchen. Alex kept me steady as I stumbled along.

  I didn’t want to make Soleil transport me—not knowing how much it took out of her—but on the other hand, if I could barely make it to the kitchen, how would I get to the Faeble?

  Alex helped me sit at the table while Soleil piled some food on a plate and stuffed it in the microwave. Toby sat in front of me, under the table and rested his head on my lap.

  Soleil turned to Gessilyn. “What do you think the vampires can do that Tap can’t?”

  “Not so much the vampires, but their resources run deep. The king is the firstborn of the species and is well over three thousand years old. His reach goes beyond anyone I know.”

  “Sounds like someone I need to acquaint myself with,” Soleil said. The microwave beeped and she pulled out the steaming plate of food and placed it in front of me. “There’s plenty if you want more.”

  I grabbed a fork and shoveled the food in, not caring what I ate. My stomach raged, begging for as much as possible.

  After my third plate, I was finally satiated—not full, but at least not hungry. Alex sat across from me. “Are you up for a trip through the woods?”

  “There’s only one way to find out.”

  “If you can’t make it, I’ll carry you. Bring you back here, like I did last time.”

  “Let’s do it.”

  A whine sounded underneath the table. I rubbed Toby’s fur. “It’ll be okay. You can go with us if you want.”

  My bones still held a minor ache, but it was nothing like it had been. I just hoped that my bones didn’t break all over again when it was time to shift back—I was already human. My body wouldn’t need to shift into anything, but did it know that?

  Chapter 20

  Toby

  I ran through the woods, following Victoria and the others. It didn’t sit right with me that they wanted to bring the vampires into any of this. It could only lead to problems… or was I only being selfish?

  The queen and I’d had a relationship many decades earlier—long before she was queen and when Victoria had been dead for many years. Our past had never been awkward before, but now with Victoria back, I could hardly live with myself, thinking about my one brief indiscretion. I should have never allowed my heart to leave Victoria for even a moment, death or not.

  We made it to the Faeble, and I paced outside. Short of an emergency, Tap wanted his patrons in human form when inside. If all of Victoria’s bones had still been broken inside of her, I would have insisted. But now I had no excuse and was left only with my guilt.

  She doesn’t hold it against you, my wolf told me.

  Doesn’t matter. I know, and I have to live with it.

  She had her thing with Carter, don’t forget.

  Thanks, I appreciate the reminder. I paced the length of the building.

  You have nothing to feel guilty over. She was dead. The vampire was close to death—well, the second death—and you helped her through that. Look at how much good has happened under her leadership. She needed you to get through that rough patch.

  No amount of logic could convince me that I shouldn’t feel guilty. I’d promised Victoria that it would always be her, and for a short time, it wasn’t.

  I glanced over at the building. What was taking them so long? Could it mean that Tap had some ideas, and that we wouldn’t need to contact the vampires?

  The thought of introducing the two of them made my stomach lurch. There had to be another way—and I would find it.

  You’re the only one who holds this against you.

  I ignored my wolf, who I knew wanted to check on the rest of the pack, but neither of us wanted to go too far from Victoria. As much as I wanted her to be able to shift, he wanted it all the more.

  Even if we have to bring in the vampires, everything will be fine. Everyone has moved on and she’s married with ten or eleven children.

  Easy for you to say, I snapped. You weren’t unfaithful.

  He shook our head. You’re impossible sometimes. In protecting yourself, you’re hurting her now. She doesn’t care—nobody does, except you.

  I couldn’t respond. He was right. I might have to accept the fact that the only way to save Victoria was by facing my own demons. But there was still time. I would find another way. I would.

  At least that’s something. Don’t wait too long.

  We continued pacing. Anger surged through me, as I thought about whoever had done this to her—more than likely the jaguars with either my father or hers behind the whole thing. I would deal with every last one of them once Victoria was restored to her natural state.

  Several wolves howled in the distance. They had gone farther than the bar. From the sounds of it, they were on the other side of the immense woods.

  When would the shift finally be over? I needed to be inside with Victoria, and being unable to help her was the worst kind of torture.

  As I paced, now around the entire bar, the rest of the pack continued howling. They wanted me to join them, but at least I knew they understood why I couldn’t.

  Hopefully this’ll be the last full moon the pack won’t be together, my wolf told me.

  If it wasn’t, I didn’t know what that would mean for her. With each one growing worse than the last, I couldn’t see her surviving another full moon.

  My wolf didn’t disagree.

  Maybe running with the pack will help clear our head.

  I stopped pacing. I’m not leaving Victoria.

  I didn’t say to leave her. Just to go for a run. She’s well taken care of in there.

  Irritation burned at me. If he was a separate entity, I’d have been tempted to attack.

  Easy there, he warned.

  I sure was glad he remained quiet the rest of the month.

  You just don’t notice me.

  Growling, I burst into a run. I stayed close enough that I’d hear Victoria the moment she stepped outside.

  The exercise felt good on my muscles, and it was a good distraction. Time seemed to stand still, but as I glanced up at the moon, I could see it moving slowly across the sky.

  Finally, the ache set in. I headed back for the Faeble and shifted into human form mid-st
ride. It took my feet only a moment to adjust and I headed for the back of the building for my spare clothes.

  They were gone.

  I stared at my little cubby-hole in disbelief. I’d checked my stock not long ago. Someone had borrowed from it and not replaced the clothes? I groaned and moved over to the other cubbies. Jet was the only one who had multiple sets of clothes, and unfortunately, he was not my build.

  Muttering, I slid on the too-short pants and shirt. I rolled up the sleeves to my elbows, giving the illusion of an okay fit. The pants on the other hand… I sighed. Not only did I have no shoes, but the cuffs rested well above my ankles.

  I went inside. Loud music and conversation greeted me. I went to the bar. Quinn was busy making a drink, but Tap and the others were nowhere to be seen.

  A bitter scent wafted over. I glanced over at a table next to me, the group of sirens burst into a fit of laughter, pointing at some mesmers a few tables over.

  “Where’s the flood?” one asked me. They all laughed harder. It was a stupid joke, but sirens loved hating werewolves.

  I ignored them and caught Quinn’s attention from behind the bar. “Where’s Tap?”

  “They went downstairs.”

  “Thanks.” I hurried down to the basement. It was Tap’s living quarters—a rich mixture of the old world and the new.

  Victoria and the others weren’t in the front room, so I went down the hall, looking into the other rooms. They were in the same room we’d been in when Gessilyn ran the spell to restore Victoria’s memories.

  “What’s going on?” I glanced around the room, not seeing Victoria. “Where is she?”

  “Sleeping,” Soleil said. “Nice outfit.”

  “Why’s she asleep?” I demanded. Finally, I saw her, lying on a decorative rug, covered in blankets. Alex was curled up next to her. “What happened?”

  Tap unbuttoned his top two buttons and loosened his shirt. “I was trying an ancient remedy my people have relied on for centuries, when she started screaming.”

  I grimaced. “Did her bones break again?”

  Soleil nodded. “I transferred Alex’s essence to her again. It kept the rest of her bones from breaking and healed the ones that already did again, but it made both of them fall asleep.”

  I turned to Tap. “What are we going to do? She can’t go through this again.”

  “We’ll figure something out. I’m going to pore over my ancient books. In the meantime, contact the spice shop. See what Old Willy and his son know.”

  “I already cashed in on the favor he owes you, remember?”

  Tap nodded. “And now you know him. You have an in.”

  I groaned. “He wasn’t too happy about helping us out last time.”

  “They’re always like that. Don’t take it personally.”

  “Are we just going to let them sleep?” I asked.

  “I would,” Gessilyn said. “The shift took a lot out of her and the essence exchange wiped out Alex.”

  “We need to find a cure for her right now.” I paced the length of the room.

  “I can contact the vampires,” Gessilyn said.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “And I’ll go to the spice shop,” Soleil said. “If he gets grouchy, I’ll find a way to convince him to help.”

  “I’m sure you will. I’m staying with Victoria.”

  “Good,” Tap said. “You can help me read through my books.”

  Gessilyn and Soleil left. Tap pulled half a dozen thick, old books from a shelf. He handed me half the stack. “Let’s get to work.”

  “What are we looking for, exactly?” I asked.

  “A way to reverse her curse.”

  I dropped the books onto the table. “And how will I know it when I see it?”

  “Pay close attention.”

  “Great,” I muttered.

  “It’s not that bad. My people have always taken great notes.”

  We made ourselves comfortable and I flipped through the brown pages with fading ink. The book appeared to have no order. One page held history, the next a recipe, the following one a spell. Someone needed to organize and update them, but I wasn’t going to suggest it to the proud little troll.

  After a while, he glanced at me. “Find anything?”

  “More history than spells.”

  “Did you notice the history is full of information that could help with spells?”

  “Could being the operative word.”

  Quinn came in, his eyes wild. “We need you, Tap. Some sirens and mesmers have gotten into a brawl.”

  Tap scowled. “They know better than to do that in here.” He rose and headed for the door before turning back to me. “I’ll be back. In the meantime, keep reading.”

  I nodded and flipped another page, keeping an eye on Victoria from the corner of my vision. She and Alex both slept heavily. I was grateful to him for keeping such a close eye on her when I could do so very little as a wolf. It had to be miserable only being able to shift into human form once a month. Once we got everything squared away with her, we’d have focus on breaking the curse for the rest of us, particularly for his sake.

  My eyes grew heavy as I flipped through the old pages, finding nothing to help Victoria.

  After a while, Brick and Dillon entered the room.

  “There you are,” Brick said.

  “We kept calling your phone,” Dillon said, “but then we realized it was outside.”

  I nodded toward the books. “Start reading. We only have a month to break Victoria’s curse—and the time is going to race by all too fast.”

  They took a seat, and for a while, the only sounds in the room were of the pages flipping.

  Footsteps sounded in the hall. I glanced toward the door, hoping either Gessilyn or Soleil had found something that would lead us to a cure.

  Quinn appeared, looking more frazzled than before. “Where’s Tap?”

  “I haven’t seen him since you were last down here.”

  His face paled. “Tap’s gone.”

  Chapter 21

  Toby

  I stared at Quinn. “What do you mean, he’s gone?”

  “He helped me with that scuffle between the sirens and the mesmers. After things calmed down, he went outside to take the trash out. I was so distracted with making and serving the drinks that I didn’t realize he hadn’t come back in.”

  “How long ago was that?” I exclaimed. “Did he come back in?”

  Quinn frowned. “I don’t know. I was busy for hours. It wasn’t until things calmed down up there that I noticed.”

  “Did you try calling him?” Brick asked.

  “His phone is behind the bar.”

  I took a deep breath. “There has to be a logical explanation.”

  “Yeah,” Dillon said. “Do you think the jaguars got to him, too? If our suspicions are right, they’ve imprisoned their leader’s own son. Why not Tap?”

  Brick pulled out his phone. “I’m calling Soleil.”

  “What’s she going to do?” Dillon asked.

  “Kill those bastards. She’s taken out entire villages before. Those feline idiots will be nothing.”

  Dillon frowned. “But if they hold the key to Victoria’s cure, killing them won’t do any good.”

  “Then she can kill some key players and demand what we need.” Brick scrolled around his screen and put the phone up to his ear. “She’s not answering.”

  “Maybe she’s busy talking with Darrell at the spice shop,” I said. “That’s where Tap sent her.”

  Brick shook his head. “It’s not like her to miss my calls.” He slid his finger around the screen again and brought it back to his ear.

  Dillon and I exchanged a worried glance.

  Brick swore. “Where is she?”

  “I’ve never seen you like this,” Dillon said.

  “Soleil’s never been missing before,” Brick grumbled.

  “He rarely gets violent,” I said. “But mess with someone he cares about and it�
��s a different story. The last guy who threatened me ended up in a wheelchair.”

  Dillon grimaced.

  Brick slammed his fist on the table. “She’s still not answering. Something’s up. No one can reach Soleil, Tap, or Carter. There’s no way it’s all a coincidence.”

  “No, it’s not.” I clenched my fists.

  “What are we going to do?” Quinn asked, his eyes wide.

  I glanced over at Victoria. “I’m not leaving her side—not with everyone disappearing.”

  “Why are they all disappearing?” Quinn asked. “What’s going on?”

  “They all have one thing in common.” My nostrils flared.

  “What?” Quinn exclaimed.

  I glanced over at Victoria. “They were all helping her. So was I when I was abducted.”

  Quinn glanced back and forth between Victoria and me. “You’re going to have to explain that later.”

  I nodded, and he went back up to the bar.

  “So, you agree with Brick that it’s got to be the jags?” Dillon asked.

  “It’s worth looking into. We can’t rule anything out yet.”

  Brick jumped from his chair, nearly knocking over the table. “And we know exactly where they are. I say we storm the place.”

  “No,” I said, staring into his eyes.

  He squirmed while staring at me. “I mean no offense, sir, but this is an emergency.”

  “I realize that—and that’s the exact reason we need a plan.”

  Brick turned away. “Easy for you to say. Your girlfriend is right here.”

  “Excuse me?” I was in shock. My friend had never spoken that way to me before.

  He turned back to me. “Soleil is missing. I can’t just sit around and do nothing.”

  I stepped toward him, narrowing my eyes. “Victoria will die if we don’t handle this correctly. One more full moon without the ability to shift will surely kill her. We’re not jumping into anything blind.”

  “What are we going to do, then?” Brick stepped closer to me. “Like I said, I’m not going to do nothing.”

  “And we won’t. All of these abductions are related. If we all think with clear heads, we’ll be able to figure this out. Another thing—no one goes anywhere alone. None of us. I’m going to wake Victoria. One of you call Moonhaven and tell the others what’s going on.”