by Kate Keir
Ouch, Flora, calm down. I was playing with you. I got carried away, I shouldn’t have done it. I’m sorry.
I stood up and narrowed my eyes at him. He climbed to his feet and whimpered softly.
I thought something had happened to you. Do you have any idea what it would do to me if I lost you too? My fear and anger were waning, replaced with relief
I’m sorry. It was in very poor taste, love. I just got carried away. Being out here with you as a wolf was just so…
Amazing? Liberating? Fun? I know, I felt it too. I stood facing him, my breathing finally slowing.
His wolf grin was huge this time as he thrust his shaggy head forward and rubbed his face gently against mine. My wolf-self responded to him without question, and I buried my face into the warmth of his thick mane for a moment. I had a sense that he wanted to say something else, and I closed my eyes and waited patiently for him to speak inside my mind. But without another word, he suddenly pulled back from me and started to lope south, through the trees.
Confused, I followed after him with a soft whimper.
Lyall, what’s wrong?
He glanced back at me, his eyes burning with a fire that could have been adoration or rage. How could I not tell which? I wondered.
Lyall? I stopped walking this time, and he stopped too.
He padded back toward me and let out a heavy sigh through his nose, before I heard his voice inside my mind.
I need to tell you something about me, Flora. I should have told you before, but you never asked me about my past so I didn’t volunteer it.
I felt a stab of guilt. I knew all of my other Dion’s stories. I had no idea who Lyall Harris had been before all this, or even when he had come to Castle Dion.
Lyall, I’m sorry.
You might be sorrier when you know my history. He turned away and started walking through the trees again as he spoke.
Come on, love, we can walk while I talk. The sooner we reach London, the sooner we can leave again.
Chapter Eight
We kept up an easy trot, passing by every kind of landscape: hills, woods, streams, and fields. All the while Lyall relayed his story inside my head, and I listened intently, my heart breaking a little more with each revelation.
I know you struggled with the existing bond between your Dion when you first arrived, love, he began.
Padding next to him, I ducked my head in acknowledgement that I had indeed felt like an outsider when I first came to Castle Dion.
I understood how you felt because I felt like an outsider when I first arrived too. I was the last Dion that Pen found, and I was already seventeen by the time she did.
I raised my furry eyebrows in shock but stayed silent. Lyall had only been at Castle Dion for five years. I’d had no idea, I had assumed he’d been there since his childhood like the others.
You know Dion display their strength and abilities from childhood, right? I always knew something was wrong with me, but I didn’t know what. It made me isolate myself from others, the kids at school, the ones who lived in my street.
Your parents? I hadn’t realised I’d thought out loud.
No, not them. They did that all by themselves. My dad died when I was maybe three. He was in the military. He did undercover stuff that involved long periods of time away in dangerous places. That’s about as much as I ever really understood about him. I guess what happened to him was inevitable.
My mother never really had much interest in me, and after my dad died, she spent most of her time at work. I mean, I get that she was a single mother, and it must have been hard to juggle a messed-up kid and her job, but she was pretty bad at it. At least from my perspective.
I never found out what she did for a job. She was super secretive, but it took her away from home more and more as time went by. The first time she left me home alone overnight I was nine.
I stopped walking, feeling a pain in my heart. Lyall, I’m so sorry.
Don’t be. I’m not telling you this for sympathy, love.
I trotted to catch up with him, and we carried on walking while he talked inside my head.
My time alone got longer and more frequent as the years passed by, and I struggled with a rage that I couldn’t control. I took myself out of school when I was twelve because I beat another kid up so bad he ended up in hospital, all because he took my pen in class. I couldn’t trust my strength and temper around others.
Then one day, when I was fourteen-my mother had been away for about two weeks this time—I realised there was nothing there for me, so I walked out of the front door of our house and left home for good.
Looking back now, I’m not really surprised I was such a mess for the next couple of years. I was homeless, alone, and still a Dion who had no clue of his own abilities. I drifted up and down the country, stealing and fighting to survive.
On the day that changed my life forever, I was in a bar in Liverpool—don’t judge me. In my life back then, a fake ID and underage drinking were the least of my criminal activities.
I shook my head and smiled. I had no idea Lyall had been such a “bad boy” in his past. I’d always thought of him as the eternal good guy, and I was stunned, but I didn’t care about him any less. I’m not judging you.
He growled. There’s still time for that, love. Anyway, on that day, fate decided to make a man walk into the very same bar I was sitting in. His name was Conor Kavanagh, and he was an Irish bare-knuckle fighter. He was also completely mad.
He sat next to me at the bar but paid me no attention to begin with. That was until he knocked his pint over while he was re-enacting a fight he’d just won in front of all of his mates.
The beer went all over me, and I went crazy at him. I wasn’t smart back then, Flora. I was also still really angry at the world. I stood up and swung a punch that probably left him with whiplash. Of course, that was the only punch I managed to get in. He took me apart in that bar. I was a mess when he’d finished. But even after all that, when he tried to make me say sorry, I wouldn’t. I had nothing left to lose.
He laughed and laughed while I stubbornly refused to apologise. In the end, he told his crew to pick me up and bring me along with them. I was convinced he was going to kill, me but I didn’t really mind. I was kind of ready.
But instead of killing me, he adopted me. He called me his “lad,” and he taught me how to really fight.
That’s why you’re so much better at it than everyone else, I said inside my mind, remembering back to the night he had saved me outside the bar in Inverness and the night he fought off the Draugur in the Endwood until we were all safely back on the right side of the border.
Lyall shrugged his muscular, black shoulders and continued with his story.
Conor taught me how to fight. That coupled with my supernatural strength made me pretty formidable. I even think he cared about me in his own way. I begged him to let me fight in the ring and he did. I won every fight I went to, and for a while my demons were quelled.
I sensed the “but” coming.
But, all good things must come to an end. On my seventeenth birthday, I went up against a man who was at least eight years my senior. On paper, he should have wiped me out. He didn’t get a chance, though, I fought viciously; I was listening to Conor screaming at me from the side-lines, and I rained my rage on this poor guy. I didn’t stop until he was down, then I danced out of the ring jumping up and down like a maniac, celebrating with Conor. It wasn’t until they covered the guy in the ring with a white sheet that I realised he was dead.
I’d killed someone. Someone called Tom Beckett, who had a two-year-old daughter and a wife, and I hated myself more in that moment than I had ever imagined possible.
Conor, being the psychopath he was, was delighted. He wanted to celebrate on the town. But I wasn’t quite so far gone that I would celebrate killing someone. I’d just proved everything I had always suspected about myself was true, so I ran. I ran through the streets of the city until I couldn’t run a
nymore, and I collapsed in an alleyway in the rain. My only goal in that moment, as I knelt in litter and dirt, was to find a way to remove myself from this earth. I didn’t deserve to live.
If Pen hadn’t walked down that alleyway and sat with me in the rain, holding me while I cried, then I wouldn’t be here today.
During my first twelve months here, I struggled with the darkness inside me. I believed in my heart I was a monster who couldn’t change, and I wanted to embrace that monster; it would be easier. But Pen changed me, she taught me to hold back the anger, and she taught me how to protect you. I learned violence from the best, love. But everything else, I learned from Pen. I can control my anger now. I’m no threat to those I mean to protect.
We had both stopped walking now. I knew he was making a pledge to me; he was swearing he would never hurt me. When my eyes met his, I could see the fear behind them. He was terrified I’d turn away from him, that I wouldn’t be able to forgive him for what he’d done. Most of all, I thought he was afraid to see fear of him in my eyes.
Crossing the distance between us, I returned his earlier gesture, running my face along the side of his jaw. A low sound of relief rumbled deep in his throat as I pressed my head and shoulder hard against him, conveying how I felt in the only way I could in this shape.
Lyall, I could never be afraid of you. You were a child, and you were failed in so many ways by those who should have protected you.
He interrupted me. I still killed a man, Flora.
And I can’t imagine how that feels. But you’re a different person today, Lyall Harris. You’re loyal and loving. You’re respectful and kind. Yet, there is no one I would rather have protecting me than you, precisely because you’re fierce and strong and unafraid of doing what’s right. I’ve never felt safer with anyone than I do with you.
He pushed his own head back against mine and breathed out a long, low sound of contentment.
Thank you, love.
We both lifted our heads and looked around us at the surrounding twilight. Although we were equipped with much better night-vision than a human, we still needed rest.
We should sleep here tonight. Lyall nodded to a hollow in the ground beneath an ancient Oak tree before breaking free from me to pad over to it and curl himself up with his back to the tree.
Following suit, I walked over and curled myself into the hollow so that my back was pressed against his chest and belly. I rested my head on my white paws and smiled internally as I looked at the contrast of my snow-white fur against his midnight-dark coat.
We look like Yin and Yang, I told him.
We look like light and darkness, he replied.
I’ll be your light, Lyall. But you have to promise to carry on being mine. I nudged him gently.
I felt him relax against me. I promise, now go to sleep, love. We’ve got an early start again tomorrow.
We both slept deeply, and neither of us moved an inch during the night.
Chapter Nine
We had known when we decided to travel as wolves that it would be a long journey. Although we did have the edge of being supernatural animals, meaning we could sustain a pace that would have long since done for an ordinary wolf; it had still taken us almost two weeks to get within touching distance of the capital.
As we neared London and its surrounding areas, it became increasingly difficult to stay undercover in our shifter forms. We had a few close calls with humans that meant it was time to make a decision about how best to infiltrate the city with as little fuss as possible.
We both sat on top of a small hill. The sun had just set behind us. We were in an exposed location, and I was currently feeling as though I had a target on my back.
I think we need to take on human form, Lyall.
I think you’re right, love. There’s a little hotel just along the lane which Pen booked for us and filled with everything we need. We just have to make it into the room without being seen. My companion started to pad down the hill.
I growled softly as I stood and followed him. It hadn’t occurred to me when we set off that we would have to find a way to access the hotel room unseen. The alternative options would be to walk through the reception in wolf form or in human form but sans clothes.
We kept to the shadows as we approached the White Horse Pub and Hotel. I stayed close to Lyall, painfully aware that his black coat blended much better with the darkness than my white fur.
Keep close, Flora. We have room twenty-one booked. The door should be unlocked. Lyall slipped into the empty reception area and after a cautious glance over my shoulder I followed behind.
As we glided through the shadows of the staircase that was signed for bedrooms twenty to thirty, I held my breath, convinced we were going to be caught. If a human found us here, we’d probably be caged and thrown into the zoo. My heart thudded in my chest.
Relief flooded through me as Lyall jogged quickly along a hallway that led to a door that was marked with the number twenty-one in brass letters. He pushed against the white wooden door and disappeared inside. I followed him quickly and used my shoulder to nudge the door closed behind us.
Eyeing the single door to the shower room, I crossed the small bedroom area in a leap. I call first shower.
He sat on his haunches and grinned. Go for it, love. Enjoy.
I used my nose to push the bathroom door closed behind me and began to focus on my human shape in order to finally change back. After such a long time as a wolf, it felt strange to be back in my proper form.
A hot shower made me feel mostly human again. I marvelled at Pen’s thoughtfulness as I picked up one of the two toothbrushes on the sink and vigorously scrubbed my teeth—I wanted to forget about almost two weeks of eating wild—caught prey, and brushing my teeth seemed like a good place to start.
I picked up a pair of dark blue jeans and a checked shirt. I pulled the fresh clothes on and tied my damp hair back in a pony-tail. Looking in the mirror, I was satisfied that I was me again.
Lyall gave me an approving nod as I vacated the bathroom, and he padded into the steamy depths to go through his own change. I flicked on the TV and lay on my stomach on the bed while I waited for him to finish cleaning up.
When he exited the bathroom, my breath caught in my throat. His skin glowed from the heat of the water, and his dark hair was still damp; little droplets glistened at the end of each strand. He was wearing his usual black T-shirt and jeans, but he was barefoot. He was delicious.
He shot me a smile. “It’s nice to be human again, huh?”
I nodded. “We should call Pen and let her know we’re okay.”
He agreed, picking up the phone at the side of the bed. He dialled Pen’s number and hit the speaker button on the phone so we could both listen and talk.
She picked up after two short rings. “Thank goodness, I was starting to worry about you two. Are you both safe?”
“We’re both fine, Pen.” Lyall laughed.
“How are things at Castle Dion, Pen. Is everyone okay?” I asked. She knew I was desperate to find out if she had managed to preserve Finlay’s memory.
“Hello, Flora. Everyone is fine. You’ll be pleased to know Finlay is still very much himself. The ritual worked.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. We still had a chance. “Thank you, Pen.”
“Have you found out anything else about the super Draugur?” Lyall queried.
“Not really. I’ve scoured my manuscripts, but there is nothing about Draugur with enhanced abilities. I’m starting to think that because Finlay wasn’t supposed to die, there will be no information to be found. These abominations should never have been created, but because we tried to play with fate, here we are.”
I closed my eyes and sighed. It was because Finlay tried to protect me that we had this new problem to deal with.
“Well we just need to find a way to put them down, don’t we?” Lyall spoke firmly.
Pen was silent for a moment too long. She was worried, which meant we sh
ould be worried too.
“Flora, I’ve discovered a little information on your Doctor Cambridge.”
My ears perked at that, and I waited for her to continue.
“She was a prominent scientist, working for the military in a secret facility near Salisbury. She was highly respected in her field of work, until three years ago when she was stripped of her rank and fired for breaching ethical protocols.”
“What protocols?” Lyall questioned.
“The trail goes cold there, I’m afraid. Laurel must have been working with living test subjects to have been ostracised in the way she was. Whatever she did must have been pretty terrible.”
I shuddered. “So, she’ll have no issues with killing people to help Sluag create his super Draugur army then.”
“She needs to be stopped,” Lyall murmured.
“Agreed, but I don’t quite know how we do that. She’s a human being. We can’t kill her.” I fixed him with a stare as I spoke.
He shot me a dark look that sent a spear of ice down my spine.
Pen had no idea of our unspoken exchange. “We have time. That type of blood magic cannot be done in a day. We can make our plans for Doctor Cambridge when you return. In the meantime, when will you collect Enid?”
Lyall looked away from me as he replied. “Tomorrow morning. We’re just outside the city. We’ll sleep here tonight and head into London at first light. We should be on a plane home by midday.”
“Perfect. Just take care. You’ll be a lot easier to find as humans than you would have been as wolves.”
“We will. Goodbye, Pen.” I sat down on the bed as I spoke.
Lyall hung up the phone and sat himself down in a large comfortable arm chair by the bedroom window. I watched him carefully, wondering if I had misinterpreted the meaning behind his look earlier.
“You should try and get some sleep, love. One of us should stay awake at all times, now we’re so close to the city. I’ll take first watch and wake you up when it’s your turn.”