Dark of Night

by T. F. Walsh

  The door to the makeshift kitchen opened and Radu emerged with his face tucked inside a book. He wore a sweatshirt and slacks. Strands of strawberry blond hair poked outward, and his stubble encroached on beard territory. He saw me and beamed a smile, dog-earing a page before closing the book. “I’m glad you came.”

  I embraced him and we both sat down at a small table.

  Radu leaned back and rubbed his chin. “At the gathering when you transformed outside the full moon, how did you do it? There’s no record in my books of a moonwulf ever changing outside the full moon. I’ve been searching.”

  “I didn’t do anything — it just happened. I can feel her surfacing inside me, like she isn’t quite settled.”

  “After the gathering, Sandulf was in a strange mood. He was broody and pacing through the house. Maybe he’s worried for you.”

  I remembered his aggressive reaction when I first changed. It sure didn’t feel like he was worried about me. “Let me know if you find out anything in your books.”

  He gave a slow nod.

  “What about the lupul elixir?” I asked.

  His gaze fell to the paperback on the table and tapped the cover. “I took a chance while the others were in the yard and retrieved two books from Sandulf’s stash. But there was another, older one I couldn’t reach since I worried someone might catch me. I’ll keep trying.”

  “You took the books? What if Sandulf finds out?”

  “I’ll return them before he knows it. They’re useless anyway. The only thing I found out was something about a wild petunia, but it was out of context. I don’t know how it relates to the recipe, if at all.”

  Now up on my feet, I walked over to the prison cell, gripping an icy cold bar. “I’ll get the book tonight. We’ll return to the pack house, you distract everyone outside, and I’ll take it.”

  Radu was staring down at his hands.

  I implored, “I need to know if I have an elixir recipe or not, because then everything changes. I can’t keep pretending something might happen. I have to know.”

  “I don’t want you to leave the pack.”

  “Radu, it’s something I need to do for myself. Sandulf will never let me be free, or do what I want.” I walked over and gave him a hug. “I’ll still be around, and we’ll see each other. Don’t worry, you’re not getting rid of me that quickly.”

  He smiled, and on the inside I cringed at the lies I kept dishing out to avoid dealing with the hard facts. If I turned human, I might never see anyone in the pack again.

  “What about the dracwulf. Anything there?” I asked.

  “No.” His head jerked up. “Sandulf told us not to worry about her, he’ll take care of it.”

  Heat engulfed my chest. “She attacked Enre and me last night in the city.” I threw my hands on the table, unable to control the buzz shooting through my limbs. “Plus, a human inspector was with us at the time.”

  He clutched his throat. “Did the human see the dracwulf?”

  “Yes, along with Enre fighting it with his bare hands.”

  He expelled a long breath and stood up, pacing to the bookshelf and back. “Does Sandulf know?”

  “I asked Enre to update him. But what worries me is that Sandulf doesn’t care that the dracwulf is running rampant in the city and apparently following me. The police are now organizing a hunting party for a huge wolf.” I looked Radu in the eyes. “What if the humans uncover the pack or the dracwulf?”

  A harried, wild look captured his expression. “The dracwulf has berserk tendencies and is almost unstoppable. When Sandulf told us not to worry, I assumed he and Enre had found the lair and would finish her off.”

  “As of this morning, Sandulf hadn’t spoken to Enre about hunting the animal.” I slumped back into my chair. “Sandulf has no intention to take out one of his own.”

  One of Radu’s eyebrows cocked up.

  “He’s been using the dracwulf to kill humans I know. For some reason, the animal is targeting anyone I’ve spent time with lately. So be careful.”

  Radu rose and strode to the cells. “Why would she do that?”

  “Territory? I don’t know.” I rapped my fingernails on the old leather jacket of a book on the table.

  “Maybe Sandulf is involved?” Radu scratched the side of his head, causing more hair to stick out. “If he already suspects you’re not planning on returning, you’re in deep shit because he has the right to kill you.”

  Chapter Ten

  Radu and I returned to the pack house, with barely a word exchanged between us during the drive. He feared for my safety, and I feared for everyone else’s. The more I thought about what Radu said, the more sense it made. God. Had Sandulf found out about my plans?

  Enre and Matias finished lighting the fireplace in the main room of the pack house. No one else was at home.

  “Where’s Sandulf?” I asked.

  Matias, who was nothing more than disciplined muscle with an army-style haircut, shook his melon-shaped head and threw a log into the fire, causing it to spark up. “Him, Botolf, and Lutia are out at the Braşov council. Something about wolf hunts.”

  I approached the blaze and warmed my hands. My skin crawled, and I couldn’t stand still. I needed a distraction, or I’d find myself running to Connell and blurting out the truth.

  I glanced over at Radu and winked.

  He stepped outside, and seconds later come running back in, his hands flying about. It was a bit over the top, but it got everyone’s attention. “I think I just saw the dracwulf in the woods. Come quick!”

  Enre’s expression hardened, and he bolted after Radu, with Matias charging behind them. The second the door slammed shut, I threw myself to the right hand side of the fireplace and fiddled with the floorboards. I pressed down on each of them, until one creaked. With a bit of pressure in the center, a corner popped up, and I pried it open revealing a knife and wooden box.

  I stuck my hand in and searched the sides, careful not to move things around too much. Bottles, pieces of paper, dried twigs, a tiny rib cage, and pieces of dried animal pelt. I stuck my arm farther: more bones. What had Sandulf been doing? Secretly eating squirrels?

  From outside, Enre said, “There’s nothing there, you’re dreaming.”

  I dug my arm in, shoulder deep, and touched a book’s spine.

  “I’m sure I saw it.” Radu’s voice was right outside the front door.

  Lying flat on my stomach, I pushed myself against the floorboards and clawed at it. My fingers slipped off the edge of the book. Come on.

  The door started to open.

  My thumb snagged the corner. I snatched the book and heaved it out. In one quick movement, I thumped the board back into place, jumped to my feet, and stuck the book into the back of my trousers.

  The boys walked in.

  “So what’d you find?” I asked, hands on hips, and my pulse thudding in my ears.

  “I think Radu’s getting paranoid with all this talk of a dracwulf,” Enre said.

  Matias approached the fireplace, and I slid away, inching toward the hallway.

  “You ready to hunt then?” A smile curled on Enre’s lips when he glanced my way.

  I held my breath for a second and let the excited sensation fill me. Radu would spend the night studying the book. With Enre eager to kill the dracwulf, together we stood a better chance of doing just that. Connell was already pissed at me, and the hunt was for our future together. Eliminating the beast meant the police wouldn’t find anything in their search, the Varlac no longer posed danger to the wulfkin, and the guilt of leaving my pack family, deep in trouble, lessened. “Let’s do it.”

  Radu strolled over, and I half turned, allowing him to view the book at my back.

  Enre nudged Matias with his shoulder. “Feel like hunting?”


  Matias scowled. “Sandulf made it clear he’ll take care of it. I’m not going against him.”

  Enre sauntered across the room, and Radu took the opportunity to snatch the book from me, hiding it behind his back.

  “That’s your choice. I’m not waiting any longer. He can thank me later.” Enre swung the door open.

  I looked at Radu. “You in?”

  He shook his head. “I’m with Matias. I have no plans on going against Sandulf.”

  “Then can you tell Sandulf I’m moving back home, and he has nothing to worry about,” I said.

  Radu didn’t smile. He knew I had no intention of following through with my promise. But I didn’t want any more people to die if Radu’s suggestion had any truth to it.

  Enre and I hurried outside into the howling wind. We sprinted deep into the forest. Exhilaration swelled beneath my rib cage, and my pace quickened. The waning moon materialized from behind a cloud pocket. Wisps of fog teased the woodlands, like apparitions ready to take corporeal form. Each time we dashed through a patch of mist, I lost sight of the path. A wintry gale haunted the forest, and I rubbed the cold out of my arms.

  Soon Enre slowed to a walking pace, and I tagged alongside him. “Sandulf never asked me to help him hunt the dracwulf, even after I told him what happened in the city.” He clenched his fists. “As an alpha, he’s not supposed to hunt on his own, that’s why I was appointed.” He smacked his palm into his fist. “I don’t understand what’s going through his head right now. He hasn’t been himself for a while, but I just thought it was the loss of his female.” He shook his head. “But I have no regrets in doing this. We should have gone out the first night he told us.”

  “Agreed.” In truth, Enre’s bold move surprised me as his loyalty to Sandulf outmatched anyone’s. So who was I to question Enre? After all, once we stopped the dracwulf and Radu found an elixir recipe, my life should return to normal, all before the Lunar Eutine.

  We hiked in silence against the thrashing wind.

  Several hours of scouring the perimeter near the city revealed no dracwulf. Exhaustion replaced my enthusiasm, so we proceeded to the opposite end of the forest, combing the land near the city, hoping to catch the predator in action. The added complexity that the cops might also be searching the woods meant we remained in human form. Not the ideal situation, but since the previous hunts for the creature were time wasters, we figured our chances were slim at best anyway.

  On a shrub in front of us, we saw brown fur tangled between several branches. Even before I sniffed the fuzz, I knew to whom it belonged. My shoulders tensed, and I shot a glance to Enre whose gaze fixed on the hair. I pointed to the woodland ahead. Oldest trick in the book — hunt downwind. Lucky for us, the wind played in our favor.

  I breathed in the pungent wet dog fur-and-dung smell. It was the dracwulf, all right. Plants sported broken brushwood, making it obvious a large animal had traveled through the woods with haste. We soon found another patch of tuft tangled in a branch, which meant one thing — we were getting close.

  The scent took us down the sloping mountain. Enre seized my arm, and I stopped. His gaze fixed on something over my shoulder. The tightness around his mouth revealed both dread and excitement, and I knew exactly what he’d found.

  My senses awakened, as did my inner wolf, as the dracwulf’s scent nipped my nostrils. I turned and found the beast between two trees, hunched low with her back to us.

  The mutt’s body was larger than any moonwulf I’d encountered. Through her thin hide, the solid muscles across her back tensed and bulged. Covered in brown fur and striped gray along her haunches, the dracwulf’s solid stature epitomized strength and power. The formidable predator we observed in the city, with extended spiky ears, was honed in on the prey she was tracking. Unlike most crazed moonwulf who hunted anything that moved, this creature was intelligent enough to avoid detection, knowing the perfect striking time.

  Not many things scared me, but the beast’s proximity caused my hair to stand on end.

  An owl hooted overhead. The creature, distracted by the bird, raised her head to the sky and spotted us. She sprung to her lanky legs. Rigid shoulder blades protruded from the fiend’s sides, fur flared down her spine. She greeted us with teeth bared and ears flattened. Slobber leached from exposed fangs and a hostile growl thundered. These were very bad signs.

  Enre let go of my arm. “I’ll take the right. You go left.”

  My response came in throaty hums. There was no time to transform, but Enre had taught me how to draw on the wolf’s strength while still in human form and achieve a partial change. I breathed deep, searching inside. My pulse intensified, and the desperate urge to release my inner wolf was stronger than before, and that surprised me.

  “Go!”

  I dashed past trees and bolted for the great beast’s hindquarters. Only one thought raced in my mind: stop it or be killed. I snapped my arms into wulfkin form — my job was to immobilize the fiend while Enre tackled it straight on.

  I reached the predator first. With my claws ready, I leapt onto the beast’s back and tucked my feet in front of her hind legs, slashing at her back.

  She whined and bucked. Blood surged everywhere and splashed hot across my cheek. My claws dug deeper, and I rode the wild wolf clutching handfuls of fur.

  Enre punched the mutt’s muzzle, and with a sudden snap, the dracwulf seized his arm. I released my hold and scuttled closer to the head, hooking my arm around her throat. She released Enre and attempted to bite me. I continued to claw at the pelt and fought against her struggle to break free. Her wails had no effect on me.

  Blood seeped from her injuries and weakened my grip. She continued to buck and I lost my grasp, flying a few feet into a tree. Enre was less fortunate. His left arm dangled immobile by his side, yet he readied himself for another round of assault. I leapt to my feet.

  Then the animal suddenly paused and moved away, bolting down the mountain into the dense woodland. Why had she fled so quickly?

  Enre hurried to the side of the hill. “The trail falls sharply, then swings to the left.” He cocked his good hand to imitate the path.

  The thumping heartbeat in my head blocked the rest of Enre’s words. My talons retracted. “I don’t think she’s there.”

  All of a sudden my balance gave out, and I fell to my knees. My body ached. I no longer sensed my inner wolf lingering in my chest. I staggered to my feet and used a tree for support. As before, I dug deep within myself, but she was gone. Not a single strand remained. My strength from minutes ago withered. What was happening to me? This couldn’t be happening at a worse time.

  Uneasiness crawled along my skin as if something watched us. Then realization hit me faster than a speeding truck: the demonic beast now hunted us. Shit!

  Enre’s body contorted, appearing enlarged, his skin split and black fur burst free, shredding his clothes.

  “She’s back,” I whispered.

  Leaves crunched nearby. I listened for noises.

  Enre snarled.

  Twigs snapped on the other side of us. “She’s circling,” I yelled. “And she’s bleeding from the neck, so attack there.”

  I strained to peer into the woodland, the area speckled with mist between the trees, covering bushes at every turn. From a few feet away, Enre turned to me with wide wolf eyes.

  A dark figure stood motionless beside a tree not far from where Enre stood. We saw the beast at the same time and darted forward. I prayed adrenaline would bring my wolf back. She lunged for Enre, head-butting his face. Enre crumbled onto the ground, his muzzle and chin dribbling with blood. He started to raise his quivering body, even as the dracwulf loomed over him, ready to strike again.

  I rounded a massive tree and threw my weight into the monster’s side, only to be flung backward. The damn thing didn’t flinch, not against my human form
— I may as well have thrown myself against a building. Yet I had no plans of leaving Enre alone, even for a second.

  Then the horror happened all at once. Enre rose off the ground. The beast latched onto his side, and his cry cracked the night’s silence.

  I screamed.

  The beast twisted her body in my direction, Enre dangling from her teeth. Her lip was peeled upward with a snarl. Enre’s body morphed back to a human form.

  I rushed forward and attacked the dracwulf with my fists, head and legs, anything to halt her carnage. Enre dropped from her jaws onto the rocky forest floor.

  The animal’s teeth snapped menacingly at me.

  I retreated, colliding into a tree trunk at my back. I shielded myself behind the trees, begging for my wolf to resurface. I refused to die like that. Enre crawled away on his belly. The predator raised her muzzle and released a screeching howl, loud enough for the entire population of Romania to hear.

  She leapt to the side, rounded the trees and collided into me, the force knocking me off my feet. She ripped into my hip with her knife-like teeth. At first, there was no pain, just pure shock. I wailed, and the prickles rippled through my body. Her jaws released their clasp, and I flopped onto my back, certain half my waist remained in her mouth. I rolled my head back in time to spot Enre standing behind the creature, with a hefty branch in his hands.

  She snaked around and seized his ankle in her mouth. Enre’s body fell backward and smacked the ground hard. The beast hauled him into the forest.

  “Daciana!” His hands scrambled on the forest floor searching for leverage.

  On my feet, my legs quivered, and I collapsed. Quick to raise my gaze, I watched in horror as the creature lugged his body farther from me, his arms thrashing behind him.

  Desperation and fear tightened in my muscles. I rose, despite my side stinging to high hell, and my skull convulsing. I hobbled in the direction the demon dragged Enre. Pure adrenaline carried me forward and I continued my pursuit even as my posture sagged sideways. Each step burned, but the thought of losing Enre thrust me forward.