Worry morphed into indecision. Was it good that he knew so much, or did it make him dangerous? Was he in the ‘Ravening Satanic Beast’ camp, or the ‘Gifted/Cursed and misunderstood’? Should I correct him, or would I be empowering a threat? Tentatively, I threw out a lure, and hoped he didn’t see through it.
“So, what about now, do you think they’re still around today?”
“Well, yes and no…” he ruffled his short brown hair as he thought, “I don’t think they exist like they used to; too many were killed during the Inquisition, so the survivors had to go underground and protect themselves with secrecy.” Interesting idea, unlikely, but interesting, “Still, once in a while someone spots something; like the Beast of Bray road in Wisconsin, and who’s to say that the occasional Bigfoot sighting might not be something else entirely.”
“Wow, okay… But, why do they interest you so much?”
“Well…” he leaned back as he held his ankles to balance, and started off into space. “When I was a little kid, I used to dream that I was a wolf—that I could turn into one, I mean.”
“Just a normal wolf? Not a big powerful wolf-man?”
“Yeah, just a plain, ordinary wolf. When I woke up, I felt sad that I couldn’t be… free like that. Flying through the woods, chasing down deer and elk with a pack beside me.” He chuckled, still lost in space, “The ultimate team sport!”
I tried to keep the surprise off my face as I filed that away for pondering. “I guess the real question is whether they’re evil like the legends claim.”
“I don’t know… It seems hard to believe that anything that could change forms like that wouldn’t be evil.” I couldn’t hide my disappointment.
“Why is that? Wolves aren’t inherently evil or cruel; so why would anyone who could become one be any different? Just watch the news. People are perfectly capable of unspeakable evil without any outside help. At least wolves don’t commit genocide, become serial killers, or sell each other into slavery. Those evils are human-only; but if someone was loving, compassionate, cared for and provided for their family; wouldn’t you say that was a good person?”
“Sure.” He shrugged.
“Well, those are all traits that wolves share. To me, it makes more sense that if humans could become animals, that they would be no more evil in that form than as a human. No matter what your body’s like, it still your soul inside it.”
“You seem to know a lot for a casual hobbyist too…” He sat back on his hands and looked at me with narrowed eyes. Shit, did I overplay my hand? “Perhaps more than you’re telling me?”
I laughed right in his face. “I’m just voicing my opinion, that’s all. You said yours, and I said mine. Anyway, we’ve distracted ourselves long enough. If we really slam this thing out, I think we could totally dominate the other groups.” I appealed to his competitive instinct to help change the subject.
We laid out ideas for our presentation; and I guarded carefully against accidentally manifesting. It was more challenging than I thought it would be too; the more I tried to keep my wolf hidden, the more restless he became. I’d become complacent from being around my own Pack all the time.
While we worked, my brain ran a sideline query; what was it with those dreams…? Was I reading too much into it, or was there something significant there? And why was he so damn curious about us? Could he be trusted, or was he dangerous?
I hadn’t realized he’d said something at first. “Huh?”
“I said; I’ve got a really cool idea for the presentation.” He grinned.
Nobody knew quite what to expect when Bo walked into class in a toga, and it all went downhill from there.
Mrs. Coulter called our group up, and I walked to the front of the classroom with a cardboard box and laid out our notes, while Bo walked around the classroom handing people little pieces of chicken on toothpicks—since even people taste like chicken—then he walked up to the front and offered me a piece.
I pretended to get angry and started yelling at him, “How dare you! That’s Jerry!” I pointed at my classmates, “You’re all eating Jerry! I, the great and powerful Zeus shall punish you Lycaon!” No one had any idea what was going on as I pulled out an old latex werewolf mask and stuffed it on Bo’s head. Then I turned and wrote “The Legend of King Lycaon” on the whiteboard behind us.
It was melodramatic and campy, but everyone loved it.
Bo wore the mask through the entire presentation. We took turns holding up visuals and explaining how the legend was believed to have been one of the first recorded werewolf myths. We returned to our seats while the class applauded and I caught a look from Loki.
I just smiled. I knew what she was thinking, but why would I risk insisting on wearing the mask when what was inside me ran far deeper than any costume?
Time blurred and everyone around me zoned out in anticipation of Winter Break, but I barely noticed when paper snowflakes and cardboard snowmen appeared on the walls over the lockers. I stayed late almost every day to get in that extra chunk of time in the library or the art room that might make or break graduation, and I pestered my teachers for extra credit.
On the second Friday of December, we congregated around Fen’s locker and he proposed a shopping run to Colorado Springs over the weekend. Geri heaved a sigh, as he was pretty much the default chauffer. Otherwise, everyone was excited to get out of town for a day, and I looked forward to maybe scoring a nice gift or two.
Fen arrived at my place early the next morning, and I prepped a thermos of coffee before Geri and Loki arrived to pick us up. It was still that weird pre-dawn darkness when one half of the sky was a weary shade of grey and it was cold as hell. We ran out when Geri pulled up to the curb and dove into the back seat.
“So, by some strange chance, would any of you like to pitch in some money for gas?” Geri asked, an edge of annoyance in his voice. “No? Yeah, I didn’t think so…”
Fen shrank into his seat. “Sorry, you know I can’t.”
“C’mon Geri, can’t you take another one for the team?” Loki teased in a saccharine voice.
“Sure, here, lemme just drive all y’all’s ungrateful butt-munching hides into that ditch over there…” He grumbled like a dog licking a long festering wound.
“Somebody’s feisty today!” Loki jabbed.
“Bite me…”
“Later…” she whispered with a voice that could’ve melted chocolate.
I wiggled my wallet out of my pocket and handed a twenty over Geri’s shoulder. “Will this cover?”
“Er—yeah.” I caught his surprised gaze in the rearview mirror for a moment, a strange expression on his face until he looked back down at the road, and Fen looked away from me.
The prairie just outside of town was dusted with a pale frosting of snow that slithered in tendrils and wisps at the winds’ beckoning. The horizon blushed in orange and violet until the sun broke over the teeth of the mountains and brought blinding agony to stab at the backs of my eyes. Geri turned off the main highway and the road took us between the high rock walls of a canyon. It brought relief—though sun spots continued to dance in my eyes—as we drove through its serpentine confines, and the skeletons of yucca and scraggly bushes gave way to pinions and scrub oak.
The winter sky was the clear porcelain blue of a husky’s eye as we drove into Colorado Springs. Geri negotiated the winter streets and weekend traffic, and then parked on a street that looked transplanted across time. Strings of white lights stretched between the leafless clutches of locus trees in front of renovated old-west storefronts that displayed everything from southwestern Indian art and pottery to custom t-shirts and art galleries.
I fed the meter for Geri, and then followed them as we systematically hit almost every shop along the street. Signs labeled the area ‘Old Colorado City’. Werewolf metabolism could not be denied for long though, and when we couldn’t ignore our gurgling stomachs any longer, we stopped at a cozy little restaurant called “The Mason Jar”.
&n
bsp; They seated us near the fireplace and I stole the seat next to Loki. My arm brushed hers when I reached for my coffee, and she teased me about touching her so much, so I poked her in the side just to watch her squirm.
“Oh!” Loki shouted as she remembered something, "Have you figured out which colleges you’re going to apply to.” She leaned toward Fen, who shook his head as the waitress brought the plates out.
“Not yet, there’s a bunch of schools that offer my program, but I don’t know for sure which ones I’ll be able to afford,” he grumbled, “If any…”
“Don’t worry; financial aid will be a piece of cake with your grades.” Loki joked, and I took a bite of my chicken fried steak as the bitter twang of jealousy snapped inside me.
When at last the beasts in our guts had been appeased, we put our money together to pay the check and the waitress picked it up while we finished off the last remnants of our meals. Loki cracked a joke about Zeus descending to earth for chicken-fried steak, so I reached over and tickled her sides until she begged me to stop. I grinned and ignored the annoyed glares of our fellow patrons while I picked up my coffee to finish it off, and caught Fen’s eye over the rim.
His gaze was intense and I reacted almost instantly with a deep blush as my heart pounded. I averted my eyes and my smile faltered for a moment, but when I glanced back at him; he was still staring at me with an enigmatic smile on his lips.
That smile taunted the nether-realms of my mind as we loaded back into the car and took off to our next destination. Old-west blocks melted away into houses-turned-shops. Geri parked in front of one and everyone got out. I followed them, and saw a huge black statue of a great dane that guarded an iced-over fountain by the front steps. It was intriguing and sorta creepy at the same time, and I almost tripped on the steps as I followed the Pack inside.
My nose was assaulted as soon as we walked in; oils and dust, the paper of books, and several different kinds of incense smoke. The air tinkled with chimes and fountains and a celtic version of “The Holly and the Ivy” played overhead. My eyes watered from trying not to sneeze; I wanted to whine and rub my muzzle against my paws, but settled for aggressively pinching my upper nose.
Loki flitted over to some display cases and pawed at their contents through the glass, while I stopped dead in my tracks; I was sooo out of my element. I’d walked into a pagan’s haven, a little corner of the world where witches didn’t have to worry so much about puritans and open flames.
I followed Fen down an almost hidden little staircase with colorful tapestries hanging from the walls. I looked at the pattern on one, and nailed my head on the low ceiling at the bottom of the stairs. I spilled out into a room where all manner of books lined the walls and rubbed the sore spot on my forehead while I ignored Fen’s chuckling.
Fen poured over the bookcases while I sifted through a clay dish filled with amethyst. I glanced back at him as he flipped through the pages of some book, excitement plain on his face. He turned it over and checked the back for a price, and I watched disappointment wash over him. Loki thundered down the stairs grinning—though I must admit I was a little disappointed she didn’t hit her head, I was apparently the only lucky winner today—and she quickly ensnared Fen with an enthusiastic “Oh my gawd, you have got to see this necklace they have!”
As she dragged him back up the steps, she winked at me like she knew what I was thinking. I quickly grabbed the book Fen had hastily shoved back into the bookcase and then startled the girl behind the checkout counter. I paid and stuffed the bag into the front of my pants and let my shirt fall over it moments before their Clydesdale feet clomped down the steps.
I lifted my finger to my lips in the ‘shhh’ gesture as I winked at the cashier and Fen returned to the bookshelves. When he noticed that the book was missing, I walked past him with empty hands and climbed upstairs feeling quite pleased with myself. I borrowed Geri’s key to pop the trunk and stashed my smuggled loot before the others came out, and Geri struck off through the holiday traffic.
I’d never spent much time in malls in Miami or Chicago, never really liked them or the people who frequented them, but as we pulled into the parking lot my packmates’ excitement infected me. We circled like vultures for a while, before we finally scored a spot in my absolute farthest corner of B.F.E. and squished through the slush. Past the bell-ringer, we entered the warm chaos of the food court.
The frenetic energy of the shoppers crashed into me like a wave, and I stumbled, though I played it off like I’d just snagged my foot on something. The Christmas Cocktail; eagerness and stress, with liberal doses of joy and rage and just a splash of desperation for spice.
We made our way in and out of a dizzying array of stores, past bath shops that oozed a suffocating blanket of chemical scents, and through the mazes of clothing racks, bloated prices, and warring states known as department stores until we ended up at the Goth Gap. I occupied myself with a stack of band tees, and glanced over when Fen walked out of the changing room in a pair of leather pants and a fishnet shirt.
Fen looked… well… like an apple in Eden. You knew you shouldn’t touch; yet you found yourself wanting to sink your teeth in anyway. Unwelcome thoughts slithered through my head and I felt sick. Fen noticed me watching, and called me over, yelling over the cacophony of Emo music and ornery customers. “Well, what do you think?” Why was he doing this? It was almost like he knew how he affected me…
“Uh, y-you look good.” I stuttered as blood tingled in my cheeks, and Loki laughed. “What’s so funny?”
“It’s just; Fen’s all blonde and stuff, and you’re all tan and dark. You two are like day and night… Ooh! I need at picture of this!” she suddenly squealed, then whipped out her cell phone.
“Well then, what a pair we make!” Fen laughed, and without warning he wrapped a leg around my waist and leaned back. I thought he was falling and panicked. I grabbed him and almost tipped over when a clicking sound came from Loki’s direction and we froze. Fen looked at me, and I looked at him. He grinned, and I saw something victorious in his gaze before he leaned back up and stepped away.
My brain dissolved into chaos when I heard Loki whisper, “Oh my god this is the greatest picture ever, it looks like Jimmy’s molesting him!”
“What!” I bellowed and jumped over, only to groan with disgust. The action shot on my face and odd positioning, did indeed make it look as though I was having my wicked way with him. And worse still were the images in my mind’s eye as I fought the sick feeling in my stomach and pounding heart. When I looked over again, I saw Geri literally rolling on the floor with laughter clutching Loki’s cell phone and wailing how “They make such a cute couple!”
“Loki, please, please delete that.” I begged and tried to snatch the phone out of his hand.
“No way,” Loki shouted as she pulled it out of my reach, “this is going on our Christmas card this year!”
At that moment, I glanced longingly out the front of the store and wondered if there were too many people to manage a flawless swan dive over the second floor railing…
I continued to sulk and entertain self-destructive thoughts through our hasty chicken teriyaki dinner. We hiked back to our parking spot just as the sun disappeared in a blaze of orange fire behind the mountains. As we drove home, I stared off into the starlit fields and thickets patched with snow and Fen laid down across the seat and rested his head on my thigh.
“You know,” he mumbled quietly, “we did make a pretty cute couple…”
I sighed and looked out the window, and let my thoughts drift as Fen used my leg as an improvised pillow, and Geri’s stereo played; “Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. And since we’ve no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…”
I felt a faint smile twitch at the corners of my mouth as I indulged in the ‘what if’s and ‘what could be’s of my imagination’s masochistic fancies.
Chapter 11 – Seeing Red
Fen and Loki sto
od before the dark cavern’s gaping maw. Dread filled me when I looked at it, but they held out their hands to me and I stepped forward and took them both. They led me forward through a torchlit passage and we emerged in a large chamber, where something reeked of ammonia and rot. A dry hissing like scales on sand issued from the shadows and terror seized my heart, but when I tried to run Fen and Loki held me between them like a sacrifice.
A shadow slithered toward us across the floor, and I begged them to release me, but instead they leaned in and both whispered, ‘But I love you’ into my ears. The shadow swelled to immense size as it drew near and finally the serpent was revealed and its broad wings spread toward the ceiling and glistened like a slick of oil against the deeper black. Its triangular head bore a red cross in the center of its forehead as my dragon opened its jaws wide; its saber-long fangs glittered like ivory in the torchlight. As it reared back to strike and my knees gave way underneath me, a shadow flew from behind me and tore into the behemoth’s throat. It hissed in rage and threw my wolf aside. It landed spread legged and ready, his teeth and eyes blazed vivid in the darkness. Over and over they clashed, each time the dragon went for me, my wolf defended me.
The battle reached a stalemate, both wounded by the prolonged torture they inflicted on each other, and I knew, as they did, that this last round would announce the victor.
I screamed as they lunged for each other, and Fen and Loki tore me apart.
I felt my ribs separate from my sternum and my arms ripped from their sockets as I woke up covered in sweat.
I shifted in my seat for the umpteenth time since the last class began. It was the last stretch—of the last class—of the last day before winter break; and I’d swear that damn clock just went backwards. Today was the winter solstice, and my last best chance…
Walking Wolf Road (Wolf Road Chronicles Book 1) Page 16