by Julie Wetzel
“Thanks,” Phelan said as he rubbed his forearm over his cheek, wiping off Zak’s drool. “Monster,” he grumbled, turning to lead the way to the cells.
“You’re not a monster,” Krissy said in a voice one would use on a baby. She rubbed Zak’s black fur. “You’re just misunderstood.”
Zak yipped at her and settled into her arms.
“He is a monster,” Elliot said as he stepped up next to her and scratched at Zak’s head. “But he’s a good little monster… Most of the time.”
Rubbing his head into Elliot’s hand, Zak purred his agreement.
Krissy let out a sigh. She was still afraid of what was going to happen, but Zak’s antics had been just enough to break the tension that had started to build in her. She held the dog close as she followed Phelan deeper into the basement. Zak’s soft purring gave her the strength she needed to go on.
“Here we are,” Phelan said as he pushed on a heavy fire door. It swung open on the long hall Krissy had seen on the security cameras.
She looked around and stepped inside. One wall was solid, while the other had spaces with doors made of iron bars. It looked like a cross between a jail room and the kennel back at the hospital. Slowly, she moved forwards into the hall.
“Stay along the wall,” Phelan warned as they came to the first cell.
Clutching Zak in her arms, she moved so her back was against the wall and inched along until she could see into the first cage. The snarling beast inside wasn’t in good shape. Although it was ready to pounce, it was thin and ragged looking. Even with her shields up, she could feel the thing’s hate and anger raging when it looked at her. Her heart broke for the poor thing.
“Is that Bobby?” Elliot asked as he got closer to the cage and squatted down to see the creature better.
The wolf threw itself against the bars, trying to get to the vampire just beyond. The noises it made were terrifying as it gnashed its teeth.
“Yeah,” Phelan said as he crouched down on the other side of the cage door so he was even with the vampire. “He’s probably lost about fifty pounds since we brought him in.” Pain filled his voice as he looked over the scrawny wolf trying to tear the door apart.
Elliot turned a worried look to Phelan. “Then we had better get started.” He looked up at Krissy. “Are you ready?”
Krissy stared at the out-of-control creature. It was terrifying, but watching the thing, knowing it was in distress, was killing her. “Yes,” she said. She wasn’t sure if she could help him, but she would hate herself if she didn’t try.
Elliot nodded. “Zak,” he called.
Zak perked up.
“Subdue him, but don’t hurt him”
Jumping from Krissy’s arms, Zak shifted forms before hitting the floor.
The burning rage rolling off Bobby went cold as soon as Zak started wiggling across the hall towards the door. He yelped in fright and scrambled back as Zak slithered through the bars.
Krissy gasped, unsure how to deal with the sudden change. The hot anger had dropped to cold fear in the matter of a heartbeat. “Stop,” she screamed and raced up to the iron door. “Something’s wrong!”
Both Elliot and Phelan were on their feet in a split second.
Krissy yanked on the iron door, trying to get in. “Stop,” she yelled at Zak again.
Zak turned concerned eyes to her. He had already wrapped his tentacles around Bobby’s legs and muzzle.
Bobby wiggled and whined under the hellhound’s touch.
“Open this,” Krissy demanded as she yanked on the cage door.
Unsure what was going on, Phelan released the electronic lock.
Krissy flung the door open and rushed to the wolf’s side as fast as she could. “Release him!” she ordered, grabbing Zak’s tentacles and pulling. Her hand pressed into the fur at the back of Bobby’s neck. The fear rolling off him was nothing compared to the abject terror that hit her when she connected with him.
“No,” Phelan cried as he came into the cage behind her. “He’ll kill you!” He grabbed her, ready to pull her out of there.
Zak gurgled his displeasure as he held onto the wolf.
“Shift back,” Krissy said to Bobby as she fought against Phelan’s hold.
The wolf keened in fright, but his body started the shift towards human.
Feeling the change, Zak released his hold.
Awed, Phelan released his hold on Krissy.
Bobby rolled over and buried himself into Krissy, knocking her backwards into Phelan’s legs. As soon as he was human enough, he wrapped his arms around her middle and cried hysterically.
Holding him tightly, Krissy huddled over him, petted his back, and started to hum a soothing tune. Once he was calmer, she looked at Phelan standing over her. “What just happened?”
Zak gurgled in response.
The sound made Bobby grip Krissy tighter.
Phelan stood there and pondered the situation. They had tried everything they could think of to get Bobby to shift back. A stray memory hit him, and his jaw dropped open. “Wait.” Realization passed over his face, and he shook his head. “How could I have forgotten that?”
“Forgotten what?” Elliot asked.
“Bobby’s had a run in with Zak before,” Phelan said.
“When?” Elliot asked in shock. He looked down at the man’s bunched form.
“At Darien’s apartment,” Phelan said.
Elliot’s mouth opened and closed as he recalled the incident. He hadn’t been there to see it, but stories of the poor man’s mauling had made everyone twitchy around the small fay. “Maybe I should get him out of here,” Elliot said as he reached down and scooped up Zak.
Zak gurgled again, making Bobby whimper.
Phelan nodded and turned to follow Elliot out of the room. Now that Bobby was back to his human form, Phelan was sure Krissy was safe. But watching the other wolf cuddle around her angered him. He suppressed a snarl as he went over to the intercom system and punched the button. “Trevor,” he bellowed into the mic, unable to completely control his irritation.
“Yes?” Trevor’s voice snapped back.
“Is Ruby still here?”
“She just went to bed, but yes, she’s still here,” Trevor answered.
“Then send her down,” Phelan said. “Bobby’s shifted back.” He cut the intercom off before Trevor could ask any questions. Taking a few deep breaths, he worked to calm his irrational aggravation. Going back to the cell door, he peeked in. Krissy was still on the floor with Bobby. The wolf seemed much calmer now. Possessiveness rolled through Phelan, and he clenched his jaw. He had this sudden urge to go over there and rip Bobby from her lap.
Krissy looked up as an intense emotion hit her. She nearly gasped when her eyes met Phelan’s. He didn’t disapprove of her holding the wretched man in her lap, but she could tell he did not like it. And that feeling went deep. She had never experienced such dramatic emotions from someone before, at least not where she was concerned. Turning her attention back to the man in her lap, she concentrated on soothing him as she tried to rebuild her personal walls. With so much strong emotion bombarding her, she was finding it a much harder task than usual.
Elliot tapped Phelan on the shoulder, pulling his attention away from the pair in the cell. He nodded his head to the side, and they both stepped back into the hall. “So there’s more than one way to solve this issue.”
Phelan glanced towards the doorway. He had a strong desire to go back in there and make sure Krissy was safe, but he forced himself to concentrate on Elliot. “Yeah, but I’m not sure how to scare the hell out of the others.” He turned back to look at Elliot. “And we still don’t have any idea what caused it.”
Elliot chewed over his thoughts. “Maybe if we figured out what pushed them over the edge in the first place, then we can discover what caused the break.”
Phelan agreed, but moved so he could see the pair in the room again. Bobby was still clutching Krissy, but he was sound asleep. Phelan’s posse
ssive streak twitched again, but he ignored it and focused on his friend. “I think we should probably wait until they’ve recovered a bit before we try to question them.”
“I agree,” Elliot added. He shifted over to see what Phelan was looking at.
Ruby’s worried words broke into their thoughts. “Where is he?”
“In here,” Phelan said, stepping out of the way.
The plump woman rushed past him and dropped herself next to the still sleeping Bobby. Cooing softly so he wouldn’t wake up, she moved him so he would let Krissy go.
He whimpered in his sleep but released his hold.
Ruby rolled him to his back so she could check him out.
Shaken by the whole experience, Krissy stood up and backed out of the woman’s way. Turning, she went to the doorway where Elliot and Phelan were standing.
“He’ll be okay,” Phelan reassured her. Those strong emotions flared. He reached out and drew her to him. His fingers slid down her back as she stepped closer to him.
Krissy drew in a breath, trying to find her internal balance again. Although she experienced other’s emotions every day, they were never as intense as those around her right now. These tore through her barriers and unsettled her mind. Phelan’s hand on her back connected her to his feelings. They were stronger than anything she could remember encountering before. Closing her eyes, she leaned into him and let his concern wash over her. She delved into that swirl of mixed emotion and found something warm flowing underneath it. Touching it left her with a sense of contentment. When his arm slipped further around her, Krissy leaned in his hold. It just felt right being there.
“How are you?” Elliot asked.
Cracking open her eye, Krissy turned just enough to look at the worried man behind her. “All right,” she said, then closed her eyes and relaxed back into Phelan’s warmth. “Just overwhelmed.”
Phelan wrapped his other arm around her and rubbed her back. “Do you want to stop?”
The corners of Krissy’s mouth curled up in a smile that she hid in his shirt. She shook her head. Having seen the condition Bobby had been in, she knew her help was vital to the rest of the wolves’ survival, but the fact Phelan was willing to put off helping them to make sure she was comfortable touched her deeply. “No,” she said, moving away from him. “Let’s get it over with.”
Phelan held her at arm’s length for a second evaluation of her. Her skin had gone slightly pale, and she didn’t look as well as she had before they started. He considered making her go lay down for a while, but the need to help his people pushed him on. He nodded and let her go. “This way,” he said as he stepped past her and led the way to the next cage. Hopefully, the rest of the wolves would have a better time with the shift than Bobby had.
Leaning against the wall, Krissy stared in the cage at the last raging wolf. After Bobby’s traumatic transformation, she hadn’t been sure what to expect from the remaining four wolves, but, so far, things had gone well. None of the others had freaked while Zak subdued them. She had been able to soothe them back to human, but each wolf was taking longer to calm. The last one had taken nearly an hour before he finally started the shift back to human.
Krissy debated the merits of taking on the last of the wolves now. The night had already been very long. Her throat was raw from singing, her head ached from the fall she’d taken, and she was exhausted from the hours of concentration on top of a very trying day at work. She was on the verge of asking if they could leave this last one until after she’d gotten some rest when Elliot knelt down next to the door of the cage.
“Oh, Cassie,” he said as he lifted his hands up to touch the wall next to the cage door.
The wolf snarled and snapped at the door, trying to get through it.
“You know this one?” Krissy asked, stepping closer. She could feel sadness radiating from him.
Elliot looked away from the wolf trying to eat him. “I know them all.” He turned back to the vicious thing just inches from him. “But Cassie spent time in my menagerie. My girls would be devastated to see her reduced to this.”
“Cassie’s transformation hit us all hard,” Phelan said as he stepped out of the previous cage and joined them to look at the last wolf. “She’s one of the sweetest women I know, so when she shifted and attacked Zoe over changing the radio station, we knew we had a real issue.”
Elliot looked back at Phelan. “How long ago was that?”
“About two days ago,” Phelan answered.
“It’s been fourteen days since Bobby first shifted?” Elliot asked, his brow furrowing as he did some calculations.
“Seventeen,” Phelan corrected.
Nodding, Elliot accepted the correction in his estimation. “And Cassie was two days ago?”
“Yes.”
Elliot looked back at the wolf, trying to figure it out. “Has there been a pattern somewhere?”
This time, Phelan shook his head. “Not that we’ve been able to find.” He leaned his shoulder against the wall. “Over the last few months, we’ve been breaking up small fights. At first, they dealt with problems caused by keeping the peace with Eckert’s pack, but recently, the fights have gotten more personal. We were all baffled when Bobby and Raymond started fighting over directions.”
“Directions?” Krissy asked. It was a common thing to argue over, but nothing a good map or GPS device couldn’t settle.
Phelan nodded again. “Rupert was pissed when Trevor called us back from a meeting with Eckert to deal with them. Getting out of that meeting made us look divided when we should have shown a united front. It showed we were weak and left an opening for the other pack to invade. Rupert was ready to take someone apart for that. But then, Bobby didn’t change back.
“Rupert tried everything he knew to subdue him, but nothing worked. We thought it was a fluke. That he just needed some time to cool off. It’s why we put him in here.”
“But that didn’t work,” Elliot added.
“No. Then, two days later, Roland lost it.” Phelan rubbed his hand over his face as he remembered that stressful night. He crossed his arms over his chest before going on. “Again, we tried everything we knew, thinking this had to do with stress from the new pack, but then we had to bring Carol in. She wasn’t even one of the wolves impacted by the new pack.”
“How long between Roland and Carol?” Elliot asked.
“Maybe five days.”
“And then Neal?”
“Nearly a week.”
Krissy counted up the days in her head. “So there were two days between Neal and Cassie?” she asked.
“And two days between you and Cassie,” Elliot added.
“Yeah,” Phelan agreed.
“I don’t think he would have ended up in here,” Krissy said before the men could go on. This drew both of their attention, causing her to recoil under the intensity of their gaze.
“Why do you say that?” Elliot asked as he stood up.
“I just… know,” Krissy stammered, not sure how to answer. She looked from one guy to the other, trying to think of a way to explain things. “Their feelings are different than his were,” she said, trying to make them understand. “He was mad, but it was focused on one target. There was purpose behind his anger. These wolves,” she waved her hand at the last out-of-control wolf, “have no focus for their feelings. They’re just filled with hate and anger. They’ll lash out at anything that gets near them.” She wrapped her arms up around herself. “It’s painful.”
A look of concern flashed between the men, and Phelan moved to take her into his arms.
The evening had stripped away Krissy’s personal barriers, but she wasn’t overwhelmed when his feelings of concern and worry washed over her. What did surprise her was the feeling of warmth that ran under his surface emotions. She had felt it in him before, but it was like nothing she had ever felt in anyone else. She leaned into his embrace and let that warmth flow through her. It eased her mind the same way a good run did. There was a pureness
to it that she reveled in, even if she couldn’t put a name to what the emotion was. She felt his concern swirl and the question rise in him before he spoke it.
“Do you want to do this later?”
Letting out a sigh, she released the warmth and let it drain from her. She pushed away from him enough to look up into his eyes. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “Let’s get this over with.” She pulled out of his arms and prepared herself to face off with the last wolf. She would have loved to take him up on his offer to put this off until later, but the look on Elliot’s face when he’d knelt next to the cage pushed her to get this last one done. The few minutes she’d been in Phelan’s arms had given her the strength she needed to carry her through.
“Come on, Zak,” Elliot called, patting his hand on the side of his leg.
Zak gurgled, wiggled his way over to the bars, and slipped his considerable mass through them.
Cassie immediately attacked him.
Zak screeched as the wolf’s jaws came down on one of his tentacles faster than he could get it out of the way. His ends swarmed over her, wrapping the ferocious wolf in dark strands.
Krissy watched in horror as the two creatures fought. While Zak was being as gentle as he could, Cassie was tearing into him with everything she had. Finally, Zak got mad and squeezed her hard enough that she yelled in pain.
“Don’t hurt her,” Elliot called in.
Zak growled his displeasure and eased up his hold so that he didn’t injure the struggling wolf, but the sudden tightness across Cassie’s chest had been enough to knock the wind out of her. Zak wrapped the rest of her in his ends and held her tightly until she stopped moving.
“You better get in there before he hurts her,” Phelan said, patting Krissy on the back.
Krissy nodded and stepped through the door as soon as Elliot opened it. She looked over the bundle of black tentacles on the floor. With the other wolves, Zak had left a patch on their back open where she could touch them, but Cassie’s fighting had forced him to hold her tighter. Krissy wasn’t even sure which end was the wolf’s head.