Taneika: Daughter of the Wolf

by R. Casteel

  “I understand.” He walked past Bill and into the living room.

  Taneika was dressed and helping in the kitchen. There was a calm serenity about her. He wished he felt the same. Jeanie didn’t seem concerned or alarmed over the events that happened in her living room.

  “Taren, where’s your crutches?” Jeanie glared across the room. “You shouldn’t be walking without them.”

  “It doesn’t hurt anymore.” He flexed his leg, surprised he didn’t feel any pain or stretching. “In fact, it feels good as new.”

  “Shuck those pants, Brother. I want to look at it.”

  He recognized the no nonsense tone of the nurse authority in her voice, dropped his jeans and sat on the couch.

  Jeanie knelt on the floor and began taking off the bandage.

  “I see it, but I don’t believe it.” She stared in awe at the stitches as her hands expertly felt the flesh of his calf. “It’s healed, completely. The stitches need to come out tonight.”

  “That’s impossible, Jeanie,” Bill scoffed. “Bullet wounds don’t heal overnight.”

  “Bill, I have never told you how to be a sheriff. Don’t start telling me how to be a nurse.”

  “But….”

  “I don’t pretend to know how.” Jeanie interrupted. “I do know that there is no evidence of a wound, not even a scar. If you don’t believe me, look for yourself.”

  Taren remembered the cold kiss of whatever had been in the house. “As soon as you get the stitches out and we eat, I think we need to leave. Bill, if you can run us up to my truck I would appreciate it.”

  “That’s not necessary, Brother.” Jeanie sat her medical bag on the table and started removing the stitches.

  “Sis.” He put just enough rebuke in his voice that quieted her argument.

  “Okay.” She held up her hands in defeat. “Obviously this is a guy thing, already decided on while you were hanging out in the bathroom. There, I’m finished. As you are in such an all-fired hurry to leave, we had better eat.”

  * * * * *

  The lights from the oncoming traffic flashed across the cab, illuminating Taren’s face. Lips pursed together, brow wrinkled, he reminded her of The Thinker statue at the college library. The miles stretched on with only the sound of the tires on the road and the whine of the heater keeping them company.

  “Don’t shut me out, Taren. You haven’t said two words since we left your sister’s place.”

  “Nice weather tonight, clear—going to get cold.”

  “Cut the crap,” she said angrily. “Neither one of us cares about the weather nor how cold it is. We were both affected by what happened today, whether we understand it or not. There’s not even a damn scar on your leg where that bullet ripped it apart. I can’t explain that any more than you can.”

  “What about the. . .visitor that came while you were doing your chanting? What was it or probably more correct, who was it?”

  “You saw the spirit or are you just guessing?”

  “I not only saw it, but felt it, almost like a kiss.”

  “It was the spirit of She Who Walks Ahead. It would seem that she is also a healer as well a mystic. My father sent her to me as a spirit guide because the way ahead is difficult. If we had not made love, her visit would not have been necessary. That is what she meant when she said my own blood sealed my destiny.”

  “And that is?” Taren asked.

  “She wouldn’t tell me.”

  “All this seems normal to you, spirits showing up in bodies or floating in the air and healing bullet wounds?”

  “No, but I can accept it. Because of my abilities, an elder of the council took me under his wing. He taught me the ancient rituals and customs. Taren, let’s put it behind us for now. Make love to me.” She pulled her shirt over her head and unsnapped her jeans. “Please.” She wiggled out of her jeans, leaving her body bare to his gaze.

  “You want me to just pull over on the side of the road and make love to you?”

  She reached over and ran her fingers up Taren’s thigh, grasping his hardening penis. “I want you to fuck me,” she whispered. “I want to feel you explode deep inside me.“ She let go long enough to undo his jeans and lower the zipper. Her hand found his swollen length as she rubbed her fingers over the velvet tip.

  Taren pulled over on the shoulder of the highway, turned the engine off and took her mouth in a savage kiss. He scooted clear of the steering wheel so she could straddle his legs. Placing the head of his penis inside her, she thrust her hips down on his. Almost in desperation, she ground her hips against him, wanting him deeper. She leaned back against the dash. His mouth found a nipple and sucked, sending out shock waves of pleasure that swelled within her. The first wave of ecstasy rolled over her as she locked her body around his. Taneika gasped for breath as the next wave built in intensity. The beast within was released and a long sensuous howl filled the confines of the truck. She collapsed against Taren’s chest.

  “Wow, that was awesome.”

  “It was pretty amazing.” The rumble of laughter came from deep inside him.

  Taneika slid off his lap and knelt on the floor. “Need to clean you up.”

  She lowered her head. The strong musk scent filled her senses, re-igniting the flames of her own desire. Using her tongue, Taneika licked away the residue of their mating. He grew hard against her face and she took his length, stroking him with her mouth. Taren’s low moan drove her, excited her. His body trembled and arched beneath her.

  The hot flow of his release filled her mouth and she drank greedily from his well.

  Taren laid his head back. His languid body slumped in the seat. Taneika climbed into his lap and laid her head on his shoulder, her breasts flattened against his chest. Tenderly she kissed his neck. Slowly, his breathing returned to normal.

  It was several minutes before he noticed the cooling temperature of the cab.

  Taneika, wearing a satisfied smile, leaned back against the dash.

  “If you can drive, I think we can go home now.”

  “If you…insist.” Taren refastened his jeans and lethargically slid across the seat.

  * * * * *

  Taren stood in his living room and felt the rage boiling up inside him. Nothing had been left untouched. Every book, every picture had been purposely destroyed. His computer lay smashed on the floor, disks broken and crumbled beyond use. His furniture cut, the foam padding scattered wantonly about the room. He walked through the house surveying the damage. From the carpets on the floor to the mattress on the bed, even the dishes in the kitchen, all had suffered the same fate.

  “Someone,” he growled, “has gone to a hell of a lot of trouble.” Taren ground his jaw in anger and frustration. With fists clenched tightly at his side, he stared at the debris.

  “Fallings?” Taneika said.

  “I have no doubt he ordered it. I can’t see him getting his hands dirty with this; too far beneath him to get personally involved.”

  He was startled at Taneika’s movement. “What are you doing?”

  Taneika moved around the house, stopping and sniffing. A coffee cup—unbroken on the kitchen counter, a computer floppy that had received a little more attention than the others, the potted plant that now lay dying—its root system exposed to the harsh dry winter heat of the furnace.

  “It wasn’t the men who came after us. One man was here and did this.”

  “A single person.” The meticulous destruction by one person would have taken time, probably hours. “Who?”

  Her shoulders sagged and she hung her head.

  “Taneika, I have to know. Who did this?”

  “You introduced me to him a couple of days ago.”

  “Bill, my brother-in-law? That’s crazy. No way would he be involved.”

  “Wasn’t Bill.”

  She looked up, her eyes narrowed into pinpoint daggers.

  “It was your partner, Nick!” she spat with a vengeance.

  The almost physical blow of what
she said staggered him. Taren began to put all the pieces together. For the first time in three years, the puzzle took shape. The reason they hadn’t gotten any closer to Fallings was the misinformation and redirection he and the department had been receiving over the years.

  “Son-of-a-bitch!” He slammed his fist into the cupboard door, splintering it.

  Getting proof would be difficult. If Linda’s dad had surprised them in a drug deal, then Nick could also be guilty of murder, or at the very least, an accessory.

  “Any chance of finding prints?” she asked.

  “No! Nick might be dumb enough to get caught up in the drug dealing, but I doubt he would leave any evidence behind. Without your sense of smell, we wouldn’t have known he did this.”

  “What now?” She picked up a heavy winter jacket with the lining ripped and the pockets torn off.

  “See if there is anything that is salvageable and then check your place. Maybe he missed it.”

  Taren found a few clothes that weren’t ruined, threw those in a bag and left.

  They entered Taneika’s back door and surveyed the house. Everything seemed to be in order.

  “Well, he has been here,” she said. “I can smell him.”

  “Anything missing?”

  She went from room to room, searching. “Nothing that I notice off-hand.”

  “Well, at least he didn’t trash your place. We might as well get some sleep. Later we can decide what to do.”

  “Go ahead and get a shower if you want one.” She stripped off her clothes and started for the door.

  “Where are you going at three in the morning?”

  “After seeing your place and knowing that bastard was here, going through my things, I have this desperate urge to kill something. Besides, I’m hungry.”

  “I know the cove is always free of ice, but please, don’t go there tonight.”

  “Taren, I am out of fresh meat.” She took a knife from her pack and strapped it around her waist, tying it snug against her leg with a leather thong. “I’ll come straight back if you want me to, just to make you happy. Please don’t wait up for me.”

  He watched through the window as a silent shadow slipped into the woods. I wish Lobo were here, and then she wouldn’t be alone. Knowing her abilities, he knew he shouldn’t be worried, but he was.

  He sat down to wait. The minutes seemed to drag by slowly. His fingers drummed an unsteady beat on the arm of the chair. The desire to go find her was squelched by the knowledge that he would be lost at night in the woods. She would be the one finding him.

  The back door opened and he stared. Her hair was matted and tangled, her body smeared with drying blood. Bits of leaves and refuse from the forest floor clung to her. Two long strips of meat dangled from her hands.

  Instead of the repulsion he knew he should feel at what he saw, he grew hard.

  “Damn you! Taren, I asked you not to wait up. I didn’t want you to see me like this.” She stomped across the kitchen floor.

  Standing in the doorway, he leaned against the frame. She stood at the kitchen sink washing the meat free of hair.

  “What? You want to take another look before you leave?” A sob broke her voice. She turned towards him. A tear rolled down her cheek.

  “Who said anything about me leaving?” Taren’s smile broadened. “I was just going to offer to help you clean up in the shower.”

  She ran her fingers through her matted hair and looked down at the blood that covered her breasts. “You don’t find this repulsive?”

  “I admit the smell is a little strong, but a shower will take care of that.”

  She turned back to the kitchen sink. “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Then why don’t you tell me?”

  She lowered her head and took a ragged breath. “This is who I am. This is what I look like after I eat. Taren, I can’t change who I am. I try to be careful but there is always the chance of being seen, just like at the lake. You were at the banquet. You saw the shocked look on everyone’s face, and that meat was partially cooked.”

  “Your point?”

  “My point? All the blood flow must be below your waist if you can’t see it. I’m not normal. I will live forever on the fringe of society. God forbid my abilities, as you call them, ever come before the media and scientific world. I have never been sick or seen a doctor that I didn’t have to lie to. My medical record is full of childhood illnesses that I never had.” She turned back towards him. “Look at me, go on and take a good look. Is this normal? I’m a freak of nature, Taren. How long will you want to be around me? How long will this fascination with me continue?”

  “What brought on this nonsense?”

  “It won’t work. Maybe, if we lived in your cabin year round it would, but not here. I think you had better leave. You have your job to do and a criminal to catch. After that, you will be moving on. I would feel like a caged animal in the city. This is for the best.”

  All the wind was knocked out of him. She had blindsided him with this and she expected him to casually walk away. The hell I will.

  Walking over to her, he grabbed her shoulders and kissed her. The kiss, filled with hurt and frustration, was brutal and hard.

  “This isn’t over. Too much has happened between us just to walk away. I’ll be next door when you reconsider.”

  Taren walked into his house and kicked a broken lamp across the room. The destruction of his place matched the mood he was in. Something had happened in the woods. He wasn’t sure what, but Taneika was a different person when she came back. It wasn’t because he had been waiting up for her, or that he had seen her after a kill.

  Repulsive, far from it. He had been ready to take her on the kitchen floor.

  She was right about one thing: He had a job to do. Close down a drug ring and put a bad agent behind bars.

  Taren cleared the bed of debris and stretched out. Thumbing off the safety of his pistol, he placed it under the covers and closed his eyes.

  * * * * *

  Taneika sank slowly to the floor. Silent sobs racked her body as scalding tears flowed down her face. She hated the lie, and at that moment, she hated herself for telling it. Taren was hers and she had sent him away.

  She felt a cold hand on her shoulder. “Rest, child, for the way before you is hard.”

  “Go away.” Taneika shrugged off the hand. “Leave me alone. Haven’t you done enough?”

  Chapter 11

  Taren walked into the office the next morning and found Nick flirting with the receptionist. Could she be involved too?

  “Morning, Taren.” Nick smiled and gave a wink. “You’re back sooner than expected. Boss isn’t going to like that any.”

  The son-of-a-bitch acts like he’s glad to see me! “I got bored sitting around the house with nothing to do.” He felt like wiping the silly grin off of Nick’s face. Realizing his hands were clenched into tight fists, he forced them to relax.

  Harold came out of his office and stopped short, his face turning ashen. “What the hell are you doing here? Your leave of absence isn’t up yet.”

  “Just wanted to get a couple things out of my office. Gee! No, ‘nice to see you Taren, how’ve you been’?”

  “You don’t have an office here anymore. I sent a request for your transfer in the day you left. I also took the liberty of having all your things packed and put in storage.”

  “Find anything of interest while you were packing my things, Harold?” Taren sat nonchalantly on the edge of the desk.

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “Someone went to a lot of trouble ransacking my place while I was gone. I just figured it was you.”

  “You accusing me of doing it?” Harold puffed up his chest like a bantam rooster.

  Touchy this morning aren’t we, you fat little prick. “Oh, not you personally. But I have no doubt that you had it done.”

  Harold bristled and turned red. “You can’t prove anything. Get the fuck out of this offic
e!”

  He swiveled his body around. “How ‘bout you, Nick ol’ pal? Any ideas on who could’ve trashed my place?”

  “Me?” Nick sputtered. “How the hell did I get involved in this?”

  “Did I say you were involved?” Taren gave him a sly, knowing grin. “I asked if you had any ideas, that’s all.”

  “Did you hear what I said, Carpenter? Get your personal things and get out,” Harold ordered.

  Taren came back carrying a small box. “Where’s the rest of it?”

  Harold stood there with a self-satisfied beaming smile. “The rest is department property and doesn’t leave the building. By the way, I want all the access codes to your files.”

  I just bet you do. “The access codes are my personal property.”

  Taren turned and headed for the door.

  “Carpenter! Dammit, I want those codes. That’s an order!”

  Taren chuckled and looked over his shoulder. “Make up your mind, Harold. You can’t order me around if I don’t work here. So, until the transfer request comes back denied, I guess you will just have to wait. Later.”

  With a mock salute and what he hoped was an infuriating, button-pushing grin of disdain, he opened the door and left.

  * * * * * * *

  Harold closed the door to the phone booth and dialed. The voice on the other end barely answered before he began to angrily talk.

  “I thought you said that problem was taken care of. The bastard walked into the office today without a scratch on him.”

  Harold slammed his fist against the glass wall. “This is your problem. I can’t move the stuff tomorrow with him around.

  “I don’t have those types of people working for me. You want your shipment, you take care of the problem or I will find another buyer who will. Until then, nothing moves.”

  Taren watched from down the street as Harold got back into his car and drove away. A self-satisfied little smile played at the corners of his lips. Did I mess up your plans, Harold?

  He stepped into the phone booth that Harold had just left and dialed.