by Brent Miller
Finally, her foot landed on the moist ground of the riverbed. After a few more steps, she collapsed and gently placed Cailean on the ground in front of her. Coughing, Brooke fell forward and rolled over onto her back.
Cailean stumbled to his shaky feet. Looking around, he examined his surroundings for what felt like the first time. Everything had taken on a new grey tone, and it appeared much larger than it had moments before. Cailean took a step forward, wobbling and almost falling over. More confidently, he moved his other paw to catch up with the first.
Cailean’s brain begged for his body to stop moving – or at least turn the other direction. He had heard stories from his father, and there was a reason Aldric always transformed in the woods. If the wolf managed to make its way to Brooke, he couldn’t imagine any good outcome. Despite his pleas, though, his body seemed to act of its own accord. His legs continued to work their way forward as he inched toward her.
Finally, the wolf was within reach of her. She rested on the sand, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Gently, Cailean pushed his head forward and pressed his nose into her side. With a whimper, the wolf moved closer to her. Curling up next to her, it pressed its body against hers as she regained her breath.
Suddenly, Cailean felt a soft hand press against his head, rubbing his scalp. His ears perked up and he jumped to his feet, wagging his tail vigorously. The wolf’s tongue fell from its mouth as its breathing increased. Excitedly, it licked Brooke’s arm, lapping the water from her skin.
“Cailean?” Brooke asked quietly, choking up with fear so the name was barely audible. He cocked his head, confused. Cailean’s own thoughts were growing cloudy, but the wolf seemed to recognize the sound. “Is that you?”
In response, Cailean barked happily. Whether it knew its name or not, the wolf seemed happy to have one. The cub pressed its head against Brooke’s leg, nudging her as she sat up. The wolf jumped into her lap, licking her face as she smiled down at him.
“Okay, okay,” she giggled. Confusion and concern were apparent in her voice, but her tone was happy – and that was all the wolf seemed to understand. Cailean, a passenger in his body, watched the scene unfold through the eyes of the wolf. He tried to tell her to leave, or at least to stop the wolf from jumping on her, but he had no semblance of control over the animal he’d become.
She climbed to her feet, searching around for something. Finding a large stick, Brooke picked it up and dangled it in front of the wolf’s face. Excited, it jumped and tried to grab the stick from her hand. Lifting it above his reach, though, she pulled it away from him. Throwing her arm forward, Brooke released the stick. The wolf’s attention darted toward the motion and it raced after the lost toy.
Retrieving the stick with its mouth, the wolf carried it back to Brooke triumphantly. It wagged its tail as it dropped the stick next to her again. She bent over to pick it up, but the wolf pushed against her and she stumbled backward, barely able to maintain her balance. Cailean pleaded with the wolf to be gentle, but it didn’t seem to notice. He didn’t feel any anger from the wolf, but he wasn’t sure how in tune he was with that part of himself.
Brooke lifted the stick again, and the wolf jumped after it. Pushing itself against her, it tried to grab the stick before she was able to throw it. Clumsily, the wolf stumbled forward, pressing its front paw against her. Its sharp nails pierced her upper thigh as it stood on its hind legs and searched for support. Stumbling backward from the pain, Brooke failed to provide the stability the wolf needed, and it fell toward her, dragging its claws down her thigh. She fell to the ground, dropping the stick next to her and inhaling deeply as she pressed her hand over her bleeding thigh.
Without noticing her pain, the wolf moved a few inches to retrieve the stick. Cailean could feel confusion coming from the animal, as if it wondered why she hadn’t thrown it as far the second time. Regardless, it placed the stick in front of her and wagged its tail. Finally noticing the pain on her face, though, it stepped toward her and gently pressed its nose against her hand.
“It’s alright buddy,” she told the wolf through clenched teeth. “I know you didn’t mean to.”
The wolf licked her fingers, cleaning the blood which continued to pour from her leg. She kept one hand pressed firmly against her thigh and brought the other up to push his face back. The wolf tried to move in again, but she pushed his face away. Losing his resolve to lick her wounds, the wolf simply curled up next to her leg.
After a moment, Cailean – or the wolf, he was starting to become unsure – heard a rustling in the bushes a few feet away. It jumped up, growling quietly and standing between the sound and Brooke. A large figure moved aside some branches and took a step toward them.
The intruder was a man whose gait hid a great deal of pain. The wolf recognized the smell, but it couldn’t find a name for the person in front of it. The man inched forward, struggling against some unseen force. His face lit up as he stepped through the foliage and neared the river, moving into the moonlight.
Cailean recognized his father, still a human as he walked on two legs toward Cailean. Every step was slow and deliberate as he clearly fought against his own animalistic side. Aldric neared Brooke, glowering down at her and the wolf which stood guard. Cailean felt the wolf relax slightly as it recognized the father of its human half, but it still felt unsettled.
Silently, Aldric reached the two children and stood over them. Leaning forward, he grasped the fur and a flap of skin on the back of Cailean’s neck. Lifting the young wolf, he held him in one hand and took a step backward, still looking down at Brooke.
“Can you walk?” He asked. His tone was not hard, but his voice was a low growl nonetheless.
“I think so,” she affirmed, standing to her feet shakily. Blood trickled down her thigh and continued down her leg, leaving a thin trail behind it. Brooke clearly favored the other leg, but she was able to stand. She stepped toward Aldric, but he held out his open hand, telling her to stay back.
“What’s happening?” She asked quietly – the curiosity clearly overshadowing the pain.
“Did he scratch you?”
“He didn’t mean to,” Brooke defended the young wolf Cailean.
“I’m so sorry,” Aldric choked up. Cailean could smell his pain, but he could also sense a confusing flurry of other emotions.
“He didn’t mean to,” Brooke repeated. “What’s going on?”
“There’s a lot to that story,” Aldric muttered, clearly biting back pain. “Go home. Clean that up. I’ll explain everything tomorrow.”
“But…”
“Listen,” Aldric ordered. Despite the pain, his tone was filled with a new sense of power. The girl standing before him dropped her head, clearly afraid of the anger in the voice of the adult scolding her. Cailean found himself terrified of what the conversation would entail the next day, and the wolf whimpered in reaction to his tone.
“Brooke, right?” He questioned. She nodded sheepishly. “Listen, Brooke. I can’t stop myself from this transformation much longer. You saw what happened to him? Well I’m much larger. Go home. Walk – run if you can. Tomorrow, you will get your answers.”
“Yes sir,” she muttered quietly. Starting slowly, she walked away from them. Turning over her shoulder, she made eye contact with the wolf and Cailean found himself longing for her to come back. Aldric didn’t put him down until she was well out of their sight.
“I’m so sorry,” Aldric whispered under his breath, staring into the darkness into which Brooke had vanished.
Chapter 9
Six Years Ago
Aldric
Waking up naked in a stranger’s house, Aldric carefully struggled to his feet. His internal clock was completely devasted – as it always was after a transformation – so he had no idea how long he had been unconscious. Judging by the fact that Linda stood, holding a crying Cailean, in the exact same place as she had the last time he’d seen her, though, Aldric guessed that it wasn’t long.
&n
bsp; Dazed, Aldric used the wall for support as he balanced on shaking legs. With each passing second, he felt his strength growing back and his vision stabilizing. Confrontation was by no means a new phenomenon for Aldric, but there wasn’t a single time in his life that he could remember actually killing someone as the wolf. The memory of tearing into another person’s flesh coupled with the sight of the mangled corpses in the hall made Aldric’s stomach churn. Steeling himself, he stood up straight and took a deep breath.
Silently, Aldric walked down the hallway, trying to focus as much on the path ahead as possible. Despite his best efforts, he continually found his attention drawn to the bodies on the floor beneath him. Behind him, Linda barely moved. Aside from gently bobbing her arms in a futile attempt to comfort Cailean, she was completely motionless.
At the end of the hall, Aldric found a large bedroom. Physically, he had completely recovered from the change, but emotionally that was far from the case. As Aldric caught sight of himself in the mirror, he fell forward, leaning on the tile counter for support. Aldric choked back vomit as he tried to tear his eyes away from his own visage. Wondering how much human blood he had swallowed, Aldric was finally able to direct his eyes away, looking at the sink below him as his stomach heaved. Steadying his breathing, Aldric was able to calm himself down and pull his thoughts away from the darkness.
Aldric reached forward, turning on the water. Before looking up again, he splashed his face and deeply scrubbed the scruff on his face, working any blood out. Rinsing his mouth, Aldric swished water vigorously before spitting it out. Confident that he’d at least addressed the blood on his face, Aldric granted himself another glance at the mirror. Any trace of blood had been removed from his face and hands, but there were still spots of red covering his arms and abdomen. For the moment, though, that would have to do. The hunters had left, but there was no doubt in Aldric’s mind that they’d be back with more manpower.
Aldric found his way to the closet and found a pair of pants hanging up. After retrieving them, he pulled them on to cover himself. He grabbed the first shirt he saw and pulled it over his head before walking back to his family. When Aldric reached them, Linda’s head was downcast and Cailean had cried himself to sleep in his mother’s arms.
“I know,” Linda whispered under her breath, not giving Aldric the chance to speak. The thought would probably be as painful for her to hear as it was for him to say, so he appreciated her sparing him from verbalizing it. Verbal or not, though, it was clear to both of them that they were no longer safe. They were no strangers to moving, of course. Over their long lives, they had lived in at least a dozen different states. Their son, though, hadn’t been forced to experience that side of their lives, and they’d hoped he wouldn’t have to. Aldric knew it was an unrealistic hope, of course. For werewolves living in a society, discovery was imminent.
Nodding solemnly, Aldric turned from her and walked to the door. Careful not to wake Cailean, she followed him closely. As Aldric led the way back to their home, he listened for the slightest sound. At any disturbance in their surroundings, Aldric would ball his fists and prepare for a fight. When they reached their porch, he held up his hand and instructed his wife to wait outside while he searched the house. Even though he couldn’t hear anything from the inside, a quick look helped ease his mind.
Confident that their house was empty, he motioned for his wife to join him. As she crossed the threshold, he closed the door behind her. Gently, she laid their son on the couch in the living room, quietly stepping backward with a sigh.
“He won’t remember,” Aldric offered. It wasn’t much, but it was the best consolation he could find.
“He’ll see it again,” she countered sadly.
Aldric searched the depths of his mind, but there was no rebuttal. She was right. Regardless of how hard he tried, Aldric would never be able to shield his son from the life into which he was born.
“He won’t have a home,” Linda added quietly.
“Plenty of humans grow up moving around. As long as we’re together, it’s a home.”
“I suppose it is,” she accepted.
Aldric turned to walk back to their room to begin packing. The hunters knew exactly where he had been less than ten minutes ago, they knew what he was, and Aldric found it extremely unlikely that they didn’t know which house was his. If they didn’t, they were likely to simply attack each house until they found him. Aldric wished he could save his neighbors from that fate, but his family came first – and that meant leading them to the next temporary spot of safety.
Just before Aldric took his first step toward the other room, though, a thundering footstep reverberated from outside. His paranoid ears were tuned to hear any slight disturbance, but that particular step seemed intentional. Aldric couldn’t imagine anyone’s gait being so heavy – which brought him down to two options: Either the hunters were arrogantly announcing their presence, or someone was warning him.
“Mr. Phoenix,” Aldric heard a whisper permeate the room around him. His eyes darted to either side as he desperately searched for the source of the voice. Linda, noticing his reaction, appeared confused but remained silent. If she couldn’t hear it, that meant the voice was farther away than Aldric had assumed.
“I come alone, and I come in peace.” Although Aldric had only heard Kieran’s voice a few times, he recognized it well. A hint of sincerity was present in his words, but Aldric knew that the hunters were trained to deceive.
“I am aware that it’s hard to believe me, but this alone is a show of good faith, is it not? I will knock on your door in just a moment to announce my presence. Please, grant me one conversation.”
“Stay here,” Aldric whispered to his wife. “If anything happens, I want you to take Cailean and run.”
Linda clearly wanted to argue – no wife wanted to abandon her husband – but she bit her tongue. Both of them knew that Cailean’s life was far more important than either of theirs. Linda nodded and inched toward her sleeping son, ready to grab him and run if the need presented itself.
“My son is sleeping,” Aldric whispered as he opened the door to find Kieran with one hand poised for a knock.
“Then I shall continue with the whisper,” Kieran offered.
“What are you doing here?”
“I would like to speak with you.”
“Why should I trust you?” Aldric growled quietly.
“You shouldn’t. Just as I shouldn’t trust you. But I ask, Aldric, that you would set should aside and walk with me.”
“The second I step outside, I will be ambushed.”
Without another word, Kieran lifted his hands above his head. Aldric adopted a modified fighting stance, shifting his weight to his back foot to gain distance and prepare himself for a counter kick if necessary. Slowly, Kieran reached his hand behind his back, drawing a knife from a sheath on his belt. After retrieving it, he effortlessly flipped the knife, holding the blade in his hand and offering Aldric the hilt. Maintaining his stance suspiciously, Aldric made no move to retrieve the knife. Regardless of how confident Kieran was, it was a risky play. Aldric was faster and stronger, and even if Kieran managed to pull the knife back before Aldric grabbed it – which was incredibly unlikely – he would be in no position to defend against the impending attack. Still, Aldric remained on the defensive – in case there was something more sinister awaiting him.
Kieran bent his knees, squatting down and placing the knife at Aldric’s feet. With a flick of his wrist, he slid the knife past Aldric, sacrificing any chance he had at retrieving the weapon. While in a squatted position, he removed a blade from a sheath hidden beneath his right pant leg. In one smooth motion, he did the same with that weapon.
“I am now unarmed,” he explained. “Even if I have an ambush prepared, if we walk together, I will not be able to outpace you. I may take you down, but I’ll die myself. Now that I have adopted a daughter, I’m not quite ready to die.”
“What makes you so sure I won’t k
ill you anyway?”
“I’m willing to take that risk.”
Aldric fell silent for a moment, allowing himself to consider Kieran’s request. Even if the man’s intentions were malicious, he made a valid argument. Still, it was possible that he was ready to sacrifice himself to take down a wolf as skilled and powerful as Aldric. Something in his eyes told Aldric that wasn’t the case, though. Aldric relaxed slightly with a sigh. Turning his head toward Linda, he nodded toward her, communicating every required piece of information.
“Let’s walk, then,” Aldric accepted.
Following Kieran outside, Aldric kept his senses on high alert. No ambush was apparent, even as they made their way to the streets. Aldric listened carefully for any heavy breathing, fidgeting, or loud footsteps, but there were no signs of human activity outside of families who populated the neighborhood.
Kieran led silently for a while, seemingly searching his mind for the proper words. The two of them reached the edge of the woods near Aldric’s house and Aldric froze. Sniffing the air and listening closely, he carefully searched for any sign of life.
“I saw something in your eyes,” Keiran finally spoke up, witnessing Aldric’s hesitation. Instead of persisting, he stopped with him and turned to face Aldric.
“What?”
“The wolf. It eliminated the threat mercilessly, as any beast would. But then it lifted a child and carefully carried her to my feet, placing it there. Now, we had hostages, yes, but a beast can’t process that fact rationally.”
“No, it can’t,” Aldric concurred.
“So I think there was something more to this,” Kieran continued. “This shows me that you didn’t want to kill her. There was no malice in that wolf’s eyes. In the eyes of that animal, I saw more. I saw humanity.”
“What are you saying?”
“Walk with me,” Kieran instructed. Reluctantly, Aldric followed the hunter into the woods. As the two continued along the trail, Kieran resumed his speech.