THE AWAKENING: Part One (The Lycan War Saga Book 1)

by Michael Timmins

  The Wereboar didn't stop, but kept on running down the street. The cops who could do so, got to their feet. They started off after it.

  "We really should leave before they remember there was more than one of those monsters." Clint hadn't seen Kat approach him.

  Clint nodded once, turned, and took Sarah from her. They ran, heading towards Clint's apartment.

  When they got some distance away from the scene, they cut down an alleyway Kat indicated. It was an L shaped alley cutting back behind some buildings, removing them from the view of the main street. Kat leaped up and grabbed a fire escape ladder and quickly made her way to the roof. Before Clint could ask what she was doing, a duffle bag fell to the street at his feet, followed by Kat who landed softly on all fours. She opened the bag and removed a sun dress from it. He watched her, not quite figuring out what was going on. She held the dress and looked at him pointedly. It took a moment for him to catch on and he turned around to allow her to get dressed.

  “You probably should get out of that form as well,” she said, somewhat muffled from what he assumed was her putting on the dress.

  “Don’t know how,” he confessed.

  He heard her let out an exasperated breath. “Same way you got into that form in the first place. Just picture yourself and the change will happen,” she told him testily.

  Clint rounded on her.

  “You know, I am sorry I don’t know how to do these things. I’m sorry I am apparently too stupid to have figured it out. All I have wanted since I realized this was happening to me, was to make it stop, so I never once bothered to figure out how to choose to do it!”

  He noticed she backed up a step and he finally actually got to look at her in non-tiger form. She was a pretty, with short cropped red head. She was shorter than he was, with nice shapely legs sticking out of the bottom of the dress. Small, yet perky breasts shaped out the dress and he could just make out her nipples through the thin fabric of the sun dress. Clearly, a bra wasn’t in the duffle bag. He couldn’t help but look lower to check if she was sans panties as well.

  Before he could really take a look, he was aware she was watching him and he met her eyes. He noticed a slight smirk at the corner of her lip indicating she was well aware of where his mind had just gone. He looked at her face and saw she had eyes that were slightly tilted and had natural olive toned skin indicating Middle Eastern descent, though clearly far removed in ancestry.

  “You are right. I am sorry,” Kat admitted. “I had the benefit of knowing a little about what was going to happen, you clearly didn’t. So, I can understand how that could be a little frightening and confusing. I was wrong to assume your experience was the same as mine.”

  “Thank you.”

  “That being said, I would again suggest that you get out of that form. As I said before, you just need to picture yourself as your human form and it will just happen. In your case, it will probably still be accompanied with pain, but will mostly disappear after time.”

  Clint nodded and closed his eyes. He pictured himself as he believed he looked and felt the image fix in his mind. As before, the pain hit him hard and quick. He couldn’t imagine having a body rearrange itself could ever not hurt, but he did notice it seemed to be less than last time.

  In moments, he returned to human form. His clothes hardly covered him, having ripped in several places. He did his best to at least cover his lower half.

  He looked up at Kat and realized she was giving him the once over he had given her. He felt his cheeks heat as he blushed. He coughed politely.

  She looked up at him with an arched an eyebrow and smirked, as if to say, how do you like it.

  Touché, he thought.

  “How did you find me?” Clint asked her.

  “Well, when you made the news a few weeks ago, I hopped on a plane and headed here, assuming, naively, I would just be able to locate you.” She cocked her head and lifted a shoulder as a sign of humility.

  “When that didn’t work, I started to check newspaper articles and looked for anything suspicious. There was a rash of pet killings in the area, which I guessed was probably you. When I checked a map, I was able to narrow down the area you seemed to be in.” She shrugged again.

  “I just waited and moved around, in hopes you would show yourself, or somehow I would get a bead on you. I almost gave up a couple of days ago, when I felt… well that doesn’t matter.”

  “Wait,” Clint interrupted. “You felt it, too?”

  Kat’s eyes lit up. “You mean a kind of pulling to the west?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Yes. That is what I felt. I decided to leave and head there.”

  “How did you end up here today?”

  “For some reason, I decided to give it a couple of more days. I think it was because the following day I was here and passed you. I sensed something from you. I’m not sure what. It was like I could smell, for lack of a better term, the wolf in you.” She gave that small smirk she had and continued. “By the time I realized what it meant, you were out of sight. So, I decided to come back here again in a vain hope you might be walking here again. As luck would have it, for both of us, you were.”

  “Well, thanks for sticking around. I don’t think I would have lived, and I’m pretty sure Sarah wouldn’t have made it.” Clint looked over at Sarah’s still form.

  “We need to get Sarah to the hospital.”

  “I agree, but you clearly are in no shape to get her there. I’m pretty sure walking around half naked will draw more attention than you would like.”

  Kat tapped her chin with her finger, thinking.

  “I will take her. You head home. Get dressed and meet me there.” She told him. “Try to stay discreet.”

  As much as Clint didn’t want to leave Sarah, he couldn’t argue the wisdom of what Kat suggested. He was having a hard-enough time holding his pants up, how was he going to take care of Sarah as well?

  He was about to ask how she intended to get her there, when Kat went over to Sarah and scooped her up deftly and gently, as if she was weightless. Clint closed his mouth. He forgot he had an increase in strength, it only made sense Kat did as well.

  “Okay, I will meet you there. Just be careful with her.”

  “I will. See you there.” Kat moved to the end of the alley.

  “Oh, and Clint?”

  “Yeah?”

  “There were maybe several dozen people who got a good look at you before you changed. It won’t be long before the world knows who you are. Your life will never be the same.” With that she was gone.

  That was something he hadn’t thought about. The life he had would never be the same. He waited a moment for her to get some distance from the alley’s entrance, and then made his way out.

  He didn’t see Kat or Sarah anywhere. It appeared the commotion from down the street was still drawing a crowd, so the street here was fairly empty. He took a moment to gather his clothes as best he could around him and headed home as quickly as he could manage.

  Blain slammed the door to his loft apartment he had rented a couple of weeks ago. Taylor and Joseph were there waiting for him.

  “I told you we should have gone with you,” Joseph told, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

  Blain closed the distance between them and slammed his fist hard into Joseph’s face sending him flying. Joseph slammed into the far wall, creating a man-sized hole in the drywall. Plaster flaked down from the ceiling in line from where Joseph hit, implying he struck a support stud.

  Blain growled and turned to Taylor, who lifted his hands in supplication. Taylor knew better than to push Blain, especially when he was pissed. Apparently that lesson had yet to be learned by Joseph.

  Blain ignored a moaning Joseph and turned his back on the pair. The thing that pissed off Blain the most at the moment was Joseph was right. They had argued to go with him. But Blain, being full of himself, was sure he could take the Werewolf. And he would have, had it not been for that stupid Weretiger show
ing. The lady didn’t say anything about her being here.

  That was another thing. He was going to have to tell the lady he had failed, and that grated on him. He should have taken the two with him just to make sure he would succeed. Now, he wasn’t sure he would be able to find the wolf again. It had been luck and Taylor’s smarts leading them to find him in the first place. When Taylor began to put together the animal killings in the area must be from the wolf, it was just a matter of triangulating, or whatever he called it, and finding the most likely place the wolf would be. Then Blain located him by his scent. Tracked him to the spot where he attacked him.

  He wouldn’t have been here at all if it hadn’t been for the lady.

  Blain thought back to when she showed up at his club in London. He was making plans to expand his criminal enterprises. Now he had two henchmen who were almost as strong as he was. And even better, were under his control. Not completely, for they still had a will of their own, as Joseph continued to prove. But enough he could get them to go along with his plans. And, with their ability to sense where each other was, it was easy to coordinate what they were doing. They already succeeded in taking out some drug bosses in town, and he violently took over several strip clubs fronting for those businesses.

  It was at one of these clubs, before opening for business that day, the lady showed up.

  Blain was sitting at one of the booths with a couple of dancers on his lap and another giving him a back rub when the doors flew open, slamming against the walls, almost taken off their hinges.

  Standing in the doorway was a woman. Black hair flying about wildly as a strong wind seemed to pour in through the front doors. The wind was so strong, chairs and tables closest to the doors toppled over. The woman was almost statuesque, alabaster skin, pretty face. She was tall and wore a long black flowing dress that parted low in the front to show off her ample cleavage. An hourglass figure, with shapely hips and legs that could be seen from the hip-high slit in the left side of the dress.

  Behind her was a man who was stick thin in comparison, long legs, arms and face. Despite being the man, he was clearly subservient to the woman in front.

  Blain briefly wondered how they got past his guards out front. He was, after all, a wanted man by many nasty people, so he didn’t slouch on his protection. The fact they were here, implied there was more to them than met the eye. He decided to test that theory and motioned with a finger to the two guards at either side to move in to intercept the pair.

  The moment they both moved forward, the lady swept out both of her hands and uttered something he couldn’t make out. The wind pouring into the club from the door seemed to suck back, and flowed out from the lady’s outstretched hands. His guards were picked up and flung backwards, slamming into the far walls. That was when the strippers ran for the back. A third guard from behind him brought around his machine gun and was about to open fire when the man behind the Lady moved.

  It was frightening how fast he moved. In a split second, the man sprinted forward, at the same time Blain watched as his body changed. The man’s head elongated and became rounded and shapeless, blending with his neck. Greenish-brown scales rapidly covered and replaced the man’s skin. A long tail sprouted from his backside, and thrashed around as he moved. A stunted snout protruded slightly from his face and a forked tongue darted out of it.

  The guard froze as he met the thing’s eyes. By the time he recovered and realized he was in danger, he couldn’t get off a shot. As the thing reached him, flaps of skin flared out from its neck and Blain saw the flash of long fangs which buried themselves into the guard’s chest. The snake thing elevated its head, lifting his guard off his feet. The guard convulsed as poison flooded his body. The snake creature shook itself and the body fell to the floor, dead.

  Blain lifted his hand and opened it, fingers spread, a signal to his guards to stand down. He saw no reason to have them get killed.

  “Well, that was rude, lass. Do you know how hard it is to get good help in this town?” Blain addressed the lady who was now making her way towards him. Blain readied his mind to make the change if he had to.

  “We have been watching you for some time, Blain,” she told him. She had a strange accent, one he couldn’t place, clearly not from around here.

  “Oh really, lass? And why is that?” he asked, more calmly than he felt. He had no idea who this woman was, and if they had been watching him, he should have some idea as to who they were. That was what he paid good money for, to know who was after him.

  “I believe you have at least some idea as to why we are here,” she said, moving closer. Blain realized the snake thing was standing behind him.

  “As you can tell by my companion, we have some similar attributes. Your ancestor was my ally. It was I who gave him the ability you now possess.”

  Blain sat back a bit. “Not sure what you referring to, lass.”

  She smiled at him, and it wasn’t pleasant.

  “Enough games.” The smile was gone as quickly as it had appeared. “I call on you to serve me as your ancestor once did.”

  He sat forward once more. “So, let me get this straight. You bust into my joint, beat up my guards, killing several of them, and demand I serve you.” He let out a breath. “You got some balls… for a lady, that is.”

  “Like I said, I have been watching you, Blain. I know you would respond to little else than a show of force. If I came in here all sweetly, you would have dismissed me.” She took a few more steps and leaned forward against the table, placing her hands on it to support her as she put her face only a foot away from his.

  “And I don’t like to be dismissed,” she said softly through gritted teeth.

  “Who are you?” he asked, impressed by her fearlessness.

  “I am named Kestrel. You may call me My Lady. I have just awoken from several centuries of long sleep. I have come back to remove the plague of human civilization from the earth.”

  This lady was nuts. That was all that Blain could think. Why would he have any desire to destroy civilization? That was where his power was. He thought for a moment. If they were watching him as they said they had been, then they must know he would not agree with this, unless they had something else to offer.

  “What’s in it for me, lass… I mean, My Lady?” he asked a bit sarcastically.

  She smiled again, a little more pleasantly this time.

  “As you have found out, you have the ability to transfer your ability to others, though the survival rate is a bit low. I intend to gather others like you and begin amassing an army of Weres to destroy civilization. At which point, people will need individuals to keep them in line and make sure this type of destruction of Earth never occurs again. That is where you and the others come in.” She motioned and again said something in a language he couldn’t understand. He felt a gust of wind as a chair was blown to her. She snagged the chair and sat it across from him, making herself comfortable.

  “I have been informed by Samuel here, the world is a lot bigger than it was when I went to sleep. I can’t hope to control everyone by myself. So, it is only natural we must divide the lands up into regions for us to control.” She stared into his eyes. He stared back, intrigued by what he saw there.

  “You see, you will have all the power you have wished for, women, riches, land, and thousands, no, millions of people under your authority.”

  Well, Blain thought, she certainly had him pegged. He wasn’t sure how he felt about acting second fiddle to a woman, but he would be stupid to ignore she had some serious power. Her lack of fear of him, knowing what he was capable of should be noted.

  “Okay, say I’m interested. What do you want from me?”

  She leaned back in her seat, a smile spread across her beautiful face. Not a pleasant smile, but he was beginning to like it.

  “Oh, I have something for you to do — something you will enjoy, Blain. The only thing standing in our way is a group of Weres who are on the wrong side of this fight. We have inform
ation one is in a place called Chicago, in the United States of America.” She said these words, obviously recently being introduced to them.

  “I would like you, and your two followers, to go and take care of him. For the moment, we believe these Weres have no idea there are others like them. We want to make sure they don’t live long enough to find out.” She placed her elbow on the table and allowed her chin to rest on her fisted hand. “Can you do this, Blain?”

  He returned her smile, not a pleasant one either.

  “Yeah. Yeah, I can do that.”

  Blain, Taylor and Joseph landed in Chicago and began the hunt for the wolf. That hunt ended in the debacle of this afternoon. He was sure no one got a good look at him before he had changed, so at least his identity was secure, for now.

  “What are we going to do now, Blain?” Taylor asked him after he had helped Joseph up from where he had landed.

  Blain ignored Joseph’s nasty look, and looked to Taylor.

  “We wait. For now. Tomorrow, we will go to the area hospitals and inquire about a young lady who was badly wounded yesterday in the strange occurrence that happened downtown.”

  Taylor nodded. Joseph shook his head in obvious disgust and Blain had half a mind to beat him senseless, but refrained.

  The hours seemed to pass just about as slowly as they could be allowed to pass. Blain spent his time tossing cards into a popcorn bowl setting on the coffee table next to the sofa. He had never been good at this, but found now he had a difficult time missing any shot. Taylor spent most of his time at the computer, doing gods knew what. Joseph was visible out on the balcony, chain smoking cigarettes. He recently concluded that with their ability to heal, he could pick up smoking, again. He had only stopped due to health risks.