by Amy Cross
Copyright 2015 Amy Cross
All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, entities and places are either products of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual people, businesses, entities or events is entirely coincidental.
Kindle edition
Dark Season Books
First published in April 2012
as part of Lupine Howl: The Complete First Series.
This edition: June 2018
After running away from home, Jess finds herself living a rough life on the streets of London. And then one night, after making a potentially fatal mistake, her life is saved by someone – or something – that seems to be half man, and half wolf.
Duncan is a wolf in chains, hunted by a vicious killer but also bound to serve a cruel master. Unable to free himself, he struggles to stay one step ahead of the man who wants him dead. He's convinced that he doesn't mix well with humans, that he's better off lurking in the city's darkest shadows. When he meets Jess, however, he realizes he might yet have another calling.
Werewolves of Soho is the first book in the Lupine Howl series. Originally published in serial format in 2012, this revised edition brings together the first four parts of the story and ends on a cliffhanger.
Author's note
When I began writing Lupine Howl in 2012, I didn't plan ahead very well.
The original first series is now too large to published as a paperback, so I've had to divide it into two separate volumes. Werewolves of Soho therefore contains the original parts that were once titled Lupine Howl, Wolf in the Pit, A Spotter's Guide to Werewolves and Carnival of Wolves.
I can only apologize for any confusion and promise that, going forward, I now know how to properly organize the series.
Table of Contents
Prologue 1
Prologue 2
Part One
A Deadly Encounter
Part Two
The Wolf in the Pit
Part Three
A Spotter's Guide to Werewolves
Werewolves of Soho
(Lupine Howl book 1)
Prologue 1
In the beginning, this world was dominated by three species: vampires, werewolves and spiders. Eventually, they were joined by a fourth species: humans.
This is when things became complicated.
The first humans were initially seen as harmless apes; no-one really paid them very much attention at all. The vampires, resplendent in their cathedrals and mansions, laughed at the apes' crude tools, while the werewolves were too busy with their magnificent infighting to pay any attention at all. The spiders, meanwhile, were a law unto themselves and just carried on with whatever they were doing.
In retrospect, that was the first mistake. Right from the start, they should all have paid much more attention to the humans, because the humans did one thing very, very well.
They reproduced.
Constantly.
Over and over, filling this world.
What the humans lacked in strength or ability, they made up for in sheer numbers.
And things became even more complicated. The vampires eventually fell into a deadly and violent civil war, fueled by centuries of decadence and decay. They all died, except for one who lived on and dedicated his life to ensuring that no more vampires would ever come into existence, a task that went quite well for a while, then went wrong, and eventually reached a point of compromise. That story is told elsewhere.
Meanwhile the Spiders, horrified by the death and carnage all around, launched a war against the vampires. They were eventually beaten back, and although they had once been a wise and powerful race, the spiders were almost completely destroyed, until only a few de-evolved specimens remained. These are the house spiders that are still seen in the human world today. They're not more scared of you than you are of them. That's a lie. They're biding their time, hoping that one day they'll be freed from the chains of a prophecy that binds them tight. That story, hopefully, will never have to be told at all.
And the werewolves? The werewolves were smart, they made a deal with the humans. And things were just fine, until recently...
Prologue 2
The Loch Lanegan Royal Estate, Scotland, December 31st last year.
Late one autumn evening, she wandered over with a cup of tea to a window at her home in the Scottish Highlands. She looked out at the vast expanse of land, and she thought of all the wonders of the natural world. After a moment, however, she squinted as she spotted what appeared to be a naked man running as fast as possible across her lawn.
“Bloody hell,” she said, raising the teacup to her lips but not quite drinking from it.
“What is it now?” her husband, the prince, called from his seat at the writing desk on the other side of the room. He was old, he was tired, he was 90 years old and he had seen pretty much everything in this world at least once. He'd been in the army once, so he'd most certainly seen plenty of naked men.
“Come and look,” she said, unable to take her eyes off the startling sight that was unfolding on her lawn. Moments later, a Jeep came speeding into view, clearly in pursuit of the runner.
The prince shuffled over to the window and watched what was happening. “Oh... bloody werewolves again,” he complained with a scowl. “This is the last straw. They're getting worse and worse, we're going to have to do something about them”. He turned to his wife, and this time there was obvious anger in his voice. “Properly this time, Betty!”
Part One
A Deadly Encounter
Jess
Soho, London, two days later.
“No, seriously, how old are you?” He keeps pace with me, following me all the way along Dean Street in the late night pouring rain of confusing, complex, uncompassable London. “It's a simple question, innit? Why won't you answe? Come on, how old are you?”
“Go away,” I mutter, trying not to look at him.
He steps straight in front of me and grabs me by the shoulders. “Come on, love, how old are you? Eighteen? Nineteen?”
“Twenty-two,” I say, staring into his scarred face. “Okay? Now go away!”
I barge past him, but he persists, following me as I splash through the puddles and turn right at the next corner. “Seriously?” he asks. “Twenty-two? I hope you don't mind me saying it, love, but you look bloody good for twenty-two. Nice-looking girl. Where you staying tonight? You got somewhere to get your head down?”
“I'm fine,” I say, crossing the road. My clothes and shoes are already soaking wet, and I'm freezing cold, but there's no way I'm admitting that, not to some random creepy who started following me from the tube station. It's almost midnight and people are starting to pour out of pubs, clubs and bars. This isn't a good time to be out.
“I know some digs,” the guy says, still bugging me. “Good place. Safe place. You can sleep there. There's food and stuff. Nice people. You can come with me, if you want. I promise, hands off all the way. I'm just trying to help you, yeah? Just trying to help. Yeah?”
I stop and turn to him. “I get it!” I shout through the rain. “You're trying to help me, but I don't want you to help me, so just leave me alone!
“Oh yeah?” he replies. “Look, I'm just trying to do the right thing. One lonely, messed up person to another. Good faith. I just want to help. You really fancy sleeping out in this?”
I stand there, staring at him. It's raining so hard, I can barely breathe. I'm drenched and freezing, and my only plan is to head down to the river and maybe find somewhere dry under a tree in a park somewhere. And that's when it hits me: this guy, this strange guy who looks like he's been in far too many fights and lost most of them
, and who seems seriously pushy, and who stinks of cigarettes, and who gives off vibes that suggest he could pull a knife on me at any moment... this guy is actually my best option for the night.
I either go with him, or I freeze to death.
“Okay,” I say, defeated.
He reaches out a hand. “Alex,” he says, smiling.
“Jess,” I reply. His hand is big, pudgy, warm and coarse. It feels like he has bits of dried glue all over his skin. As soon as he lets go, I surreptitiously slip my hand behind my back and wipe it on my coat.
“So you're coming with me, yeah?” he says, putting an arm around my shoulder and leading me down a side road. As we go, I see a passing man in a suit staring at me with concern. He knows what's going to happen. Well, screw him. It's alright for him, probably on his way home from a night at the theater. It's easy for him to judge. He doesn't know who I am, or how I ended up on the streets.
“You'll be okay with me,” says Alex, leading me through a door into what looks like an abandoned black-bricked building. It's dark inside, but at least it's mostly dry and not too cold. Drips occasionally fall down onto my head as we make our way deeper inside, eventually coming to a large hallway with a set of stairs leading up to the next floor. “Don't be scared,” he continues ominously, flashing a big toothy grin that I just don't trust. “You're gonna be alright here with me”.
I force a smile.
I feel sick.
We head up the stairs, eventually coming to a large room where a couple of other men are playing cards by the light of a small electric lamp. After a moment, they look over at us.
“I found this young lady outside,” Alex tells them. “Thought she could use a roof over her head for the night”.
The two men look at me, and they're conspicuously eying up my whole body from head to toe. Probably trying to decide who gets to go first.
I'm not that kind of girl, I swear.
Outside, the rain is getting worse.
“Alright,” one of them says eventually, seemingly not too impressed. He sniffs as he looks back down at his cards.
I shift awkwardly on my feet. “I can just go to another room,” I say to Alex. “I don't want to disturb you guys. It's really -”
“Relax,” Alex says, interrupting and immediately unnerving me. “We're friendly. We don't bite. We just figured you could repay the favor by entertaining us a little tonight. Isn't that fair?”
I stare at him. “I don't really know what you want,” I say.
Liar.
I'm a liar.
Alex grins. “You want to stay here tonight, right?” he asks. “Warm and dry? Safe?”
I nod.
“Cool,” he says. “That's really the only smart decision. It doesn't put us out much to have you here. I mean, it puts us out a little, but you can find a way to make that up to us, I guess”.
He looks down at my chest, then at my waist, then back at my face.
In the distance, a police siren races past and then disappears into the night. I guess something important is happening somewhere.
“Here,” Alex says, handing me a two-thirds-empty bottle of vodka. “Have some of this. Not all of it, mind. Share and share alike”.
I take the bottle, look at it and consider whether it's safe to drink. When I look up, I see that all three of the men are staring at me intently.
“Cheers,” I say, taking a swig. Fortunately, it tastes exactly like vodka should, although I'm still not entirely sure it's safe. I know people sometimes get spiked with drinks, but I don't have time to be careful. As I take another swig, I'm frantically trying to work out how far I'm willing to go in this situation. What price am I willing to pay for the security of a roof over my head tonight? I know what these guys want, that's not hard to work out. What I don't know is where I'll draw a line.
“Come here,” says one of the card-playing men, grabbing me and pulling me onto his knee. I can immediately feel his hard penis pushing against the seat of my trousers. “I hope you're better than our last house-guest. We had to let her go. Of course, she realized at the end that she should've been more grateful, but we weren't minded to let her back in. We knew someone better'd come along”.
I try to pull away from this foul, whiskey-stinking old man, but he's got a firm grip on me. The more I struggle, the more I feel his erection grinding against my ass. Just as I'm considering elbowing him in the face and bolting, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small knife, holding it against my stomach.
“Everybody calm down,” says Alex. “We all want different things, but if we work together, we -”
He doesn't get to finish that sentence, because I manage to slip away from the guy in the chair and, in doing so, I kick Alex square in the crotch, sending him tumbling to the floor. I fall next to him, but I manage to clamber to my feet and run. I don't look back to see if anyone's following me, but in the dark I can't see the stairs and I end up running toward an open doorway. I race through to the next room, turning immediately and pushing the door shut and then I pull a chair over and try to jam it under the handle, but I don't think it's going to hold, not for long. I run across the room and through another door, but I pull up as I see something large and human-shaped on the floor. It takes a moment before I work out what I'm looking at, but when I finally understand, I turn and throw up.
It's a dead girl. She looks to be about my age, and she's naked, with a jagged wound across her throat. She looks fairly fresh, dead for just a day or two. Already, the room smells pretty bad. I guess this is their previous house-guest.
I feel as if I'm about to throw up again, but I don't have time for that. In the blue moonlight that streams through the broken window, the dead girl looks almost beautiful, almost alive. It's as if, at any moment, she could just stand up as if nothing has happened.
She looks younger than me.
I turn to look at the doorway, my heart beating so fast I feel like I might pass out. I was expecting Alex and his pals to come after me, but there's no sign of them. They seemed pretty drugged up, but I can't imagine they're so relaxed that they'd let me just run off. Still, with no sign of them after a few minutes I creep toward the door and take a look back into the next room.
Nothing.
I have to get out of here, so I edge carefully through the next room. Peering around the corner, I see that the table where the two men were playing cards is now bare. Did they just pack up and leave? I glance back in the direction of the room where I found the dead girl. I guess maybe these guys don't want to hang about and have to explain what happened to her. If the -
Suddenly an arm is wrapped around my neck and I'm pulled backwards. Someone swings me around and I come face to face with Alex and one of his pals.
“We were just being friendly,” Alex says. “You took things way too far”. I look over at the dead girl. Alex sees where I'm looking and smiles. “Yeah,” he says, pulling his knife and stepping toward me. “There's also that.”
“I'm going first,” one of the other men says, already loosening his belt. “For once.”
“You always make such a mess,” the third man tells him. “That's why we make you go last.”
“Why don't you leave her alone?” asks a voice from the other side of the room.
The three of them all turn at once. In the gloom, it's just about possible to make out what seems to be the figure of a man, silhouetted against the broken window, but it's too dark to make out his features.
“Who the fuck are you?” Alex asks. “You a tourist, yeah? Want to take a picture?”
“I just suggested that you should leave her alone,” the stranger says. “It's good advice. Take it.”
“And why don't you curl up on the floor with your neck sliced open, bleeding to death?” Alex asks. He pulls a blade from his pocket and steps toward the stranger. “Oh, need some help with that? I can oblige.”
The stranger steps forward, into the light, then smiles and quickly reaches out and grabs Alex's arm, tw
isting him around and sending him tumbling to the floor. Before anyone can react, the stranger puts his foot on Alex's neck, steps down and there's a loud and sickening crunch. Alex's eyes open wide, as if they're about to pop out of his skull, and he gasps before falling still.
“I don't like killing,” says the stranger, “but it's horribly necessary sometimes”. He looks at me, and there's something striking about his dark eyes. He's youngish, about my age, with an intense stare, and he seems very confident, almost as if he knows what's about to happen. “Don't you agree?”
I manage to slip away from the guy who was holding me. Instinctively, I go over to stand next to the stranger.
“Don't be scared,” he whispers to me. “It doesn't suit you”.
I smile nervously. “You're not the first person who's told me not to be scared tonight,” I tell him, glancing down at Alex's corpse.
“Point taken,” he replies.
There's a sudden clatter as Alex's two friends run as fast as they can. The stranger and I stand and listen as they almost fall over each other running down the stairs.
Finally, the stranger sniffs the air. “I'll catch up with them later. They won't get far.”
“Thanks,” I reply, which is something of an understatement. This guy pretty much saved my life.
He stares at me for a moment. “You shouldn't be here,” he says finally. “Go home”.
I look down at Alex's body, and then I look over at the dead girl. “What about her?”
“She's dead.”
“I know, but -”
“You should get going,” he adds, turning to walk away. “I've saved you once already tonight. Let's not turn this into a habit. Not yet, at least.”
“Hey!” I shout, running after him and grabbing his shoulder. “Who -”