by Stacey Mewse
Audra smoothed down her suit jacket and glared at the shape of Hunters lupine form protruding out from beneath the cot. ‘You are a liability Mr. Dalton.’ She scowled.
She was answered with a snarl, which erupted savagely from the shadows beneath the prison bed.
‘Well that’s not very nice considering I’ve come to save your hide is it?’ She crossed the room and perched herself delicately down onto Hunter’s hiding place. Hunter slunk out from beneath the cot and moved around to sit in front of the last person in the world he had expected to see. Seating himself he wrapped his tail over his paws and stared her straight in the eyes, his gargantuan skull level with the top of her head.
Audra smirked ‘my now you’re a big one aren’t you, how you thought you could hide under that I do not know!’
Hunter flashed his fangs with a curl of his lip in response. He had never thought of himself as particularly large, and had been surprised by how tight a squeeze his hiding place had proved to be. By nature he did not burrow or wedge himself into den sites when changed; so her comment both surprised and slightly angered him, she was always so condescending!
Audra raised an eyebrow at his show of teeth. ‘I trust you realise you are now stuck this way until dawn?’ She quipped.
Hunter nodded his great head slowly, the human motion seeming strange to his lupine body and brain. Yes of course he realised, he knew how it worked.
‘You’ve got a lot of explaining to do when you get your usual vocal chords back.’ She pursed her lips in disapproval.
Hunter fixed her with a hard stare that had her glancing away and licking her lips, a very lupine motion on a very human body. Explaining? Did she really think his situation warranted an explanation? It should have been painfully obvious what had happened and he could not help the rumble is his throat at her idiocy.
Audra smirked ‘now now, that’s no way to treat a friend who’s come to your aid.’ She tutted and wagged her finger in front of his nose, and he found himself incredibly tempted to bite it off.
Continuing in blissful ignorance of her hulking companion’s intentions, Audra’s voice retained its patronising tone. ‘You are lucky the others have deemed you important enough to help. Eve tracked you here and listened in on your interview as best she could through so many walls. Luckily for you the vents in this place are badly laid out and she managed to catch most of what was said; including some details you will not yet be aware of. She said that she could smell the change on you too, but that she did not think you would give in to it. She will be disappointed.’
Hunter dropped his head and hunched his shoulders, his ears laid flat back against his skull. Surely they would understand?
Audra continued, ignoring his dejected body language. ‘First of all I think it would be prudent to tell you that I am not a solicitor as I’m sure you well know. I’ve been sent here by my father who has promised I shall up ranks if I succeed. I am to pose as your legal representative. One of our number was able to intercept an outward call for a solicitor for you and here I am.’
Hunter would have raised an eyebrow had he been in possession of one to raise. He found himself both surprised and relieved by the packs resourcefulness. His tail tip wagged weakly at the idea that they had put so much effort into an attempt to secure his rescue. He realised that it was to their benefit that he was freed, but appreciated their efforts nonetheless.
Audra ignored his response as was becoming a pattern with her, and continued to talk at him whilst she had full vocal control of the situation.
‘We know your entire story and that you are calling yourself Mr. James Johanson. We know the ins and outs of your run through of the day; and it can be arranged for one of the pack to say you passed them on the road at the time of her death.’
Hunter nodded again as she continued, that would certainly help his case.
‘The wolf who will do this will be Finnlay, who will be calling himself Matthew Brockwell. Do you understand?’
Hunter nodded.
‘When they come back to fetch me I will tell them that you had been so distraught at the sight of the young woman that you had forgotten you had passed another man on the road. He was a farmer’s son who you have known for years thanks to sharing a local pub, the bull’s horns. You caught up with him as he was returning from the fields and stopped for a chat about how dire your current situation is. He jokingly offered you a job cleaning out the pigsties, and you told him you might be forced to take him up on that if the offer were genuine. He then told you that he’d talk to his father about it and carried on back to the farm. He was travelling on foot and was accompanied by the farm dog; are you all clear on the details?’
He nodded once more.
‘Good. That would have given the killer ample time to commit his murder whilst you were elsewhere… Complete with alibi.’ Audra looked very pleased with herself and it was obvious to Hunter that this story had been her idea.
He lay down slowly, resting his head on his paws as she continued. Suddenly he felt very weary.
Glaring down at him she shook her head. ‘If you could remain awake long enough to hear the rest of what I have to say that would be fabulous Mr. Johanson.’ She mocked. ‘We all need to be on the same page for this to work as I’m sure you can understand.’
Hunter looked up at her from the ground where he lay, showing her she still had his attention.
She continued once brief eye contact had been made. ‘There are a few details which you may not have had the opportunity to hear which are crucial to your case. Fairly obviously the evidence does not point to you having been the perpetrator. As usual for these types of cases no fingerprints have been left so we cannot rely on that for proof of your innocence; but there are a few other small things which point to you being the wrong man.’
Hunter’s head snapped up and he stared at her intently, silently urging her to continue.
‘The officers have been heard talking amongst themselves and it seems despite the circumstances there is doubt that you are the guilty party. There are a few reasons for this; some are convinced of your innocence thanks to your reaction at the scene. There is one officer adamant that he has never seen a man react like that at a murder scene, let alone to a murder he committed. His whisperings are working in your favour by spreading doubt amongst the force. There are mumblings also about the fact that there was no fresh blood splatter on you, and that no overalls were found anywhere around the scene. I suspect they will want to swab your skin for blood flecks trapped in hair, that will most likely be done in the morning. Then there is the fact that the car you arrived in was gone when the officers got back to their own vehicles after finding you inside the barn. The inspectors were attempting to bluff you into a confession by lying about the lack of a car in your interview. They are taking it that it was stolen as a getaway vehicle.’
Hunter’s tail wagged steadily from side to side behind him, things were looking up.
‘Besides which’ Audra continued ‘there was no note left at the scene, and no writing equipment either. In the morning they will no doubt ask you to write out a few lines in an attempt to match your handwriting to Varulv’s. I should not think it will be anywhere near a match, he writes in a very old, calligraphic style.’ Here she sighed, obviously irritated and bored with the conversation and the situation as a whole. ‘To be honest with you Mr. Dalton we’re not entirely sure why he has pulled this little stunt. He must know that with minimal investigation you will be proven innocent… I personally am of the opinion that it was nothing more intelligent than a ploy to secure his escape from a pack which knew of his presence and intentions on human kind. My father however believes that he is trying to throw the shape shifting community into a panic by having some of us bought to the public’s attention. Opinions are divided as to his motives, but the one thing we are all certain of is that he has no idea you are his heir.’
Hunter’s lip curled and he lowered his head back to his paws.
‘In name only of course’ Audra finished with a sneer. Adding as an afterthought ‘perhaps you should attempt to sleep, I have a feeling that will prompt the change back to human form. I’ll carry on speaking for a while so that it seems we are still having a conversation in case any of the officers walk by.’
Hunter did not need a second bidding, he closed his eyes and rolled onto his side. Exhaustion gripping him with its heavy hands, and it was mere moments before he was fast asleep. He could vaguely hear Audra’s voice ringing in his ears as he drifted into a black, dreamless sleep. He was far too tired to worry about what she was saying, and the monotone nature of her condescending tone put him to sleep as efficiently as counting sheep.
*****
He slept heavily until morning, not waking when Audra called for a guard or when the door slammed shut behind her. When he awoke he marvelled that the guards had not noticed his nakedness, and guessed this had merely been down to pure luck and some careful maneuvering around the door by Audra. It was icy cold in the cell when he rose from his slumber, and his skin was dotted with goose bumps. As always after the change, and after a good sleep more often than not, he found he had awoken with an erection so persistent he could have balanced on it. The throb of it was an uncomfortable waking sensation and he could not throw on his garments fast enough. Though it then strained against the material of his jeans, he felt better that he could not see it. He was disgusted with himself that grief had not dampened his body’s processes, and embarrassed that Audra may have had the opportunity to see him throbbing and standing to attention. He hoped she did not think she was the cause of it, far from it. He would rather sign himself up for castration!
His wolf licked its lips and quietly insisted ‘she’s an available female…’
For a fraction of a second he genuinely felt a pang of disgust, mentally chastising the creature that hid within him. ‘No. Not now, not ever!’
Eve on the other hand… He had to stop his train of thought when the pulsing in his already uncomfortably swollen member became too uncomfortable to bear. He was sure he had once read somewhere that sex was life’s natural ‘antidote’ to heal the pain of being around death… Though this explanation did not satisfy the beast in him or make him feel any less guilty. Even though he had never held any romantic feelings for Lucy, having wanton thoughts about other women so soon after her death made him feel disloyal. He knew the wolf in him had a large part to play in his wayward thoughts, though this made him feel no better about them. He needed to focus, and to allow a respectful amount of time to pass before allowing his groin to do the thinking.
He was not left alone with his thoughts for long however; though thankfully by the time the sound of a key rattling in the door lock was heard he was no longer physically showing his lustful desires.
Having just tugged on his boots he turned to face the door and waited for the appearance of one of the inspectors. Instead it was Audra who walked back through the door.
Leaning his elbows onto his knees he raised an eyebrow and sarcastically quipped ‘and there I was just starting to miss you.’
Pulling a face of disdain she stepped into the room and he saw she was flanked by both Truant and Jaunt. ‘Your questioning is to be resumed Mr. Johanson’ she stated flatly ‘if you would like to come with me and the two inspectors?’
Hunter nodded silently and rose from where he had been seated, kicking himself for his tired brain’s failure to notice their scents wafting through the doorway. The last thing he needed was to look cocky and arrogant. He crossed to the doorway silently and followed the three down the hallway and back into the interview room. This time Audra seated herself next to him and pulled an official looking notebook from a briefcase he had somehow failed to notice she had been carrying. She nodded curtly at Truman who flicked on the tape recorder before settling back in his seat.
Hunter could not help noticing that the atmosphere in the room seemed infinitely more tense this time around; both Jaunt and Truman reeked of uncertainty… They were swaying. They were no longer certain that he was the culprit.
Jaunt addressed the tape, reeling off the time, date, and suspect name in a flat tone of voice before beginning her line of questioning with Hunter anew.
‘Your solicitor tells us you have a few forgotten details for us Mr. Johanson?’ She spat the word forgotten as though it left a sour taste in her mouth.
Hunter looked up and into the scornful eyes of the woman questioning him, his eyes grazing over her thin frame draped in the same skirt suit as the previous day. Mixed with the anger he could smell radiating from her was a dense undertone of cloying desperation. She needed to make an arrest on this case and for it to be the right man that was convicted… He suspected that if he did not make his story utterly flawless she would continue to have him detained indefinitely until another murder was committed.
‘That is correct yes. The trauma of finding the young woman almost blotted it from my mind.’
‘Care to tell me about it?’ She barked back at him, her patience almost worn to non-existence.
Hunter nodded and told her the story he had been given by Audra down to the finest detail. Though he did not once look at the pack member sat beside him he could feel her gaze boring into him, willing him to remember each part of the lie perfectly.
Whilst he spoke the two detectives regarded him in stony silence, neither of them giving any visual indications as to whether they believed his story was true or not. Only once he had finished talking did their expressions change. Truman lent back in his chair and glanced agitatedly at his colleague, and Jaunt folded her hands neatly in her lap, striving to look composed and unruffled. Despite the smoothness of her actions somehow she failed.
‘We shall call this man immediately Mr. Johanson. For now we have no further questions and you may go back to your cell.’ She interrupted before he could continue weaving his tale.
Truman flicked the recorder on the table back to off and both detectives scraped back their chairs and rose to their feet. Jaunt made for the door and left without looking back at her suspect, leaving Truman alone with the two shape-shifters. The ageing policeman scowled slightly and pointed to the door.
‘Lets not dawdle. I’ll show you back to your cell now Mr. Johanson.’ He instructed.
Hunter nodded and both he and Audra stood in perfect unison. She held out her hand for him to shake, trying to look official he supposed. He took the hand that was offered to him and shook it limply, not wishing to appear aggressive. Then she turned and left the room, nodding to Truman as she went and disappearing down the hallway with the rhythmic clacking of heels on tile flooring.
Hunter knew he would be expected to walk ahead of Truman and followed Audra after only a moment’s pause. As he passed the other man he was hit by a strong wave of the scent of indecision, and he could not help but feel a little hope. He swung open the door and made his way back to his cell without complaint; Truman hovering over his shoulder and locking his cell door behind him noisily.
Chapter 17
Full of the pointless energy that always filled him after the change Hunter paced the room for a while, taking in every squalid detail of the barren cell. He knew the place was not designed for comfort but for one of his kind it was especially unpleasant. The air was stale and full of old and soured scents, sweat and blood intermingling with the sharp scent of cheap cleaning products. Wrinkling his nose he wished he had a t-shirt to pull over his sensitive nostrils, and found himself wondering if this was usual treatment for a suspect. Surely part of his basic human rights was to be given something to cover himself after being found soaking wet out in the cold and obviously traumatised?
This disjointed train of thought was quickly replaced by more pressing matters when his roaming eyes spotted the dried splashes of blood next to the cot… The change had been so sudden and forceful that he had not been able to influence the order of things, and he knew that he had split his lips and gums. It had happened many times (as well a
s many other injuries) when he had first begun to change at the full moon in his youth. This however was far more inconvenient; he would have to explain it away as a nosebleed and hope they did not notice the pattern of the splashing… His mind was filled with a rolling cloud of worries and doubts. What if somebody had seen or heard his change and he had failed to notice? What if they tested the blood splatter from his floor and found irregularities, what would that mean for the pack and the rest of his kind? Was the pack ready to divert or collect the phone call to call in another of their number to reinforce their web of deceit? What had Audra said his alibi’s real name was…? He couldn’t remember! It was all beginning to get too much and he was terrified he would forget key details… And what about the swabs Audra had warned him he would have to have taken?
He slumped down onto the cot just as heavy footsteps began to echo down the corridor towards his cell. Looking up the scruffy curtain of his fringe, Hunter listened as they stopped on the far side of the door and sat up straight as a key rattled in the lock.