by Jason Starr
Simon slept on the couch, which was fine with him, because at least he was home. It felt great to be surrounded by the scents of his wife and son, knowing they were close by and he could protect them.
In the morning, Alison was hesitant to leave him alone with Jeremy, but he insisted that she had nothing to worry about, that Jeremy was safer with him than with anyone in the world. He must’ve been convincing because she agreed, but she insisted that he update her every hour with texts.
It was a perfect, sunny November day, and Simon and Jeremy had a blast together. They didn’t do anything special—a couple of playgrounds, pizza, kicking around a soccer ball—but the mundaneness was perfect and just what Simon needed. He noticed that with his new attitude of accepting that he was a wolf now, rather than fighting it, he had much better control of his behavior. He wasn’t craving meat as badly and even managed to eat a couple of slices of pizza—okay, with extra sausage and pepperoni—and feel satisfied. He also noticed that he wasn’t getting quite as much attention from women as he had been recently. He caught a few women checking him out during the day, but when he focused on the love he had for his wolf side it seemed as if women became less interested. And there seemed to be some physical changes as well. His voice wasn’t quite as deep and, when they returned to the apartment later in the afternoon, he noticed that his body hair wasn’t growing as quickly. If this kept up, he could probably get away with grooming himself every other day instead of twice a day as he had been lately.
When Alison returned from work, there was still a lot of tension, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as last night. She had more questions about werewolves and Simon’s behavioral changes. Simon told her about his increased strength and ability to heal faster. When he demonstrated his abilities by lifting the dining room table easily with one hand and pricking his finger with a knife and then showing her how the wound healed within several minutes she was amazed. Like last night, Simon didn’t mention anything about the murders and cannibalism that had taken place. Simon was surprised that she wasn’t suspicious, or at least curious, but he got the sense that, at least for right now, she didn’t want to hear much about the dark side of being a werewolf. She just wanted to feel confident that Simon had it under control, that he wasn’t going to hurt her or Jeremy, but she didn’t want to know any gory details. Simon wasn’t going to push it; if Alison wanted to have a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy about werewolf-related violence, that was perfectly fine with him.
Later, Simon got a text from Charlie, saying the guys were planning to meet tomorrow afternoon at the playground in Battery Park. Simon had a strong urge to be with his pack again and texted back that of course he’d be there. Unlike a week ago, he didn’t feel like he was getting back into anything by hanging out with the guys. He didn’t feel like Michael was manipulating him in any way. He wanted to see the pack because he understood that they were a part of him now and he couldn’t deny it anymore.
Simon was concerned about the police, though, especially Detective Rodriguez. Simon hadn’t seen her leave the woods, and for all he knew Ramon had taken her somewhere and slaughtered her, eaten her flesh, and buried the remains. But wouldn’t the disappearance of an NYPD detective be a major news story?
On his laptop Simon did a search for “Detective Rodriguez NYPD” in Google News and shuddered when a series of news items appeared. But, wait, they weren’t about a disappearance; they were about how she’d single-handedly made a major arrest in a couple of drug-related shootings. The arrest had apparently taken place on Monday evening. How was that possible? On the evening the guys had gone to the woods upstate? Simon had seen Rodriguez unconscious, being attacked by Michael, and then a couple of hours later she’s taking down a drug dealer?
Simon was confused, but he was happy that Rodriguez was alive and apparently very well.
The next day, Simon took Jeremy downtown to Battery Park. Jeremy was thrilled to be back playing with his old friends and, as always, they played well together with no fighting or arguing or trouble of any kind. Simon enjoyed being with the guys as well. They gave him something he couldn’t get anywhere else. It was a feeling that he belonged, that he was a part of something much, much bigger than himself. Charlie and Ramon were chatty and friendly and, though Michael was typically aloof, Simon felt a bond with him as well, but he was well aware that the bond with Michael was temporary at best. Simon hadn’t forgotten Volker’s warning about Michael’s desire to grow his pack, and to someday involve the kids, and Simon knew that it was up to him now. Though Volker was dead, his determination to stop Michael from causing more mayhem was still alive in Simon. If a werewolf remedy existed, Simon was determined to find it. In the meantime, Simon would stay in the pack and embrace his dark side, but he’d be watching Michael closely, and if Michael looked like he was a threat to anyone, Simon would do whatever he had to do to save lives.
That night, Simon was enjoying a quiet night at home with his family, when he had a major scare. The doorbell rang and he smelled cops in the hallway. He thought it had something to do with Detective Rodriguez, or perhaps Volker, so he was shocked when the detectives, whom he’d never seen before, announced that they had come to talk to Alison, not Simon.
Stephen Tyler, the PI Alison had hired, had been missing for several days, and Alison had been one of the last people to see him alive. The questioning was basically an information gathering—Alison didn’t seem to be an actual suspect. But since Alison had hired Tyler to follow Simon, the detectives wanted to know if Simon had had any contact with Tyler. Simon swore that he hadn’t, and the detectives seemed satisfied and left after only about fifteen minutes.
Simon knew that Alison must have at least suspected that he was lying about something, that he might have come into contact with Tyler or knew something about his disappearance that he wasn’t sharing, but if she did have suspicions, she was keeping them to herself. It seemed to Simon that she was serious about this “don’t ask, don’t tell” thing, and if that was the case he was happy to go along with it.
As per their routine lately, around eleven thirty, Alison went into the bedroom to get ready for bed and Simon settled in on the couch. But tonight Alison came back out to the living room in a new slinky black lace bra and matching panties and said, “Want to join me?”
It was the first time they’d attempted to make love in weeks, but it seemed like it had been years. Simon was very tentative at first, as if they were virgins in high school. He’d done a great job of learning how to control his basic urges, but he didn’t know if this would carry over to sex. What if he lost it and mauled her to death? Oh, God, and with Jeremy in the next room.
Simon was on top of Alison, pinning her down. Her scent was so strong and he wanted her so badly. He kissed her neck, resisting an urge to bite through her skin, and then he felt the tingling in his extremities that he experienced before transformations.
Sensing something wrong, Alison said, “Oh, no, what is it?”
Simon was focused on the love he had for the wolf inside him, and he let go of the resistance. Then he realized he was doing it—he was making love to his wife again. It felt so great to be inside her, to be one again, to be connected.
He had to be the luckiest guy in the world.
Simon was loving his double life. He was a husband and a stay-at-home dad, and he was also a member of a pack of wolves. It was as though he had two families with which he felt a strong bond and connection, but in very different ways. He was doing a good job of controlling his urges. He wasn’t perfect yet; occasionally there were minor slip-ups and he still had cravings for meat many times during the day, but all in all he was successfully assimilating into the human world.
In early December, a full moon was coming, and the guys agreed to meet at midnight in the Ramble in Central Park.
Simon explained to Alison what was going to happen and, God bless her, she was cool with it.
“Have a great time,” she said. Then, after she kissed
him good-bye, she added, “Just be careful.”
It was the perfect night to be a werewolf. The temperature was just around freezing, the moon was big and bright, and the first snow of the year, an inch or two, just enough to coat the ground and tree branches, had fallen during the day.
At midnight the guys found each other easily by their scents, and then they stripped naked and transformed into werewolves. Running bare-clawed in the snow as a werewolf reminded Simon of when he was a kid, playing in the new snow in his backyard. Somehow, as an adult human he’d lost that sense of wonderment and abandonment, but as a werewolf it all rushed back. As he kicked up snow and leaped over rocks and fallen tree branches, he couldn’t get his werewolf face to smile, but inside he was grinning madly.
Simon and Charlie raced each other, back and forth, through the woods, and then Charlie climbed to the highest branch of a tree and Simon followed him up. They must’ve been thirty feet from the ground. Charlie was panting, the shiny light brown coat on his face shimmering in the moonlight, and then, with no hesitation, he leaped off the branch, landing on his four feet. Simon had never leaped from such a height, but he knew he had to accept the challenge and he had no fear. He jumped and it was thrilling, falling, accelerating through the chilly night air. He didn’t land perfectly, though, falling onto his side, and then Charlie jumped on top of him and they rolled around, clawing and biting each other, but in a playful way, not deep enough to cause any major wounds. Then Ramon rushed over and joined the pile and the play fight continued until Michael came over and growled menacingly and Simon knew what was going to happen next.
Charlie and Ramon moved away, leaving Michael and Simon face-to-face. It was as if the bully in the schoolyard, Michael, had come over to confront the new kid, Simon. Michael, high up on his hind legs, looked angry and menacing, but Simon didn’t back down. He looked right at Michael, staring at his faint reflection in Michael’s pitch-black, moonlit eyes. Then Simon sensed something different in Michael’s attitude, something he’d never sensed before. Was it fear? Respect? After maybe a minute, Michael ran off with Charlie and Ramon, and then Simon followed. Simon had definitely proven something to Michael, but it was clear that Michael was still in charge of the pack.
For a long time, the four werewolves ran around in the Ramble, chasing and tackling one another, and then Simon detected another scent nearby—but it wasn’t human; it was the scent of a fifth werewolf. He knew the other guys must have noticed it as well, but they didn’t seem at all surprised or concerned.
Then, moments later, she appeared—a stunningly attractive female werewolf with a slender physique, a beautiful dark brown coat, and a wonderful scent. She sidled up to the other werewolves, taunting them with her beauty, and her scent got stronger, more mesmerizing, like the most alluring perfume in the world. Simon had never smelled anything more appealing, and he felt a rush to his brain, a sensory overload that made him dizzy and excited. But why did the scent seem vaguely familiar? He’d never been around a werewolf with this scent, but it reminded him of a much fainter human scent. Then, as she sashayed by again, within inches of the pack of male werewolves, it clicked and Simon knew he was looking at the werewolf version of Detective Rodriguez.
Suddenly what Simon had witnessed in the woods upstate that night made total sense to him. When Michael bit Rodriguez he was giving her his werewolf blood, but the bite didn’t kill her because she had been prepared for it with Michael’s family beer. That was why Michael had accused Simon of stealing a beer from the brewery—but he hadn’t meant the remedy, he’d meant the family beer. Michael had assumed that Simon had taken the beer to save Rodriguez, but actually Rodriguez herself had, or, more likely, Ramon had taken the beer and had Rodriguez drink it.
But if Michael was upset with Ramon for saving Rodriguez, he hadn’t shown it lately; at the playground they had seemed as friendly as ever. It made Simon wonder if Michael had actually orchestrated all of it. Maybe he knew that Ramon would try to save Geri, but the whole purpose of the night was to lure Volker, whom he considered his biggest threat, to the woods so he could be eliminated and consumed by the pack. Simon had no idea if there was any validity to his theory, and he also knew that racking his brain trying to figure out Michael’s MO was always a pointless endeavor. Michael was a mystery that couldn’t be solved, and Simon always had the disturbing feeling that he was at least one or two steps behind him.
Simon didn’t know if a werewolf cop would ultimately be good or bad for the pack, but it was clear that Ramon and Geri were in love. Geri ran with all the guys for a while, but then Geri and Ramon paired off and ran together toward the moonlit lake. Seeing the werewolf lovers together was beautiful, but it also made Simon a little jealous. He couldn’t imagine how amazing it would feel to run with a werewolf whom he was in love with, and he imagined what it would be like if Alison were a werewolf. They could transform together on full moons, make love together as werewolves, and take trips together to remote forested parts of Canada, or the Black Forest in Germany. If they shared the ultimate bond, there would be no more secrets to keep, and they could have a deeper, more connected marriage.
Simon ran alone to the highest point of the Ramble, where he climbed a rock, stood on his hind legs, and howled at the moon.
Having a werewolf lover of his own was just a fantasy, unfortunately, and it would have to remain a fantasy.
Well, for now, anyway.