The Altering (Coywolf Series Book 1)

by Abby Tyson

  "I know," Marley said, stepping back to let the wolf jump out. "We set them."

  "What? But --"

  A commotion at the side door drew their attention. Ren was fighting one of the keepers who had come to the barn with Savi and Pearl. The silver wolf bolted toward the newcomer, growling, but Pearl appeared in the doorway and unflinchingly shot the wolf in the back with a dart. It took a few more bounds but then tripped over its back feet.

  Marley tackled Pearl and knocked the dart gun out of her hand, but the third keeper ran into the barn and wrenched him off of her. The two were soon circling each other in boxing stance.

  "Wait! Stop!" Savi shouted, running toward the sparring group. She reached the fallen silver wolf at the same time as Pearl.

  "Savi!" Marley shouted. "Get the wolf!"

  "These are the brothers who need the wolf tomorrow," Savi said. "Tell your keepers to stop fighting them and come get Hettie and Colby. I don't know which cages they're in, so we all need to start searching. There are also two more, but I know where they are."

  Pearl nodded as she bent down and picked up the wolf.

  "Savi!" Marley shouted again.

  "It's okay," Savi shouted back, giving him a reassuring smile. He gave her a stupefied look and then got punched in the face by the keeper.

  Pearl gave a loud whistle and ran for the door. Savi followed, planning on filling Marley and Ren in on the plan. The two keepers extricated themselves from their wrestling matches, but instead of going to Savi, they followed Pearl out the door.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  "Hey! Wait!" Savi shouted. "We need to get Hettie and Colby!" She blocked Marley as he chased after them, putting her hands up. "Wait!"

  "What is the matter with you?" he shouted, rushing past her.

  "We have to go help Nissa. You set her cabin on fire -- she's trapped!"

  Spinning around, he yelled, "No she's not! That girl was chained up in there and we set her free. Now she's waiting for us in the woods. All we had to do was free the silver wolf and go, but now because of you we don't have it!"

  Marley turned and ran out the door after his brother. In the orange glow of the burning cabins, Savi followed. She could make out Pearl's shape far ahead, a dim white figure in the darkness.

  Glancing over her shoulders, Savi could see Marcia spraying the fire with the garden hose, and one of the Gabes throwing buckets of water. Marcia called out something that could have been Savi's name, but it was lost in the loud crackling of the flames.

  Savi ran toward the few silhouettes she could still see in the clearing, but whether one of them was Marley she couldn't tell. When she finally reached the treeline, she had to follow by ear rather than eye, running several steps and then pausing to listen for footfalls. But soon she couldn't hear anything either. Gambling that Marcia's crew was still too occupied to come after her if they heard, she called for Marley, Pearl, even Ren, but no one answered.

  When Pearl had brought her back to the barn, they arrived on the opposite end of the clearing, behind the cabins. Savi headed that way, praying she would be able to find her way back to the camp without Pearl or one of the keepers as guide.

  Savi was passing behind the small barn where she and Marley and Ren had been held, when she heard someone crying. She stilled, honing in on the source, then walked deeper into the woods toward the sobs. The sound stopped when she got close, but she still couldn't see anyone in the heavily shadowed forest.

  "Hello?" Savi called softly. "Is someone there?"

  A small figure dashed by.

  "Nissa! Is that you? Wait, it's Savi!"

  The footsteps stopped. "From yesterday?" asked a small voice. "Why aren't you altered?"

  "I'm not entirely sure. It's a long story." Savi walked toward her. Speaking in the same tone one might use to calm an anxious puppy, she said, "Marley told me that you were locked up by your father. Is that true?"

  "That man is not my father."

  "Oh, no." Savi knelt beside the little girl, the bits of her face not hidden in shadow glistening with tears. Her youth was amplified by her clothes -- fitted elastic pants and matching top covered with cartoon characters. She put a hand on Nissa's shoulder, but the girl jerked it back.

  "When we make it out of here, I'll help you find your real family, okay? Can you be brave a little longer and help me find Marley and Ren, the two guys who set you free?"

  Nissa wiped her face. "Of all the injustices and humiliations wrought upon me over the past two years, the one I resent most is being subjected to condescending treatment like this."

  Savi was taken aback by both the unexpected vocabulary of this elementary schooler, and her accusation. "I'm not being condescending."

  "Oh? Would you talk to an adult the same way you just did to me?" Nissa stared at Savi with a hardened expression that was too mature for such an innocent face, then looked away. "It doesn't matter. It can all end tonight." As if switching to an alternate personality, the girl's haughty demeanor crumbled as she began crying again. "Where is she? I can't see her anymore. They said they wouldn't do that."

  "Who?"

  "Ara," Nissa moaned. "Where's Ara? They took her."

  "Who's Ara? Is she a friend of yours?"

  "Your words are so empty." Nissa laughed humorlessly, her face dappled with light as she looked toward the hidden sky. "No. She's more than just a friend."

  Frustrated with her lack of answers, Savi asked, "Your sister?"

  "The silver wolf!" Nissa cried, equally frustrated. "You must have seen it."

  "I didn't know its name, but I know where it is, sort of."

  Nissa stared at her hungrily, gasping more than talking. "Where? Where is she?"

  "Nothing worked out the way it was supposed to," Savi said, "but if we can find Marley or Ren, or Pearl and the keepers, we'll find the silver wolf."

  "What keepers? Who's Pearl?"

  "There's another group of werewolves -- you know about werewolves, right?" As soon as she asked it Savi knew it was a stupid question, but she still wasn't used to werewolves being real, let alone being surrounded by people who knew about them already. Nissa's glare was her only response.

  "Right. Well there's another group of them who want to change back into humans for good, and the only way they can do that is with the silver wolf."

  Nissa's eyes narrowed in confusion.

  "Pearl," Savi continued, "the lead keeper, is bringing it back to their camp. But the plan didn't work out right, because they were supposed to get my friends out of there too. The other keepers must not have understood the plan." As she spoke, a knot started forming in Savi's stomach as she began to realize the truth about what had happened.

  Nissa's face remained scrunched until understanding dawned upon her, then disgust. "The plan? You were part of this?"

  Feeling less certain about the part she played, Savi said, "They didn't do what they said they were going to do, but I don't see why they wouldn't. Pearl is supposed to give us the silver wolf after they're done with it, but everyone just ran off."

  "After they're 'done with it'? She's not a pencil -- she's a living being."

  The young girl walked a few paces before stopping. Talking to herself more than Savi, she said, "There's no way to turn ona back at night. It can only be done during the day." As she spoke the last few words, her voice trailed off, but her tone sharpened when she snapped her head around, asking, "They want to revert to humans, or ascend to torra?"

  "Humans. Ebony told me that --"

  "Ebony?" Nissa cried. "Marcia has spoken of a woman named Ebony. One of her altered ones. She grew disillusioned with Marcia's mission to save humanity and instead desired to rule it. She led a mutiny, but Marcia's following was too devoted. Ebony and her pack fled to the forest, seeking a path to maintaining their ona abilities forever, becoming gods. These are the people you willingly hand my other half to?"

  "It can't be."

  Nissa's small voice acquired that eerie hint of unnatural maturity.
"Live in the present. Live in truth. It is."

  "What do you mean, other half?"

  "We are two halves, separated for years by Marcia and Top and those." Nissa looked into the woods behind Savi. "My sight of her has faded too much. We'll lose ourselves completely if we don't rejoin soon."

  The little girl's face softened and she wiped the last traces of tears from her cheeks. "At least I know where she is. She has run with another pack near here many times before. I remember it. I can find her."

  Nissa began walking in the same direction Savi had been heading. When Savi started to follow, Nissa stopped. "What are you doing?"

  "Going with you."

  "You're not welcome."

  "I'm going. I need the silver wolf too. Like I said, my best friend and her --" Savi paused, "boyfriend need to be changed back too. Besides, you shouldn't be out here alone."

  Nissa turned on her. "And you think you can just take her? Force her to your will, just like Marcia and her lot have used her? Heedless of whether she wants to stay?" Her steely countenance crumbled as she started weeping again. "She hates the bite. She hates what she's become -- a cog in Marcia's grand plan. All she wants is to run under the moonlight, splash in the stream. Just let her be!"

  A crash through the trees startled them both as Baxter barrelled into them.

  "No!" Savi pounced on Baxter, punching his back and head. The stench of smoke was thick on him.

  "You won't keep me again!" Nissa cried. "I'll die first!" She wailed on Baxter, but he didn't even flinch at what her small hands inflicted.

  Keeping Nissa's tiny wrist in one hand, he rose up and knocked Savi over. "Mama hoped you were true," he said, "and so did I. You cut me deep, kid."

  Savi grabbed a rock and lunged at him again. He tried to hold her off with one hand, but the first blow to his face proved too much. He let go of Nissa and grabbed Savi's hands.

  "Run, Nissa!" she shouted.

  Nissa was already running. Baxter saw this too and growled. Her wrists still trapped in his grip, Savi kicked at his stomach in his moment of distraction. He let go as he hunched over, but caught her leg before she could fully break free.

  "You don't know what you're doing!" he shouted, knocking her to the ground.

  "How could you do this to a kid?” Savi shouted up at him, kicking at his grip. "Kidnapping, werewolves, chaining her up like an animal. She's not even your daughter!"

  Baxter gripped both of her ankles and started dragging her toward the clearing.

  "Let go of me!" she cried, grabbing onto a nearby tree trunk. He jerked on her feet, and she lost her grip.

  "She ain't a kid, Savi." His voice was hoarse, and his words were punctuated by short coughs. "She may look it, but she's a kid as much as you and me are on the Red Sox starting lineup."

  "What do you mean? Ow!" A twig poked Savi hard in the back.

  Baxter stopped pulling. "You ready to walk?"

  She kicked at his leg in response.

  "Fine by me," he said, yanking her forward. "Nissa's an origin, a werewolf who was born that way. They're different than werewolves as we know 'em. Instead of being human most of the time, they can change whenever they want. During Anwi's Eye, they split into wolf and human. But they can't rejoin if they're not together when it ends."

  "Her other half," she whispered, then gasped as they passed over something thorny. Amber's snug shirt was riding up, and Savi was spending as much time trying to keep it down as she was trying to free herself.

  Baxter ignored her yelps. "We think origins are immortal, but she never said for sure. There's no telling how old she is."

  "Immortal?" Savi peered forward and saw the edge of the clearing ahead. Her thoughts turned from Nissa to herself.

  "Don't take me back there," Savi begged. "Please, I can't go back."

  "Singin' a different tune now, huh? I thought you were smarter than this, kid. I thought I was bringing a real asset to Mama and our cause. Instead, I guess I'm just a real ass."

  Savi grit her teeth as a rock scraped up her back. "Alright, I'll walk, I'll walk."

  "Yeah, right."

  Pushing herself up off the ground, Savi said, "I promise."

  He didn't stop walking. "Your word's worth as much as my belly button lint. You coulda hurt someone with that fire, ya know."

  "I didn't start that fire!" she said, trying to walk on her hands. Baxter walked too fast, and she soon fell back to the ground.

  "No, you just distracted us all while your buddy Glenn almost killed everyone. What if that fire had spread to the barn, huh?"

  "Glenn didn't start it either."

  "Then who did?"

  Savi didn't want to alert them to Marley and Ren's presence, so she kept quiet.

  "Thought so," Baxter said.

  At last they passed into the clearing. The grass was a bed of cotton compared to the forest floor, but Savi rolled onto her side just the same to avoid further injury to her burning back.

  Top and two-handed Gabe walked amongst the charred remains of the two cabins, pouring water onto the few small flames still flickering. Half of a third cabin was burnt, its edges covered in white foam.

  No longer in her robe, Marcia was picking through the smoking ashes, pulling out anything that wasn't burnt. When she saw them she walked over. "No Nissa?" she asked.

  Shaking his head, Baxter said, "She was out, but this one kept me from gettin' her."

  "At least she wasn't in there." She gave Savi a cold stare. "Betrayal is in fashion this month, it seems." Addressing Baxter, she said, "Put her on the other bed in the lab. I'll send Gabe to help." Then she walked back toward the burnt cabins.

  Baxter dragged her all the way through Marcia's door, which one-handed Gabe was holding open for them, and across the room. He kicked the rug out of the way, and for an instant her legs were free as he opened the hatch. But before she could scramble up Gabe and Baxter had her arms and were shoving her feet first into the hole.

  Soon she was sliding down, the ladder banging against her throbbing back. It was a short drop, but when her feet hit the cement floor it sent a painful shockwave through her body.

  Ears ringing from her hard landing, Savi put her hands against the cool, hard wall in front of her. The sound of Baxter climbing down behind her didn't even register.

  But the scream did.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Marley had long since lost the trail of both the keepers and his brother. He'd called for Ren a few times, but with no luck. Without letting his mind wander to what that silence could mean, he tried again. Bringing his fist to his mouth, he cupped his other hand around it and blew, filling the forest with the call of the loon.

  No response.

  He counted to sixty and tried again.

  An answer came from his left, much closer than he'd expected. The stranglehold on Marley's heart released, and he replied to Ren as he ran. Soon he saw his brother running toward him. Marley slowed to a walk, but his relief was quickly replaced by alarm when Ren didn't stop running. He scanned the woods behind Ren for pursuers, but his brother's footsteps were the only ones he heard.

  "Ren! What's the matter?"

  With a roar Ren rammed into his brother and threw him to the ground, pinning him there.

  "I told you!" he shouted. "Now you see why I didn't want her here? We lost the silver wolf again!" Ren punched the ground beside Marley's head.

  Wheezing, Marley said, "I don't know what the hell happened. Savi seemed to think she was helping, then she was worried about the girl."

  "Just forget it!"

  Marley wiped his brother's spit off his face and gave Ren's chest a hard shove.

  "Get off me."

  With a growl Ren pushed down on Marley's shoulders and jumped up, massaging the hand that had hit the forest floor.

  "And for the record," Marley said, still on the ground, "we would have avoided whatever screw up that was if she'd come with us in the first place. When I saw her earlier she was talking about meeting o
ther werewolves and a plan to --"

  "Forget her!" Ren loomed over him. "Forget poetry, forget the playground, forget everything except the silver wolf. We need to figure out how to find the people who took it. Did Savi say anything about where they were going?"

  I thought we weren't talking about her, thought Marley, though he kept his sarcasm silent.

  He took his time answering. He was still aching from the fight in the barn and Ren's greeting, but he also knew how much slow responses irritated his brother. Only when he was fully upright did he say, "Amongst the trees which silent grow, I fear naught more than the whispered, No."

  A movement nearby saved Marley from being tackled again. Quick footsteps accompanied a small figure racing through a moonlit patch of forest.

  "Hey!" Ren called out.

  The footsteps faltered, then continued.

  They both bolted, swiftly overtaking the little girl.

  Grabbing her arm, Ren demanded, "Where are you going? We had a deal."

  "You lied to me!" she shouted, kicking Ren's shin. "You said you wouldn't dart her, but I can't see her anymore. You lied."

  "We didn't shoot her," Marley said. "The other guys did. I opened the cage and unbuckled her. She was calm the whole time, just like you said. But when the other group came in they shot her."

  Nissa stopped struggling. "The keepers?"

  "Is that what they're called?" Ren asked.

  "That's what the girl, Savi, said."

  "You saw Savi?" Marley asked, earning a reproachful glare from Ren.

  "She found me in the woods," she said, then glared at them, "where we were supposed to meet. She told me who took my other half."

  "Do you know where they're going?" asked Ren.

  Nissa considered each brother darkly before shaking her head.

  "You're lying," Ren said.

  "Why should I help you?" she snapped. "All you want is to use me just like Marcia did."

  "We have a deal. We set you free. Now fulfill your end."

  "I gave you the keys. It's not my fault you failed. I won't."

  "The deal was you would turn our dad back," Marley said.