Deacon

by Nicholas Bella

  Now, it was time to tell the Alpha. I ran to the stable, taking one of the horses, and rode to the nearest Beta Capo, which was Royce MacGregor, the Alpha’s son. It took me two hours to get to him by horseback, and I hoped that would have been enough time for the fire to destroy everything.

  I jumped off the horse and ran toward the front door of his Tudor-style home, which was a bit grander than the one Winston had chosen for us. Royce opened the door, a frown on his face. I pushed past him, breathless and in tears. “He’s… dead,” I panted.

  “What? Who? What has happened?” Royce asked as he stepped closer to me.

  “Hunters,” I managed to say. “Hunters killed Winston, Sir.”

  Royce’s entire body language changed from one of concern to one of readiness, as if he would attack me. “What do you mean? How is that possible?”

  I shook my head. “I… I don’t know. I was out gathering herbs for supper as Winston told me to do. When I saw the smoke, I ran back to the cottage, but the fire… it was too much… I couldn’t go inside. But… I saw one of the murderers trying to escape.” I balled my hand into a fist and slammed it down on the table. By now, several other wolves had gathered around us to listen to the story I was weaving. “I saw him limping away and I pulled my knife and plunged it into his chest, Sir.” I looked up at them, tears in my eyes. “I…” I shook my head. “I… I’ve never killed anyone before.”

  They didn’t know that was a lie. The only people who knew about me killing Elias’ father was Elias and myself. A secret Elias had vowed to take to his grave. It was wise for us that no one knew about that death, because then, no one could ever use it against us.

  Royce clapped one of his large hands over my shoulder. “You did well, Deacon. And you came here, which is what you were supposed to do.” He turned to the others. “We will go there. We need to make sure there are no more hunters.”

  The wolves nodded and it wasn’t long before we were all on horseback returning to my old cottage that was practically burned to the ground. The remains were still smoldering, yet the stone chimneys remained partially standing in what used to be the bedroom and great room and kitchen. Everything was charred beyond recognition and the smoke was still thick in the air, which I knew would interfere with the senses of the wolves.

  “Jesus Christ,” Royce said as he dismounted from his horse. The other wolves who had come with us also climbed down, so I followed suit. He walked over to the body of the hunter, Marcel, whose chest still held my dagger. Squatting down, he took a good sniff of the body, taking in the man’s scent. “Wolfsbane.”

  “You can smell it?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Wolfsbane doesn’t have a scent that we can smell. That is why it’s so dangerous to us. It can burn when ingested, weaken us. It can also burn our flesh if we come in contact with it. This man’s clothes must be soaked in it, even his flesh isn’t rendering a scent. That tells me he used it to hide his scent from us. He wanted to be able come upon Winston without him knowing. His blood, however, I can scent.”

  “Will you be able to track where he and the other hunters came from?” I asked.

  Royce order the other wolves to spread out to search the area and forest. “I think it will be difficult, but we can try.” He pulled my blade from Marcel’s chest and took in the scent of the blood as he looked over my knife as if admiring it. He rose and walked back over to me, handing me my blade. “You did very good killing this man. I will have to let my father know about your bravery.”

  “I just wish I had gotten here before they could hurt Winston,” I said, then took my knife. Royce laughed at that and I frowned confused by his response. “Did I say something wrong, Sir?”

  Royce shook his head. “No… I just know there are no real regrets that you have for Winston’s death. You hated him and his death means your freedom.” I shook my head, prepared to offer protest, but Royce reached out, grabbing my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “Do not attempt to lie.” He let me go.

  I knew I had to form my words carefully. “It is true, Sir, that I did not like Winston. However, I am pack, and would not stand for anyone harming one of my own. Had I been here sooner—”

  “You would be dead, just like Winston. If these hunters were so skilled to have been able to kill him, a Beta Capo with centuries of power, you were no match. The only reason you were able to kill that one was because he was already wounded,” Royce said. “Winston was able to deal a killing blow with his own blade before he fell victim.”

  “You think me weak, Sir?” I asked.

  Royce looked at me, his blue eyes narrowing. “On the contrary, Deacon. I find you fascinating.”

  Again, he left me bewildered. “Why?”

  He smirked. “I see a lot of myself in you,” was all he said, then he turned and walked into the ruins of what used to be my cottage. All of my belongings were gone, but it was a sacrifice I had to make in order to solidify my story. I couldn’t very well save my favorite things, then claim the hunter set fire to my home. He walked over to the charred remains of the corpses, then stopped over to where Winston’s smoldering corpse lay. “I see it took two of them to take him down in the end. A blade in both his back and front.”

  I joined him where Winston lay. I had to try very hard not to smile down at his burnt skeleton. He deserved it and one day, the others who had raped my mother would soon see the same fate. I could wait to take my revenge on them until the opportunity presents itself. Until then, patience was ever the virtue.

  Royce knelt down and examined the liquid silver that had melted from the blade onto Winston’s bones. “They were indeed very skilled hunters. At least, he took them to the afterlife with him.” He rose and looked around, then sighed. “Everything you owned is in ruins.”

  I looked at where the bedroom used to be and nodded. “I have only what I’m wearing.”

  He turned to take in my appearance. “I see. We will need to go to my father, and he will determine what to do with you.”

  “Will he punish me, Sir?” I asked.

  Royce frowned. “Why?”

  “Because I couldn’t save Winston.”

  He shook his head. “You were out in the forest gathering herbs, following orders given to you by Winston. How could you have known about this attack? And still, you came when you saw the fire and were able to finish off that hunter. Because of you, we know that hunters are aware of our presence and the level of their weaponry. You will be rewarded, Deacon.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief, because the story I had weaved was taken as truth and nothing could point to the contrary. “Thank you, Sir.”

  Two of the three wolves that were a part of the party Royce had gathered returned to report.

  “Did you find anything?” Royce asked them.

  They both shook their heads. “Only scents we gathered were of the boy’s and Winston’s. And of course, forest animals, but nothing else. The wolfsbane masked it all,” one of the wolves said.

  The third one joined us with three horses in tow. “I found these horses at the beginning of the forest, one of them had this one’s scent,” Robert said, gesturing to Marcel’s body. He knew the scent matched because of the blood. “I caught the scent of what I assume are the other two hunters, but nothing at all throughout the forest.”

  “Perhaps, we can track where the horses traveled from,” Royce said. He walked toward his own horse and climbed on. “While the scent may still be fresh, we have to try. Robert, take to your wolf form, we will follow your nose.”

  We all watched as Robert undressed and began his transformation. It looked painful, but I was also mesmerized by the beauty of watching a man turn into a wolf. I was jealous that I couldn’t do it yet. To have such an ability, any amount of pain was worth it. Once he was gloriously in his full wolf form, he shook his gray fur out, getting accustomed to his new muscles. He took a sniff of the horses, then trotted in the direction he’d come from with them, which was the direction I had traveled
when searching for the herbs.

  “Mount up!” Royce ordered, and the other two wolves climbed on their horses. “Deacon, gather Robert’s clothes and bring them. You will join us on this hunt, so you may learn the power of a wolf’s nose.”

  “Yes, Sir,” I said, then ran over to gather Robert’s clothes, balling them up and cradling them in my arms. I walked over to my horse, placed the clothes on the saddle, then climbed on.

  Royce whistled and Robert took off into the forest and we joined, following him as he sniffed his way through the grass, tracing the horses’ hoof prints all the way back to an inn on the edge of town right before you get to the rural area. Robert stayed in his wolf form as the others and myself dismounted. Royce petted his head as he walked past him into the inn and I followed my Beta Capo as he traced Marcel’s scent to the room where the hunter had stayed.

  “Can I help you, Sir?” asked a female’s voice from behind me.

  Royce looked at the female innkeeper and stepped up to her. “Who stayed in this room?”

  The female, who looked like she had seen better days, shook her head. Her gray hair was unkempt and tied in a bun in the back. Her clothes were also of low quality, the dress fraying at the hem. “I don’t know.”

  “Can you find out? Did he sign his name in?” Royce asked. “I will pay you for the information.” He said, then reached into his purse, pulling out several shiny coins.

  The woman’s eyes grew wide as she stared at the proffered coins, then nodded. “I will get the key.” She walked away and we waited.

  “Humans are always motivated by financial gain, remember that,” Royce said. “They will sell their own blood for the proper amount of coin. They call us monsters, but it has been them, who throughout history, have done the most monstrous things to each other. Wolves who long to be human are weak, despicable, and deserve to die. I admire that you only wish to be made whole. To be wolf.”

  “It is all I want,” I said.

  Again, something I said made the Beta Capo laugh.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Certainly, it is not ‘all’ you want. No, no, Deacon. Something tells me you have great aspirations.”

  Well, that was something I couldn’t argue with or deny. But at this point, becoming a wolf was all I wanted… well that, and revenge for my parents.

  The female innkeeper returned with a name and the key to the room. “Marcel Du Bois.” Royce paid her and she left us to search the room for anything we could find. We found more weapons made from silver, arrows, a few swords, and daggers. We also found a satchel filled with wolfsbane, and Royce picked it up.

  “See if you can smell it,” he said, positioning the satchel beneath my nose.

  I looked at the flower with its multicolored petals and took a good whiff. I could only smell a little floral scent. “Barely, Sir. Like a musk.”

  “That is your human senses picking that up. It is also dangerous to humans, but more so for wolves. In fact, the only Monkshood that is beneficial to us is the pink, and that’s only to counteract the poison the other monkshood has caused. If we take the pink by itself, it becomes a poison with no counter poison to heal us.” He closed the satchel and tied it up before slinging it over his shoulder. “Gather all the weapons,” he told the other wolves, who had joined us in searching the room. Once we’d taken what we wanted, we left and returned to Royce’s home.

  “You will stay with me until we visit my father to find out what he decides. For now, eat and rest,” Royce said once we’d settled. “Tomorrow, Robert will return to your cottage and get rid of the bodies left there while we visit my father.”

  “Yes, Sir,” I said, eager to be out of that cottage and forever away from Winston. Royce’s wife, Agnes, prepared a lovely dinner and after I’d eaten, I was able to lay my head down and sleep.

  ~*~

  The next day, we were at his father’s home, our Alpha’s, and Royce was explaining everything that had happened to him. When he was done, Connor looked at me and nodded. “I am proud of you, Deacon. You continue to amaze me for one so young.”

  “It is my honor, Sir.”

  “Royce has suggested that you stay with him and I agree with that. He will take up your training and continue to prepare you for your change. And once that happens, he will then teach you everything you need to know about being a wolf. You are nineteen now. I believe in a few more years, you will be ready,” Connor said.

  Living with Royce was a better option than living with Winston. And Royce wasn’t one of the wolves who’d killed and tortured my parents. That wasn’t his style, from what I knew of him. When we were at war with my old pack, I heard stories of Royce’s prowess on the battlefield. He was quick, merciful, and only cared about how many he killed, not how. Now, I was just looking forward to my future.

  CHAPTER NINE

  To New Beginnings

  “Are you nervous?” Royce asked me as he massaged my back. My muscles had been aching in preparation for my change tonight. The way his hands felt going down my body had me rolling my eyes in pleasure. Just the perfect amount of pressure was heaven to me.

  “A bit, but I am more anxious than nervous. I cannot wait to be full wolf. To be able to run with my pack, hunt, to share in everything I have been missing up until this moment.”

  “Twenty-five long years, I know. It must have felt like you have waited forever. I turned when I was twenty-five as well,” he said, then moved to my calves, which were screaming for his touch.

  “It has felt like forever.” The oil he rubbed into my skin had a pleasant scent to it, almost reminding me of sandalwood.

  I’d been living with Royce for the past six years, training under his tutelage and learning how to take care of myself both as a man and wolf. His methods were better than Winston’s, and dare I might say, even more effective. Best of all, he wasn’t interested in fucking me, for Royce only preferred women. I was free to seek my own carnal pleasures, and that was a freedom I loved. Something Winston had always denied me. I wasn’t the only one who was preparing for the transformation tonight, but I was the only one the pack was interested in.

  The fact that I had swayed Elias to our side made sure he’d enriched our Alpha’s purse and therefore, the pack had placed me in high standing. Then, when I’d kill the hunter who had killed one of our Beta Capos, my place as a Capo upon my transformation was all but sealed. That, at least, was the rumor and one I hoped to see come to fruition.

  Royce slapped my back and I jerked and yelped from the sting. I tossed him a look over my shoulder and he laughed. “That ought to work the kinks out,” he said as he climbed off me. “We have all gone through the trials of our transformation. I want you to drink something that will help with the pain when you make the change.”

  “You won’t find me refusing,” I said as I climbed off the bed. I slipped my robe on, even though I wasn’t ashamed of my nakedness. No wolf was.

  “Follow me,” he said, then led the way out of my room and into the kitchen where he reached into the cabinet, removing a jar of green liquid.

  “What is that?” I asked.

  “It is a potion, very old, that helps to relax your muscles. When you change, you will instinctively tense your body, the pain causes it and makes it hurt even more. This will help ease some of that,” Royce said as he poured some in a mug and handed it to me. “Drink fast, the taste is a travesty onto itself.”

  I took his advice and chugged down the potion as fast as I could. It tasted as horrible as he’d said it would and I gagged afterward.

  “Woah, hold it down,” Royce chuckled, patting my back.

  I swallowed… hard, then held up a hand letting him know I was going to be all right.

  He chuckled. “That’s a good boy.” He walked toward the window, looking up at the sky. “It’s almost time. We should leave.”

  “I will get dressed,” I said, then returned to my room to prepare to ride to the Alpha’s house where the hunt would take place.

&
nbsp; His mansion was huge with a forest on the premises, private, with plenty of deer, rabbit, and other native animals to hunt. And if a human was foolish enough to be trespassing, well, they were also fair game. He’d purchased the property with the money he’d made from the businesses Elias had signed over to him. Through Royce, I’d learned that a great pack Alpha should always have the finances to be able to provide for his pack. To never leave a member in poverty was a golden rule. All pack members might not live wealthy lives, but they should never be without. Even within the pack, there were social classes. I wanted to always be at the top. I had been living with Royce all this time, but I knew that eventually, I would have to break out and make my own way in this life. I was ready.

  We arrived at the Alpha’s house and I was feeling very relaxed thanks to the concoction Royce had given me. I joined the rest of the pack, who’d gathered in the forest. Hundreds upon hundreds of us were present. Although, I knew every member would not be there, as some had to stay and watch our borders. We were always making sure territory was protected from the dragons and any other wolf pack that might want to issue a challenge.

  Therefore, we had security stations set up throughout our territory to where if there was a breach, they could engage and a message could be sent to alert our Alpha of the intrusion. We had a torch lighting system in place, which was the quickest way to send the alert. That way, he’d have time to be able to gather the pack and plan a defense. Connor was a terrific tactician; I’d learned that much when he’d taken out my old pack. He did so with precision, so much so, we never stood a chance.