No Werewolves Allowed

by Cheyenne McCray

  “I understand.” I leaned forward and looked at him intently. “Would you prefer that we refer to the tragedies you and your people have faced some other way?”

  Beketov pinched the bridge of his nose, the movement hiding his eyes. When he lowered his hand, the combativeness in his expression was gone.

  “Case…That is…acceptable for you and your team.” Beketov sighed, a deep sigh edged with pain. Pain that filled him from the loss of many of his people and his son. “It does no justice for our travesties, but if it is easier for you to refer to it as such, then do so.”

  My stomach rumbled but I ignored it. Now was not the time to eat. “Do you have any more information that might help us?”

  “Nothing.” Beketov’s gaze turned dark with fury, his normally tawny eyes like bronze glass. “It makes no sense. How can we not scent whatever it is that is taking my people? How is it possible that whatever is causing this disappears into nothing?”

  Olivia grabbed a bottle of Michelob from the cooler and cracked it open. “Do you think something is coming from Otherworld, taking the Weres, then dumping their bodies?”

  I shook my head. “I grew up in Otherworld. There is no being, no beast that would do anything like that.”

  “Underworld?” Joshua said with his eyes focused on me.

  “No.” I wrapped my arms around my knees and brought them close to my chest as I spoke. “Anything in Underworld would just eat whatever they took.”

  Beketov growled and my face heated.

  “I’m sorry.” I hadn’t meant for my words to come out so callously, like they must have sounded to him. “I shouldn’t have said it quite like that.”

  Angel rescued me. “If a creature in Underworld was capable of coming through at all, we’d have an even bigger problem. That would mean any foul thing that inhabits Underworld could escape.”

  “And whatever came from Underworld wouldn’t be returning to that place. Not by choice.” I reached for a bottle of water and twisted off the cap. “We would have another threat to keep Trackers more than busy.”

  The bottle chilled my palm as I swallowed a long drink. The water felt cold all the way to my mostly empty stomach.

  Olivia furrowed her brows in thought. “What, then, if not Otherworld or Underworld?”

  I met Beketov’s gaze. “That’s what we’re here to find out.”

  “Sir!” The tent flap was yanked open by a soaking wet young male, about sixteen, who slammed into Beketov’s back. The boy looked too frantic to apologize as Beketov turned his head and glared. “They found Alois.”

  The alpha whirled, and even in a kneeling position, he did it with surprising grace. The boy was so close to Beketov that the alpha’s shoulder hit him and knocked him out of the tent and into the rain.

  Beketov looked like he was trying hard to maintain the composure of an alpha. “Does he still live?”

  “Barely.” The boy got to his feet, Beketov following him out of the tent. “Dr. Zeman is with him.”

  “Where?” Beketov said, hands balled into fists as he stood. “Is Alois in the camp?”

  Heart pounding, I dropped the water bottle next to my hamburger plate and followed Beketov. The rest of my team hurried out of the tent behind me, into the pouring rain.

  “Dr. Zeman wouldn’t let anyone move him.” The boy pointed toward the east. “Over by Bear Rock.”

  Beketov took the boy by the shoulders. “Have you been there, Vilem?”

  Vilem shook his head. “But I want to go. I want to help.”

  Beketov gave Vilem a firm, don’t-go-against-my-word look. “Stay in camp. You have an important job here. Make sure the little ones do not stray.”

  “Yes, sir.” Vilem looked disappointed, obviously a boy wanting to be a man. He turned away and started jogging to a larger tent in the campsite, his shoes splashing in the mud.

  Beketov said nothing to us. I heard the crack and pop of bone, then looked to see Beketov shift into an enormous wolf with fur the same shade of bronze as his hair.

  He was already bolting from camp before I caught my breath.

  When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw a shadow that passed my feet, a squirrel that darted up a nearby tree, and a pure white wolf, all taking off after Beketov.

  I met Olivia’s gaze and we ran after the others.

  My boots practically sailed over the mud as I tore through the forest. My weapons belt was secure at my hips and I didn’t feel its weight. I had no problem keeping up with the others.

  Olivia might have been short, and considerably slower than a paranorm, but she was fast for a human. She wouldn’t be far behind.

  I arrived in a small clearing just a moment after the others. Beketov had shifted back into his human form and was already bent beside a man who looked to be about thirty. Another man knelt beside Alois, probably the doctor—he had an open bag next to him with what looked like medical equipment and he wore surgical gloves and a mask, even in the rain. Three other Weres stood a few feet from Alois like sentries. Their faces were hard, but I saw pain in their eyes.

  The moment I saw Alois, I wanted to throw up.

  Alois was nude, his wet skin flayed everywhere on his body. It was hard to find a spot that hadn’t been cut open. In some places Alois’s flesh was black or looked gangrenous. In other places the cuts looked fresh, the flesh pink or red.

  Beketov refused the surgical mask the doctor tried to hand him. The alpha removed his own shirt, leaving himself bare from the waist up. He laid his shirt over Alois, the shirt covering the male from his shoulders to his upper thighs.

  Alois’s entire body trembled so hard it looked like he might come apart. He held his hands to his chest, fogged eyes staring up at Beketov, who was speaking to him in a low, soothing tone. I didn’t think Alois could see, but Beketov’s voice seemed to ease the male’s shaking.

  The Were’s lips were black. His tongue was still pink and I thought he was trying to talk. I heard nothing. Beketov leaned closer.

  “Do not come too close, Dmitri.” The doctor’s tone was gentle. “We do not know if he is diseased with some kind of contagion.”

  Beketov’s face flickered with pain. I got to my knees in the mud and grass near the alpha. Alois’s throat worked and he looked like he was trying to push words out.

  The Were managed to say something, his lips vibrating. I couldn’t hear a word but Beketov’s eyes widened. Then Alois’s head lolled to the side, his face turned from Beketov. The Were looked upward like his fogged eyes might see something. Alois shrieked, a horrifying, painful sound. Then his body slackened, his eyes staring into the rain.

  The doctor closed the male’s eyes with his gloved fingertips.

  Heartbreak tore across Beketov’s face. The alpha started to place his palm on the dead Were’s forehead, but the doctor stopped him.

  Beketov lowered his head, now his big hand covering his own face.

  When he removed his hand and raised his head, I wasn’t sure if teardrops were rolling down his cheeks, blending with rain.

  My words were almost lost in the sound of the rain hitting the ground. “What did he say?”

  “Only…” Beketov’s throat worked and he didn’t look at me. “My son is alive. And yet unharmed.”

  An ache pushed behind my eyes and my throat hurt. “We’ll find whoever, whatever is doing this, Dmitri. And we’ll get your son before anything happens to him.”

  He didn’t respond or meet my gaze.

  I got to my feet and faced my team members, who were all a few feet away, in human form. I gave a slight nod toward the forest and the five of us walked away from the clearing.

  When we were under the cover of trees and well away from the Weres, I spoke. “The Were told Beketov his son is alive and well.” I swallowed, the ache in my throat making it difficult. “Nothing else. No clues that would help us find the boy. Nothing.”

  “We’ve got to find his son.” Ice shocked me with his explosive words and the caring his anger showed. H
is expression was harder than I’d ever seen it. “We can’t let whatever it is hurt the kid, too.”

  Angel pushed soaked corkscrew curls away from her wet face. Joshua was somber, and Olivia stared up into the rain falling through the treetops.

  “We’ll get back before anyone disturbs the scene more than they already may have.” As I gave the instruction, the others nodded. “The Weres aren’t Trackers or PIs, so all of the past scenes may have been too disrupted for them to catch any clues.”

  “I don’t understand why I smell nothing near the Were they just recovered.” Angel pursed her lips. “I didn’t even smell Alois. I’ve had a difficult time scenting much of anything.”

  “You’re right.” I frowned as what she said sank in. “I was so concerned about the Were that I didn’t notice until now.”

  “It’s hard to smell the forest or the rain,” Olivia said, her eyes dark and thoughtful.

  Joshua looked around us. “Bloody hell. She’s right.”

  “Whatever or whoever it is is fucking with our sense of smell.” Ice’s face was unnaturally red, contrasting with his white hair. “Won’t be any pieces left when I’m through.”

  “We have our first clue.” Angel peered into the forest as if searching for something. “And it’s a dangerous one.”

  I started toward the small clearing. “We’ll fan out starting from Alois’s body and search for more clues.”

  We were a dead serious group when we returned. Trackers didn’t screw around when it came to our positions on this earth Otherworld, working to make right whatever was wrong.

  When we reached the body, Beketov was standing. “Test your sense of smell. Is it hampered?” I asked.

  Beketov frowned and nodded. “I have been able to scent the bodies of my murdered people before, but nothing else.” He glanced at the Were’s mutilated body. “This time I do not even scent Alois.”

  “Don’t let your males move from here until I say.” I gestured to the Weres acting as sentries. “They might disturb the scene more than they have.”

  I was betting it was difficult for Beketov to take orders from anyone, much less a female of any race, including a female Were. Saying nothing, he inclined his head and turned to speak to the sentries.

  Olivia, Angel, Joshua, Ice, and myself took positions around Alois’s body. “Thirty minutes,” I said. The others nodded and we started our search, slow and methodical, covering all of our territories.

  My sense of smell was shot as I moved through my area. The fan of my territory grew larger and larger. I didn’t see Ice or Angel, both of whom had been to either side of me when we left. I wondered if they searched in animal form. Probably. Their sense of smell could be better, if it wasn’t hampered like it had been in human form.

  Thirty minutes later, we each returned, and it was easy to tell no one had good news. Frustration was on each Tracker’s face.

  “Found what could be a trail leading from the edge of this clearing,” Angel said and everyone looked at her. “Broken twigs, muddy but smeared prints that could have been a bear. With my sense of smell shot, I couldn’t tell if it was an animal or something else. I lost it about fifteen minutes into the search.”

  “Animal trails everywhere,” Joshua said. “But nothing leading away from here.”

  Olivia and Ice nodded. The fury on Ice’s face hadn’t lessened. The fact that I hadn’t given a thought to Ice being that concerned about a child, or anyone else, made me feel a little chagrined. I’d seen him fight with intensity and anger, but I never thought of him doing it because he cared.

  “Looks like Angel’s lead is our best.” I started walking to her territory.

  “This time I’ll go high.” Angel shifted into her squirrel form and scampered toward the territory. She didn’t take to a tree until we were all at the trail. I wondered how often Angel could shift within a certain time period. Most Dopplers had to have time to regenerate—usually twelve hours.

  A large shadow passed me, followed by Ice in wolf form. Olivia and I worked as a two-person team as we searched the trail, too.

  The five of us returned to the tent and slipped inside. We were all drenched, and I was happy to see a pile of thick cotton towels, one for each of us.

  All of the used paper plates and beverage containers, along with the platters of food, had been removed. My uneaten hamburger and the rest of Olivia’s hot dog was gone, too, and I was grateful for that.

  After seeing what I had, the smells would have made the urge to vomit even stronger. The Weres probably realized that because they had had that same reaction every time they discovered one of their family members or friends brutalized and murdered. Like Alois.

  We changed into dry clothing, Ice and Joshua actually giving the three of us girls a little privacy by turning away. Their grins were on the wicked side, though.

  Olivia picked the perfect T-shirt, although both males seemed amused when they turned back and saw it.

  Attitudes are contagious. Mine might kill you.

  Heh.

  We spent some time going over what might have been a short trail that wasn’t by an animal, but it had been too hard to tell, especially with the incessant rain.

  Well into our conversation, my skin started to tingle. “The sun is setting soon,” I said more to myself than my team. “I need to shift.”

  “Can we watch the show?” Ice asked with a smirk.

  I was going to break every one of my rules and kill Ice along the way. The thought of his caring for the child immediately cooled my anger.

  My skin tingled more and more and I didn’t want to transform in front of an audience. I ignored Ice and hurried to tug out my leather tracking outfit from my backpack. My weapons belt and daggers shifted on my hips as I shoved my way past the tent flap and into the almost-night.

  Rain slapped my face and immediately soaked my hair and clothing again. “I need to relieve myself,” I said to the two males guarding our tent.

  Guarding…Why in the Goddess’s name would Beketov put guards in front of our tent? Probably Ice’s big mouth. That would do it. Nah, more than likely it was because of the disappearances.

  All I cared about was the fact that I had to pee and I needed to shift, both very badly.

  I walked past the guards and marched behind the tent. Not far into the forest, mist had begun to gather close to the ground.

  “You cannot leave the camp without accompaniment,” one of the guards said from behind me in a thick Slavic accent as he followed. I glanced over my shoulder, and his sour expression told me he could care less about my safety even as he added, “It is dangerous to leave alone. We go in groups of three by orders of our alpha.”

  I gripped the now wet leather suit and tightened my fist. “I’m a Tracker. I’ll be fine.”

  The guard gave a low rumbling growl. “Do not argue, female.”

  Female? My skin tingled even more, and I knew I had to give in despite the fact that I didn’t like this Were’s arrogant attitude. I’d had to put up with that kind of male Dom mentality on a daily basis in the Drow Realm.

  “Fine, male.” I gritted my teeth and started toward a thick clump of trees in the forest. “But I have to hurry.”

  “Cermak. Lida.” The Were guard called out with irritation in his voice. “Join the guest.” He said guest like it was a nasty word.

  I didn’t look over my shoulder again until I found what I thought was the perfect place to change and shift. A nice circle of trees not too far from the camp. The haze rose higher, growing thicker, which made for better cover, too.

  I turned and faced the two Werewolves in wolf form who crouched behind me. “I’m going to change in private. Don’t follow me around the bushes.”

  One of them stepped forward. His coat was gray and he was way bigger than Neff and Taylor were.

  The change to my body was already happening and I could feel the roots of my hair starting to turn blue. I held up my hand, palm facing him. “Give me privacy. I’ll be right her
e.”

  Thank the Goddess they didn’t insist on watching me. Still, instead of my usual stretching exercises while shifting, I let my body go through its changes while I stripped off my clothing, then pulled on my leather pants and top. I’d never shifted this way—while changing clothes and not focusing on the transformation.

  It was a bit weird and the shift was a little painful because I wasn’t doing my usual stretching into the change. My muscles strengthened and became more defined. My gums even ached more than usual where my small incisors dropped. Maybe I should have shifted the right way regardless, but I didn’t want to literally get caught with my pants down by my “guards.”

  After I relieved myself and covered it with loam and plant matter, I fastened my weapons belt to my leather pants.

  I shook out my arms and rolled my neck from side to side. I did a couple of deep stretches now that I was dressed, then picked up my discarded jeans and soft cashmere sweater. I took a deep breath in of fresh air, pleased my sense of smell had returned.

  Rain continued to soak me, the feel of it pleasurable on my skin, especially my bare midriff and arms. But the mist…something about it felt eerie and wrong and took away some of the pleasure.

  Water was one of the four elements I used in magic, but I hadn’t been able to control mist. Mostly because I’d never had much training with it. When I’d tried to contain and control mist in Otherworld, all the fog had ever done was swirl around me and become thicker.

  “Come out, female,” said the male from the other side of the bushes.

  “My name is Nyx.” My voice was hard as I stepped in front of the two Weres. “Not ‘female.’’”

  They were close enough that we could see each other fairly well through the thickening haze. Both had shifted into human form.

  The two guards each widened their eyes when they saw me, blue hair, amethyst skin and all.

  “What are you?” the female Were said with a frown.

  “I’m half human, half Drow.” When both Weres continued to look puzzled, I said, “Drow are Dark Elves.”

  The male Were scowled and appeared ready to say something when I jerked up my head and swiveled to face the fog that now almost completely shrouded the trees behind me.