by Krista Wolf
We got closer and also quieter. The shattered arches of the once-beautiful Gothic cathedral loomed above us, obliterating the moonlight as we stepped into its shadow. It was here that we’d gathered. In and beneath this hallowed place, we’d all been together as one.
Broderick held up one fist, silently stopping us in a military gesture. The three of froze utterly still.
“I don’t sense her,” he whispered.
“That a good thing?” asked Serena.
“Yes and no.”
“Why yes and—”
“Because eventually we need to face her,” he said. “She’s the one with my totem.”
“Oh.”
“But it would be best to face her alone.”
He motioned us forward. Together we passed beneath stacked arches, and into a wider area that had all the signs of human life again. Broderick was doing his best to remain expressionless, but I knew this part was hard for him. There were memories here that definitely—
“STOP.” I said the word a little louder than I meant to.
“What is it?”
My heart was suddenly pounding out of my chest. It happened too suddenly, though. Too quickly to be—
“You feel it, don’t you?” asked Broderick.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“How close is it?”
I couldn’t respond. I was too lost in my own head, trying to pinpoint the source.
“Damien, answer me,” he growled again. “Is it close?”
Serena looked utterly confused. I couldn’t even tell you what I looked like.
“It’s… It’s…”
It was like my totem was moving. Sprinting. Wherever it was I could sense it spinning faster and faster, causing my whole body to shake.
“I think—”
My sentence died abruptly as the hulking forms of Lionel and Christophe sprang from the outer brush. They landed heavily, skidding across the smooth stones of the ancient courtyard before spinning to face us. I should’ve smelled them. Should’ve heard them coming. But somehow they’d gotten upwind, and gained the advantage.
“DAMIEN!”
The growls, the snarls, the screaming — all of it faded instantaneously away. There was a rush of white noise, as there always was, and then the distinct sensation of leaving my body. Of rapidly falling away, faster and faster.
Of plunging into darkness…
17
SERENA
If I hadn’t seen it — if it hadn’t happened right in front of me — I would’ve never believed it. Not in a million years. Not even after that night in Savannah, when I was terrifyingly sure I’d never question anything I saw, ever again.
Two animals sprang nimbly from the outer edge of the courtyard, shattering the silence. That they were wolves didn’t really surprise me. What did surprise me however, was the sheer size of them.
The creatures were tremendous. Streaked with black and grey, they were three times larger than any dog I’d ever seen. One was bigger and much broader than the other, but both their entire bodies were rippled with muscle.
“DAMIEN!”
Broderick’s voice barely registered in my head. I was too busy staring at the creatures. Just the very presence of the animals radiated power, but it was their eyes that struck me the most. Their eyes glowed with an intelligence and coherence way beyond pure animal instinct.
Their eyes were human.
I spun toward Damien but he was already gone. Where he once stood, only a pile of his clothes remained. Some were shredded violently, some of them merely shrugged off. It was almost like the rapture had happened while my head was turned, and he’d been taken away into the sky.
Except that just ahead of where Damien had stood, a beautiful white wolf was leaping straight at the enemy.
I gasped when I saw it, realizing what and who it was. Understanding in the back my mind I was witnessing Damien, fully changed. Completely transformed into this incredible creature who was now defending me against not one but two attackers.
Do something!
I’d taken two steps backwards when a terrible rending, popping sound reached my ears. Off to my left, Broderick was halfway through his own transformation. My heart caught in my throat as I saw his limbs snap in two. His body somehow bent in upon itself, his skin splitting bloodlessly down the middle as he suddenly sprouted fur, teeth, and a long, canine snout.
For a moment I was speechless. Totally powerless to act. It was like being in shock — seeing something so impossible, so far beyond the scope of reality your brain can’t even register enough to send physical impulses to your body.
I looked on, open-mouthed, as Broderick finished his transformation. He was bigger than the rest of them, all sinew and muscle, his lustrous amber-colored fur all swirled with grey. Quickly he shook out of his remaining clothes and arched his back, his lips curling over a set of snarling, slavering jaws. He sprang before me in a dizzying blur of speed before crouching, head down, in a defensive stance.
He’s protecting me…
The whole thing happened quickly, within the span of seconds. Yet in my mind it had all taken place in eerie slow motion. Just watching it put me into a sort of trance, an almost hypnotic state from which I wasn’t willing to recover. And then suddenly something was sprinting at me — something big and fast and terrifying — and my instinct for self-preservation thankfully took over.
WHAM!
The lead wolf struck my shoulder as I dove to the ground, knocking me backwards and tumbling me end over end. In my mind it registered that it had been aiming for my throat. That it was already going for the kill rather than any sort of submission.
Luckily for me, the wolf that had been Broderick had leapt at the last moment, deflecting most of the momentum.
I watched as the two animals tumbled sideways in a grey-yellow ball, snarling and snapping ferociously. Their attacks were so quick I couldn’t even follow. Couldn’t even tell who was on top and who was on the bottom, that’s how fast things kept changing between them.
Damien — the white wolf, rather — was locked in a similar battle with his much bigger counterpart. I left Broderick to sprint in that direction… and that’s when I heard an even louder growl from beside me.
Shit…
A new wolf stomped into the clearing, sleek and black and deadly-looking. This one didn’t bother bearing its fangs or telegraphing its attack. Instead, it dug four big paws hard into the cobbles and ran… straight for Damien.
I planted my feet and extended one arm. I’d only get one shot, one chance to do something, if I could do anything at all.
I’d have to make it count…
I closed my eyes and pushed. A split second later I was looking again, and the wolf was still running. I felt my throat constrict with despair. My outstretched arm shook with adrenaline, but that’s all it did. Nothing else happened.
Shit! It’s too fast!
Try as I could, there was nothing I could do. The target was just too fast; I could barely focus on the creature and track it at the same time. The wolf was rushing Damien from the side, now. It would hit him. Hurt him. Maybe even—
“DAMIEN!”
His wolf-head whipped up, first looking at me, then at his new attacker. Pulling away from his fight with the bigger enemy, he turned tail and ran. Literally.
This is crazy!
It was, though. I was watching five grown men shifted into wolves, fighting and scrambling beneath the moon’s bluish light, across the broken cobbles of some ancient, forgotten stronghold.
But I had to get control of myself. I was here for a reason.
Broderick!
I whirled, and there he was. Broderick had the other grey wolf pinned against the ground. He was snapping and biting at him, looking for an opening. There was already blood on his flank. Blood on the other wolf’s snout, too.
I raised my arms again, and peripherally I saw movement. The big wolf — the one that had been fighting Damien — was rushing thi
s way. Apparently it was too big and slow to join the chase. It reminded me of my first attacker; the heavyset man in the alleyway, who’d grabbed my wrist…
Lionel, Damien’s voice rang in my head. No big feat outrunning Lionel.
The wolf was slow enough that I could probably hit it. Probably wasn’t good enough.
Luckily I saw another option.
Near the center of the courtyard, a few pillars of stacked stone still jutted up from the ground. I waited until the big animal — or man, or werewolf, or whatever it was — passed by the crumbling stone tower.
Then I flicked my wrist.
I channeled everything into it this time, all my energy, all my focus. The counter-force knocked me back so hard both my feet left the ground. I ended up a good fifteen feet away from where I’d been standing, covered in gravel, my arm completely numb up to the elbow.
‘Lionel’ got the worst of it though.
The decaying column exploded outward, showering the big wolf in a storm of jagged stone and mortar. It went down immediately, yelping like a dog as it skidded sideways and rolled into a quivering, bloody pile. It got up, fell over, then got up again, it’s fur all matted with dust. I could see bright red blood in places, too. Fresh wounds from the shrapnel, all over its body.
The wolf stared back at me coldly, its all-too human eyes regarding me with a begrudging, newfound respect. It was crazy how much it seemed like a person. A person trapped in an animal’s body, but with all the intelligence and understanding of a human being.
I raised my arm again, bluffing this time, and it limped away. I wasn’t sure if I’d injured it badly or if its wounds were superficial. Either way it slipped back into the brush, howling twice before it left.
My eyes shifted back to Broderick’s struggle. The wolf he was still fighting had heard the cry, and immediately twisted away. For a second I thought he’d run after it, the way the black wolf had run after Damien. But then it too backed away, disappearing after one last wary glance into the thickness of the forest.
We were left heaving, standing there, Broderick and I. Both of us out of breath. Both of us covered in dirt and debris.
“Broderick, I… I…”
I was dizzy. Disorientated. Confused.
“I didn’t see where—”
The wolf I knew was Broderick padded over to me, sniffing me over. Its huge snout went into my hand, nuzzling me.
“Where Damien…”
As the rush of adrenaline left my body, so did my consciousness slip away. It would be bad this time, much worse than normal. My mind would be mostly drained, at least for a little while.
Broderick kept pushing against me, trying to urge me in some direction. Still alarmed, I looked around for Damien. Both he and the black wolf were nowhere to be seen.
“We have to—”
My tongue stopped working as Broderick’s wolf body stiffened next to me. His snout went back, his eyes rolling over into his head as the consciousness left them.
Oh my God!
For a second I thought he might be more injured than I thought. That maybe he was going into convulsions, and I needed to help him. Then I remembered what was happening — that this was a man, and not a wolf — and I could only cover my mouth with both hands as I stepped back to watch.
The wolf’s paws split apart, as arms and legs grew out of them. It was more beautiful than grotesque, really. Like watching something being born. Like a snake shedding its skin, or a crab its shell — just watching something entirely new come out of the form of something else, and that something else disintegrating to nothingness before my eyes.
It ended with him on his hands and knees. Broderick crouched there completely naked, his skin stippled with goosebumps from the cold or maybe from the transformation. He didn’t stand for a full ten seconds, and when he did he moved slowly and stiffly, like he was using his legs for the very first time.
“Broderick! I… I…”
The vertigo hit me then. And I was right… it was worse than normal. I’d almost gone too far, actually. Almost but not quite.
Broderick’s body was like that of some sculpted Greek god. His two huge pectorals were almost impossibly wide, stretching up to a pair of the most incredible shoulders I’d ever seen on a man. His legs were big too. Long but thick, and packed hard with muscle above and below the knee. And between them…
My eyes traveled over his midsection. They scanned past some long, jagged scar that I’m sure had a very good story but was also somehow sexy as hell. They moved along, across the flat expanse of his taut stomach. Scanned inevitably downward, to settle upon the impressive length of his manhood now dangling between his bare thighs.
I spoke one more time, breathlessly, as the darkness closed in from the very edges of my vision. “You’re bleeding…”
Then I passed out.
18
BRODERICK
I caught her just as she fell.
I was still in pain, still reeling from the quickness of the dual metamorphosis. The change hurt, as it always did. But the transformation back? That was the worst of all.
The cold bit me everywhere as I laid her gently to the stones. I gave her a minute, shivering as I moved my body to shield her from the wind. She felt hot. Hotter that she should be, even considering our bond.
Our unconsummated bond.
Gently I shook her awake, clapping my palm against her until she stirred. She was beautiful, even in sleep. Maybe even especially in sleep.
“Broderick…”
Her eyes fluttered open. Ready or not I grabbed her wrist and hefted her to her feet. Then, after a quick glance in every direction, I threw her over my shoulder.
“OHH!”
Wherever Damien had gone, I couldn’t go after him. Not like this. Not with her. Besides, I’d need rest soon. We both would, and possibly Serena too.
Worst of all, they’d be back soon. Christophe. Lionel. Boone too, if he ever got done chasing Damien. Chasing being the operative word there, because as fast as Boone was, I knew he’d never catch him. Not in a million years.
When they came back, I wanted to be long gone. Especially since there was a good chance they’d bring her too.
Karessa, now queen of the pack.
The one who’d made me. The woman who’d loved me… and Damien as well. We’d shared time with her here, in this very spot… doing things with and to each other that would live in my memory always. Yet still the image of our ex-mate stung savagely, whenever it floated to mind.
I pushed her away quicker than normal as I entered the forest. Somehow, since Serena showed up? The whole Karessa thing had gotten easier to deal with.
Better hurry.
I thought about the woman pinned tightly against my shoulder as I made my way through the forest. I was no longer angry at Damien for having mated her the way he did. In some ways, I couldn’t blame him. And in others…
Truthfully, she’d probably just saved my life. I wasn’t exactly sure what she’d done to stop Lionel, but when I’d looked up he was already blooded and running away.
Once again the wind took a bad turn. The pack would pick up our scent quickly us as long as we remained out here, and sniff us out long before we made it back to the truck. Leaving the forest tonight was no longer an option.
Besides, I had a better plan. A plan that would allow us to rest safely while giving us time to find Damien again, all at once. Or even better, let Damien find us.
“Broderick, I’m okay,” Serena said groggily. “You can put me down now.”
I kept moving, stepping even faster. “Not yet.”
“But where are you—”
“Just hold tight. We’re almost there.”
With my human eyes I barely follow the unmarked path. If Damien and I hadn’t already taken it a thousand times, I’d already be thoroughly lost.
“Do you know what—”
“Shhh!”
I finally crested the slight rise. Just ahead was another one, an
d between that, my destination.
He’ll get away. He always does.
The little voice in the back of my mind was more worried for Damien than I was. The little bastard was slippery, he knew the area well. Besides, I’d seen him run into the cathedral. No one knew the inside of that place better than he did.
“Okay. We’re here.”
I set Serena down, holding her by her hips until I was sure she could stand on her own. Instantly every one of my senses came alive. The tips of my fingers felt warm as they lingered on her body, identifying her — on the most primal and animalistic of levels — as mine.
“Where’s here?” Serena asked, looking around. “All I see are—”
Seven large stones lay here, half-buried in the ground. At first glance they meant nothing more than a natural formation. But I knew what they were. A rough semi-circle, with a secret in the middle.
Beneath the center stone was a patch of darkness — a small, black hollow. I slipped through feet first, then reached back for Serena. With only my wrists protruding from the ground, she looked absolutely horrified.
“I’m not going down there!”
I shook my hands at her. “It’s either this, or you stay here and they find you.”
She glanced over one shoulder, then swallowed dryly. “What’s down there?”
“Come and see.”
Finally she moved, which was a lucky thing. I was beginning to think I’d have to climb out and throw her over my shoulder again.
She slid against me, clinging to my body in the darkness. It wasn’t until her feet touched the floor that she was willing to let go. And even then, I noticed it was with great reluctance.
“Here, use this.”
I handed her a pocket flashlight, taken from a old pack near the floor. She flipped on the blue LED light and gasped. We were in a long, stone corridor with a smooth floor. The rough-hewn walls in both directions ran straight into pitch darkness.
“What is this place?”