by D. M. Turner
By D.M. Turner
Copyright 2014 by D.M. Turner
Cover designed by the author
White wolf photo by “shocky” of DPC
Brown wolf photo by “atira” of DPC
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or any information retrieval or storage system without the prior written permission of the author.
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, (c) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
BISAC: Fiction/Christian/Fantasy
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents, and dialogue are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
CHRISTIAN FANTASY WORKS PUBLISHED AS D.M. TURNER
Curse of the Talmara
Wolf: The Complete Collection
Baby Makes Three: The Complete Collection (coming in February 2015)
Wolf Short Story Serials (published individually for Kindle):
#1 Turned
#2 Family
#3 Dark Moon
#4 Mate
#5 Rescue
#6 Super Moon
#7 Invader
#8 Acceptance
#9 Thanksgiving Moon
Baby Makes Three Short Story Series (coming individually for Kindle in January 2015):
#1 Shattered Hope
#2 New Life
#3 Precious Gifts
CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN BOOKS PUBLISHED AS DAWN M. TURNER
Prequels to the Donovan Legacy Series:
Promises
Beyond Hope
Donovan Legacy Series:
Truth
Defender
Healer (coming January 2015)
Peace (coming in 2015)
In God’s Time
Table of Contents
Turned
Family
Dark Moon
Ian*
Mate
Rescue
Donna*
Super Moon
Invader
Brett & Kelly*
Acceptance
Thanksgiving Moon
Farewell, Old Friend*
* never before published; available only in The Complete Collection
…for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. - Matt. 5:45b
Flagstaff, Arizona
Thursday, June 4, 2015
COLIN dropped to one knee inside the open iron door and scrunched down to peer under the metal bench that doubled as a narrow bed. Only the bench broke up the concrete walls of the eight-by-eight cell. A dim, bare bulb in the ten-foot high ceiling provided very little light, but it was sufficient for his keen eyes.
Wide, amber eyes stared back at him. The white wolf lay flush on the concrete floor, cowering so close to the wall she almost merged with it. Head on her paws, she shook visibly. Weak light was unable to mask that, even if the scent of her fear hadn’t permeated the tiny room and already given away her terror. Even mundane humans would have smelled it, he was sure, unless the reek of urine and feces clogged their noses as it threatened to do to him. The familiar, cloying stench of death lingered, underscoring the other scents, but he couldn’t tell if it was new or old. Either way, the current resident was very much alive.
“I won’t harm you.” He kept his voice soft and gentle to avoid frightening her further and lowered his gaze to her front paws, only inches from her terrified gaze. “I’m here to get you out. I can help you.” He rested a fist on the floor and leaned closer, ready to jump to his feet should she charge.
Her mouth opened a bit, but not in the snarl he’d expected. She panted rapidly. Stress. He knew the feeling. The room’s stifling heat and lack of ventilation didn’t help either.
Clank. Grind. Cre-e-eak. The metallic squeal clawed up his spine worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. He suppressed a shiver. Brett had reached the next cell. Hopefully his search proved as fruitful as Colin’s had. He turned his attention back to his find.
“I can only imagine what they’ve done to you.” He hated to think what sort of trauma they’d put her through to trigger the Turn. “I won’t harm you, or allow harm to come to you, if I can help it. But I need you to trust me.” He held out his free hand, palm up. “Please.”
Clank. Grind. Creak. His heart sank, and another shudder racked his vertebra. The fact Brett had moved on so quickly to the next cell didn’t bode well. Colin forced his focus back to what was in front of him. He couldn’t change what Brett had found. He could only work with what lay before him.
Her gaze shooting to the door, she flinched then trembled harder still.
“It’s alright. He won’t harm you,” he assured her gently.
She lifted her head a few inches, her nose working to catch his scent. She inched forward, her gaze never leaving him. Her ears twitched forward slightly for a moment.
He smiled, making sure not to show his teeth, and crooned, “That’s good. I want to get you out of here.”
An iron door slammed in the distance, followed by heavy footsteps running their direction. Colin barely restrained a growl as she plastered herself against the wall under the bench again. No need to make her think he was angry with her. Hopefully she wouldn’t smell it. He didn’t yet have the emotional control of some of the older wolves. He glared over his shoulder.
Brett stopped outside the door, Glock in his hand, his gaze focused down the hall instead of on Colin. “Get moving. We’re about to have some very unpleasant company.”
“She’s scared out of her mind.”
“Then leave her,” he snapped. “We won’t do anyone any good if we get caught because some bitch won’t come out of hiding.”
A soft growl rumbled out of the darkness under the bench.
Colin suppressed a smile, not wanting her to take it wrong. “I don’t think she likes being called that.” The fact she had the presence of mind to get snarly gave him hope.
“Well, she is. Canine. Female. Bitch.” Brett’s blue eyes met his, the irises yellow-rimmed as he restrained the wolf inside who sensed a threat and wanted out. “We’re out of time. O’Neil will be here any second to deal with the rogues.”
“What about the other two women?”
“They’re dead.”
Colin winced and bit back a curse.
“They’ve been dead a couple of days.”
Since the full moon. “We’re not losing this one.” Please, don’t make me leave her, he pleaded silently.
Brett met his gaze, sighed, shook his head, and then disappeared from sight.
Colin turned back to the wolf hiding a few feet away. “You heard him. We’re about to have some really nasty company and probably get caught in a cross-fire. If you don’t come with me now, I’ll have no choice but to leave you. Come.” He put just enough authority into his voice that many others wouldn’t be able to resist.
She growled instead of complying.
“Like that, is it?” He chuckled. “How about if I say please?”
After a few seconds, claws dug into concrete. She crawled toward him, easing out from under the bench until she rose shakily to all four paws, her tail tucked firmly between her hind legs. Dried blood clung to her coat on both of her sides, disappearing under her belly, scabbed over wounds matting the hair against ribs that protruded.
He clenched his teeth. Hadn’t they been feeding her? A werewolf’s metabolism was higher than that of a mere human. Injured, her need for food was greater still. The rogues knew that. Why had they starved her?
> “I hate to do this, but we’re gonna have to test your trust.” He slowly reached back and pulled a collar and short leash out of his hip pocket. “We’ll do this nice and easy, and walk right out of here so we don’t attract unnecessary attention. A man out jogging with his dog, alright?”
Amber eyes studied him, and her nose worked fiercely.
“I won’t hurt you, and I won’t let anyone else harm you either.” Colin held up the collar for her inspection. “It has a plastic clip. If you want to run, you can break it without any effort. It’s purely for show.”
Her head cocked slightly, then she took a step closer and lifted it.
He smiled, released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, clipped the collar around her neck, and led her out. Once in the corridor, he broke into a trot then a run, giving her a chance to adjust to his gait so the leash remained loose.
She hugged his leg as they slipped out the door Brett held open.
The other man grinned, his blue eyes almost entirely vibrant yellow. He held up a bottle. A particularly noxious perfume Dad had found that clogged up the nose faster than anything, particularly when sprayed in someone’s face. “One last thing. Go on without me. I’ll be right behind you.” He disappeared back inside.
The she-wolf glanced up at Colin.
He smiled and nodded in the direction he wanted to go. “Let’s get moving before they catch up to us. A car’s waiting a couple of blocks from here. We’ll wait there for Brett.” A light breeze carried the scents of O’Neil and the others as they closed in to deal with the rogues. He had to get their rescuee clear before the fight broke out. In her weakened state, a stray bullet could kill her outright, even if the wound wouldn’t normally prove fatal.
She remained snug at his side the entire distance. The sun wouldn’t rise for a couple of hours yet, so there were few people out and about. A car drove by but didn’t so much as slow down. A dark-haired woman in a yellow reflective vest jogged in the opposite direction on the other side of the street. She glanced over as they both passed under streetlights, made eye contact with him, and smiled, but kept going without so much as a pause in her long stride.
Upon reaching the car, Colin opened the back passenger door and stepped back to let the wolf inside. She took one look at the metal bars between the passenger and driver compartments and backed away. Graham sat in the driver’s seat but didn’t turn around. He’d dealt with enough rescues in his long life to know looking at a newly Turned one that was already frightened wouldn’t be helpful. Colin had never been so grateful for the man’s experience.
“How about if I go first?” Colin dropped onto the seat and slid over, extending his arm to keep the leash loose.
She stared at him for a moment. Her gaze flicked to Graham and the bars then back to Colin.
Brett jogged toward them, for all intents and purposes looking like any other man out for an early morning jog. The wolf glanced over her shoulder at him then scrambled through the passenger door and onto the seat beside Colin. Then she crawled into his lap to get as far as possible from Brett.
He grimaced as sharp claws dug into his thigh and another far more delicate part of his anatomy. Good thing he healed quickly. “Easy. Brett won’t hurt you.”
Without a word, Brett slammed the door behind her, wrenched open the front passenger door, and almost threw himself into the seat. “Go.”
The door slammed as the car’s engine revved and movement forced Colin to wrap his arms around his charge to keep her from being thrown around in the backseat, or heaven forbid, her claws digging in deeper.
The she-wolf crouched close, shaking as violently as she had under that bench in the cell.
Colin unlocked his arms and eased his grip on her, allowing one hand to rest on the back of her neck and caress the thick fur of her ruff. “Easy. None of us will hurt you. You’re safe now.”
* * *
Safe, he’d said. Was there such a thing anymore?
Tanya clung to the one who’d saved her, two parts within at war with each other. One screamed for her to put distance between them, in case he was no better than the men who’d held her captive. The other whimpered at the very thought of letting so much as an inch come between them, in case he was the only one who could keep her safe.
There is no safety. It’s nothing but an illusion. Haven’t you learned anything?
What if he was as bad as the others? Or worse?
She shuddered. Remembered pain racked her body, along with the memory of sheer terror and being locked in darkness.
“Shh. Easy now. No one will hurt you.” Gentle fingers caressed the fur around her neck, massaging stiffness from the muscles underneath.
Fur. There were so many things wrong with that word, she wasn’t sure where to start. Tanya raised her head and studied the paws it had been resting on. Paws where there should be hands. She shifted one then the other, sure they couldn’t be hers. Each one moved to her bidding. What had she become?
She craned her neck to peer into her savior’s face. Darkness concealed his features, except for flickers of illumination from passing streetlights. Light caught a soft smile as he looked down at her. Dark hair fell in gentle, short waves back and sideways from a widow’s peak in the center of his forehead.
“You’ll be fine, darling. I promise.”
Darling. She shivered. Her attacker had called her that, and it hadn’t been kindly. Tanya growled low and lifted one lip in a partial snarl.
“Okay, you don’t like that endearment. Noted.” He chuckled. “How about if I just call you ‘beautiful’? Is that acceptable?”
She silently met his gaze. Beautiful? Her? How could he look at her and say that? She’d been turned into an animal.
“Beautiful, it is then.” He rubbed behind one of her ears, making her want to lean into his touch.
Wow, that felt good. Tension eased.
His eyes narrowed in thought. “What’s your real name, anyway?” His gaze shifted to the man in the front seat. “Hey, Brett. What were the names of the missing women?”
The man who’d chased her into the car pulled a file from between his seat and the console and flipped it open. “The most recent ones are Heather Brimley, Tanya Sikes, and Willa Farley.”
So, that was their names. She’d heard two other women cry, their sobs and whimpers echoing off metal and concrete with nothing to buffer it. It had been a while before she’d realized some of those sobs and whimpers were her own. They’d never shared their names. There’d been no time before the real nightmare had begun.
Warm fingers cupped her chin—muzzle—and drew her gaze back to her savior.
“So, which one are you?” He studied her with narrowed eyes. “You don’t strike me as a Willa. Maybe a Heather though. Are you Heather?”
She stared up at him without moving.
“I guess not. Then you must be Tanya.”
Tanya flicked an ear in his direction and tried to nod. An awkward move in the form she was in with him holding her face, but he seemed to get the message anyway.
He gave her a half-smile, the right side of his mouth turning up. “Tanya Sikes, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Colin Campbell. Our driver is Graham Caldwell. The brute in the passenger seat is Brett Mitchell.”
Brett shot a stern look over his shoulder at Colin, one brow raised, then shook his head and faced forward again.
She relaxed further, reassured by the open friendliness of his smile. Surely someone who could smile like that wasn’t dangerous.
“Can you Shift back?”
Tanya cocked her head. That was possible? She wasn’t stuck in this animal form?
“It’s alright. My father will help you.” He chuckled. “I could try, but I don’t want you to hate me.”
Which meant what exactly? Would his father hurt her?
“We’ll be home soon.”
Home? She hopped to her feet and looked around, tremors racing through her again. She couldn’t go home.
Ever. She’d never be able to explain to her parents what had happened, what she’d become. She didn’t even know. Not that there’d be much explaining. They’d take one look at her and call animal control.
“Easy, easy,” Colin murmured.
Landmarks outside the window didn’t match any part of town Tanya knew. Certainly nowhere near the home she shared with her parents. Buildings thinned and gave way to pine forest. Miles of ragged-edge paved road passed beneath them.
After a while, Graham opened his window, allowing fresh air to fill the vehicle. The sharp aroma of pine, soil, and rotting vegetation wafted past her nose, along with a host of other scents she couldn’t identify. Had the forest always smelled so strong?
Minutes later, they reached a high block wall inset with a pair of solid, metal gates. The fence towered over the car, so it had to be at least ten feet tall. A large sign on one of the gates announced CAMPBELL WILDLIFE PRESERVE. A smaller sign on the second gate warned, “Trespassers will be eaten.”
Somebody had a weird sense of humor. Should that be reassuring or not?
The car stopped at a box perched on top of a thick metal post sticking up from the ground probably eight feet from the fence. Graham flipped up a panel on the front, punched a few buttons, and let the panel drop closed. The gates swung inward. He pulled through then stopped on the other side and watched in the rearview mirror until they sealed tight behind the car.
She glanced back as the car moved forward on a dirt road. Had she been saved from one prison only to become a captive in another?
After they’d traveled for several minutes, another wall appeared, this one taller than the last. The car stopped, but Graham did nothing but sit there. After a few moments, the heavy gates opened of their own accord. He eased the car through gates that closed behind them with a resounding thud. A large house soon came into view.
Tanya hunkered down on the seat and rested her head on her front paws. Now what?