Wolf in Hero Clothing

by Serena Spacey

  After a brief human kind of yelp and holding his nose, he glared at me. I was in the wrong, and I couldn’t step out of it. “Now look what you are doing because of this Z.”

  “It was a wolf-”

  “I don’t care. We treat you like a human hero and not wolf trash. You don’t bring that in here.” Bose had researched enough about wolves, he clearly knew what had happened. Everyone in the room was buzzing with their words, but Bose silenced them. “This has to stop. Roxie Malone is making you primal. All she will do is land you in more trouble.”

  “Then I’ll land in more trouble.” I pushed myself away from in front of him. I tried to deny some of my wolf tendencies when I was on duty, but I couldn’t ignore this. I was not leaving her out there in that condition with an X. I didn’t care if it was an ‘easy way out’ to them. I knew the power of X’s. I knew their weaknesses. That Bladon friend of hers would be powerful, but not powerful enough, and I couldn’t trust his manipulation. “The X is not an option. You want to minimize the risks of this happening? Then start setting some safeguards around her house at least.” I headed toward the door and then stopped. “And if it happens again, and if someone eventually finds out I’m not the dashing hero I was supposed to be?” I glared at him. “Then maybe it’s your fault for naming me Hero in the first place, Bose. I am, after all, still just an old-fashioned fucking werewolf.”

  “Hero, you better not be going after her,” Bose had shouted at me before I took off.

  Better not go after her? Hell, of course I would go after her. Just because this X integrated into society, my ‘guardians’ wanted to take him lightly. Wanted him to be a second option, especially since he could control her scent.

  They didn’t understand. That just made him all the more dangerous.

  Chapter 4: Hero Shows Up Again

  ~Roxie~

  This was so not fair. Ugh, I hated paperwork. I got the last piece signed though as I smoothed out my outfit for the evening. Bladon asked my dad if he could authorize a date and of course dad did. Free and on the same night. I doubted the date would be the success Bladon or dad wanted it to be, but at least I would try.

  I heard a sound behind me but didn’t see anything. “Hello?” No, I knew that sound. I heard a growl. I headed to the window. It was rare to run into projects inside a residence these days, but if that wasn’t some stray dog that just came into my house, I couldn’t trust that growl. First rule of projects I’d been taught since I was a kid was to avoid them at all costs. They could chase people down. I scaled around my window on the roof. I needed to get off of the roof. While climbing, I lost my balance slightly. Stupid high heels. I took them off and dropped them into the grass on the side of the house. I’d worry about them later. With my feet free I continued to try and find a way down. Not too far away, there was a tree limb hanging near the house. It wasn’t something I would want to do normally, but I had to hope it could carry my weight.

  I heard sounds coming from my room, and my bedroom light was now shining through the window. They were in my room. I grabbed for the limb and held it hard. I shimmied slowly down it until reaching a sitting base in the middle. I thought I was home free, but then I heard a growl come from behind me . . .

  When I woke up, I was in the hills somewhere. A sort of den with men all around me. Some looked human while others had streaks of animal signs. Large teeth, pointed ears, and manes. Some were not even transformed, being their true wolf selves. I tried to stand up, but the men were nearing to me closer.

  “Oh, one of you beautiful things survived. I haven’t had a Z in a long, long time.” He reached out and touched my cheek. My heart had been beating fast, what was going on? My heart. I could hear it.

  “She’s probably too scared to be turned on yet. Should we let that stop us?” Everyone around him laughed.

  “Stop it!” I pushed them away as the wolves pulled at my skirt. “Leave me alone, get off!”

  “Don’t worry, by the time we get to mounting you, you’ll have lost all your senses,” a wolf said as he ripped off a chunk of my skirt and another one tugged at my shirt.

  “Easy with her, she’s the only one we’ll ever have,” another one said as it licked the side of my face. I began to scream for help, but they covered my mouth. I blinked my eyes, feeling myself on the edge of tears. What the hell.

  My mouth was quickly uncovered though as that project went sailing through the air.

  “Get away from her!”

  A spotted brown wolf came over and began to bite wolves. I moved away trying to escape, but another grabbed me again. Another grabbed me from behind. “Help me.” I tried to get the brown wolf’s attention, but he was having his own troubles. I closed my eyes as one bit into his neck. A splash of blood came from the brown wolf but he kept fighting. He didn’t even howl even though it looked painful. I had never heard of a good project besides Hero the White Wolf, but I wouldn’t let logic dictate right now. I needed all the help I could get. Another three wolves were grabbing my legs and pulling on my skirt.

  I didn’t think my life could get any worse until I heard the brown wolf talk.

  “Roxie.” He choked and seethed on the ground.

  That wolf knew me? I felt myself being pulled down as another wolf jumped on top of me. “Get off!”

  “Stop coughing. What a way to die,” one of the projects said as they kicked the brown wolf in the gut. Evil things. When they did that though, something came out of its mouth. “What is that?” I watched as the wolf picked it up. It was some brooch that had been stuck in the brown wolf’s throat? “What are you doing with a brooch in your throat?” The brown wolf didn’t answer so he got kicked again. I tried not to squeal as I watched the blood shoot out of its mouth. He looked at me, his eyes half glazed over.

  “Roxie . . . I’m sorry . . .I can’t hold you back any longer.”

  Hold me back? What did he mean and how did I ever know a project? With their attention off the brown wolf, it was all on me. Growls were heard all around me, and I could hear my heartbeat even clearer. I was petrified but as one of the wolves touched my skin, I shivered.

  “I knew it.”

  Huh? I stared at the entrance to the den and there he stood. Hero the White Wolf. Oh, thank goodness. Champion Adventurer Hero charged in and knocked everyone out quickly. Every wolf that took him on failed every time. Amazing. I couldn’t see well in the dark, but I knew that was white fur, it shined almost fluorescently in the darkness. “Champion Adventure Hero, the White Wolf?”

  “Not that again!” He seemed upset with me. “It’s just Hero, and what are you doing out here, Roxie?” He scolded me but took several steps back like he had been allergic to me. “Leaving your house this late at night. Don’t you have any common sense at all or did that X of yours erase that too?”

  ~Hero~

  I was going to say something else about that other wolf, but I spotted the brooch. It was slimy, hanging next to the mouth of a brown wolf I didn’t fight. The ones here were black and grays that I fought. It had already been down when I came in. Roxie had been in trouble. The X project made it clear he would be there. There was an unknown brown wolf in this mix.

  Oh damn no. I headed toward the other wolf knowing Roxie would be fine for the time being as long as she stayed away from me. I touched his head with mine and watched it roll slightly. If this was her friend, then this wouldn’t be easy to tell her.

  “Y.”

  Mm. I stared at his eyes. “Is it you?”

  He groaned. “I guess . . . you were right. I tried to hold her back. I’ve always tried, it’s the reason she’d always been safe. It wasn’t until the time with you that everything went south.”

  I looked at Roxie but she was lying on the ground now. That X was manipulating her scent even now. “Stop it.”

  “I can’t let her remember.”

  “You idiot.” I whispered into his ear. “She won’t appreciate you dying just to let her live in a fantasy world where nothing is wr
ong. She needs to know.” I pulled the brooch away with my paw. “You are covered in dirt and blood,” I whispered again. “There is no telling how you will fair now. Stop wasting your power.”

  “When I stop, Roxie will be defenseless. She will really become like a Z. She only succumbed one time. One time I wasn’t around.” He shook his head. “It just had to be the stupid rich lonely alpha billionaire white wolf, didn’t it? Couldn’t have been some schmuck wolf that I could have dealt with to win her over.”

  Did he just add lonely alpha to that for insult? “This rich lonely alpha billionaire schmuck wolf as you call me,” I said to him, “saved her and you today. This little den is no problem for me. Meanwhile, you almost died and couldn’t even kill one. You would be dead right now if it weren’t for the brooch that belonged to the Z.”

  “I . . . still am.”

  Shit, I knew it. His wounds were so severe even he knew the truth. If I was to run him to a hospital right now, the likelihood of survival wasn’t good. Not only that, but I had to get Roxie out before more wolves came to claim her.

  “You can’t protect her, not like you think. Your scent reeks on her too. Even if I survived, I don’t think I could deal with it. I wanted her, but she isn’t mine. She’s yours.” He closed his eyes. “I can’t take care of Roxie anymore, you have to do it. If you don’t, wolves will use her constantly. I can’t let her end up that way. She’s a good person. The best you’ll ever know.” His breathing had become fainter. “You’re a Y, you’ve got to have the same power over her somehow.”

  No.

  “Just sense it. Sense and see her pheromones. Wrap it around her tight to control her memory, disperse it to keep arousal down.”

  No. “I don’t have that power and I would never use it if I did.”

  “My control is almost over,” the X insisted. “Get her out now before you end up the same way as before.” He struggled to breathe. “Promise me wolf to wolf that you will take care of her.”

  Oh no. No, no. I wanted to step back and get Roxie out, but the words of my pack rang in my ear. A wolf to wolf promise. A sacred promise that must be kept when a wolf was on his death bed. “I don’t have the luxury of protecting one girl. I have to protect the world; that’s my sworn duty. I gave her the brooch, I can’t do anything else.”

  “Take care of her. Marry her and bring her into your life. Roxie is wonderful, she will make you happy. You’ll see.”

  I winced and growled. “I don’t have anyone in my pack. I don’t know Roxie Malone like you do.”

  “Then start. She isn’t like the others. She is so special. She’s not even really . . .” He was going, I could tell. “She doesn’t follow all the rules. Be careful. Hero. Please.”

  Damn. Damn, damn, damn. “I can’t make that promise. I will do what I can.”

  “Promise me.”

  Damn it. “My guardians won’t allow much due to bad publicity. I had to work hard to even get the date. Marriage would be the only option I could get around maybe but-“

  “Promise.”

  I didn’t want a pack. No way did I want a pack. Roxie would eventually want children, she was Z. Yet, I couldn’t deny a wolf’s promise on his last breath. “To the best of my ability, I will put Roxie Malone above all as best I can.”

  “You marked her.”

  “It wasn’t my fault.”

  “You. Marked. Her. Make it right. Deny it all you want, you’ve got primal instinct too. Even as a Z, you know you do. Make it-“

  “I’ll make it right!” I finally shouted in agreement. When I did, I sealed the promise. “I cannot mess with her pheromone power. I can’t control anything, she will have to be told everything now. There is no more blissful ignorance for her; I can’t ethically do it the way you want.”

  “But let her be human.”

  “I do not simply show up at one’s door and offer assistance for no reason. You erased her knowledge of everything I experienced with her; she does not remember the brooch, and she needs to know what could happen.” I would not bend, and I already swore to the wolf’s promise. I could not make a second. “If there comes a day I can’t help her anymore, I will kill her and end the torture.”

  I heard a rough agreeance. “Roxie. I loved her, and she barely knew.”

  “I know.” I stared at the fallen wolf. This X may have been feral, but he truly . . . “You were good. I didn’t think there were any good wolves left out there.”

  “There’s not many. I was one of the last three X wolves. I didn’t just run into Roxie, my father made me make a wolf promise to defend her no matter the cost. Even as young as I had been, he knew she was someone special too. So, you won’t have to worry about your conscience with my numbers for much longer.” He gave a low whine. “Neither of the X’s care for Roxie like I did, but they do know about her too. They don’t care to help her, but they could for the right amount. One of them she vaguely knows and the other doesn’t go to school. If you need them, you’ll have to search hard because this X . . .X’d . . .”

  No more movement. His eyes remained open. I felt pangs of guilt for how I had treated the X wolf. Bladon. I had not even called him the name he had chosen for himself. He was not as bad as I had first thought. If his skill had been better, he could have handled Roxie Malone after all. His only real fault was depending on pheromone manipulation, and that I would have to deal with.

  This would not be easy. I moved over to Roxie and gazed at her. Her clothes half torn off, her cheeks still wet with tears, and a small moan came from her. I looked outside the den.

  What would make a father make a wolf promise about protecting one girl to such a cub so young back then? Special. Back then Z’s were plentiful, how could she have been special? Three of the last X’s within the same territory, two had been in the same advanced schooling institution. I couldn’t take Roxie lightly. I breathed the night air once, knowing a simple brooch wouldn’t make this right. Bladon didn’t die by my hands, but I had felt responsible for his death, and his help would have been valuable after all. Any of the X’s. Not heavy manipulation, just enough that I could talk to Roxie without anything happening. I should have offered a partnership to accomplish that, but I hated the thought of a partner and I just couldn’t get past the barrier of trust.

  Perhaps the X’s I had killed before did have more to offer than I gave them credit for. Either way, there was one less good wolf in the world tonight.

  And tomorrow, I had a new kind of hell to deal with.

  Chapter 5: A Wolf’s Promise

  ~Roxie~

  Bose, the right-hand man of Hero, didn't make much eye contact the whole trip. Truthfully, I felt like an inconvenience myself, but the Adventurer Hero had recommended I have a private talk to him. This would be some talk though. I felt more like a criminal as I walked into the police station. There was no one around, but Bose led me to one of the areas to talk to people in the jail. Hero was there sitting down, holding the phone on the other side of the glass.

  “Before we begin, you will need to sign this,” Bose said to me as he handed me a paper and a pen. “Anything that is discussed between you and Hero is not to become public knowledge, and cannot be held against him. To break this contract, there would be some nasty damages, that, frankly, your family could not afford short from winning the lottery.”

  That didn't sound good at all, but I wanted to know what happened last night. A girl doesn’t just blank out and wake up with the hero of the world saving her and taking her home. I signed the paper and then grabbed the telephone. “Hello?”

  “Hello.” Hero smiled, yet at the same time his eyes looked sad. “How are you, Roxie? How’s the location feel?”

  Feel? “A little different.”

  “Do you know why?”

  “Because it’s a police station?”

  “Where do you think I’d conduct business from? A banquet hall in a hotel?”

  I almost chuckled, but something itched in the back of my mind. “Yeah. I co
uld picture that. I do picture that.” Weird. “It’s fine though,” she answered, “I just want to know what this is about? I remember you taking me home and then, my mind blanks out beforehand. I don’t remember much else.”

  “You won't.” He held his hand up against the glass as he spoke through the telephone. “This time, you'll remember. No mistakes. Then it will be by your own choice what should happen because I can’t keep living this way. I’ve fought over this decision with myself and the territory leaders.” Hero took his hand off the glass. “If you decide after you know to leave, then I won't stop you. Know though, that the option is still open, no matter how much you hate me. Also, I am not fully responsible for what happened. Blaming me won’t bring us any closer.”

  “I don't understand.” I said shaking my head. “What are you saying?”

  “It wasn't easy, and Bose is still mad at me for not taking the chance when I had it with the X.” He looked toward Bose and then back at her. “Things happen when we get together, Roxie, and you never remember. I need you to know what happened, why it happened, and what you are.” He gulped and then cleared his throat. “You're not a wolf, but you are a project. You are known as project Z. You were created to be a breeder.” He stood up in his chair. “Your scent is causing projects to come after you to breed, and you are genetically created to accept it and forget it”

  I covered my mouth in shock “I don't understand. Why? What do you mean a breeder?”

  “You're a project Z, the last. No one ever hurt you before because you apparently had a project wolf manipulating your scent. He became your close friend. Last night, he showed up in his wolf form and sacrificed himself to help you.” Hero tried to speak more, but I wanted to get up and run. “I know it's tough to hear, but there’s more. Don’t get up.”