by Mia Rose
Lucas walked back to where Noelle sat. “I have good health insurance, I’ve managed to jump the queue.”
Noelle leaned forward in her chair and looked left before looking right. Her head turned to face Lucas. “What queue? There are only five or six people here.” Lucas grinned and shrugged his shoulders.
“Lucas, are you sure this leg was broken when you found Noelle?” the doctor asked.
Lucas played a little ignorant with the answer. Noelle stared off into space and ignored the conversation Lucas was having with the doctor. In fact, she was busy looking at all the diplomas and certificates on the walls that showed this doctor really knew his shit.
“When did you say you found Noelle?”
Lucas made a wild guess and stated almost three weeks, because he wasn’t really that sure. Time had blurred since he’d been with Noelle. He had been acting as nurse, provider, and on the odd occasion, someone to share a bed with —or the pasture, or the couch, or the...
The doctor let go of Noelle’s leg and stared back at the x-rays that were clipped to the wall lights. He peered to see if there were any signs her leg had been broken.
“You’re clear to go, there’s nothing wrong with you. Nothing at all.”
Declan stood to wait for the force of Judy’s claws as they sliced through his skin somewhere on his body. He heard the whoosh of air yet felt nothing. He peered through one eye as Judy stood looking at the ground.
“Today’s your lucky day Declan,” she said stamping on the snake that gave its final squirms of life a few inches from his feet.
“Judy, you scared the crap out of me. I thought you’d tricked me and were about to kill me.”
Judy’s wolf-formed head shook before she turned back down the path. “You better climb aboard, we’ve still got quite a way to go.” Declan sidled up to Judy and dug his hand into the fur on her neck. His fist clenched. “Nice grip you have,” Judy mumbled. Declan ignored her comment and threw his leg over her body. His legs dug into her ribs as he held her fur with both hands.
“Yeehaw,” Declan yelled into the night air.
Judy threw her head upward and howled into the night sky. A distant howl responded and was followed by scattered howls all over the everglades.
Judy tilted her head back before she set off. “They all know something big is gonna happen,” Judy commented, bowing her head and sprinting back into the bushes.
Declan leaned on his forearms and closed his eyes. It had been a long time since he’d felt the wind across his face like this. He breathed deeply and embraced the feeling of being free. They got that right, something big is gonna happen. I’m coming back.
Judy dug her paws into the earth as she neared the water. Her shoulders dipped, and Declan’s body flew over her and rolled across the ground. Declan stood and glanced back to Judy as her body morphed back into her human form. Her shoulders writhed as her arms that were raised to the sky twisted and curled, and then she beautifully turned back to the fair skin of her human form.
“I see you weren’t paying attention, did you have your eyes closed or something?” Judy asked as Declan stood dusting himself off.
They stood at the water’s edge. The moon rose above them and lit the path they had to follow. “I can’t see a mangrove tree that’s bigger than any of the others,” Declan commented.
Judy peered further into the dark and shook her head. “Me neither. We have taken the right directions, haven’t we?” Declan nodded, they had followed them exactly as Martha had given them.
“Well, we might as well start wading through the water and see where we end up,” he said, now holding his backpack above his head.
Judy pulled a knife from her sheath and followed Declan into the muddy waters of the everglades. The water rose higher up Declan’s legs, and it passed his waist and paused between his chest and his neck. He looked at Judy, then he saw that the water was touching her chin.
Declan walked forward and screamed. His arms flailed as he tried to balance. Judy snatched his backpack and held it aloft. Declan took in a huge lungful of air, a second before his head vanished under the surface of the water. Judy stared at the calm water around her. There was no sign of Declan.
She waved her hands through the water trying to feel for him. “Declan!” she shouted. She waited. “Declan,” she said again.
Seconds turned into what seemed like minutes. Judy panicked and looked around the surface of the water. Bubbles broke the surface. Declan’s head pushed its way up and through the water, and he gasped for breath as he waded to the large mangrove tree that was a little in front of them. He climbed to the shore and fell flat on his back. Judy threw his backpack up and out of the water and climbed out to meet him.
“What happened?” she yelled. Declan sucked in a huge lungful of air as his chest rose and fell, and then he wiped his hand over his face looking up.
“Tree root, I had my damned foot caught in a tree root. It was lucky I had your knife,” he explained as he sat on the muddy bank.
Judy pointed at Declan’s arms. “What’s that?”
Declan looked at his arms, he had things stuck to him, dark blobs. “Leeches, shit —get them off,” he screamed out. Judy stepped forward and was about to pull at the leeches when they heard a voice appear out of nowhere.
“Don’t pull them, you’ll get infected.”
Declan and Judy turned to see a girl in her twenties approaching them, she had a knife in her hand. The blade glowed orange as she bowed and touched the leeches on Declan’s arms one by one. Declan heard a hiss as the leeches fell to the ground. The girl picked one up and kicked the rest back toward the water before she walked back to the large tree and then vanished from sight.
“Where did she come from?” Judy asked.
Declan stood covered in mud and looked at Judy. “Why don’t you have leeches on you?” he asked. Judy shrugged her shoulders and bent to pick up the backpack. She tossed the bag to Declan.
“Maybe it’s the wolf blood in me.”
Declan shrugged and walked to follow the path where the young girl had come from. They rounded the large tree and saw a cabin that was built into the trunk. Things were hanging from branches. Dreamcatchers and large teeth. The girl stepped from the cabin and sat cross-legged by the fire.
“Thanks for that with the leeches, we’ve come to see your mother or grandmother, Marina, she’s the sister of Martha,” Declan said, unzipping his backpack and fumbling for the cookies.
The girl looked up and sighed. She didn’t really seem bothered.
“Can you speak?” Declan asked. “It’s a matter of importance.” The girl looked up and sighed again as Declan pulled his hand from his backpack. “I have cookies for Marina, Martha said Marina loved cookies when they were kids,” Declan said sitting next to the fire. Judy perched herself on a large log and held her hands close to the dancing flames to dry.
The girl looked at Declan. “Martha told you to bring cookies for Marina?”
Declan nodded and removed the paper bag from the Ziploc, and then he handed them to the girl. “Do you know where Marina is?” he asked.
The girl opened the bag and reached her hand inside. “It’s okay, these cookies are for me.”
Declan and Judy stared at the girl who was sat opposite them across from the fire. Declan thought it must be some joke. Martha was at death's door when he arrived at the hospital and only lasted long enough to give him directions to where he now sat.
“I thought Marina would be the same age —or as good as the same age as Martha, and she was what? Eighty or something?”
The girl placed the paper bag on the log where she sat and leaned forward. The fire cast a golden glow over her fair cheeks and her golden hair. “Martha was my younger sister,” she said as Declan scratched his head. “You don’t think a witch would let herself age to that extent, do you?”
You’ve got a point there, pretty much the same as wolves.
“What happens now then?” Declan asked.
“Do you cast a spell on me and I’m back to normal?” He rubbed his hands together in anticipation of his transformation back into a wolf. Declan was ready to embrace his inner wolf again and set everything right that had gone wrong.
“Declan, I’m a witch, not a magician. I can help you on your way, but I’m not in a position to change the things that nature does. You are as much a part of what I can do, as I am.”
Declan shifted in his seat. “I’m not going to be changed back tonight then?” he asked.
“Not tonight, but once it starts you have seventy-two hours to get it done,” Marina explained as she picked up a wooden bowl and began mixing herbs and leaves.
Marina reached into another bowl and pulled out a leech she had picked up from the ground. Declan heaved as Marina bit its head and squeezed it into the bowl. Marina smeared the mixture into a large leaf and handed it over to Declan.
“There you go, it’s done,” she said.
Declan looked puzzled as he took the leaf from Marina’s fingers. He looked at the bundle. “Now what do I have to do?”
Marina wiped her fingers on her faded dress and looked through the flames. “What happens now is, you take that and wipe it on the teeth of the wolf who turned you, and if he bites you again…” she said.
Declan shook his head. “Nah, that’s not possible. Dustin’s dead, he got killed with the rest of his pack,” he replied. Marina glared through the flames, her eyes never glinted, in fact, they looked as dead as the night that surrounded them.
“Declan, are you doubting me?”
Declan shook his head. “Of course not, I was told he was killed.”
“Trust me Declan, Dustin’s alive. You know where to find him, you have seventy-two hours from the moment you step back in the water.”
Declan placed the poultice into the Ziploc and put it in his backpack. Judy walked from around the fire. “One more thing,” Declan said.
Marina looked up from her side of the fire. “What’s that then?”
“Martha told me to tell you she loves you.”
Marina nodded, not showing any emotion at all. “I have one more thing to tell you; you won’t be the same as before, you’ll be bigger, faster and way stronger.”
“The road home can be just as tricky.”
Chapter 13
This Way or That Way
“Keep your eyes and ears open, anyone can stab you in the back.”
Maria walked into Gabriel’s apartment. It was silent apart from the sound of laughter coming from the shower. Unlike Declan, Gabriel had moved into one of the largest apartments on the top floor. “If you’re gonna be an alpha, you should live like an alpha,” was the way he’d put it.
Maria saw clothes scattered over the floor, and two pairs of panties and two bras. Maria would show concern if she had a crush on Gabriel. But she was only keeping him close to keep an eye on him for Declan’s return. Maria kicked the clothes into a pile and sat on the couch. She’d have to put on a show for appearance's sake, and she quite enjoyed that.
Gabriel walked from the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist. Following were two giggling blondes who both had flushed faces. Maria scanned Gabriel’s body, he looked different, somehow. Her eyes fell onto the solid wall of muscle that was his chest, and then to the tight ropes of muscle in his stomach —and back to the steely-leanness of the muscles in his arms. Shit, Declan might have a problem when he returns. Gabriel dropped his towel while smiling at Maria. He made no effort to cover his modesty. Maria noticed his manhood hanging proudly against the tight muscles of his thighs.
“Don’t worry, Maria, there’s plenty left for you later,” he said in a cocky manner. Maria made a disregarding sound as if she was pissed that the two girls were there with him.
Gabriel pulled the center of his brow in. “Don’t give me that sort of attitude, I’M THE ALPHA here, I’ll do as I god-damn-well please!” Gabriel snorted, throwing the girls into the hallway, half naked. “Pack meeting —twenty minutes. I’m gonna put everyone straight, once and for all,” Gabriel boomed. His inner wolf rose to the surface and his saliva was dripping and his teeth were snapping, just inches from her face.
“Geez Gabriel, don’t forget who you’re speaking to. That might scare a lot of the other members of the pack, but I’ve seen it all before and much worse.”
Gabriel’s face morphed back to normal as he wiped his saliva-covered chin on his towel. He pointed his finger at Maria’s nose. “You wait, you’ll get what’s coming to you. I know your game, you play nicey, nicey to me, and all you want is that freakin’ seat by my side. If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times, you’re gonna have to earn it this weekend.”
Maria snapped out of her play routine when she heard those few words. “The ritual’s this weekend?” she asked.
Gabriel stormed around the apartment room. “Isn’t that what I said?” he scoffed. “That’s the point of this pack meeting if you get off your ass and tell everyone. And not the basement, that smell made me want to puke.”
Maria ran from the apartment and began telling everyone about the pack meeting. It was to be in the apartment lobby. The pack all stood between the front doors (locked and covered), and waited for Gabriel to arrive. None of the pack could sit; Gabriel had said it was a weakness to sit in a meeting, and that it led to people not listening. Gabriel was fond of quoting that famous line from the roadhouse movie. “It’s my way or the highway.” Yet Gabriel’s highway consisted of eating the dreaded silver bullet.
Maria stood waiting, along with all the others in the crowd. She busied herself with looking around at all the carved marble features that laid around the lobby of the apartment building. Stone columns supported the floor, and the stone window frames were hand carved, albeit they’d been boarded by Gabriel’s request. The crowd chatted amongst themselves as they waited impatiently. Maria heard conversations of, “I wish Declan was back,” or “Declan wimped out,” and more current topics of, “Gabriel’s such a dick and I’m thinking of leaving,” to “Gabriel’s so hot, I want to be his mate.”
Maria shook her head in dismay, it was like looking at the reviews on an online marketplace, where you had no clue what was real and what was made up.
“Is everyone here?” Gabriel yelled from halfway up the staircase.
The pack nodded with a few cheers thrown in, just for good measure. Gabriel leaned on the marble balustrade and looked down on everyone. He raised his hand and pointed toward the crowd.
“I hear what you're all saying, and it’s not all positive. You’re restless, and I understand that. What you have to understand is; I’m the one in charge! If anyone here has a problem with the way I run things, you can bite the bullet, and we can end it, right fucking now,” he boomed to a few scattered cheers. Under the cheers were more sighs as he showed his tyrannical leadership skills.
“I wish Declan would silence that dick forever,” Maria heard one of the wolves say quietly from behind her.
“Me too, but look how big Gabriel is now,” she heard a second wolf reply.
Gabriel stretched his arms to the side and tilted his head back. “Who’s ready for the ritual, and what lucky lady wishes to be my mate?” he yelled out like a god. All the crowd cheered now, in essence, the ritual would break up the monotony of the pack being prisoners in their own apartment building. “This coming Saturday, the basement has to be prepared, and all food and drink is to be provided,” Gabriel screamed as he willed his inner wolf to show itself. His face morphed in a split second as gasps fell from the cheering crowd. “Eleven pm on Saturday; women get yourselves ready, it’s gonna be a night you’ll never forget,” Gabriel said as a final note. He began walking back up the stairs without as much as a rear glance back to the pack.
Maria pushed her way through the muttering pack members and ran up the stairs to catch Gabriel. She panted as she caught up with him. “Good speech,” she said gasping for breath. What a self-centered dick.
Gabriel turned his
head and looked. “Yeah, I thought so,” he replied draping his arm over her shoulder. “You sound out of breath, Maria, do you think you’ll cope with the ritual? Some girls have been training really hard, those blondes never even broke a sweat with me, yesterday.”
“Human form, that’s why I’m gasping. In my wolf form I’m much less human!” Maria replied plainly.
They walked casually back toward Gabriel’s new apartment. Maria couldn’t help but notice how the interior had already started to look a little shabby again. The paint was cracking, and the paper on the walls was starting to curl on some of the corners. There were even hand and paw marks on the walls where pack members had carelessly made their presence shown. Come on Gabriel take a look around you, the pack and the apartments are falling apart from the inside.
They reached the apartment and Gabriel opened the door. Maria half turned to leave as Gabriel placed his hand on her arm. “Where do you think you’re going? I said earlier there’d be plenty for you. And now I want to see you pant some more.”
“Oh! Gabriel, you’re so forceful,” Maria replied. What a douche.
Gabriel winked. “I'm being the best alpha I can be.”
Declan pulled himself from the water and checked for leeches, he was free this time. He reached down and offered his hand to Judy, now pulling her up the muddy bank to the end of the pathway.
Judy rested her hands on her knees and looked into Declan's eyes. “Now we have to run again. I wanna run like this before I change to my wolf form,” she said.
Declan threw his backpack over his shoulders and pulled the knife from inside his belt. “Let’s go then!”
They set off running, and being weighed down by wet clothes was harder than when Declan ran in the opposite direction. Now filled with adrenaline, he had less than seventy-two hours to find Dustin. If Marina was right; and he was alive, there was only one place where Declan would find him. The old house in the woods.