[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Chapter Nineteen

It didn't really matter to men that I was surrounded by a hundred people who had just watched me have sex. No, what mattered to me was that the sweet innocence in El's face had been replaced with a cold, triumphant stare. She got up slowly, not bothering to put back on the clothes that I had helped to remove.

She began to walk towards the others. I sat up, my whole body shaking.

"Cherished brethren, today is the first day of the rest of our lives! It will not be much longer that we have to call this place our home! The world will be ours!"

I felt like I was watching a Harry Potter movie and the guy without a nose was giving a speech to all those dudes in skull masks. I grabbed my jeans and put them on, keeping one eye on her. Her back was towards me. I studied the circle of bodies. Two very tiny women were standing side by side. It looked like I could bowl them over without a problem. I slid my feet into my sneakers. There was no time for socks.

"With the birth of the first true Golden Wolves, our numbers and strength will grow exponentially! Starting tonight, there will be a full moon for thirty days straight. We will attack. Some we will turn, others we will kill. Prepare for the feast of a lifetime!"

She began to talk about sex and debauchery, but as far as I was concerned, I never wanted sex again. I just wanted to run.

Her back was still towards me when I broke into a bull run at my two small targets. My hands curled into fists and I was prepared to actually hit a woman or two if that's what it took. My shoulder connected hard with the first one, knocking her back slightly. The other took a swipe with her nails at my arm, but I still got through.

"GET HIM!" I heard El shriek.

The chase was on. Twigs crunched beneath my feet. I swung around the wide trunks of the trees, I swatted at large limbs. I was fast, my senses were on full alert. My worst fear was that in the time I had already spent in the forest, something had happened to Cam. The more I thought about the information El had given me, the more I could piece the truth together through the lies.

That old hag did have a daughter. The crib looked ancient because it was. Ingrid had to be Adele's mother. That would make the monster a billion years old, but then again she looked it.

And I had placed my son in her care.

With the thought gnawing in my gut, I lowered my head and charged. All around me, I heard heavy foot fall. I saw the edge of the forest. I was almost there when Ingrid stepped into the opening.

Cam was wailing in her arms.

I ran right up to her and grabbed her arm. For a frail old thing, her arms were like iron bars. She glared at me.

"If you run away from me, she will kill your son right now."

The voice was soft as silk. I tensed. Adele's body pressed against the back of mine, her hands looped around my waist. "If you come back like a good boy, we'll bring him with us. I guarantee his safety."

"I'm not bringing my son around a hundred wolves," I spat. I tried to pry her hands off, but they wouldn't move. I felt myself weakening again.

"With one little bite I can turn him. He will be in no danger."

"My son is not becoming...this," I growled.

"It is either that or he will die," Adele said impatiently. "Which is no matter to me. Soon you will have better sons to take pride in."

With all the strength I had left, I broke free from her. "I will never have sons with you. Or daughters. Or fleas. Or--"

She smiled. "You have no choice. By being so narrow-minded in trapping me, I managed to trap you. We are bonded together. You can not resist."

"Like hell I can't," I said.

The next few seconds were agony. My brain felt like it was splitting in half. She murmured something and touched her lips and my body moved against its own will. My mouth was on hers, engulfed in hot, desirious kisses. She looped her arms around my neck and turned her head even as my mouth died to be on hers again.

"Mother, bring me the child."

My body was suddenly forced into a slight stoop. El dropped her arms from my neck. I stared at her, my eyes pleading. "No."

"You have a choice," Adele said. "I bite him, I treat him as one of mine, and we all go back and introduce you to your subjects. Or---"

The old lady walked forward. Her fingers were making their way to Cam's pudgy little throat. I lowered my head and moaned. Death probably was the better answer for him, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't.

"Do it," I whipered to Adele.

I didn't look. She moved swiftly away from me. Moments later, Cam's cries grew in intensity. It sounded like he was being murdered. Then, just as suddenly as they had come on, they faded. I turned. He was nestled in Adele's arms. Her mouth was bloody. I glanced back down at him. His chest was rising and falling; he was asleep. Two light bite marks were visible on his upper leg.

"Come with me," she demanded. She nestled him to her breast and began to walk back into the forest. I felt the invisible chains loosen from my body. She was testing me, but it was a test that I'm sure she knew I would pass. I wasn't going to let Camden out of my sight. I followed her back towards the circle. I was flanked on all sides by the others.

"That was exciting!" Adele announced happily as we all returned. She sat down and put Cam across her lap. Her fingers stroked his hair. She glanced at me and I felt a burning sensation start in my stomach.

"Can you feel it?" she whispered.

I wasn't sure what she meant until I saw just the slightest start of hair on my hands. I glanced up at the sky. It was one of those weird late afternoons when you could actually see the moon already appearing in the sky. It was full.

"Thirty straight days," she said excitedly. "It begins tonight. While our legion brings us food and more numbers, we will make love. We will take care of our pup."

She began rambling like a mad-woman. The others were feeding off her excitement; they were getting restless. She handed Cam off to one of the other women and motioned towards me. My feet moved without my consent.

"I want to make love with you as we change," she said.

"You're crazy," I said. She tossed her head back and laughed. She undid my pants.

"I'd rather not be naked in front of all these people," I said. My mouth was working; the rest of my body didn't seem to belong to me anymore.

"Nonsense. We have no modesty here," she said. She stretched out on the rock, beckoning towards me. "Besides, as soon as our first litter is born, you will have your pick of all the other women as well."

"I'm not littering with you," I said. I heard a few peals of laughter. Adele's face flushed. Again she muttered something and my body was pulled. I stretched out beside her.

I hadn't realized it had gotten so late in the day. As I began to have sex with her a second time, the sun started to sink. The transformation to wolf that had before taken almost two days, began to happen rapidly.

"Yes, it is golden," she purred as she ran her hand through the hair thickening at my neck.

At the same moment she said that, I could see her face transforming. Our bodies no longer fit the way humans should. She parted from me for a second before turning around. I knew what to do; instinct and lack of free choice had forced me into a life of seeming stud service. She let out a sound between a moan and a howl as we joined back together.

The first thing that transformed this time for me was my legs; it was a bottom up transformation. A tear fell from my eye.

"NICK!"

It was so random. It was so sudden. The sound of my name and the familiar voice scared the crap out of me. I lifted my head and stared in disbelief through the fading sunlight.

"CATCH!"

Something long and sharp flew towards me. The other wolves had finally spotted the shadowy figure up in the tree and they went on the attack. I grabbed what he had tossed my way.

It was an arrow. My breath caught in my throat. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Brian monkey-scrambling up the tree. "DO IT!" he yelled.

The words came back to me just as if I was still reading them on the computer. Others believe that if the male Golden Wolf can kill Adele, recent victims can be returned to pure human form while older victims may finally find peace in death.

I clutched the arrow in my hand; Adele was still bucking underneath me in the throws of sex-dom. I lifted the arrow above my head. I didn't hesitate; I brought the sharp point down straight threw her chest, aimed perfectly for the heart that beat under the thick fur.

It was an incredible thing. Her body fell from mine. I backed off, feeling once again my own person. She writhed on the rock, half-human, half-wolf. Her eyes were already yellowed. She reached out to me.

"YOU DEMON!" she screamed. All around me I could hear other screams of agony.

I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe something like the Witch melting in The Wizard of Oz? Instead, what happened was an almost instantaneous disintegration into dust. I looked down at my body. No fur.

"Ashes to ashes," a voice said close to my ear. I jumped. Brian had gotten down from the tree. He was holding Cam in his arms. I looked around.

The amount of ash was incredible. About twenty others were still alive. Some had aged considerably, while others still looked roughly the same. Most of them were crying or praying.

"You know, next time you become a wolf, you might want to just tell me instead of making me have to look this stuff up," Bri said accusingly. I stared at him.

"How did you--"

"I didn't suspect anything until they found...they found Howie," Bri said quietly. He paused. "Wait, I take that back. I started to wonder when I had to shave you. Which was disgusting by the way. And watching you have sex just then? You so owe me. "

I ran a hand down my face. "Bri, I can't even--"

"Once I put the pieces together, I realized you must have run off in guilt. Lauren and D...it was too much of a coincidence. By the way, no one even suspected you. They think that there's some crazy Backstreet-related serial killer on the loose. When you disappeared, everyone just assumed you were the next victim."

"Are you kidding me?" I asked. Bri shook his head. We both looked down at Cam.

"I can't go back," I said.

"Of course you can," Bri argued. "Well, you can once you put your clothes back on."

"But Leigh...James..."

"She's worried about you. Everyone's worried about you. We're all family. Besides, I know deep in my heart that you would never have killed D if you hadn't changed. I looked at the calendar. It was a full moon that night.."

Another tear fell, but I didn't care. Bri had pretty much seen it all. I took Cam and we picked through the ash piles, our feet pointing in the direction of the road. "When have I ever been normal?" I finally asked, smiling weakly.

Bri grinned and slapped me on the back.

"Good point, buddy. Good point."