Once Lost Lords (Royal Scales, Book 1) (10 page)

"We'll talk," I nodded.

Find the elf, figure out what this elf thought I was, figure out
where the Regious heir was, and radio home. Easy, and I knew which
way to start. For now, it was time for food. The delay would give me
a good excuse to see how far Daniel was going to follow me. I doubted
his idea of cutting me loose was quite as free-form as I might hope.

We normally played straight with each other. The only reason I
questioned things now was because of the prize. A quarter million
dollars. Trust and friendship could be measured at a lot less for
many people. It was something I had seen too many times.

No. Daniel was getting married, I would be anxious too.

Suits normally looked terrible on me. Being best man was doubly
impossible, but I felt flattered he thought about it. Happiness
carried me into the worst dive around. Inside would be a goldmine of
unheard of food or at least a back door Daniel wouldn't be able to
find. The location I found couldn't have been more than twenty feet
across and went deep into the building. On one side, there were
tables that made the idea of cozy look like a pipe dream. Opposite
the tables was a menu, a counter to place orders, and likely the
cook's station.

It was manned by a tall white kid that didn't have an ounce of muscle
on him. His backward hat was probably as close as I could get to real
sanitation laws. The burger was okay, not the best, not the worst.
This place wasn’t worth a return trip for burned cow meat.

No one else came inside. If I was being followed, then Daniel would
have been camped out on the street in his car. In that case, I could
shuffle over a few blocks through alleyways and head west from there.

I dropped Daniel’s money on the bill plus tip then headed
towards the back of the restaurant. Near the back, there was a
network of other doors to different shops in this strip. A connection
which allowed multiple stores to use the same restrooms.

Getting out the exit required navigating hushed groups of people.
There was one set of strung out junkies and a confused looking teen
searching for the bathroom. In passing, I may have suggested she hold
it and turn around. The teen must have realized this was a bad area
and decided to do just that. It helped that I filled a good chunk of
the tiny hallway on my own.

A set of side alleys later and I was home free. Nothing in sight, no
Daniel, no unwanted followers, only me and the streets. I hefted my
duffle bag and hiked onward, one hand fiddling with the lipstick
tube. Twisted threads of energy connected from here to him. Elven
cords always resembled pureed crayons.

Mine.

Darkness claimed the landscape by the time I reached the tree line.
Even after that I kept going. Answers and money pulled me forth.
Hell, only a portion would be fine. Daniel could use it for his
wedding. He probably needed to shell out tons to afford the wedding
this girl deserved. I smiled thinking about it. Crummy had a girl.
How cute.

Moonlight littered the forest floor. The trees around made a noise
like laughter at my slow speeds. Reaching the clearing from my vision
with the elf had taken hours. I set about bunking down for sleep.
This wouldn't be my first camping trip outdoors and probably wouldn't
be the last. My back propped up against the base of the tree and both
eyes sunk downward. Sleeping away from home was difficult but
possible.

A few hours would do me, then I could get back to tracking. Morning
would come and I could go from there. One hand scratched an arm
absently as darkness blanketed my thoughts.

Waking up is never an easy process. Prior examples include banging
doors, general yelling, angry ex-girlfriend, and finally something
new.

A hand smacked me on the side of the head. I didn’t react well.
Before I was fully aware, my fingers had curled around a solid mass
of muscle. Incoherent snarls came forth matching an echo of noises
behind me.

Blinking rapidly only gave me a few glimpses of my surroundings.
Trees. People. Fur. Everything was blurry while both eyes kept
crossing. Seconds passed as the situation started to register. In my
grasp was the neck of a male I had never met. Somehow the two of us
were standing up with him pressed against the tree. He was growling.
Veins in his neck were popping as the man tried to force a shift.

Momentary confusion is too long when dealing with wolves. The other
man flashed his arms quickly. One broke the hold I didn’t even
know I could do. His other arm punching me in the gut with excessive
force.

Sleep’s fogginess delayed my normal reaction. Instead of
tensing for the punch, I doubled over and stumbled backward, falling.
As soon as I touched the ground a large set of fangs snapped in my
face. Panic flooded me as I moved to defend myself using a method so
amazingly stupid that it worked.

Both arms latched around the wolf’s neck. My face buried in
muscle and fur. A sharp breath caused my gut to clench in pain, I
used that and tensed inward, knifing my knee into the wolf’s
groin. Then a second swing, and a third before shoving the clawing
wolf off into his pack mates.

There was enough room to scramble backward and get on both feet. Pain
in my belly and legs made standing tall difficult. I reached a hand
back in search of solid rear cover. Anything to limit the circle
forming around me. My mind needed space to eliminate the flotsam
thoughts and focus on the important things. Such as, what in the hell
was going on?

To the left, there were at least three other wolves, large angry
creatures that made normal canines look tiny. On my right were
another two. Near them was a naked human digging through a duffle. My
duffle. A snarl flashed across my face, at the circling wolves, at
the man desecrating my belongings.

Maybe I was delirious. Dreaming. I shook my head trying to jumble
things together. To calm down and make sure this whole situation
wasn’t a fabrication. The hand shuffling around my belongings
wasn’t an illusion. I could feel calloused hands violating each
item. Like those unwelcome fingers were grasping my own skin. It was
too much. Disturbing. Unwelcome.

“
Mine.”

I pushed off from the tree being used as a shield. Waded across the
landscape with a strange haze overshadowing my thoughts. Images
blinked in and out of the moment as my hands grabbed at fur, legs,
swung at snapping jaws. Each brush of motion stirred my senses. Each
footprint a ripple across water. My senses drummed forward as I spun
around lunges, ducked wild leaps, and shouldered weakened flanks.
Each moment a still shot of action as my body moved on auto pilot.
Then a series of angry growls accompanied the sudden sensation of
something wrapped tightly around my neck.

Someone had snuck up on me.

My mind snapped out of the haze with a frightening speed. That was a
tightness I knew. My own garrote was pressed tightly into tendons on
my neck. The tightening sensation served as a focus for a new
situation. Not only had my belongings been trespassed upon, now my
life was in danger. Escape? Flexing hard enough with a yank might
snap the cord, or I might get cut enough to bleed out.

Sloppy. Missing rhythm. Too slow. Too buried. Should be
stronger. Fuzzy things capture me? Pathetic. Disgusted.

Breath came in short ragged gasps as my other thoughts flashed by.
The self-loathing mentality put everything in a strange light. My
head pounded and wrist itched. I didn’t dare move to scratch
it.

Where were the wolves? A quick count showed two down, one was very
angry, the others were circling. None of those included the person
with a frighteningly dangerous piece of woven metals drawn tightly. A
hand brushed against the duffle bag. I choked myself trying to escape
before the pain became too uncomfortable.

A voice shouted. I closed my eyes and I frantically tried not to be
offensive. Tried to retract my senses. My lips sealed tightly to
cover teeth. Slow deep breaths to soothe myself. Anything that
prevented me from straining against the wire.

“Stay still.” The voice behind me didn’t give
warnings. Didn’t utter threats. Only commanded. I kept my eyes
closed and nodded slowly.

The world was slowly calming. The wild sensation and defensiveness of
my abilities retracted slowly. Words became clearer.

Other voices had joined in a loud conversation. Each one accusing me
of unwarranted violence. Not only that, they were calling me racist
and an assassin. Hell. Wolves. Not just one, an entire pack. I had
assaulted one by nearly strangling him against a tree. Another
wouldn’t be able to pee straight for days until his healing
finished. More pack members had minor bruises, one cradled an arm
that bent at funny angles.

My own damage was minor. A few cuts felt slightly aggravating. The
promise of growing pain paled compared to the threat around my neck.

“You should throttle him now.” One of the other males,
angry, human, and probably naked. It wasn’t likely he remained
human all the way out here during whatever hunt they were on. He was
breathing as deeply as I had been.

“No, we woke him up. He was within rights to be upset.”
It was a male voice, older.

“Woke him, like fuck that’s an excuse. He tried to
strangle Leroy, almost neutered Stan, and would have kept going if
you hadn’t collared him.” There were other protests from
the rest of the pack, most in the form of growls.

“Don’t. This is more dangerous than you know. We all must
remain calm.” The man behind me was very measured. Clipped
words. Almost military. Each sentence he spoke was preceded by a deep
breath.

“Get Leroy and Stan to a hospital.”

“I’ve got the newbies on the fourbys. You got him? We
pressing charges?” The noose around my neck tightened in
preparation for my outburst. There was no way in hell I would let
them call this a racial offense.

“Settle.” Pain tore across my body. The world grew faint
and I almost slipped sideways while gasping.

“Get out of here.” The older man behind me was struggling
to remain calm. I had given up entirely. He was in control, for now.
“Don’t touch the bag and take the pack across our
territory.” One hand was on my shoulder, for some reason the
motion was familiar. Almost fatherly.

I relaxed slightly as the other members moved to obey. Wolves took
orders at face value and didn’t put more than a pause into
following them. If the man behind me wasn’t an Alpha, he was
damned close. The woods grew quiet as the rest of the pack raced the
wounded to care.

My belongings were safe. Only the wire around my neck remained
outside of them. Tension had loosened quite a bit as I regained
composure.

“You got ahold of yourself?” Their leader asked.

I slowly nodded.

The wire came undone and I froze for a moment trying to feel how bad
my damage was. Using both palms, I rubbed my neck checking for cuts.
No blood showed on my hands. Tomorrow would greet me with bruising in
a ring pattern. Compared to the rest of the wolves I was on the
better end of the deal.

“They okay?” Apologies could come later.

“They’ll heal. It’s one of the perks.”

I found my feet and turned to face the other man. He was older with
graying hair on his temples. His face barely showed the drag of old
age. And he was completely comfortable being naked in front of me, a
fact I couldn’t quite return that favor on. He didn’t
have much to be ashamed of, most wolves shared a defined physique. In
fact, it almost took a conscious effort for one to grow fat and lazy.

At least I was taller, if barely. There was something about the way
the man held himself that gave the impression he didn’t care a
bit about my height. He was used to giving orders and having them
listened to. His face looked vaguely familiar. My past jobs required
a head for faces, but his escaped me.

“Thanks.” Alphas were one of the few groups that I tried
to sound civil with.

“You’re lucky I was here. Leroy took the wrong approach,
sorry about the rude awakening.” The older man said.

“Not sure what happened there.” I responded. All those
events had flashed by rapidly. My mind was still trying to get an
understanding the situation.

“We spooked you, you reacted. The boys touched your stuff.”
He said.

“Never tried to strangle someone in my sleep.” Never had
anyone wake me up out of the blue like that either. Not without some
sort of buffer, like a door.

“He’ll heal, and it’s a lesson learned. The boys
will want a good story behind why you’re out here, though.”

“Looking for someone.” I said and tried to remain calm
while avoiding eye contact.

“No other scents here but you.”

I raised an eyebrow for a moment and looked at him. It was hard to
say how far I should go with this. Should I tell him I was looking
for an elf? He was unlikely to help, but if he was out here with a
pack he probably thought of these woods as his own.

“Tracking an elf.” I said.

“Tracking? Forgive me if I doubt your skills, but trackers are
pretty rare.” His voice didn’t waver as he talked.

“It is what it is.” Pretty rare is an underestimate.

“Elf huh?” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Sorry
about the boys. These woods go on for a while, though, we checked to
see if you were lost. Then someone found your duffle bag and tools,
and took offense.”

“Don’t blame them, it’s a bad scene.” This
must look terrible. A human, sleeping in the woods of a local pack,
with silver lined items that could be used to kill a wolf.

“I assume you can get out on your own,” He stated.

“I can.” I hoped, I hadn’t really thought about
anything except finding the elf in a day or two, my wood lore wasn’t
exactly up to snuff.