Authors: Naomi Clark
“
I’m going to be a special
constable,” I reminded her. “They’re not going to let me photocopy
the remand files for you.”
“
No, but you can introduce
me to someone who will.” She kissed my hair.
“
Maybe Moira Clayton will
show you her case files,” I muttered.
“
You’re being
ridiculous.”
“
You’re not planning to go
scouring the crack dens tonight, are you? We’re invited to dinner
at the Fleur de Lis. Joel got this big new contract.”
“
Great,” she said absently,
checking her watch. “I’ll try and speak to Tina and Eddie before we
go. I should get to the hospital, see if the police have visited
Molly yet.”
She was in full-on work mode; I’d get
nothing out of her now. I slipped away, leaving her glued to her
laptop and headed back to the PC to see where aconite was most
commonly found in the wild. It made me feel slightly less
useless.
***
According to my mum, who knew this sort of thing, the Fleur de Lis
had been a venereal disease clinic back in the seventies. I had
that in the back of my mind as we walked in that evening. Now it
was a gleaming, polished restaurant with crystal chandeliers and
fresh roses on every table, but when I inhaled I was sure I could
smell disinfectant and alcohol wipes. Of course, that could have
been the cocktails.
Joel and Vince were already propping up the
bar when Shannon and I arrived, along with Glory. She was dressed
to the nines as always, making me feel underdressed in my linen
trousers and blouse. Luckily Shannon kept the side up in a navy
blue trouser suit. Of course, Shannon looked good in everything.
She was just one of those women.
“
Darling!” Glory cried.
“How are you?” She embraced me, engulfing me in a cloud of Miss
Dior Cherie.
“
Love the dress.” I stepped
back to admire her slinky outfit, surprisingly conservative for
Glory. “I’ve never seen you in black.”
She winked and flashed her shoes at me. They
were six inch lime green stilettos. “I thought I’d better dress
down for this place, but I can’t say no to shoe sales.” She turned
to give Shannon a hug. “Hello sweetie, you’re looking gorgeous as
ever.”
Shannon returned the hug,
then congratulated Joel, who was preening at the bar, beer in hand.
We did the obligatory
how are yous
and made idle chatter while we waited for Joel and
Vince’s parents to arrive. Amidst the low lights and soft music of
the bar, I almost forgot about Molly until Joel leaned past Glory
to ask me if I’d heard anything about the girl.
“
Any news?” he
asked.
I glanced at Shannon, not sure what—if
anything—I was allowed to say.
“
Molly’s still in
hospital,” Shannon said. “I spoke to Tina earlier and she should be
home tomorrow, once they’re sure she’s up to it. Standard
stuff.”
“
God, I can’t believe you
found her out in the woods like that!” Glory pressed a hand
dramatically to her fake breasts. “It must have been so exciting!
And Vince told us you met a feral too, Ayla! Darling, you have all
the adventures.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I wouldn’t say
that.”
“
I can’t believe a feral
got into the city without anyone noticing!” Joel said. “For that
matter, why would a feral come into the city?”
“
Maybe he wanted to go
urban?” Vince suggested.
“
That never happens,” Glory
said firmly. “Once you go wild, that’s it. The end.” She slashed
her witchy talons across her throat. “They forget what it’s like to
be human.”
We all fell silent for a moment and I knew
us wolves were all thinking the same thing. How beautiful it was to
abandon humanity, however briefly. How tempting it was to stay wolf
and run wild. A sweet melancholy settled over me as I contemplated
it.
Then Shannon tapped my arm and the mood left
me. “How about some cocktails?” she asked brightly. “Joel, fancy a
Bloody Mary?”
The meal was fine despite the whole VD clinic thing and I found
myself unwinding slowly as the night went on. I even managed to
forget about Molly and the feral, although my anxiety over
Shannon’s upcoming drug dealer hunt didn’t quite go away.
We lingered over coffee and mints for a long
time before Joel and Vince’s parents headed home, leaving us young
things to enjoy the rest of our night. As midnight approached, we
paid up and left too, full of food and booze. I linked arms with
Shannon and Glory as we stepped out onto the icy street. Street
lamps stained the frosty pavement amber and the clear, moonless sky
sparkled with stars. Clumps of teenagers drifted past us smelling
of beer and kebabs. I inhaled deeply, the scents of the city
suffusing me and filling me with a deep, drowsy sense of
contentment.
“
Taxi home?” Joel asked,
taking Vince’s hand. “I don’t think I have the energy for
walking.”
“
I could go for a run,
actually,” Glory said, releasing me to step out of her shoes and
pick them up. “I need to run off some of that lamb or I’ll never
fit into my dress for tomorrow.” She leaned in to whisper to me
conspiratorially. “It’s a vintage flapper dress. Lots of glitter
and sequins.”
“
Well you’re running
alone,” Vince said, sinking against Joel’s bigger frame and turning
to him for a quick kiss. “I’m voting for the taxi. The quicker
we’re home, the sooner we can get back to celebrating.” He smacked
Joel’s backside and leered at him. Joel pretended—unconvincingly—to
be offended by such talk.
I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t think I want to
share a taxi with you two.”
“
Come running with me.”
Glory took my hand, dragging me away from Shannon. “Shannon won’t
mind, will you, sweetie? You can share with Joel and Vince. Well,
share the taxi anyway.” She winked at Shannon, who rolled her
eyes.
“
If you two want to go off,
I’ll get myself home,” she said. “You won’t be late though, will
you?” she added, brushing my hip with her fingertips and sending a
sensuous shiver through me.
“
Not long at all,” I
promised.
Going for a run with Glory was a big
production. Before the others could hail a taxi and leave, Glory
and I had to strip off and pass our clothes on to them to take
home. There was a changing booth at the corner of the street—the
city council had installed them all over the place once we wolves
started living so openly amongst the human population. They looked
and smelled like public toilets but offered us a little privacy
while we shifted. It was more for the humans than the wolves, I’d
always thought. Nudity was such a big deal for humans.
Outside the booth, Glory solemnly presented
her shoes to Shannon, making her swear to keep them safe and
unscuffed. Then we both slipped into the booth to change. I watched
as Glory stripped off her outfit. Underneath the bright red waves
of her wig, she was a natural mousey blonde. Without the wig adding
to her femininity, she suddenly looked like a little boy playing
dress-up, all over-the-top makeup and chicken fillets stuffed in
her bra. Then came the dress, which she folded neatly and slid
under the door to Shannon, along with the bra and fillets.
I tapped my feet impatiently. I’d already
stripped down to my underwear, which I wasn’t bothered about
ruining, and was eager to shift and get moving. I felt heavy and
bloated from all the food and a good long run home felt like bliss.
“We could be home by now, Glory.”
“
You can’t hurry genius,
sweetie.” Finally, Glory plucked out her earrings and took off her
necklace and the transformation was complete. She was a he. Glenn.
A slender young man in elegant make-up instead of a busty, brash
woman in a beehive wig. I’d seen him do this a few times now, but
it never failed to fascinate me. I thought Glory was beautiful, but
I thought Glenn was even more stunning. Without the wig dominating
his face, you could properly appreciate his perfect cheekbones and
startling green eyes. He flashed a brilliant grin at me. “There,
that didn’t take long, did it?”
“
I’m never going clothes
shopping with you,” I muttered. I dropped to my knees and the
change took me fast, juddering through me. With my stomach as full
as it was, I felt slightly nauseous when it was over.
Next to me, Glenn completed his own change.
In wolf-shape he was no bigger than me. I poked my nose in his ear
and huffed. He swept his tongue along my muzzle, then padded
outside to jump up at Joel, setting his paws on Joel’s shoulders.
Tail wagging, he washed Joel’s face enthusiastically.
“
Good thing I’m not the
jealous type,” Vince said wryly. To my wolf ears, his voice was
loud and strangely high. I flicked my ears and whined, wanting to
set off. I spared Shannon one more look before turning tail and
trotting off. Glenn barked and raced to catch up, leaving the
others behind.
My claws clicked on the ice, skidding a
little, so I resisted the impulse to just sprint. Once we were out
of the city center I’d be able to, but here, weaving amongst
drunken teenagers and crawling taxis, it wasn’t worth the risk.
Glenn kept pace with me, stopping occasionally to sniff some piece
of crap or another on the pavement. Chewing gum, fag ends, crisp
packets; nothing was too disgusting for him to investigate. A
couple of times I stopped to bark sharply at him, impatiently
calling him on.
A couple of people tried to stop us—humans
with cameras desperate for photos to sell to the various
wolf-spotting websites. We ignored them, more interested in the
beckoning scents of damp wood and pondweed wafting on the night
breeze from the parks. Glenn took the lead as we left the city
center, directing us towards Crescent Green; a tiny strip of land
better suited to toy poodles in my opinion.
I didn’t argue though. I’d promised Shannon
it would be a short run. We leapt over the chain link fence onto
the Green and Glenn pounced on me immediately. We wrestled for a
few minutes, rolling around clumsily, yipping like cubs.
And that’s when I smelled the feral.
That crazy, alien scent that excited and
cowed me. It was like a blow to the head, smelling it again. I
reeled, whining and nudging Glenn. He lay on his side, tongue
lolling from his mouth, ignoring me until I nipped his tail. Then
he shot to his feet with an offended yelp and sniffed the air. The
scent affected him even more strongly than me. He whimpered and
dropped to the earth, ears flat, tail tucked between his legs.
Forget
it
, a little voice in my head said.
Just go
.
I couldn’t.
I pressed my nose to the ground, sorting
through the maze of scents until I found his, strong and fresh. I
cocked my head at Glenn, silently asking him to come with me. He
whined and closed his eyes. I chuffed at him, disappointed but not
really surprised, and took off on the trail of the feral.
He wasn’t on the Green anymore, but he
wasn’t long gone either. I tracked him through the estate bordering
the Green, noticing his odor was mixed with the cloying, metallic
smell of Silver Kiss. I picked up other wolves too, but there were
too many for me to be sure if any were actually with him.
I moved mindlessly, fully focused on the
hunt, ignoring humans and cars and other wolves. I was consumed by
the smell of the feral. Why was he here again? Was he connected to
Molly? I trotted past dark houses, rousing sleeping dogs who
strained against their chains to howl at me. I ignored them too.
I’m not a dog-person.
At the edge of the estate I paused, panting.
If I kept tracking him, I’d be out of the city and into the
surrounding countryside. A few miles north was a dual carriageway
that I wouldn’t have traveled on foot even in human form; south was
a cluster of smaller towns and a giant shopping center. But the
feral wasn’t heading for either of those. He was heading for the
massive nature reserve several miles to the east. It was marshy
land, home to rare water birds and protected by the government as a
nature sanctuary. Humans were allowed to walk their dogs there as
long as they stayed on the right side of the river. The rest of the
area was a wilderness. It was the perfect place for a feral to den
and maybe not the perfect place for a city wolf to go alone. I
huffed, torn. I ought to let it go and head home to Shannon. But
that scent was driving me crazy and I couldn’t let it go.
A wolf howled a few streets away and I
recognized Glenn’s call. I called back, my voice trembling in the
cold air. A few seconds later, he was at my side, nuzzling and
licking me. He nosed the air and looked at me, ears pricked
curiously. Were we going on or going back?
I felt braver with Glenn next to me, so I
set off again, glancing back to see if he followed. He hesitated a
second, then ran to join me with a worried yap.
Out of the city we could
really run, unhindered by concrete and the trappings of humanity.
As I nosed around for the feral’s scent, I felt something wild
unfurling inside me, something hot and hungry. My senses buzzed,
assailed by the countryside, the sounds of owls hooting and the
rustle of leaves as vermin raced away. The scents of mulchy earth
and the early-blooming snowdrops, the shifting shadows, the distant
sounds of the city muted by the night. It was so heady, so vivid,
so
now
, I felt
drunk with it all. For a second I forgot the feral, until I picked
up the odor of Silver Kiss again.
That dragged me right back to reality. It
was fainter, but still clear—the frost and recent snow dampened the
local scents a little, so the trail left by the feral seemed to
blaze in comparison. I could almost see the scent in my mind, a
nasty shade of purple.