Authors: Naomi Clark
***
Dusk was settling over the city when Eddie and Moira showed up on
our doorstep. Shannon was curled up on the sofa with her laptop,
looking at properties up north in a sort of pointed silence. I sat
next to her, flipping through TV channels and occasionally glancing
at the laptop screen to grunt a half-hearted opinion on whatever
house she had up.
“
We could afford this,” she
said, tapping my arm. I looked at the house and groaned inwardly.
It was a tiny, grey stone mid-terrace house, crammed in amongst
numerous identical grey stone houses in a dirty council estate with
not even a flowerbed in sight. My wolf cringed at the thought of
it.
I was saved from having to tell Shannon that
I’d rather live in a box under a bridge by a heavy knock on the
door. My stomach flipped. It had to be Eddie. I jumped off the sofa
and went to let him in. Moira was with him; both looked severe and
for a second I drew back, cowed by the presence of the two alphas.
Then I remembered Chris and sucked up my courage.
“
I saw my uncle today,” I
began.
Eddie cocked an eyebrow at me. “Chris
Thatcher, isn’t it?”
“
He said you thought his
son was using Silver Kiss, before he died.”
“
Ah. Young Adam. Well…”
Eddie shrugged and sat down on the sofa. Shannon curled up a bit
tighter in her spot, as if trying to make herself invisible. It was
an oddly wolfish reaction. “It’s just part of my theory. In all
fairness, nobody’s ever told me Adam was using, but in light of
Molly Brady’s information, I wonder…”
I knew exactly what he’d been wondering
because I’d wondered it myself. Had Adam’s death been a bungled
kidnapped attempt? Had Alpha Humans been planning to use him in
their werewolf fight club?
“
We’ll never know,” Eddie
said, perhaps seeing his thoughts reflected on my face. “I didn’t
mean to upset your uncle, of course, but you know how I feel about
this problem, Ayla. And now we know what’s really going on, I think
you have to agree we can’t afford to pussyfoot around the issue
anymore.”
I didn’t answer him, but turned to Moira,
who was lingering in the doorway to the living room. “Have you told
the police about Sly?”
She shook her head. “Not yet.”
“
What? Why not?” Shannon
demanded, incredulous. “One quick phone call and he could be in
custody this time tomorrow and all this could be over! Are you
going to let more wolves die before you do the right thing,
Eddie?”
Eddie shot her a condescending look, shaking
his head. “Don’t you young people think? What do we know about this
feral and his set-up? He’s working with other people, probably
Alpha Humans. They could have information sources inside the city,
maybe even in the police. No.” He shook his head again. “No, we
can’t risk it. He could be gone before the police move in.”
I squared my shoulders. “You could have told
us this over the phone,” I said to the alpha. “There was no need
for the personal visit.”
“
Do you remember what I
told you?” he asked. “I said I didn’t want any more Molly Bradys.
No more drug-addled wolves ruining their lives. I meant that, I
won’t stand for it. I’m going after this feral tonight and I want
you to come with me, Ayla. Surely you must agree now, knowing what
he’s been doing, that this is the right course.”
“
No, she doesn’t,” Shannon
said, gripping my arm as if to stop me running off with Eddie. “It
should be in the hands of the police, Eddie.”
He ignored her, all his powerful focus on
me. “I welcomed you home at Lupercali. I made you Pack again. If
that meant anything to you, Ayla, you prove it now.”
I growled. “So this is my test, is it? I
didn’t realize my homecoming was conditional on me committing
cold-blooded murder.”
“
That’s not what he’s
saying.” Moira stepped between us, pressing her hand to Eddie’s
chest. “But this is Pack business, Ayla. Wolf, not
human.”
Shannon narrowed her eyes at the older
woman. “You’re keeping something back,” she accused.
Moira and Eddie exchanged furtive looks. He
rubbed his nose and huffed. “Nothing important.”
“
It’s important to enough
to stop you going to the police,” Shannon argued. “Why should we do
anything to help you when you’re not being honest with
us?”
Once again, Eddie and Moira glanced at each
other, silent messages running between them. After a tense, tight
second, Eddie shrugged and growled. “Sly was Pack once,” he
said.
That wasn’t really a surprise. Most ferals
started out as Pack wolves as far as I knew. I’m sure some were
born in the wild, but the simple fact that Sly spoke English told
me he’d been Pack once. “So?” I prompted
“
He was part of our Pack.
Made outcast, thirty years back.” Eddie rubbed his nose again and I
realized with surprise that it was a nervous gesture. “He killed
his partner and unborn child.”
I gasped and Shannon gripped my knee hard
enough to hurt. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I demanded.
“
Does it make a
difference?” Eddie asked.
I started to say that of course it did, but
stopped myself. I wasn’t sure it did. Sure, it was horrible and it
made me feel even luckier to be alive, but it didn’t make me want
to kill him.
But then again, I’d been happy enough to let
the Pack take care of Hesketh and Kinsey. What made that okay and
killing Sly wrong? My gut twisted, my head spinning as I tried to
sort through my churning feelings.
While I sat mutely, Eddie carried on, taking
my silence for agreement. “We move tonight, catch him before he
gets wind of what’s going on, before he can hurt anyone else. I can
track him myself, but it’ll be faster with you helping, Ayla.”
I ran my hands through my hair, wanting to
yank it out. I felt like I’d been dropped into a spy film, all
intrigue and lies. The hallway felt too small and hot for all the
emotions running through it. “Who else is coming?”
“
Ayla, you can’t,” Shannon
said, grabbing my sleeve and pulling me round to face her. “Not
again, please.”
“
Myself and Moira,” Eddie
said to me. “The other alphas won’t be coming.”
“
Why not? I thought they
were all for it?” I asked, covering Shannon’s hand with my own.
“Why have they dropped out all of a sudden? Or haven’t you even
told them?”
“
Maybe they know they
should be leaving it for the police,” Shannon snapped.
“
Because we don’t need to
draw attention to ourselves, and the other alphas agree with that,”
Eddie corrected. “The three of us should be able to take Sly down
without trouble.”
I didn’t want Sly to get away. Adam’s
killers were still out there. My aunt and uncle had put their lives
on hold, waiting for some culprit to be brought to trial. I
imagined Tina doing the same, waiting for Molly to talk to her,
waiting for justice and never getting it. As long as Sly was free,
Molly would probably never feel safe enough to talk to her mum.
“
I’ll go,” I said finally,
the words painfully raw in my dry throat. Shannon dug her nails
into my arm hard enough to make me flinch. I shook her off. “I’ll
go as long as you promise me something, Eddie. Two
things”
He cocked his head at me curiously. “Go
on.”
“
First, we bring him in. We
don’t kill him.”
Eddie swore and glared at me, turning on the
alpha-eyes again. “Ayla…”
I matched his gaze, determined to get my
way. If we’d been wolf-shaped, it would be hackles up and tails
stiff as we battled for dominance. Eventually, to my dark delight,
Eddie backed down, looked away from me and nodded. “And the other
thing?”
“
I want Molly and Tina
looked after. They need support and care and they’re not getting it
right now.”
Moira nodded, but Eddie frowned. “Molly
already has support and care—”
“
No she doesn’t,” I cut in.
“As long as Tina is outcast, Molly’s as good as outcast too.
They’re on their own, dealing with all kinds of shit. If you want
to help Molly, help Tina.”
“
Alright. Fine.” He sighed
and held out his hands to me, a placating gesture. “I don’t want us
to fall out, Ayla.”
“
Tough,” I said. “We
already have.
SEVENTEEN
Shannon pulled me into the
kitchen,
shutting the door to give us the illusion of privacy while Moira
and Eddie hashed out the plan.
“
You’re going to get hurt,”
she whispered, caressing my cheek. “Ayla, I’m really scared for
you.”
I rested my forehead against hers, clasping
her hands. “I’ll be careful. I’ll be fine.”
She kissed me with trembling lips, the
darkness giving a sweet intimacy to her touch. “Promise me.”
“
Promise.” I stroked her
hair away from her eyes, realized she was crying. “I’ll be back
before you know it.” I kissed her again, wanting to give her
something to hold onto while I was gone. “We’ll talk about moving
tomorrow, okay? If that’s really what you want.”
“
It’s… I just want you to
be safe. Everything else is secondary to that.” She smiled,
although her lips still quivered. “I love you.”
“
I love you too.” We kissed
desperately then, all fire and need. I clung to her, tracing her
curves as if memorizing them and she bit my neck with dark
ferocity, drawing a little whimper from me. When we parted,
breathless, her eyes still shone bright, the street lamp outside
casting a soft orange glow over her face. My heart sang and wept at
the same time. She looked like an angel.
“
I’ll be back soon,” I
said.
“
I’ll be
waiting.”
We stripped in the garden and ran through the obligatory sniffing
and mock-snarling. In her wolf-form, Moira was attractively sleek,
whilst Eddie was a great, hulking brute, twice as big as either of
us. My wolf-self found his size reassuring. I lowered my haunches
to the ground, tail tucked in, ears back and licked his throat.
Despite our differences in human-form, as a wolf I was prepared to
submit to him, let him lead this hunt.
He grabbed my ruff and gave me a quick
shake, then moved to nudge my hindquarters, a signal he was ready
to go. I set off at an easy pace, the frost crunching under my
feet. I had a brief pang of longing for hazy summer nights, lush
with prey and living scents, then pushed it aside. I’d wanted an
excuse to run; now I had it. So I ran, stretching my muscles and
relishing the easy power of my wolf body, power I so often had to
restrain in human form. Behind me, Moira and Eddie kept pace
effortlessly, Eddie occasionally throwing a wild bark into the
night that was answered by another wolf across the city.
It wasn’t long before we were out of the
city limits, on the trail Glory and I had followed a few nights
ago. As if in remembrance of our last encounter, my mouth throbbed.
I shook my head to throw off the phantom sensation and glanced back
at my hunting companions. Moira caught up to me, trotting alongside
me and huffing. I danced at her, snapping playfully. I couldn’t
help myself; I was brimming with nerves and energy and needed to
work some of it off.
Moira snapped back, batting
at me with her paws. Eddie growled, leaping between us and butting
her aside. He swung his big head towards me, eyes glowing in the
darkness, and bared his fangs. I got the message.
Focus
.
I whined and dropped my nose to the ground,
searching through the scents of the countryside. We were probably
about five miles from the nature reserve and Sly’s scent was strong
and clear, like a beacon to my wolf nose. He’d run back this way
the previous night, wolf-shaped and sore after our fight. I could
smell sweat and blood, tantalizing scents, drawing me on.
A thin sliver of moonlight lit the snowy
landscape around us, glazing the fields chalky white. No other
animal stirred, perhaps all scared into hiding by us. There was
nothing to distract me now; not a mock-fight or the simple joy of
movement. The closer we drew to the nature reserve, the more my
nerves tingled with a mix of excitement and fear. The aroma of
Sly’s blood was irresistible but the memory of our previous
encounters filled me with dread. Especially now I knew he’d killed
before, maybe more than once.
Eddie was whining with anticipation next to
me as he picked up the feral’s scent too. Moira was silent,
slinking through the long grass with the focused glare of a
predator on the hunt. Her deliberate pace grated on me. We’d raced
out of the city, pushing our stamina to its limit, but now that we
were nearly at the reserve, she and Eddie seemed determined to slow
down. I just wanted to get there, get it over with and get home to
my mate. Frustrated, I danced a few paces ahead of them and turned
back, barking.
Eddie pounced on me and cuffed me hard,
sending me whimpering to the ground. I flattened my ears and
instinctively rolled onto my back. He snarled and leapt over me,
ignoring my submission. Stung, I got up and followed him. Moira
moved past me, licking my nose on the way. I sighed and hung back
behind them. I didn’t like being bottom of the Pack, as much as I
knew I had to put up with it right now. I liked being a lone
wolf.
The realization surprised me but I didn’t
have time to dwell on it. Eddie and Moira were picking up their
pace again and I joined them, pushing my rebellious little
revelation down to deal with later.
Twenty minutes later, we were inside the
nature reserve and, as one, we all slowed down again. I crept along
behind Eddie, inhaling the musky odor of Sly and the other wolves
that had passed this way. Now I knew why, my blood ran cold.