Wulf's Redemption (Borne Vampires Book 3) (10 page)

Startled, he replied, “Yes, Master. Ten hail from
wealthy families. Three have fathers who hold prominent positions on the
Magdeburg Council.”

“Whose child was taken first?”

“The first was from the home of a wealthy merchant
by the name of Edmund Speer.”

“Speer? He resides on the same street as the Lord
Mayor, yes?”

“As does several high-end barristers and councilmen.
The wealthiest merchants hold residence one street over, alongside the
Magistrate. Since Breber has no children, he was never in danger.”

“Herrick, I grasp a political motive to the
disappearances, rather than a wolf’s or demon’s appetite. Dammit, how did I
miss such a glaring clue? Ride to the Lord Mayor’s house and search the alleys
and streets along thereof. Mayhap, the culprit behind the kidnappings will show
himself as he seeks another rich man’s child.”

“What
will you do, Master?”

“I
must locate Breber and share with him our suspicions.”

They
turned to gaze upon the River Elbe, concerned as a thick, strangely glowing fog
rolled in, just as the fluffy snowflakes increased in its downfall. Soon, they
would be blind on every front.

Nervous,
Alex said, “Herrick, watch your back.”

Visibly
shaken, he nodded as he drew his sword. “Same to you, Master.”

He
watched Herrick ride down the street, the snowstorm and fog swallowing him and
his horse from view. Urging Saber forward, he rode straight into the fog. The
horse’s ears pricked forward as the stallion carefully picked his way through
the fetlock-deep snow. A flicker of a lit match had Alex reining his horse
toward it when a shadowy figure dashed out in front them, causing his steed to
rear. Alex steadied his horse, losing sight the person in the blinding fog.

Cautiously
proceeding, a short scream jerked him to the left and he urged Saber into what
turned out to be an alleyway. Hearing a scuffle issue, he called to the wind
and forced the fog back to see who fought. A woman, dressed in rags, her hair
twisted and unkept, struggled to rise to her feet. Breber, holding a torch in
one hand, his sword rose, and Alex realized he meant to slay her!

“No,
Breber! Hold your sword. She’s harmless.”

Breber
held his attack but did not lower his weapon. Holding his torch out, he
demanded, “Which brother are you?”

“I
am Alexander Wulf.”

Breber
stumbled back, relaxing his stance. “She ran right into me. I thought she was
the wolf attacking me.” Wiping a shaking hand across his face, Breber stared at
the moaning woman as she paced back and forth in an agitated state.

“What
happened to her?” he asked, reining his horse beside Breber as they watched the
woman mumbling to herself.

“Tragedy
knows poor Sonja only too well. Parents dead, she was widowed in last fall, and
then her only child was taken. She has no one left. Her mind fractured. Nothing
to live for, and still she is forced to keep living.” They watched her
anxiously tear the ragged edges of her unkept dress.

“I—” Breber stopped as the woman ran up to him,
grabbing his front labels.

Her eyes bulged, fear and madness made her wraithlike
in the torch’s nimbus. “The night has teeth! The night has claws, and I have
found them!”

“Found who?” Breber asked her, bewildered.

“I will show you where they are.” She released him
and ran to the makeshift fence. Sonja pulled at the boards, yanking several off.
Turning back to them, she waved urgently for them to follow her. Slipping past
the opening she’d made, the woman vanished out of sight.

Uneasy at the prospect of entering the woods
without Herrick and the others, Alex dismounted and tied his horse to the railing.
“Do we follow her?”

“We must investigate. Another child was taken less
than a quarter hour ago. If Sonja knows where the lair of the beast is, we
might have a chance to save the Mayor’s daughter and the infant stolen.” Breber
followed after the woman.

Alex peered into the opening and saw Breber
carefully tread down the embankment leading to the river. Gazing past Breber, he
saw the woman and was amazed at how fast she was moving, faster than she should
have been able to travel on foot with the deep snow. Slipping through the gap,
he saw how she was able to move so quickly. A beaten path extended across the
river and into the woods at the base of the mountain.

Could it have been made by the men searching the
woods for the missing children or was it the beast’s tracks?

It dawned on him he hadn’t seen Aldric since
arriving in town. Alex stopped and searched the sky for his brother, finding
only snow. Where the hell had his brother gone to when he needed him most?

“Aldric? Where are you?”

Silence.

The light from Breber’s torch became a beacon in
the unearthly, snowy realm claiming Magdeburg. The human waved at him to hurry.
Quickly skidding down the slippery slope, he joined Breber at the edge of the
river.

“Follow me,” he told Breber briskly. “Do as I say.
Understand?”

“No, I do not. How—”

“Because, I know how to hunt the creature we are
after. It is not a wolf and it is far more dangerous than a man.”

Breber stared at him and slowly nodded his head.
“I trust you. Lead on. I will protect your back.”

Facing the mountain, the ice-cold wind rising, he
found the path Sonja had used, and it proved well-packed and easy to travel. He
took off at a jog across the frozen river, Breber close on his heels. On either
side the path, the snow’s height reached past his waist. Once across, he cautiously
entered the forest. Disregarding all he had been taught not to do, he embraced
the predator in him and set it loose, becoming the hunter. Extending his
senses, he found the woman farther up the path, her body barely radiating heat
as the snow and cold sapped her strength. Still, she kept on.

In the awful quiet, he heard movement a quarter mile
to his right. Wolves! He drew his pistol. “Breber, stay behind me.” He
positioned himself between Breber and the fast approaching wolves. “We have
company coming.”

“Company?”

“Wolves.”

“Wolves? You think they are hunting us?”

Focusing his sight, he recognized the white wolf
and her pack. “No, not us.” Before Breber could question him further, Alex
asked him, “Lothe said you are convinced the kidnappings are aimed at you. Why
think you this? Is it because only prominent families whose infants and
toddlers were taken?”

“Because Sonja’s child was the only one taken who
hails from a working class home. I think I am being taunted by the kidnapper.”
He explained, “Those of wealthy means were well-protected and yet, the monster claimed
them, making a mockery my efforts to stop him. I cannot explain it, I only have
this feeling Sonja’s child was taken to test me and I failed, giving the beast
the rein it sought to hunt the innocent without capture.”

“Who
has permission to enter the houses of the children taken?” he said more to
himself than to Breber as he dug into his pocket for the silver bullets. “Here,
load your pistol with these.”

Taking
the bullets, Breber stared at them, his brow creasing in bemusement. “Are these
actual silver bullets?”

“Aye,
they are. Hurry, man, we have not time to waste explaining the details and whys.”

“Answer
to your question, servants and delivery people have permission to enter the
houses. Officials and their family have had invites.” Breber quickly switched
out his bullets. “I am ready.”

“List
of suspects has just risen unfortunately. Come on.” Taking off, Alex scanned the
path leading into the mountain and found it was well packed and had seen much
traffic of late, just like the river. Not a good sign.

Minding
his pace for Breber to keep up with him, he heard Sonja’s babbling drift back
to them. The insane conversation she kept did little to calm his and Breber’s apprehension.
 

“Where
does she lead us?” He asked Breber, “Are you familiar with the trail we are on?”

“Yes.
It leads to a lodge my fellow councilmen and I use during our hunts. Last fall,
I took Lisle there for her first deer hunt.”

Nerves
stretched taunt, the unsettling quiet tore at his nerves, hearing none of the
wolves or the woman. He called out to Aldric,
“Brother, where are you? I need your help!”

A
blood-curdling scream startled him and Breber, who nearly dropped his pistol in
the snow. The woman’s tormented shrieks shattered the night, the sounds of
flesh and cloth tearing had them running as best they could along the slippery
path. The hot, coppery scent of blood caused his fangs to drop in hunger.
Slapping an iron grip over his reaction to blood, he searched ahead for Sonja’s
body heat, unable to locate her. Abruptly, she stopped screaming. Alex shot a
questioning look at Breber, who lowered his torch, searching the woods along
the trail for the woman. Heart pounding hard, he feared it would explode out of
his chest.

The
wolves were now closing in on them.

“Dammit, where are you, Aldric?”

His
brother answered, anguish and horror colored his voice,
“Dear God, what have I done?”

Alarmed at his brother’s words, Alex broke into a
hard run. Breber struggled to follow him. The steep trail plateaued to a small
clearing. He skidded to a halt, searching for his brother. Breber plowed into
his back, nearly pitching him forward.

Breber grabbed his arm, breathing hard. “What see
you?”

Taking hold the torch, Alex proceeded cautiously
and found Sonja’s head lying on the frozen ground before him. Her eyes wide and
her mouth set in a silent scream of the unimaginable terror and pain she’d
suffered before death claimed her. Not far her head was her mutilated corpse. Disemboweled,
steam rose from the strewn entrails. Her arms and legs were ripped from her
torso, thrown away in complete disregard. Crimson stained the pristine snow,
widening as blood flowed out of her.

“Aldric, did you
do this?”
he demanded,
searching the clearing for his brother.

“Forgive me, brother.”

Wiping his gloved hand across his mouth, Breber
whispered shakily, “What could have committed such a horrific act?”

“God in Heaven, there it is!” Alex exclaimed as he
watched it rise out of the snow.

Silver in fur, the wolf was four times the size of
the biggest he had witnessed in his life. Lifting its blood-soaked muzzle to
sniff the air, its head snapped to where he and Breber stood. Its eyes glowed
blood-red. The beast’s lips drew back in a snarl, exposing its long teeth. Then
it did the most amazing thing. It reached down and scooped up a bloodied bundled
of blankets and rose to stand on its back legs and walked like a man!

Around him and the fervently praying mortal, the wolves
appeared, positioning themselves protectively around them. Breber clutched his
arm. Their eyes blazed in fierce, unnatural brilliance, giving evidence they
were of the supernatural breed. How had he missed they were Wolfen when they’d
escorted him home?

The silver wolf roared its fury at him. Alex
snarled back, exposing his fangs, challenging it.

Shaking from head to toe, Breber stumbled away him.
“What are you? What is that? Them?” He pointed at the wolf pack as they snarled
at the strange beast.

Giving him an arched look, Alex replied, “You know
already the answer, Magistrate, to what
I
am. I will not harm you, nor will they.” He indicated to the Wolfen. “Our
common enemy stands over yonder. Will you fight with us?”

Swallowing hard, Breber glanced around him, at the
wolves who were intent on the one standing not far them. “Do I have your word
as a gentleman you will not bring harm unto me?”

Amused Breber would invoke a promise considering
the scene unfolded before them, he nodded. “My word as a gentleman, I will protect
you.”

Without hesitation, Breber said, “Accepted. Why do
the wolves side with us?”

“They consider the abomination before us an
invasion of their hunting grounds, a declaration of war.”

The white wolf halted beside him and Breber, who
looked as if he were about to have heart failure. She sniffed the air. Glowing
eyes of burnished gold, the magnificent animal glanced at Breber, then to the
wolf standing on two legs. The white wolf howled, signaling the attack.
Snarling, the wolf-creature ran away, a strange loping gait, as it held the
bundle of blankets awkwardly in its front legs.

The wolves gave chase.

“Sir, I have witnessed several odd events of late,
none, however, rank highly as this! What in bloody hell is that?” He jabbed a
finger in the direction the creature ran. “Was it a lycanthrope? What are those
wolves who have gone after it? Why do they possess eyes such brilliant color?
Ordinary wolves are not as larger as they either!”

“Come on, Breber, we must save the children!”

“What? Are you suggesting the beast carries the
infant stolen?”

“Yes, and we must hurry.” Running, Alex followed
the wolves’ tracks, scanning for his brother, whose mind was now closed to him.

Growls, mingled with howls of pain, were deafening.
By the time they reached the edge of the clearing, the sounds of battle
diminished and the unsettling silence settled in once again. Breber grabbed his
shoulder, forcing him to stop. He pointed at what must be the lodge he had
spoken earlier. The front door was open, allowing the light inside to pour out
across the slain bodies of ten wolves. The white wolf was not amongst them.