Marked (The Pack) (24 page)

Within seconds, I found out. The slow creep of the pack exploded in a lunge that landed them en mass on the couple. I caught the fur of another wolf to pull it back, but it turned on me and ripped at my chest. I lost my balance and fell. I got to my feet and grabbed the nearest attacking wolf, dragging it back, throwing it to the ground. Suddenly, I was slammed from the side and went flying among the headstones away from the agitated wolves. Then it hit me. The images came flooding into my mind. I hadn’t killed the woman, but I had been there. Channing and the others had done it. Louise had been there too, racing in as the kill became out of control. The wolves had threatened me. She’d fought them off, in her human form, and gotten me away before I’d been attacked by the entire pack.

With an angry growl I leapt to my feet and raced toward the pack, hoping to stop them. Another wolf broadsided me, knocking me to the ground again. This one held me down for a moment then grabbed the scruff of my neck and pulled me to my feet. I struggled, managing to catch its foreleg in my mouth. But this one was too strong and lifted me off the ground, tossing me through the gate into the edge of the woods. Angry, I raced back toward my attacker, but stopped short. The male wolf’s eyes pinned me and I growled. I knew that look. It was Myles.

He caught me roughly by the neck again, dragging me along, faster and faster until we came to his boathouse. He nosed me inside and reached down with his mouth to pick up a wad of clothes which he flung at me. Then he disappeared through the door. Obviously he wanted me to change to my human form. I lay on the floor, hassling from the run we’d had to get here. Closing my eyes, I imagined being human again, but nothing happened. The door opened and Myles stood in front of me in shorts, flip-flops and a t-shirt that had Beowulf’s picture on it and read,
I ain’t no freakin Chihuahua.
I would have laughed if I could.

“What’s taking you so long? Hurry up.”

I whined and hated that I sounded pitiful.

“Okay, okay. I forget you know less than nothing. Take some deep breaths and relax. Think about being in your human form and you have to WANT to be that way. Concentrate on controlling that urge to become.”

He disappeared. I followed his directions, finding it more difficult than I had when I was with Louise. Of course, before I’d always simply fallen asleep exhausted, and woke up in human form. At last the pain and giddiness came, then the transformation. I’d just pulled the too large t-shirt over my head when Myles knocked on the door.

“Thanks Myles, for getting me out of that.” My smile faltered as he stepped under the dim light.

“What in the hell were you doing, Alexis?”

“Channing realized I was a werewolf. She offered to let me go with them. It was great Myles, even better than when I was with my aunt. It was like flying on a cloud.”

“Of course it was, but you have no idea what you’re getting into, do you? Did you think it was going to be some big free spirit party? Did you think they wanted to run around and have fun, then go back to human form?”

“I don’t know. That’s what we did when I was with Aunt Louise and you and your Dad.”

“Yeah, well, they’re not us.”

“But I didn’t expect them to hurt anybody.” I slid my feet into a pair of Myles’ huge flip flops.

“Now you know.”

I shoved my hair away from my face. “Will those people be okay? Will they die?”

Myles rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know. They probably weren’t trying to kill them. The werewolves that have been infected by the virus can in turn bite and infect other humans. The virus heals any wounds made from the bite and sort of drugs the person so they feel like they’ve had a weird dream. After that, the other werewolves make them part of their pack. Occasionally, some humans never really realize what they are. They simply think it’s a dream or sleepwalking.”

“Kind of like me in the beginning.”

“Yeah, like that. When it’s a large pack, like you were traveling with, they often lose it. They really do kill people. They usually eat all the flesh then bury the bones so the person is missing and never found.”

“Now you’re scaring me, Myles.”

He caught my upper arm in a tight grip, nearly lifting me off the ground. “Damn it, Alexis, you need to be scared. The Fenryrians and the wolves infected with the virus are out of control. They only think of themselves or what they want. It doesn’t matter who gets hurt.”

“But I like being with them. I told you that already. It was the best I’ve ever felt.”

“But you aren’t like them. When they attacked, you tried to stop them. I saw you.”

I nodded. “You know, ever since I came here I thought I might have had something to do with the woman who was killed that weekend. I kept having these images in my head, but I didn’t know why. Then I found a T-shirt Louise had worn and it was covered in blood. I thought maybe she’d killed the woman, but tonight I remembered, just like I’ve been remembering the other nights I was out before I became aware of what I was.”

“What did you remember?”

“It was like tonight. But I think I was in human form. It was Channing and her friends that killed the woman. Louise came and got me away from them. That’s how her shirt got bloody. You can’t imagine how scared I’ve been, wondering what I might have done or what she might have done. So at least now I know I’m not going to attack people or animals.”

Myles turned and started walking to his house. I fell in step beside him.

“Yes you will. In time you’ll catch the fever for it that they have. If you don’t they’ll kill you. You’re from the Lycernian pack and don’t forget it.”

“Why can’t I run with both packs? Channing is my friend and so are you. I won’t choose between the two.”

We’d reached the bottom of the steps and Myles stopped turning to face me. “Make no mistake about it, Alexis, you will have to choose one or the other. You can’t ride the fence. You’ll join the Fenryrians and go along with them, or they’ll kill you.”

“What if they don’t? What if I get the Fenryrians to let me be with my friends that are from their pack without hurting anyone and still get to be with my family and friends like you?”

Myles shook his head. “Then the Lycernians will have you killed.”

I crossed my arms, the sleeves of the baggy shirt falling to my elbows. “Oh, right, who’ll come and take care of me? Some mafia werewolf hit man?”

“No, my dad maybe, or your aunt or Dr. Unger even.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out. I wet my dry lips with my tongue and tried again. “So they would kill me, right then, without a second thought.” I snapped my fingers. “Just like that.”

“I’m sure it wouldn’t be without a second thought. But yes, if they were required to do it, they would.”

“Would you, if you were required would you kill me?”

“I’m not old enough to do that type of job, but yes. I’m training for it. If the time came that it was asked of me, I’d do what was necessary to protect us.”

I shoved past him and started toward the woods.

He caught up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. ”Where are you going?”

“I’m going home.”

“Don’t you think we’ve established that it’s not safe for you to walk home right now with that group running loose?”

“And I’m supposed to be safe in the car with you? Someone who I thought was my friend.”

“I am your friend and you are safe with me. Nothing’s going to happen to you tonight, okay. I’m just saying that one day, in the future, you’ll have to pick a side.”

“What if I don’t choose your side at all?”

He didn’t look at me for a moment but stared at the ground. When he did meet my eyes again, he looked sad. “Then you wouldn’t be the first person I knew to abandon us and turn totally to the other side. My mom did.”

That brought me up short. “Did the Lycernians kill your mom?”

“No, I told you. They’ll only kill you if you try and run with both packs. If you choose to stay with the Fenryrians then you become one of them. You run with them and kill with them.

“And your mom chose them?”

“Yes, she left only a couple months after I was born.”

I waved my hand toward his house. “And that’s your real dad.”

“Yeah, he’s raised me.” Myles caught my elbow, leading me back toward the house.

“That’s unbelievable.”

“That he’s had me by himself all these years?”

“Well, that too, but how could a woman in her right mind leave a guy like your dad? Don’t take this the wrong way, but there must have been something seriously wrong with your mom.”

“Yeah, I’ll try not to take that wrong.”

We climbed the steps to the front door. “But look at your dad, he’s attractive and sooo nice.”

Myles held open the front door, putting a finger to his lips. “Be quiet.”

“He even raised you to be polite. You always open the car door for me when I ride with you. How many guys open the car door for girls? None I know.”

“Maybe you know the wrong guys, but my dad will be glad to hear you’re so impressed.” He whispered, motioning for me to follow him down the hall.

Myles shut the door quietly. “I’ll call Louise and tell her you’ll stay here tonight.”

He obviously recognized the beginning of a protest on my face. “It’ll be fine. She’ll ask fewer questions if it comes from me. You can sleep in here. I’ll sleep on the couch. We have a spare bedroom, but the bed’s not made. This will be easier.”

“At least let me sleep on the couch.”

“I think it will be better if my dad finds me asleep on the couch instead of you. Especially since he’ll probably only be wearing his underwear and you’ve got this sick thing for him.”

“It’s not a sick thing. You’re right about you sleeping on the couch. I like your dad, but I’m not really interested in seeing him in his underwear.”

Myles pulled out his cell phone. “Well, that’s a relief to hear.”

I looked at the pictures on Myles dresser and only half listened to what he was saying to Louise. He was right. She did take things better from him.

He finished and I glanced at him. “She okay with it?”

“No problem.”

“Figures. You’ve got her wrapped around your finger.”

He laughed. “Is that what you call it? And I just thought she trusted me.”

I groaned and decided to change the subject. I pointed to the pretty blonde in one of the photos. She was sitting in front of a microscope. Beside it was another picture of the same girl with Myles. They sat on a bench laughing. They made a cute couple, him all dark and her so blonde.

“Your girlfriend?”

He nodded. “Lana.”

“She’s really pretty.”

“She’s also really smart. That’s why she’s not here this summer. She’s doing an internship at Yale working with a researcher there.”

“Really? That’s impressive. But then you must be really smart too, because you said you wanted to be a doctor.”

He turned back the bed spread then went to the closet and got a blanket. “I’m smart in the normal sense of things. Lana is smart in a different way. She’s finished all her high school work. She mostly works on research and studies under different professors.”

“And she’s… you know, like you. I mean like us?”

“If you mean, is she a werewolf, then yes.”

There was a scratch at the door and Myles opened it to let Beowulf come trotting in. The dog sprung onto the bed and buried into the pillows.

“How long have you two been together?”

He ran a finger across the top of the picture. “A long time.”

He sounded so serious, like he was married to her already. I studied the picture again until Myles tossed the blanket over his shoulder and gave me a push. “Come on, it’s late. You may get to meet her sometime. Who knows?”

I kicked off the flip-flops and climbed into his bed still wearing his much too large t-shirt and shorts. I snuggled under the covers. Beowulf circled on the pillow next to my head and plopped down.

“Come on Beowulf, let’s go.” Myles snapped his fingers, but the dog only lifted his head then lowered it again, curling into a tighter ball with a soft sigh.

“Traitor.” He said and turned to leave.

“Myles.”

He paused, one hand on the light switch, one on the doorknob and looked back.

“What now, Myles? What do I do?”

“I can’t answer that for you, Alexis. You’ve got to figure this out on your own. It’s a lot to deal with. I can’t really imagine because I’ve known most all my life what I was and what I would do. I guess I had a choice, but I never really considered it.”

“Thanks for helping me tonight.”

“Anytime, but from now on, know, if you’re running with Channing and her friends, anything can happen. So be careful. Next time, I might not be around.”

“I’ll remember.”

He turned off the lights and pulled the door shut behind him.

***

I took the porch steps two at time as Myles drove away. The morning was bright and the awfulness of last night seemed far away. I walked through the house looking for Louise and finally found her in a lounge chair on the back deck. She appeared to be dozing. I slid a chair next to her then reached over giving her a shake.