Standing Before Monsters (Vorans and Vampires) (28 page)

The pack leader looked over to the woman who was being greeted in the shadow of Charlotte acting like her protector while he was distracted. “She has control over the wolf then?”

Nick nodded and added, “She wasn’t supposed to work today, since she was out with the hunters and could be there all night. We only have a small window to work her back into her job seamlessly, but we also need a cover story for the other two.”

“Can you work your magic with the other one, do you think?”

“Possibly, which would just leave the dead hunter to explain. No one bit the man, so I think that perhaps we could actually put him back where you found him. He broke his neck falling out of a tree. Use that to simply leave it as hunter error. It wouldn’t be the first time in history that someone fell out of a tree killing them.”

It was Eric’s turn to nod, but he asked, “But how do we explain the gap in time for finding him? If the woman was supposed to monitor the hunters, and we found her with them so she was, how do we explain it?”

“Hunters often work alone. She didn’t see him go and isn’t a tracker. Put his body where you found it and leave him there. Raina can go back and let them know that she couldn’t find him and is worried. Bill was with her and she can say that he left, though we’ll need to move his car without anyone noticing.”

“So we entrust much of this to the new girl?” Eric asked looking at the kitchen and the woman who still appeared uncomfortable with the others around her. She was fine one on one, as she had warned, but a group of werewolves was likely to have pushed her to change before they had conditioned her to control it.

Knowing it was asking a lot for creatures who only trusted those in their pack, Nick still nodded. “You’re going to have to. Someone will need to drive her back to the forest close enough for her to walk back to retrieve her car. Have one of the pack go with her to take his car. Maybe Aaron would work,” he said looking at the closest physical matches to the hunter in the basement. The werewolf had been one of those injured by a trap, but the voran thought the man might be able to still be able to do the task.

The pack leader started to pace in a small pattern of steps back and forth as he considered the plan. “It would certainly minimize things if we didn’t have to bring attention to another wolf attack.”

“Other than the hunters, did your pack run into any game?”

Eric shook his head. “No, it was probably about time for us to change preserves anyway just from that part. If deer are avoiding our territory, then that does us little good.”

Nick realized that they were on the same page and only needed to get Raina on board a hundred percent as well. Since some of his thoughts had been broached in the basement, he was pretty sure that the ranger was a safe bet to follow the instructions. He had already been coaching her on what would have to be said if she were to return to her life. She could be ready in time to return to work as soon as tomorrow, which only left the black wolf in the basement to worry about.

Apparently thinking the same thing, Eric asked, “So again, do you think you will be able to work your magic on this hunter? I admit that I am dubious about him. Some men don’t take to the wolf in a safe way. This could be one of them.”

Nick considered the vampire equivalent of the strays or rogues that they were forced to hunt regularly. The creatures had lost much of their humanity and simply fed without worrying about who they hurt and with little regard to hiding their kills. Since many vampires realized that they could avoid killing and often maintained relationships with humans that served as donors, the rogue’s lack of discretion and carelessness had to be dealt with quickly and harshly.

Often working from police and FBI databases to discover hotspots of killing, the voran knew how close to being discovered many of these vampires were. A werewolf could be like a rabid dog, which needed to be put down for similar reasons.

“I can try. I’ll get a glass and some food and give it a shot with him. Keep everyone, including Raina and Charlotte, clear until I have had a little talk with our hunter. We had better move the dead body first, just in case the wolf tries to attack it,” Nick stated before moving to get what he would need. Unlike Raina, with whom he had a rapport; Hunter Bill was an unknown.

Eric frowned and replied, “It sounds like you are planning on letting this one out of his cage as well. I’m not sure how safe that is, my friend.”

It was strange to hear his words when only a few months ago, the pack leader had been trying to kill him. An enemy one moment could turn into a close ally and friend in the next depending on how they needed each other and respected one another. Nick met the man’s eyes with a calm smile and nodded, saying, “If I go into the cage, he has the advantage. Leaving him in the cage, he will never learn to obey anyone’s lead short of beating him. Then you just have an angry dog waiting to bite you.”

Fearing that Nick may have meant his tactics, Eric frowned slightly but shrugged. “I leave it you then.”

The werewolves used a rolled rug and removed the body. They would head back to the forest preserve even though it was daylight and return the dead man to his tree. Doing their best to avoid leaving finger prints or traces of them on the body, Vanessa took charge of Ray and Lex, which led to Ray’s complaints of his injury; but the man was largely ignored.

With the space cleared, Nick returned down the stairs to look at the black wolf pacing his confined space. About six by eight, the wolf barely had a place to exercise his legs. The height of the cage was only about four and half feet high, so it forced an adult human to sit or crouch. It was designed to make a new werewolf want to turn into the animal, which could stand on all fours with plenty of space above a wolf’s head and shoulders.

Nick placed the tray on the table before dragging his chair to within a couple feet of the bars. The black wolf bared its teeth and snarled.

Turning the chair with the back towards the cage, the voran straddled the chair looking on the wolf. “So Eric thinks that you might be useless for the pack,” he began casually as if he was simply telling the man inside the wolf that he had received mail. “Personally, I like to give everyone a chance before I write them off. What do you think Bill? Are you unsalvageable?”

Again the black wolf bared its teeth and banged into the bars as if testing the solidity of the cage. It had failed to hold a vampire only two months earlier, but Eric and his men had rebuilt and reinforced it. No werewolf was likely to ever break free, since the wolves had built and tested it first.

“Aren’t you tired of hiding inside that furry body yet? I’m told whether you remain a wolf or a man, you will feel the new power inside of you. There is no reason to continue hiding. In fact, the sooner we start getting the changes under control, the sooner we can see about letting you out of there for good.”

Standing as he slid the chair behind him and slid it away, Nick approached the cage near the lock. Like an angry dog guarding his gate, the wolf snarled and lunged for him through the bars. The voran caught the wolf’s muzzle closing down firmly as he had with Raina in the beginning. The black wolf had the cage to brace against and this time the man was forced to let go.

Growling at him, the wolf had moved to the back of the cage deciding its next move. Nick noted the creature’s movements and seemingly ignored the warning as he placed the key in the lock and stepped back.

“Well, now you have a decision to make. You can continue to rage in your little cage as a wolf or you can start concentrating on using your human hands to unlock the cage,” Nick stated moving away from the door pacing only a couple feet from the bars. He was pacing similarly to the wolf and his body language told the wolf, that he wasn’t afraid of the animal. Giving him the space to approach the lock, Nick was curious to see if the werewolf would follow logic or continue to follow its anger aggressively trying to get to the voran through the bars.

It looked at the lock and
key a moment before throwing himself against the bars closer to where Nick stood instead. Drool formed along his jowls as the man inside seemed unwilling to break from the wolf.

The voran stepped back to the lock placing a finger on the key pointing it out to the wolf. “You see my hands. I can take my fingers and just twist the key ever so easily. Then it would be child’s play to pull the lock free; but then again I have hands, wolf. You might try it and use your humanity to get out, you know?”

Red angry eyes didn’t seem to care about his words. How much registered in the creature’s brain, Nick didn’t even know. Raina had certainly held more of her human consciousness in her mind than the hunter seemed to be showing. If he couldn’t reach it, then it was likely that Eric would be correct. For now, it was a stand off between wills and minds.

“You really should think about evolving here, Bill,” Nick said with a sigh. “If you think being this wolf is so great, I can show you why man has driven them off and killed so many of them. A werewolf uses both sides to survive. Stay an animal and you’ll die an animal.”

Giving the hunter another chance to take a shot at him, Nick deftly turned the key and slipped the lock free from the latch style clasp. It was all the wolf needed to charge the door slamming through it fully expecting to catch the man off guard, but the voran knew this would happen and was fast enough to avoid such a basic ploy.

Sidestepping the door, Nick was out of range as the barred door flew open crashing against the cage walls. The black wolf readjusted growling as he tried to double back to twist and catch the voran with his jaws; but it was too slow. Keeping tantalizing inches away from the snapping jaws, Nick
continued to bait the animal without bothering to use the maneuver of catching its muzzle. This wasn’t about stopping the animal, but making the man inside realize the futility of his existence as a wolf.

The dance had begun. Snapping at the man, Nick dodged back and forth leading the wolf in a circle; but it was too stupid and fixed on him to think to cut his predictable path. Clashing of teeth on air and the growls of the wild animal filled the room as Nick simply outmaneuvered it. He gave the wolf time to try and use the human mind locked inside patiently continuing the game.

Where a true human might have become tired or impatient, Nick drew on over a century of patience with the energy of a voran. His speed rivaled a vampire’s. His strength nearly was a match for a werewolf without having to rely on skill and leverage as well, but strength wasn’t necessary for now, just stamina and lots of patience.

He would talk to the wolf searching for the man lost within. Finally after half an hour passed, the wolf’s panting remained a constant as its tongue lolled catching the air between attacks. Nick breathed a bit harder and there was sweat on his brow, but he didn’t waste energy in wild movements like the wolf. He was calmly watching and responding just enough to frustrate the creature in the hopes of seeing some glimmer of intelligence return to the beast.

It had so many opportunities to try and escape up the stairs as well. With only the chase and its chosen enemy in the wolf’s mind, Nick began to fear that Eric was correct.

“Try using your brain, Bill. You’ve been chasing me while your food has gotten cold and the bread stale. You could try running instead of this monotonous game of circling, but you keep doing the same thing never bothering to learn. You are a sad excuse for a werewolf.”

Finally, Nick noticed the glimmer of intelligence behind the tiring wolf’s eyes. It was the opportunity that let him know that the hunter might be saved. Using the latest lunge as the opportunity to take charge and teach the beast, Nick sidestepped the move catching the wolf’s mouth as the jaws closed. Breathing became a struggle for the creature, but the voran wasn’t planning to suffocate it. Instead, he held the wolf and took the tray from the table with his free hand.

The wolf struggled, but the voran was stronger and in control of its movement beyond what its body could do. Releasing it above the tray of food, Nick shoved the wolf’s face down towards the lunch. The first try brought the jaws back up trying to catch his leg; but the voran’s hand was much quicker and caught the muzzle before forcing the wolf to look and smell the food again.

It took three times before the animal stopped to sniff at the food and start to eat. Looking at Nick out of the corner of his eye as the man backed off, the wolf hungrily ate from the plates. The lunch was gone in moments and the black wolf looked up at Nick with a bit of curiosity rather than blind anger. In his hand, he held a glass of water like he had with Raina.

“I guess you’re thirsty now, huh, Bill? It sure would be much easier to drink using human hands, don’t you think?” he asked the questions much as he had for Raina.

That glimmer of intelligence seemed to have grown. Perhaps it was the food or maybe the long game of chasing the voran that had drawn it out, but Nick could see that it was there.

Taking a tentative step, the black wolf eyed the glass just above its head. It appeared ready to fall in line and learn the lesson that Raina had while it had been dazed in the cage. As it closed the distance, Nick kept his eyes on the beast and it was a good thing. The wolf attacked him again.

Slapping the creature away, it didn’t attack again right away.

Nick poured a few drops of the water onto the concrete and backed away. The wolf lapped at the moisture getting little for its effort, before eyeing the glass and stalking toward the man again. He attacked once more only to be slapped aside. Another small amount of water was poured on the concrete. The wolf gave in to its need and took the water available.