Wolves among men (16 page)

“
Oh my God, Ethan,”
Cordillia spoke softly as she came around to stand beside
me.

“
They slashed my fucking
tires!” I yelled as I knelt down to survey the damage.

“
I’m so sorry,” Cordillia
offered.

“
Don’t.” I barked. “It’s
not that I don’t appreciate it but don’t.” I appreciated her
sympathy and later I would have to tell her that but for the moment
I was locked on to the sickening smell that lingered where I stood.
I knew what did this and in a way I was related to the monster but
there was still a part of me that needed to be sure.
I looked into the cab and saw the destruction
inside. It was beyond repair and yet the only thing I could bring
myself to pay attention to was the smell.

My heart began to race and my body grew hot.
That smell was all I needed. The rot and decay that surrounded the
monster from California. I could hear a growl escape from my chest
and for a moment I thought I would change but I felt Robert’s cool
hand on my shoulder.

“
Calm down, Ethan.
Changing now won’t help either of you,” I heard him speak from
somewhere far away. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths.
The smell, the smell the smell… I had to move away from it. I
stomped to the back of my truck and sat on the bumper taking deep
breaths as I needed them.

“
Can I ask you something?”
I sighed as the fire in me subsided. Robert nodded as he stopped
just in front of me. “Do you smell that?” He took a whiff of the
air and looked back at me. There was a moment of silence as if he
was trying to decide.

“
Faintly but I can imagine
it would be worse for you.” He noticed my confused look and began
to speak again. “You smell it so strong because it is a creature
like you. It would be the equivalent of me smelling a human’s
rather bad body odor. But I cannot tell when the deer need a bath
as well as another deer can. Does that help?” I nodded before I
fully thought it through.

“
What about Cordillia
though?” I pointed my head toward her as she leaned against the
truck next to me. “She can’t smell it at all.”

“
That’s easy. She’s never
run into a creature of myth. Humans tend to overlook what they
don’t understand. Did you know that when the pilgrims landed on the
shores the natives didn’t see them right away?” I shook my head.
They came in massive boats. I couldn’t believe it was possible to
miss that.

“
They had never seen
anything as big as the ships of London, until the pilgrims came out
all the Natives saw was a large black cloud. It is the same thing
with your sister. Until you teach her the subtle differences in
appearance and odor, she won’t know them. She will see a homeless
man while you see a wolf in sheep’s clothes.” I looked down at my
feet. I guess that made sense but that didn’t help me to figure a
way out of here.

The sound of the back door swinging shut
rang through the air and I reached out to stop Robert as he moved
toward the source of the sound.

“
It’s not Marcus.” I
growled as my eyes fixed on the creatures direction. I could smell
him from here, sickly and dirty. I listened as he growled softly
and sniffed the air, he knew we were here and I had to act
quickly.

“
Is there somewhere safe
around here?” I whispered. His face went white as he shook his
head. “Get in the truck.”

“
Ethan, I really don’t
thinks that’s going to help,” Cordillia spoke sharply.

“
At least I’ll hear the
glass break if they come after you now go,” I barked. Robert took
her by the arm and quickly led her to the truck. I watched them as
they climbed in and took a deep breath as he closed the door
gently, careful not to make a sound. I had a plan, I was sure it
wouldn’t work but it was worth a try. I walked out into the
clearing, my stomach twisting and contorting as I moved toward the
fire pit and looked up as if I hadn’t expected him.

A growl escaped him as he met my eyes and
took a whiff of the air.

“
What are you doing here,
brother?” though he smiled his voice sounded raspy and tired. He
waited for me to answer as two smaller men came around and stopped
at his either side.

I took a moment to look him over before I
spoke. He was actually handsome to a point. Not as disheveled as
the last one. He had short blond hair and a chiseled face. His
clothes were a bit torn and dirty but aside from that he looked
like he’d just stepped out of the cover of a cheesy romance
novel.

He was big, bigger than me and had a stance
that was relaxed. Not what I had expected. He was young looking, I
wouldn’t have thought any older that twenty and the two behind him
were even younger still. The one to the left looked like he was
straight out of high school and his dark eyes held a sort of feral
gaze. His long brown hair was knotted and littered with leaves and
other debris, the other wasn’t much different.

Aside from the shorter light brown hair and
calmer eyes, they all but mirrored each other. I couldn’t
understand however why nether of them were wearing shirts but only
donned blue jeans and hiking boots. I relaxed my stance and thought
I would try my hand at deception even though I knew that it was
truly Cordillia’s forte.

“
I was just passing
through, I know someone here. What about you?” I spoke, trying to
remain calm. Instead of answering my question he turned to the boys
at his side.

“
It’s okay, he’s one of
us.” He looked at each of them. They relaxed at his assurance and
turned their eyes back to me. “We were just looking for someone.
But it doesn’t seem that she is here. Who is it you are looking
for, perhaps we could help,” he spoke kindly. I was impressed with
how well put together he seemed to be, he spoke almost as if from
another time and a part of me felt hopeful at the idea of speaking
to one of my own kind.

“
A woman named Maura,” I
lied. Maybe he could tell me what happened. I almost hoped Marcus
was listening. Perhaps this stranger could clear my name in this
mess. He was silent and thought for a moment before
answering.

“
Yes I knew of her. I’m
sorry to inform you that she is dead.”

“
I know,” I cut him off.
He looked a bit uneasy at this. “It’s caused a bit of trouble for
me here. They think I had a hand in it.”

“
I assure you it was an
accident.” He looked at the two next to him. “This is my pack as I
am sure you have gathered. They are new, only a couple of days old
and well brother you of all people should know that it is hard to
control the hunger in these first few months.” I had noticed a
change in my appetite, the mountain of food I had devoured at the
diner was proof enough of that but venturing into cannibalism was
something I had never once considered.

“
I’m sorry, I don’t
understand,” I spoke nervously. I didn’t want to make him
uncomfortable but I was curious now. He walked closer to me leaving
the younger two behind. His eyes were questioning as he peered into
mine. “I’ve never wanted to harm anyone,” I tried my best at an
explanation. Despite his youth, he was threatening and I was
beginning to feel nervous. I hoped like hell I didn’t just say the
wrong thing.

“
I don’t understand either
if you are like me which I am sure of then you must know of the
need for blood, the desire for it so to speak.” I nodded at him. I
did understand that but the idea of a steak was more appetizing
than hunting a creature myself, human or otherwise.

“
I guess you’re right,” I
shrugged. “But all in all I think I prefer steak.” He smiled and
began to laugh nearly uncontrollably. I was at least glad he found
that to be funny.

“
Dear brother,” he spoke
as he put his arm around me. “That is all fine and well but you are
missing something succulent and indescribable if that is how you
choose to satiate it.” He led me slowly to the other two boys who
were smiling and chuckling to themselves. “Tell me, do you not
smell how wonderful these sheep are? Does it not tempt you?” he
asked me with a grin on his face. “Or have you never hunted?” There
was a silence as I realized I had no idea what to say. I had
noticed a difference in the way they smiled but I had never related
it with food before.

I just shook my head and looked back at him.
Only now did I realize that this man had at least three feet on me.
I all but had to look up to meet his face.

He threw his head back and began laughing
again, the other two joined in the chorus quickly. He patted me on
the back and walked around placing himself in between me and his
pack. “Well then I was right. You are sorely missing the greatest
pleasure we have. I would take you in myself but I have other
matters to attend to. Before I leave can I ask have you seen a
young woman around here by the name of Cordillia? Yes I believe
that is her name.”

My stomach dropped and my pulse began to
race. What did he want with her? More than that how did he know her
name? I shook my head trying to stay as calm as possible. “What do
you want with her?” I spoke as soon as I was sure my voice wouldn’t
give me away.

“
I’m afraid that that is
none of your business, brother, at least not as far as I can tell.”
He turned to leave but I moved in front of him blocking his
way.

“
I just think it might
make it easier to find her if I know what she did to have a search
party sent out.” The young man thought for a moment and finally
shrugged.

“
Okay you’ve made your
point. See my orders come from higher up, I’m just a hunter doing
his job. One of ours was killed not too long ago and my boss seems
to think that this was an attack from the other side.” I stepped
back. “Have I lost you again? Don’t you know about the treaty?” I
shook my head. I was screaming internally trying to make sense of
this. What the hell was going on?

“
Huh.” He crossed his arms
at his chest as he looked me over. “You must be new. Did your sire
not teach you?” I was silent for a moment before I remembered the
woman, the wolf that attacked me before. I shook my head. I figured
the less I spoke, the less chance there was for my voice to betray
me. “I see this might take a while. Well I’m in no rush. I can
teach you the basics of the treaty. At least that way you won’t go
getting yourself into trouble.” He led me over to the back steps of
the house and motioned for me to sit. The younger ones knelt on the
ground on either side of me.

“
First thing I think I
should properly introduce myself. My name is Jonathan.” He held his
hand to me. I didn’t want to touch him but I took it
anyway.

“
I’m Mason.” I lied and
hoped like hell it would work. If he knew Cordillia’s name then I
couldn’t be sure that he didn’t know mine. He smiled at me and
placed his hands in his pockets. He stared at me intently for a
moment before continuing.

“
It goes like this. All of
us come from the same bloodline give or take. We,” he said pointing
to his chest. “Hunt people. We don’t see the problem with that
after all it’s what we were made to do.” He sounded militant about
his belief. I tilted my head and gave him a puzzled look, I wanted
him to explain and it worked. He knelt down to meet my face. “We
are the top of the food chain, brother, please don’t tell me you
don’t know that. We were built to hunt. We are the superior
species.” It was starting to sound like this man was speaking to an
army and not just me. I’d wondered if he had given this speech
before.

“
Humans are weak. They’re
frail and more important than that they are mouthwatering.” He
stood as the younger ones nodded. Devilish grins crossed their
faces as he spoke, “They are sheep, brother. But there are some
that don’t see it that way. I suppose every species has their
hippies,” he spoke with disgust. I was beginning to wonder what
this had to do with Cordillia and the diner.

“
They want us to stop.
They want us to live like they do, like you do. They want us to
live on the flesh of our fellow animals. It’s no better than
cannibalism.” He shook his head with a growl. “Why should we when
we are Gods among men. They are the flock and we are the
Sheppard’s. We have the right to take what is ours,” he spoke with
such fierceness, such passion that I was almost drawn in by the
beauty of his words. I took a moment, allowing them so sink in as
he looked at his pack with a proud smile before turning back to
me.

“
So after years of our
kind being picked off by those mongrels, we made a deal. If they
leave us alone we keep our hunting to a minimum.”

“
That doesn’t sound so
bad,” I added quietly and he sneered.

“
It’s torture and not to
mention degrading.” He shook his head and sighed. “But I digress.
One of ours was killed as I said. A waitress at the diner where he
was killed was nice enough to tell us who were last with him, after
we forced it out of her.” I did the best I could to stifle my
shock. Even though I had only met her once it hurt me to think that
the poor woman had suffered for my mistake.