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Chapter 2
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2020-11-13 02:29:38Chapter 2
>Lucas´ House, daytime<
I awake with a start. I find myself lying on a four-poster bed inside a Victorian-style room. Everything appears as if it´s from a different time.
Where am I? My head hurts like I have a serious hangover. The light outside seems blinding, while the howl of the wind outside the window is deafening. I wince in pain.
(Lucas) “Here, drink this.” I drink the concoction that Lucas hands me, and I feel the pain begin to ease. My recollection of events starts to return to me in dribs and drabs. Whatever transpired the night before? The giant wolf I killed. The dead man. “Do you remember what happened last night?” “It´s all very vague to me. But that wolf, that man, what was it? Oh my god, please tell me I wasn´t hallucinating and accidentally killed a man!” “No, you weren´t hallucinating. But you did kill a man.” “What?!” “Well, he wasn´t human exactly.” “What? What do you mean? You´re not making any sense, Luc!” “Sorry, I´m not very good at this whole explaining thing.” “What was that thing?” “You really don´t know?” “Tell me, please!” “Wow, you´re really not good at connecting the dots are you. That was a werewolf, Laura.” “No, it can´t be. Werewolves aren´t real.” “Yet you saw one last night. It bit you and you killed it. What part of that doesn´t seem real to you?” “It´s just - it´s just that it doesn´t make sense.” “The town is called Wolf Springs, duh.” “I just can´t bring myself to believe it.” “You´re in the denial stages. That´s understandable. This is all new to you.” “Wait. How come none of these surprises you at all?” “Because I´m a werewolf, Laura.” “What? No way!” “Yes way. And here´s the kicker. You´re a werewolf too.” “That isn´t funny, Lucas. I can´t be - “And that´s when I remember. Back at the hospital. That giant grey wolf with the white crescent on his forehead. The fear that gripped me previously floods back, as I am hit with the realization. “The werewolf bit me. Lucas, the werewolf bit me.” I inspect my shoulder and see the markings. Bite marks. But it´s all healed up. How?
“These are bite marks. So that means I´m a werewolf now?” I see a flash of hesitation in Lucas´ eyes. “I´m afraid so, Laura.” “Luc, how is this even possible? I´ve only known werewolves to exist in legends, in books, in movies.” “Laura, there is a secret world within the human realm where witches, vampires, and werewolves exist. They live, well, WE live among humans, hiding in plain sight. Just like I have done all these years.” “So, you´re telling me that, aside from werewolves, vampires and witches are also real?” “Is that so hard to believe after what you experienced last night?” “Point taken. So, do you know any other werewolves living here in Wolf Springs?” “I do. And there are other who I suspect to be werewolves. But even if I confirmed it, it´s not my secret to tell. We choose to live in secret for a reason, Laura.” “I understand. So, the werewolf I killed last night, that means that he´s a man with a family?” “It´s a possibility. But my guess would be he´s a drifter or something. You see, there aren´t many werewolves remaining these days, because most of them were wiped out during the war.” “War? What war?” “the secret war over two decades ago. Numerous vampires and werewolves died because of the witches. But we´ll save that story for another time. Right now, we should concentrate on your first transformation as a werewolf.” “Luc, this is a great deal for me to process. I feel like I need to call my mom or something.” “Don´t! I mean, I don´t think this is a good time. This is a very delicate period for you. Soon, you will have to cope with the werewolf fever. Your senses will be heightened, your emotions magnified, your hormones will be in overdrive. And the rage. Don´t even get me started on the rage. You´re going to be a danger to others. So, it will be most appropriate for you to isolate yourself from everyone.” “I understand.” I realize my mom wouldn´t believe me, and she would think there´s something else wrong with me. Because of that, she might decide to fly out here which cause a whole other problem. “So, when will this fever start to kick in?” “You have had the fever since last night. It comes and goes. It will slowly begin to build up, then it will finally culminate in your transformation.” “Tonight, is still the full moon; does that mean I´m going to transform tonight?” “Yes, so we must be ready. You have to prepare yourself.” “Wait a minute. How come you didn´t transform last night?” “Well, most of the legends regarding werewolves are either incorrect or incomplete. Yes, the full moon does trigger a transformation. But only in new werewolves. As you get older and stronger, you learn how to control these transformations.” “Show me.” “What?” “I wanna see it. I wanna see you transform into a werewolf.” “Seriously, Laura.” “Why? Are you not strong enough to control it?” “Fine.” Lucas´ wolfs out. Ripped pieces of his clothing fall to the floor, as he turns into a giant wolf. I step back in surprise. He looks magnificent. Reaching out, I feel his soft silky fur. He´s not so scary. In fact, he looks very beautiful. Then, Lucas the wolf begins shrinking and returns to his human form, crouching on the floor. Naked. “Ah, maybe I should have thought this through before turning. I´m going to need that blanket over there.” I chuckled at Lucas´ little mishap, and toss the blanket over his naked form. “Wait for me in the garden. I´ll just go change.” Something weird happens. As if I am not in control of my own body. I run towards the balcony, and without thinking, I leap into the gardens below. I hand in a crouch on the ground.
What just happened?
>Lucas´ House. Garden. Day<
I look up just in time to see Lucas, wearing only a pair of jeans, also jump from the balcony. He lands right next to me, standing on his feet, smiling smugly. “Show off.” “I forgot to tell you. Sometime your instincts will take over.”
Lucas reaches out a hand and helps me up to my feet. We start walking side by side.
“Back there. Your transformation. How come you didn´t look like that werewolf from last night? He´s scarier and wild. He was vicious.” “That´s one of the effects of the full moon. Wolves who don´t have an Alpha are more susceptible to becoming frenzied during the full moon.” I just stare at him, attempting to make sense of what he just said. “You see, werewolves are supposed to belong to a pack, and within each pack there is an Alpha, a leader.” “So that means you belong to a pack, because you didn´t go into a frenzy last night?” “I didn´t become frenzied because I am strong. But I don´t belong to a pack. Most of the Alphas, if not all, were wiped out two decades ago during the war. There are only potential Alphas. And packs are basically non-existent.” “Did you ever feel lonely being the only werewolf out here?” “For a time, I did. But now I have you.” We exchange smiles.
Suddenly, Lucas stops in his tracks and grabs my arm, holding me back. He looks wary, as if he senses danger. “What´s wrong?” I asked. “Someone´s here.” Lucas turns his head, as if trying to strain his hearing. Then he pulls me behind him, as if to protect me. “Stay back. Don´t move.” Lucas warily moves forward into the clearing ahead. He stops a few yards away from the lines of trees marking the border of the forest. The silence that follows was broken only by his scream. “LAURA! RUN!”
That´s when a black werewolf emerges from the trees, and Lucas wolfs out. What the -!
I run as fast as my feet will carry me until I reach the garden. God, I hope nothing bad happens to Lucas. I feel helpless in this moment. What can I do? I can´t go up against a werewolf!
The moments pass as I await Lucas´ return. A long, foreboding silence surrounds me as I stare ahead. Suddenly, a large figure finally appears. It´s a grey wolf. This one is different. It´s fur is almost silver to the extent that glitters against the sunlight. Nestled in his jaws is the prone human form of Lucas.
Is he dead?! I run towards the wolf. It´s now or never. I will fight if I have to.
Arming myself with a huge rock, I run towards the wolf. “Drop him!”
“It´s okay, Laura.” Lucas, barely conscious, utters a groan. “Take me home.” The wolf moves towards the house.
>Lucas´ bedroom. Day. <
After the silver wolf has set Lucas down on his bed, it disappears again towards the balcony where it had entered. As I cover Lucas´ naked body with a blanket, he starts to stir and regains consciousness.
“And I´m naked again.” “Are you all right, Luc? How do you feel?” “Like a wolf bit me in the jugular?” I smile. He seems to be fine now.
“Your wounds, they´re all gone!” I gasped out in surprise. “I heal very rapidly.”
Suddenly, I´m reminded of Patrick. His wounds had healed so quickly, and I received the same response from him when I asked about it. Is Patrick a werewolf too? I thought to myself.
“It´s one of the perks of being a werewolf.” Lucas said as sensing I was thinking about that. “Rapid cell regeneration. It´s fascinating.”
“Don´t worry. You have it too. Can you get me a pair of pants, please?”
I toss him a pair of pants I fetch from his drawer, and he slips into them from underneath the blanket.
“Luc, what happened back there, was that normal?” “No, that´s not supposed to happen. The moon isn´t even out, yet that wolf is already in a frenzy. This changes everything. Something is wrong, Laura. These werewolf attacks aren´t random. Good thing he´s back.”
“You mean the-” “Do you smell that?” Lucas sniffs the air. “I smell bacon. Time for breakfast. Let´s go!”
>Lucas´ kitchen. Day<
That´s strange. I know for a fact that Lucas doesn´t have a helper in his house. He lives alone.
“Whoa!” I´m surprised to see a man standing in the middle of the kitchen, stark naked! He´s flipping pancakes in the air.
(Lucas) “And you´re still naked.” “Who is this guy?” I smile in spite of myself. He looks absolutely handsome. And he´s sexy as hell. “This is my friend, Liam Cranston. The one who just saved my life.” “You mean, he´s the-” “Yup. I´m the silver wolf.” Liam interrupted me, smirking.
“And the silver wolf needs to put some pants on.” Lucas hissed, rolling his eyes. “Why? I´m very much comfortable in my own skin. I don´t mind being naked in front of you guys.” “I do mind. Do you, Laura?” To be honest, I don´t mind looking at his naked, sexy body. It doesn´t bother me. In fact, I kind of like it. “Oh, no, not at all. He can be naked all day.”
“Forget I asked. That´s the werewolf fever talking. Your hormones are in overdrive.”
I saunter over to Liam. Like there´s this magnet drawing me to him.
“Oh, is she a new wolf?” Liam raised an eyebrow, visibly pleased. I give him a hug, feeling the hardness of his body against mine. He smells so good too. “I´m Laura Fuller, by the way.” “Liam. A pleasure to meet you.” “The pleasure is all mine.”
(Lucas) “Clearly. All right, that´s it. Go to the guest room and put some clothes on. Please, it´s unsanitary, you´re cross-contaminating the food.”
Liam gives me a wink as he bounds out of the kitchen. “He´s hot. And I don´t think it´s just the hormones talking.” “This is exactly the reason why I want to isolate you. You´re not going to be able to resist such temptations.” “Well, it´s not like I don´t have freewill or anything right? I mean, these feelings still exist really deep down. They´re just magnified at this time. So, with or without the fever, I am still attracted to him.” “Yes, that´s correct. But it still makes me uncomfortable.” “Whatever, Dad! Wait, I thought you´re a lone wolf?” “I am. Liam is an old friend.”
Liam has just entered the kitchen. Lucas and I sit at the counter as Liam turn to me. “What would you like for breakfast?” “Scrambled eggs will do, thank you.”
Liam gives Lucas a plate of bacon and eggs. I observe how Liam knows Lucas´ breakfast of choice. They must be really good friends.
Suddenly, Liams´ expression becomes deadly serious. “Now, let´s talk business. You haven´t been cleaning up the old neighborhood, Lucas. Do you not paying attention to what´s happening around you?” “I pay attention. But it´s not like I can do anything about it. I have no allies here. No pack.” “A werewolf frenzy in broad daylight. That´s not normal.” “I know. I´m going to require your assistance to solve this mystery. But anyway, why are you here in the first place?” “I was tracking a werewolf friend of mine. His name´s Alex. He´s been gone for a couple of months now. I finally got a lead on his whereabouts, which brought me here to Wolf Springs last night. But I was too late. The police found him dead in a ditch on the other side of town, out on Route 90.”
Lucas lets out a frustrated sigh. “I´m sorry, that was me.” “Wait, are you trying to tell me that you killed my friend?” “Wait. Let me explain. Last night, that wolf attacked Laura. Laura´s the one who killed him.” “In self-defense. Thank you, Lucas.” “And I´m the one who disposed of the body.” “Didn´t anyone teach you how to dispose of a dead werewolf's´ body appropriately? You´re supposed to burn it with sage and monkshood.” “I was pressed for time! I needed to get back fast, because my friend here had just been bitten by that wolf and she´s having the fever.” “No, that´s not the wolf that bit me. It was another one, a grey one. Well, a dark grey one.”
“What? Why am I only hearing this now?” “I don´t know. I guess it kinda got lost in the conversation about Alphas and werewolves and secret wars.”
(Liam) “SO, that wolf is still out there?” I just give him a nod. I didn´t know what else to say.
(Lucas) “Liam, I´m so sorry about your friend, but he was in a frenzy.” “But that´s impossible, Lucas. Alex is a potential Alpha. Potential Alphas aren´t susceptible to frenzy.” “He was clearly frenzied. Just like that wolf who attacked me this morning.” “That´s three werewolf attacks across a span of 24 hours. It can´t be a coincidence. Something is definitely wrong.”
(Laura) “What about the animal attacks?” “What animal attacks?” Liam asked. “There was an animal attack last night. A lot of victims ended up in the hospital.”
“Lucas?” Liam turned to him with a worried face. Lucas looks confused. It´s obvious that this is the first time he´s heard about it. “I-I´ve been busy.” He stumbled.
“So, we don´t even know if this animal attack is of the werewolf variety.” Liam said.
“I work at the hospital. I can discover what happened.” “No way! You still have the fever. You can´t go out there.” Liam looks me up and down, as if trying to get the measure of me. “She looks fine to me. I think she´s going to be a strong wolf.” “It´s not worth the risk. She can´t be in a building full of people.” “Stop treating me like a child, Luc!” “You´re a new wolf, Laura. You´re practically a newborn baby. I´m just trying to protect you and the people around you.” “You sound just like my mom.”
Liam comes between us. “Lucas, why don´t you just go with Laura? That way you can keep an eye on her?” “I think that´s a great idea.” I smiled. “It´s settled then. You guys check out the hospital. I´ll go and dispose of the werewolf´s body properly in the woods.” Lucas rolls his eyes. “Fine. We´ll see you later.”
>Hospital. Day. <
At the hospital, I instruct Lucas to head for a room with one of the animal attack victims in, while I go and talk to my boss. “I´m so sorry for not calling in, but I had a family emergency.” I lied to Lydia. “Your mom´s in town?” I hesitate for a second. I feel bad lying to Lydia. “No, it´s someone else.” “Well, whatever it is I´m sure you´ll get through it. I´ll file the necessary papers for your leave. I´ll see you when you get back.” “Thank you, Dr. Wilde.” Lydia says good-bye and gets back to her duties.
(Patrick) “Laura.” Oh no. My heart jumps as soon as I hear his voice from behind me. I turn and see Patrick standing there. Suddenly, I feel all hot and bothered. “Patrick.” Please don´t come near me. But he does. He approaches so closely that I am overwhelmed by his scent. He has this strong musky odor that arouses me. “How are you? Are you not working today?” “Family emergency.” “I hope everything turns out okay.” Patrick touches my arm, consolingly. As he does it sends electricity through my body. Oh god. I ball my hands into fists, struggling to maintain my composure. “Thank you.” “I´ll see you soon.” I don´t want to see him go. I´ve just got to have him. “Patrick.” “Yes, Laura?” “Can I talk you in private?” “Sure. There´s an on-call room just right around that hallway.”
We slip inside the empty on-call room. And the moment Patrick closes the door, he starts to kiss me. I push him away. “I didn´t come here for that.” But I can´t deny myself any longer. I decide to give in the urge. “Who am I kidding? Kiss me.” Patrick smiles and begins to kiss me hungrily. His mouth finds its way down the base of my neck and bites down hard. “Aaahhh!” I yelp out in pain as my hand flies to my neck. It´s bleeding. But I feel it healing very rapidly. “You are one naughty doctor.” We resume kissing, but the door suddenly bursts open. An angry Lucas stands by the doorway. “I knew this was a bad idea. We need to go now.” I look at Patrick apologetically. “I´m sorry. I have to go.” “I guess I´ll see you some other time.”
>Lucas´ house. Afternoon<
The three of us gather in Lucas´ living room. Liam has just disposed the body of the werewolf he killed this morning. “Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing who this werewolf was. But I noticed some similarities with my friend.” “What are they?” Lucas asked. “They both have these puncture wounds on their sides that never healed.” “I didn´t notice those last night on your friend because it was dark.” “I have no idea what it was. But that means they are connected. We´re just going to have to investigate this further. What have you found out about the animal attacks?” “I´ve seen the wounds on one of the victims. It´s definitely a werewolf bite.” I gasped. “Wait. Does that mean that they´re going to turn into werewolves as well?” “Well, they seem to have survived the initial fever, so yes.” Liam answered. “Werewolf venom is very potent. Either you die or you turn.” Lucas added.
“But if they´re all going to turn into werewolves, then all those people in the hospital, the patients, the employees, they´re all in danger.” “Which is why we need to devise a plan to extract them. To remove them from that environment.” I´ve never seen this side of Lucas. He sounds very military. It´s as if they´ve done this before. “How are we going to do that?” “There´s no we. I´m not going to involve you in this. It´s too risky.” “Lucas, I need you to start trusting me.” It takes an immense amount of effort to resist the urge to punch him. With a sheer force of will, I manage to restrain the rage inside me. “Not until you turn and start training to control your powers.” “Okay, that´s enough.” Liam interrupted. “Listen to Lucas, Laura. He just wants you to be safe.” Somehow, Liams´ words compel me to obey. “All right.” Lucas gives me a curious look. “So, what´s our extraction strategy?” “I think, it´s time to pay the old troops a visit. We need to bring in the Tank.”
>Lucas house. An old war room. <
It´s almost sundown when Lucas brings me inside the room that´s remained locked ever since I´ve known him. It turns out to be a war room. Ancient weapons adorn the walls. Suits of armor stand as a perpetual vigil in all corners of the room. “So, this is why you´ve been keeping this room locked all these years.” “That, plus I´ve just never had the need for this room until today.” “When you said Liam is an old friend, you used to belong to the same pack, didn´t you?” “That´s correct. We were the last pack remaining in Wolf Springs, until Liam was elected to go into exile. We all went our separate ways since then.” Suddenly, the doors to the war room burst open. A tall, hulking older man enters, followed by a pretty girl in her early twenties, who´s got her arms hooked to Liams´. I feel a sudden twinge of jealousy.
(Tank) “It´s nice to be back! Lucas! How are you, my man?” “I´m good, Tank. This is my friend. Laura, this is Tank.” Tank embraces me in a bear hug, leaving me perplexed. “It´s so nice to meet you, Laura. Welcome to the pack.”
(Liam) “We are not a pack, Tank. This is just a temporary arrangement until we reach our goal.” “Oh, all right.” Liam turned to the girl. “Laura, this is Amelia Knox, Lucas´ younger sister.” Amelia smiles and shakes my hand as I glance at Lucas, whose face remains expressionless. He´s obviously averting the gaze of his sister. “Laura Fuller. It´s nice to meet you.” “Same here.” She replied.
I didn´t know Lucas has a sister. And they don´t seem to be on good terms. He sure has been keeping a lot of secrets from me. “I realize now that I really don´t know Lucas all that well.” I pull Lucas to one side and ask him in a whisper. “You never told me about your sister. You´ve been keeping a lot of secrets from me. What´s up with that?” Lucas sighed. “It´s complicated. This is a different life I left behind and I wanted to forget. We´ll talk about it some other time.” “We´d better. Because I feel like I don´t even know you anymore.” “I´m sorry, okay?” Lucas rejoins the group. “So, where is the old man?” Lucas turned to Liam. “Old man Lobo is out of the state. He won´t be joining us on this mission.” Liam walks over to a mini bar. “Laura, what drink will you have?” “Scotch!”
Liam hands me my drink with a wink. He then proceeds to pour and give everyone a glass of liquor. “So, that´s it? We just extract those people from the hospital, and we´re done?” Tank asked Liam. “Basically, yes. Until we can discover any further information about what is really happening, I think we should lay low following this. There can´t be many wolves here in Wolf Springs. It´ll be like placing a target on our own backs.” “Easy peasy.” “it´s getting dark outside. Lucas, you are going with Tank and Amelia to the hospital- Tank will brief you all along the way.” Lucas is clearly not delighted at the prospect of having to work with his sister. “Meanwhile, Laura and I are staying here. I´m going to assist her with coping with her transformation.” “Why don´t I stay with Laura instead?” Lucas gave Liam a suspicious look. “You´ve been to the hospital, Lucas. You know where the victims are. So, you go.” Lucas rolls his eyes. “Fine.”
>Lucas´ house. Garden. Night<
Once the group has left, Liam and I sit on a stone bench in the garden as the moon begins its ascent in the sky.
“You should feel it any minute now. As the moon reaches its apex.” What I didn´t count on was a romantic setting to my first transformation.
Liam is sitting so close beside me that it becomes so difficult to resist the sexual urges that I´ve been having for him. Now that we´re alone, I can´t deny my attraction for Liam.
Under the light of the full moon, I can still make out the features of his handsome face. My eyes fall on his lips. I long to touch them. I squirm in my seat, resisting the urge to reach out and touch him. “Do you feel it?” Liam pulls me out of my thoughts. “I feel something all right.” We just stare at each other, the light of the moon illuminating our faces. I flip my hair back, and in that moment, I see Liams´ eyes narrow at me. “Can I take a look at your neck?” I nod and Liam leans in closer, his scent sending a powerful urge to my core. “Laura, do you know that you have been marked?” My hand touches the part of my neck where Patrick bit me.
“What do you mean by marked?” “It means-”
“AAAHHH!!!” I suddenly scream as an unforgiving pain consumes me. It feels as though every bone in my body is going to break, to the extent that I fall to the ground and thrash uncontrollably. Then out of nowhere, the pain stops and my instincts take over. I do not feel completely in control. It feels like there´s this beast inside that wants to be unleashed. I run.
