The Boy and His Wolf (4 page)

“
Tanner?”

Marco stood at the end of the driveway, staring at us with delightful shock.

Despite feeling all the relief and the urge to run through the woods, singing like a Disney princess, having Marco see Dash and I together still embarrassed me.

It wasn’t like the time when he walked in on us having sex, because that was kind of hot. No, this time I just felt exposed. Marco saw past the nakedness of our embrace and I wasn’t ready for that. A guy just finds out his first love still has feelings for him and he needs a little time to process that.

“
So, you’re alright, though?” Marco asked for the second or third time.

“
Yes, Dad,” I joked, remembering we were talking about the wolves. “I told you I can kick ass now.”

“
That I believe.” He bobbed his head towards my biceps.

It’s weird to think that I was a scrawny kid back in high school. Always thin and super dorky. So dorky, in fact, that I had to throw my Batman plushie off the bed before Dash and I had sex for the first time.

“
And you have a gun?” That he still couldn’t believe.

“
I know, right? Apparently I’m a pretty good shot.”

“
Impressive.” He winked and then sounded sad. “So I won’t get the pleasure of seeing you run around with a golf club anymore?

“
Aw, come on. I was pretty good with that, you have to admit.”

Marco chuckled and brushed the long bangs from his face. He looked good with his shaved sides and his fluffy flat top. Mexican heritage gave him sunny, golden skin and a perfect hairline. Were it not for him being like a brother to me, I would have totally dated Marco. It was he who first involved me with the pack and eventually with Dash. There were definitely times I both silently thanked and cursed Marco for that.

“
Hey.” Marco’s left leg began tapping wildly. “Can we talk for a minute?”

This was a 180.

“
Suuure,” I answered cautiously.

Marco let out a huge breath.

“
So, I’m telling you this because you’re my friend and I care about you and I want you to hear about it from me and nobody else.” He literally looked like a bobble head as his thumb tapped the steering wheel in sync with his leg.

“
Marco. Dude, would you just tell me.”

“
So, Dash has kind of been a little bit of a whore. Not a whore, whore, but he’s been seeing a few guys… for one night… at a time... a lot,” he said behind a fake smile and closed teeth.

Even though I was sitting I was falling. My head spun, a carousel on the loose, and the sunlight faded around me. Dash, the very Dash who just put his hands all over me and covered me in his scent, was sleeping with other people.

I didn’t speak for a minute, because I physically couldn’t remember how.

“
You alright?” Marco cautiously asked.

“
I mean, it’s been four years, right? So, whatever,” I lied right through my scrunched up face. It wasn’t like I hadn’t had sex, or at least tried to have sex, in the past four years. We were broken up. I couldn’t expect him to be celibate forever, even though I sported a mark that made it almost impossible for me to have any emotional connection to anybody but Dash.

“
Uh, yeah. It’s been more recent actually. I think he’s sort of fucking the pain away. He’s never gotten over you, Tan.”

Dash is trying to get over me by screwing a bunch of guys. I snorted.

“
Really?”

“
I’m being serious. He wasn’t himself for that first year and a half and then he slowly began to go on dates. Here and there, with guys from Western State. Then one day he changed.”

“
Changed how?” I flicked my fingers towards me, urging his excuse to me.

“
I dunno. He was angrier. Pulled away from the pack more, kind of like he did when you first left. I just wanted you to know, you know, in case things got serious between you two.”

“
Don’t worry, there’s nothing between us.” The words were flat and dead, similar to the excitement of connecting with Dash again.

“
Okay.” He spoke quickly and I could tell he regretted telling me.

“
Thanks for telling me.” I forced the words out because I was thankful that my friend was honest, but that didn’t mean they didn’t hurt.

Marco pulled off the main street of the downtown into the police station lot. The memorial barbeque for Richton started in forty minutes and I wanted to see my dad before I headed over. Marco offered to wait, but I needed the ten blocks to Dash’s house to think.

Dash’s house. The memorial would be held in the same place where Dash had his sexcapades, otherwise known as the last place I ever wanted to be. On some level I understood he and I were broken up, but why act so happy to see me when he’s banging other dudes. I don’t know what I expected, though. I guess I thought the damn mark on my shoulder meant something after all this time. That it connected us in some way. I should have known better.

“
Asshole,” I whispered the words to the universe, letting them carry on the wind to Dash or whoever created wolves and their supernatural markings. I took a breath, pushed the pain into a box for later, and walked forward to see my father.

The inside of the station smelled just like polished wood and lemon cleaner. Just how I remembered it. My father was meticulous when it came to keeping the place clean and I realized just how much I loved this scent. A young blonde man with one of those adult baby faces looked up from the counter.

“
May I help you?” he asked and I recognized his voice from the phone call.

“
I’m Sheriff Settino’s son,” I said, holding my hand out.

The man gave it a firm shake. “Tanner, right? Your dad talks about you often.”

“
I believe that,” I said, nodding as I admiring his bright green eyes and tall build. Maybe he could pound out some of the feelings I had? At this point I don’t care that I wouldn’t be emotionally attached to him.

“
Likewise. I’m Officer Patton.”

“
You must be new?” I asked, clearing the image out of mind.

The young officer couldn’t have been much older than myself and in a small town like Amber Pines, I had never seen him before.

“
Second week on the job.” He laughed, husky and warm. “Hence the desk duty.”

He walked around the desk and motioned for me to follow. “Your dad’s in the back. I’ll walk you.”

There were only a couple of officers in the main room, both on the phone, and they too engrossed in their conversations to look up. Officer Patton stopped outside of my father’s office, where I could see him flipping through a folder on the other side of the glass.

Officer Patton nodded and walked away and I stood there a moment, watching the man I respected more than any other. My father had always been my biggest supporter in everything I did. I was his pride and joy and he taught me what it meant to be a good man in a bad world.

I suddenly remembered the day I finally came out to him and how anxious I had been. Dash and I had been seeing each other unofficially for a couple of months and I couldn’t hold back the secret any longer. I had approached my father at the breakfast table one morning, before school, and bluntly stated that I was gay. My father set his coffee cup on the table, dropped his newspaper, and wrapped me into a hug.

“
I’m so proud of you for telling me, son,” he said, and I could feel the warm tears spill onto my cheeks. “I am so proud of you.”

Standing outside his office now I felt the same tears of relief and respect well up. Tall and lean, my father had always been naturally fit. He was a good looking man for 48 and his hair had grayed more since the last time I saw him.

I knocked and opened the door. My father looked up from his folder as the biggest smile spread across his face. He stood and wrapped me into a hug, his forever scent of black coffee filling my nose.

“
God, I’ve missed you,” he said, squeezing me.

“
You too, dad,” I agreed, meaning it.

We stood there for a few moments, father and son, before he released me and gave me a look over.

“
You’re one good looking fella, you know that?” he said, giving my shoulder a light squeeze.

“
You’ve always said that,” I laughed. “Even before I had braces.”

“
This time I mean it though.” He grinned. “Before your braces I was just helping build your self-esteem.”

He walked back around his desk and sat in his chair, closing up the folders and pushing them aside.

“
Sorry I missed you this morning,” he said, as I took a seat across from him. “Got a call early this morning.”

I could tell by his voice that something was wrong. Whenever he wanted to reassure me that things were ok his voice would become chirpy and cheerful. He was a terrible liar.

“
What is it?” I asked.

He hesitated a moment and shook his head. “Nothing. Just work stuff. I don’t want to talk about that right now, though. I want to catch up with you.”

My eyes darted to the file folder that he had pushed aside. I reached for it but he grabbed it and pulled it out of reach.

“
Tanner…I’m serious.” He pronounced each word carefully.

“
So am I, dad. You know why I came back and I have a feeling that there’s more to the story here.”

My father bit his lip and nodded in agreement, having come to some internal conclusion.

“
This is strictly confidential,” he said, looking behind me to the main room where the officers sat. “I mean it, Tanner. Nothing has been released to the public yet.”

“
I gotcha. I gotcha.” I waved him on with my hand.

“
Someone was attacked early this morning on the north side of the woods,” he said, avoiding my eyes. “Could have been a bear or coyote is what we’re thinking.”

Oh please. My father knew it was one of the neighboring packs just as well as I did.

“
Who died?” The Hunter blood flowing through my veins turned to molten lava.

“
You wouldn’t know the name.” He pushed the file folder across the desk to me. “Duncan Thomas. 64 years old. Walking home from the bar around 4:30 this morning.”

“
Son of a bitch,” I mumbled.

“
Hey.” My father chastised me. I knew he hated cussing.

“
Sorry, sorry,” I said, flipping through the folder. There were pictures of what could only be described as scraps of a man. Duncan Thomas was nothing but shredded bits and the sight of these pictures enraged me. It was one thing to attack me, a Hunter who could defend himself against supernatural creatures, but it was another to attack an innocent man.

“
Dad, you know what’s going on, right?” I asked.

“
I don’t want to believe that’s what this is but I would be a fool to think otherwise.”

He opened one of the drawers to his desk and pulled another file folder and held it out to me.

I was confused at first, taking the folder from him and opening it to see almost the exact scene as the previous folder.

“
This is another victim?” I asked, hoping that I was wrong.

My father wouldn’t meet my eyes. “We don’t have exact test results yet but we believe it might be a missing teen from a couple of days ago.”