Deep Wolves (7 page)

I pulled away from Vaughn and turned my back to him, trying not to let him see how upset I was even though it was obvious.

“I-I have to talk to May,” I said. “I have to let her know that I’m not coming into work tonight. I… How long do you think this is going to take?”

“I don’t know, Ariel. The clans Irvine is talking about are scattered all over New York City. The only clan that we would be able to track so easily are The Nakas and they’re the last wolves we want to come across.”

“Okay…”

I stepped out into the city with Vaughn right behind me. I pulled out my phone to send May a text message and let her know that I wouldn’t be working tonight. She replied quickly.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just need to take some time off.”

“Are you sure you’re okay? It all seems so sudden.”

“I know. Vaughn just thought it would be a good idea to take a break, that’s all.”

“Vaughn, hmm?”

“Yeah. We’re headed to New York.”

“New York?! Why do you suppose he’s taking you there? You think he’s going to propose? Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

Despite the current situation, I couldn’t help but laugh at my friend’s texts. I could hear my friend’s voice in my head as I read each one of her messages.

“I’ve been working nearly every night,”
I replied.
“You’ll be fine. More tips for you and the girls.”

“OK. Stay safe, Ariel.”

“I will.”

I shut my phone off and shoved it back into my pocket. At least they knew where I was going. They wouldn’t be able to help but it provided me with an inexplicable sense of security to know that my friend was looking out for my best interests.

“That’s the good thing about not having very many friends,” I said to Vaughn. “It’s quick and easy to say goodbye to everybody.”

I looked down at the ground as I laughed at my own joke.

“Maybe after this is all done we can just stay in New York.”

I jerked my head up and stared at Vaughn after hearing his suggestion. I laughed again but Vaughn looked like he was serious.

“No,” I shook my head. “New York is too big a city for me. I… I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“Maybe you’re right. But who knows? Maybe you’ll like it. Have you ever been there before?”

“No. Have you?”

I stared at Vaughn curiously. I could see the smile developing on his face and thought his lack of a response was strange. I didn’t know much about Vaughn’s past. It wasn’t that I didn’t care. I just didn’t think it mattered. Whatever happened had no bearing on the man standing in front of me and how much I loved him.

Before I could make any further inquiries, a car pulled-up on the curb next to us. It was a red convertible with its top down. Irvine jumped out of the driver’s seat and threw the keys at me.

“Where did you get this?” I asked.

“Courtesy of The Agency,” he explained. “They have a lot of resources. This is an important assignment. I told them of the situation. They have connections and so… here we are.

“Are you ready? You’re not safe here. I suggest you get on the road as quickly as possible.”

I looked at Vaughn and nodded.

“We’ll be right behind you,” Vaughn said to him.

Irvine nodded then got onto the bike that was parked in front of the convertible. Before I could react, Vaughn plucked the keys from my hand and leapt into the driver’s seat.

“Hey!”

Vaughn smirked at me as he started up the car. Despite my protests, I knew that it would be pointless to try and argue with him.

“Are you sure you’re okay to drive?”

Vaughn’s arm was still heavily bandaged and blood-stained. After everything that Irvine had said to me, I was honestly concerned about his current condition.

“I’m fine,” he replied. “I can make it.”

“Are you sure?”

“You’ve never been to New York, Ariel. Someone who knows their way around should take the wheel.”

He winked at me and slammed onto the gas pedal. The wheels screeched against the pavement and we sped out of the city. With Irvine just ahead of us, we quickly made our way out of the place I had learned to call home.

I didn’t remember the last time I had been away. My moments with Vaughn gave me an opportunity to get out of the city but it was still only a few miles away. I wished the circumstances for our
vacation
were different.

It didn’t take long for us to hit the open road. With the top down, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the wind blowing through my hair and against my face. I sighed a deep breath and enjoyed this temporary respite. I felt Vaughn’s hand fall upon mine and when I opened my eyes I was greeted with his smiling face.

The day grew old. The hours passed as I sat in the car next to Vaughn, anxiously waiting for us to arrive at our destination. I sorted through some angry messages from Frank on my phone. There wasn’t much to pass the time but I was fine simply being here with Vaughn.

The sun started to set. The sky became dark and the stars populated it. I knew that we were close. The lights that populated the sky weren’t just the stars. There were buildings in the distance. Tall skyscrapers that dwarfed any building in the city I lived in. The lights intermittently flashed from each of the windows. I was a bit mesmerized by all of the lights as they started to grow closer.

“You’ve never been to a big city before.”

“What?” I turned to my boyfriend.

“You’ve never been to a big city before,” he repeated.

“Why would you say that?”

“I can see it in your eyes. There isn’t a city like New York.”

“So you have been here before then?”

“I stopped by once. I never actually lived here though. I’ll admit there isn’t a place like this on Earth.”

“No, I don’t think there is.”

I was from a small town in the middle of nowhere. I had never been to a city like this. I never even considered coming here. When we finally got into the city and pulled into the rest of the traffic, I realized that we were here. The lights of Times Square were spellbinding. There were so many people walking up and down the streets. Cars were bumper to bumper and honking at one another. It was such a drastic change from what I was used to. For just a brief a moment, I was able to forget about why we were here in the first place.

We followed Irvine through the streets as he navigated through the traffic. He eventually pulled through a side road between a few of the smaller buildings. We ended up at a seedy motel that was far away from the lights that were far away from all of the life and lights I had quickly grown accustomed to. I sighed as I remembered that we were here for business and not the pleasure I had told my friend about.

I got out of the car and stretched my limbs after hours of driving. Despite his condition, the long journey didn’t seem to worsen Vaughn’s injuries. Irvine walked up to us and handed me another set of keys.

“It was a long drive,” he said. “You’re still not a hundred percent. You need all the rest you can get, Vaughn. Take some time and relax. We’ll get started early in the morning. Your room is upstairs on the second floor. I’ll be right over here. Vaughn. Ms. Everhart.”

He pointed at the room he had parked in front of then nodded to the both of us. I watched him disappear into his room then looked back at Vaughn.

“So… it looks like we have a room all to ourselves.”

I gave him a seductive smile to make it clear what I was thinking. Normally Vaughn wouldn’t need any further hints. But when I looked into his eyes, I saw something different from the desire that was usually there. Instead, there was a look of fatigue.

“Ariel, I—”

“It’s okay. Irvine’s right. You need all the rest you can get. You have a long day ahead of you. It can wait.”

We stepped into the room and quickly found our way onto the bed. He laid down while I found the familiar spot on his chest where I rested my head. He ran his fingers through my hair and softly massaged my head.

“It’s not my injuries,” he said suddenly.

“What?”

“They cleaned up my wounds as best they could. My body is recovering. I would take you right now but I need to focus on the task at hand.”

“Vaughn, you don’t have to explain it to me. I know that this isn’t a vacation…”

I trailed my fingers along the firmness of his stomach. His chest rose and fell softly as he breathed underneath me. He was slowly drifting away. I leaned in closer and wrapped my arms around him.

Both of us were wrapped in bandages and still recovering from our injuries. The room was dirty and in need of repairs. But it didn’t matter. I enjoyed my quiet moment alone with Vaughn. I didn’t know what lied ahead for any of us. What I did know is that I didn’t want to think about it any further. For now, I wanted nothing more than to simply be with him.

Chapter 8

The next day, Vaughn and I listened as Irvine further explained what his plans were. There were several smaller clans in the surrounding areas. One by one, Vaughn would explain the situation to them and urge them to join him in stopping the Nakas. The Nakas had already started murdering innocent humans. Irvine believed that they wouldn’t stop there and would move on to their own kind.

The way Irvine explained it made it seem so simple. But we all knew it wasn’t. This is what I signed-up for. This is the life I decided upon when I let myself go and fell for Vaughn. And now that we were here in New York, there was no turning back.

We waited until nightfall to make our move. Wolves are all around us. Some of them are pretending to live ordinary lives as humans. Only when the stars were out would we have a better chance of finding them in their natural state.

The sun fell and we headed toward the south of Manhattan where Irvine had tracked the first clan. Vaughn parked the car on the edge of the forest. There were acres of trees that stretched all the way to the coast. It dwarfed the small forest that Vaughn and I spent our quiet times in. Taking a deep breath, I exhaled then followed my two protectors as they wandered deeper into the forest.

There was an eerie silence that added to my anxiety. Vaughn must have felt it because he reached through the darkness and took my hand to comfort me. Together we walked just behind Irvine in search of the wolves he said were here.

“What do you know of them?” I asked.

“They’re a peaceful clan,” Irvine explained. “More peaceful than the Nakas are, anyway.”

“Peaceful… So they’re not going to attack us or anything?”

“I’m not going to lie to you, Ms. Everhart. They won’t welcome us with open arms. I don’t even think we’re allowed here. But I’m confident that they’ll see reason, one way or another.”

“You’re not going to kill any of them, are you?”

“That’s not my decision to make, Ms. Everhart.”

Irvine’s honesty wasn’t reassuring but at least it provided me some glimmer of hope that we would come out of this unscathed. Vaughn had covered the bandages on his wounds with an old t-shirt. My arm was still heavily wrapped as well. The lingering effects of the attack just last night were still apparent but there wasn’t any time to waste.

As we got deeper among the trees, the sounds of the forest seemed to grow louder. There were owls hooting as they hopped from branch to branch. Unseen beasts shuffled through the bushes ready to pounce on their prey or hide from their predators. There were howls rushing through the trees and I couldn’t tell if it belonged to an animal or the wind. I gripped Vaughn’s hand so tightly that my hand was slipping out of it from all of the sweat. I began to labor as we continued to walk through the trees.

Vaughn remained silent. I could barely make out the whites of his eyes when we passed by a beam of moonlight that managed to make its way into the forest. He had a silent and focused intensity. He didn’t say it but he was using his instincts at this moment. His heightened vision. His keen sense of smell. His amplified hearing. He was an animal that was at home in a place like this. I grew tense, hoping he would find his brethren before they found us.

There was the sound of movement in the distance. It started to grow louder and rhythmic. There was something shuffling around and then there was silence. I gripped Vaughn’s hand tighter. There was a light in front of us. We walked into it and eventually found ourselves in a forest clearing.

“Here,” Vaughn said as he stopped.

I grabbed Vaughn’s arm and wrapped myself around it. Irvine reached for the weapon on his hip. The sounds of the forest grew closer to us. I looked through the darkness between the trees and could barely make anything out. But there was something definitely there.

And then slowly, one by one, wolves started to emerge. They all looked similar. A dozen large beasts with golden brown fur. Their eyes peered into me. Their stares were so deep that I was forced to look away from them. They surrounded us and I gripped Vaughn tighter. Vaughn remained steadfast with Irvine right next to him. The two of them looked around as the wolves slowly started to circle us.

They bared their teeth. Spit dripped from their lips. Low growls seemed to indicate that we weren’t welcome. Every second was agony as I waited for something to happen.

“Peace.”

Vaughn spoke a single word. The wolves didn’t back down but it didn’t seem to make anything worse.

“This is your territory,” he continued. “We mean no harm.”

Vaughn’s words seemed like they were falling upon deaf ears. Two wolves stepped closer to us while the rest created a perimeter. Every possible escape route was blocked. There was no way out of the clearing.

“This is not a threat,” Vaughn said. “I only ask to speak to the Alpha…
You…
”

Vaughn stared at the golden wolf bearing down upon him. His eyes met his and the low growl grew even louder. The other wolf let out a howl to the moon and I shuddered with fear. I gripped Vaughn’s arm tightly and closed my eyes, expecting the worst.

“If this is not a threat, then what are you doing here?”