Wolves among men (7 page)

I was brought back to reality as he threw his
head back and howled into the air, it seemed like minutes but it
was more like seconds before the transformation was complete.
Before I had a chance to strike, he lunged for me and his blood
curtailing roar pierced the silence of the desert. I managed to
knock him back but he was on his feet as quickly as he had landed
and I ran toward him, hoping to land the next blow before he had
the chance.

I swung at him as hard as I could with a
massive claw and somehow it landed sending him flying away from me
and knocking him onto his side. He glanced up at me, growling as he
got to his feet and charged me once again. I ran toward him, my
heart pounding as I slammed into him and knocked him to the ground.
He reached up and pressed his arm into my throat as I snapped at
the air just inches from his face, that same twisted grin curling
his lips and proving that he was at least in some small way
enjoying the fight.

He knocked me to the side, snarling as he got
to his feet and hurried toward me. I dodged blow after blow,
whipping to the side and dropping to the ground as his massive
claws came whipping past me. I grabbed his arm as he leaned in for
the last blow and pulled him down, snapping his arm over my knee
before tossing him to the ground. He yelped loudly as he rolled
against the dusty ground and I followed his stride, rolling him
onto his back as he finally stopped moving and pressed my elbow
into his throat. I stared down at him as he struggled for breath
but my victory was short lived.

I felt a sharp pain as he bit down on my free
arm and a whimper escaped me as he knocked me to the side and
jumped to his feet. He turned his attention to Cordillia and I
struggled to get to my feet as he ran toward her. I leapt at him
and a deep guttural growl shook me as I flew toward him landing on
his back and knocking him to the ground beneath me.

I bit down as hard as I could into the back of
his neck and held tight as he howled into the darkening sky around
us. He thrashed against me, crying out and shrieking into the sky
but I had him pinned tight, there was nothing he could do. My claws
dug into his back and I bit down once again, ripping my head back
as I latched on. I felt his body go limp, I couldn’t hear his heart
beating in his chest anymore and in that moment, that second I knew
he was dead. Something in me snapped and a deep well of rage grew
as I clawed and bit, destroying what was left of him. After what he
had done, he didn’t even deserve a body.

After a few minutes reality began to sink in
and I lifted myself, the taste of blood in my teeth as I looked
over his lifeless form. I crawled off of him and without a second
thought I began searching for my sister. I saw her curled in on
herself by the dumpster, her head hidden in her hands as she shook
with silent sobs. I made my way over to her and I was thankful that
I couldn’t smell her blood anymore. Her shoulder was healing and
for that I was grateful, at least I was until I realized that he
might have infected her too.

I walked over to her slowly, carefully and lay
down on the ground next to her, resting my chin on my paws as I
waited for her to look up. We couldn’t stay here long but I wasn’t
about to rush her. I whimpered and nudged her arm with my nose,
hoping for something, any kind of response. She looked up at me
slowly, her eyes filled with tears as she sucked in a deep
breath.

Timidly she reached out and touched the top of
my head. She was scared but at the same time intrigued and as she
relaxed she ran her hand through my fur, stopping to scratch my
ear. I wagged my tail hoping it would make her laugh and it did. It
felt nice to see her as she smiled and looked into my
eyes.

“I always did want a dog.” She chuckled
weakly.

She wiped herself off and sat up slowly. I
felt my body groan and crack as I involuntarily changed back. I
looked down quickly and breathed a sigh of relief realizing that at
least my jeans had survived the ordeal. I reached over to Cordillia
and pulled her shirt away from her shoulder to get a better look.
It was still bleeding slightly, there was no sign of healing and I
was relived. At least there was a chance he hadn’t dammed her to
the same fate as me.

“Does it hurt?” I asked

“Not really,” she spoke quietly.

“Are you okay?”

“Not really.” She shook her head. I took her
in my arms and almost immediately felt my chest growing damp as she
cried into me.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered as she shook. “I
never wanted you to see any of this.”

“It’s okay, Ethan, really.” She sniffed loudly
as she pulled away from me and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m
not upset because of you.”

“Then why?” I asked as I leaned back against
the cold metal siding of the diner.

“I was attacked.” She stated, looking over at
me with red swollen eyes. “I’m upset because I thought we were
going to die.” I smirked slightly and nodded.

“At least it’s over now.”

“Yeah.” She agreed as she slowly got to her
feet. I offered her my hand and smiled down at her as the night air
whipped past us and stirred the dusty ground to life. As I closed
my eyes and breathed it in, I realized that Cordillia, in that
moment was a lot stronger than I gave her credit for. She had
witnessed something that would drive most to insanity and instead
of succumbing to it she stood next to me with a faint smile on her
face and for that I was proud. Maybe I was wrong to think that
leaving was best for her, maybe I was wrong to assume that she
couldn’t handle what I myself had no choice but to face.

I turned toward the parking lot, ready to
leave this place but before I made it far, she grabbed my wrist and
pulled me back. “Hold on.”

“What? Why?” I asked quickly.

“I’m just gonna go get you a shirt, I’ll be
right back.” I didn’t want her out of my sight but I had no real
choice as she walked away before I could protest. I took the free
moment I had and looked over at the man that I had destroyed. It’s
strange the things we become grateful for in times like these but I
was happy; happy that we were safe, happy that the monster in me
could be used for something good.

I’m not the type to wish death on anyone not
even the worst of mankind or in this case my kind but something
about knowing that he would never hurt anyone again brought a smile
to my lips.

“Ethan,” a small voice whispered from behind
me. I shook myself from my train of thought and turned to her, the
coolness of the evening air whipping up around me bringing with it
the scent of the desert and just behind that, the smell of death. I
took the clothes from her and dressed quickly, tossing my tattered
jeans into the dumpster behind me.

“Thanks.” I smiled as I pulled her in for a
quick hug. She patted my back gently and pushed me away just as
quick.

“As much as I would love to have this hallmark
moment, Annie was on her way out when I left the truck.” I nodded
and quickly followed after her as she led me around the building
and toward the parking lot. We rounded the corner and I stopped as
I saw Annie’s bright red hair in the doorway of the tiny
diner.

“Hey there, Sugar,” she greeted me with a
worried smile. “Is everything alright?” I froze. I couldn’t tell a
joke convincingly let alone lie about something like this. Just as
my fear was reaching its breaking point Cordillia stepped in front
of us.

“Everything is fine.” She smiled. By the tone
in her voice and the conviction with which she spoke, I was half
convinced it was.

“I thought you all were leaving. What were you
doing back there?” Annie asked. The confusion in her voice was
unmistakable and we both watched Cordillia as she smiled up at the
kind woman.

“We were,” she beamed. “But we heard some
growling in the back there and Ethan wanted to check it out. There
were a couple of wolves back there, it was so cool.”

“Oh my goodness.” She smiled brightly, placing
her hand on her chest. “I bet that was a sight.”

“It was.” Cordillia nodded. “But they got kind
of mean toward us, we were just lucky that man from earlier was
there.”

“The man that started that fight, he came
back? Oh, sweetheart, are you okay?” she asked hurriedly addressing
us both.

“Yeah, we’re fine right, Ethan?” She turned to
me quickly and I nodded in response.

“Yeah sure.” I shrugged.

“
But anyway,” Cordillia turned
back toward Annie and continued her story, “The wolves started
fighting. And one of them came after me. I was terrified,” She
added as Annie hung on to her every word. “But he ran them off just
a few minutes ago.”

“Oh my Lord, child, you’re a lucky one,” Annie
exclaimed, placing her hand over her heart.

“
It’s okay now. We’re just on our
way out.” I was just as shocked as Annie was as Cordillia moved to
embrace her warmly. “It was so sweet of you to worry. We are
definitely coming back here someday, right, Ethan?” She asked
turning to me.

“Um… yeah sure of course.” I nodded as I
rubbed the back of my neck. She was good. Damn good. They said
there goodbye’s and I followed Cordillia back to the truck,
watching as she waved one last time before shutting the door behind
her. I started the truck and sped out of there as fast as I could.
It was only a matter of time before that poor woman saw the mess
I’d left behind.

A long silence had passed between us before I
had the courage to ask the most pressing question on my mind, “What
the hell was that?” My tone was more serious than I had meant it to
be, Lord knows I was impressed and surprisingly proud of her. She
smiled weakly at me and looked down at her feet.

“I don’t know,” she finally answered. “I guess
I just had to, you know. I needed to get us to the truck.” I nodded
and reached over to her, gripping her shoulder lightly. She looked
up at me, her eyes full of shame.

“I’m proud of you.” I nodded before turning my
attention back to the road.

“Really?”

“Sure, I couldn’t have done it.” I
shrugged.

“But aren’t you supposed to tell me not to
lie, that it’s bad or some crap like that.” She
chuckled.

“Well yeah but you’re right, we needed to get
to the truck and you did what you had to do.”

“You confuse me sometimes.” She smiled as she
leaned over and rested her head on the window. She raised her feet
up onto the seat next to her and placed her head on her hands and a
few moments passed before I realized that she had fallen asleep. I
hardened my foot down on the gas and pushed my truck as fast as she
would go, wanting nothing more than to put as much space between us
and California as I could.

Chapter Six

It was a long drive but as we crossed
the border into Oregon I felt myself smiling slightly, we had
finally and thankfully made it. It was almost surprising to see
that in one night not only had I managed to make it out of
California but I was pulling into a small Indian reservation as
Cordillia returned to life in the seat next to me.

“
Rise and shine.” I
chirped and she just groaned, clutching her stomach tightly. I
assumed she was responding to my bad attempt at levity but that was
before I got a good look at her face. She was drenched with sweat,
her cheeks red and her eyes were dull. I pulled to the side of a
small dirt road and she barely waited for me to stop before she
pushed the door open and leaned her head out of the truck, throwing
up more than I thought she could possibly hold.

I reached over to grab her hair before
she made a mess of it and she waved her hand in thanks. After a few
minutes she pulled herself back into her seat taking deep breaths
and holding her stomach as she closed her eyes. Her hair was stuck
to the sweat of her cheek and as I reached over to brush it aside I
felt the burning heat that came off of her in waves.

“
I don’t feel good.” She
groaned as she rolled her head to face me. She cried out weakly and
lifted her chin as it brushed across her wounded shoulder and I
felt the color drain from my face as I got a better look at
it.

It was swollen and seeping, the part
of it that wasn’t bright red had turned a sickly shade of purple
and I gasped as I realized that it wasn’t just the wound, her
entire arm was swollen red. It stopped just short of her elbow and
covered most of her chest as well. I was panicked; it wasn’t
anything like what I had gone through that night at the hospital.
This was something different and I hadn’t the slightest clue what
to do.