The clouds darkened again, and rain had started to splatter the road. Dustin was concerned for Kelvin's safety after they learned his blood was almost as rare as Noelle's. If by any chance Kelvin was linked to being a hybrid, then he was in immediate danger. This could threaten all the pack and all the other wolves around the entire country. How the human race would be affected was another question, and not wanting to be self-centered, Dustin thought that it was now their problem.

Maria reassuringly said that she wanted to put the pack on full alert, and mentioned she’d arranged a pack meeting for tomorrow in the rear yard. If there were any of the pack who’d taken a trip over to the vampire side, they wouldn’t show their face in daylight. So, it was a good idea.

Dustin pulled his hood tightly around his head as he huddled behind the tarpaulin. The scaffolding was the weakest area of the Towers, although it made the best vantage point to see anyone who approached or paused to take a look, as the driver of the car had done.

Dustin pushed his back against the aluminum pole and peered through the slit in the tarp. His eyes scoured the road. The bus halted across the street, and he watched as Kelvin stood and walked to the front of the bus. He watched as he heard the doors close. The bus moved, and he expected to see Kelvin right there on the pavement.

But the pavement was empty. Kelvin vanished in the blink of an eye. He had stepped off the bus. Dustin saw him with his own two eyes. He pushed his head closer to the tarp as he looked up and down the street. He readied himself to stand as he heard a noise behind him.

"Looking for me, old man?" Kelvin said as he swung through the scaffolding."

"I don't want to sound bad. But fuckin’ hell Kelvin, you scared the living shit out of me just then."

Kelvin giggled and sat on a sack of concrete and screwed the top off Dustin's thermos. He poured the steaming hot liquid into the cup and handed it to Dustin.

"No creamer?" Kelvin asked as he poured his own cup.

"Need to stay awake. I’ve got the first shift. I'm here until three," he replied.

"You don't have to do all this just for me; you know," Kelvin said.

Dustin sipped from the cup. He raised his eyebrows at Kelvin. "Yeah, we know," he said. "There’s more at stake than just you. Look at the scenario we went through with Noelle."

Kelvin nodded. He saw the point. He was a small pawn in a much-more significant game, albeit a very fucking important pawn, or at least he might be.

"I'm going to get inside and get some rest," Kelvin said as he licked the drips of coffee from the thermos cup.

"Before you go, how was the girl you went to visit?"

"She’s making a great recovery. I turned her. I ripped into her shoulder. She bled and then changed right before my eyes," Kelvin remarked.

"The boy who cried wolf, you ever heard that story? I know you're pulling my chain," Dustin remarked.

Kelvin laughed loudly. "Gotta admit though, it's good for a laugh." Dustin tended to agree. Half of Kelvin’s jokes were the pits, but nonetheless, they could put a smile on anyone's face. "She’s doing really well. I’m glad you reminded me. She asked me who knew about my blood type," Kelvin commented. His hands gripped the scaffolding above his head as he rocked back and forth. Dustin looked up at him as he took his last sip of coffee, still waiting for Kelvin to continue.

"Are you going to tell me, or what?"

"Sorry! I never really thought much about it at the time. I told her about the doc, the nurse, and the lab assistant who knew about my blood type. But when the doc told me, I saw a nurse playing with her cell in the nurse’s station. It might be nothing, but it could be that she was texting someone who is interested in rare blood."

"Did you see this nurse today?"

Kelvin shook his head as the rain started to fall down harder. He stepped back under cover. "No, she’s on the permanent night shift, how’s that for convenience?" he remarked.

"Maybe we need to find her and ask her some questions. I'll speak to Maria and Gabriel in the morning," Dustin said. "You better get off before you catch your death. You'll be soaked in a minute."

Kelvin jumped to the roof of the Towers. He leaned on the stone surround and smiled. "Yell if you need me."

Dustin watched as Kelvin crossed the tiled roof. He vanished over the ridge. He heard the door slam and he was left alone sitting in the dark, in the pouring rain. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and got comfortable. Dustin watched, but his mind was in another place. He thought back to the camp and why he hadn’t taken the role as alpha. The time when he decided not to take that responsibility…

"Corporal, what the fuck do you think you are doing?" the commander yelled into his ear. Dustin stood with his arms glued to his sides. He’d disobeyed an order and had been confronted for it.

"Sir, that would be suicide, Sir," he yelled back in response.

"I don't give a flying FUCK what you think, you're a god-damn maggot, you hear that. A GOD-DAMNED maggot."

"Sir, yes-Sir."

"Get on your fucking belly and crawl like a maggot. Eat the shit off my boot," the commander screamed out as he placed his foot next to Dustin's mouth. He could smell the dirt and the dog feces the commander had conveniently stood in. He rested on his hands as he watched the boot inch closer. He gagged. "I said fuckin’ eat shit, Corporal."

Dustin breathed deeply. The smell wafted up to his nose. He felt nauseous. If he didn’t do as he was told, the dick of a commander would put everyone in the squad through absolute hell. Dustin closed his eyes. He pushed his hands hard against the dirt. He stood and faced off against the commander, unwilling to be broken.

"Sir," Dustin screamed as his fists clenched.

"What is it, maggot?" the commander screamed as spittle splashed across Dustin's face. He never flinched.

Dustin remembered how the anger rose in him. He fought hard to control his inner wolf. He stared intently into the commander's eyes. The commander's eyes widened as a glow of red spread over Dustin's entire face.

"Eat your own fucking shit!" Dustin yelled as he grabbed the commander by the shirt collar and pushed his head to the ground.

The commander squirmed and made threats that Dustin's army career was over. Dustin informed the commander that he couldn't boot him out. "Call this my resignation, you fat, worthless fuck." Dustin pushed the commander into the dirt. He un-clipped his belt. His pistol fell to the ground, and he marched. He marched straight through the gate and turned his back on authority.

Dustin chuckled as he remembered. It felt like it was yesterday. As far as he remembered, it was one of those memories that had never faded. That had helped him remain in his subconscious decision never to become an alpha. A decorated war hero stripped of his medal of honor.

I feel better in the forest than up on some god-damned commander’s wall like a war trophy.

The night was quiet, and the rain poured steadily. He had nothing to report until he saw the blue eyes at the corner of the street. Watching.

Watching his every move.

* * *

Kelvin tossed and turned in bed. Sleep evaded him as he thought back to his mom. She’d always protected him, ever since his dad conveniently departed, and as far as Kelvin knew, he’d drunk himself into an early grave. He wasn't bothered about that part, he was worried about his mom until the day she died. Kelvin’s mom never divulged much about her past. Sure, she often said what it was like to be a kid in New Orleans, but apart from that, she never spoke of wolves or humans. She retained an unbiased opinion.

Had she ever been turned?

Kelvin rolled onto his side. He grabbed hold of the pillow on the opposite side of the bed. He swapped. The crisp cotton comforted him. He closed his eyes and thought back to his mom. The mom he loved so much, and the mom he missed every single day.

"Kelvin, your lunch is ready," she called out every morning before school.

No matter what time his mom finished work, she always found time to make his lunch for school. Kelvin never told his mom though, the bullies used to take it (more often than not). Kelvin got the last laugh, he used to put worms on his sandwiches. That used to give the bullies a little hint of extra nutrition to chew on. And he killed them first, of course, so they were none-the-wiser.

"Mom, what were you like when you were younger," he used to ask.

His mom always said she was quiet and was much like he was. She too, was the inquisitive kid who loved to play.

Kelvin buried his head in the coolness of the pillow. It was now a shade over ten years since his mom had died. His mind wandered back to the back of the ambulance. Why did his mom tell him he was so special, so often?

"Kelvin, you want me to read you a bedtime story?" she asked, nearly every evening.

"Geez mom, I'm past all that now. I'm a grown-up," he used to reply. She’d always smiled as she’d tucked him into bed and kissed him on his brow as he pulled the bed sheet up around his neck.

"You’re special Kelvin, remember that. You’ll bring good into the world," she said on most nights as she kissed him and headed off to work.

Kelvin remembered how he used to sleep alone most of the week while his mom worked in the twenty-four-hour diner, five nights. Then she’d worked at the laundry place on a Saturday evening until ten. She used to let him wait up for her on the weekend, so they could watch a movie before bedtime. Kelvin felt a lump rise up in his throat as he remembered how many times he’d slept on the couch waiting for her to come home at the weekend.

Kelvin stepped off the bed and headed into the kitchen. Sleep evaded him, still. He grabbed a glass of water and walked toward the window that looked out over the street. Kelvin leaned against the wall and sipped from the glass. His finger parted the curtain as he glanced at the side street across from the Towers. He saw a slight flash of blue.

Fuck, someone’s watchin’ the Towers. He pulled up a chair and sat. His head rested against the curtain as he stared across the street.

Has Dustin noticed this?

Kelvin remembered that Dustin kept an old pair of binoculars as a spare. He ran to Dustin's room and rifled through the drawers. Shit, he must have them upstairs. Kelvin pulled on sweatpants and an old sweatshirt. He made his way to the roof door. He crawled under the water tank and made his way to where the scaffolding rested on the roof of the building.

"Psst," he whispered. "Dustin," he called quietly.

Fuck, Dustin's been killed. He crawled through the puddle and slunk over the concrete wall. He planted his hand on Dustin's shoulder.

"Dustin," he murmured, with a tear in his eye.

"I can hear you kid, be quiet."

Kelvin felt relief as he saw Dustin place one lens of the binoculars into a tear in the tarpaulin. He sat frozen, watching across the street.

Kelvin sat back on the sack. His back rested against the cold aluminum tube. His head rested as he breathed slow and shallow. His eyes closed as he started to drift into sleep. His mind wandered back to when he was a kid again, and he thought about when he was turned. He always struggled to know who was privileged enough to have turned him. He’d never been out at night because he was too young. He’d always been at home waiting for his mom to return. None of the bullies at school were wolves as far as he knew, or not until he turned them in his later years.

Kelvin couldn't have been turned by his dad, he was well-gone before it had occurred. He ran off as soon as Kelvin screamed his first breath, or that was what his mom constantly said. No other family were around, and mom took no social time out for any friends.

Kelvin murmured as he slipped deeper into sleep. His mind always stopped him thinking more. Something blocked him from knowing who turned him. Where was it, when was it, and who was it? Questions he’d always asked himself since his mom died. She tried to tell him, but she’d passed before she got the chance.

"Mom," he slurred in his sleep. Kelvin felt he couldn't breathe. His lungs pulled for air, he gagged. His eyes opened.

Dustin held his hand over his mouth. "What the hell?" Kelvin whispered, wide-eyed.

"You were talking in your sleep," Dustin explained.

"What was I saying?"

"Later." Rain lashed against the tarpaulin again. Dustin pulled the binoculars from the slit. He turned to Kelvin. "I take it you saw the eyes?" he asked.

"Is that what it was, all I could see from the bedroom was a flash of blue," he replied. "Could you see their face?"

Dustin shook his head as he leaned back against a pole, He turned to Kelvin shaking his head. "Nah. Whoever it is; was careful. They must have their face and head covered. I did notice a mark on the wall where they stood, so we can see how tall they are."

"You want to go and check now?" Kelvin said.

"It’s pissing down with rain, you must be crazy," he replied. "Anyway, what were you dreaming of?"

"I have that dream a lot, well it's not a dream. It's trying to remember when I was turned. I don't remember. I just know I was."

"That sounds ominous. No friends of the family or anything fun like that?"

"None at all, it was always mom and me as far as I remember," Kelvin replied.

"Well, you might remember one day, and I'm not sure it's important at the moment." Dustin put his binoculars back into the case.

"Somebody thinks it's important, I mean, why else would they strangely stand watching the Towers at three in the morning?" Kelvin asked.

"That's your blood, it's got nothing to do with your past."

"Maybe you’re right, or at least I hope you are." Kelvin looked around the roof. "Where’s your relief, anyway?"

"You’re it, you’re on duty until six," Dustin said as he stood and clambered onto the roof.

"Dustin, where are you going?"

"Bed for some well-earned rest," he replied. "The thermos is still half full, and hot."

Kelvin watched as Dustin vanished into the early hours of the morning darkness. His cowered form scrambled across the corner of the roof. The last thing Kelvin saw was Dustin's head as he gave a final glance back toward the scaffolding.

"Dustin, I know you won’t leave me here."

He waited.

"Dustin, are you there?"

Still nothing.

"Dustin."

Absolute silence.

"Dustin!"

Why the hell does everyone always leave me alone? He needed coffee. Coffee would make him feel better.

“Leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses.”