Chapter two:
I stand here looking out at the city that I used to love and things had changed drastically over the years. I was doing what I could to clean things up, but it wasn’t easy as a one woman show.
Sitting at his desk was Captain Rollins. He was going over the paperwork concerning the fact that I had brought Jacob in alive. “It seems that everything is in order, Maya. I want you to know that I don’t condone vigilante violence, but for you I will make an exception. You do have your license as a bounty hunter, and that is something that I won’t try to change. I thought that you were the bane of my existence, but you turned out to be a valuable asset. I only wish that you would come to the academy and get your accreditation to become a real police officer. You know that the offer is still on the table.” Every time that I came in with a bounty, he would be all over me about trying to make myself into a productive member of society. I think that he just wanted to put a chain around my neck and be able to control me. That was one thing that I didn’t want to happen. Being scrutinized by the authorities would only lead down a dangerous road.
“I do what I can, but there is still a lot of work to do. If you don’t mind, I would like to get paid and then get out of here. To be honest, I don’t like cops and the very idea that I’m standing here in front of you makes my skin crawl. It’s nothing personal. I feel the same way about hospitals. I would rather die in the streets than be taken to that disease infested facility.” I’d heard too many horror stories about people going and never coming back out. Routine procedures had a way of turning deadly. I would have to say that the human body was not meant to be cracked open like a lobster.
“Your money will be ready for you by the time you leave here. Please sit down. I would like to discuss something with you of great importance.” I knew that he was going to spring something on me, but I had no idea what it could be. I remained standing defiantly, going against his wishes and feeling like the power was back in my hand. “I’m not ordering you to sit down, but I think that it would be a good idea that we discuss things in a more civilized manner.” I was always keyed up to leave this place as soon as possible. I hated the way that the police officers would look at me like I was encroaching on their territory.
“I’m not going to sit down because you told me to. I’m just getting a little tired of standing on my feet all day.” I sat down, but I did put my feet up on his desk. I smiled at him to let him know that there was no way that he was going to make me put them back down. “You must be desperate, and whatever you have to say better be worth my time.” He looked like he was having second thoughts, but then he finally pushed a brown file folder over towards me.
“I want you to look at that and tell me what you think. I’ve read that several times and I’m still not sure what to make of it.” He looked perplexed, and his confusion was only making me curious.
Putting my foot down, I reached for the file and began to peruse the contents at my leisure. I took my time with each word, making the puzzle come together. By the time that I finished it, I was slightly amazed that this man actually existed. It was almost too good to be true. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“If this is true, then you really do need to make sure that he makes it to trial to testify. To have him sitting inside a courtroom dealing the death blow to the drug trade will go a long way to appeasing your constituents.” I knew that it was election year and that something like this could make or break a career. For him to turn to me for any kind of help meant that he wasn’t so sure that he could trust those that were in his command. I was starting to get a better idea of what he wanted. It wouldn’t be above suspicion that somebody inside the department was working in cahoots with the man that had become untouchable. His name was Joseph Arnold. He was supposedly a clean businessman, but everybody knew that he had his hands in anything illegal.
“I need you to escort him to the courthouse tomorrow morning. You are to babysit him tonight and make sure that he stays out of trouble. Believe me, that’s easier said than done with this guy. He has a way of slipping those that are trying to help them. He has this instinct that goes a long way for surviving. Maybe you two have that in common. He’s a little jittery, but his immunity is only good if he testifies and puts Joseph behind bars. I don’t think that I have to tell you how important this is to the city. Most people think he’s above reproach, and nothing so far has been able to stick to him.”
I was going to have to be compensated, and I certainly wasn’t going to do this out of the goodness of my heart.
“What I’m getting paid for Jacob, I want triple that for this guy. You and I both know that you would have never contacted me unless you were in a bind. You obviously think he’s not going to make it to trial.” He was shuffling papers and not bothering to make eye contact. I’d become something of a human lie detector, but that was only because I could tap into all of my senses at the same time. That one bead of sweat over his eye told me that he was not very happy. He was nervous that something was going to happen. “I can take care of myself. Don’t think for a second that you’re going to assign me one of your rookie officers. I’m not even going to take one of your safe houses, in case it has been compromised.”
I was thinking about someplace that I could stow him away, and there was only one place that came to mind. Nobody knew that I still had the summer house on the lake in Cape Cod. I went there to decompress, but I hadn’t been back since I had the accident. I don’t know why I was even calling it an accident, when it was really an attack that left me comatose for three days. When I awoke, they said that I was a miracle and that I shouldn’t be even breathing. I had to stay in the hospital for three weeks, but they said that my recovery was unprecedented.
“He’s downstairs in holding. I’m not going to ask where you’re going to take him. I just hope to god that I’m doing the right thing.” He had streaks of gray hair and every day that he was in this office was making him age before my eyes. “Don’t take this man lightly. If he senses that you’re going to give him an inch, then he will take a mile. He doesn’t want to testify. Going into witness protection is not foolproof by any means. You can expect that he’s going to look for any way to escape. He’s done it several times already, but he always gets caught doing something stupid.” I had read the file, and he seemed to have an Achilles’ heel for betting on sports.
“I’ll bring my bronco around back. All I need you to do is leave the door open and the cameras off. I’ll slip in, get him, and then ferry him away before he does something that is going to attract the attention of Joseph and the men that our working for him.” It was weird to be in this position and my intellect alone had me on the fast track. I was destined to sit in an office and make important decisions. A think tank had already approached me, but after the attack, I felt like I needed a change of scenery.
The bloodlust running through my veins had made me feel like I was going to lash out at anybody and anything. I needed an outlet, and it was fortuitous that I saw a bounty hunter chasing down a suspect. I became obsessed, until finally I got my license and was able to put it to good use. Nobody really took me seriously, but those days had come and gone. Any time that I was in the vicinity of picking up one of my regulars, they would see me and they would bolt out of sheer fear alone.
“I know that you don’t like guns, but maybe for this one time you should consider packing. If Joseph and his men find out where he’s being held, then there won’t be anything that I can do to help you. You’ll have to fend them off yourself, and I doubt even you will be able to survive the onslaught that he brings down on your head. His freedom is at stake, and you can imagine that he’s been crossing his T’s and dotting his I’s to make sure that he doesn’t see the inside of a jail cell. He has high powered lawyers, but they are mostly just a distraction.” I’d heard some of what Joseph had done behind the scenes. It was all conjecture, but with any story there was a semblance of truth.
“Don’t kid yourself. I know what I’m getting myself into, and you can trust that this man will be at the courthouse tomorrow morning at exactly 9:00 AM. If I have to carry him in there over my shoulder, then that is what I will do. I’ve taken down some very high profile targets that have skipped bail. I know that you’re confused at how easily I do that without a gun. That’s the one thing that I will not carry, and the sanctity of life is more important to me than my own. I will not carry somebody’s death on my shoulders or into my nightmares for that matter.” I had to draw the line somewhere. I didn’t need a gun before, and I wasn’t going to start now.
The wolf inside had always protected me, and I didn’t think that was going to change anytime soon. It was always there, and I could call upon it whenever I damn well wanted to. I’d learned through meditation that I could control how far I would transform. It took a lot of trial by error, and I awoke several times to find my body covered in blood. I had no idea what I had done, but I knew that it couldn’t have been good.
“The department is very grateful for your assistance and everything that you do to try to make this city safer. The citizens may not know your contribution, but we in the department understand what kind of position you put yourself in every day.” I believed that he was placating me. I was getting a little tired of hearing his voice. His uniform was making me angry, and I wanted to reach out and tear it from his body, until he was feeling as vulnerable as some of the criminals that found themselves under the hot lights.
“I don’t think there’s anything left to say. You don’t respect me and we both know that you would rather somebody from your own force take on this assignment. You would never give it to an outsider, especially one that has shown you up on several occasions. I’m not sure, but I think that you wouldn’t lose much sleep if I disappear tomorrow.” I walked out of there, slamming the door and making the glass rattle behind me. It was enough to draw the attention of those that were in the bullpen.
Chapter three:
The gray nondescript door made of metal was open in the back of the department. I climbed the stairs two at a time with my cowboy boots making a god awful racket. I opened the door at the top. I peered down the hallway to see that the coast was clear. The camera affixed to the wall was not showing the prerequisite red light.
I moved quietly and quickly to a holding cell to see that a man was huddled up with a green blanket over his shoulders. He had his head bowed. The poor guy was shivering. That was not my main concern. I had the key that Captain Rollins gave me, and I opened the door. At the sound of the squeaking metal, the man looked up from where he was sitting with a smile on his face.
“Ryan Latham, you are now under my purview. From this moment, until you are safely escorted to the courthouse tomorrow you will never leave my side. Don’t try anything, or I will have to hurt you. Nobody told me that I couldn’t put my hands on you. The only prerequisite was that you were able to walk in on your own two feet to testify. Wheather you do that with a couple of teeth missing and a few bruises is up to you.” I wanted him to know that I was not going to take any of his nonsense. There was something about the way that he was looking at me. When he crossed over the threshold to the jail cell, I felt this instant heat that made me want to reach out and touch him.
“I don’t take you for a police officer. I can only assume that they have decided to recruit outside of the department. It’s probably a good thing. I know for certain that there are at least three police officers that would gladly find me in a dark alley and put a gun into my mouth.” The handcuffs were around his wrist, but to avoid suspicion, I had to relieve him of those shackles. I placed a key into the lock and I turned it, but it was the way that he was smiling that was making me nervous.
“I mean it and if you try anything then you won’t wake up until morning. That’s not a threat…. It’s a promise and one that I intend to keep. I don’t need you running off and having me track you down like some kind of dog in the street.” He was wearing what looked like an off-the-rack suit, but it was his power red tie that made it a focal point. It was the perfect contrast to the white shirt. It didn’t hurt that I could see that underneath the Clark Kent persona was a superman quality physique.
“I hope you know what you’re doing. Joseph will not allow me to testify. I have all of his dirty dealings inside my head and the numbers to prove that he has been living a lie all this time. I’ve only agreed to testify to keep this man from hurting anybody else.” I could tell that this was personal, and that he had seen something that he couldn’t forget. “That man is a monster. I need to make amends for some of my own sins.” He was fingering a cross around his neck, and it was similar to the one that I wore every day to remind me that god was standing on my shoulder.
“It’s nice to see that you believe in something. I don’t know how you got mixed up with all of this, but now you’re gonna have to learn to live with what you have to do.” I followed from behind, keeping a watchful eye on him to see if he was going to bolt down the sidewalk. Amazingly, he went directly to the open door of my bronco and slipped into the passenger seat. I stood there at the window as he put on the seat belt and lay back with a sigh of resignation.
I went around to the other side, climbing in and driving away, while keeping my eye on the rearview mirror to see if I was going to be able to spot anybody tailing. My eyes focused with razor like precision on anything that would stand out in the crowd. Nothing was there, and I was happy to see that I wasn’t going to have to possibly run down innocent victims in the street.
“The one thing that we have in common is our religious belief. Do you suppose that we have a few moments for me to stop at my local church and talk to my priest? I really don’t think that it’s asking for too much.” He was hitting me where it hurt, and I could not deny him his right to religious counsel. “I promise that I won’t be more than a few minutes. I just need to get some things off my chest and to find penance for some of the things that I allowed to happen underneath my own nose.” He gave me the address, and I was still a little hesitant to deviate from my course of action.
“I hope for your sake that you’re not using my catholic upbringing against me. I may be a good catholic girl, but I will punch you in the face if you think for one second that you can get one over on me. I might have to confess it later, but it would be a small price to pay to make you see that there is no way out of your destiny.” I drove, but I was still constantly looking at him and feeling like he was drawing me to him like a siren of the sea.
I hadn’t notice, but his hand was now resting on my knee. He was drumming his fingers on my pant leg. “You could probably use a few moments to get some things off of your chest.” The way that he said that had a connotation of something sexual. His voice was laced with this seductive tone that made me feel like I was sitting there naked and at his mercy.
I found the strength to reach down and release his grip from my knee. I pulled his arm over to his own leg, but at the same time I grazed something that had been sleeping and was now awakening for the first time. That brief touch had made him gasp. He did not try to hide his obvious arousal. I would never consciously jump any man’s bones, and my purity was still very much a part of me.
The church was very old and had this air of being able to stand up to the test of time. There was some graffiti on the side, but for the most part it looked like it was untouched. I walked behind him as he climbed the stairs and pulled open the two double doors at the top. I surveyed the area, making sure that there were no uninvited guests that would have to be taken care of.
He turned abruptly and put his hand on my chest to prevent me from following him in. The contact made me become flushed and my eyes narrowed. “This is as far as you go. I’m going to need a few moments, and I don’t think that you can begrudge me that. This is a private conversation and one that I don’t want anybody to overhear.” His blond hair went down to his shoulders, but it was slicked back with some kind of product that made it virtually windproof. He had the dimples of the boy next door, and his eyes were practically undressing me the entire time that I was standing beside him. I was not immune to his charms, but there was no way that either one of us would forsake what we believed in.
Having relations with anyone was off the table until I got that ring on my finger and that four letter word to make me want to throw caution to the wind. “I will allow you five minutes, but if after that you don’t come out, then I’m coming in to get you.” I was laying down the law, and I didn’t want him to think that I was a pushover. “Don’t try anything. If you are good, then I promise that I won’t be bad.” I emphasized that last word to make him show a little confusion. I wanted to slap that smug smile off his face
He went inside and I stood there until I got bored and sat down. I made my claws appear and disappear at will. It was an exercise to control those tendencies. I made it impossible for the wolf to raise its ugly head without my direct permission. I’d forgotten that tonight was the full moon. I would need to remain completely quiet. If I could do that and keep my heart beat down to the bare minimum, then the wolf might not have a chance to grab me by the throat.
Five minutes elapsed and I finally had enough. I got up, and the door opened as I was reaching for the handle. Ryan came out looking like a new man. Confession really was good for the soul. “I told you that I would only be a few minutes. I am a man of my word, and that is the one thing that I do take seriously.” Behind him was a priest with a prerequisite white collar and black robe to complement the outfit. He was bald, except for stubble. He was carrying the good book, and he was looking at me and then at Ryan and then shaking his head in disbelief.
“That’s very interesting… that’s very interesting indeed.” His words were strange and they didn’t make much sense. I didn’t get a chance to question him further. He turned and went back into the church, laughing underneath his breath and making it sound like this was one big joke.
“This better be the only other stop that we’re going to have to make today. We still have a couple of hours to get to our final destination. I think that you’ll find that the place is very quiet and serene. There isn’t a neighbor for at least a couple of miles. The land around the house is owned by my family.” What I didn’t tell him was that my father was in no position to do anything. He was wasting away, and I could only hope that he would finally shake free of his demons.
“I’m ready to go.” He was being very cooperative and that was giving me a false sense of security. I was going to have to watch and wait to see if he was going to try anything to get out of testifying. “Father John has been with me for a very long time. There is nothing that I can’t tell him. He has been a true confidant and someone that I trust with all of my secrets. He is bound by the sanctity of the confessional.” I could use some of that same counseling, but I was in a hurry and getting there before dark was very important. Amazingly, even with the wolf’s senses, I was still not a great driver at night. I could see like it was daytime, but it still made me feel like there was an accident waiting to happen.
“Keep your hands where I can see them at all times.” I didn’t want him to touch me again, but deep down I wanted nothing more. He had found that part of myself that craved human touch. I couldn’t explain it, but his mouth was in need of a kiss that would make him breathless. I was this close to grabbing him and forcing him to take my tongue down his throat, but I stopped myself. I didn’t want to do anything that would be seen as untoward.
Fantasies were one thing, but acting on them was an entirely different matter altogether. I couldn’t, in good conscience, use him for my own pleasure and amusement. Besides, I think he would like it too much.
“You don’t have to worry about me. I’ve made my peace with what I have to do.” I still didn’t trust him, but the attraction was ripe with its own consequences. I could hunt him down and eat him alive like an animal. There would be no place that he could hide. I could pretend that his presence wasn’t bothering me, but it was going to be an effort in futility. Just sitting this close to him made me almost powerless to any kind of advance that he would initiate. “I’m tired of running. I’m ready to finally see this come to an end.” He could do whatever he wanted to do, but I was going to be there to make sure that he stayed on the path of righteousness.
“You can’t always be looking over your shoulder. You may not like the idea of going into witness protection, but it is the only game in town. According to your file, you really don’t have any family, except for a distant cousin that you barely see and only talk to on holidays. Your family was killed by a fire, and I don’t wish that on my worst enemy. It couldn’t be easy being the only one to survive.” They’d found him on the back lawn with burns to his skin. They extrapolated that he was thrown clear of the blaze.
“I really don’t like to talk about something that is painful to me. I’ve made peace with what has happened. There’s no way that I can go back and change things. I’ve learned through therapy and through my own personal journey that life has a way of shocking you. You need to remain positive and not think of those negative things that are going to keep you down. I can see from your posture that you’re not a stranger to meditation or yoga.” He tried to reach for me again in a comforting gesture, but I put my finger up to chastise him like a little child.
“I’m sorry that I struck a nerve. It was never my intention to touch on old wounds. I just wanted you to know that I can sympathize. My mother may have not died in a fire, but her death was something that took my father and me by surprise. We’ve never been able to see eye to eye after that.” I was telling him something that was very personal to me. I was usually more selective with who I trust with my emotions and my secrets.
“You can’t fool me ,and you did that on purpose to try to get a rise out of me. I think that you’ll see that I’m not easily rattled.” I wasn’t sure, if I could believe that. The way that he was shivering in the cell made me think that he was going to have himself an accident. “I never get a chance to smell the roses. This landscape is amazing and would make the perfect picture postcard to send to anyone.” We were outside of the city limits and things were taking on a more residential quality.
“I’m just trying to get a better understanding about the man that I’m trying to protect.” The residential area was slowly becoming more secluded, until finally there were only trees lining the street.
“I have to tell you that I’m not much for the country kind of living. I’m more comfortable with the sound of sirens and honking of horns in the middle of the night. I don’t think that I could get used to crickets and the sound of water lapping against the shore.” I couldn’t have cared less what he wanted. I’d taken on this assignment, and the money was well worth dealing with his constant chatter. It was nice to have company, and I was usually more of a loner. The only person that really understood me at all was my best friend and therapist. I’d gone to her with Jacob still in the truck secured and not going anywhere.
We talked at length, and once again I left there feeling like I was lighter in the inside. She didn’t say much and she allowed me to talk it out. It was nice to have that sounding board, even though I really didn’t think that she could grasp the concept of what I was. I don’t think that anybody could really put themselves in my shoes, unless of course they were the ones that bit me in the first place.
“This place is very special to me. I would think that you would be grateful for the chance to get outside your comfort zone.” I went down the gravel driveway, and I carried the go bag that I had in the back of the truck. It had everything that I needed to survive on my own for at least a week. I heard something, and I turned to see that he was looking around with his back towards me. “Come with me, and I’ll show you where you’re going to be staying.” It was getting dark and that feeling was starting to creep up on me very slowly. It was always like that before a full moon. I could hear everything.
He stopped abruptly, and I looked over my shoulder to see that he was looking winded like he was just in a marathon. “I’m just going to need a minute. All of this is starting to get to me. I’m beginning to realize that my life is never going to be my own again.” It had to be hard for him to let everything go and become somebody that he didn’t recognize. That was one thing that I could sympathize with, because every day that I looked into the mirror, I saw something looking back of me that wasn’t human.
We settled in and I sat back, listening to nature and the crackling in the fire in the fireplace. I’d chopped my own wood, and he was now sitting there reading one of the novels that I had in my collection. I was going to have to make myself scarce. I was hoping that I could put him to bed and go out on the hunt for fresh prey.
There was suddenly the sound of backfire and then one of the windows on the side of the house exploded inwards. Fragment of glass littered the floor, and I grabbed for Ryan, but he was not there. It was like he was some kind of Houdini, and then the door was smashed open with two men coming in with guns.
A man in a brown tweed coat that went down to his knees came through the door with a look that told me that he had confidence in his stride. “Maya, I regret that this meeting had to take place like this. I’ve heard of you and I’m quite impressed, but don’t mistake that for weakness.” I knew his photograph, and Joseph was not exactly out of the public eye. “I don’t think I have to tell you why I’m here.” He had found a way to get to him, but he had chosen the wrong time to pursue this matter. I remembered how Ryan had his back to me. Son of a bitch… he set this up.
I made this growling sound, and I fell onto my hands with my back arched. They were staring at each other and wondering what the hell was happening. “Get out… get out now, if you know what’s good for you.” My voice had changed and my eyes were now glowing red, until finally my limbs began to crack and my body began to shift in a way that was not normal. “Run… for god sakes… run… before it’s too late.” My senses picked up on something, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.
“What the hell is happening to you?” Joseph’s voice was like it was coming through a tunnel. My vision blurred, and I felt like I didn’t have control. The animal instincts that I had feared for so long were now becoming a warm comforting blanket. I turned my wrath towards those that were threatening me. I was going to tear them apart limb from limb.
Stalking my prey, I circled them and watched them shake, knowing that this was not something that they expected to find. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.” Those were the last words I said as I turned into a wolf with a black mane. All the hairs on my body were standing on end. I drooled at the prospect of sinking my teeth into them, when suddenly a gray blur came out of nowhere.
I watched, mesmerized, as this blur emerged. It was a wolf that had now latched onto the throat of Joseph. His men tried in vain to wrench him free, but all they did was make it worse. The blood loss alone was going to kill Joseph.
They grabbed for their guns, and I was on them in a second, slashing their hands. They ran away like scalded dogs. I felt bad about what I had done, but it was the wolf that had decided to protect itself.
Joseph fell with the wolf holding on to him the entire time. The wolf tore into his neck with a vengeance, and then it lifted its jaws from its prize. Blood dripped from its teeth and bits of flesh stuck to its mouth like a second skin.
We took off through the open door, and I lost myself. The wolf took over and was doing what it always did on a full moon. I was in this black abyss that swallowed me whole and left me a prisoner of my own mind. Everything that happened was so quick that it almost felt surreal.
I awoke with a start, lying in a field completely naked and trying to cover myself up. I was looking at the sun that was beaming down from above. Clothing was tossed my way, and I looked up to see Ryan. “I’m sorry, but the only way that I was going to get out from underneath this was to bring the enemy to me. I saw an opportunity to walk away from this and I took it.” I got up and dressed quickly, keeping my body hidden behind a tree. “It was never my intention to drag you into this, but the full moon offered me a way out.”
“You were the gray wolf.” I said it like it was a question, but I already knew the answer. “I didn’t know that there were others like me. I thought that I was alone. I thought that I was the only one that was cursed.”
“I know that there are the two of us and that one that made us. Other than that, I have no idea if we are an anomaly or an evolution of mankind. Either way, I’m leaving and I would really like you to go with me. There’s this obvious connection between us ,and I can’t say for certain what the future holds, but I want you there to share it with me.” I’d never had anybody offer to take me away from it all.
“I have no choice and I need to explore these feelings. We are both wolves and I think that we have a duty to find out what this means. I want you, and I think that I’ve always wanted you from the moment that I met you. That might sound strange, but I don’t think that it’s all that strange, if you think about it. We are the same and this attraction is bigger than the both of us.” He was on me in a second, kissing me with a full blown passion that made me swoon to his touch. This continued for some time, and then finally he broke free of my embrace.
I followed him back to the bronco, and then we drove away from my family estate with Joseph dead inside. There would be no need to testify, and his empire would come crumbling down without him around. He did not have any heirs to pass it on to. It didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be a vacuum, but hopefully the police would be able to cut it off at the pass, before somebody took up that mantle of responsibility.
I took Ryan’s hand, and I knew that we were going to find our way together.