Speaking Human
The stench of unwashed bodies drove him insane. Simon pressed his handkerchief to his face, wishing the ventilation was better down in the bowels of the warehouse where his new lab was located. Sweat, piss, and blood made for a disgusting aroma that stuck to his clothing and the inside of his sinuses long after he left the building.
Machines beeped and droned on in an annoying monotone. Wires came out in a confusing jumble from machines he could not identify and really didn’t care to. They connected via small pads along the large wolf’s torso, the fur underneath shaved away. Simon held up a glossy photograph and compared the image to the wolf on the surgical table. It looked almost identical, except it was easily twice the size of the animal in the picture.
“Dr. Harmon took the DNA from the original sample we got fifteen years ago and replaced the degraded pieces with the DNA from this wolf,” Simon shook the picture at the doctor standing on the other side of the table. “DNA sequences that the small wolf inherited from that dead shaman. There were few pieces that survived the coding process from the sample that the crazy redheaded biologist sent him a few months ago.” Simon tried not to breathe in too deep, the stench of fear and rancid blood enough to turn his stomach. “Harmon patched together a clone of the dead shaman the raid failed to capture fifteen years ago. Which would be fantastic, a marvelous step forward in our plans—except for one small detail!” Simon thundered, and pointed at the unresponsive body. “It’s an empty shell. And now we have—this brain-dead monstrosity that you got hooked up to machines to keep alive. Tell me why I’m not killing you right now.”
Dr. Walsh gulped nervously and cast his eyes about as if looking for something to save him. He finally found some courage and said, “The specimen had minimal brain waves while it was in the incubation unit. This was expected, a part of the normal process. We made an error somewhere in the last stages. The specimen should have more brain activity and have some level of awareness. We have some tests we can run, maybe we can wake it up.”
“You can’t determine if this pile of flesh and fur has any magical powers if it doesn’t wake up. A brain-dead dog is useless. If you can’t wake this monstrosity up, harvest what you need from it and toss the body in the incinerator. Then dump this stupid idea and go back to trying to make me a functional hybrid.” Simon now pointed at the nearby cage and the figure huddled in the shadows. “Make me a human-werewolf hybrid with fucking powers instead of a sickly, sniveling brat. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.” Dr. Walsh nodded and clutched at a clipboard like a shield. Simon was about to turn away, when the expression of horror that spread across Dr. Walsh’s face made him pause.
The bite where his neck met his shoulder throbbed with heat, pain dull, but enough to make him tense. He turned slowly, and refused to shake when Julian stepped from the shadows, walking down the narrow aisle between the cages. The Birch Grove clan leader idly peered into the cages, and soft, low growls came from within a few of them as the alpha passed. Simon presumed the clan leader was recognizable to some of the specimens in the cages. Julian smirked, and paused at the last cage. He leaned down, and sniffed. “A human, dear Simon? Why ever do you have a human boy in a silver cage?” Julian leaned as close as he could to the bars without touching them, and the small shadow within huddled back as far as it could. “Oh, I see. Not a human, not entirely. There’s a hint of someone familiar around his eyes and mouth. How delightful. Is this the hybrid? I’d be interested in how you made it immune to silver, but then it might mean being more human than I’d ever enjoy.” Julian chuckled, and stood up, casually meandering away from the cages and stopping inches from Simon.
“I thought you were going to stay at the condo,” Simon gritted out, trying his best to ignore the almost instinctual urge to run.
“You suggested an incredibly stupid idea,” Julian replied, and looked past Simon to the beast on the table. “Is that the clone? How disgusting.” Julian moved around him, knocking Simon with his shoulder. Julian flicked his fingers at Dr. Walsh, who took the dismissal to heart and all but ran from that corner of the lab. Julian reached out, and with one finger, tapped the black nose of the sleeping specimen. No reaction. He did it again, and not even the machines hooked to it chirped out of rhythm or made any new sounds. Julian sighed, and quickly grew bored. “Let’s order in from a new place tonight. The sushi from last night was subpar. I’m used to Manhattan—this backwards tiny city in this pit stain of a state is sorely lacking in fine cuisine.”
Julian strolled past him, and Simon gritted his teeth in impotent rage when Julian whistled for him like a dog. “Do come along, pet. I’m hungry. Leave your toys for tomorrow, it’s suppertime.”
****
Wren laid his head on the bars, facing the monster in the next cage over. The red haired man who came in after Simon Remus earlier in the night had scared him more than even the butchers who experimented on the other occupants of the cages.
“Who was that man? The red haired one?” Wren whispered. The lab was quiet, the scientists and doctors off somewhere else. Machines hummed and water dripped in the distance.
There was no answer for the longest time. It came just as he was about to fall asleep.
“Julian, Clan Leader of Birch Grove, the Mad Dog of New York City. Far worse than Roman McLennan could ever aspire.”
****
The human doctor was dirty, incredibly pale, and the exact same man who tried to capture Ghost what felt like a lifetime ago back in Canada. Ghost lifted his lip and snarled, making the human doctor flinch and jump on the stool.
Since the root cellar was too small for the interrogation, Kane and Caius decided to drag the human upstairs and into Andromeda’s office. It was large enough to fit most of them, with the remainder of Kane’s tactical team listening out in the hallway, the office doors remaining open.
Kane and Caius stood behind the desk, Andromeda in her seat, flanked by the two alphas. Ghost sat in a chair next to the desk, Kane within arm’s reach. Burke stood guard behind the human where he sat on his school in the center of the room. Michael was near the door, a very nervous looking Gabe standing next to him. Night had fallen and Baxter was almost back to normal, or what Ghost assumed was normal. The visiting clan leaders had all parted. Only Caius remained, but Red Fern was part of his territory so his presence was common.
“Is this him?” Caius said addressing Ghost. He nodded, confirming that it was indeed the same human who attacked him along with Simon Remus weeks ago. The human doctor gave a pathetic whimper, his terror stinking up the room.
“Roman McLennan is dead.” Kane stated, and the doctor somehow grew even paler. “He confessed his crimes before his death. He said that you had been sent along on the raid to garner DNA samples from my mate. Somehow, I don’t see Simon Remus putting you in harm’s way unless he was ready to write you off. No matter what he may have told you about why you were included in the attack on the Park, he no longer has use for you. As far as Simon Remus is concerned, you’re already dead.”
Kane left his place behind the desk and prowled toward the doctor. He stopped a few feet away and gave a sharp smile, full of teeth and menace. “Tell me your name.”
“Harmon,” the human whispered, breathing shaky. He coughed, and spoke up. “Dr. Mitchell Harmon, M.D, Ph.D. I work for…errmm, I used to work for Remus Acquisitions.”
“Doing what?” Kane asked casually. Dr. Harmon hesitated, and Kane chuckled, a dark, rich sound that thrilled Ghost but terrified the human. “Don’t bother trying to lie or hold back. I can smell the first and force the rest.”
“I thought…I thought alpha mental abilities didn’t work on humans,” Dr. Harmon said, licking his lips, nervous.
Kane leaned down a bit, and whispered, “I don’t need to use my gifts to make you talk.”
The doctor squeaked and jerked on the stool. The human reminded Ghost of a rabbit, all quivering nerves and frantic heartbeat. Sweat poured down the man’s face and darkened his already dirty clothing.
“I ran one of the labs for Remus Acquisitions. It was my job to identify the gene sequences that gave werewolves their powers. Simon Remus has investors from several shadow organizations and a few governments around the world, including the United States.”
Ghost wasn’t too sure what any of that meant, but the shock, anger, and intense protectiveness he felt along the bond with Kane told him that it was bad.
“What is Simon Remus’s goal?” Kane asked. “Does he want our gifts?”
“One of his goals is to give human soldiers werewolf abilities,” Dr. Harmon said, shaking. “Things like increased strength and speed, the ability to force compliance, and total obedience.”
“You mean the Voice.”
The doctor gave a shaky nod. “The alpha ability to completely control another werewolf, yes. He wants a way to make it work on humans.”
“And just how successful were you?” Kane asked. He never once raised his voice or physically touched the human, but every word, expression, movement was predatory and had the human focused on him like a mouse cornered by a fox. Or in this case, a wolf.
“We haven’t managed yet to combine human and werewolf DNA in adult subjects. Adult humans’ bodies reject the retrovirus we used to deliver werewolf DNA into human DNA. Even with antirejection treatments and medications, the process has a 100% failure rate. So, we attempted to take a different route. We tried to make hybrids.”
“It is a common belief that our species cannot interbreed. Wolfkin have taken human lovers before, and there has never been offspring, even when pairs have tried,” Caius interrupted. The human jumped again on the stool, eyes darting between the two alphas. “Of course, such attempts were considered taboo. Having a human lover is one thing, but integrating them into our society as mates has always been heavily discouraged, sometimes with lethal results. Can we breed? Have pairs just never been given sufficient time to try?”
“Humans and werewolves cannot breed naturally. Our DNA is separated by too many different chromosomal pairs. We’ve tried different techniques including via IVF, but it hasn’t been successful. Only one attempt at cross-breeding a human and werewolf has managed to survive. But the specimen only reached viability and survived because all the werewolf traits were suppressed completely. It’s werewolf DNA is regressive and totally useless. Since that is the opposite of what Remus wished, attempting to replicate that lone success was never tried again in the same manner.”
A whisper broke through the startled silence after the doctor’s reply. Ghost sat up straighter and leaned forward, eyes locked on the human doctor. His movement drew the human’s attention, and Ghost spoke. “There is a human/wolfkin hybrid? A living person you made in a lab? Is he or she still alive?”
“The specimen was alive the last I checked on it, a few days before you captured me. I don’t know if it still alive now—Remus was extremely disappointed in it, and only my insistence that it could still be useful kept it alive all these years.” The doctor was terrified, yet Ghost was thrown by the casual indifference of the doctor’s attitude when discussing the person he made in a lab.
Ghost stood and took a few steps to stand over the doctor, forcing him to tilt his head back and look up at Ghost. “Is it a male or female, and how old is this poor soul?” Ghost growled softly, and he knew his wilder side was glowing bright when silver light reflected off the doctor’s wide eyes.
“He… He is eighteen years old now. He was the lone success in a long line of failures. He was alive the last time I saw him. Remus may have already ordered his death. I don’t know if it…he is still alive now, it’s been weeks.” Dr. Harmon was breathing fast and erratic. Terror made his sweat stink even more, and Ghost had to restrain the urge to strike the human down. He didn’t understand what IVF meant or any of the other technical terms that the doctor used, but from the emotional reactions he was sensing from Kane, it was all horrific.
“We will deal with the hybrid later,” Caius interrupted again. Ghost took the hint and backed away before he did something rash. His Goddess was still whispering quietly to him, and he knew that his part in all this had something to do with the poor creature created by the monster masquerading as a man. Caius stood, drawing everyone’s attention. He addressed the human, his tone dark and just as threatening as Kane’s. “The wolves that Remus has now. Why did he keep them? What does he want with them?”
No one looked at Gabe where he stood in the doorway. Ghost knew that Caius referred to Gabe’s family. Half of his family including his father and his uncles were still missing.
“Roman identifies…or he did, since he’s dead now…specific families with a predominant strain for alphas with what you call the Voice. The wolves Remus kept were all especially dominant and showed a predisposition to having some form of the Voice. They were not near their clan leader and operated independently in that area of Worcester. Made them easier to take.” Gabe shifted on his feet, and Michael put a calming hand on his shoulder, keeping him still. The doctor gulped, but continued. “Part of the payment for Roman’s participation was that he wanted stronger alpha abilities, including the Voice. He called one of those abilities the ‘gift of command’ and said only the strongest alphas had it in abundance. We even spent a great deal of time looking for werewolves he called Speakers, but Remus was never able to find any in a vulnerable enough position to capture. Many of them were too strong to attempt to take without being noticed, or were in too close proximity to clan leaders to capture.”
Dr. Harmon seemed to be alternating between absolute terror and a remote sense of scientific curiosity. He apparently had no trouble disclosing the atrocities that Roman and Remus planned to commit in the pursuit of power. It was as if the human doctor was proud of what he was a part of and what he had done, and was only concerned with surviving the immediate moment. Ghost was inclined to believe that the human was only that in flesh and form and there was nothing humane in his soul whatsoever.
“Has there been any success in taking gifts from one wolf and giving them to another?” Kane addressed the doctor, voice sharp.
“No, not yet. Against all scientific processes and logic, I have been unsuccessful in giving shamanic gifts to alphas or increasing an alpha’s own gifts. I would say the process has been cursed if I believed in that superstitious nonsense.” The doctor sneered, tugging on his dirty shirt sleeves. An angry murmur whispered in Ghost’s mind, and he realized that the failures Remus and Harmon encountered might not have been due to faulty science but the interference of the Great Mother. “In repeated attempts to see what genes could be turned off or activated, cloning has been tried on several different wolves and family lines with predominant traits that Remus and Roman wanted. Repeated failures in this avenue of thought were not enough to deter Remus in his plans—Remus wanted shamanic powers and longevity for himself. Roman wanted stronger alpha abilities. And the government investors wanted super soldiers.”
“You’re cloning wolfkin?” Kane demanded, infuriated and incredulous.
“I managed to begin the gestation process on a clone before I left and you captured me,” Dr. Harmon said carefully, and he held his hands up, palms out. “It could be dead by now, like every other attempt I’ve made.”
“By the Goddess,” Burke swore softly, shaking his head. Ghost echoed that sentiment.
“How did we never notice these machinations with the human governments? Don’t we have established contacts to prevent just the sort of thing?” Kane addressed Caius, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring. Caius quirked an eyebrow at his heir’s attitude but did not address it.
“We do and that’s a matter for another time. Right now, we need to stop Remus. We need to free the wolves that he has and destroy everything. All his labs need to be burned to the ground and all his information destroyed. This cannot continue. This must be stopped, and stopped with such finality that any attempts to do this again will be over before they start. A message must be sent to human governments that we will not stand idly by while our people are killed and experimented upon.” Caius declared, voice rising enough that everyone, even those in the hall, could not mistake his determination.
Caius opened a drawer in the desk, pulling out a notepad and pen. He strode over to the doctor, who shrank back, cowering on the stool. “Look at me, human.”
Caius’ growl was deep and threatening and the human was incapable of disobeying. He lifted his eyes to Caius, who held out the paper and pen. “Write down every single lab you have ever been to. Every single building, warehouse, home, apartment, parking lot! I do not care what these places are or why you were there, but everything that has a connection to my people, to Simon Remus, that you have been to or even suspect of existing, you will disclose it. Do this, and you live another day.”
The doctor took the pad and pen with cautious motions and a short nod. “OK…yes.”
“Kane, with me,” Caius ordered, and Kane nodded. “Burke, don’t take your eyes off him.”
Kane followed Caius as he left Andromeda’s study. Burke loomed over the human, and Ghost shot out into the hall after his mate and his grandfather. Those in the hall either scattered or moved to the side, letting the clan leader and heir pass. Ghost dodged around wolfkin, dogging Kane’s heels into the living room.
Caius went to the fireplace, staring down at the flames. Ghost took a seat on the couch not far from where Kane stood, arms crossed, his mate watching Caius.
“Simon Remus is far more widely known than his brother ever was,” Caius said, rubbing his chin before turning his back to the low flames in the hearth. Caius paused for a second when he saw Ghost, then with a tiny, wry smile, continued, addressing Kane. “We were able to kill and dispose of Sebastien Remus easily. Fifteen years have nearly passed since then, with social media and technology making it harder for a rich man to disappear without a reaction. Simon is a popular man in Augusta. He dies, it will get attention.”
“We can stage his death like we did his brother’s,” Kane mused, eyes distant as if remembering. This was new to Ghost—he was aware that the first Remus brother was dead and that Caius killed him, but he didn’t know any details. “A car accident is the easiest.”
“When we find him—and we will—save him for me,” Caius said, and an icy chill ran down Ghost’s back. “That bastard has to pay for what he’s done.”
“Yes, Sir,” Kane agreed.
This was a new dynamic Ghost wasn’t accustomed to. Seeing his mate defer to another was…odd. The wilder part of Ghost knew Kane and Caius were alphas, dominant—they were in charge. Yet that sense also told him that Kane was…more. Caius was formidable, and if Kane wasn’t in the room, he would be the strongest, most dominant wolfkin Ghost had ever come across. Kane was stronger, more powerful than Caius. His presence took up more room, more of the focus and awareness of the wolfkin around them. And yet Kane made no move to depose Caius and take over Black Pine. He knew that such ambition was not in Kane’s nature—he had no desire for authority and rank. It was only through Kane’s reluctance to lead that Caius remained clan leader.
There was a soft cough, and they all turned to the wolfkin standing hesitantly in the doorway. Michael held the notepad, and entered the living room a few paces, holding it out to Kane.
“The human doctor finished the list. Andromeda was…offended by the stench, so she ordered Speaker Burke to have the human cleaned up. Burke is taking care of that now. He’s under sufficient guard—Burke and the young alpha named Gabe have it in hand,” Michael said, rubbing his palms down his thighs as he spoke.
Kane took the list and went to Caius, the two alphas reading through the list, which looked to be a few pages long. Ghost patted the couch next to him, and Michael gave a start but walked over. He sat, hesitant, and Ghost grabbed his elbow and tugged him down onto the cushion next to his. Michael kept one eye on Kane, as if expecting a negative reaction from the alpha. Ghost rolled his eyes, a response he’d picked up from the youngsters in Andromeda’s family pack. All Kane did was offer a sharp glance to the older shaman and went back to his discussion with Caius.
Ghost leaned on Michael’s shoulder and he waited, watching his mate and his grandfather as they discussed options for searching the locations on the doctor’s list. The alphas were quiet, sentences half-formed—they were speaking to each other mind to mind, as much as they were with words, and Ghost was sure they hadn’t even noticed.
“There’s over thirty locations on this list. Half of them are at science labs on college campuses here in Maine and in Massachusetts. Many of these places are in Augusta and Boston. Colleges are still in session; spring break isn’t until the second week of March. If we’re going to search these locations, we need to choose a time when there aren’t as many humans around. Spring break is in two weeks,” Kane said aloud. “I can send scouts to each of these locations, but I’ll need more Black Pine wolves and a base closer to many of these locations. Red Fern is not trained or equipped to handle surveillance or investigating.”
“Back to Augusta?” Caius mused, eyes distant. Kane nodded, and Caius took the notepad, ripping off the top few pages and folding the list into his pocket. “Very well. We’re going home. Organize your team. We leave for Augusta in the morning.”
Caius strode from the living room, and Ghost heard him call Andromeda’s name.
“Home?” Ghost asked, quiet, feeling suddenly worried. Kane came to stand over him where he sat beside Michael, and held out a hand, helping him to his feet and into his arms.
“Yes, home.” Kane leaned down, kissing him, a chaste press of lips that made him sigh and lean on his broad chest.
“I…” Ghost nuzzled into Kane’s chest, breathing in a deep lungful of his alpha’s scent. It reassured him, settled his nerves. “I only know this place as home.”
“It’ll be alright,” Kane whispered, hugging him. Ghost hoped Kane was right. He’d already lost one home with Cat and Glen…. “Wait! What about my humans?”
He tilted his head back enough to see Kane’s face. Kane was startled by his outburst, and Ghost could see and feel his mate thinking hard. “Let’s go see them now, little wolf.”