Chapter Twenty-Two

EVERTON HAD MANAGED to delay his phone call until almost mid-afternoon, finding multiple projects to prevent him from picking up the cell phone and punching in numbers.

After cleaning up the kitchen from lunch and having prepared dinners for a couple of nights and portioning out leftovers to be frozen, Ev glanced around the open space of the main floor and spied crumbs, wolf hair, and dirt everywhere. The place needed a good vacuuming. Walking toward the broom closet, he stopped short when Franco appeared between him and the vacuum.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Cleaning the house! None of you deem housekeeping necessary, despite the chore roster.”

“Wrong answer. Oh my Gods, what are you, fourteen? Call him. Now.”

“I will when I’m done.”

“Do I need to remind you that Addas may show up at our doorstep at any moment? And there’s a young wolf pup who desperately needs your attention? Or did you conveniently forget about him? Deal with your shit so we can deal with life.”

Franco reached around Everton, dug in his back pocket—

“Hey.” Everton attempted to protest and grabbed Franco’s hand, but his second in command demonstrated his agility and managed to snag the phone away from Ev.

Franco thrust the cell in front of Ev. “Do it.”

“I will.”

“Now.”

“Later.”

“Now while I’m watching.”

“I hate you.”

“I know.”

Ev rolled his eyes and harrumphed, which came out as a resonating growl.

Franco cocked an eyebrow, crossed his arms over his chest, and tapped his foot.

Shaking his head, Ev punched in his security code to open the cell and all its apps and functions, called up Dev’s number, then pressed the Call button.

“It’s ringing.” He had called Dev’s phone as Cam’s cell had had a terrible accident shortly after he’d arrived at the Ancestral Lands. Cam took a while to adjust without having a way of staying connected with the modern world. Cam and his phone were tied closely together. Glued to the device painted a more accurate picture as his phone had rarely left his hand. Everton had promised to help Cam get a new cell, but with everything that had transpired, the opportunity had never come to pass.

Oddly enough, Cam had learned to live without the technology.

Ev waited for several rings, and when no one picked up, he discontinued the call and shoved the technology into his pocket.

“No answer. Now will you leave me—” The phone started to ring.

A woop, woop, woop peal of a siren rang from Ev’s pocket. Everton stood there until the phone had chimed three times.

“Well, are you going to answer it? Or will I?”

“Grrr.” Ev pulled his phone out and glanced at the caller ID to see “Dev Witch” displayed. He tapped the answer button. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Dev. You called? Sorry I couldn’t get to the phone on time. We’re out and about.”

“Yeah, no worries. I need to talk to Cam, but if you’re out with Tully, I’ll drive over to your place.”

“Oh, ah…Cam’s with us.”

“Out in public?”

“Yeah. Surprisingly, he’s maintaining his illusion magic rather well.”

“Out shopping for clothes for him? He’ll need some.”

“Long story, but no. I’m glad I’ve got you on the phone. I need an expert in werewolf behaviour.”

“Why?” Ev spat out and furrowed his brows. Whenever he frowned, his forehead wrinkled up as well. Again, those magical werewolf bits and parts didn’t keep everything from getting old.

“Ah, well, we’ve found some claw marks, and a couple spots where we’re pretty sure Addas has peed on objects to mark his territory. But we’ve been searching now for several hours. Everyone’s tired, but we just want to find him.”

“Find Addas? What in hell’s name for?” Everton almost yelled into the phone.

“That is part of a very long story, but basically, we’re returning Byron.”

“And Cam is with you?”

“Yeah, you wanna talk to him?”

“Where the hell are you?”

“We’re down by the Kinsmen Centre. I’m trying to use my tracking ability to find Addas, but we’re not having much success. He must be on the move. Every time we get to the destination where he should be, there’s no sign of him, only claw marks and pee spots. This is frustrating.”

Everton’s eyebrows, which were blond, meaning they weren’t a prominent feature on his face, shot up as high as he had ever raised them.

“What’s the matter?” Franco demanded.

“They’re chasing down Addas.”

“What?” Franco opened his mouth to add more to his last statement when Ev put a massive paw overtop of his lips.

“Okay, listen close.” Everton flipped his phone to look at the time. It was almost four in the afternoon. Where the hell had the day gone? “Addas is one day away from a full moon, and he’s already killed humans, which means he’s gone into bloodlust mode. He should be okay if he’s human, but if he happens to wolf out, you’ll all be dead. Do you understand me? You need to call off this search until I get there.”

“Ah, I don’t know if I can do that, Ev. I have Byron here with me, and we kind of made a deal to get him and Addas reunited.”

“I don’t care. Being torn apart is the result if this goes sideways. You’re not far from me, literally fifteen to twenty minutes away by foot. I’ll be there in ten. Stay out in a sunny area and preferably around other people.”

“Um, well, I’ll see what I can do, but you’d better hurry. Byron’s not a happy man, and the closer we get to Addas the more agitated he’s getting.”

“That’ll be the call of his sire working on him.”

“Sorry, the what?”

“I’ll explain when I get there. Keep Cam safe. Don’t let him do anything to put himself in harm’s way.”

Everton clicked End to finish the call, slipped his phone into his pocket, and stared at Franco. “Lock up Serge. I have to go. They’re down by the Kinsmen Centre and on Addas’s trail, which means he’s close by.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Exactly.”

 

CAM PROPPED HIMSELF on a nearby car with one hand. His illusion magic wavered, leaving the air around him rippling and granting the occasional peek at a furry tipped ear, or a fluttering membranous wing. Nausea overwhelmed him and a slick sheen of cold sweat had broken out across his skin. A dull thud drummed out a persistent beat in his head. He swallowed hard, attempting to quell a rise of bile in his throat. The car ride had been too long, too hot, and too cramped.

It wasn’t like Cam to get motion sickness. He’d never had it before, and even now, out of the car, the symptoms had subsided and were marginally better, but he felt like hot garbage.

“You okay?” Dev came over to him. “You’re paler and greener than normal.”

“If I currently am attempting to be human, I shouldn’t look green at all.”

“Fair.” Dev grimaced.

“No, truthfully, I feel like crap.”

“Everton said he’d be here shortly. You gonna last?”

“Yeah, I’ll be okay. Thanks, Dev.” Dev gave Cam a pat on the shoulder and went to stand with Tully and Sparks. Byron wandered several feet away, scouring the area for his lost lover.

Cam leaned against the vehicle and closed his eyes, intent on resting for a moment.

 

EVERTON RAN OUT through the front door of the pack house, crossed the street in front of the house without looking for traffic, and took off into the woods lining the river valley.

Edmonton was split in two with the North Saskatchewan River running a snaky and winding trail dissecting the city. Each side of the river had been left heavily wooded and the two sides were interconnected with running trails and hiking paths and numerous footbridges. In total, the area encompassed more land than the famous Central Park of New York City, and the park provided a perfect place for a werewolf to run at night without getting caught or seen by humans.

A werewolf who had control over their faculties who wouldn’t tear into the first encountered human.

As soon as he entered the wooded riverbank, Ev stripped and shifted. After decades of practice, the snap and pop of a few bones didn’t even register anymore, and as his paws hit the loamy earth covered in patchy weeds and the odd fallen leaf, he pushed off with his hind feet and launched into a breakneck run toward Cam’s location.

As the underbrush sped by, Ev picked up on various scents. The late summer heat had forced some plants into their fall shed earlier than normal, and the typical undercurrent of rotting vegetation, so common in the fall, already tickled the back of Ev’s nose. Sweat from a nearby jogger left yellowish odour wisps meandering their way through the air currents, while the sunshine and rushing river water conjured a fresh ambience, teasing him with lazy days of lounging in tall grasses. Instead of being calmed by his surroundings, his mind summoned up all manner of frightful scenes with Addas tearing Cam into bloody fae parts.

Faster, need to go faster.

Late afternoon on a weekend in the city’s downtown core meant the trails would be busy. He would have to do his best to remain hidden, as a lanky werewolf pulling itself through the woods with a furred humanlike torso and limbs but sporting a canine head with clawed hands and feet would surely cause any normal person to lose their mind. After all, the Shadow Realm still had to remain hidden, despite whatever calamity might be about to take place.

 

CAM YELPED AS a cold, wet nose brushed the backside of his leg.

Glancing down, he saw Everton’s wolf lay as flat as possible to the concrete of the parking lot of the Kinsmen fitness centre.

“Oh my Gods, Ev, you scared the shit out of me.”

Ev growled back a response.

Cam stared, horrified, as Ev’s wolf initiated the transformation to human. The shifting imbedded nightmare fuel into Cam’s brain, unsettling in the way the bones reshaped themselves. Limbs were not supposed to snap or bend the way Everton put himself into human form. The noises during the transformation weren’t benefitting his mental health either. Within seconds, Ev stood in front of Cam, naked and gorgeous, and even though Cam didn’t feel particularly well, the sight of Everton unclothed in broad daylight with the sun highlighting all his furry bits got Cam’s libido stirred into hyperactivity.

“I can’t stay like this out in the open. Nor can I be in wolf form, but I got here as quick as my paws carried me. Where’s Dev?” Ev asked.

“Dev,” Cam called out.

The guys had seated themselves at a picnic table left near one of the soccer fields. They had given up on keeping track of Byron, who had strayed toward the riverbank attempting to find Addas. Dev kept him within eyesight.

“Hey, Ev.” Tully waved as the three got up and walked over. He gave Ev the once-over. “So, anybody got any clothes that will fit him?”

“You got any in your car?” Dev asked.

“Nope.”

“Naked it is.” Ev frowned. His current state of bare-assedness in public wasn’t the issue concerning him the most. “I can’t stay out here like this, but you cannot be hunting down Addas. I found his den—I believe it’s where he was working. The shop used to be a garage.”

“Used to be? How did the garage go to a ‘used to be’ if he is working there?”

“The garage bay is now his den where he’s storing his kills as food for later. There are human parts scattered everywhere. Everything is saturated in blood.”

“Oh Gods.”

“Yeah. That means one thing. His first transformation, although successful, didn’t go well, and he gave in to his killer instinct and attacked a human. Once a werewolf makes a first kill, he’ll suffer a bloodlust that will never be satiated, and they’ll always go after the same type of animal. This close to the full moon means there’s potential for him to wolf out. His animal instinct will kick in and there’s no reasoning with an enraged supernatural creature intent on the hunt. He’s lost to us, and there’s no getting him back.”

“We should probably corral Byron.” Sparks glanced around, a touch of concern in his voice.

“I’d say leave him. Byron’s gonna get what he’s got coming to him. The asshole deserves to be ripped apart.” Everton snarled.

“Do not disagree with you there,” Dev said.

Cam’s eyes darted between the participants of the conversation, which left him woozy, so he leaned into Everton for support. “Okay, why don’t you take me home?”

He smiled up at his big furry wolfman.

“Tomorrow is the full moon, Cam. Addas will shift for sure, and he will be in bloodlust mode. We’ve already caught scent of his presence, so we know he’s been sniffing around the pack house. We suspect he’s going to show up tomorrow, or sooner. I don’t want you at the house because you’ll end up in the middle of a pack of werewolves fighting a crazed alpha. I don’t want anything to happen to you, and I’d never forgive myself if something did happen and I couldn’t protect you.”

Cam’s chest constricted as if his heart didn’t have enough space. Ev’s words warmed him. His big wolfman had expressed concern for his well-being.

“Well then why don’t we leave Byron here and—” Dev started but never got to finish.

A howl came from the riverbank. Several people who were walking to their cars, or up to the sports complex, stopped and surveyed the area. Wolves were not expected to be within city limits. The occasional coyote, sure, but they generally didn’t make an appearance until after dark and when there were no humans nearby. Wolves in the city would have been a newsworthy event. The beast’s announcement had more of an anguished shriek imbedded within a wolf’s cry. Anyone within hearing distance would have recognized the animal from its baying but might have guessed the animal had sustained injuries. The unusual cry sent shivers down Cam’s spine.

One woman whose eyes went as round as saucers snatched her small child into her arms and beat a hasty retreat to the doors of the building.

The area went dead silent.

No birds chirped. No humans talked. Even the traffic noise had come to an abrupt halt.

As a calm settled over the area, Cam’s hackles raised, sensing a dark foreboding.

“Fuck!” Everton clenched his jaw and balled his fists as he transitioned into a battle stance.

A ripple of fear coursed its way through Cam’s body. He lost control of his illusion magic, and in a shimmer, Cam’s fae stood with his tail hanging dead still. His wings folded downward in fear.

Dev, Tully, and Sparks shared worried glances between them.

“Okay, we gotta get out of this open area. He’s close. Addas will scent us even at this distance. Where the hell is Byron?”

“Over there. Near the tree line of the riverbank.” Sparks pointed.

“Can you tell what that howl meant?” Dev asked, a pained look of worry on his face.

“Sort of. Wolf language is more conceptual, images mixed with emotions. His howl meant an announcement of territory. But we have a bigger issue to think about. Your stink is going to be all over Byron, and if Addas takes exception, you’ll be first on his list to track down and destroy. Part of his cry was ‘this is my territory,’ and that might include Byron. He’s staking his claim. So, he’ll attempt to eliminate any others who he thinks are infringing on what he believes is his. And we do not want a confrontation in the parking lot of a goddamn city recreation facility.”

“Where the hell do we go?”

“Back to your car and get the fuck out of here.”

“Shit.” Tully pointed.

Cam stared in the direction Tully indicated. Emerging from the brush, what had been Addas appeared. Bits of werewolf, part human, and weirdly fae, snarled and snapped at the air, looking 100 percent crazed.

Patches of dark fur grew in the centre line of his chest. He sported a tail, but it was longer than a wolf’s and resembled Cam’s prehensile appendage. His face had stretched into a muzzle, with a dog’s nose, and sharp pointed canines extended beyond his lips. Long strings of saliva ran from his mouth, and the eyes were bloodshot. Blood dripped from his muzzle. Two black horns protruded from his temples.

The beast had a Frankenstein-ish appearance as if the worst parts of the three species had been smashed together by a maniacal lab technician.

Addas raised his snout and sniffed.

Byron stood a few feet away. The look on his face conveyed all the hurt, pain, and sorrow Cam had sensed within the man.

Addas flipped his head from side to side, crouching into an attack stance as soon as he spotted Byron. His snout continued to twitch as his eyes narrowed. His head veered away from Byron and locked onto Cam and crew.

His lips retracted as saliva ran, dripping from a mouthful of pointy flesh-eating fae teeth.

Screams of people fleeing the parking lot erupted as Addas snarled, roared, and took a few cantered steps toward them.

The safety of the silver Audi TT lay between them and Addas, but there was no way they would reach the car, nor would they all fit inside the vehicle with its warded windows.