Chapter 4

Chapter 4

>Lucas´ House. Garden. Day<

I look up just in time to see Lucas, wearing only a pair of jeans, also jump from the balcony. He lands right next to me, standing on his feet, smiling smugly.

“Show off.”

“I forgot to tell you. Sometime your instincts will take over.”

Lucas reaches out a hand and helps me up to my feet. We start walking side by side.

“Back there. Your transformation. How come you didn´t look like that werewolf from last night? He´s scarier and wild. He was vicious.”

“That´s one of the effects of the full moon. Wolves who don´t have an Alpha are more susceptible to becoming frenzied during the full moon.”

I just stare at him, attempting to make sense of what he just said.

“You see, werewolves are supposed to belong to a pack, and within each pack there is an Alpha, a leader.”

“So that means you belong to a pack, because you didn´t go into a frenzy last night?”

“I didn´t become frenzied because I am strong. But I don´t belong to a pack. Most of the Alphas, if not all, were wiped out two decades ago during the war. There are only potential Alphas. And packs are basically non-existent.”

“Did you ever feel lonely being the only werewolf out here?”

“For a time, I did. But now I have you.”

We exchange smiles. 

Suddenly, Lucas stops in his tracks and grabs my arm, holding me back. He looks wary, as if he senses danger.

“What´s wrong?” I asked.

“Someone´s here.” Lucas turns his head, as if trying to strain his hearing. Then he pulls me behind him, as if to protect me.

“Stay back. Don´t move.” Lucas warily moves forward into the clearing ahead. He stops a few yards away from the lines of trees marking the border of the forest.

The silence that follows was broken only by his scream. “LAURA! RUN!”

That´s when a black werewolf emerges from the trees, and Lucas wolfs out. What the -!

I run as fast as my feet will carry me until I reach the garden. God, I hope nothing bad happens to Lucas. I feel helpless in this moment. What can I do? I can´t go up against a werewolf!

The moments pass as I await Lucas´ return. A long, foreboding silence surrounds me as I stare ahead. Suddenly, a large figure finally appears. It´s a grey wolf. This one is different. It´s fur is almost silver to the extent that glitters against the sunlight. Nestled in his jaws is the prone human form of Lucas.

Is he dead?! I run towards the wolf. It´s now or never. I will fight if I have to.

Arming myself with a huge rock, I run towards the wolf.

“Drop him!”

“It´s okay, Laura.” Lucas, barely conscious, utters a groan. “Take me home.” The wolf moves towards the house.

>Lucas´ bedroom. Day<

After the silver wolf has set Lucas down on his bed, it disappears again towards the balcony where it had entered. As I cover Lucas´ naked body with a blanket, he starts to stir and regains consciousness.

“And I´m naked again.”

“Are you all right, Luc? How do you feel?”

“Like a wolf bit me in the jugular?”

I smile. He seems to be fine now.

“Your wounds, they´re all gone!” I gasped out in surprise.

“I heal very rapidly.”

Suddenly, I´m reminded of Patrick. His wounds had healed so quickly, and I received the same response from him when I asked about it. Is Patrick a werewolf too? I thought to myself.

“It´s one of the perks of being a werewolf.” Lucas said as sensing I was thinking about that.

“Rapid cell regeneration. It´s fascinating.”

“Don´t worry. You have it too. Can you get me a pair of pants, please?”

I toss him a pair of pants I fetch from his drawer, and he slips into them from underneath the blanket.

“Luc, what happened back there, was that normal?”

“No, that´s not supposed to happen. The moon isn´t even out, yet that wolf is already in a frenzy. This changes everything. Something is wrong, Laura. These werewolf attacks aren´t random. Good thing he´s back.”

“You mean the-”

“Do you smell that?” Lucas sniffs the air. “I smell bacon. Time for breakfast. Let´s go!”

>Lucas´ kitchen. Day<

That´s strange. I know for a fact that Lucas doesn´t have a helper in his house. He lives alone.

“Whoa!” I´m surprised to see a man standing in the middle of the kitchen, stark naked! He´s flipping pancakes in the air.

“And you´re still naked.” Lucas addressed a guy in the kitchen.

“Who is this guy?” I smile in spite of myself. He looks absolutely handsome. And he´s sexy as hell.

“This is my friend, Liam Cranston. The one who just saved my life.”

“You mean, he´s the-”

“Yup. I´m the silver wolf.” Liam interrupted me, smirking.

“And the silver wolf needs to put some pants on.” Lucas hissed, rolling his eyes.

“Why? I´m very much comfortable in my own skin. I don´t mind being naked in front of you guys.”

“I do mind. Do you, Laura?”

To be honest, I don´t mind looking at his naked, sexy body. It doesn´t bother me. In fact, I kind of like it. “Oh, no, not at all. He can be naked all day.”

“Forget I asked. That´s the werewolf fever talking. Your hormones are in overdrive.”

I saunter over to Liam. Like there´s this magnet drawing me to him.

“Oh, is she a new wolf?” Liam raised an eyebrow, visibly pleased.

I give him a hug, feeling the hardness of his body against mine. He smells so good too.

“I´m Laura Fuller, by the way.”

“Liam. A pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine.”

“Clearly. All right, that´s it. Go to the guest room and put some clothes on. Please, it´s unsanitary, you´re cross-contaminating the food.” Lucas rolled his eyes at Liam.

Liam gives me a wink as he bounds out of the kitchen.

“He´s hot. And I don´t think it´s just the hormones talking.”

“This is exactly the reason why I want to isolate you. You´re not going to be able to resist such temptations.”

“Well, it´s not like I don´t have freewill or anything right? I mean, these feelings still exist really deep down. They´re just magnified at this time. So, with or without the fever, I am still attracted to him.” “Yes, that´s correct. But it still makes me uncomfortable.”

“Whatever, Dad! Wait, I thought you´re a lone wolf?”

“I am. Liam is an old friend.” 

Liam has just entered the kitchen. Lucas and I sit at the counter as Liam turn to me. “What would you like for breakfast?”

“Scrambled eggs will do, thank you.”

Liam gives Lucas a plate of bacon and eggs. I observe how Liam knows Lucas´ breakfast of choice. They must be really good friends.

Suddenly, Liams´ expression becomes deadly serious.

“Now, let´s talk business. You haven´t been cleaning up the old neighborhood, Lucas. Do you not paying attention to what´s happening around you?”

“I pay attention. But it´s not like I can do anything about it. I have no allies here. No pack.”

“A werewolf frenzy in broad daylight. That´s not normal.”

“I know. I´m going to require your assistance to solve this mystery. But anyway, why are you here in the first place?”

“I was tracking a werewolf friend of mine. His name´s Alex. He´s been gone for a couple of months now. I finally got a lead on his whereabouts, which brought me here to Wolf Springs last night. But I was too late. The police found him dead in a ditch on the other side of town, out on Route 90.”

Lucas lets out a frustrated sigh. “I´m sorry, that was me.”

“Wait, are you trying to tell me that you killed my friend?”

“Wait. Let me explain. Last night, that wolf attacked Laura. Laura´s the one who killed him.”

“In self-defense. Thank you, Lucas.”

“And I´m the one who disposed of the body.”

“Didn´t anyone teach you how to dispose of a dead werewolf's´ body appropriately? You´re supposed to burn it with sage and monkshood.”

“I was pressed for time! I needed to get back fast, because my friend here had just been bitten by that wolf and she´s having the fever.” 

“No, that´s not the wolf that bit me. It was another one, a grey one. Well, a dark grey one.”

“What? Why am I only hearing this now?”

“I don´t know. I guess it kinda got lost in the conversation about Alphas and werewolves and secret wars.”

“SO, that wolf is still out there?” Liam asked.

I just give him a nod. I didn´t know what else to say.

“Liam, I´m so sorry about your friend, but he was in a frenzy.”

“But that´s impossible, Lucas. Alex is a potential Alpha. Potential Alphas aren´t susceptible to frenzy.” “He was clearly frenzied. Just like that wolf who attacked me this morning.”

“That´s three werewolf attacks across a span of 24 hours. It can´t be a coincidence. Something is definitely wrong.”

“What about the animal attacks?” I spoke up.

“What animal attacks?” Liam asked.

“There was an animal attack last night. A lot of victims ended up in the hospital.”

“Lucas?” Liam turned to him with a worried face.

Lucas looks confused. It´s obvious that this is the first time he´s heard about it. “I-I´ve been busy.” He stumbled.

“So, we don´t even know if this animal attack is of the werewolf variety.” Liam said.

“I work at the hospital. I can discover what happened.”

“No way! You still have the fever. You can´t go out there.”

Liam looks me up and down, as if trying to get the measure of me. “She looks fine to me. I think she´s going to be a strong wolf.”

“It´s not worth the risk. She can´t be in a building full of people.”

“Stop treating me like a child, Luc!”

“You´re a new wolf, Laura. You´re practically a newborn baby. I´m just trying to protect you and the people around you.”

“You sound just like my mom.”

Liam comes between us. “Lucas, why don´t you just go with Laura? That way you can keep an eye on her?”

“I think that´s a great idea.” I smiled.

“It´s settled then. You guys check out the hospital. I´ll go and dispose of the werewolf´s body properly in the woods.”

Lucas rolls his eyes. “Fine. We´ll see you later.”