Eric was back where he had started, meters from where Robin had tried to attack him. The vans: that of Elias and Jacob was still parked there, one behind the other. The people, however, were gone. Only about a dozen or more dogs stood there now: big dogs with shiny fur and teeth that looked capable of ripping out flesh. They had various colours of fur, and although brown and black were pretty common dog fur colours, there were also some unusual ones, like silver and red.They looked like stray dogs, although Eric couldn't really tell. They were much cleaner and looked much healthier than stray dogs though, and Eric narrowed his eyes, unable to see much in the darkness. Curiosity got the better of him and he took a step forward, snapping a twig in the process. One of the dogs' head shot up and looked in his direction, and he saw the eyes of the dog glow. That's no ordinary dog, he thought.The dog was the one with the reddish pelt, and the eyes that looked in his direction looked uneas
Beth's truck was parked in front of the facility on the other side of the road. The rain had stopped, her windshield fogged and dripping with water. She looked at the building with mixed feelings of fear and hatred. She'd worked here for so long, longer than she wanted to dwell on.The place had been a mental and physical prison, and she had thought she would never escape from there. Dr Makovsky had had a hold on her: he'd convinced her that the things they were doing were for a greater good. She had never been a very strong-willed person, and her fragile will had crumbled under the doctor's influence. He had a way with words, that man. Deep down her conscience knew nothing she was doing was any good, but she'd managed to convince herself that it was.Until she had Changed Mike on that fateful night, four years ago. How the doctor had convinced her that the serum she made was to change a werewolf back to human, she didn't know. But she'd found herself making the serum, although someth
"Oh, whoa and a half!" Axel exclaimed, his mouth gaping open. The number of werewolves that poured out from the forest was impressive, and Axel was truly in awe as they faced Dr Makovsky's horde, snarling and pawing the ground."That's Jacob's pack!" Beth whispered, shaking her head proudly "He had a change of mind! They came through for us!"Dr Makovsky was momentarily shocked by the appearance of more wolves. He looked like he had been expecting people, not werewolves. But he quickly rearranged his expression and faced the werewolves head on. The largest of the wolves, a black monster with flecks of gray in his coat and teeth like a shark's, gave a panting doglike grunt. As he moved forward, between one step and the next he seemed to curl and change like a piece of paper in flames. The wolf became a stocky curly-haired man that Beth recognised as Alpha Jacob."We didn't come for a fight." They heard Alpha Jacob say to Dr Makovsky "We came for one of ours whom you seem to have with y
The sound of battle had roused Aidan from where he was sitting. He was still on the rooftop, had been there since Dr Makovsky had subdued him with just a flick of his wrist. A whole day had passed since that incident, and Aidan had left the roof only for bathroom breaks and lunch. He couldn't leave the facility yet: he hadn't gotten the antidote he wanted. Besides, he had no other place to go now.Before he'd come to Dr Makovsky for help, he had been a free bird of sorts, squatting with people who would keep him, moving aimlessly, never staying in one place for too long. He'd shuttled between Perkins, Rodstone and other small towns in the area. Even Beacontown had been no stranger to his wanderings. He'd once stayed for a week with an old lady mere houses away from where Lauren lived. He'd seen Lauren once or twice although she'd never seen him, and so when Dr Makovsky had asked him to be his eyes and ears, he'd been able to find her easily. Aidan raked his fingers through his dark ha
"I thought this night wouldn't get any better." Aidan said sarcastically, his eyes glowing with barely concealed anger. His father, once he saw who they were, began to Change from his wolf from to his human self. He walked forward, keeping a safe three meters between himself and his son."You have guts, son. Coming back here." Jacob said. His voice was cutting, but his eyes were calm with a hint of sadness. Lauren could tell that he was trying not to let the emotions get to him."After all that you've done, you shouldn't even think of coming back." He continued. "Release the women to me and go, and never come back again."Aidan on the other hand wasn't as calm as his father. He gripped Katherine convulsively and glowered. Lauren could feel the anger rolling off him in waves. "You're a fine one to talk." He growled."I never wanted to be like this." He continued, his voice quivering "I wanted to have a normal life, finish high school, go to college. And you ruined my life. I could have
"Fuck!" Beth screamed and kicked at the door. She was at Dr Makovsky's office door with Axel, her nerves severely frayed. They'd gotten to the door in order to fetch the manuscript for the werewolf antidote, only to find out that his office was under lock and key. She should have known. That manic doctor wouldn't leave his office open, not even if the building was on fire. She'd worked for him for years, she should have known what he would do."Fuck fuck fuck!" She swore angrily and hit the metal door. The door wasn't like any normal door. There was a doorknob in it, but no keyhole, which meant that it was opened or locked through some other means. Whatever. The door was locked, period.The hallway in which they stood was eerily empty. All the scientists that worked for Dr Makovsky had used the sacking of the science laboratory as an opportunity to escape, almost as if they'd been waiting for the opportunity. Only the security alarm still blaring and the sounds of battle outside coul
Lauren glared at her reflection in the mirror and raked her hands through her chestnut hair. She felt frustrated, hopeless and on edge, moreso because she had been waiting for Lia for hours. Dammit, where was the she-wolf when you needed her?She dropped her hands and picked up her phone to check the time, making a mental note to give the werewolf girl a good shaking when they meet. Her eyes immediately traveled to the metal band around her left wrist and she shook it experimentally, knowing it would do nothing. The band wouldn't break, no matter how many times she shook her wrist. She had tried everything from incessant pulling to screwdrivers and knives to even dipping her hand in the fireplace, hoping the thing would melt off but no luck. She'd suffered a first degree burn but it had healed pretty fast, which made her even more furious. She didn't want to heal if it meant the wretched band would still be on her wrist.She groaned and stood up from her vanity mirror and paced her ro
They went to the burial site in Beth's van. Axel drove with Beth in the passenger seat and Lia, Lauren and Mike at the back. The journey was spent in relative silence, as they were all dreading the tears and howls they knew would happen at the funeral.Lauren was left in silence to think about everything that had happened in the past few weeks. She seemed to have grown several decades older since she'd first heard about the captured werewolf in the woods from Eric. So many things had happened since then, good and bad.Her heart lurched again as she thought of the first time she had seen Aidan: an injured lone wolf in a cage full of police dogs. Her heart had gone out to him since then. Now she knew that all that had been a ruse by him to get to to her, but it didn't stop her smiling with nostalgia as she thought of that time.She knew Aidan had gone through a lot since his father Bit him and left him for dead. Her own change had been better in every way; she'd had Beth and Axel to hel
Eric's heart skipped a beat at Doctor Makovsky's words. Lure Lauren and her mother here? "What do you plan to do with them?" He asked, his voice betraying a hint of defiance. "Why drag them into this? You already did that, didn't you? You used Aidan to kidnap Lauren so she could be with you. And it didn't work."Doctor Makovsky's smile widened, breaking through his poker face. "Sure, it didn't work the first time, because neither of them wanted to be with me. But this time...""...Things will be different." Eric echoed. He looked up at Doctor Makovsky slowly. "This time, you're using a bait. Me.""I want my family to witness firsthand the extent of my power and influence." The doctor continued. "They have defied me for far too long, thinking they could escape my grasp. But they will soon realize that no one can escape the fate I have designed for them. Katherine...she's a strong woman. And I know she loves her cop husband. But ultimately, she belongs to me, and so does Lauren. They're
Eric stayed awake throughout the truck drive to Perkins, his mind amok with several thoughts. A part of his heart was still in Beacontown, with Lauren and all the memories they had shared. How he terribly wished things could go back to that period of time, those moments that seemed alive only in his mind. He wondered if Lauren still thought about him, if at all. It seemed that the only part of her heart that wasn't populated by thoughts of her villainous father was taken over by that overbearing Aidan boy.Eric sighed and closed his eyes as the truck flashed past the large sign that declared that they were now in the town of Perkins. He wished he'd told Lauren more about how he felt before leaving Beacontown. Right now, with the prospect of death before him, he wished his words had been enough.He'd had a crush on her ever since he'd seen twelve-year old her in the playground with those bullies. She'd looked small and inconsequential, and yet her dark eyes had blazed with a fierceness
Eric's heart raced as he ventured deeper into the dense forest. He still had no idea where he was headed, but the pull in him was getting stronger. As he walked, he thought of Lauren, his mind consumed with thoughts of her safety. Every step he took was guided by an unexplainable force, a magnet pulling him towards something unknown. It was as though the attack from those rabid wolves had somehow tied him to them, forced his will under theirs and made him do things that an otherwise sane Eric would have objected to.The weight of the responsibility Lia had placed on him pressed heavily, but he was determined to protect Lauren from her vicious father, no matter the cost. He stopped and stared through the canopy of leaves and branches above. The sun was beginning to rise already, painting where he stood a brilliant mix of orange and yellows. Hikers and other nature-loving people would soon come out for their rounds: perhaps a quick rest wouldn't be so bad anyway. He would rest for some
Eric trudged through the forest that surrounded Beacontown. Twigs snapped under his feet, echoing eerily through the trees around. He was scared shitless, and yet he couldn't stop himself from walking into the thickness of the woods. Every fibre of his being wanted to bolt out of there, but it was as though there was an invisible energy pulling him deeper and deeper into the forest.He paused and looked around, realising that he was severely lost. If he took a detour left, he might come out to Beth's backyard in about twenty minutes. His mouth went dry as he thought of Lauren, only a few minutes away from him. How he missed her, how he wished things could go back to the way they used to be, before....well, everything had happened, but he knew that everything was past wishing for at this point. He still was getting used to the idea that his best friend was a werewolf.He'd left his house last night, and now it was almost night again. He'd been walking aimlessly around for a whole day,
It was a hot summer night in July. The people of Perkins were either outside their homes, trying to catch a stray breeze or populating any of the clubs and bars downtown. It was a sleepy little town, but it came alive on days like these, when there was little else to do than to watch the twinkling stars outside or party till sunrise.Clyde Roberts was behind his counter, having a busy night as customers came and went. This was his favourite time of the year, when everyone suddenly needed a cold bottle of beer to try and wash away the sweltering heat of summer. He was all smiles as he cleaned a glass with a dust rag, a glowing cigar bouncing in his mouth.Things had been very heated up in the town some few weeks back, when the Russian laboratory in the nearby woods had suddenly gone derelict. The Russian scientist who had made the laboratory his abode for more than two decades had mysteriously disappeared, and so had the people working for him. Cops and other authorities usually ignore
On the night that Eric was taken back to his home, it was raining very heavily. Lauren had stayed behind in Beth's house; only Beth and a disgruntled Lia had accompanied him.Beth parked the car in front of Eric's house and turned to him. "Do you know what to say to your mother yet?""Yes, yes." Eric replied, his face blank. "I was kidnapped.""Alright." Beth eyed him warily. "Eric, how are you? Like, really. How have you been doing?""Don't know." He replied morosely. "The past few days have been a lot."Beth nodded, a knot of fear forming in her stomach. She was worried for him, more so with the way he sounded. She'd seen the worst of Dr Makovsky and the results of his experiments, had endured it for many years. But how would it look to someone who had never seen any of it before?"Lia will be checking on you from time to time. Is that okay?" Beth asked."Of course," Eric murmured and opened the car's door."Bye, kid." Lia called."Bye, werewolf." Eric answered, then stepped down an
The bus that took Mike from Beacontown back to Perkins smelled just as bad as the one that had brought him. Mike hated buses: the acrid stench of other people's sweat pressing against his nose, the smell of takeout food and gasoline that seemed to hang like a cloud over everyone's heads, the _bump bump_ of the bus on speed bumps that left him sick to his stomach when he got down.He'd had no choice but to take the bus. Beth had vehemently refused when he wanted to morph into his wolf form and run all the way to Perkins.Mike was still assessing his relationship with Beth. Theirs was a strained one at best, and he could not look at her without remembering the way she'd smiled down at him when he was strapped to the experiment table, the headlight above her turning her deep red hair golden. The feeling of immense hatred that had coursed through his veins alongside the werewolf Serum, that had changed his life forever.She'd turned him to the monster he was, and there was no moving away
Aidan walked forward to meet them. Lauren's hand was still gripped in his, so she was dragged along. She could sense from the stiffness of his back, from the way he gripped her hand almost for dear life, that he was very nervous."It's a pleasure." He said, offering his other hand to the men. Alpha Lyall, the man in the middle, gripped Aidan's hand in a strong handshake."Why don't we continue this meeting somewhere more... private?" Alpha Lyall offered. Lauren did not miss how the alpha had completely ignored her."No." Aidan refused. Lauren watched as he tightened his jaw. She wondered just how much effort it took him to not bolt out of the pack's lair. She could see just how tense and anxious he was."No?" Alpha Lyall repeated. His eyes narrowed a notch and he waited, as though to give Aidan a chance to take back his words."I think we should have the meeting here, should we not?" Aidan continued. "I mean, everything you'll be discussing with me will have something to do with the n
Aidan grabbed Lauren's hand and pulled her out the front door. Together they both walked into the woods that bordered Beth's house, towards the general direction of Lauren's cabin and the pack's lair."Have you ever met the Council of Alphas?" Aidan asked after some thought."Oh, yes." Lauren replied. Then she added. "At your father's funeral.""And what were they like to you?"Lauren grimaced. "Oh, they're the worst. For some reason, they think humans are not worth their time in general." When Aidan raised an eyebrow, she continued. "During the funeral, they walked up to me. I guessed they thought I was something very special because I am Dr Makovsky's daughter. They were probably pissed too that I had invited humans like Axel and Beth to a strict werewolf ceremony. When Beth stood up to shake their hands, the bastards ignored her."Aidan raised both eyebrows in surprise. "Oh!""I'd never disliked anyone as terribly as those men." Lauren shook her head. "Why do we need a Council of A