Torment (Primal Progeny Book 1) (16 page)

Lying in the darkness he panted heavily, his thick greying pelt holding the heat of the change against his still prickling skin. His tongue lolled onto the floor as he waited for the pain to subside, his tail thumping once against the ground with his wolfs joy at being freed.

Cloaked in his lupine self’s feral mind-set, he rose to his enormous paws and shook himself roughly. His claws skittered across the floor as his weight lifted him from his toes with the corkscrew motion that ran through his body.  Arching back his neck he stretched his muzzle skyward and licked the blood from his maw. Dropping down on his forelimbs he stretched and flexed his muscles; yawning broadly to release the tension that had built in his jaw and throat.

He could not deny that it felt good to be back on all four paws; but he was trapped and this made both sides of him restless and uneasy. The human part at the back of his mind exploded into concern that he would be discovered and a high-pitched whine escaped him. He had nowhere to go. He was trapped and with no hope of a reverse transformation until the following morning. Could that day get any worse?

- Click – clack – click – clack -

His ears twitched, the sound of a woman in heels approaching echoed down the corridor. Flaring his nostrils he tried to pick up her scent but he could not yet detect it. It had to be jaunt.

Scrambling under the cot he pressed himself tightly against the wall.

- Clack -

The cell door was unlocked; and slowly it began to swing inwards.

Chapter 16

Hunter screwed shut his piercing green eyes and held his breath; certain of his discovery… But the voice that rang through the gloom was not the one he had expected.

‘You may leave me now, I know my client well and I am quite safe.’ A stiff female voice commanded; its hint of an Italian accent giving it a more stern edge somehow.

Hunter’s eyes snapped open, his nostrils working frantically. It was Audra, there was no doubt about it! He could think of people he would rather have seen but there was no time to be choosy; and that proved that his set up had not been by the pack. As well as which they had not abandoned him as he had first feared.

She rounded the door and shooed away whichever officer had led her there. ‘I shall call you when I wish to be let out!’ She said huffily, slamming the door behind her. Evidently whoever it was did not wish to argue as their footsteps faded into the distance without reply.

Audra smoothed down her suit jacket and glared at the shape of Hunters lupine form protruding out from beneath the cot. ‘You are a liability Mr. Dalton.’ She scowled.

She was answered with a snarl, which erupted savagely from the shadows beneath the prison bed.

‘Well that’s not very nice considering I’ve come to save your hide is it?’ She crossed the room and perched herself delicately down onto Hunter’s hiding place. Hunter slunk out from beneath the cot and moved around to sit in front of the last person in the world he had expected to see. Seating himself he wrapped his tail over his paws and stared her straight in the eyes, his gargantuan skull level with the top of her head.

Audra smirked ‘my now you’re a big one aren’t you, how you thought you could hide under that I do not know!’

Hunter flashed his fangs with a curl of his lip in response. He had never thought of himself as particularly large, and had been surprised by how tight a squeeze his hiding place had proved to be. By nature he did not burrow or wedge himself into den sites when changed; so her comment both surprised and slightly angered him, she was always so condescending!

Audra raised an eyebrow at his show of teeth. ‘I trust you realise you are now stuck this way until dawn?’ She quipped.

Hunter nodded his great head slowly, the human motion seeming strange to his lupine body and brain. Yes of course he realised, he knew how it worked.

‘You’ve got a lot of explaining to do when you get your usual vocal chords back.’ She pursed her lips in disapproval.

Hunter fixed her with a hard stare that had her glancing away and licking her lips, a very lupine motion on a very human body. Explaining? Did she really think his situation warranted an explanation? It should have been painfully obvious what had happened and he could not help the rumble is his throat at her idiocy.

Audra smirked ‘now now, that’s no way to treat a friend who’s come to your aid.’ She tutted and wagged her finger in front of his nose, and he found himself incredibly tempted to bite it off.

Continuing in blissful ignorance of her hulking companion’s intentions, Audra’s voice retained its patronising tone.  ‘You are lucky the others have deemed you important enough to help. Eve tracked you here and listened in on your interview as best she could through so many walls. Luckily for you the vents in this place are badly laid out and she managed to catch most of what was said; including some details you will not yet be aware of. She said that she could smell the change on you too, but that she did not think you would give in to it. She will be disappointed.’

Hunter dropped his head and hunched his shoulders, his ears laid flat back against his skull. Surely they would understand?

Audra continued, ignoring his dejected body language. ‘First of all I think it would be prudent to tell you that I am not a solicitor as I’m sure you well know. I’ve been sent here by my father who has promised I shall up ranks if I succeed. I am to pose as your legal representative. One of our number was able to intercept an outward call for a solicitor for you and here I am.’

Hunter would have raised an eyebrow had he been in possession of one to raise. He found himself both surprised and relieved by the packs resourcefulness. His tail tip wagged weakly at the idea that they had put so much effort into an attempt to secure his rescue. He realised that it was to their benefit that he was freed, but appreciated their efforts nonetheless.

Audra ignored his response as was becoming a pattern with her, and continued to talk at him whilst she had full vocal control of the situation.

‘We know your entire story and that you are calling yourself Mr. James Johanson. We know the ins and outs of your run through of the day; and it can be arranged for one of the pack to say you passed them on the road at the time of her death.’

Hunter nodded again as she continued, that would certainly help his case.

‘The wolf who will do this will be Finnlay, who will be calling himself Matthew Brockwell. Do you understand?’

Hunter nodded.

‘When they come back to fetch me I will tell them that you had been so distraught at the sight of the young woman that you had forgotten you had passed another man on the road. He was a farmer’s son who you have known for years thanks to sharing a local pub, the bull’s horns. You caught up with him as he was returning from the fields and stopped for a chat about how dire your current situation is. He jokingly offered you a job cleaning out the pigsties, and you told him you might be forced to take him up on that if the offer were genuine. He then told you that he’d talk to his father about it and carried on back to the farm. He was travelling on foot and was accompanied by the farm dog; are you all clear on the details?’

He nodded once more.

‘Good. That would have given the killer ample time to commit his murder whilst you were elsewhere… Complete with alibi.’ Audra looked very pleased with herself and it was obvious to Hunter that this story had been her idea.

He lay down slowly, resting his head on his paws as she continued. Suddenly he felt very weary.

Glaring down at him she shook her head. ‘If you could remain awake long enough to hear the rest of what I have to say that would be fabulous Mr. Johanson.’ She mocked. ‘We all need to be on the same page for this to work as I’m sure you can understand.’

Hunter looked up at her from the ground where he lay, showing her she still had his attention.

She continued once brief eye contact had been made. ‘There are a few details which you may not have had the opportunity to hear which are crucial to your case. Fairly obviously the evidence does not point to you having been the perpetrator. As usual for these types of cases no fingerprints have been left so we cannot rely on that for proof of your innocence; but there are a few other small things which point to you being the wrong man.’

Hunter’s head snapped up and he stared at her intently, silently urging her to continue.

‘The officers have been heard talking amongst themselves and it seems despite the circumstances there is doubt that you are the guilty party. There are a few reasons for this; some are convinced of your innocence thanks to your reaction at the scene. There is one officer adamant that he has never seen a man react like that at a murder scene, let alone to a murder he committed. His whisperings are working in your favour by spreading doubt amongst the force. There are mumblings also about the fact that there was no fresh blood splatter on you, and that no overalls were found anywhere around the scene. I suspect they will want to swab your skin for blood flecks trapped in hair, that will most likely be done in the morning. Then there is the fact that the car you arrived in was gone when the officers got back to their own vehicles after finding you inside the barn. The inspectors were attempting to bluff you into a confession by lying about the lack of a car in your interview. They are taking it that it was stolen as a getaway vehicle.’

Hunter’s tail wagged steadily from side to side behind him, things were looking up.

‘Besides which’ Audra continued ‘there was no note left at the scene, and no writing equipment either. In the morning they will no doubt ask you to write out a few lines in an attempt to match your handwriting to Varulv’s. I should not think it will be anywhere near a match, he writes in a very old, calligraphic style.’ Here she sighed, obviously irritated and bored with the conversation and the situation as a whole. ‘To be honest with you Mr. Dalton we’re not entirely sure why he has pulled this little stunt. He must know that with minimal investigation you will be proven innocent… I personally am of the opinion that it was nothing more intelligent than a ploy to secure his escape from a pack which knew of his presence and intentions on human kind. My father however believes that he is trying to throw the shape shifting community into a panic by having some of us bought to the public’s attention. Opinions are divided as to his motives, but the one thing we are all certain of is that he has no idea you are his heir.’

Hunter’s lip curled and he lowered his head back to his paws.

‘In name only of course’ Audra finished with a sneer. Adding as an afterthought ‘perhaps you should attempt to sleep, I have a feeling that will prompt the change back to human form. I’ll carry on speaking for a while so that it seems we are still having a conversation in case any of the officers walk by.’

Hunter did not need a second bidding, he closed his eyes and rolled onto his side. Exhaustion gripping him with its heavy hands, and it was mere moments before he was fast asleep. He could vaguely hear Audra’s voice ringing in his ears as he drifted into a black, dreamless sleep. He was far too tired to worry about what she was saying, and the monotone nature of her condescending tone put him to sleep as efficiently as counting sheep.

*****

He slept heavily until morning, not waking when Audra called for a guard or when the door slammed shut behind her. When he awoke he marvelled that the guards had not noticed his nakedness, and guessed this had merely been down to pure luck and some careful maneuvering around the door by Audra.  It was icy cold in the cell when he rose from his slumber, and his skin was dotted with goose bumps. As always after the change, and after a good sleep more often than not, he found he had awoken with an erection so persistent he could have balanced on it. The throb of it was an uncomfortable waking sensation and he could not throw on his garments fast enough. Though it then strained against the material of his jeans, he felt better that he could not see it. He was disgusted with himself that grief had not dampened his body’s processes, and embarrassed that Audra may have had the opportunity to see him throbbing and standing to attention. He hoped she did not think she was the cause of it, far from it. He would rather sign himself up for castration!

His wolf licked its lips and quietly insisted
‘she’s an available female…’

For a fraction of a second he genuinely felt a pang of disgust, mentally chastising the creature that hid within him. ‘No. Not now, not ever!’

Eve on the other hand… He had to stop his train of thought when the pulsing in his already uncomfortably swollen member became too uncomfortable to bear. He was sure he had once read somewhere that sex was life’s natural ‘antidote’ to heal the pain of being around death… Though this explanation did not satisfy the beast in him or make him feel any less guilty.  Even though he had never held any romantic feelings for Lucy, having wanton thoughts about other women so soon after her death made him feel disloyal. He knew the wolf in him had a large part to play in his wayward thoughts, though this made him feel no better about them. He needed to focus, and to allow a respectful amount of time to pass before allowing his groin to do the thinking.

He was not left alone with his thoughts for long however; though thankfully by the time the sound of a key rattling in the door lock was heard he was no longer physically showing his lustful desires.

Having just tugged on his boots he turned to face the door and waited for the appearance of one of the inspectors. Instead it was Audra who walked back through the door.

Leaning his elbows onto his knees he raised an eyebrow and sarcastically quipped ‘and there I was just starting to miss you.’

Pulling a face of disdain she stepped into the room and he saw she was flanked by both Truant and Jaunt. ‘Your questioning is to be resumed Mr. Johanson’ she stated flatly ‘if you would like to come with me and the two inspectors?’