Wolf Hiding (A Wolf in the Land of the Dead Book 2) (11 page)

The floorboards creaked as someone moved towards her. She lay on her side as tremors shook her arms and legs, and from the corner of her eye she watched as a figure loomed over her. The shadowy being stretched down its hand. Blue-white sparks seemed to dance over the dark fingers.

The lightning tore through her again, endless waves of agony, and chased her down a dark hole that swallowed her completely.

Chapter Twelve

Nowen sat on the floor of the cage and watched the man who was watching her. This was her third day in the cage, but the first time the man had come. An icy drop of water fell from overhead and landed on her eyelash; her vision in that eye doubled and trebled, fractals warping the interior of the small hut. She blinked and the droplet fell to her naked thigh.

She sat cross-legged on the concrete floor of the cage. Close-spaced iron bars were welded together to make the sides and top of the cage. There was no room for her to stand, and even sitting as she was there was only a hairsbreadth clearance above her head. Neither could she straighten her arms or legs. It was an uncomfortable space for a human but for an animal it would be sufficient.

Her back was straight, her palms rested loosely on her knees, her face was as still as a windless night. This facade of calmness was hard-fought for, however. Since Nowen had woken up in this enclosure she had been locked in a hidden battle with the wolf. The wolf wanted out and the longer
she
they were kept in this small space the more crazed the wolf became. Nowen held control by the slimmest of threads, but the dearth of sleep and lack of food were fraying that thread.

A steady drip of water from the garden hose, thrown carelessly across the top of the cage, ran down her back. She fought the urge to shiver. Her clothes had been removed; Nowen guessed that was done to affect her psychologically, but it didn’t bother her. Her stomach rumbled. She was hungry, and the smells of cooking food seeped constantly into the hut. Her concentration slipped for just a moment and streaks of black fur ran up her back. She bit down on the inside of her cheek so hard she saw stars. The fur sank back into her skin.

The man seemed to sense her disintegrating control and he shifted almost imperceptibly in his seat. Since he had sat down in the plush, high-backed chair that had preceded his arrival the man had said nothing. Nowen thought he had been sitting and watching her for close to an hour, but her moorings in the waking world were unreliable lately. She and the wolf agreed on one thing:
know your enemy.
So as he studied her, she studied him.

The man was tall and thin. He wore a suit of deep blue, knife-sharp creases in the pants legs and silver cuff-links on the bone-white shirt-sleeves. A short crop of deep brown hair matched the neatly-trimmed mustache and goatee. His eyes shone beetle-green from under thick brows. His face was all sharp angles and planes, his fingers as he clasped his hands long and bony. Despite all the trappings of civilization he looked to Nowen like nothing so much as an insect in human clothing.

“You are fascinating.” His words were carefully enunciated, like a person who spoke a language that was not familiar to them. His voice carried more weight than his body. He leaned forward slightly in the chair, his pale hands tented before him. “Among the
vukodlak
you are what is known as a ‘feral’. You were made a
vukodlak
by another, and then abandoned. You fight with your wolf side, yes?”

Nowen watched and kept silent.

“Yes, you fight with your wolf side. I see it now, in your eyes, in your body.” The man sat back and brought his tented hands to his mouth. “Your two halves are not in harmony. It is not your fault, you see. The
vukodlak
that made you did a great disservice to you. Understand, when a
vukodlak
makes the decision...ah. I am getting ahead of myself. First, introductions. I am Isaac Vuk. And your name is Nowen. Or rather, that is the name you call yourself. Correct?” Vuk didn’t wait for a response before he continued. “You have come here seeking answers to your questions. You wish to know who you really are, and you wish to meet others of your kind.”

His eyes locked with hers. “I am prepared to provide you with the information you seek. However, I want something from you in return. What I want can wait for the moment. You deserve to know what you are, and that I give you for free.” He fell silent, his eyes distant as he composed his thoughts. Through the haze of weariness Nowen felt a twinge of interest, but out of sheer stubbornness she kept it from showing.

“The
vukodlak
, or werewolves as they are more commonly known, have existed as long as there have been humans. There are many stories of how we have come to be. Some are fantastic tales, legends out of time. Our ancestors were cursed by ancient gods, gifted by ancient shamans, rewarded for service to the forces of nature, sold to the devil in exchange for power...as many names as there are for us in history are there stories. In more recent times acolytes of a new god, the god of Science and Reason, have suggested that the bite of a werewolf transfers genetic keys that unlock primeval DNA, reshaping our bodies as we will it.” Vuk shrugged. “Who can say? Our past is a mystery, even to us.”

He leaned forward in his seat again, his gaze intense. “And why is it a mystery? You have felt the gifts of your wolf side - the speed, the power, the heightening of your senses beyond what the human can sense. Surely we should be masters of the world, eh?” Vuk waved one bony finger back and forth. “Ah, but there is no gift for which you do not pay a price. We do not reproduce easily. Of every ten humans that are bitten, two may survive the transition. It is not an easy thing to become a
vukodlak
. There have never been that many of us at any time in history. Until now.”

He smiled, exposing a mouthful of large yellow teeth. “The Flux was a miracle for us. We are immune to the virus and to the bite of the undead. And we intend-” Vuk stopped himself. “Ah, I almost said too much. That is some of the information for which we will barter. Let us return to the question of you. In the waning days of humanity some
vukodlak
took it upon themselves to try and ‘turn’ as many humans as they could. This is what I suspect happened to you. You were bitten, and you were abandoned. It is unbelievable that you survived. And then that you were able to change - fantastic! But even more fantastic - that you were able to become human again!”

Vuk dropped his insectile head and studied his hands for a few seconds. He looked up and continued speaking. “When a new
vukodlak
is made, and survives the transition, there should always be an older companion to help them. This companion, preferably the
vukodlak
that made them, assists the cub in shifting from wolf to human, teaches them to live in harmony with their human and wild natures, trains them in all their new abilities, and teaches them to respect the authority of the older
vukodlak
.” Vuk laughed, a harsh sound that grated on Nowen’s tense nerves.

“One thing the story tellers get right is the importance of a pack. To thrive, we must have order. Order is maintained by the pack. The eldest and the strongest
vukodlak
lead the pack, and other members respect that. Or they die. Which brings us to you. Ferals have been...problematic. They are wild. They are unpredictable. Often they lose themselves completely in the change, and consequently they kill indiscriminately without regards for the rules of the pack. Ferals have never been allowed to live once they have been discovered.” Vuk pointed a thin finger at Nowen. “You are different. You have some control, and you retain your humanness. But you have no concept of life in a pack, and no respect for our authority. You are a feral, which is ordinarily a death sentence. Not this time, I am pleased to say. I have need of all the
vukodlak
I can find.”

He rose from the chair and stared at her, a praying mantis examining its next meal. “No matter how long it takes, you will become a member of our pack.”

Nowen was left alone again for several hours, and when Vuk returned he wasn’t alone. He strode to the plush chair, followed by a white wolf. He sat, and the wolf dropped to its
her
haunches next to the chair. Nowen stared at the new wolf. The animal was as white as moonlight and her eyes were mismatched; one was blue, one was green. The white wolf stared back and Nowen’s wolf strained at her fraying control.

Vuk spoke, each carefully pronounced word dropping like stones into a still pond. “Your first lesson. Authority. To become a member of our pack, you must and you will learn to recognize and respect authority.”

Nowen wrenched her attention from the white wolf, focusing on the tall, thin man. “What makes you think I want to join your pack?” she said through gritted teeth. Even as she spoke she could feel her jaw aching, the sharp animal teeth on the verge of slicing through her gums.
Why fight? Let the wolf out.
She answered herself.
Because I don’t want to. I’m in charge.
The wolf’s angry growl echoed through her head.

Vuk smiled. “What makes you think you have a choice? You are
vukodlak
and belong in a pack. You will become a member of this pack.”

“Or?” she asked.

“There is no ‘or’. There is no other choice. Not even death. I have need of any and all
vukodlak
I can gather or-”, he paused, and then continued. “Now. First lesson. Authority. Change for me.”

“No.”

“Remember, I have information you want. It will take so little on your part to get some of that information. Again; change.”

“No.” Nowen said without hesitation.
So, sheer stubbornness? Stupidity? You’ll let that keep you from finding out who you are?
She had no answer to this other than
I don’t want to do what others tell me to do.

Vuk frowned. “There is freedom in giving yourself over to someone else’s authority. The leader protects you, decides for you, takes care of all the problems of life for you. It does not detract from who you are, as a human and a wolf, to give over. Attend.” He looked at the white wolf. “Livia,” he said calmly, “change.”

The white wolf rose to all fours instantly. Her head dropped as she groaned, and ripples ran through her thick coat. Nowen had never seen herself change, and against her will she watched, fascinated. It was beautiful and bizarre at the same time, the white fur sliding into the pale skin. The long muzzle drew inward and broadened as the pointed ears shrank and disappeared beneath the waves of cloud-white hair that poured down from the wolf’s head. Awkwardly the animal drew herself up on her hind legs as her paws thinned and lengthened into hands and feet. A cracking of bones as the spine rearranged itself, accompanied by another groan rising from a human throat, and then the woman stood where the wolf had been.

Nowen judged Livia to be shorter than she was herself, but the other woman looked more muscled, stronger. Vuk looked back at Nowen. “You will learn to control every aspect of your wolf side. No longer will the two sides of your nature fight for supremacy. Let me show you.” He raised one thin finger and spoke to the white-haired woman without ever moving his gaze from Nowen’s. “Livia. Show our new pack member what she could be capable of.”

Livia took a couple of steps forward and grinned. As Nowen watched, the woman’s teeth grew sharp and long, crowding the small human mouth. “Notice that Livia can change select parts of herself, all the while never giving up control of her human-ness.” Vuk said. Livia raised her hands in front of her. With a shiver of motion the hands became white-furred paws that ended cleanly at the wrist, as if the wolf parts had been grafted onto the human arms. The paws shrank back into hands, hands with thick, inch-long talons that clicked together like bones rattling in a cup.

Livia turned around, presenting her smooth, pale back. Her buttocks clenched and a heavily-furred tail grew from the base of her spine. The woman turned back to face Nowen, and now her teeth and hands were human but large pointed ears rose from the sides of her face.

Vuk raised a finger again. “Thank you, Livia. Take your wolf form now.” As the woman dropped to all fours Vuk sat back in his chair and addressed Nowen. “Do you see what is possible? Absolute control over every aspect of the change.”

Nowen looked from him to Livia and back again. “I see you giving orders to your dog.”

The white wolf growled and lunged forward, stopped only by Vuk calling her name. Slowly she sat back down, a low growl rumbling in her throat as the thin man ran one long-fingered hand over her head. Vuk looked at Nowen thoughtfully. “Perhaps we are going about this wrong. You have been in that cage for days now, yes? Perhaps you will be more civil, more willing to listen, if you are allowed to come out. You are hungry too, eh?” He rose from the chair and crossed to the hut’s door, where he spoke softly to someone outside. He sat back down and watched Nowen in silence.

Within ten minutes two people, a man and a woman, came into the hut. They wore the same outfit as the armed people that had rescued Nowen and the others; jeans and black shirts. The man held a bowl of food and the rich scents of cooked meats hit Nowen like a freight train. Saliva flooded her mouth and she licked her lips. The wolf was going crazy inside.
Just a little food. Just a little, and the wolf will subside. I’m still in charge. I’m still in charge.

The woman in the black shirt leaned over the cage top. There was a clatter of metal on metal and then the door swung open. Something told Nowen to go slow, be careful, but the wolf and her hunger overrode everything. She fell forward on her hands and pulled herself from the cage, her aching legs stretching behind her.

See? I am still in charge
and then the wolf was there, tearing free of the human, the change so fast that Nowen had no time to think before she found herself trapped behind the wolf’s eyes. Those same eyes now locked on her prey, and the black wolf leapt.