Stories

Lone Wolf

Episode 1 of The Rogue Hunter

Adelaide’s was a little hole-in-the-wall bar, not known to anyone for anything, but it was in the right place. Beer on tap with red beans and rice for cheap. The food wasn’t bad, but it was a far cry from “World Famous” as advertised on the sign outside. Jax imagined this to be the type of bar that would be named something else and be run by someone else in another year or so.

“Man, I’m so tired of beans-n-rice, why couldn’t we find a bar that had Mexican food? Stu groused.

“Dude, go one state west, the great state of Texas will be happy to serve up all the Mexican and Tex-Mex you can handle. But we’re in Louisiana now, so quit whining and enjoy the local cuisine.” Felix growled. “Be patient, we’re in the right area, we’ll find him.”

“Ah shit, here we go again man.” Felix and Jax both looked up to see what Stu was moaning about now, several college kids came in shaking the rain off their clothes and out of their dripping hair. “I bet you fifty bucks it don’t take ten minutes for Mister Claude Broussard back there to proclaim, ‘I’m da bes damn Coon Ass cook what ever crawl outta de bayou, you young’uns is in fo a treat!’  Judging by how young these kids look; it won’t take but a few seconds for one to find the nerve to ask, ‘what’s a Coon Ass?’ Yeah, this group is way too young to get the reference if they aren’t locals. After his rant on the people living off the bounties of the swamps and bayous of south Louisiana, someone’s going to taste these beans-n-rice and ask why they don’t taste like the ones in other restaurants?”

“Stop” Felix said. “You’re killing me with all your whinin and you’re the only person I know that regularly carries on both sides of a conversation. You obviously enjoy listening to him, or you wouldn’t have his banter memorized.” Felix chuckled, “Besides, we all know he’s going to go off on ‘whose momma’s kitchen you ben eatin outta? Dat stuff dey serve ‘roun here is fo tourists. Dat ain’t no real Coon Ass RED BEANS AND RICE! My recipe come out my granny’s kitchen and den from my own dear mama. Weren’t meant fo no tourist, we ate beans cause we was poor and didn’t have money fo fancy food.”

Jax lightly kicked Felix under the table then cautiously sniffed the air.

“Yeah, but then he’ll find a way to segway into their gross mispronunciation of NOrlens or Nawlins or however he says it, I still can’t quite wrap my head around it.” Stu started.

“Shut up.”

“What’s your prob—”

“I said shut up.” Felix whispered angrily. “Haven’t you learned anything yet? Shut your mouth and use your nose.” Stu sheepishly did as he was told, his head jerked up and he looked toward the bar where the kids were now milling around.

Felix gave Jax a quick wink. “Good catch kid

“Do you know which one it is?” Stu asked. Jax just smirked, Felix actually chuckled.

“You really need more practice. It’s none of them, the scent is too faint but at least one of them, and no I don’t know which one yet, has been really close to our target. Stay here and keep an eye on the door. I’m going to stroll around and see if I can identify who’s carrying the scent” Felix advised.

“I’ll go, if you don’t mind” Jax said. “I can still use the practice and another beer.”

“Sure, go ahead,” Felix agreed. “Grab another round for the table while you’re there.

Stu split his attention between the door and the kids. Fortunately, the door had one of those obnoxious bells attached to it so he was pretty confident no one could go in or out without him knowing, even if he looked away for a few seconds. Felix kept his eyes on Jax.

Jax came back a few minutes later. “Please tell me,” Stu said “Pleeease tell me it’s the little Latina number that was poured into those jeans. I really wouldn’t mind following her around to… uhm, keep her safe. Yeah, that’s what we’d need to do. We’d need to watch her very closely, no matter where she goes, hopefully for a long time. You know, to keep her safe.”

“Calm down ya perv,” Felix grumbled, but he was smirking.

“It’s the skinny dude with brown hair and nerd glasses.” Jax stated matter of factly.

“What? How does he even get to hang with this group? They’re jocks and hotties, he’s—”

“Obviously the one that does their homework.” Felix provided.

“Okay, I can see that. So, what’s our play?”

“This is the first time we’ve got a fresh scent on a person. And, according to his MO, he should be making his next kill any day now. I’d say we don’t let the little dweeb out of our sight.”

“Hang on, the professor isn’t going to man-splain MO to me?”

“Do you need me to explain MO to you.”

“No asshole,” Stu groused, “I know it’s Mode of Operation, being so close to the college here just seems to bring out the teacher in you.”

Felix let out an exaggerated sigh, “or maybe it’s your lack of intelligence that brings out the teacher in me because obviously I do need to explain MO to you. It’s actually from the Latin ‘modus operandi’ which translates to ‘method of operation’ not mode. Mode doesn’t even make sense in that context.”

Stu turned to look out the windows as a loud thunderclap erupted outside. “This rain reminds me of Seattle, only worse. Seattle has the decency to let you dry out for a few days before it starts raining again. Shreveport’s not that close to the gulf, why do they get so much rain here for crying out loud.”

“You know a person could get mental whiplash from your rapid subject changes. You got ADD or something? Never mind, you’ve obviously led a very sheltered life. You’re supposed to be this hard-ass lone wolf that is here to learn patience, tracking and how to keep yourself under control without a pack for constant support. All this whimpering makes you sound like a pup that needs his nose smacked.” Felix grumbled.

“You just point me at something that needs to die. I’ll do the rest.”

“Oh, for cryin’ out—” Jax stopped himself and took another drink of his beer.

“You’re way to cocky” Felix said. “Hunting is not just killing. Killing is the culmination. Finding the correct hunting ground without disturbing it or alerting your prey is the first step. Then you have to be careful and patient to identify the correct target.  Identifying the wrong target can obviously have catastrophic consequences. Disturbing the hunting ground will tip off the prey. Then the hunter becomes the hunted.”

“Man, that is so cliché” Stu mumbled.

“It got to be cliché by being true. Then, after you’ve done everything else right, comes the kill, but even then, it’s not as easy as ‘point me in the right direction and I’ll kill it.’ We still have to keep a low profile. Innocents have to be kept out of the way, and we have to be discreet. Jax here is the best example I know of how important it is to keep innocents out of danger, away from the hunt. You’ve heard his story haven’t you, you should really learn from it.”

“Uh no I haven’t. I heard people talking but I didn’t’ pay much attention.”

Jax became quiet.

“Jax, if you don’t mind, could you fill the kid in. I normally wouldn’t ask, but it’s important he learns this lesson now.”

“Yeah, I understand, it was around two years ago, I was human then, known as Connor Davies. I lived in Chicago and I was walking home from drinking one night. I heard a noise that probably saved my miserable life and changed me forever.

It sounded like a dog fight. I’d been drinking… a lot and curiosity got the better of me because to my besotted mind, it sounded like these dogs were trying to be quiet. I was so drunk I could barely walk. I didn’t deserve to walk; in fact, I felt like I didn’t deserve to live. I should’ve been in the ground with them. No, I should’ve been in the ground instead of them.” Jax felt the reassuring grip of Felix’s hand on his shoulder.

“My wife and baby girl had been buried earlier that week and that is when I lost interest in everything, including my will to live. I had no other family and my wife’s family blamed me for their deaths. To be honest, so did I.

I’d sold my little start-up company and made a killing. I’d bought a nice Range Rover for Carol, my wife. I just wanted her to have something nice.” Jax had to stop here for a couple of deep breaths and another swig of his beer. “She’d complained, she didn’t want anything that fancy, she said,” another big gulp of beer. “She said, she was afraid she’d scratch it.

She took our daughter to the latest animated Princess movie at the local theater. It wasn’t even dark out. The cops investigating the ‘incident’ said she stopped at a traffic light, that’s it, that’s all it took for some punks from a local gang to decide she looked like an easy target with a nice car. They yanked her out of the unlocked door and threw her to the ground. She knew our daughter was strapped in a car seat in the back, so she jumped up and tried to open the back door. She just wanted to get little Carrie out; she was just being a good mom.” Jax’s eyes were glassy and his voice was cracking, he took another drink before continuing. “For that she was shot at point blank range; witnesses say the gangbanger was obviously high on something and laughed as she fell to the ground screaming, still trying to reach for the door handle. People were screaming and running. They say a couple of men ran towards the car jackers. If I could’ve found out who they were, I would have given those guys that tried to help every last dollar I had. Anyway, the second guy had just cut the seatbelt holding Carrie’s car seat when he heard the gunshot. He panicked and threw the seat with our little girl still strapped in, he jumped in the car and they sped away. Carol, my wife was pronounced dead at the scene; our daughter Carrie was rushed to the hospital where she died just an hour or so later from blunt force trauma. She died before I could even get to the hospital to see her.

The police found one of the car jackers later that same evening, he, and several ‘friends’ died in a fierce gunfight that I hear would’ve made Hollywood proud. It was all my fault. She didn’t want the expensive car, and if I hadn’t bought it for her, she and Carrie would still be alive.

So, coming home from the bar, falling down drunk, and hearing a dog fight between several large dogs, who actually seemed to be trying to keep quiet, was just too interesting to pass up. I thought, I won’t get close; they’ll never even know I’m there… I walked, or at least that’s the way I remember it, in truth I probably staggered, or half crawled into the dark alley. I remember it was a filthy stinking place. It smelled like rotten vegetables and human waste. The soft rain didn’t help wash away the smell; in fact, the increased humidity seemed to multiply the funk of mold and shit in the air. I crouched low and peered around the corner of a dumpster, being as drunkenly careful as I could and saw four really big dogs. They looked like wolves but somehow different. I’d never seen a wolf in person, but these seemed to be bigger than a wolf should be. There were four of them and they were in the middle of the city, a big city! But there was something different about their movements, they weren’t just fluid or instinctive, they were calculating and intelligent! As drunk as I was, I remember I almost laughed out loud thinking ‘There you go Connor take your drunk ass down to the local cop shop and tell everyone you’re watching giant intelligent wolves fight in the middle of Chicago.

Two of the wolves, I mean I figured that’s what they had to be right? Squared off against one another, while the other two prowled around the outer edge of their ‘arena.’ The two combatants seemed to be taking each other’s measure, if either of them started to growl or snarl too loud, the larger wolf prowling outside the battle space would jump in, nip them on the flank and jump back out again. I was like, ‘So, they are trying to stay quiet.”

Suddenly one of the combatants lunged in and just ripped the throat out of the other one. It was the fastest and most violent thing I’d ever seen. I couldn’t help myself; I gasped out loud at the bloody disgusting sight. The fight was over, sure the wolf on the ground was still dying but it was a done deal. Murder hung in the air; the killer heard my gasp and turned suddenly and stared straight into my eyes. I turned and tried to run but I slipped on a beer bottle and fell hard into a putrid puddle. I barely had time to roll to my back before the killer wolf grabbed for my throat. I instinctually put my left arm up in defense and felt razor sharp teeth rip through my skin and break the bones in my wrist. Its claws were ripping into my chest and belly. I knew I was dying, and suddenly I realized that I didn’t want to. The two other wolves fought with the first to keep it off me. Suddenly a man,” Jax snickered, “a very naked man, knelt beside me. He said, ‘I’m so sorry sir; this should not have happened.’ He turned his head to the other two wolves.

‘Steph, if he can’t get his shit together like now, you have to kill him. Lord Alarick is going to skin us all for this!’ The naked man turned his attention back to me. ‘Sir, I know none of this makes any sense right now but we’re running out of time, you are running out of time. Do you give me permission to change you in order to save your life?’

I was fairly sure I was no longer drunk. That ended about the time that freaky-assed wolf stared me in the eyes. Sober as a judge was more like it but probably in shock. I remember raising my left arm again and saw the destroyed wrist and useless hand dangling from a bit of stubborn flesh that refused to let go. Yeah, I was definitely in shock. What the hell kind of question was that? Change me?

‘Sir, I need your permission,” he almost sounded frantic. “Do you want me to try and save you? Just nod.’ I remember trying to nod, I did my best, but it didn’t feel like my neck or head moved at all. The naked man, ha, I remember thinking again, why was this guy naked? Anyway, the naked man obviously saw it because he turned to the other two… naked people in the alley. Why the hell are these people naked in the middle of the city? What about the dog fight? Weren’t they afraid of getting some rather sensitive bits viciously bitten off?” Felix and Stu both chuckled even though they were obviously engrossed in the story.

‘The naked woman spoke next which actually stopped my mind from wandering. She said ‘Gunnar, I don’t think he’s really in any condition to—’

‘Shut up and bring that rouge piece of shit over here.’

‘But I think Lord Al—’

‘We don’t have time for this Steph! If Zeke is under control, bring me the rogue now. If he’s not under control, kill him quick and bring me the rogue now!’ Before he could finish the sentence the really pretty, totally naked girl brought the big, heavy, dead wolf over like it was nothing more than a fur coat.

‘Call Alpha, tell him shit went sideways and we need immediate extraction, a cleanup crew and major medical support immediately. Do it now Steph, move your ass!’

‘Zeke,’ the naked man in front of me called. ‘Zeke! ZEKE! Get your shit together man, you’ve got to help make this right. Go get my knife out of my pants pocket and bring it here.’

Zeke was there a moment later, Gunnar,’ he said tentatively. ‘Here’s your knife      and your pants too when you’re ready for them.

Steph came back into view dressed in sweatpants and a tank top. I gotta admit, even though I was dying, I was disappointed. She said, ‘Alpha says Sebastian and his crew are just a few blocks away, they’ll be here in about two minutes.’

Gunnar grunted, picked up the big wolf body, and sliced the throat open again. Apparently clotting had already started taking effect before it actually died. ‘Hold this up’ he barked. Zeke grabbed the wolf’s body and held it up by the back legs. I felt something on my stomach and looked down as best he could. If I could’ve moved, I’d have been back-peddling for all I was worth. These lunatics were draining blood out of the wolf corpse and into my open wounds! Gunnar took his knife and cut a deep gash across his own wrist. Blood poured from his wrist, and he positioned his arm so that the blood was pouring into my open mouth.

‘Listen to me man,’ Gunnar spoke again. ‘You’re going to black out soon, don’t worry, we’ve got you, we’re going to do everything in our power to make this right.’ Gunnar looked around frantically, ‘Steph, where the hell are they?’

‘Pulling into the alley now,’ Steph responded. ‘We’ll load the human and rogue in the van as soon as they stop. We should be on the move in thirty seconds. Cleanup crew is on the way; they’ll take care of any evidence we leave behind.’

I woke up days later in the pack hospital.”

Stu sat there with his mouth hanging open. “Uh, so both of the car jackers were killed by the cops?”

“No, I learned that day what it meant to be part of a pack. My pack did their own investigation, they found the other car jacker, coincidentally the same day I regained consciousness. They raided the gang compound and killed everyone there, which included the second car jacker. Apparently, the carjacking had been an initiation. The wolf pack made it look like a gang hit.”

“So, what happened to the wolves that turned you?”

Jax looked off in the distance for a few seconds before answering. “I really don’t know, I heard rumors, but I don’t know anything for sure.”

“I do Felix” chimed in. “Gunnar got ‘demoted,’ lost his position as a team leader, for failing to secure the scene. He did not get in trouble for turning Jax, that was the right call under the circumstances. Steph did not get in trouble, even though she challenged her team leader, she did it right. She brought up her concerns and let it go when she was overruled. Zeke on the other hand, was put back under heavily supervised training. He had another incident where he lost control and was immediately put down. We cannot tolerate wolves that are going to attack innocent humans.”

“You okay Jax?”

Jaxton took a couple of calming breaths then drained his glass before answering. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Good, we got stuff to do and a kid to protect.”

Jax blinked a couple of times to clear his head, “Yeah, I got it boss, I’m here.”

“Good, we need to separate the Nerd from the rest of the herd. We need the others to leave so we’ve got fewer kids to worry about.” All three wolves knew when the kids got close to their table but continued on as if they had no idea. “Jocks are a problem; you never know what you’re going to get. Either they’re all full of piss and vinegar and want to run into danger and prove how tough they are—”

“Or?” A young man’s voice asked.

Felix faced the boy and smirked, “or they’re really nothing more than a mama’s boy that will cry like a baby and piss their pants the first time someone with real power says boo.”

The other kids were now grouped up behind their mouthpiece; he was grinning like an idiot and glanced at his friends. “And do you have ‘real power’ old man?”

“Oh son,” Felix stood. His muscular frame forced the kid to take a step back. Felix made a show of using two fingers to pull his jacket open and two non-threatening fingers from his other hand to remove an ID holder. He then flipped it open to show a badge and FBI credentials. “We” he held out his arm to include Jax and Stu, have so much more power than you want to know about.”

The kid looked much less sure of himself now, but he still tried. “And uhm and, are you going to say boo?” The boy chuckled but fear was heavy in his voice.

“Not to you,” Felix smirked. “To your little friend back there. Your ace in the hole, right? The one that makes sure you don’t get kicked off the team because you can’t play ball, keep up with your schoolwork and show off to your little friends all at the same time.”

One of the girls looked a bit confused. “Wait a minute, the FBI doesn’t get—”

“Doesn’t get involved in cheating scandals? Is that what you were going to say Barbie? Normally that would be true. But you see when some of your schoolmates travel across state lines, which isn’t hard to do here. Texas is what about two hours away? Anyway, when they go over state lines and brag about how they’re being helped by the same guy that’s keeping one of the star players safe. And they have pictures, why do they have pictures by the way?” Felix asked the very confused Nerd.

“Huh? Me? No one has, I mean, No! I’m not—”

“Cool it kid. We just want to talk to you for a bit to see if there is any truth to these allegations. Cause you see when your competitors’ coaches get wind of something like this, it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. It’s in their best interest to make as much noise as possible. Unfortunately for you, Vegas handles a lot of money covering college sports, and if they start getting nervous that someone’s going to get axed from the team for cheating, well let’s just say that it’s not a good idea to have those particular individuals concerned about how your involvement is going to play out.

“Sir,” one of the girls spoke up. “I’ve really got to get home; my parents are going to be worried.”

“Little girl, we’ve been talking for what, not even five minutes? You know what, I don’t even care. Nice to know who your friends are, right kid?” Felix looked at the nerd as he handed his card to the girl. “Anyway, here’s my card. Feel free to call the number there, it doesn’t matter who answers the phone. Their whole purpose in life is to interact with the public and ensure there aren’t imposters out there posing as federal agents. Oh, and you,” Felix pointed out the jock and handed him a card as well. “You or your parents should really call that number, the supervisor’s name there is Agent Thea Walters. She’s one of those individuals that just never really learned to appreciate sports. Oh, she also grew up in a middle-class family with too many kids and too little money, she had to fight for everything she wanted. She’s very fond of talking to wealthy parents who are willing to use their money to keep their kids out of trouble. Your dad will love her.” Felix winked.

As the other kids hurried out of the bar, mumbling amongst themselves and glancing back nervously, Felix motioned for the Nerd to sit next to Jax. He saw the kid take a breath and knew he was about to start talking. Felix held up his hand for quiet. “Okay kid, I need you to pay attention now. I’m not really concerned about the cheating scheme you’ve got going on. I personally don’t think your buddy is a good enough player to make a difference one way or another. But someone is concerned and for some reason they have focused on you. Where do you live, an apartment or in the dorms?”

“In an apartment, I have a couple of roommates. We live away from the university since we’re not really into the party scene.”

“Do you live close to here?”

“Yes, sir I do.”

“And how are you going to get home, drive, taxi, ride share?”

“No, I live close enough that I’ll just walk.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid you were going to say. Okay, I need detailed instructions on the route you walk, then I need your keys.

The kid looked at Jax cautiously after Felix left. “You haven’t said much, why’d he go to my apartment?”

He’s going to scout the area between here and there and make sure everything is safe before you leave.”

“And then you’re just going to make me walk home, alone?”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Stu grumbled.

“You really need to shut up.” Jax stared Stu down. “Relax kid, we’ll be shadowing you the whole time. What’s your name? I don’t want to keep calling you kid.

“Fredrick Nielson.”

“Oh my—” Stu stopped when he saw the scowl on Jaxton’s face.

“Fredrick, are your parents just like you?”

“I know, it’s a horrible name and yes, they are. My dad’s a high school teacher and my mom works for an accounting firm.”

“Do your friends at least call you Fred or Freddie?

  “No, they call me Red.”

   “Red?” Stu laughed out loud.

Jax took an exaggerated moment to deliberately stare at ‘Red’s’ dark brown hair. “So, I’m guessing there’s a story there?

“Not really, three nerd roommates out on our own for the first time. None of us had ever really drank before but we bought several bottles of booze to celebrate our independence. I don’t think we even made it through the first bottle before we were all plastered. None of us remember very much from that night, fortunately we were too drunk to leave the room. The one thing that everyone unfortunately does remember, is one of the others, it’s still hotly debated as to who actually started it, anyway one of them was so sloshed he couldn’t say ‘Fred.’ It kept coming out as ‘Red.’ Before long all of us were howling with laughter over their inability to say a simple one syllable word like Fred.”   Red looked up at Jax. “A little bit of booze and the stupidest things become funny. Now, I’m stuck with a nickname that makes no sense, so we just refer to it as ‘Nerd Humor’.”

“It could be worse,” Jax told him. “They could be calling you Fredrick.”   

“Haha, you’re a funny guy. So, Mr. Comedian, who are you really? We all know you are not FBI.

“Were not?”

“No, obviously the jocks and hots wouldn’t be able to tell an FBI agent from a mall security cop. But I’ve actually been interviewed by the FBI more than once, and you aren’t them.

“We’re not?”

“Come on man, do not bullshit me. I know something’s up. Why do you think I agreed to stay here with you while the dumb and dumber clan sashay out cluelessly. And more importantly why would I give your buddy the directions and keys to my apartment? The reason I’ve been interviewed by the FBI—”

 “More than once.”

“Yeah, right more than once, is because I’m good with computers and the internet. Good enough that they’ve had to interview me several times and I’m still here because they could not prove anything. They’ve even asked me to work with them, you know in their ever so polite government way of ‘work with us now or when we finally prove what you’re up to, you’ll work with us on our terms.’

“And you’re still not working with them. Why is that?”

“Because some of the testing they put me through was in one of their facilities, using their actual systems to find and defeat a particular virus that was giving them trouble. I found more than they were looking for and they were very happy with that. Happy enough not to want me to leave.”

“So, I guess I’ll ask again. Why are you not working for them?”

“Well first of all I’m glad we’re in agreement that you are not FBI—”

“Woah, when did we agree to that?”

“When you referred to them as ‘them’ not ‘us.’”

“Damn dude, you just got schooled by a kid.” Stu smirked as he quickly took another drink of his beer.

“Touche, I guess I’ll concede that point, but why are you not working for them? I’d think it would be pretty enticing not to have to look over your shoulder all the time. Wondering if they’re going to come and cart you off.”

“See, now you know why they are completely bewildered by my refusal. But like I said. They let me in. I got to see firsthand what security systems they have in place and how they work. I was able to leave a little piece of myself there. Now I can come and go without being detected, so long as I do it within certain constraints that I am not sharing with anyone. Now that we’ve agreed that you are not FBI, you don’t strike me as terrorist, or you’d have been salivating at the fact that the FBI wants me. I doubt you’re another three letter or you’d already be bragging about your systems, are so much better than theirs. So, who else has the government enlisted so quietly in their search for our local, as yet undeclared serial killer?”

“Serial killer huh?”

“Yeah, that’s why you got my attention when you said, no that’s not quite right is it. You heavily insinuated that I’d gotten someone’s attention. Then your buddy takes a special interest in my wellbeing. So yeah, I’m really interested in not only who you are, but what I’ve got to do for you in order to stay alive.”

“Good, now we’re getting somewhere.” Jax responded. “I don’t know exactly what we’re going to need from you. We came in here tonight not knowing anything about you. You were right, we’re here to track and stop this serial killer. You came to our attention just today as a possible next target.”

“So, you really aren’t here to make me work for you or do anything illegal?”

“Let me just say, that was not in our original plans. Now that we know more about you, I’m not taking anything off the table until we talk to our superiors. Our primary and secondary missions remain the same. Primarily, identify and eliminate the threat. Secondary, protect any members of the public deemed to be at risk from the primary threat.”

“How did you identify me as the next target?”

“I didn’t say we had. You’re a possible target; no, I guess that’s not really accurate. Everyone that comes into this city is a possible target. I guess we’d say you are a probable target. Anything more than that is more than I could possibly tell you.

Hang on a second.” Jax put his finger up to his ear as if he were listening to an earpiece and Stu copied his actions while Red looked back at his phone.

“Okay guys, listen up. The rogue is here. I don’t know where exactly, he’s moving around and I’m trying to stay downwind, so I don’t alert him that we’re here. Stu, you leave the bar first, tell the kid to wait two minutes then head out. You’ll be going North, get on the west side of the street and stick to the shadows. Keep your nose and ears alert and the kid in your sight. That should keep you downwind, this guy always attacks outside so expect the attack to come before he makes it to the front door of the apartment building which is less than a half mile away.”

“Understood, we’re on our way.” Jax vocalized for Red’s benefit but sent via mindlink to Felix.

 “So, what was that about?” Red asked

“Felix says the target is in the vicinity of your apartment building, but he hasn’t got him identified. Stu will leave first; you wait two minutes then walk home as you normally would. I’ll be following less than a minute behind you and also staying in the shadows. We’ll have you in our sight the entire time.”

“You pretended to talk via an earwig, but you didn’t.”

Jax started to protest but Red held up his phone. “I’m tracking all wireless signals immediately around me. As soon as you started receiving and/or transmitting I should have seen a spike somewhere, depending on the type of comms you’re using. There was none. I’d also made a point to look at your ears before. Like I said, I’ve been interviewed by the FBI before. I know what their comm units look like. Next, you can tell I’m a likely target but that’s about it. You can tell the suspect is ‘in the vicinity’ of my building but not where or who he is.”

Stu was starting to fidget in his seat. “Let me start this next statement off by saying, I read a lot of conspiracy crap. Most of it is just that, but once in a while you find something that has enough circumstantial evidence to make you wonder. Official reports about these attacks and murders have squelched a lot of information. Yeah, I know there have been more attacks than murders and nobody is linking them together for the public. With the information that has been covered up, I am now a firm believer in one of those conspiracies and I think I know who you are.”

Jax chuckled, “conspiracy theories, gotta love ‘em. Okay kid, who do you think we are.”

“Oh, it’s not really who so much as what, is it? There is widespread speculation that telepathy is possible amongst some… species. And the tracking close but not quite close enough sounds an awful lot like scenting, doesn’t it?”

“Jaxton’s eyes narrowed, as his voice went low and gravelly.”

 “Red, be very careful what you say next and who you ever say it to. Conspiracy theories have been known to be very dangerous.”

“Don’t worry big dawg, my lips are sealed. After all, if I am the next target and the killer is one of you, who else would I want protecting me?”

Probably the only thing that saved the kids’ life was that he was not smirking or looking smug in any way. In fact, he looked pretty much terrified. Jaxton growled under his breath and Red lost even more color, Stu looked like he was about to pee himself.

“Can we get this going please? Before I lose what little nerve I have and run out of here screaming.” Red asked.

Jax nodded to Stu who got up without another word and left. Outside he immediately ducked into the shadows.  “Felix, Stu just headed out, the kid should be out in two, then I’ll follow one minute later. By the way, he’s even smarter than I gave him credit for. He’s pretty damned confident we’re wolves.”

“What? How the hell did that happen? Did you or Stu confirm anything?”

“No, we didn’t confirm anything, but like I said, he’s confident. His reasoning skills are top notch, and he caught me pretending to use an earwig to talk to you.”

“How’d he catch you? Those things can be almost impossible to detect.”

“Can be and almost being key, he’s good enough at nerd stuff that he’s been interviewed by real FBI agents on more than one occasion. He was on to us before his friends ever left the building, plus he had some kind of app on his phone that was measuring comm signals, and he didn’t pick up any increased use when we were talking.”

“Well shit, sounds like this kid is someone Lord Alarick might be interested in meeting.”

“Head’s up guys, he’s out and moving north about fifteen yards ahead of me.” “I’ve got eyes on him” Stu chimed in. “Damn! I don’t see him but the rogues gotta be straight ahead of me, maybe fifteen yards based on the strength of his scent. If I move, he’s gonna to see me.”

“Stay put and be ready, his attention should be on the kid now, damn, he’s closer to the bar than I thought he would be. I’m moving closer while he’s distracted. Jax make sure you’re deep in the shadows.”

“Felix, we’re not going to let this kid die just because he figured us out, right?”

“I don’t work like that Jax, and I’m pretty sure you don’t either. We’ll do our best to keep him alive and then deliver him to Lord Alarick, but the mission has to come first. More lives are at stake here than just his.  Besides, Lord Alarick doesn’t work like that either, we’d be in deep crap if he even suspected we let something like that happen. We can always use tech savvy allies.”

“Felix, I’ve got movement!” Stu almost yelled through the mindlink.  

“Stay calm Stu, don’t move until you can see him. We can’t lose this guy now.”

A skinny guy with wiry disheveled hair stepped out of the shadows, which were quickly turning full dark, to the edge of a streetlight’s illumination. “Hey, hey Red. It’s Red right. Wha, whatcha doing out by yerself man. Where’d all yer peeps go?”

“Damn Tweaker! You scared ten years off me man. What are you doing skulking around in the dark.”

“Wh wh where’d your friends go?”

“They wanted to party, but I’ve got homework to do, so we split up.”

 “Oh, t ta too bad man, I th thought a bunch of us could party tonight.”

“Tweaker, Dude, you sound like you’re extra strung out on something. You doin’ okay?”

“I I’m cool Red, I just got some needs you know. Ca Come wit me and I’ll show ya how it works.”

Felix stepped out of the shadows about fifteen yards from Tweaker. “That’s not going to happen Rogue.”

“What? No, no, no, no. Pack wolf, you and all your pretty little play wolves. You can’t stop me. I’m a real wolf.”

Jaxton started to move. “Stay in position Jax, you’re our ace in the hole here.”

“Felix, he’s too close to Red. None of us can get to him in time if he goes for him.”

“Then I have to make sure his attention stays on me. Stu, start moving closer, doesn’t matter if he knows your there, just don’t do anything to make him think you’re trying to rush in.”

“Rogue!” Felix began moving slowly forward, closing the distance between them. “You think you’re a better wolf than me because you don’t answer to a pack. Guess what, I don’t answer to a pack either. I’m a lone wolf, but I’m not a rogue. Do you even know what the difference is?”

“Y y you still answer to pack, jus not always. But I don’t answer to no pack! I’m stronger!”

Tweaker caught the movement of Stu off to his right and took another step closer to Red.

Felix continued talking in a calm voice, “I visit my pack often enough to take care of the needs of my wolf and keep my sanity. Something you’ve lost. You’ve attacked and killed innocent people and brought unwanted attention to our existence. Now it’s time to pay the price.”

     Felix took a menacing step forward and Stu bolted from his shadow. Tweaker didn’t see Jax since his back was to him, but he didn’t pay attention to Felix or Stu either. He bounded three quick steps to a suddenly petrified Red. The rogue shifted to wolf form but got tangled in his clothing. Instead of his jaws closing on Red’s throat he clamped down on his side as his front claws tore at the kid’s stomach and chest while he fought to free himself from the constraints of his clothing, his jaws temporarily lost his prey but finding him again began ripping into Red’s thighs.

Jax got there first and tackled the rogue knocking him away from Red, but he lost his grip as they tumbled. Felix got there an instant later, grabbed the wolf by the throat and lifted him off the ground.

 “Shift Jax, I can’t hold him for long in this form!” Memories came flooding back to Jax as he heard the anxiety in Felix’s voice, but it was kept to little more than a whisper. Jax doffed his t-shirt and jeans with practiced ease. Felix had the rogue by the lower jaw stretching his neck back as far as he could in an effort to keep away from the deadly teeth and claws intent on killing him. As soon as Jax was free of his clothing he shifted to wolf form and threw himself at the rogue. Felix let go just as Jaxton’s jaws closed over the rouge’s vulnerable throat and his claws ripped into the soft underbelly.

As Felix dropped the rogue he ordered “Stu, quick get him out of the light and make sure he’s finished.” Stu stood frozen a few feet away, eyes wide, face pale and continuously running both hands through his hair.

Jax growled, repositioned his jaws to ensure he wasn’t pulling on parts of the body that would tear loose from the rest while being dragged. He quickly dropped the limp wolf body into nearby shrubs.

Felix reached behind his back into his waistband and pulled out a small air pistol and shot out the nearest streetlight. The little gun was strong enough, but the barrel was so short the accuracy was crap. It took three shots to finally hit the light. Felix knelt beside Red. I’m sorry we couldn’t protect you kid. But if you give me permission, we can try to change you. No guarantees but we’ll do what we can.”

“You mean you’ll turn me into a monster like him?” Red asked.

Felix intentionally misunderstood, “you mean Jax. I don’t think it was very monstrous of him at all to come in and defend you the way he did. Did you notice that he didn’t hesitate. He jumped in and dispatched that rogue as quickly and quietly as possible. I personally think he did so with more compassion than a beast like that deserves.”

Red cried out in pain but was intent on continuing this conversation. “He’s one of you, isn’t he?

“Who, the rouge? Just like a human terrorist, serial killer, or rapist is one of you. He has about as much similarity to us as any of those do to you.”

“What would keep me from being crazy like him?”

“Pack.” Felix declared without hesitation. “A rogue is a wolf who for whatever reason abandons their pack and tries to live on their own. Wolves are pack creatures; without the support of other wolves, support of our pack we go rogue.”

Red’s breathing was ragged and getting shallower by the second. “What generally happens to a wolf that goes rogue. I mean if they’re not serial killers that make the national news.”

“We eventually find out about rogues. You saw the way this guy acted. You called him tweaker because you thought he was on drugs. That’s one of the most prevalent effects of going rogue, I assure you no drugs were involved.”

Red barely kept from screaming out as another wave of pain washed over him. “How do you know it wasn’t drugs?”

“Because we have an extremely high metabolism. Alcohol and drugs have very little effect on us.”

Jaxton stepped up while putting his shirt back on. “Okay Fredrick, that’s enough buddy. I know you’re used to over analyzing everything before you make a decision. I’ve been exactly where you are right now. And now, you are running out of time. If you want to live, tell him yes. I know he’s told you we can’t guarantee success, but I can guarantee you will be dead in about a minute if we don’t try this. It’s not easy, it hurts like hell, but it is worth it.”

“Remind me never to ask you to give anyone a pep talk.” Felix quipped.

“Red chuckled, you’re an asshole. You called me Fredrick. Let’s do this before I lose my nerve and run screaming.”

Jaxton chuckled but immediately held up his arm, using a six-inch blade he sliced open his own wrist. “Aaargh! It may not kill me but that still hurts like hell, he groaned as blood started pouring out of his wrist.

“What the hell man! Are you nuts? What are you doing?” The blood sizzled as it mixed with Red’s own blood in his open wound.

“You get any louder and I’m going to gag you, injured or not.” Felix growled, just as he sliced his own wrist and held it over Red’s mouth. One drop landed in his open mouth before Red shut it tight and started twisting his head. “I think he had more than a minute left in him.” Felix quipped to Jax, but if he doesn’t stop fighting this, I may have to knock him out to get enough blood in his system to stand a chance at this working.”

“Do it Red, open your mouth. This is what has to happen for you to live. Close your eyes and think of it as bad tasting medicine that can save your life.” Red’s eyes were wild, but he finally opened his mouth. As the first few drops of blood fell on his tongue, he squeezed his eyes shut tight.

*****

One week later in the Western Front Range Pack of Colorado. Jax stepped up onto the porch of the small cabin he’d come to visit when a pretty woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties came through the door to meet him. “Hello Mrs. Harris”.

“Boy, I told you to call me Becky. I know what you said about respecting the Lord Venator and Praetorian Commander’s mom. But next time you call me Mrs. Harris, you’re gonna find out what their mama can do to your backside, you understand me?”

“Yes ma’am Ms. Becky, I understand.”

“Ha, you’re a cheeky one aren’t you Jax. Okay, you can go in for a few minutes. He’s finally over the worst of it; he doesn’t wake up every few hours screamin and hollerin anymore. He’s getting better but he’s still got a ways to go yet. If you don’t mind, I’m gonna take a few minutes while you’re here to go freshen up a bit, see what my mate is trying to burn for lunch and prop my feet up for a few.” She stepped in front of Jax and put two fingers to each side of his temples while looking him in the eyes. “There, now you can link directly to me if he starts to hurt too bad or gives you any trouble, or if you need help with anything.”

“Yes ma’am, Thank you Ms. Becky.”

“I still oughtta whack your butt for that. Oh, hey girls, what are you doing here? You missing our Alpha too?”

Jaxton turned to see who she was talking to. He found several ‘native’ wolves staring at him. One of them growled under her breath.

“Runner! You behave yourself young lady. He’s not pack but he’s a guest of our Alpha. Unless you want Alpha mad at you, you’d better make nice.”

Jax had heard about these natives. He’d never seen such a thing before, but they claimed Lord Venator as their Alpha. Now they were as much a part of this pack as any werewolf here. The one called Runner stepped up to Jax and ducked her head submissively. “It’s okay love, there’s nothing to apologize for.”

“Sweety, that’s nice but you’ve got to mind-link with her. We all talk to them because it seems to comfort them to hear our voices, but they don’t really understand more than a few basic words unless we mind link them. You’ll find it’s easier to link a native if you raise her head and look in her eyes.”

“Uhm okay.” Jax felt kind of silly and a little like he was being played. But he raised her head and looked in her eyes. Sure enough, linking was easy. “Well, I guess let’s try this again. I’m Jax and no apology is needed. You’re looking out for Alpha’s mother. You have my respect.” In an instant the other natives used his link with Runner, and he was suddenly linked to all the natives gathered around and immediately felt accepted by the group. They were all moving around so much and jumping back and forth over each other, he couldn’t really tell how many there were, it could be as few as three or as many as seven. He realized very quickly that natives spoke with quick images rather than actual words. All of them were talking to him at once, he had the feeling they wanted to know where their Alpha was and when he’d be coming home but he couldn’t be sure. The images were coming so fast and overriding each other that he was starting to get dizzy.

“Ladies! Give the poor boy a break. He’s gonna have a massive headache with you all yammerin so fast. Come on inside now and I’ll get you something to eat.” Becky turned back to Jax after holding the door to the other cabin open for the four natives. “They’re all sweet as sugar, but they can be a bit much to handle once you get on their good side.”

“How exactly did I do that?”

“You referred to me as Alpha’s mother. You showed me respect and in turn, earned theirs. You go on in and spend some time with your friend. I’ll take care of them.  Reggie and I will be right here if you need us.” Jax stepped inside the little cabin and found Red lying in a hospital bed hooked up to several monitors and an IV. There was no sign of the silver chains and cuffs he knew would have been used to get Red through the roughest times. Reggie had apparently spent some time sitting with Red because there were several hot rod magazines sitting on the table. After just a few minutes Jax realized Red was stirring a little. “Hey buddy, how’s it going?”

 Red’s eyes were slow to focus once he got them open. He smiled at Jax. “Hey man, it’s good to see you. When they told me I was in Colorado, I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.”

“I couldn’t just leave without making sure you were going to be okay. How’re you feeling?”

Red snickered a little. “On good days, like today, I feel like I got hit by a truck. A friggin big truck. Other days I feel like I was pulverized by sledgehammers and put through a meat grinder, after being hit by the truck. All in all, I’m pretty happy to be alive.

“I’m really glad to hear that. It’s always a concern, especially in the first few weeks where a lot of pain is involved that people will get angry at the wolf that changed them and lose their will to live. I’m glad to hear that’s not happening.”

“No sir. I know that you and Mr. Felix both did everything you could to protect me. You also made sure this was my choice. I’m thankful to both of you for giving me this opportunity to live.”

“You’re in good hands with Reggie and Becky. Have you been coherent enough to hear the stories I’m sure Becky has been telling you?”

“You mean about her kids, Donna and Chase? Yeah, it’s crazy that Chase turned out to be ‘Lord Venator’, after he was basically adopted by Becky and Reggie, then named Donna his Praetorian Commander. And it sounds like all of that happened in less time than I’ve been laid up in here.”

“You left out that Chase and Donna adopted each other as siblings first and Chase found his ‘fated mate’ who oh by the way just happens to be Lord Alarick’s daughter. He became Alpha of a very small pack, that almost instantly started growing to what is expected to become a very large pack in just a few weeks.”

“Yeah, kinda makes me feel like an underachieving, lazy slob.”

“No, don’t feel that way kid. I’m a turned wolf also, and my recovery went way more like yours than his. That’s why I can say with certainty that you are lucky to have Becky and Reggie here to help you.” Jax reached out and shook Red’s hand. “Look, I’ve got to get going. Lord Venator isn’t here so I’m supposed to go to the other side of the compound and meet their Beta before I leave.”

“What’s that all about? You guys aren’t in any trouble for turning me, are you?”

“I’m really not sure what it is about but I know we’re not in trouble. You rest, follow Ms. Becky’s orders and get better.”

“I will sir, do you have any idea when you might be back this way?”

“Not for sure, but when I do, I’ll look you up.”

Jax stepped outside and found Becky waiting on him. “I thought you were going to put your feet up for a bit?”

“Yeah, that was the plan but the more I thought about it, the more I figured you weren’t really the type to visit what is basically a hospital room for very long and you’re also not the type for goodbyes. So, if I was going to talk to you like Chase asked, I needed to wait right here.”

“And why would the infamous Lord Venator even know who I am and why would he ask ‘The Ms. Becky’ to talk to me? Should I be worried?”

“Yes, you keep up that Ms. Becky crap, and you really should be worried.” She chuckled. “No, seriously, Felix gave you rave reviews. Our Beta was supposed to have this talk with you but he’s kinda pulling his hair out with all the growth of the pack, the university and our Alpha being gone more than he’s here. So, Chase asked me to talk to you since he knew you’d be here to visit Red.”

“Hang on, I’m still stuck on ‘Felix gave you rave reviews.’ You talking about the same Felix I was working with, cause that guy don’t rave on anyone. He does a lot of growling, barking, cursing and frequently bites, but I haven’t heard a rave or even a praise once.”

“Yep, that’s Felix. I’ve only met him once, but that summed him up pretty good. At any rate, whatever he said, Chase took it as high praise. Chase wants to know if you’d be willing to transfer to this pack from Lord Alarick’s?”

“Uhm, have I done something wrong? Is Lord Alarick trying to get rid of me?”

“No Jaxton, just the opposite, he has Felix and I’m sure some other Rouge hunters, he knows that Chase has run into problems with Rouges working for Lycans. That means you could be a real benefit to Chase. He really wanted me to touch base with you first to see if you were interested. You know, make sure you don’t have a sweetie in Minnesota we’d be asking you to leave behind or just whether your heart is really set on working for Lord Alerick, nothing wrong with that.”

“Uhm, wow. This is great! I don’t know Lord Alerick from Adam, other than the pictures I’ve seen, and I’ve heard so much about Lord Venator that this sounds great. And to the other question, no, I am really a lone wolf, no one tying me down. Third, why on earth would I want to live in northern Minnesota when I could live in Colorado?”

“Good, that’s what we were hoping to hear. Head on over to the pack house and see our Gamma since Beta’s so busy. He’ll get the paperwork taken care of and help with anything you need as far as transportation goes, then you’ll be on your way to Boise, Idaho where you’ll meet Chase and his team. He’s looking forward to it. Sounds like he could really use your particular skills with the trouble he’s running into now.”

“Idaho huh, not really a big fan of potatoes since the change. But who would pass up a chance to meet and work for ‘the Lord Venator’. I’ll be on my way!”

The End

SHREVEPORT, LA.

Jaxton Pruitt (Jax) [Wolf] – Previously: Connor Davies

Felix [Trainer Wolf]:

Claude Broussard [Human] Owner of Adelaide’s

Agent Thea Walters [FBI?]

Fredrick Nielson (Red) [Human Target]

CHICAGO, IL.

Zeke [Killer Wolf]

Steph [She-Wolf]

Gunnar [Big Wolf]

Sebastian [Rescue Team Leader Wolf]

WESTERN FRONT RANGE PACK, CO.

Rebecca (Becky) Harris [Caretaker, She-Wolf]

Fredrick Nielson (Red) [Newly turned Wolf]

Alpha: Chase Harris (Lord Venator) Lycan Hunter [adopted son of Reggie and Becky Harris]

Luna: Sheila Harris (Lady Venatrix) Mate to Chase and daughter of Lord Alarick (ruler of all werewolves in North America. (Those not under Lord Venator))

Donna Harris: Praetorian Guard Commander – ‘The Praetorian’ The name is taken from the elite Roman soldiers that served as bodyguards and protectors of the emperor and royal family. [Daughter of Reggie and Becky Harris]

The Western Front Range Pack of Colorado is commonly referred to as ‘The Venator’s Pack’. As the name implies, the pack is located on the western side of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in southern Colorado.