Katherine Rochholz
All Rights Reserved
“I
have done a lot in my long life. I remember when it started. I was bitten by
another werewolf and was brought to heel under his command. That didn’t last
long. I fought him, I killed him, I ate his heart gaining his power. I am a werewolf but I am decent. One of my
best friends in the world is Frank. He is decent, not the monster people make
him out to be. He thinks he is soulless. I know he isn’t; after all we are both
alike. We have killed, we have lost, and we continue to fight for life. Now he
has a child and Frank will kill to protect her. Makes me wonder what I would do
for the people I care about. After all I have only ever fought for myself. But
I haven’t had a family before that couldn’t defend themselves. I look down at
the child and wonder what I could be driven to do in the name of protecting
mine.”
“She is gorgeous Frank.” Lucas stated
as he stood by the crib. “Hard to believe you have had her a month now.”
“Yes; Bo still can’t find out who
her father was. Would make it easier to know if he was human or monster.” Frank looked up from the parenting book he
had bought.
“Yeah; but at least you do have
about fifteen years before she would come in those powers.”
“Yep; but planning is key according
to this.” He tossed the book to Lucas.
Lucas laughed and caught the book. “Planning
is key in our lives no matter there are children involved or not Frankie! After
all if we didn’t plan everything out you know what will happen.”
“Pitchforks, fire, death, and I don’t
mean us monsters. The death we cause isn’t needless…” Frank shrugged. “Well in
our eyes.”
“Yeah we learned that looking to our
past and ignoring our present was just going to destroy our future.”
“Dude, you stole that from a book!”
Frank laughed.
Lucas gave him a wolfish grin. “Yeah,
shocking that I can read huh?”
“Shocking that you lived this long
sometimes with your irrational need to fight.”
“What a good fight and a good heart
for dinner is always a way to end a day.”
Lucas stated as they left the nursery connected to Frank’s room.
Frank rolled his eyes. “Cameron is
out for the weekend. And did you hear Drakey ran into his grandpappy!”
Lucas laughed. “Oh God, did I! I
heard Drake’s grandfather took him by the ear and demanded he do his blood
right and evolve.”
Frank laughed. “Drake has always
been the broody one of the monsters. He, now this is just my theory, still
feels that he failed his wife when he was human.”
“Ahh, yes Mrs. Drake. I wish she
would be reincarnated. Every time he looks around his room it is like walking
through fire and he feels that heartache of her and his unborn daughter’s
death.”
“Well, until her soul has paid its penance
she won’t be reincarnated. Once she is though I am sure Drake will turn her;
rather he wants to be a monster or not. I was actually hoping he would take a
couple of brides.” Frank stated as he threw Lucas a beer.
Lucas nodded his thanks. “Frankie,
my man, I have got to leave soon. The moon is rising.”
“I know. Be careful. It would cause
so much trouble to find a new best friend and babysitter.” Frank stated as he
threw him his emergency bag.
Lucas laughed and punched Frank’s
arm as he left the house not even taking a jacket even though it was colder
out. “I swear Frankie has more of a soul than I do at times.” He whispered to
the air.
Lucas went to the local wolf bar.
There were a couple other weres in the area and they had a few drinks and then
locked the silver doors to make sure they didn’t break out. Damn horror writers
got some things right. Silver does a number on werewolf blood; if it was
blessed and the person using the silver truly believed in God, then it would
hurt more so, maybe even making a non-fatal wound fatal. Lucas shivered at some of the times he was
hit with silver. Frank had been there to save him each time. Without that man
he was sure he would have been dead a few centuries back. Lucas took the beer that the bartender slide
to him and sat lost in his thoughts. He
half hoped that Sophie was born of monster. It would make it a bit easier to
explain once she came into whatever power besides immortality that she was
blessed slash cursed with.
“Hey Lukey! Where is your mighty
protector?” Sneered a voice he thought would have taken the hint six months ago
when Frank kicked his ass when Lucas was drunk out of his mind remembering his
past.
“Roland! How nice to see you. How is
that bitch of yours? Still not willing to be mated to you? I mean until the
mark is given she can sleep with anybody she chooses. And I heard your pack had
a nice little party with her last month.” Lucas sneered; ready to jump if
needed.
“At least I have a mate. Even if she
is a bit of a whore. You are coming on six centuries and still single. Living with
that freak. At least we used to be human.”
Lucas was up and in his face. “Do
not insult my friends. I have killed for a lot less Roland.”
“Please, your greatest achievement was
killing that sire of yours, Richardson.”
“That is the only one that matters
Roland. I gained my freedom by killing him and his pack. I don’t need a pack.”
“That is where you are wrong pup.
Everybody needs a pack. After all how are you going to get out of this?” Roland
grabbed Lucas by the throat. “You don’t
have your freak here to bail you out this time.
And after I am done with you I may just leave this bar before the doors
lock and kill that freak and his new little girl can be raised to be the pack
slut.”
Lucas felt a rage he had only felt
once before rage in him. And that was the day he killed his sire. Lucas felt
himself changing before the moon, something only an Alpha could do, and he felt
himself drop all the barriers he created to not become the monster that he was portrayed
as in the movies and books. He had his
claw deep into Roland’s chest; he was half changed. “Never, and I mean never threaten
my family.” He stated as he took the
heart in into his claws. “Apologize. Apologize before I kill you.”
Roland looked up at him and spit
blood into his face. “Never. You are nothing Lucas. You may kill me, but my men
will rip you apart. And then that freak and then eat that precious little girl
you are protecting.”
Lucas smirked. “You don’t know a thing about me before I
came to this town Roland. I haven’t always gone by the name Lucas.”
“Please who could you be that would
be so scary?”
“Beast of Gévaudan, the Beast Of Transylvania,
the one that scared even Dracula, I have been around longer than I have let
people believe. You don’t get it Roland;
I hide my bloody past because I am more of a moral man than you. But wherever I
have been I have left a trail of blood.”
Lucas ripped out the heart. “And now I leave this trail.” He turned
fully eating the heart and jumping when Roland’s men started to turn with the
moon.
Lucas knew he was surrounded by
Roland’s men. Roland had made them pledge to avenge his death if it happened.
Lucas being an alpha had a bit more of his mind, though not much, but enough to
count seven wolves. He moved and put his back against the silver doors; he
tried to ignore the smell of burning hair, and waited for the first to jump.
He didn’t wait long before the youngest;
a pup really, jumped and went for his throat. Lucas moved out of the way and
allowed the pup to go head first into the silver door. Before the pup could
recover from the massive burn on his head Lucas took him by the throat and
threw his body across the room, ripping out the throat and spraying the bar
with blood. The other six wolves didn’t
wait and tried to jump him all at once.
Lucas, of course, being older and stronger made quick work of the
younger pups, leaving two other elders.
He had his back against a silver window and waited as his wolf brain calculated
the best way to kill his enemies and eat their hearts. To gain their power. To
gain their knowledge. To gain their souls.
Soon one got impatient with waiting and charged him and Lucas took him
and threw him into the cage over the window allowing the smell of burning flesh
fill the air before taking a silver spike into his hand and ignoring his own
pain put it through the wolf’s chest. Killing him. He turned to the last one. The one older than
Roland.
The wolf tilted his head and tried
to find a way to live, with the oath to Roland he had to fight. But maybe he
didn’t have to die. He charged. He bit the back of Lucas and then rolled and
put his head down in submission.
Lucas looked at the wolf. He tilted his head. He moved to act like leaving before he
charged and flipped the wolf into the air using his claw to rip out his heart
and eating it. He went to each body and
ate their hearts and stood in the middle of the room covered in blood. The
other wolves had their heads bowed in submission to not be killed that night. Lucas settled for the night and waited for
dawn.
The next morning Frank looked up as
Lucas came in. “How was your night?”
“Almost completely fulfilling.”
“Oh did you get into a fight?”
“You could say that.”
Frank shrugged. “How many?”
“Seven, they met The Beast.”
Frank raised an eyebrow as he stood
and put a plate of food in front of Lucas. “And what caused that?”
“He threatened my pack.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, nobody threatens my pack and
lives.”
“Any injuries?”
“A few burns on my back but you can
patch them up later.” He smiled down at the
baby girl in the bassinet. “For now I am eating breakfast; seven hearts does
not sustain an alpha, let alone The Beast.” He smirked getting Frank to laugh,
and though he may not have a mate, he had a pack and that is all that mattered.
No matter the death that he would cause to protect them.
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