All Hell Breaks Loose (7 page)

Derek had finished his food and was starting on his coffee.
 
“What?” he demanded, choking himself
again.

Gabi rolled her eyes.
 
“You’ve told me yourself that you felt something wasn’t quite right with my friend Kyle, haven’t you?  You have good instincts
.
”

“Kyle’s a Vampire?” Derek asked, shocked.

Gabi snorted in amusement, if only Kyle had been around to hear that one.
 
“No,” she corrected, “Kyle’s a
Werewolf
.”

The coffee mug on the way to Derek’s mouth stilled in mid-air, his whole body froze as he digested that piece of information.
 
“Oh,” he finally said, lowering the mug back to the table without taking a sip.  “So, not all
Werewolves
are like those ones that attacked me?”

Gabi’s mouth thinned into an angry line.
 
“No, they’re not.  Those ones are the
kind that are
removed from society.  At least
,
in the City they are
,
” she said in a deadly voice.

Intuition flashed across Derek’s face.
 
“That’s your other job,” he said in a slightly awed tone.  “That’s why you get injured so much.  Are you some kind of supernatural policeman?”

A grin touched her mouth.
 
“If you use the term policeman very loosely, I guess so.”  Her grin faded
,
and her face grew serious.  “I’m called a Hunter.  It’s a better term for what we do.  As I’m sure you can understand, we don’t go around handing out fines and warnings for the kind of crimes those guys commit.”

There was silence for a moment while they both sipped coffee.

“So which category do you fit into?” he finally asked.

She chewed on her bottom lip as she considered how to answer him.

“That’s not a straightforward question
,
I’m afraid, but let’s just say
I have a couple of toes in the Vampire camp.”  She smiled at his bewilderment.  “It’s a long story
,
and we need to get Trish some help first.  I’ll explain another time.”

“How can we help Trish?” he asked.  “Surely we can’t take her to a hospital? I’ve been going out of my mind trying to figure out what to do.”  His anxiety level skyrocketed at the thought of his sister.

“It’s al
l
right,” she soothed
.
“
T
here is somewhere we can take her
where
she will be safe and well cared for.”

“Can they help her, can they
…
can they cure her?  Before the
Werewolf
takes over
,
I mean?”  He sounded desperately hopeful.

Gabi shook her head sadly.  “No, I’m sorry
,
Derek, there is no cure for the lycanthropy virus.  But they can treat her injuries and help her through the fever.”

Derek shuddered
,
obviously remembering his own trip through the fever.

“And if she makes it through the fever
,
we’ll all help her through the first few weeks and months.”  She looked pointedly at Derek. “She’ll need you.”

“She’ll hate me,” he whispered.  “How could she not hate me?”

“She’ll need you to be strong; she’ll be looking to you for help and guidance. 
For reassurance.
  She’ll need someone she knows, loves and trusts.  She’ll forgive you, you know.”

Derek shook his head, unspeaking, tears glistening in his eyes.

Just then her phone beeped.  She pulled it out and checked the message.

“The cavalry is almost here,” she told Derek.  “Kyle is two minutes away
,
and he is going to take Trish to the place I told you about.”

“Aren’t we all going?” he asked.

“We can follow in a while, but there are a few things you and I need to talk about first.”

“Will Trish be safe going with him?”  Concern edged Derek’s words.

“She’ll be in the most capable hands I know. I promise
,
” Gabi assured him
.

“Ok
ay
,” he finally agreed.

“Now, before Kyle gets here, I need to explain a few things about
Werewolves
and how they naturally react to others of their kind.”

Gabi decided it would be safest for the two men to meet in the
garage.  It was relatively empty,
and it would give them all some room i
f Derek lost control and turned wolf
.  She could
’
ve simply locked him in the garage and let Kyle through to the bedroom where Trish was, but she knew it was important for them all to have an idea of how much contr
ol Derek had
.

She opened the side door to the garage and let Kyle inside.  Derek was in the far corner, stress and anxiety pouring off him in waves.  Kyle stepped inside
,
calm and confident, his own stress hidden so deep even Gabi couldn’t scent it.

“Hi
,
b
abe,” he said to Gabi, dropping a bag of medical supplies into her arms. 
“Everything under control?”

“So far,” she conceded, moving closer to the internal door and out of the way of the two
Werewolves
.

Kyle was definitely the best choice for
this,
he was one of few, possibly the only
Werewolf
who had absolute control of his wolf.  Presumably because of the miracle of his birth
,
he was less ruled by his wolf than others.  He didn’t even feel the need to change at full moon.  He could, in fact, go for months without changing. 
A supernatural anomaly.
  Just like her.

“Hello
,
Derek,” he said in a calm tone
.
“I’m sorry we didn’t get here sooner.  I’m sure Gabi has told you that we
’
re here to help.  You
’re not alone in this,
and we’ll do everything we can to help both of you.”

Suddenly the garage was swamped in the heavy scent of
Werewolf
.  Derek had dropped his gaze, hunching over.  He started to inch towards the door into the house, as though looking for an escape route.

“Derek, listen to me,” Kyle commanded.  “You need to compartmentalise those feelings of fear and aggression
;
they are part of the animal.  The wolf is trying to gain control because you are feeling out of control.  Focus on your human feelings, your logical thoughts.  You know I’m not going to harm you.”

Gabi put the medical supplies down and moved to block Derek’s path to the internal door
.
S
he didn’t want him getting back inside the house
;
there were too many places he could break out and run.  A growl, low and deep, rumbled through the garage.  In the dim light
,
Gabi saw Derek’s eyes turn from silver to slate and then to flat, stormy grey.

“Kyle
,
back away for a moment,” she said urgently. 
“Der
ek, no!”
She put her hand out and
move
d
between them, but Kyle grabbed her and pulled her back.

“It’s too late,” he whispered. 
“Looks like we’re going to have to do this the hard way.”
Kyle grimaced.

Gabi knew he didn’t like forcing another wolf to submit to him, but he was one of the most dominant wolves in the City.  It was hard to believe when you knew his easy-going human personality.  If Derek shifted
,
Kyle would be able to bring the wolf under control until he calmed down enough to shift back.  It would exhaust them both
,
and Derek would likely hate Kyle for a while afterwards, but it was better than any of the alternative scenarios.

As Derek’s body began to twist and contort
,
Gabi and Kyle moved to cover the two smaller exits, hoping Derek
’s wolf
wouldn’t realise he could go straight through the steel garage doors if he wanted to.  Gabi grabbed a dustbin lid to use as defence; she didn’t want to use any kind of weapon against him if he charged her.  Kyle should be able to stop him before he got to her, but accidents had been known to happen.  She didn’t need another
Werewolf
bite this week. 
She was already regretting not grabbing some painkillers before rushing out of the house earlier. 
Watching the shift of a new
Werewolf
was harrowing
.  It had been a while since Gabi had witnessed it.  Kyle’s shift was almost instantaneous; within seconds he could be standing in front of you
,
huge, furry and fanged, on four legs and sporting a
shaggy
tail.

Derek’s shift took less than
two
minute
s
, but each second seemed to drag into eternity as he fought the inevitable transformation.  His
T
-shirt and jeans ripped at the seams, claws sprang from his fingers as he collapsed into a foetal ball.  His breathing turned ragged and harsh as he fought not to scream. 
Finally,
a fully formed wolf lay on the cement in front of them.  Panting, the wolf hauled himself to his feet, a low warning growl emitting from between clenched teeth.  He was magnificent; one of the biggest
Werewolves
Gabi had ever seen, almost as big as Kyle’s wolf.  His coat was rich, dark chocolate with a caramel
undertone,
and his liquid silver eyes tracked the two non-wolves with shrewd intelligence.  Inwardly Gabi sighed, she’d been right
.
T
his wolf was all dominant
;
he wasn’t g
oing to back
down without a fight.

Kyle stepped forward
,
a hard-edged look on his usually amicable face.  Gone was the easy-going boy-next-door
,
and in his place was the experienced, battle-hardened warrior.  Gabi knew he would only shift if there was no other choice, he would try all other options first.  But as she switched her gaze back to
the wolf,
she realised he’d made up his mind that she was the weakest link. Time slowed as she watched his muscles bunch, preparing to lunge, his
huge jaws open, displaying his
glistening
fangs.  She reacted instinctively
,
throwing up her free hand and unthinkingly hurling her power at him as she yelled, “NO
,
Derek.
Stop!”

It all happened so fast.  Kyle had never known a brand
-
new
Werewolf
to have such power and speed; he was caught off guard. Ice
-
cold terror punched him in the chest as he watched the enormous beast lunge for Gabi.  He instinctively reached for his wolf, but in that same instant
,
the huge
Werewolf
dropped to the floor in mid-lunge
,
less than a metre from Gabi
,
and froze.  Kyle backpedalled with his wolf, shoving the transformation back and solidifying his human shape with an agonising wrench.  He could feel Gabi’s power flowing around him
—
except that it wasn’t the usual feeling of a light tingle against his skin, it was more like the sting of ants nipping at his flesh as they marched over him.  The
Werewolf
didn’t move a muscle after her command to stop.  He simply held his semi-crouch in front of her, as though awaiting her next order.

“Uh, Wolf,” she said
to Kyle
in a low voice,
the ni
ckname
seemed
somewhat incongruous under the circumstances.  “What the fuck’s going on?”  She was speaking with her teeth clenched together, her eyes not leaving Derek’s.

“I, uh, think that we’ve just discovered another use for your legendary talents with animals,” he replied cautiously.

“You mean
,
you’re not controlling him?”
S
he sounded perplexed.

“Nope, not me,” Kyle answered.  “Can’t you feel your own power?  I can feel it crawling all over me.  You should be able to feel his mind if you try.”

“Well, that’s kind of
what it felt like,” she admitted, “but it seemed ridiculous.  I mean
,
he’s not really an
animal.”