The Legend of the Werewolf (5 page)

Mike smiled and faced Annie. "See? Even
your friend here agrees with me."

"Yeah, but—"

“
I’ll be in and out,” he assured
her. He trotted up the stairs to the expensive cabin and knocked on
the door.

An unhappy voice inside yelled for him
to enter.

Mike shrugged and opened the door. The
pack master likely thought the knocker was one of his
own.

"Oh God, oh God," Annie chanted as she
entered the mudroom behind him. Brock remained outside.

Mike was about to walk right in, searching
for the pack master, until Annie grabbed him. "Take your shoes
off!"

"For the love of—" He rolled his eyes
and kicked them off. He tossed them on the rack before entering the
main area of the house.

“Do me a favor,” Mike muttered, though
Brock could still hear with those wolfy ears of his. He should’ve
asked this when they were still alone. “Don’t tell anyone what I
said back there. About my visions.”

“Whatever.”

“
Annie.
”

“
Fine,” she snapped.

The mudroom led into the sitting room
where two older men and one younger, the man with the crescent moon
birthmark on his cheek, stood around a coffee table having an
animated discussion.

Had they heard his request to Annie? He
tried dipping into their thoughts, but it was all fuzzy. Like a
radio that couldn’t find a station. Not one human in the
group.

The older man, who looked like an aged
version of the guy with the birthmark, turned. His blue eyes
betrayed no surprise at seeing the stranger in his home, but they
did travel up and down his body.

Mike was being sized up for
strength.

"Awake, I see."

The other two men turned, surprise on
their faces at seeing him. Mike decided that his request to Annie
wasn’t heard.

Mike stepped forward and offered his
hand. "I guess you're in charge here."

He took Mike's hand and gave it a
single, firm shake. Mike fought not to cringe against the sharpness
shooting through his hand as the bones inside scraped
together.

Yeah, this guy wanted him to know who
was in charge alright.

"My name is Gordon Stone, this is my son,
Westley." He pointed his hand towards the younger man with the
birthmark.

Westley barely made eye contact and
sent him a limp wave. “Sorry about kidnapping you.”

Mike didn’t reply.

"I believe you’ve already met
Antoinette Hart.”

Mike turned to stare at her. Her full name
was Antoinette? Made sense, he supposed. A princess name for a
princess.

“
And, this, is Bill Mowbray,"
Gordon said, nodding to the oldest member of the group, the man
wearing a night robe. "He's kind of our expert on the origin
legend."

"Mike Carter," Mike said, not willing to
offer any more information about himself just yet.

Annie didn’t reveal his visions.
"Gordon, I'm so sorry, but he insisted on seeing you," she said
instead.

Gordon held up his hand for silence,
then pointed to the glass coffee table.

Mike trailed his gaze to where he was
pointing. When he first got in the room, he thought it was one of
those candles in an oval stone cup. Now that he actually looked, he
saw it for what it really was.

The moon stone. Glowing softly in the
early dawn.

The man wearing the housecoat picked it
up. He held it lightly, as though afraid to get his fingerprints on
it. "Started doing that shortly after I left."

"What's it doing?" Mike
asked.

He shrugged. "If it really is the moon
stone, then it's calling for its creator."

Mike couldn't believe anyone was
entertaining this idea. "Its creator? Luna?"

"Correct."

Annie peeked over his shoulder to look,
then shot her gaze to Gordon. "Does this mean you believe
it?"

Gordon rolled his eyes impatiently and
didn't answer.

"If it's calling her then why doesn't
she answer?" Mike asked. "If I really am the reincarnation of the
first werewolf then she would come to me."

Gordon half crossed his arms while
scratching his chin. "What do you think, Bill?"

The old man shifted his robe and sat
down in one of the leather chairs. "Well, the story goes that Luna
gave the stone to her lover so she could find him every full moon.
But it was stolen from him when he was cursed.

“
One reason she does not appear
now would be that the moon isn’t full yet. Another, is that you are
not the reincarnation of our father wolf."

Mike sighed, relief washing through
him. "Then it's not me."

"Grandpa, you believe in this more than
anyone, why wouldn't you think it's him?" Annie faced him, her eyes
demanding.

This man was her grandfather? Made
sense, he supposed. If Bill Mowbray was an expert then Annie would
have grown up hearing about this legend. Believing in it more than
anyone.

Which put him in trouble if the wolves
wanted to keep him here.

"Why are you so eager to think that
it’s me?" Mike couldn't keep the snarl from his voice.

She glanced his way, pursed her lips as
though wishing to speak, then returned her eyes to her
grandfather.

Mike made a mental note to not push her
in a room full of people. She probably wanted to yell out to
everyone about his visions.

The old man sighed and gave his
explanation. "Most people accept the story that the warlock
eventually found and killed his enemy out of spite. That the cursed
lover was, then, reincarnated, and t.

“
To ensure that he could never
come back to claim Luna, Hadrian searched out anyone who looked
like the man he’d cursed, and then killed them."

The old man shook his head, eyes
lighting up with the passion of the story. Mike couldn't help his
rising curiosity.

"Another version claims that the spell
used to turn him into a werewolf went wrong. That, along with
changing into a wild animal every full moon, he also gained
immortality. The warlock, unaware of this, thought that he
eventually died of old age, and went on to kill anyone who looked
like his enemy, over and over again anyway. I firmly believe in
this version. I am just as firm in my belief that if you were the
father of all werewolves, you would know it."

Hearing there was a mad man out
there who wanted him dead because he looked like someone wasn't
much better than if Hadrian wanted him dead because he
actually
was
the man he was looking for.

Which story was true? He held back a
groan. Christ. He was starting to believe them.

"Do you know the man who attacked you?"
Bill asked. "This could easily be a mistake, on his part as well as
ours."

"How do you mean?"

Bill held out the softly glowing stone so
that the crescent moon was visible. "Just because your attacker had
this doesn't make him the warlock from the legend. He could've
stolen it, inherited it, be insane enough to think he's the warlock
when he's not. This could be a fake and it most likely
is."

Mike nodded, following his thoughts.
"Alright, I get it, I get it. He said his name was Hadrian, I can't
remember his last name." And it irked him to no end that he
couldn't. He sent Annie a small glare, entirely blaming
her.

Bill's already pale face went whiter.
"Vaughan?"

Like a light clicking on, Mike realized
that was the name. "You know it. You...oh, shit."

The light clicked off. If the name was
familiar then it meant that Hadrian was either who he said he was,
or just knew his werewolf mythology better than the average
wolf.

Bill stared down at the still glowing
stone in his hands. "And, Annie already told us about the shadow
soldiers."

Mike couldn't believe the turnaround of
these people.

Westley pointed at Mike but kept his
eyes on Bill. "You're not saying that you do think—"

"I'm not saying anything. Mr. Carter, I
think, for your own safety, you had best stay here."

Mike clapped his hands together. "As
much I would like to, I have to decline on your offer."

"Gordon?" Bill gave his pack master a
look that implored him to interfere.

Gordon grit his teeth. "My hands are tied.
As much as I would like to send you on your way, the chances of you
being the first werewolf are too great. Even if you're not, should
you be killed because we turned you out, consequences would result
where we carry the burden. I'm not having that."

This couldn’t be happening. He had to make
them see reason. “Listen, I don’t believe for a second that I am
what you think I am. Still, the fact remains that someone is out to
kill me. By being here, I’m putting your whole pack in
danger.”

“
You’re doing no such thing,”
Gordon said.

Annie touched his arm. “It’s just us here.
Everyone else is at their own homes. But, we’re strong and fast
enough to keep you safe.”

Keep him safe. Like he was a child who
needed a babysitter.

Heavy hands landed on his shoulders. He
looked up and there stood Brock. The man was much more covert than
Mike initially gave him credit for.

“I have a family. How will you explain
my disappearance?”

His family didn’t know he was in the area,
nor would they care since, as a psychic, he freaked them out enough
for them to kick him out. However, they didn’t need to know
that.

“We won’t tell them anything, son. You
wouldn’t want us to endanger your family by involving them, would
you?”

Mike clenched his jaw. He hadn’t seen
that response coming. “Of course not.”

Gordon shoved his thumbs into the
pockets of his jeans. “Then that’s all there is to it. You’re a
grown man. I’ll wager you’ll be home before they notice you’re
missing.”

"This is not over," he hissed.

Gordon
shrugged and nodded over his head to
the giant holding him. "For now, it is. Take him back to the guest
cabin and make sure he stays comfortable."

Brock grunted his agreement and all but
pulled Mike out of the room.

He'd forgotten how stubborn werewolves in
packs were. Talking with one or two was one thing, but facing so
many, all of which are willing to take orders from the leader, it
was impossible.

He should have just stayed
home.

***

Anne watched him being led out. Brock had
a firm grip on his arm, ensuring that he didn't go where no one
wanted him to go.

She stared hard at Gordon. "I told him
we weren't holding him against his will." It was the only reason
why she didn’t forcefully stop him when he walked out to talk to
Gordon.

Gordon leisurely walked to a cherry
cabinet, opened the glass doors, and pulled out a bottle and a
glass.

He poured himself a drink despite the
fact that it was dawn. "I'm doing what I have to do to ensure the
safety of this pack while upholding our laws. Thank God this didn't
happen on a Moon Night"

Moon Night being the werewolf holiday
every three or four full moons. More of a family gathering than a
holiday, but it still would’ve caused problems.

And, as they’d theirs a month ago, there
was no danger to the majority of the pack. Only the people who
actually lived on the ranch.

Whether Gordon meant to hold him
hostage or not, he needed to know just who Mike Carter really was.
"Gordon, he told me he's a cop."

Gordon's head flew up. "What?"

"It's okay, mostly. He's from Griffon
City."

Gordon visibly relaxed. "If he were a
regular officer, he could make things difficult for us. Now, we
only have to avoid the city."

Bill scratched his chin. "Little far
away from home, isn't he?"

"That's not the point. He's going to have
people looking for him," Anne said.

Westley sat down on the sofa and rubbed
his face. "Unless it's expected that he’d be away for a while." He
shrugged. "He could be on vacation."

Gordon eyed her expectantly. "Since you
brought him here ..."

"He's my responsibility, I know." She
had to fight to keep from rolling her eyes.

Gordon nodded, ignoring her impatient
tone. "And, until I decide that he is capable of leaving here
without endangering himself or anyone else, he stays. Hopefully
this will only last a day or so." He took a gulp from his glass.
“God knows I don’t want that family he says he has calling the
police.”

Anne nodded, grateful that he wasn't
yelling this time.

Bill stepped forward. "Gordon, isn't
there someone else who could watch him? I don't want Annie guarding
a grown man by herself."