Wolves among men (23 page)

“
I’m sorry, you just
fascinate me. You didn’t go feral, you should have but you didn’t
and I can’t understand why.” I shrugged and put my eyes back to the
road.

“
Maybe because I didn’t
have some self-righteous jackass telling me it was my right to
slaughter people like sheep. I heard Jonathan’s little speech. I
can see how it would be easy to fall into that. I can understand
why some go feral,” I spoke quickly and quietly. It was a
convincing speech, even if it was bat shit insane, I did have to
admire the elegance of his words.

“
But the ones who are left
alone go that way too, it’s kind of strange.”

“
You studied psychology
right?” I asked with a smile. He nodded and looked to me, waiting
for me to get to my point. “So you should know what happens when a
man is desperate, what they’re capable of.”

“
Well yeah
but-”

“
But nothing.” I
interrupted him. “I remember when I was first turned. All I wanted
to do was eat. A week out of the hospital and I marched into a
supermarket and began ravishing the meat department.” I looked to
him, a smile on my face. “I tore into six steaks and two pot roasts
before I realized what I had done and I was still hungry after all
that. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be that hungry in
the middle of nowhere, you’ll eat the first thing that comes along
and if Jonathan was right and if humans taste as good as he says, I
can see why someone would stick with that. Combine that with the
fact that eating people is psychologically messed up and I can’t
see someone handling seeing a werewolf and eating a person all in
one short period of time too well.” I paused for a second and took
a much needed breath. “Well it kind of makes sense if you think of
it that way.”

“
Wow,” James exclaimed, a
smile on his face. “I never thought of it like that. How did you
come up with that anyway?”

I laughed lightly and shrugged. “I
just think way too much about crap that doesn’t really matter.”
After a long pause, James went back to his book and I went back to
the long stretch of road that was laid out in front of us. The
truck went silent as we put the reservation and the horrors of the
day far behind us and it wasn’t until the sun began to rise over
the horizon that I realized just how tired I was becoming and just
how far we had traveled.

I thought about what was
to come, how we would get through this and if
we
would find my sister alive, a
thought I wanted to banish as quickly as it had come.

Sam had come to my rescue just when I
needed her and I had to trust that she would do for Cordillia what
she had done for me in my time of need.

As they pulled into the parking lot of
a rundown gas station, I pulled up next to the little silver car
and killed the engine. I crawled out of the cab and smiled as I
stretched my legs and relished in the feel of sweet relief that
came with the much needed and overdue break from the open
road.

Sam walked over to me as I lifted my
arms over my head and groaned happily as my back cracked loudly and
readjusted itself into a more comfortable position.

“
I got a call from some
friends of mine,” she spoke sweetly, stopping just in front of me
as James stepped out of the truck and rubbed his eyes.

“
Yeah?” I nodded, shoving
my hands deep into my pockets.

“
There’s a pack out in
Richland, they want to help us.” I laughed lightly and leaned back
against my truck, turning my head to the sky and closing my
eyes.

“
Help us how?” I scoffed.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want the help and it wasn’t even that I
doubted their abilities, I didn’t know them but things had gone to
hell so quickly that it was hard to believe they would ever go back
to a place that even closely resembled normal.

“
Don’t do this, Ethan. I
know you’re tired and I know you’re frustrated but we need numbers
if we’re going to be safe.” I looked down as she pleaded with me
eagerly. She was right, we were small and it wasn’t hard to see
that if shit really hit the fan there was no way we would be able
to stay alive as just the five of us.

“
I trust you, Sam, and I
know you’re right it’s just…” I trailed off. She knew enough about
me and what I had gone through to be able to finish the train of
thought for herself.

“
I know but they can
help.” She smiled. I couldn’t help but return her gesture,
something about the way she smiled was so sincere and for a moment
I felt like everything would be okay. A flash of inspiration
crossed my mind and I stood from my truck and reached into my
pocket pulling out the piece of paper that Robert had given
me.

“
What about this guy?” I
asked as I handed it to her. She looked it over and
shrugged.

“
Bryant Lockley?” she
questioned as she read it over and shook her head. “I’ve never
heard of him. Have you called him yet?” She asked handing the piece
of paper back to me. I shook my head and shoved it back into my
pocket as Logan tiptoed toward us, careful not to spill the two
large coffees in his hand.

“
Good, don’t just yet.”
She smiled, taking a cup from him and handing it to me. It felt
nice to have something warm in my hand and the smell that wafted up
from the large paper cup seemed to put a stop to the tiredness I
was feeling. “I’ll have James do some digging before we go calling
up a stranger.” I nodded as I took a sip of the bitter brown
liquid. Gas station coffee in my opinion was never preferable but
at this moment it was heavenly and I sighed happily as it warmed me
and brought a smile to my lips.

“
So where we heading?” I
asked curiously.

“
Richland, like I said.”
She chuckled. I nodded and leaned back against my truck once again.
“A few miles outside of town there’s this abandoned weapons factory
we’re supposed to be looking for. I’ve never been there myself but
I trust Grant with my life so we’ll check it out.”

“
Grant?”

“
Yeah he’s a friend.” She
nodded.

“
Why do you trust him? If
it’s okay that I ask.”

“
He’s saved my life on
more than one occasion.” She smiled brightly as she traced the rim
of her cup with her fingers. “We go way back, I used to be part of
his pack until I decided to start looking for people like you.” She
looked up at me with a smile.

“
Like me?”

“
Lost pups.” I nodded and
pulled a cigarette from the pack in my pocket, lighting it quickly.
I didn’t want to get into the habit of smoking but after the day
that had just passed, something about the idea teased my senses and
as I felt the warmth of smoke fill my lungs and calm my nerves I
realized that somewhere in my line of thinking I was
right.

I watched quietly as Logan and James
wrestled with each other in the parking lot, Logan gaining the
upper hand and critiquing James’ style with every move.

“
Don’t turn your back,
man.” He laughed as he brought James to his knees in a headlock.
“Never turn your back.”

“
That’s not
fair!”

“
Boohoo!” Logan laughed as
he released him and tossed him to the ground. Sam laughed softly as
James got to his feet and took a defensive stance only to be pinned
against the Trans Am and brought to his knees once
again.

“
Do they do this a lot?” I
chuckled. She turned back to me and shrugged with a
smile.

“
Logan was feral once.” I
nodded. “He still has that fighter in him.” She smiled brightly as
their shouts echoed all around us. “He’s a good soldier and the
only person I’ve ever seen take down Matt in a fight.” She smirked.
I watched her closely as she watched them, Matt pushing the boys
away while he chatted on a small black cell phone, stopping only to
knock Logan to the ground after running into him one too many
times.

The way she laughed and the way she
smiled as the boys played made her seem more like a mother to them
than anything else and in a way I was right. She had taken them in,
trained them and cared for them when no one else would. Isn’t that
what a mother does?

“
I swear to God if you two
don’t knock it off-”

“
You’ll what?” Logan
teased as he stood on the tip of his toes to meet Matt face to
face. He turned to us, tossing the cell phone to Sam as he grabbed
Logan around the throat and held him still.

“
Grant’s gonna have
someone waiting for us at the gate,” he shouted and Sam waved in
thanks. Almost immediately Matt changed his grip on Logan, spinning
him around and lifting him into the air as he squealed and
squirmed.

“
Put me down!” he shouted
as Matt lifted him over his head. One hand placed under his neck
and the other resting at the base of his spine as Logan flailed
against his grip. “Come on, man, this isn’t funny!”

“
Matt, come on, you know
he’s scared of heights.” Sam called over as she leaned against the
truck next to me. He laughed loudly as he dropped Logan to his
feet.

“
You gonna listen when I
tell you to piss off?” He smirked. Logan nodded and took a few deep
breaths as Matt turned his back to him and began walking toward us.
He shouted as Logan jumped on his back, wrapping his legs around
Matt’s waist and his arms tight around his neck. Matt growled as he
reached behind him, attempting to throw the kid off of his
back.

“
Never turn your back on
your enemy!” He chuckled before Matt threw his back against the
car, slamming Logan into it with a loud groan.

“
Okay you two that’s
enough!” Sam called across the parking lot.

“
What?” Logan shouted as
he dropped to his feet. “I’m fine.” He lifted his arms and turned
around quickly to prove his point.

“
It’s not you I’m worried
about.” She laughed lightly. “Don’t go messing up my
car.”

“
Really?” Logan pouted as
Matt reached over and pushed him into the car door with a
laugh.

“
Come on you guys, we got
a long way to go.” The boy’s nodded and as if on cue began climbing
into the silver car. She turned to me and smiled as I tossed the
dying ember of my cigarette to the ground and cracked my neck
loudly. “That sounded like it felt good.” She chuckled. I nodded
and pulled open the door to my truck, ready to climb in when she
placed a hand on my shoulder.

“
Give me the
keys.”

“
What?” I smirked as I
stepped down on the ground.

“
I’m riding with you, give
me the keys.” She smiled politely as she thrust her hand at me. I
handed them to her reluctantly and shot her a questioning
glance.

“
You look tired.” She
rolled her eyes with a smile. “Just get in.” She smirked as she
pulled the door open and climbed in. I walked around the front of
the truck and took my place next to her. It was strange not being
behind the wheel but it was nice to know that I had the chance to
ask a few more questions before we got to wherever it was that we
were going. The truck came to life and she sped out of the parking
lot like a woman on the run, the boys following close behind us as
she pulled out onto the street and headed east toward the rising
sun.

Chapter
Fifteen

“
Is there anything you
want to ask me?” Sam spoke softly after a long silence. Miles of
road stretched out in front of us with nothing to see but thick
lines of trees left me the perfect opportunity to play twenty
questions, it was just too bad that it happened to be the
particular moment my mind went blank. I sipped at my quickly
cooling coffee and turned my head toward the window next to me,
allowing my thoughts time to gather.

“
There’s a lot I still
don’t know,” I muttered. I could feel her nodding lightly next to
me and as I turned to face her my mind flashed back to the night we
very first met, the night I saw her as nothing more than a beast.
“That night in the alley,” I began as I sat up in my seat. Her body
stiffened and her eyes flicked to me for a quick moment.

“
What about it?” Her
attempts to brush off her reaction failed and I could see through
her as easily as she could see through me.

“
I heard your voice in my
head.” I pointed to my temple as she relaxed in her seat. “You
spoke to me.”

“
Did I?” She smirked. “Are
you sure it wasn’t just your imagination?”

“
No I’m sure,” I argued
with a smile even thought I wasn’t. “It was your voice at least I
think it was.”