Wolves and Men

Nicholas dramatically brushed his clothes off in front of her. He looked around at the group and held William’s gaze for a long time. He turned back to Aceso and said, “I’ll think about it.”

Aceso inched closer to his face, her muzzle only an inch away from his nose, “Think fast Nicholas I want a candidate soon.” With that, Aceso turned and left the room.

William didn’t see any reason to stick around so he left too, followed by Charles and Katherine came out a minute later. The three of them went to the cafeteria and ate their dinner. It had been a while since he had eaten there and the protein rich, meat heavy meal was exactly what he needed after what he had been through the past few days. What he could have done without, was seeing Keva behind the counter. Her red hair was tied loosely behind her head and she greeted him with a smile. That smile brought to mind the memory of what had happened in his bedroom all those nights ago. He looked in every direction besides her face and moved quickly from the food line to rejoin Katherine and Charles. Even being in the same room as Keva was a little uncomfortable now.

While he ate, he shot quick glances at her from the corner of his eyes. She didn’t seem to be paying him any attention. The room felt way too small and the only thing he wanted to do was get out of there as soon as possible. He finished his meal and left with a brief goodnight to his friends.

That night William tried to make sense of everything that had happened, survival in the desert, watching Ansuya get captured, and the raid on the night club. It all seemed so disjointed in his mind. What was really bothering him? Was he really waiting for Keva to show up again? The first time was vivid enough in his mind. He really didn’t want to deal with her right now. The thoughts of his world and his place in it had seemed to grow exponentially in the past week. He had a real understanding of what was really at stake in this world that he had been thrown into. And if what Nicholas had said was even half true those vampires were more sinister than even he had realized. And people tried to romanticize them?! He shook his head and rolled over in bed and tried to get some sleep.

The next day he performed his morning routine and got some breakfast. It’s true, you never really appreciate things like food and shelter until you don’t have it anymore. He finished up and cleaned himself up. He walked around the city and found Charles and Katherine. They hadn’t eaten yet so he let them go. He found himself wandering toward the Tower. For some reason ever since he had got here in the city, the Tower seemed to draw him to it whenever he had nowhere else to go.

“Hey Setford!”

William turned around to face the one person he dreaded seeing. “Hi, Keva.”

The red-haired woman walked up to him smiling. “You didn’t even say hi to me last night. I figured you had things on your mind so I left you alone but you didn’t ask about me this morning either. What’s up?”

William looked away from her toward the Tower. “Keva, nothing is up. And you’re right I do have a lot on my mind.”

“You know you can always talk to me.” She placed a hand gently on his shoulder. “After all we are both Enforcers.”

William felt his skin crawl at her touch and brushed her hand away. “Keva, I don’t have anything to say.”

“What the fuck is this all of a sudden?” Keva didn’t try to hide her anger. “The last time I saw you, you were ready to fuck me and a week later it’s ‘I don’t have anything to say’?! Who, the fuck, do you think you are that you can treat me this way?”

William forced himself to look directly into her green eyes. “Keva, I have nothing to say to you because I don’t feel the same way about you that you do about me. I think you’re ok as a person but I don’t really know you. Aceso told me a few things when you left and sex is not just sex here. If I mated with you, you and I would be joined for life as far as the city is concerned. Do you know, or even care, what will happen to your babies if you ever get pregnant?”

Keva shook her head, her pony tail whipped around behind her, “Setford, it’s just sex. You know, something to do to keep us warm at night.” She said seductively and tried to move in close to him, to touch his body with hers.

William stepped back, out of reach. “What is wrong with you? Do you really need me to say it? I don’t want to be with you, not now, not ever.”

The woman stood stock still, shocked for a moment. Then a fire lit behind her eyes and her lips pulled back into a sneer, which became a snarl full of elongated canines. Where Keva had been there now stood a werewolf, about seven feet tall covered in reddish brown fur with deep black along her shoulders. Her tail was very pale though almost white.

An arm lashed out and caught him with a vicious backhand sending him sailing backward to land on his back and shoulders. Keva walked over to his prone body, reached down with her claws, picked him up, and slammed him against the wall.

“Nobody has ever said no to me Setford. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you sit here and lie to me about how you feel about me. You probably sat in bed wishing for me to show up last night, didn’t you?” She looked down his front side. “All men are the same you all think with your little brain and I know you want me.” She put him down and stepped back without shifting into human form. “Now, tell me the truth. Tell me you want me.”