Wolves and Men

“Oh, this should be good. How far along is this project and why should we even care about a bunch of permits?” Nicolas still hadn’t gained any real respect for the Elders, something that was a constant pressure point between him and his Alpha.

Huan Li ignored the outburst. “The five of you will go to this site. To be honest there have been so many contradictory permits, and Judge Cortez doesn’t deal with them directly, to really know what is going on. Judge Cortez has always given reliable information and if he says something is worth looking into, then we will honor his intuition. Here is the area and the closet address we have,” Huan Li said handing Charles a small slip of paper.

“What should we do if we find anything?” asked Charles. “Should we destroy it, study it, or simply report on what we find?”

“That we leave to you. You have proven yourselves capable in the past. I trust you will handle this situation with the same manner of care and diligence as you have shown yourselves capable.” He paused a moment looking at the five of them. “There is another address on that piece of paper. There you will find Mr. George Rivera. He has been a loyal friend to us and he will give you what you need.” The Elder looked around the group and nodded. “The seasons always change; the summers fade to be reborn in another lifetime. Soon you will serve the Mountain in other ways, until that time, I expect you to care for each other, as you always have. May the great philosophers grant you wisdom,” with that small bit of encouragement the Elder turned his back on the pack and strode away calmly through the glossy black obsidian city.

The pack didn’t speak, they simply moved. One second they were standing still in the street, and the next they were a blur of speed on all fours.

They raced through the city. There powerful werewolf forms carrying them faster as they used the small air movements through the corridors in the city to speed them on their way. William’s fur ruffled and his nose was bent to the wind to catch his pack mates’ scents. His ears were flicking back and forth listening for the small variations in wind and noise around them. There was no danger here in the city, but it was so ingrained in him that he did it automatically.

The five of them moved in sync and soon they were outside the city, racing through the Whyte Plain.

This place, that had held so much dread for them not so very long ago, had become as familiar to them as the city itself. They had gone on many raids here and they had always come back, having sent, at least a few, of the hated Shadows to whatever Hell awaited them.

The buzzing in William’s ear was something to be ignored, or embraced. The sound ticked and his ear involuntarily flapped against his skull. He inhaled deeply and smiled. He would have loved to break up this little trek with a little exercise. His werewolf claws tore into the smooth mist covered ground, hurling himself forward even faster through the dense fog. The Whyte Plain faded away as the pack stepped from that place onto a broad open cliff face.

The five of them immediately shifted back into their natural forms. And they looked out over a calm brightly lit city laid out beneath them.

Even though William had lived in California his whole life, he had never seen Monterey before. The city was a wonder. The lights below him were isolated into a relatively small area. It was as impressive as any major city but the size of it was inviting. Unlike Los Angeles where just looking at the city would make his heart sink to think about the huddling mass of convulsing humans, writhing, moving, choking, and trampling each other. Here, there was only the breeze tinged with salt from the nearby ocean and a comfort that was welcoming. They didn’t wait long. The five of them headed down the cliff to see exactly what it was that Huan Li and the Elders saw fit to send them here for.

* * * * *

She sat huddled in her cage. There was no day here, no night, there was simply time. Time was the only thing that kept her company. She could feel its cold grip on her throat at night. The teeth of the impudent predator had always been laughed at by her. But now time was gnawing away at her, at it must gnaw away at every living thing.

She stroked her fingers through her hair and held it up to her eyes, after so long in the dark, her eyes had become accustomed to the low light. She saw her matted, dying hair in front of her. To think that it had once been a source of pride for her, a source of pride that the Mountain had tried to rid her of. She had been so arrogant back then. She had been placed on a pedestal, one that no one was allowed to acknowledge, but it was there. She had reveled in her singular place in the Mountain and had served that place well.

Her eyes caught her finger nails. Once beautiful and so well-manicured, the accents she had worked so tirelessly to perfect in their shape and contour had been so totally, and consciously missed by those around her. Now they were cracked, faded, and hideously long. So long they curled back in on themselves. She resembled one of those street babas, or gurus from her home. She had become one of those freaks that had peddled their bodies and their religion to the British, then to whoever would give a coin to listen to them.

Her body had become flaccid, and her muscles had atrophied. She was a mass of fattened, malnourished flesh. She couldn’t even smell her own self under the piss, shit, and dirt that now covered and surrounded her. She still held her mind. She was here for a reason. The machinations of which were close to fruition. The work she had accomplished, through dreams and her other faculties, had born some very interesting fruit. She knew so much more than she could have hoped. Even the cage she now sat was bending to her will. She needed more time, and one other thing that would take a little more patience to cultivate.