Chapter 22.1 – Meeting dangerous Werewolves – part 2

While Lucas was still shaking his friend and trying to call him to reason, Aniya’s father stopped the car in front of the house and rushed in.
He gasped at the scene in front of him, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Three beheaded Werewolves were on the ground with their bodies and heads slowly turning into dust as they turned back into Humans. Lucas Dalton shaking Lucius, who was in shock. Aniya holding the skin wounds from the claw scratches on Ethan Quaid’s chest with her bare hands, and Lisa squeezing a tourniquet made from the sleeve of Peter Neylan’s shirt to stop the bleeding in his arm, while Davis checked for more wounds.
Dan Rossi pulled his sleeves up and kneeled near Aniya as he opened the first aid kit.
With impressive precision, he took a syringe, pushed the liquid inside straight into Ethan’s arm to stop the pain, and began cleaning and disinfecting the wounds around Aniya’s fingers to get a clear view. He took a surgical stapler and closed the wounds, cleaning everything when he finished, and placing a large surgical compress on Ethan’s chest, covered with a long bandage wrapped around his torso.

Dan took a long deep breath and asked when he saw Ethan Quaid peacefully sleeping on the ground. “What happened here, Aniya? How can there be three Werewolves dead on the floor? That isn’t possible!”

Aniya took the gun with silver bullets that Lucas Dalton gave her, and to her father’s surprise, she pressed the trigger three times, aiming at Lucas’ head that looked back when he heard the muffled trigger noise.

She spoke in a serious tone while pointing her other gun at him, “I am more interested in knowing why he gave me a broken gun when he knew where we were coming. See, father, why I don’t trust people I don’t know? He purposely set me up, probably hoping that I was killed in a skirmish someday so that he could say to that pretty Hunters High Council that the front lines are no place for a woman.”

Dan Rossi got up and grabbed the gun that Lucas Dalton had placed on the ground when he went to check on Lucian Davis.

As he pushed Lucas’ head with the gun, Dan spoke in a hoarse voice, “Explain to me clearly why you thought it was a good idea to frame my only daughter. I don’t want an excuse. I want the truth. If you try to lie to me, you will die right now. Who had this idea? You alone, or did the others agree with it?”

Lucas remained in silence, with his hands still holding Lucian’s shoulders, who was looking at the gun pointed at his friend’s head, unable to understand what was happening.

From behind them, Peter Neylan spoke, breaking the silence, “It was his idea and Lucian supported it! Ethan and I were against it, and we both thought he had quit that crazy idea because it was against everything we believe. It seems he still went ahead with it. He and Lucian kept on arguing that work on the field was no place for a woman, even with our administratives saving our lives several times, over the years.”

To Dan Rossi’s surprise, Lucas Dalton shouted, “Yes, it was my idea, and so what? Women don’t belong in the front lines! That is against our code! Their place is to be administratives or to help in other ways! We can’t risk women from Hunter’s families getting killed, and their pure bloodlines ending! “

Without a second thought, Dan Rossi shot. Blood and brain tissue fell all over Lucian Davis, who watched as his friend and former leader’s head exploded in front of him, and his dead body fell on the floor. Lucian looked up and frowned at the inside of the gun that Dan Rossi was pointing at his forehead. Next, he ceased to see, hear, or feel, as his head also exploded.

Peter Neylan gulped as he saw Dan Rossi pointing the gun at him next, and his cold, low voice made everyone feel a shiver along their spine, “You and Ethan will be questioned in Headquarters. If any of you or your administratives took any part in this setup, death is certain. Aniya, you and Davis carry Ethan to the car. Lisa, disarm Peter while you are at it. After a quick search around for any proof of why Werewolves could turn in broad daylight, I will call our cleaning services to dispose of the bodies and burn this house down to clear all the evidence of what happened here.”
…

While Dan Rossi was parking the car in front of the house and running inside, Nick saw Aniya through a window, talking with her father. Since she looked unarmed, Nick went after the Werewolf he saw disappearing in the forest.
Nick ran as fast as he could, using his increased senses to sniff the whereabouts of his target. After almost fifteen minutes of running, the Werewolf stopped near a fallen tree, and as he changed to his Human body again, Nick reached near him.

Adrian Gordon leisurely took one backpack from under the tree and opened it as he turned back and greeted his pursuer. “You need to learn how to make less noise, you know? What are you doing, running like crazy after a fellow Werewolf? Are you working with those Hunters? Because that would be wrong in so many ways, that I can’t even fathom why you would do that!”

Nick came from behind a tree and stopped at nearly five metres with a puzzled look. “I am not working with them. Actually, I have been following them since I saw them leaving the City. I know some of those faces, and because they have been after me since I was sixteen, I want to know more about them to get ready for our next encounter. They almost caught me on the last full moon, but I escaped. I am curious about how you changed during the day. I never met a Werewolf able to do that, and I knew several over the years.”

“Several, you say? Interesting. I know only a few dozen. Are you still in touch with those Werewolves? We could trade information. I could teach you how I do what I do, and you could contact them to join my cause.”

Nick raised his left eyebrow and asked, “And what cause would that be? Hiding in the middle of the woods like an animal or killing Hunters? Because if it’s the last one, I am all for it.”

“I like that answer. I can only teach you how I change with no need for a full moon, but I don’t know how to keep my reasoning when I turn, I just know that my beast will kill all my enemies and escape, keeping me alive to fight on another day. I have been killing Hunters and their helpers for twenty years now, and my death tool is enormous. They always come at me when I am Human, and they all freeze when I turn before their eyes.”

“I have no idea if I ever killed a Hunter, I always pass out during the change. As for contacting other Werewolves, I am not sure if they will answer or if they will agree to meet me. Talking about calls, I need to make a quick one to tell my friend where I am before he goes nuts. Put some clothes on, I don’t like that much to see a naked man!”

Adrian Gordon got dressed while staring at Nick with a grin, never once looking away. As for Nick, he grabbed the cell phone he brought from Aniya’s hideout and dialled her number, which was at the top of the list.
Aniya was already inside her limousine, with Davis at the wheel, following the car in front of him that had inside Dan Rossi and the two surviving members of the Squad.

She answered the phone and frowned at the name on the screen, which said ‘Extra’. “What’s the matter? Where are you? Yes, I am okay. Those dumbasses that I met today with my father tried to frame me when we went to check the house of a group of Werewolves. You won’t believe what… Okay, we can talk later. Some days? What do you mean, some days? Oh! Okay, I understand. Call me if you need help.”

Aniya put the phone in her purse again and answered the puzzled look of her friend, who was seated at her side. “Nick is with that Werewolf that escaped. He is going to find out more and will call me back later, but he might take a few days to return. He sounded calm, but I could hear his heartbeat. He was nervous. I hope he doesn’t do anything foolish!”

“You are one to talk! You joined a Squad of crazy Hunters and almost got yourself killed! I told you this was a bad idea, but did you listen? No! Because you are stubborn and stupid, and-“

Aniya placed her right index finger on her friend’s lips to silence her and grinned. “If I remember correctly, you liked the idea of going with me. You even met the nephew of one of your employees, and you now know someone is working for your parents, who is a spy for the Hunters. It’s just a pity that you knocked her out before asking who her aunt is.”

“I don’t need her to tell me. I know who her aunt is. She resembles her a lot. I am more curious about one thing. Why did Davis seem so relaxed when he saw the Werewolves? He is a Hunter as well?”

As if answering her question, the privacy smoked window went down, and Davis looked at her from the rearview mirror, behind his reflective shades. His voice sounded gentle, and Lisa felt her heart melting. “I was never a Hunter. I have never seen a Werewolf for the past sixteen years. You already noticed, don’t you, Miss Aniya? Do your parents know you are one?”

“No, they don’t know, and I am also very curious about why my father never found out you are one as well. How did you manage to endure the smell of the wolf’s bane that Lisa still has behind her ear?”

Davis pointed to one nostril. “Because I have my nose blocked with filters that I change every day. My work hours end at dinner time, and I always arrive at my hideout and to lock myself in every full moon.”

Lisa kept on staring at the rearview mirror, and she spoke in a trembling voice, “You… are one Werewolf… for real?”

“Yes, my dear Lisa. And ever since I met you, I have felt the bond that connects us, and I am sorry if I never hinted I feel about you, but I couldn’t. I made a promise almost twenty-three years ago to a dear friend, my Alpha. I couldn’t go against his last request, and I couldn’t get myself distracted with you, and fail that promise.”

“What… was that promise? You… have any idea… how much I suffered from your indifference…?”

Davis glanced at the mirror again and spoke with sadness in his voice. “Almost the same I suffered for not being able to tell you, perhaps. If you allow me, I am going to apologise to the end of my days for that.”

Lisa slowly nodded and questioned him, “What… What was that promise that made both of us suffer so much?”

“I promised my Alpha that I would protect his daughter. Never once, I failed that promise.”

Aniya saw Davis glancing at her, and she gulped, “That’s… not possible… my father is…”

“Dan Rossi is not your father. My Alpha destroyed one of his balls the first time they met. The damage to his groins was so severe that doctors told him it would be a miracle if he could ever have children without medical help. Your mother was my Alpha’s lover. She was unhappy in her marriage and sought companionship in the arms of a blond man she met once in a club. They were together a few times, and things happened. She even considered abandoning your father without knowing what my Alpha was.”

“That can’t be… Why my mother never told me… I would understand…”