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Turning away, I sit up on the cot, offering it my back as I scrub at my face and try to grasp onto the tendrils of my dream, but like smoke, they slip through my fingers until I’m left frustrated and angry.
I ignore the others as I get to my feet and storm into the bathroom.
Slamming the door, I quickly strip and crank on the old, rusty shower in the employees’ changing room. I step into the off-white stall and under the freezing water, letting it wash away my dreams and worries.
I scrub at my body until I feel clean, and then I grab a towel and dry off as I head to the sinks.
Wiping the condensation from the mirror, I finish towelling off my head and then wrap it around my waist before meeting my own eyes in my reflection. They flare with anger, my jaw is clenched, and the veins in my neck bulge. I blame that wolf. She’s too close, so of course I’m going to be on edge with an enemy watching me sleep, but if I hadn’t, she would have known I was worried she could get out and kill us. No, I need to show my power and restraint, and luckily, years of forcing myself to sleep in strange places helped, so I was able to nod off.
The wet, off-coloured gauze catches my eye, and I cover it for a moment, remembering the sharp pain of her claws. She wasn’t even trying then, so I can only imagine what she is capable of if she is.
Lifting the gauze, I peek at the wound in the mirror, frowning to see it’s not healing at all. What did that nasty she-wolf do to me?
Ignoring the slight pain as it tugs at my skin as I remove the bandage, I quickly wash and redress the wound with the kit we keep in here. After enough hunts, you learn to keep them everywhere.
In nothing but the towel, I head back to the cots and tug out my green khaki duffle bag. Ignoring the eyes I feel watching me, I turn my back, drop the towel, and tug on my dark-grey utility trousers and a black shirt. I add my socks and boots before slipping the wire, wolfsbane, and grenades into my pockets, and then I strap on my knife and gun.
When I’m finished, I look up.
The wolf is sitting in the middle of the cage, watching me, as if she knows what will happen when I’m done. For a moment, familiar brown eyes fill my vision before I turn away and finish securing my holster and head over to the tables we set up.
Lucien is munching on toast, and he hands me a mug as he eats.
Sitting down next to him, I lay my legs across the other chair, sipping the weak coffee as I eye the wolf. “Any issues?” He took over watch early this morning from Jai since we can’t trust him. I should have known better than to leave him, but we needed sleep, and I thought putting some fear into the wolf would help.
“None. It has not even moved. She’s been awake nearly the whole night. Jai is out for a run since you told him to blow off steam.”
My head jerks to him. His hand fists his toast so hard, it snaps, and his eyes are downcast. “It’s a monster, remember that.”
“I do,” he retorts, “but he shouldn’t play with them like that. We are hunters, not psychopaths.”
“We need answers,” I remind him.
“But he wasn’t looking for answers. He was looking for fun,” Lucien retorts as he stands, dusting off his hands. “Come on, let’s get this over with now that you’re awake. The longer the wolf is here, the longer we are in danger from her pack.”
That’s exactly what I said to Jai yesterday. I didn’t tell our commander we caught a pack wolf, just a few ferals and that wewere on the right track. He was so happy, he didn’t even question why we had to hurry back. I want this win all on our own, so I’ll call them in once I’m sure of the location. We’ll need all the hunters to take the pack down. I’m not dumb enough to go after them with just us three, but I want to be sure.
We cannot afford to fail again.
Taking my mug with me, I follow him to the cage, seeing the marks on the floor from Jai’s knives. Leaning back into the table, I sip my coffee as I watch the wolf. I could inject her and force her to change, but there is no guarantee she will talk, and she would definitely die.
No, we need a different approach for now. She’s the closest lead we have, our best and only lead, and we need her alive.
“If you help us out and tell us what we want to know, we will give you a fair chance,” I begin, trying for a friendly approach. “We’ll let you go, give you a head start. A fair chance at surviving.”
She blinks and just watches me.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either you die in there like an animal or outside there with us hunting you. Your choice.” I sip my coffee as I wait.
Her mouth gapes in an excessive yawn, flashing her long fangs, and then with a grin, she brings her paw up in what I can only describe as a wolf middle finger. “The hard way it is then.” I sigh, pushing off the table.
No matter how much I hate monsters and want to rid the world of them so they cannot hurt innocents, I do not enjoy torture. I am not like Jai. I enjoy their deaths, not their pain. Not anymore. I did once, when I was young and new, wanting revenge. Now, I just want to keep what’s left of my family safe.
I made a mistake with a monster once, offering them mercy, and it cost me everything. I won’t make that mistake again.
Female or not.
Pushing from the table, I place my mug down deliberately before unsheathing my knife and holding it up to the air. “You know what this is, I take it?” I don’t bother looking at her or waiting for a response. I simply carry on. “It is a blade blessed by sunlight, and the metal itself is made with a mix of wolfsbane and pixie steel. The wolfsbane will infect each cut like a poison, stopping it from closing and causing agony as it works through your blood. Eventually, you will be unable to turn at all. The pixie steel cuts deeper than any blade.” I look at the wolf. “Let’s begin, shall we?”
