Wolf Of The Future

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Wolf Of The Future - book excerpt

Preface

Werewolves are real. That is the first thing you need to know. They don't age after reaching adulthood, they heal quickly, and they don't get sick. But they can be killed. Members of the Kind live everywhere, part of society, hidden in all professions. They don’t turn during the full moon or go around killing innocents at night. Well, at least most don't. Not since the founding of the Werewolf Council centuries ago.

Werewolves can be made or born. All wolves share a telepathic ability to communicate. Natural borns are usually more powerful, many exhibiting miraculous abilities such as healing and telekinesis, and there is one bloodline that far surpasses most others in nearly every way. An old line, tracing its lineage back over a thousand years, it was torn apart by the jealousy and rivalry of two brothers, Richard and Artemis. Artemis attacked Richard and his family on their private plane, causing it to crash. Richard’s three year old daughter, Nicole, was recovered and hidden in a human foster family. Richard and his wife, Caroline, were never found.

Nicole grew up ignorant of her past. The wolf inside her remained dormant, unneeded and her abilities uncultivated. She became friends with another young orphan, Meghan, and the two grew close, bonded together by childhood tragedies. Then, tragedy struck again. Nicole’s adoptive parents died in a car accident that was no accident. David Coverton and Mark Stevenson, close friends of Nicole’s father Richard, came forward to protect her. But David never expected that he would develop romantic feelings for Nicole along the way. And Nicole never expected the wolf spirit she discovered living inside her, awoken by her need for protection and exposure to others of the Kind. After coming to terms with her own changes and her past, she faced her adoptive parents' killer and then her uncle, after learning of his role in her birth parents' deaths. Artemis was taken away by the Council, and they all settled in to their new lives.

But the story didn’t end there. A mysterious stranger by the name of Durante, who’d been working behind the scenes and manipulated Artemis into attacking his brother, wasn’t done with the family. He released Artemis from the Council and turned his attention to Meghan, revealing she was Artemis’ daughter and Nicole’s cousin. As a serial killer threatened their small town, attacking one friend and abducting another. Meghan and Mark fought against Durant’s influence. The dark man, who never reveals his true form to anyone and is a master of manipulation. He can hide his appearance and twist people's minds to his liking.

Eventually, Meghan's friendship with Nicole and her feelings for Mark are enough to help her break the manipulation of Durante. Their friend Susan was rescued from her captor, learning of their shape-shifting secret in the process, and their other friend, Katie, was left to recover from her injuries in the hospital, where Durante learned she wasn’t a normal human. Unlike all other humans and werewolves, Katie possesses the ability to see through his illusions. Unknown to all her friends, she knows what they are.

And so that leaves Mara. Ancient and mysterious, few know much about her. She has always been a friend to Nicole's family, and helps whenever she can. More powerful than others of the Kind, she can avoid detection from the Council and can mimic nearly any ability she sees others use. Despite her powers, even she cannot identify Durante. She keeps herself isolated most of the time, bothered by frequent contact with people, and became unnerved when Meghan started to experience visions regarding Mara's past. A deeply private woman, she was surprised to find herself developing feelings for Nicole's adoptive brother, Billy. Just when she’s considering closing her store and moving on to a fresh start, Billy returned to Smithsdale and changes all of her plans.

Prologue

The battle was fierce, blood and the dying strewn about. Tears fell down her cheeks but she didn’t try to wipe them away. Across the expansive mead hall, Dante – the man they called a monster – fought for survival, for vengeance, for anger. She yelled for him to stop, but it did little good and only aroused suspicious glances from those nearby. He paid her no mind, lost in the blood lust. She watched in horror as he realized her betrayal, his eyes meeting hers for one heart wrenching moment before cold metal met his flesh. Unable to look away, she could only watch as he barely managed to escape with his life, a trail of blood and a severed limb all he left behind. The men cheered. She cried.

Mara woke, the tears and pain from her dream still with her. She felt as desolate now as she had on that night so many years ago. Clutching the sheets, she surveyed her sparsely decorated bedroom. All was quiet, yet she could still hear ther screams of the dying. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Mara’s feet rested on the floor, but she didn’t stand. Her legs were rubbery and her stomach lurched, sending a wave of nausea through her limbs. Despite these discomforts, her mind very much remained in the dream and the events which took place and culminated in that terrible night.

At the time, she’d thought there was no choice but to betray Dante. He wouldn’t be reasoned with, and lives were at stake. Although it had been a painful decision, the choice had seemed clear. Now, she wasn’t so certain. What if there had been another way? She’d thought anything was worth saving those lives, but if there was one thing she’d learned over the course of her long life, it was that the ends didn’t always justify the means. She couldn’t accomplish good by doing evil, not without taking that evil into herself. She couldn’t come away clean and guilt free. But he had been a killer, she reminded herself.

At the time though, few weren't. It wasn't like modern times, people hadn’t sought justice through the law, but through the sword. Vengeance had been common and encouraged, respected even. In fact, more people would have understood and supported Dante’s motives more so than hers. In many cases, betrayal was the bigger crime. If she had done it to protect her child or a parent, it would be different, but those people had been of no blood relation to her. Conventional wisdom would have been to leave and let him fulfill his deadly agenda.

And there was the method of her betrayal. She hadn’t met him equally on the field of battle, challenging him through combat to drive home her point. She’d cowered like the woman she was, too afraid to be the hand which took his life. That would at least have been honorable. No, she’d passed that gruesome task on to the first able-bodied warrior who would accept it. If she’d truly believed herself to be a protector to those people, fulfilling the will of the Goddess by taking his life and ending the attacks, she should have completed the deed herself.

Mara stood and walked across to the dresser, pulling on her robe. She stalked through the apartment, searching for something to distract her restless mind. She was too wound up to go back to sleep, and she didn’t feel like going outside and enjoying the open sky and empty forests of the countryside. If she had a confidante, she would call them, but there was no one she confided to nowadays. In all honesty, there never had been. Turning on the computer, she waited for it to boot up and settled back in the chair, her mind returning to the dream.

She’d wondered why she would dream of these things now, but the answer was clear. Meghan's visions had been the catalyst for bringing Mara’s thoughts back to her past. The girl – innocent and new to her powers – was somehow important in all of this. She didn’t seek out knowledge of Mara or her past, and yet the visions came, revealing secrets Mara had tried hard to keep. The real question was why this child had been gifted with this knowledge. Why would the Goddess choose to reveal these things to Meghan in the first place? Could it be a warning that Mara should retreat into the shadows again? She’d become complacent, developing friendships and affections for people. Maybe over a thousand years of solitude hadn’t been enough penance.

Honestly, she’d tried to stay away from everyone, but somehow, she couldn’t rid herself of an attachment to Meghan and Nicole's family. They were only the most recent generation in a family line Mara held great regard for. Centuries earlier, she’d met their grandfather, Ari, while he was organizing the Council to monitor and police dangerous werewolves and reduce the risk of exposure for the Kind, as they called themselves. Ari had taken an instant liking to Mara, welcoming her into his family with open arms. But their friendship had created difficulties between Ari and some of the other council members, who didn’t much care for Mara. So she’d left, traveling the world until fate once again brought her into contact with Ari’s family. She’d crossed paths with Richard, Ari’s youngest son, and once again found herself welcomed into their inner circle.

She’d always held herself back, never letting go of her restraint completely. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to leave their company a second time. Ari died in some war, and his wife gave into her grief shortly afterwards, but Richard had continued to make Mara feel welcome. Eventually, he started his own family; marrying his wife, Caroline, and they had a daughter, Nicole.

Now, even Richard was gone and all that was left was Meghan and Nicole. Mara quickly discovered she felt surprisingly maternal towards the two girls. Nicole was married and expecting her first child, and Meghan was in a serious relationship, but both were new to their powers, in need of guidance and nurturing, and lacking parental figures in their lives. Mara had been drawn to them, just as she had always been drawn to members of their bloodline, and she couldn’t seem to resist the urge to remain nearby.

And now there was Billy Cameron, son of the couple who’d cared for Nicole after Richard’s death. Billy was a college professor, who she’d met at Nicole and David’s wedding a year earlier, and she’d often thought of him since. He was a distraction, but not an unbearable one until recently. Just as she’d considered leaving town for a few decades, Billy had decided to move back into town, complicating everything. The simple truth was she didn’t want to leave now. She looked forward to seeing Billy again and she enjoyed spending time with him. It was all a very bad idea, however. She might allow herself a few friendships, but anything more serious than that was out of the question. It must be why the memories were coming back to her now; to remind her of what must be done. Love wasn’t a luxury she could afford and she needed to remember that.

The computer completed its start-up process, and she logged onto her favorite game. It was an online one, played by people all over the world. It gave Mara the rare opportunity to interact with people, without needing to reveal herself. She checked her friend log and saw a blinking green icon beside the Yellowed Wood name and avatar picture.

A grin played at her lips and she clicked on the name and waited for him to accept her invitation to join up. Following the prompts on the map, she moved her character over to his location and started the mission.

‘Up early?’ The yellow text appeared in the chat window.

‘Couldn't sleep’, she replied. The response popped up beside her character's name, ‘Alarice Nightwatch’. ‘And you?’

‘Roommate out on late date. House too quiet to sleep.’

‘This time of night, I'd say it was an overnight date,’ she responded, having learned several gaming sessions before that they were in the same time zone. Convenient, because it made getting online to play with him much easier.

‘Yeah, I keep telling her they should move in together, but then I guess I’d never sleep again.’

‘True. How did the problem with your work go?’ She typed in between blasting a bad guy off Yellowed Wood’s back and hitting a button to enter the next level of the building.

‘lks/lr jqrpol’ popped up in the chat box, followed quickly by, ‘Sorry, sandwich fell on keyboard.’

‘You're eating at this hour?’ she teased.

‘Roommate,’ he offered, throwing a healing spell on her character and putting up a protection field from energy attacks around them both. ‘She was in such a hurry to leave, she left it sitting out. Can't let food go to waste. :)’

Mara smiled, the battle growing too intense to keep up the conversation for a while. She lost track of all time until sunlight started shining through her window.

‘Another mish?’ he asked, killing the final opponent on the board.

Mara glanced over at the window and begrudgingly admitted she couldn’t keep playing. ‘Sorry, I have to go.’

‘No problem,’ he typed. ‘Tonight?’

Mara watched the cursor blink and thought over how to answer. ‘Roommate have another date?’ she quipped, buying herself time to respond.

‘Lol, probably, but I'll be on either way. Look me up if you log on,’ he offered, letting the question drop. It was one of the main reasons she loved playing with him; he always knew somehow, when to back off when she was feeling pressured.

‘Will do,’ she promised before logging out.

Going back to the bedroom, she changed into something more street-appropriate and headed out. It was nearly time for the shift change at the hospital, so she needed to hurry. She started to run, then reconsidered. Taking a moment to hide her presence from anyone who might be out at this time of the morning, she shifted to the hospital.

Shifting was a new ability she’d acquired, thanks completely to Nicole and Meghan. Nicole had discovered the ability to shift, or teleport people from one location to another when Meghan had been missing, held by Artemis and the dark one. Thus far, Nicole had been unable to replicate the feat, but her description of how she’d achieved it had been enough to allow Mara to learn. After a couple of attempts, she now found the ability quite easy.