Cruel and Unusual - serialised novel EXCLUSIVE to Steemit Part 7

michelle.gent (74)in #story • 7 years ago (edited)

Exclusive for Steemit - serialisation of Cruel and Unusual – my second novel

Episodes:
1

I recommend you read the previous 6 instalments as the story is getting complex now. The true, harsh and sometimes cruel nature of Wolf society becomes apparent in this next excerpt.

Though this was written deliberately as a Stand-alone novel, the storyline runs alongside my first – Deadlier Than The Male – and my readers are reminded of some of the rules and regulations that are enforced by Sentinels.

All caught up? Are you sure? Come on then, back into the dark world of my Wolves and the rules they live, die and kill by.

Then Amelia walked on into the village to the inn where David stayed when he visited. He rose early as a rule, but with luck, he would still be around.

The inn was bustling with activity. People were hefting boxes and rolling barrels across the yard. Amelia went through the open back door and spoke to the landlord.

David was still in his room and the landlord allowed Amelia up to see him, thinking nothing amiss - they were well known as brother and sister.

Amelia sat in the large chair by the window as David lounged in his bed. He listened while she told him about the morning’s events. David was not concerned.

“Perhaps he is just being uncharacteristically naughty for a change,” he dismissed Amelia’s worries in an offhanded manner.

“Of course he is being uncharacteristically naughty! That is why I am here; it is like you brought back a different little boy! What happened yesterday?”

David told Amelia everything, including the incident with the pick-pocket.

“Then why is he suddenly so obsessed with wolves?” she asked, bewildered.

“Well there is the obvious reason, darling,” he grew his teeth long and sharp and retracted them in the same instant.

“Did you show him that?” Amelia almost shrieked.

David threw back the covers and got off the bed to crouch down beside her, his arms around her shoulders.

“Of course not, stop being hysterical. I would not show him, not until he is old enough - just as we agreed. Even then it would only be to reassure him before I made him full Wolf.”

“David, you must help me. I am so lonely in the house. I have taken to Florence and Mrs. Flint far more than I should. I am beginning to talk more and more to Mrs. Flint, in an almost mother and daughter way. She is especially supportive.”

“Well you must not. It is not safe for you to become friendly with your staff.”

“David, can you not help us now, instead of waiting…”

“Amelia darling, we have been over this. I will never make you Wolf,” he paused to listen for anyone eavesdropping. “It is not allowed. If I made you Wolf…” he continued almost at a whisper “I would not be allowed to let Jack live. If anyone found out about him now, I would be given the choice of killing him myself or allowing another to kill him.”

“Please don’t say that! I cannot bear the thought of it. He is my baby!”

“He is my baby too Amelia. Never think that I am not as attached to him as you are. He is my beautiful son. I would kill to protect him, you know that, but there are others who would kill us all for suffering a Throwback to live.”

“And yet if you made him full Wolf now, he would be safe.”

“I think he would be safe. There is an Irish Wolf by the name of Niall who was once Throwback. He was made full Wolf. He is on the council of elders now and it is no secret that he was born Throwback, but he is the only one that I have heard of that has made the transition - successfully.”

The ominous warning seemed to have been lost on Amelia, she continued on the same tack.

“Well then, make him a full Wolf now and we can stop living this falsehood - this charade of me being a widow with adequate wealth and security. Do you know how many gentleman callers I have, sending their cards and invitations to my house?” Amelia folded her hands over each other in her lap, distressed to distraction.

She looked up at her secret husband. “I am rapidly running out of excuses to not attend parties and functions. The women are all fancying themselves as matchmakers for their brothers and sons. One woman had the gall to offer her son, brother and widowed father to me, although she was not as indelicate as to offer them all upon the same occasion. I am thoroughly scandalised! I walk through the village in fear of talking to anyone, just in case they have a suitor lined up.”

David shook his head. “I cannot possibly make Jack Wolf whilst he is so young. It is not an experience I would wish a child to go through. It is not exactly an experience I relish the thought of you going through, if truth be told. I have seen it happen. It is violent and terrifying, even for Wolves. Hume adults are scared witless when they see it, even if they have been forewarned. You would not be able to bear to watch Jack go through it, even if he were a strong adult. It would kill you to see him go through it as a child and I cannot imagine that you would allow it to happen without your presence.”

“One other factor, a rather more deciding factor if I am honest,” he said. “I am not entirely sure that we are allowed to turn children to Wolf. I do not know what would happen to him, for you see, Wolves that are born, never change until puberty and so even if Jack had been born, he would not be able to change at the full moon for a number of years yet. We must be patient.”

“But I want to live with you. We are married. My family know you as my husband. They would know Jack as our son.”

David nodded as she spoke, to show that he understood. Then he said, “If we went back to our home town and I introduced you to my family, they would see you as a mere Hume. If they did accept that I wanted you as my wife in every aspect, not just as a pastime or a whim that I would soon become bored with, you would be treated with suspicion and in all probability, until you were turned, you would be looked upon with disdain.”

He continued in a quiet tone. “My family are born Wolf and it was always expected that I would choose a wife from a family of the same stature in our society.” He paused and moved her away from him in order to look at her and try to work out if she followed what he was telling her.

“You would be given two different choices. You would first be asked if you wish to be made Wolf. I already know your decision and so that choice would be easy. The second choice would be so much more difficult. You would be asked if you wish Jack’s parents to kill him or if you would wish a Sentinel to perform the execution on your behalf. Jack would not be allowed to continue living. There could be no debate, no plea or appeal. He would be put to death, by me or by a stranger.”

Amelia started crying, to her credit, her tears were silent and could be mopped away by her handkerchief. David hugged her close to him once more.

“Please stop,” she said.

“No Amelia, you need to know the full extent of this.”

“But I know of other Wolves in your family and pack that have married humans. How are they different?”

“It is only under exceptional circumstances that a human woman becomes pregnant by a Wolf. It is even more rare that a Wolf becomes pregnant by a male human. I suspect that is because few females take human males as their lovers or husbands. But this is why we had to flee as soon as I sensed you were with child. If you had been near any other Wolves, they would have sensed it too and we would have been hunted, tracked, followed until you gave birth - if indeed you had survived till then. By rights, I should have killed him the very day he was born, but I could not. He was so beautiful and I loved him immediately and I saw that you did too. I could not bear to kill him, to destroy our baby. I could not bring that to your door, I could not risk that you would hate me - for you would have.”