Deadlier Than The Male - Exclusive for Steemit - Back to the Present day for the Wolves

michelle.gent (74)in #story • 8 years ago

An old friend, a deadly enemy, a new threat? You can make up your own mind which is which and what is what by reading the whole story. Links at the bottom of this post.

The lights came up everywhere including the VIP Lounge. Darius let go of Red’s hand as Anna and Luke finished dancing. As they walked back to the booth, a cheesy, bouncy disco number came on and Red grimaced at it.

“What the hell are they playing?” She said.

“That’s usual; they play this crap to encourage the punters to fuck off home.” Anna said.

Red didn’t miss the furious glare Darius threw at Anna as she realised what she’d said.

“Oops, swearing.” Anna said, putting her fingertips to her mouth.

“Right, are we going, Luke?” Red stood.

“We’ve been invited back to Darius’s place for an after-hours party.”

Red and Darius answered at the same time:

“Have we?” and “Have you?”

“Oh, ok.” Luke said, “Time to go then.”

Red kissed Darius on the cheek and he grabbed her shoulders and tried to make more of it, but she offered her cheek instead of her mouth and he allowed it to pass. Anna was not so subtle, she grabbed Luke’s face and kissed him full on and he allowed her to kiss him until she tried to force her tongue into his mouth and he jerked back. Then he shook Darius’s hand and said: “You’ve got my ‘phone number, we’ll do this again soon.”

As they walked outside, someone shouted to Red and she stopped to talk with a group of guys who had always chatted to her when she worked there.

“Hiya Red, is it your night off then?” One said.

“No, I’ve finished working here, I’m just too busy these days and I like a night out, so I can’t fit it all in.” She unlocked the car using the remote for once and winced as her sensitive hearing picked up the high frequency; Luke winced also and glared at her. The guys noticed the car and another asked; “Is that yours? Bloody hell, they pay well here. No wonder the drinks are so expensive if they have to keep Bouncers in cars like that!”

“It was a present if you must know.” Red laughed.

“From a rich admirer no doubt and no wonder if that’s what you were wearing when you met him.” That was the first compliment she had had all night and she realised Luke wasn’t paying her much attention again this evening; his mind was elsewhere.

She said goodnight to the guys and got in the car. Luke asked who the guys were and she told him they were punters of the club. Their conversation was light and playful as they drove home and Luke asked: “You’ll not be jealous later will you? I mean if I happen to call out ‘Anna’ at a critical moment?”

“Of course not, especially if you’ll not be jealous if I call out ‘Darius’.” Then she looked at his face, it had grown angry. “Woah! I touched a nerve there didn’t I?”

“Yeah well I was joking!”

“And so was I!” She said, matching his anger. “You don’t really think I’d fantasise about the Wolf that raped me and then tried to rape and kill me do you, even if he was flirting with me all evening.”

“Was he? I didn’t notice.” Luke said, shocked.

“Well you wouldn’t, you’ve not noticed anything about me all night. You’ve had your mind on someone six feet tall and blonde.”

They travelled the rest of the way home in silence, Luke sulking and Red ignoring his sulk. Red fed Rom and took him for a walk without asking Luke if he wanted to join her. He went straight up to bed. When Red got back from the walk, he was asleep, or pretending to be so Red left him to it. If he wanted to be a moody git, that was fine with her.

The following morning, Luke woke up to find Red had already got up. He was just contemplating getting up when he heard her coming up the stairs; he glanced at his watch and feigned sleep. Red opened the bedroom door with her foot and put a cup of tea on the table at his side of the bed. Then she walked back around and sat on her side.

“If you don’t stop pretending to be asleep, I’ll tip that tea on you.” She said, sipping her coffee.

“How did you know?” He said, smiling.

“Easy, because you’ve moved. You hardly move in your sleep and you’re not in the same position as when I went down to make the drinks. Right, listen.”

Red went over everything she had talked about with Anna the previous night.

“The Lycaeon is male, or so she thinks. Who has Darius set up for that I wonder? And, Darius is ‘Alpha Male’. He’s older and stronger than any other Wolf, apart from Lycaeon.”

“Is he FUCK!” Luke said.

“I know, Oscar for one is older and I suppose stronger. What happens to his ‘Alpha Male’ theory if he encounters a female stronger?”

“Like you? Don’t go for that Red, one or even both of you will end up dead. And you don’t know if he’s been getting any boost from the glands. Did you hear him talking to his pet dealer, on about Adren, Pit and Roid?”

“Not much imagination required to figure out they’re talking about Adrenalin, Pituitary and Thyroid is it?” She said.

“No but I think he realised that we’d heard because he was trying to explain that they were all his brand names for the different drugs that he manufactures.”

“Bullshit.”

“Yeah I know, but that’s what he said and I think he thinks I believe him.”

“What happened to the woman’s body? I was in the toilets when it was disposed of.” Red asked.

“Two males came and took it, no questions.”

“They were young males, whelps?”

“Yeah, and that’s not right Red. Wolves so young shouldn’t be cleaning up the mess made by older Wolves, they’re not slaves. They should be mentored in their early stages.”

“You’ve learned a lot since you were teaching me.”

“Yes I have. I told Steve that I’m ashamed of how we treated you. I wasn’t lying.”

“I know.”

“I want to make it up to you Red, let me.” Luke scooted across the bed and put his arm around her waist.

“You can’t make it up to me just with sex you know. We’ve got work to do, well at least I have.”

“Not even just a quickie? I’ve got something for you.” Luke said as he leaned back and pulled down the bedclothes, exposing his erection.

“If you go to the toilet that will disappear, it’s only Morning Glory.” Red said.

“Not all of it is.” Luke protested.

Red shook her head in mock despair.

“No, work first; play later, if you’re good.”

Luke got up and went to the bathroom; he talked as he went and had to raise his voice as he urinated.

“So what do we do about all of this?”

“Anna is the link, or at least she’ll help, whether she knows she will or not. I haven’t let on that all Darius’s doctrine is bullshit. I’ve told her I must have missed some lessons and asked if she’d help educate me.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind seeing you two one on one, ‘educating’ each other.” Luke leered as he came back to the bedroom.

Red slapped his rear as he went past.

“We were very rude last night when I made the kill.”

“We were? But you were offered the kill; and you returned it to Darius right after. He let me take it then.”

“We took the glands.”

“So?”

“They’re always saved for the Alpha Male.”

“Since when?”

“Since Darius said so, by the looks of things.”

A week after meeting with Darius in town, it was coming up to full moon, Luke wandered into their bedroom, holding the book.

“I’d forgotten about Elizabeth and everything that happened with Nichasin and Stephan.” He said.

Red froze at the mention of Stephan’s name, but recovered her composure swift enough so as not to be noticed by Luke.

“I’m going out alone tomorrow night. If you want, you can shadow me, but if anyone sees you, you go home, OK?” Red said.

Luke put the book down and started getting undressed. “Won’t it look odd you going out alone? Even to me it looks like you’re arranging a set-up.”

“I’m meeting Anna in town, so no doubt Darius will know every last detail, so he’ll not be suspicious.”

“You’re not going! It’s not safe!”

“I’m sorry, I must have misheard you. I could have sworn you just forbade me to go out?”

Luke’s shoulders sagged a little. “I know, it’s ridiculous, but I really don’t want you hurt, or worse, killed.”

“Me too, but just out of curiosity, how long is it since you saw me have to fight for my life?”

“Er, the last time was centuries ago, but I still remember your last confrontation with Darius – the charmer, you ended up second place and if it hadn’t been for Oscar’s intervention, you’d have been raped and dead and not necessarily in that order.”

“And since then?”

“Well, nothing recent, and I know you’ll have gotten stronger, but so will he and plus, if he’s taking extra glands...” Luke left his fears unspoken.

“True again, but what you don’t know is how much I’ve progressed. The Prophecy is still running; did you know that?”

“Well, yeah, but what difference does that make?”

“Fucking hell Luke, don’t you read our history? Not even the bits you’re directly involved in?”

“Well, no.” He replied in a small voice.

Red sighed and sat down. “The Prophesised She-Wolf Wolfed on Feralia, etc.”

“Yes, I’ve got that.” Luke said, sitting on the bed next to his wife.

“Wolfed to be Leader over the Sentinels – hunter of what is considered diseased, malformed or ‘Not Wolf’ – Throwbacks in other words.”

“Yep, still with you.” Luke said, encouraging her. He turned to face her, concentrating.

“The longer I manage to survive – because, you’ve guessed the mentioned Leader over all Sentinels is me, right?” She waited for the nod from Luke and continued, “Well, the longer I am alive, the more my strength is increased, but that’s not all of it. Some powers that only Ancients have – instantaneous metamorphosis for example, I had that within a decade. I can pick up languages within a few spoken sentences – another Ancient’s skill. Sensing and Cloaking skills are almost perfected, surpassing usual Imp abilities – even an Ancient Imp, although, Pure Wolves can still detect me for some reason, but no matter. Other skills are still coming to the fore, but as yet, I either haven’t figured out how to use them or they’ll appear in times of need. The main detail here, Luke, is that I am better prepared, than I ever was. I am far and away more powerful than you can imagine.”

“Can you control the minds of beasts yet?” Luke asked.

“No, I didn’t know about that. How do you know about it?”

“I was making it up.” Luke grinned as Red slapped his bare arm.

“Anyway, I can take care of myself, but if it makes you feel any better, feel free to keep an eye on us - me.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that, but be careful.”