DARK ALLIANCE (Scarlett of the wolves #3)

Chapter 1

Elgin

I could hear moving in the thickets, behind the big oak tree. I heard and I smelled it.

I stopped abruptly, stayed crouched on the ground and watched.

Rabbits are fools. It was the tenth time I had hunted at this exact spot, but they kept coming here to munch on berries.

Too bad for the one who would hang around, he would suffer the same fate as the others!

Sitting on my hind legs, I slowly assumed the sphinx position and lowered my spine until my neck touched the ground. Ears lowered, senses alert, I waited, motionless, for my feast to appear.

The animal wasn’t far away, I could hear the crunching of its nibbling teeth.

The rabbit stopped chewing; he was suspicious.

I didn’t move a millimetre; I would make him forget the danger.

I waited a few more seconds until he started eating again. He stopped to come a little closer and I saw him. He was fat. His tail wagged, unaware that I was watching him and that he was going to die soon. Without taking my eyes off him, I took a few steps forward and stopped again.

The rabbit got up on its hind legs and began to clean its muzzle.

As cute as he was, I would eat him.

Without seeing me, he walked around the oak tree. He was only two meters away, but it wasn’t yet the time.

We mustn’t believe that the task is so easy. If the rabbit isn’t smart, he’s quick. This one could get away in less than two seconds and leave me hungry.

I was still waiting.

I could smell its woody scent: a mixture of moss and mushrooms. Their meat was much less tasty than deer or doe, but deer were scarce around here. I had only seen one once.

I took two more steps, but this time, I couldn’t crouch anymore, the rabbit had spotted me. Quickly—and because I only had one chance—I threw myself on him and grabbed him by the throat. I didn’t let him suffer and killed him instantly.

The quarry was far too thin, just four pounds. An honourable weight for a wild rabbit, but it would sustain me for barely a handful of hours. And the night was going to be long, very long… Like all the others since I have been here. No wolf should live in an area as small as this. I had been living for about seven weeks in barely thirty acres of undergrowth. You go through it quickly and there isn’t enough to eat. Space was way too tight for a wolf of my size.

I had never spent so much time in my wolf skin. I had become a wild animal and only my human thoughts related to the reality of my life. But I knew very well what I was doing. Being an animal allowed me to avoid my responsibilities. I let myself live… or die—die from within.

Scarlett… Thinking of her was making me sick. I would never find her again; I had lost her. Scarlett was a damn dark angel!

However, I didn’t resign myself to leaving her. I knew she was there, in that big Victorian house less than a mile from me. I could almost smell her, inhale her sweet, flowery scent. But I was dreaming, a dark angel smells of death, an infamous and sickening odour.

“You don’t have the right! You promised! No!”

Her scream never left me. I fell asleep with it and I woke up with it...

The first two weeks after her transformation, I had run around this tiny undergrowth without ever stopping. I had run until I was dead tired, whole days and nights, to forget... Then I gave up. I had accepted the torture of constantly imagining her as I had known her and not as the monster she had become. She haunted me. Nothing and no one could have made up for the lack of her presence. Not even the too few animals that crossed my path. I thought, looking at the carcass of the rabbit I had just eaten.

I didn’t bother to lick the blood off my coat, there was a river not far away, I would bathe there.

I rushed forward and crossed the road that cut the wood in two. The stream was behind a thicket.

I could only go there at night as a lot of hikers passed by. The first time, I had almost been surprised, I hadn’t paid attention to the presence of the two humans who frolicked, lovingly buried in the tall grass, at the edge of the wood. The woman had noticed me, while her companion explained to her that there was a lot of deer here. As if he knew what he was talking about!

Since then, I only came to the riverside during twilight or later, when it was dark.

I slowly entered the water, enjoying its coolness. I lay down and rolled onto my back to rub against the stones.

Being in the skin of a wolf has its drawbacks, especially when you live in the forest and it isn’t cold. My fur kept me too warm, it suffocated me, and I was attacked by parasites of all kinds: fleas, ticks and the like. It was unbearable. I spent my time scratching myself and leaving tufts of hair behind me.

I leaned over the water and caught a glimpse of my reflection despite the twilight. I growled. During my transformation, when it came to hunting for Scarlett, I lost the woman/wolf pendant she gave me. When I returned, too horrified by the sight of Scarlett feeding on the animal’s blood, I forgot to get it. I didn’t have anything left of her...

“Come on, the river is over here!” cried a female voice.

More hikers. It’s almost dark, damn it! Aren’t they going to bed!

I got out of the water, shaking myself hard and ran into the undergrowth before being spotted.

I was still hungry, but no longer wanted to hunt.

I decided to take refuge where I took shelter during the long hours when I wasn’t hunting. I had succeeded in creating a small corner where I was sheltered, between large rocks surrounded by brambles that protruded into the forest.

I came to the hedge of wild mulberry trees. I used my momentum to jump over and land on the rocks. I slipped into the large gap that separated them and settled myself in a ball on my makeshift bed: a carpet of leaves and twigs.

With my head on my front paws, I tried to rest. But I was thinking too much, endlessly, my mind was racing in a perpetual marathon. When was all this going to calm down?

I began to count in my head to think of something other than Scarlett. One two three four…

A wolf who counts sheep… I would have laughed if I could!

I was about to fall asleep when I felt an unbearable tingling on the hindquarters. I snarled, turned violently, and dug my teeth into my fur to scratch myself. Damn critters!

“It itches?”

God damn it!

Jamie threw the light from his flashlight right in my face. I narrowed my eyes, bewildered.

How did he find me? I must have been pretty darn tired not to have smelled or heard him.

“Don’t look so surprised, old brother. I’m a wolf, after all. I know how to be discreet.”

And he also read my thoughts!

“You invite me into your den?”

I nodded to him. He got down and crouched in front of me.

“It’s starting to take a long time. You’ve been missing for almost two months. Do you think this will last much longer?”

I looked at him, my mood black. I was happy to be in my wolf form, so I didn’t have to answer him!

“It took me a long time to find out where you were. I was sure I would find you like this. (He sighed.) I think I understand how you feel, but you have to get back up!”

Jamie stared at me and added firmly:

“Shake yourself, old man, and get out of this funk!”

I stood up and nodded my head towards him with a threatening growl.

Who was he to tell me what to do? A friend? Maybe, but at the time, I didn’t give a damn. It’s empty talk!

“Woah, calm down,” he cried, laughing. “Don’t force me to transform, I didn’t take a change of clothes!”

He smiles, shaking his head.

“Look at this,” he said, grabbing a large tuft of my hair. “You’re disgusting with the stink of an old jackal! How long has it been since you took a bath?”

I took one less than an hour ago, moron!

“You’ve lost weight, Sutherland.”

No kidding?

Jamie removed the large backpack he was carrying and opened the straps before rummaging inside.

It smelled damn good! Raw meat!

He took out a plastic bag which he tore and handed me a gigantic leg of lamb. I grabbed it bluntly and devoured it in just five minutes. My friend chuckled.

“You could have found a better place than this for your solitary retreat. There isn’t a thing to eat here!”

I licked my paws to clean my muzzle and gave him a grateful look.

“Well, how about we talk seriously? How long are you going to stay here? Don’t you think it’s gone on long enough? What do you get being here? Does it help you solve your problems?”

He stepped back to make room for me and waited a moment. He probably thought I was going to take human form to answer him. But I stayed still. He frowned.

“It would still be better if you transformed, right? A monologue won’t get us very far. (He chuckles.) What? Have you become modest? Do you want me to hide my eyes?”

I growled and pretended to ignore him. He didn’t move a bit, but let out another burst of laughter.

Damn it!

I got up and leapt out of the den. My friend followed.

We walked in silence for several minutes towards the clearing bordering the river. The hikers had been gone for quite a while now.

“You have responsibilities, Elgin.”

In response, I flexed my paws and sprang forward. I heard him suppress a curse.

I stopped at the edge of a field; Jamie joined me a few seconds later.

“If you weren’t a real friend, I would stick one on you without hesitation!”

I was about to walk away again, but he grabbed me by the tail. I turned sharply on him, showing my fangs.

“Hey! Are you going to be calm or do I have to keep you on a leash? I’m not forcing you to answer me, but listen to me, at least!”

Resigned, I sat down on my hind legs and waited for him to speak. Jamie crouched down beside me.

“I’m not going to do blah-blah with you. I’m sorry for Scarlett, for both of you. If I could do anything to help you I would, but there’s nothing you can do, right?” he insisted to make sure I had grasped this situation of no return.

I lowered my back to nod.

“Scarlett is… was your soul mate, but before her, you had a life, and that life still exists. Things must resume their course, Elgin. You cannot ignore everything that’s going on around you. Others need you and await your return.”

Who? Who could be waiting for my return? My family, the pack? I didn’t give a damn!

To support my thoughts that he couldn’t hear, I turned my back on him.

“But what a mule head you are! Sutherland! You’re an alpha. Do you know what that means? Alpha wolves don’t live alone, they need a pack to exist.”

What if I don’t want to exist anymore? What do gain by being an alpha wolf? What more will I get from having a pack? A protective crust to hide the evil that is eating away at me? Forget it, boy, I’m not a good actor!

“Elgin… I don’t know what will happen to Scarlett, but I imagine that if she is able, she will be part of the Circle and join the university at the start of the school year. What are you going to do? Stay here all your life? Where will that get you? You have a future, a family… And it is to you that I entrusted the pack.

Well, find someone else!

“If I chose you, it’s because you have temperance. You are thoughtful and wise. Don’t disappoint the pack, they need you. They expect you to come back in the fall. The pack has had a hard time, they lost two of their members (yes, Scarlett and Julia.) Don’t be the third, my brother.”

If I hadn’t been an animal, I would have sighed.

I would have been very hypocritical to say that I didn’t understand what he was saying. But it was beyond my strength. I wanted to stay very close to her, even if I was hiding. I wanted to be alone, like a wolf. Because in the skin of a wolf I didn’t need to look good. I was a wolf, that’s all.

“I don’t know where you stashed your car, but I haven’t seen it anywhere. You, when you decide to hide, it takes the devil to find you!”

He sniffled.

“Don’t stay too long like this. This isn’t good, you’re going to go crazy,” he said to me, getting up.

It’s already done!

“Come to my house to finish the summer. And once there, stay like a wolf if you want. At least you’ll have enough to eat and my parents will even agree to have an animal at the table! But first, take a good shower. (He made a face in disgust.) I’m sure Georgia herself would refuse to touch you, that’s saying something!”

He ruffled my head, smiling. I pounced on him to knock him down. But Jamie is Jamie, he didn’t fall. He’s a rock!

“I’m leaving. Think about everything I told you and call me as soon as you decide to come back. I’ll be here.”

He patted the back of my neck and ran away into the woods. He turned around just before disappearing into the trees and shouted:

“By the way, Sutherland. Just in case you don’t know where you are anymore. It’s the twenty-first of July!”

I swallowed as I watched him walk away. Scarlett would be nineteen in four days.

I had violent retching. What bullshit! She was going to age, but not her body.

Softly, I turned around to find my lair and thought about what Jamie had told me.

It felt good to see him, but I still hadn’t changed my mind. Wolf I was, wolf I would stay.

I went to bed and, for once, I fell asleep very quickly.

Two nights later, I opened my eyes completely groggy, the scent of Scarlett in my nostrils. It happened to me often, but not like this. I could have sworn she was only a few dozen yards from me. I had never imagined it so strong. I could have sworn it was real, anyway, enough that I decided to go and check it out, even though I suspected I was imagining it all. Scarlett smelled of death now. Nothing else.

I walked with velvet steps to the edge of the undergrowth, with the strange feeling that I wasn’t alone. It wasn’t an animal. And I couldn’t smell anything other than Scarlett’s old scent!

Nimbly, I jumped onto a collapsed dead trunk on the ground and waited, without moving.

Scarlett’s scent grew stronger and stronger. It attacked my nostrils violently. Something was wrong, I couldn’t be imagining it!

A branch cracked to my right. I suddenly turned my head in its direction and suddenly another very unpleasant smell hit me in the face. There was an exploiter here a few yards from me.

Slowly, I hunkered down behind the trunk in perfect silence and backed up behind a thicket. If I smelled the exploiter, he could smell me too. I had to be careful.

I was pretty sure it was Rucker. After all, this was his home, and I was an intruder.

I wasn’t mistaken. I saw him pass me like a shadow. Twenty yards away he clung to the trunk of an immense, bushy tree. He sniffed the air and peered around. Smell isn’t the strong point of dark angels, but I knew that sooner or later he was going to spot me. I stayed still.

Rucker walked the other way and shouted:

“Come over here. Come closer, don’t be afraid, you have to get started now. It’s your turn. It’s up to you to hunt.”

My blood boiled in my veins. Scarlett was there, a few yards away. She came out timidly from behind a high hedge of mulberry trees.

Two months since I had last seen her. I had imagined her from every angle, I had fantasized about her, and there she was in front of me, more beautiful than ever, even more beautiful than in my memory. How could she still affect me so much? She, an exploiter?

My heart shattered into a thousand shards. It was just a bunch of scattered atoms. She would never know how I was feeling right now. I was dead and alive at the same time. I was full and empty. I was happy and sad. I was everything and its opposite.

How could I still smell her human scent? Was it because I refused what she had become?

“I don’t want animal blood,” Scarlett moaned. “I don’t want anything...”

“Stop it, Scarlett, I don’t want to discuss this anymore. You haven’t had a drink since the time El… He barely stopped himself. Seven weeks ago.”

Scarlett lowered her head. I felt oppressed.

“Okay, listen, you have to concentrate. You have instincts, let them express themselves. Smell the air, sense nature. The prey isn’t far away. (Rucker frowned.) Although I find this wood almost lifeless as if those damn animals had deserted! Make an effort, you’ll get there!”

Scarlett let her arms hang down beside her body. She looked downcast and disheartened. She looked up, closed her eyes, and sniffed the air, several times.

“I don’t smell any prey...”

“Try again!”

“But I’m telling you that I don’t want to!”

He walked over to her and rubbed her arm.

Scarlett was no longer mine, but I wanted to gut Rucker. Why did he think he had to touch her? I swallowed my hatred and continued to watch silently.

“Go ahead. Easy, take your time. There’s life and warm blood here, a little, but there is! Focus once again. Our plans will be for nothing if you don’t succeed. Think about what you’re here for tonight.”

What plans? What was he talking about? Did they have plans together? This was going to drive me crazy!

Scarlett looked up at the trees again and took a deep breath. Her marvellous lips curled in a pout of annoyance. She sighed.

“I don’t smell anything except a wet dog…”

My saliva stopped halfway down my throat.

“What?” Rucker asked.

She shrugged.

“Do you smell a wet dog?”

She looked sorry.

Rucker inhaled much more carefully than before, then his gaze locked onto the thicket where I was standing.

He stepped forward slowly, staring at the shrub without batting an eyelid. I stepped back cautiously.

Rucker appeared in front of me, Scarlett at his heels. He and I looked at each other for a moment. He hardly seemed surprised to see me. He stood in front of Scarlett so that she wouldn’t see me. It wasn’t necessary. I jumped like a devil over the trunks that littered the ground and hurried out of the woods.

Before crossing the river, I heard Scarlett screaming:

“Elgin…. Elgin!”

I ran faster to escape this place. To escape from her. I wouldn’t return. It was no longer possible.

Jamie was right, it was about time I woke up. I had responsibilities.