Her Perilous Wolf, Julie Steimle [howl and other poems TXT] 📗

about Rick was that she now knew there was a real reason hunters shot at him. It just made her conflicted because he was her wolf.

Everyone went to bed after two more stories. James had shared a story about a trip he had in Scotland where he swore a friend of his had seen the Loch Ness monster. And for good measure, Owen got to tell the story about how one time he went to some islands in Polynesia as part of the Youth Corps and had almost fallen off a cliff, but was saved by some vines. But then he quickly told a story about the little people of Polynesia to the Skyler and Maris. Audry wondered as she went to bed that night if those little people were also real. They probably were.

 

The next morning everyone packed up and cleaned the cabin. They all left before noon, locking the house and getting into their various cars to travel home. Audry rode with her parents, as her car was back in Idaho where she had left it. They would take her to the airport the next day.

Not one more word was mentioned about their beach neighbors.

*

Vincent Williams was not the sort of guy to believe in magic. But he could not deny what he had seen on the beach that night. Howard Richard Deacon III had transformed into a wolf right before his eyes, and back into a man again. Vincent had not been drinking, so he had no explanation for what he had witnessed. He even had grabbed a sample of the hair Rick had shed on that beach. He had stuck it in his pocket, hoping neither Rick nor Audry noticed. He had inspected it afterwards, putting it in a zip-locked snack bag. It was wolf hair and the same exact rust shade as Rick’s rather furry textured mane.

However, Vincent was not quite as ready to believe all that they were told as his cousin was. He had to verify. He needed truly solid proof. So, the evening when he had returned to the cabin with Audry and his sister Vicky and had stowed away his hair sample, he had resolved to systematically investigate H. Richard Deacon and all of his freaky friends himself.

The first thing he did was find out who the SRA were. Audry had said they had a website, so he went to it. He had been up late that night copying and pasting all the details down he could find, from their description of vampires, werewolves, witches, and demons among other things. He also copied names, locations, and terminology down.

First thing he learned there were several kinds of were-beings. Werewolves were dominant in North America and Europe, but there were werejackals, weredingos, werehyenas, and weretigers around the world. Secondly, witches were the main creators of were-beings. He had scoured the story about the start of the Deacon family and noted that Rick was third generation werewolf. His grandfather had been born a wolf. And the witches of his town had made him into a man. And thirdly, Vincent learned that the SRA were tracking several werewolves around the world, and not just the Deacons.

It was called ‘Werewolf Watch’.

Most of the werewolves on the site did not have names. Some had aliases. Most had general locations. Very few had exact details about them. The Deacons were the exception. Most werewolves the SRA were tracking were given names like: Detroit Wolf and Bayou Wolf.

The SRA also had a map for all those supernatural beings they were tracking. On it were occasional marks for sectors as ‘to be avoided until further analysis’ which they called ‘Black Holes’ which were presumed enclaves of dangerous beings such as vampires, werewolves, or various monsters… or possible entrances into the ‘Faerie Realm’. One Black Hole was in Alabama named ‘Wolverton’, also labeled ‘former site’. There was a similar one in Colorado, this one labeled ‘protected site’ with a common town name. There were others in Europe and Asia, and one in Africa. But he noticed one in northern California, tagged, ‘Residual vampires possibly returned due to missing Vimp’.

Vincent went back to the ‘Werewolf Watch’ list and wrote all known werewolf names down, inspecting them longer.

 

Artic Wolf—current location, unknown—white wolf Battle Creek Wolf—current location, unknown—mixed/black wolf Bayou Wolf—alias, Louis Blithe—current location, possibly Tennessee—on the move—gray wolf Daisy MacTire—current location, Black Hole Wolverton—white wolf—no known human description—rumored stalking H. Richard Deacon III

 

He recognized the name Daisy. Paying attention to the notes by her entry, he wondered over it. Wasn’t that the name of Rick’s slutty ex? Hadn’t someone said she was a werewolf? Was it Rick? This confirmed that story at least. A year ago, Rick had said something about being stuck having to marry her. Whatever happened to that? That was definitely over a year ago and he still wasn’t married.

Vincent kept reading, taking more notes.

 

Daniel Deschamps—current location, Paris—possible pack liaison—gray wolf Detroit Wolf—alias, Joe Smith, Floyd Pink, Ryan Reynolds, DJ Williams—current location, Detroit—Agent Gillam tracking—gray wolf Richard Deacon III—current location, in transit—returning to Massachusetts—gray wolf/red wolf mix.

 

Vincent drew in a breath. They knew Rick was driving home? What did they have? Lojack on the car? Or maybe his cellphone. Rick wasn’t kidding. They were stalking him.

 

Howard Deacon II—current location, Tokyo, Japan—Agent Sato on duty—gray wolf

 

He stared at that entry. Mr. Deacon was abroad. But Agent Sato? Were SRA members in all the countries around the world? That was creepy. It made nowhere feel safe.

 

Kaspar Schwitzer—current location, Cochem, Germany, reduced Black Hole—man eater—Agent Schmidt on watch—gray wolf

 

He stared more at this entry. Then shook his head.

 

Kurt Blithe—current location, unknown—rumored stray wolf—pack seeking out—No known description—gray wolf Memphis Wolf—current location, unknown—white wolf Mexico Wolf—current location, Tallahassee, Florida—Agent Hills tracking San Diego Wolf—current location, Maine—red wolf Toronto Wolf—current location, Toronto—gray wolf Tuskegee Wolf—current location, Austin, Texas—killed Agent Cortez—black wolf …

 

And the list went on. Most of the wolves were nameless really.

Vincent scoured the list a number of times, taking notes over the actual names. There were two Blithes on the list. And that Detroit wolf used aliases. He guessed why the SRA knew about that German wolf, but there was no indication as to why that Daniel Deschamps in France was identified, except for the term ‘pack liaison’. What pack? Liaison to whom?

He noticed other lists near it, including ‘Known Collaborators’. That list was huge, including names he knew like: Matthew Calamori, Tom Brown, Randon Spade, Andrew Cartwright, Jessica Mason, Daniel Smith, Art Condie, Robert Lafon, and (shockingly) his old friend Stewart McGivens. There was also another list of burned assets, of which Stewart and his friend Ewan P. Steed were listed among them.

Burned asset. Vincent wondered what it meant. An asset usually was someone useful, in government agency spy terms. And burned, he guessed, had to mean used and no longer useful.

What had Rick said about Stewart McGivens? The SRA had tried to use him as bait? If there ever was someone to check with about this entire thing to do with werewolves, it would be Stewart. Stewart was an ordinary guy. Well-to-do even. High profile. And sane. He was also a frat brother from college.

Vincent recalled back when he had first introduced Stewart to his cousin that Stewart had not laughed with the others when Audry, in a conversation, had made a snarky remark about the rumor that the Deacons were werewolves. And Vincent recalled that Stewart had warned Audry to hide her silver bullet for her safety. Damn. Stewart knew all right. But back then Vincent had thought Stewart was being paranoid. His old friend had that side to him.

That night replayed in his head. Rick had been there. He had been watching his little half-brother and half-sister from his mother’s remarriage. It had been a crazy night, really. Rick was not dressed to party, but had snuck in, pretending to be some sort of ninja while snatching food off of the buffet for the two kids. And those two little kids… Vincent now remembered, they had called him a wolf. They knew. A couple kids. And Ewan Steed had been particularly hostile at the mention of wolves. Vincent now wondered how many people knew Rick’s secret.

Vincent had gone to bed that night with a plan. And when they left the beach house later that week, he was prepared to follow through on his research. As soon as he got home, he searched out his digital contacts, going through all his business cards next. He unearthed two of importance. The first was Stewart’s business card. It was neat and professional. The other was the white card with the large embossed gold seven on it, with website and other contact information. Randon had given it to him ages ago, just in case—he had said.

Vincent took up Stewart’s card and dialed his number.

It rang a couple times before it picked up. << Hello? >>

“Hi, Stewart. I know it had been a while, but this is Vincent Williams.”

<< Oh my heavens! Vincent! It has been a while. How’s your cousin? She was going to invite Kim and I to her wedding but it got cancelled? Am I right? >>

Vincent chuckled painfully, recalling their last meeting, “Yeah… Um… I don’t know if you heard, but Audry found out her fiancé was a low-life predator—long story. Um, actually I’m calling about something that came up recently. And I was told you were the best source for truth on this matter.”

Stewart drew in a breath. << What kind of questions? Is it serious? You sound serious. >>

Sighing, Vincent said frankly, “I’d prefer to meet you in person, and in private if I may. These questions have to do with, uh, our mutual acquaintance, Mr. H. Richard Deacon. I’m sure you understand.”

He got silence for a moment. Then Stewart said, << I choose the location and the time. And if I find out you are working with or for the SRA, this meeting is not happening. >>

Wetting his drying mouth, Vincent nodded. “No questions on that. I’ve heard enough about them to want to leave them out too.”

<< Did something happen to Audry? >> Steward sounded concerned.

“Audry’s fine,” Vincent said. “I just want to confirm some things we discovered, and Rick…” he breathed hard, closing his eyes… “said you would be able to confirm it.”

<< Rick recommended me? >>

“Yeah.” Vincent opened his eyes and stared at his list of names again. “He said that if anybody would tell the unbiased truth, it would be you.”

Stewart on the other end exhaled hard. It was only a brief pause before he said, << Alright. Are you in the New York area? >>

“Yeah. I’m in town.” Vincent glanced to his clock. His heart was beating fast.

<< Ok. Meet me at the Waldorf Astoria at noon. The lobby. We can go from there. >> Stewart immediately hung up.

That gave Vincent an hour.

He decided to leave early.

*

When Audry landed in Boise and got her car out of the parking garage, she was feeling listless. Her drive home was no better. She honestly had hoped that vacation would have lifted her out of her doldrums, as her PhD research had not been going well when she had left eastward for vacation. Now that she was back, driving into the open realms of nature she had been researching in, she was dismayed to have to face it all again, with the added burden of knowledge that there were werewolves out there in the world.

 When she arrived at to her tiny home on wheels, almost immediately she got out the garlic from her pantry and hung it on her small camper door. After that, she took a shower. But even after washing, changing into new clothes, unpacking, and starting a small load of laundry with her foot pump mini-washer, she felt stir crazy almost immediately. She had to get out.

As soon as she had hung all her wet laundry, Audry grabbed her keys, threw on her hiking boots, and went out. To get her mind off her two big problems, she resolved to