Werewolf Queen

"How much?" I asked.

"Almost a thousand." She said. "I've been saving everything I've made babysitting since I was 12."

"You're going to need a lot more than that hun. I'll tell you what. You prove to me within the next couple of months that it is something that you really want to do and the day you buy the plane ticket I'll give you a thousand more to help."

"You'd really do that?" She asked.

"I help those who help themselves. You want to continue studying I will help you as much as you're will to help yourself. Which means every dollar I give you, you must match within a year. If I find out that you haven't I'll stop helping."

"Thank you Jade!" She hugged me. "But why? You don't know me."

"Because I see myself in you. The only difference is I wanted to go to Spain." I said cutting the last tomato. She was still on the same head of lettuce. "Now why don't you go out and hang with the guys. I'll finish up here."

"You sure?" She asked.

"Yeah." I answered.

She washed her hands and went out the door. I started on onions. I went to the window and watched as Brian and James were tossing a football. Dad and Daniel built a fire pit and next to it sat an extinguisher. Brent and Jack were bringing chairs to put around the fire. We were a large family. It would be complete if Nikki were here. She would be here joking with me. She would have already sliced her finger and given up and just sat at the table and talked to me.

I heard thunder and my eyes darted to the sky. There wasn't a cloud from what I could see. Brian, Jack, and Brent stopped for just a second and looked out west then continued on what they were doing. It was probably a storm I couldn't see from inside.

My dad came in and grabbed all of the hamburger patties and looked at me for a second. "You okay?" He asked noting my tears.

I held up an onion. He just nodded. Onions always brought tears to my eyes. Yes the tears I had were mostly because of the onions but not all of them. I was so sick of crying. He walked back outside and I heard the meat sizzle when it hit the grill. I put all the stuff I just cut up in the fridge and washed my hands. I grabbed a slice of lemon and rubbed over them. It got the onion smell out quicker.

I went outside and heard Daniel on his guitar; they were all sitting around the fire.

I sat next to Daniel. I always enjoyed his playing. I recognized the tune as Lynard Skynard's Simple Man. He never sang because honestly he sucked at singing. I watched the fire as he started into the main part of the song.

"Well mama told me, when I was young, said sit beside me my only son." Brent was singing. I looked up at him as he continued on with the song. I noticed my dad staring too. His voice was amazing. "And listen closely, to what I say. And if you do this it'll help you some sunny day."

Marcia was staring in amazement with stars in her eyes. I knew the look. She just developed a crush. I smirked as he finished the song. The sky out west darkened but never moved closer. I could hear the thunder and smell the rain. It was a random thunderstorm that was just passing by.

We joked around and laughed until the burgers were done. After we ate we had s'mores. It was a good day all in all. It was something to look back on when I questioned what lied ahead.

Marcia made every excuse to sit next to Brent. He just thought it was funny and took it in stride. She once accidently tripped over her own feet and almost cried in embarrassment until Brent helped her up and dusted her off. He was playing into it.

"I think it's time to get Marcia home before her mother starts calling me." Daniel said.

"But I'm 18!" She said.

"And you live under her roof and until then I follow her rules." Daniel said and got up along with James and dad.

"Think I'll head home too. Long day tomorrow." He said.

"What do you have to do?" I asked.

"Stuff." He said and walked towards his truck.

I watched them leave down the dirt road as Brian put out the fire. Dad was officially giving me the smoker. The thing meant a lot to him and so it had value to me. A big hunk of metal gave me a moment of happiness with my dad. We cleaned up and did what dishes there were before we crashed in the living room. I wasn't tired because of my long nap earlier. I was itching to run. I could feel her under my skin wanting out.

"Who else wants to feel the moon in their fur?" I asked.

"Don't have to ask me twice." Jack said and got up.

The three of us walked outside naked. They were used to seeing each other that way but they still weren't used to me. I found it funny that they blushed.

I showed off and changed as fast as I could.

Damn woman you'll have to teach me that. Brian said as we ran under the starlit sky. The moon was barely a crescent but I could feel her.

I could hear Brent and Jack running behind us as we made it to the mountains. We weaved through trees and the steep rocks to the very top. Brent came up behind me as I looked out across the land. It was beautiful in its own brown way. If asked to describe Southwest Oklahoma, the only thing I could say was brown.

We had a good time that evening. We pranced and played like puppies would. We scared the hell out of a camper. I doubt anyone would believe what he saw. Poor man.

We made it back to the house just before dawn.

Brent

I laid down on the floor as Brian and Jack took the recliners and Jade crashed on the couch. I closed my eyes and heard a storm coming in. It was an actual storm. The thunder didn't have a metallic sound to it.

Jade threw a pillow at me and I put it under my head. I didn't complain about the floor. The carpet was softer than concrete or the hard ground that I had grown used to. I waited until I heard all of their hearts slow and Brian's snores to start before I let myself be pulled under in sleep.

I woke what felt like five minutes later to a large crack of thunder. I sat up and Jade was sitting straight up. Brian's snores had stopped and Jack was at the window peering out the curtain. I heard the metallic sound under the thunder. They were coming back.

We all froze as tires turned onto the dirt road. No one even breathed as we listened.

Jade got up and pulled Jack away from the window without a sound and she motioned for us to follow her. We did and she went to the kitchen. She opened the pantry door and got on her hands and knees and opened a panel under a shelf and crawled into it. Brian and I had to belly crawl to fit. Jade put the panel back as we heard a knock on the front door.

The small room held stairs that went down. I didn't even realize this existed under the house. It was a tunnel that led to the barn. As long as were underground we were safe. I hoped. We sat there in the dark and waited. It was so dark you could touch your finger to your eyeball and not see it. If it weren't for the urge to blink I'd swear my eyes were closed. Jade opened her cell phone for some light. It was enough for our sensitive eyes.

Brian and Jack sat across from Jade and I. She was extremely stiff. I took her hand to try and calm her down. I could smell the fear on her.

I heard them in the house searching.

"They were just here." A woman's voice said.

"They can't have gotten far. Spread out and find them." A man's voice said.

"I'm going to lead them off. Get them away from here." Brian said and got up.

"Brian don't." Jade said and grabbed his arm.

"To keep you safe they must go." He said and forcefully took his arm back.

He jogged to the exit to the barn and Jade tried to follow after him but I caught her around the waist. She clawed at my arms and brought blood trying to chase after him.

"Let me go!" She said.

"By the barn!" One outside yelled. The metallic sound got louder and Jade clamped her hands over her ears. I dropped her and did the same. She went to her knees as we heard gunfire.

Jack charged after him and I followed trying to stop him but it was too late. He was up the ladder and out of the barn. Jade ran passed me already in mid shift. I could hear snarling outside as I shifted and burst out of the barn. Jade had one of the enemy's member's head in her jaws and she ripped it off. Brian was on the ground in human form and Jack was running in wolf form after a male. I started after the female and she aimed a gun at me. I charged after her and dodged the first two bullets. The third one seared my shoulder and I heard a howl. The woman stopped and glanced over at Jade who also charged after her. I'd never seen a wolf move so fast in my 186 years. She was on the woman in seconds clawing her stomach open. Snarls ripped through her as I caught eye of another Enlightened member aiming from the van. He fired before I slammed him into the metal. Jade whined but continued on.

I dragged the man by his leg and then sank my teeth into his throat breaking his neck in the process. The pain in my shoulder just intensified with each movement. It was silver.

Jack took down two more by smashing their skulls in with his massive paws. All together there were twelve of them. Brian had taken down two before he went down. Jack took out four and Jade took three which left me with three.

I heard a siren coming this way and started to drag the bodies to the barn. My shoulder was on fire. We had gotten all but one into the barn when the police car came up. Jade had thought it was Daniel but it wasn't. It was a fat cop.

"Holy shit!" He said and grabbed a shotgun. I didn't know cops were allowed shot guns. He aimed at Jade which was the closest. She charged after him with no intention to kill in her mind she just wanted the gun. I could hear her loathing of the cop but she didn't want him dead. To her surprise the weapon was already loaded and he fired almost point blank. She dropped to the ground and a snarl ripped through me and I ran towards him. I heard another gunshot and the fat cop dropped like a ton of bricks. Blood spraying his car.

Daniel was standing by his own car with his gun still raised. He wasn't aiming at anyone now.

He walked closer and kicked the shotgun from the fat cop's limp hand and shot one more time point blank. I had made it to Jade. Her heart was still beating but barely.

"She needs a surgeon. Can she change back?"

She was already changing back when he said it. She had went unconscious and couldn't keep the form. He got on the phone but didn't dial 911.

"Go to Brian. I see he is down. She's fine with me." Daniel said.

I turned and ran back towards Brian listening with all I had for his heart. Jack was nudging him with his nose trying to get him to move. When I reached them he lifted his head up toward the sky and howled. There was no heartbeat. His torso was rattled with gunshot wounds. Not even a lycan could survive that.

We had stood against a piece of The Enlightened and won. What was that saying? With each victory comes great sacrifice. There was nothing I could do for Brian anymore so I went back to Jade. Daniel had started CPR. I laid on the ground next to her and put my nose by her hand.

Jim drove up speeding and jumped out of his truck as soon as the vehicle stopped. He didn't even bother turning it off. He saw me first before he rounded around the car and saw Daniel doing CPR on his only child. He looked at the van and then the only remaining body besides the fat cop.

"They came back."

I nodded.

"Who shot her?"

I motioned toward the fat cop.

He got up and started kicking the body repeatedly. Another car drove up and I growled and got up. It was someone I didn't know.

"He's a doctor and his wife is a surgeon. They'll keep your secret." Jim said.

I waited in the living room as they had cleared out the kitchen to make a makeshift surgery room. The doctor took out the bullet in my shoulder as the wife worked on Jade. Once the silver was out the wound almost immediately healed. He backed away when that happened but regained himself. He went to join his wife in the kitchen.

They both came out an hour later covered in blood. "I've never seen such healing before. As soon as I took out the silver ones the shotgun pellets pushed themselves out." The woman said to Jim. "It was the silver that kept her from healing."

"Just like him." The doctor nodded his head in my direction.

"And Brian?" Jim asked.

"He was already gone. We took the silver out but he never healed." The woman said.

"Our agreement?" Daniel asked. "About the wolves?"

"I don't know what you mean. What wolves?" The doctor said.

"We just went for a drive today." The woman smiled.

"Check the bank tomorrow morning. It will be there."

"Glad we could help." The doctor said and they took off their blood soaked aprons and left.

"What's the damage?" Jim asked Daniel.

"A large donation to the hospital."

"At least it wasn't to their bank account." Jack said. "How much?"

"Ten thousand dollars." Daniel said and sat down.

I sat on the edge of the recliner and just stared at the floor. We had money to pay it back but my question was do I let him make the payment and then pay him back or do I make the donation myself in his name? Living for a long time one learned to save everything they didn't need. And with the three of us we had more than our fair share. Each of us have lived two human lives so we had six lifetimes worth of money in a private bank that was set up for our kind. It was ran by humans that we trusted so The Enlightened could never mess with them. Plus the humans that worked there made a hell of a lot more than regular bankers to keep that secret.

"You don't have ten thousand dollars Daniel, and neither do I." Jim said.

"Jack and I will make the payment in your name. Don't worry about it." I said and glance at them.

"Are you sure about that?" Jim asked.

"Of course we'll do it." Jack said.

"I'm sorry about your brother." Daniel said.

"He died with honor trying to protect his pack." I said.

"He finally made it to paradise." Jack said quietly.

"We'll go there one day Jack, when we're no longer needed." I told him.

"Ow." I heard Jade mutter.

Jack and I were the first in the kitchen as Jade sat up followed by Jim and Daniel.

"It really fucking hurts to die." She said. She looked around the room. "Brian?" She asked.

I shook my head and she turned hers away from us.

"We'll leave the three of you alone. We'll deal with the damage outside." Daniel said. "Get up and moving around Jade so I know you're all right."

She just nodded. The left the room and she moved the sheet off of her and went to stand up. Her legs gave out and I caught her before she fell.

"Not so quickly." Jack told her.

"I really want a shower." Jade said and tried to make me let go of her. She had gone numb again and I didn't mean physically. Her eyes lost the shine that made her, her. She looked at the new scars on my arms that she made. We didn't scar unless it was silver or made by another wolf.

She used all her force and pushed me off her and she stumbled to the bathroom and locked the door behind her.

Jack followed her this time as I sat down in a chair and put my face in my hands.

"Jade let me in please." Jack said. "Let me help you."

She opened the door and closed it. I sighed and got up and went outside. The smell of gasoline filled the air. Brian was on the back porch covered with a sheet. I couldn't bear to look at him without that stupid smirk on his face. I wanted to remember him how he was not his look in death.

I walked over to Jim and Daniel and they were covering the bodies with gasoline. Jim pulled out a zippo and lit it. He threw it on the bodies and it made a whoosh as it went up. Burning flesh was one of the most horrible smells. Thankfully we had a storm system that stalled over us and the rain would wash away the smell. The fat cop was on top.

The bodies wouldn't burn to ash because the fire wasn't hot enough but it did burn away most of the skin making them easier to bury. I wondered if they had a family waiting for them. Children waiting for them to come home and read them bed time stories. I was so sick of death. I was so sick of killing even if it was protecting the ones I cared most about and I.

I started digging a large hole by the line of trees farthest from the house. We were surrounded by them on all sides. It didn't take long for me to dig the hole because we had more stamina then a human. It was as deep as it was wide. Jim brought his truck and they piled the cooled bodies in the back and brought them to the hole. I started throwing them in there with no regards. I usually had more respect for the dead but they were murderers. I had no respect for them. I filled the hole and Jim drove over it a few times to pack the dirt. Daniel brought a bag of grass seeds from the barn and poured it over the dirt. The rain would water it.

"There is a plot open in the cemetery outside of town that was for my wife. You can use it for Brian. Give him a proper burial." Daniel said.

I nodded. Another funeral, I hated funerals, been to more than my fair share. "Thank you." I said. I meant that thank you for more than just the cemetery plot.

"Is Jade all right?" Jim asked.

"She was in the shower when I came out here. She'll heal completely but the silver bullet will leave a scar. The shotgun pellets won't. What about the other cop?" I asked.

"He's out of town for a while. No one will miss him. He honestly had this coming if not by me, then by someone in town. They'll be happy he's gone."

"Do a lot of people go out of town for a while?" I asked.

"He makes the second one since I've been sheriff and I've been that for 30 years. The first was a child molester." He said. "I do turn people in that need it. Like Shaun. He's a good kid who took the wrong road. But I've known Richard since he was a kid. There was always something odd about him. He used any and every excuse to use force or draw his weapon. Why he even had a shotgun I don't know." Daniel said as we walked up to the house.

We held Brian's funeral the next day. Daniel had gotten me a coffin since I didn't want to give him to the funeral home. I didn't want a coroner brought in and questions about the bullet wounds. Daniel understood that. I respected the man a lot more.

Jack and I said things about his life. It was hard fighting the knot in my throat. It was so hard to breathe past. We lowered him in the ground and covered him with dirt and that was it. It was just Jade, Jack, Daniel, Jim, James, and I. Jade put daffodils on the dirt.

Jack had carved a cross out of stone with his claws. It took him all night and he came in with bloodied hands. It only had his name on it. No date of birth or death. Beloved Brother was carved under his name.

Jade stood alone and wouldn't let anyone come near her. Not even Jim. She had remained quiet after her shower and hadn't spoken at all. The bond between wolves does funny things to a person. You could know a person a day and feel like you've known them a life time. Love them like you've known them a life time. This makes 4 people she has lost in a week. There only so much emotional superglue on the heart until it ran out. You either went crazy or turned cold towards the world. There are a lot of cold hearted lycans out there. There are some crazy ones too. I just hoped she had a little more superglue to heal her heart.

Jim, James, and Daniel went to their own houses and we went to Lawton. The plan to shop was still on and we couldn't put it off any longer. The first place was the mall. All I could say was Jade was an American woman. Most American women loved to shop. Her mood lifted but not by much.

Jack and I tried on stupid clothes just to put a smile on her face. She stopped in front a store with a black and white dress in front. She stared at it for a moment before moving on. Jack and I glanced at each other. She was a woman who loved dresses but hated wearing them.