Luke stepped up to the huge mahogany doors of the Sanders mansion, marveling at the brilliantly decorative silver inlay that seemed as if it were designed to be part of the ornate carvings. He knew quite well the silver had been laid into it more recently, married to it as if it had been part of the design all along. Jordan was nothing if not thorough, and clearly had an artistic eye, along with extreme discipline for his athletic endeavors, and a sharp mind for rational thought, though it was often overtaken by his anxieties. It was time for Jordan’s first transformation, if the blood he’d been given had taken, and there was no reason it shouldn’t have. But Luke wanted to be here to see it. The weight of the world hung in balance. It was also time to check on Carl, and these were things he had no intention of discussing over regular phone lines in any case.
Carl came to the door. “Luke! I thought I felt your presence.”
Luke was surprised. “You can feel me?”
Carl smiled, “As a matter of fact, yes. Is that a normal werewolf ability?”
Luke felt a warm thrill suffuse his entire body. “It is, and I didn’t expect it so soon. How do you feel?”
Jordan came running from the barn. “It IS you.” Carl turned with consternation toward Jordan as he came to a halt at the base of the steps. “What happened to me during the transfusion?”
“Veniam?” Luke answered, taken by surprise.
“I feel like I’ve got a million tiny fish speeding through my veins. It’s been growing steadily all day. Did something happen?”
Luke felt a sadness as he caught a glimpse of what seemed a rare moment of vulnerability in Jordan. He took a moment to be sure he was fully focused on his words. A misstep here could be disastrous. “What are you concerned about happening? And how did you know I was here?”
“I felt something tickle my mind, and there was an image of you. There was a direction, I followed it, and it led me to you.”
Luke nodded in understanding. The lupan early warning system and he was already responding to it. It almost never preceded the first change, but there had been a few cases of early transference, over the years. “That sounds like intuitive awareness. There are many ways people can develop such a thing, becoming lupan is one of them, but I would not expect it so early even if you were infected somehow. Perhaps you are just acutely attuned to Carl, who noticed me?”
“Hell!” Jordan spat. “Did you do this to me?”
Luke frowned. “Why would you think I did anything?”
Jordan held up one finger after another as he answered. “Motive, means, opportunity. Did you put something in my blood?”
Luke held up his hands. “If there was an accident of some sort—”
“With everything else that went flawlessly? As careful as you, Carl, and Dwayne were? As professionally trained as the nurse was? I don't think this can be blamed on any accident. If you did something to me, Luke, so help me God, I will fucking kill you!”
Luke took a moment to think, and to put Jordan off-balance so he could manipulate the situation. He turned to Carl. “First things first. How are you recovering?”
Carl’s face lit up. “Good news, actually. The transplant already appears to be effective and in record time. I dismissed the nurse yesterday, and Dwayne texted me this morning that his mindwipe was successful. It’s a shame we can’t report this to any medical journals.” Carl stood up straighter and smiled. “I seem to have achieved full acceptance of the graft, and my blood type has completely switched to O-negative already, I just tested it. I’ve been gaining weight. I definitely feel stronger.”
Luke grinned at Carl’s exuberance. He had most certainly gained weight since Luke had seen him last. He watched Jordan from the corner of his eye. There was a sense of relief from Jordan. “That is amazing,” Luke said, with a broad grin. “Lupans are known for quick healing, but I was afraid your illness would take primacy and your healing would be delayed, or worse. If this works, there will be many lives saved.” He then turned to Jordan, “But it sounds like we have another issue to attend to. Some lupans report the feeling of vibration throughout their body when they have contracted the curse, and your awareness of yours could be a description of the same thing. Also, you sensed my presence when you were outside. The possibility of infection concerns me. I would normally watch to see if you transform, and then watch to see if the virus has taken correctly. If Carl is right, that the issue has always been blood type, then the latter will be unnecessary. If your blood type works for Carl, it will work for you. Which leaves us with the possibility that you are evolving.”
“Evolving?” Jordan said, with venom. “You mean devolving.”
Luke stared, displeased, at Jordan. “Let us simply consider that something might have gone wrong, and you might be becoming Homo lupanthrus. If you consider that devolution, that is your choice. But if it is true, then you and Carl will both need a pack to be adopted by. There are many things you must learn, including all we know of the werewolf hunters and how to avoid them, so you do not find another one under your roof by accident,” Luke admonished them. “I came to say I have found a pack for Carl. But I need you both to perfect this cure, and this might be a better location for you to do it. I want you to stay here, for now. I will get you stationed with the pack later.” Luke let that settle with Jordan, which it wouldn’t, of course. Jordan wouldn’t want a pack; Jordan would be drawn to the option of learning directly from Luke, which gave him more control over what was happening to him.
Luke turned to Carl. “Tonight will be a transformation. I would like to be here, and make sure it goes well for you, Carl.” He looked at Jordan. “And perhaps you as well, Jordan, if what you say is true.” Of course, it was, Luke had made sure of that. But it was imperative that Jordan didn’t discover it until he was already roped into the role Luke intended for him.
“How will you watch us, if you’ll be transforming as well?” Carl asked.
“With experience,” Luke answered, “you can develop the ability to change form at will, though the cycle is normally governed by the moon’s phase. That will be a later lesson, after you have learned the basic survival skills. The pack I’m placing you in does not have the most experienced teachers, but you’ll learn.” Luke saw Jordan lean in as he spoke, naturally. Control is what Jordan sought, and right now he felt he had none. Luke could start reeling him in now, before he’d even confirmed that Jordan was infected.
“Jordan, if you are right about this, tonight will be troubling for you. I will watch over both of you. If you both transform, your connection as humans will make you packmates as wolves. I will travel with you tonight and keep you safe, and bring you back here in the morning, as someone should have been doing all along for Carl. I am furious with them for abandoning you.” He turned to Carl, not having to feign his anger at all, but knowing this would also work to bring Jordan around, as his protective nature and thirst for justice. “I have dealt with them for their transgression. For now, let us get the two of you through this transition.” Jordan looked alarmed, and Luke realized he’d spoken as if he knew that it would be both of them. That was sloppy. Luke was too tired. It had been so long since he’d had any respite. He ignored his exhaustion, though, and portrayed confidence. For now, he had to view Jordan as foe, and show no weakness. Clearly, Jordan didn’t want to say anything, perhaps hoping he’d misheard, walking on eggshells, wanting no confirmation.
Luke turned to Carl and they discussed all the indicators of proper transformation, which would be new for Carl if the bone marrow had worked, and all three of them took comfort from one good sign after another. Carl grasped the silver door handle firmly and felt nothing. Good – silver should only be harmful if it reached the blood. They went to the paddock, where the horse was chewing on hay, and Daisy startled slightly at Carl’s presence, then whuffed at him curiously, trying to reconcile the presence of the Carl scent with the absence of the disease scent. She remained wary, as prey animals often do, but she wasn’t frightened out of her skull, as she had been when he’d come close before. But the microscope was the best witness to Carl’s apparently full recovery; not a single broken cell – even the yellow cells were thick in his blood, as they should be on the cusp of a transformation. Lupans had realized their blood looked different under a microscope during these hours; the yellow cells emerged only for the transformation and remained hidden the rest of the time. This was relevant to one of the disciplines required of all lupans: don’t let the humans know werewolves exist. Luke had quickly verified that the feral pack had followed up on Carl’s recent visit to the hospital since he’d last seen Carl. They had done well enough with that, and their cover-up regarding Diana’s “disappearance,” that he would let them live, for now, though he’d had to execute Gus. The rest of the pack, though, were back on track, and none of them had tried to speak in his defense at the hearing.
That night, they all sat at the picnic table in the backyard after the sun went down. Carl, naked, had put the patio heater on a timer so that it would turn off shortly after sunset. They wouldn’t need the heat once they all had fur coats to wear. Luke had told him he wouldn’t need his neck pack this time, Luke would bring them back to the house before they shifted back to human form. He was more careful to sound as if he didn’t know whether Jordan would change, and he didn’t suggest Jordan remove his clothes. Luke sensed there were no humans in easy viewing distance, and in the future, Carl would have to be sure he transformed in a less visible location, but for now, his job was to reassure, not admonish.
Jordan ended up being the first to shudder, Carl nearly as quick. Jordan looked with panic at Luke, who watched with joy as Jordan’s shape began to shift. He had turned to Luke for help – and who else could help him with this?
“Luke, is this it?” Jordan wailed, “How do I stop—”
Jordan dropped to the ground, fighting the shuddering transformation with a force of will that was astounding. For a moment, the transformation almost reversed, then his jaws began to protrude and his legs pulled in toward his body. Jordan howled in agony. The initial transformation was always very uncomfortable, as the body endured its first reconfiguration, stretched to its limits. Jordan’s entire frame went taut as if being tortured on a rack. The skin of his face almost shone as it stretched outward, becoming paler as the cells tightened with the strain of containing the lengthening jawline. His nose seemed almost like a telescoping ski slope, then the shiny skin disappeared under soft black fur, his ears became upward moving triangles and his head flattened. The fur grew out beyond his own short, black hair, which simultaneously sucked back into his body, as it should. Luke turned his attention quickly to Carl. Jordan was progressing as expected, but Carl’s transformation was the critical one. He could see that Carl’s hair was pulling into his skin as Jordan’s had. Brilliant! This was how a transformation should occur. He looked at the fingernails, which also seemed to melt inward, before claws shot out of the shortening fingers. Yes; Carl was transforming correctly. In moments it was all over, and Luke pulled the clothing off Jordan now that he didn’t need it for the rest of the night. The two wolves, one grey, and one black (which was phenomenally muscular), looked expectantly at him. They recognized his dominance immediately, as any good wolf would; worldwide alpha gave Luke a fatherly aura. It also helped that they recognized his familiarity, as they recognized each other. This would be so much better for them, having each other instead of the way Carl had been so alone. On Jordan’s part, that was simply a relief, after the fierce trial of wills he’d given Luke up to this point. Beyond that, there was little of the human they’d been remaining in their thoughts.
They would learn later how to hold onto the human consciousness while in wolf form, and the wolf when they were in human form, as well as how to transform at will, but tonight was the night of Jordan’s birth, and Luke was exuberant. There would be time later to pass the final verdict on Carl’s cure, but tonight was a good night. Luke shifted into wolf form and led them into the forest. Tonight, they would hunt, and celebrate with fresh venison. He could smell the rich scent of a doe not far away, and they were off, following him without question, for once.
* * *
After hunting and gorging, Lukewulf watched with joy as Carlwulf and Jordanwulf cracked bones with their powerful wolf-jaws. Carl seemed so strong. The sick ones usually didn’t make full wolf transformations, their wolven form even weaker than the human, because the transformation had never been fully successful, but Carlwulf seemed as fit as most lupans; perhaps his workouts had helped him through this part of the ordeal. Luke considered what it might take to extend this cure to other dysmorphic werewolves as he watched over them protectively. Carl had come into his proper form, without reserve. The cure would require monitoring for quite some time, new as it was. Luke had seen other signs of hope go awry, but so far, this bone marrow transplant concept had done more for Carl, in just a few weeks, than he’d seen any other attempted cure achieve. It looked like this was it, a true cure. If they perfected this process, he could give them all greater hope for their offspring, and the energy now spent eliminating the failed transformations could be spent tracking down what remained of the vampires who had become so adept at escaping justice. If they all survived the coming visitation. For which he needed Jordan’s strength and dedication.
He focused on the black Jordanwulf, gulping down a huge chunk of meat he had bitten off the bone. Jordan looked up at him, then dropped his eyes and whined. All wolf, right now, no fight in him. With luck, that would stay with him when he returned to human form. Lukewulf opened his jaws and gently pressed his teeth over Jordanwulf’s muzzle, then nudged him toward the rest of the meal. Luke had taken his portion already, and was on high alert, as always when he was with other Lupans. Rest never came easy for those in power, not if they cared for their people. And these were his people. Jordanwulf resumed feeding, seemed to truly relish his new ability to completely obliterate bone. Jordanwulf loved the newfound power of his jaws. Soon enough, he would relish the power his own mental faculties could have over other beings.
Luke had no idea how long it might take to train him, but with Jordan’s dedication and discipline, it should take less time than the others he’d educated. He hoped so. He looked up into the sky, and saw the slightest paleness in the east. He stood quickly, and the other wolves suddenly stopped, rapt attention on him. He lifted his tail high, and they jumped up, at full attention, though Jordan just a bit slower as he looked with longing toward the meal he’d just been told to vacate. They needed to be back at the house before they returned to human form. Luke leaped down the slope, and the two manwulfs followed him at a quick lope.
They jumped across ravines and galloped through meadows, twisting around underbrush and diving down slopes and back up hills, running quickly to get back to where they belonged, for now. They arrived back at the picnic table just as the sky began to brighten all the way across. They’d made it just in time, as Luke had planned. A good night; now, for morning.
He shifted quickly into his own man form, disguising his features as always with the blond, blue-eyed man so different from his real form. His true form was Italian, with the dark skin, brown eyes and wavy black hair of all his contemporaries of the Latins. Just like the Romans, who didn’t exist when he was born. Luke’s brother hadn’t founded Rome until they were older. That’s where they had parted ways, Romulus becoming an urbanite, and Remus fleeing into the hills, where he ran with his newfound mother’s pack. Romulus had escaped the transformation and turned his back on his brother. Roman mythology, like all other religions, was an attempt to explain the unexplainable, including werewolves. And, also, like all religions, it had gotten things partly right, and partly wrong.
Luke gave his naked body a semblance of clothes, just as he’d clothed it with Aryan features to disguise himself. It was much easier to maintain this minor praestige than to keep losing clothes every time he transformed. When he was working, he went naked, and these days it seemed he was always working. With a sigh, he turned the patio heater on and sat his seemingly blond and clothed human body on the bench as he watched them both spasm, then shift their forms. Jordan’s transformation was smooth this time, he didn’t fight it. But, he’d been in wolf mode, so that was expected. But Carl; how would Carl do? Luke saw with relief that the wolf fur pulled back into his skin, as it should. Yes – his body was reabsorbing the wolven form, all of it, instead of rejecting it, even in part. Soon, it was a naked Carl and a naked Jordan lying on the ground. Luke grabbed Jordan’s clothing and tossed it to him. It was cold out, and they were shivering. He led them into the house. New cubs always took a few moments to pull through the shift and speak, and they were still amnesiac.
“What the fuck?”
Luke spun around. Jordan had stopped halfway through pulling his sweatshirt on.
“Veniam?” Luke answered as he took a moment to absorb the unexpected response. That was fast. Carl was staring at Jordan, still unable to speak, and not entirely present as human consciousness. If he were alone, he’d still have his eyes closed as his body adjusted to the re-transformation, and he’d just now be finding his bearings. It would be another minute or two before he had full control of all his faculties; he was still following like a cub. But not Jordan. Of course not. He should have seen that coming, as obstinate as the cub could be.
Jordan jerked the shirt down over his body and glared at Luke. “What the fuck just happened? Why am I putting my shirt on?”
The wolf amnesia should have covered that transition. He’d had them responding to him, so that they were able to move about much more quickly than normal, he’d expected Jordan to be unaware of the transition, but as always with Jordan, it seemed he would not be so lucky. At this point, there was no option to deny, he’d have to confirm Jordan’s transition here and now, rather than inside where it would seem safer. He sighed.
“I’m sorry, Jordan. Something seems to have gone wrong. You transformed, just like Carl did. You’ve become Homo lupanthrus. You’re one of us.”
Carl stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around to stare at Jordan, his mouth open. “Oh my God, Jordan! I am so sorry!”
“Save it,” Jordan hissed at Carl. “You’re not the one who should be sorry. What the fuck did you do to me?” he looked murderously at Luke.
Again, the warrior, and fully defiant. Nothing came easily, these days.
“You transformed, Jordan. Something must have happened within the past month that caused you to be infected. I don’t know when or where it happened, but it happened, and you are one of us now. You can argue over where and when if you choose, but you can’t change the fact that it did happen. You are no longer a mere man, you are now more than that.”
The three stood, looking at each other, and Luke watched the slow resignation take place on Jordan's face. Jordan lunged at Luke, and Luke let him come. Tearing at Luke’s hair with one hand, Jordan drove a fist into his belly. Luke strengthened his skin with an intentional shapeshift, protecting his organs and fusing his bones against the volley of blows that rained down on him from above as Jordan’s weight bore him to the ground.
Luke remembered from long ago how his Judo instructor had told him that one of the most powerful moves was a sacrifice; bring your own self down as you bring your foe down if you must. And Luke was out of other moves. Jordan had just lost the last shred of control that he could bear, and Luke must give him something new until he could face what had just happened. This would be very strange. Luke had not let himself be dominated for… ever? Had he ever? Jordan hooked an arm around Luke’s neck in a chokehold, and Luke let him.
“Stop, Jordan – stop!” It was Carl, who had regained his senses. Then, Jordan’s senses came back to him as well; he seemed suddenly aware of himself, as he hadn’t been. He still held his grip on Luke’s neck. He couldn’t know, of course, that Luke had complete control of the placement of every part of his own body. He had shifted his carotid artery and his jugular vein downward into his muscles, so the chokehold wouldn’t cut off the oxygen to his brain. He’d also calcified his esophagus so it couldn’t be crushed by the tight grip Jordan had on him. But Jordan didn’t know that. Jordan thought he was suffocating Luke.
Suddenly Luke was free, and Jordan was on his feet. Luke gasped, as if he hadn’t been able to breathe. And that was the sacrificial move: go down, and let Jordan believe he’d lost control of himself. The fury he’d felt toward Luke fueled him to action, and this demon, his fear of not being in control, defeated him. Jordan could not bear to feel he wasn’t in control. He stomped off, and Luke kept up the appearance for Carl’s sake, continuing to gasp, his hand at his neck. Jordan had to fully believe Luke had been in danger, even though he wasn’t.
Luke saw Carl’s hand come down to him, and he let Carl lift him up, as if it was hard for him to stand. Carl seemed strong, which was good. He dusted off what appeared to be his clothes. “Well, that was awkward, and quite painful as well. Thank you. Can I get a glass of water? My throat is a bit sore.”
Then he looked accusatorily into Carl’s eyes. “Have you been careful with all the bloodletting you have been doing?”
There was doubt in Carl’s eyes, as he shamefacedly turned to go into the house. Luke heard the distant sound of a hammer striking an anvil, out in the barn. Jordan, taking his rage out on inanimate objects. Very productive of him. Jordan was not one to whine or snivel – he got things done.
Luke followed Carl in. Luke was so thirsty. Oddly enough, mental work made him even thirstier than the physical, and he’d just done a lot of both. This is what it meant to be alpha. One way or another, he had to get things done, and there was no time for insubordination. If he couldn’t overcome it honestly, there was always deceit, and no one was a better deceiver than Luke. His own nickname reflected that truth, prophetic from the moniker he’d given himself when he met his Julia: Lucianus. Bringer of light, he’d explained to her back then, wanting to light up the life of this beautiful woman he’d just met. He took the glass of water Carl offered him, drained it, and poured himself another. The name, though, was also associated with the greatest deceiver of all time: Lucifer. And sometimes, Luke felt very close to the devil himself. Was he a God, or was he something much worse? Only time would tell. His masters would soon return, and they would not be happy. Either Luke would deliver his people, becoming their salvation, or he would fall from his lofty perch, like his devilish namesake, and the rest of them would follow him into death.
With an ancient prayer, Luke again lifted the glass to his lips and drank deep. May this all turn out well in the end. The overlords were coming. May the gods save them all, for Luke wasn’t sure he could do it alone.