p class="MsoNormal"The setting sun peeked in behind through the blinds, prying into my consciousness like a nosy relative at Thanksgiving. From under the covers I groaned, annoyed at the fact that my day had to begin now, and curled into a ball briefly before throwing off the bedspread and sprawling all my limbs across the bed. I opened my amber eyes and glared at the offending light. "Goddamn Mondays," I grumbled under my breath as I rocked myself up into standing and stretched, the bright rays warm on my naked skin./p
p class="MsoNormal"I pulled my phone off the charger and shuffled over to her kitchen as I went through my emails. Nothing important. Just a Bed Bath Beyond coupon, the water bill, and a newsletter from the department. All of which were things that could wait until I'd had my coffee and gone on my run. I was so glad I'd invested in one of those single serve coffee pots that could be programmed. I never had to wait for my coffee to brew anymore. Setting the phone down, I brought the coffee to my lips and took a long sip. The liquid was the perfect thing to wake me up./p
p class="MsoNormal"I stepped out onto her back porch and surveyed my property in the golden light. It wasn't much. A small cabin on five wooded acres on the edge of Hope County, but it was just the amount of space and seclusion I needed. I sighed, loving the feel of the breeze in my hair and caressing my body, causing my nipples to pebble a bit with the slight chill. A shiver ran down my spine as I downed the rest of the coffee, setting my empty mug on the porch rail. Then, I leapt to the ground, not even bothering with the steps, and took off running across the yard feeling the change begin to come over me./p
p class="MsoNormal"Unlike the first few years of painful shifts, it now went through me like a ripple in the water. My bones rolled into their new shapes and positions gently, white fur sprouted from my ivory skin, and my tongue lengthened to lap at the air as I ran through the woods, paws silent on the forest floor. I ran and ran, stretching all of my muscles and taking in all the scents that had been left by the creatures who lived here. Finding a squirrel, I gave chase until it hightailed it up a tree where I couldn't follow. Not that I'd have hurt it. I rarely killed smaller animals, usually only extending that effort to the bigger game that happened onto my territory, like deer and pigs. Elk also wandered in occasionally, but I knew from past experience that those long antlers were dangerous to a lone wolf, and I left well enough alone. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe brown blur of a rabbit darted past me and I was contemplating chasing it when the sound of my phone ringing back at the cabin interrupted. Changing course, I put extra energy into my strides, reaching the porch in no time. I jumped over the steps once more and landed on human feet, dashing into the cabin to retrieve the phone. The display said it was my boss./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hello, Sheriff Whitehorse," I answered quickly just as it was about to go to voicemail. If it did that I would've never heard the end of it./p
p class="MsoNormal""Rook," he answered in an irritated tone. "I know you ain't supposed to be here for another hour and a half, but I need you to come on in— GOD DAMMIT, I'M WORKING ON IT!" He suddenly was shouting at someone in the background and I held the phone farther from my sensitive ears. He cleared his throat, and then he was back, "Sorry about that, Rook. We've got a Federal Marshal here throwing his dick around and it's pissing me off. I'll explain at briefing. Any ways, I'll see you soon?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yes Sir, I'll be there as soon as I can." I replied respectfully. A Federal Marshal meant there was some serious shit was going down, and there was no way I was going to miss that./p
p class="MsoNormal"***/p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey Rook," my fellow deputy Staci Pratt put his hand on my shoulder. I glanced at him trying not to let on just how nervous the prospect of a helicopter ride made me. If I'd been meant to fly I'd have been born with wings. "Listen I know this is your first big arrest since you transferred to the Sheriff's department, but don't worry, despite what the Marshal is spewing, the Eden's Gate folks seem to be real peaceful. We don't get many calls concerning them. I mean their religious folks, how bad can they be?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""You're probably right," I muttered back, eyeing the flying machine as we got ready to climb in. I pulled on my black tactical gloves in an effort to steel myself for air travel, "Thanks, Staci."/p
p class="MsoNormal""No problem," He grinned, before taking his seat at the controls./p
p class="MsoNormal"Shaking my head slightly, I looked away from the chopper for a moment. Pratt was becoming more and more of a friend over the past few months. One second he was looking out for me, and the next he was bringing me coffee spiked with hot style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanem style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Asshole/em. I smiled to myself at the thought. Looking back to the chopper, I found the gaze of another fellow deputy, Joey Hudson. Joey was a mystery to say the least. She didn't talk to me much, and always seemed to be looking down her nose at me for being a rookie, despite the fact that I'd been a cop a couple counties over for five years prior to joining the Hope County Sheriff's Department./p
p class="MsoNormal"For a moment, I thought she might actually say something to me, but then the Sheriff was helping me into the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAfter the Marshal and the Sheriff got settled, the helicopter rose into the air and everyone of my wolf instincts itched to leap back to the ground. My stomach lurched and I closed my eyes to help calm myself, and then felt a touch on my leg. The Marshal was handing me a phone with a video cued up to play. I watched it, and the things I saw gave me goose bumps and a chill down my spine. The Sheriff and Marshal began speaking to one another and I noticed the massive statue of our suspect looming close by. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanem style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Jeez, this guy must be a real narcissist./em As I eyed the statue, my instincts started whispering for me to leave this place. That there was danger near. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"***/p
p class="MsoNormal"I followed the Marshal and the Sheriff into the little church. The Eden's Gate people were putting me on edge. Almost every one of them was armed to the teeth, and they all looked like they may have itchy trigger fingers. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"So much for peaceful, Pratt./em Wary, I looked toward the target. Joseph Seed was not a small man by any means, but he was average; a far cry from the larger than life image that mounted the hill a few miles away. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHis hair line and yellow lensed aviators reminded me of my grandfather, but the marks on his body; they horrified me. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Lust, Sloth, Greed…/em The lunatic had sins carved into his skin alongside his tattoos. My eye caught movement behind him and I shifted my focus while still keeping a part of me aware of what was transpiring around me./p
p class="MsoNormal"A man who looked to be close to my age was there to the left. He didn't look like the rest of the cult people, as he was well dressed and looked to be clean, though I could scent the blood cling to his scent like a deathly perfume. I recognized him from a photo I'd seen at briefing: John Seed, Joseph's little brother./p
p class="MsoNormal"The Eden's Gate people were milling around her, Whitehorse, and the Marshal. Everything inside of me was screaming now. em strongRUN! DANGER IS HERE!/strong/em But my job meant I was anchored to my spot, and for a brief moment I felt a bit of relief as Joseph sent his men out. That lasted only until two more people moved behind him. /p
p class="MsoNormal"Faith Seed, a pretty young woman who looked like she should be in a country home magazine, not here, in a cult compound. She looked at us though she may have wanted us to come make daisy chains with her, as she held knife to each of our throats. A cloying, sickly sweet smell came from her making my nose tingle and I knew if I were to get close to her that it would seriously fuck me up./p
p class="MsoNormal"A red glint on the other side quickly grabbed my attention. Jacob Seed, the eldest Seed. The scent I got from him was confusing. It was earthy, like a forest after a storm, but it too was shaded in blood and death, and woven into it was the scent of wolves, but he was so clearly human. emBig guy,/em emaren't you./em My amber gaze traveled his form without hesitation, and I couldn't deny liking what I saw. He was well-muscled, and covered in scars as well, but she could tell that these were earned from battle. I could feel a dangerous attraction uncurling low in my belly. My eyes made their way to his face, and realized that he was staring at me too. His eyes had a hard glint to them, but it also seemed to hold some heat behind it, though that could just be my imagination. I doubted he liked me much since I was here to take his brother away. I was sure though, just from his stance, that if he were a wolf he'd be an alpha. He stood like a leader who wouldn't tolerate their orders not being followed to the letter./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Rookie," the marshal snatched my attention back. "Cuff this son of a bitch!"/p
p class="MsoNormal"I eyed Joseph Seed for a moment, and then did as I was told. He was compliant, volunteering even. There was no struggle. He just insisted that god would not let us take him, as he let me walk him out of the church; right to the chopper where he got in willingly. The chaos was brewing around us as his followers were growing rabid, and I was fighting the urge to shift and fight./p
p class="MsoNormal"Suddenly, the cultists were attacking—hanging off of the chopper and trying to get to their leader as it rose into the air. I kept the Marshal in the helicopter just as he was almost yanked out. And then there was a jolt before the helicopter faltered in the air before descending in a deadly, dizzying spiral to the ground below. Some part of my brain noted Joseph casually humming Amazing Grace as though we were in the pews on a Sunday, and not trapped in a burning machine, falling out of the sky. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThen we crashed hard into the trees banging roughly into the trunks and branches on the way down to the unforgiving ground, and my head slammed into the wall of the cab, effectively knocking me out./p