Page 33 of Cursed Wolf

The alleged vampire sightings ended up being a huge waste of time. We couldn’t smell the blood suckers anywhere near where they supposedly had been, according to a few very unreliable witnesses. When we interviewed more people in the area, both angel and human, no one had seen any vampires. Derric and the leader of the angels, Camael, got into a shouting match which had to be broken up before it turned into a physical fight. That was our cue to turn tail and leave the winged assholes to deal with their own problems.

Our relationship with the angels was…complicated. Technically, we were allies. They had joined our side in the war against the vampires. Derric and Camael got along well most of the time. But it was times like these, when they called us for aid, that really showed the friction between our two species.

Angels were fucking snobs by nature, quite frankly. Maybe it was the flying thing, or all the folklore about them being divine beings or whatever, but they seemed to think of all other species as beneath them. Especially vampires, who spent most of their time underground to escape the sun, but despite our alliance, I got a sense that werewolves weren’t considered much higher on the totem pole.

We were creatures of the earth, ruled by our senses, instincts, and the moon. Sure, we acted like animals, because we fucking were. And the angels, looking down at us from the skyline of their pristine city, their wings shimmering in the sun, didn’t see us as equals. It was never explicitly stated but more of a general feeling my packmates and I got whenever we interacted with them. Sawyer often grumbled that they treated us like guard dogs, commanding us to bark and growl at every tiny perceived threat while they flew well out of range of any danger.

After a bullshit call like this, I couldn’t agree more.

I was annoyed that most of my day had been wasted. Almost all of the pack went to Stout & Spirit to unwind with some drinks, but I didn’t feel like getting rowdy with them tonight. I wanted quiet, peace. Thank the moon the pack lodge was empty.

I showered and settled into bed just as my phone rang. “Unknown Caller” flashed across my screen and I answered it with a puzzled, “Hello?”

Light static crackled across the line, but my mate’s voice was clear. “Hi, Tryn? It’s Emmaline.”

“Hey.” The word became long and drawn out with the smile spreading across my face. “Finally gave it a shot, huh?”

“Yeah.” She laughed. “I’m surprised it worked. Took a minute to connect, though.”

“I’m glad you called.” I brought one arm behind my head, relaxing into the mattress at the sound of her voice. Closing my eyes, I imagined she was here, talking to me in person with her head on my chest. “How are you?”

“Good.” There was a pause, and then she breathed out a heavy sigh. “I’m exhausted, actually. It’s been a long day.”

“Yeah? Tell me about it.” I shifted in bed, sitting up a little higher. “Busy day at the restaurant?”

“Crazy busy. I worked the lunch and dinner shift, and we were packed the whole time. I also didn’t sleep great, so you know, compounding exhaustion.”

“Sorry to hear that. Any reason why you didn’t sleep well?” I wondered if the approaching full moon was already affecting her. The lack of a mating bite and impending sexual frustration was a hell of a sleep killer, or so I’d heard.

“I don’t really know. My brain was just wired after you dropped me off, so I stayed up applying for more jobs.”

“How’s the job search going?”

“It’s going,” she sighed. “Nothing noteworthy yet. Anyway, I’m sorry to complain. How was your day?”

“Don’t be sorry. You can unload on me anytime.” Fuck, I really wished she was here in person and not a disembodied voice in my ear. “My day was fine. I visited my grandmother in the morning, then just dealt with work stuff the rest of the day.”

“Oh, are you close with your grandmother?” Emmaline’s voice pitched a little higher.

“Yeah, she’s the one that raised me, as well as one of my close friends that works with me.”

“I want to say that’s really sweet, but I guess it’s also sad because it means something happened with your parents.”

“They died a long time ago. My friend’s parents too. There was a…a conflict when we were younger. It affected a lot of families in our community.”

“Oh, Tryn. I’m so sorry, that’s awful.”

The earnest sympathy in her voice was a shock to my system, and I realized she was the first person outside of Vargmore that I’d told about my parents’ deaths. Not that the other survivors of the vampire war weren’t sympathetic. It was just different because we all had been in it. My losses were everyone’s in Vargmore. We all grieved together, leaned on each other, but we also hyper focused on survival. Many thought that the war would cause our extinction.

After the truce was signed and the borders between our territories established, we were all focused on rebuilding. The Howling Death pack was formed, and then we became a motorcycle club. In all that time, I couldn’t think of a single instance in which anyone took the time to truly mourn and reflect on how devastating our losses were.

And it wasn’t just the deaths that devastated but also all the families that fled to the human world and suppressed their abilities. My parents and grandparents’ generations believed those wolves were lost forever. Now, with the emerging latent wolves, I felt a sweet spark of hope emerge. Our people were finding their kind and coming home.

“Thank you for saying that,” I said to Emmaline after a long pause. “I don’t often think about how awful it was.”

“I can understand why; it must be so painful.”

Animals were good at hiding their pain. And werewolves were no different.

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