Page 29 of Her Wolves

The room went silent again.Many looks that I couldn’t read were exchanged between Neegan and Catrox, and between Neegan and the other Caloxi in the chamber, before Neegan finally spoke again.

“We must deliberate.There is much to discuss, and it must be done quickly.You will be kept within this chamber while we withdraw.”

Catrox got up from his chair, and without another word he and the other Caloxi filed out of the chamber, leaving us where we were.

I heard Kris say, “At least we’re not dead.”

No, we were not dead.However, we were still caught and helpless.And somewhere far above, there was still a battle going on.People were still fighting.If there was any chance that what we’d all just been through would put an end to this, it had to come soon.

CHAPTER 18

Nick

How long were the four of us stuck to that damn slab?An hour?However long it was, at some point I felt a humming, buzzing sensation up and down my body.

I said to the men and Tara, “Feel that?”

“Yes,” said Tara.

“Yeah,” said Lon and Kris.

“What do you think it means?” Kris asked.

“One of two things,” I guessed.“They’re pumping more energy into this thing and that’s how they’re going to execute us, or…”

Suddenly the humming sensation stopped—and I fell forward off of the slab and quickly got my footing on the floor in front of us, very much alive.Reflexively, I reached to my right and took Tara by one arm to make sure she didn’t fall when the same thing happened to her, while to my left, Lon and Kris also came loose from where we’d been pinned by that invisible force.

“Well,” said Lon, “that was no execution.But what’s next?”

Before any of us could make another guess, the blue-skins came striding back into the chamber from the rear portal from which they came before.Once again, the elder one, Neegan, and the empath, Catrox, took the lead.I was suddenly very aware that none of us werearmed.They’d taken our two-guns.That meant that if they turned aggressive, we’d have to fight them hand-to-hand, or whatever those appendages of theirs were, and protect the Princess at the same time.I looked them up and down.I had no prior knowledge of these Caloxi,no idea how strong they might be or how they might have been trained for combat.I knew only that in our wolf shapes we were stronger than human men.Stronger than aliens we’d never met before, though?That was thequestion.

Still, if they’d turned off the juice in that slab device and set us free from it, why come in and attack us now?They’d had us right where they wanted us.Killing the four of us while we were pinned there would have been a simple matter—no fighting back, just neat, clean, quick death.

I could go to wolf form in a flash, and so could Lon and Kris.If they rushed us, they’d be meeting three wolf men head-on.Preparing myself for anything, I instinctively put my right arm out to the side, in front of Tara, blocking her from them.The next move was theirs.

“There is no need for defense,” said Neegan.“You will not be harmed.”

Keeping my arm in front of Tara just in case it was a trick, I said, “What do you mean?Are you releasing us?Are we free?”

“You may depart as you wish,” Neegan said.“You may attack us in your other, animal bodies as you wish—though Catrox’s findings suggest that you will not.Our releasing you and facing you now is an act of risk, if not trust.What you do next will decide whether our risk was foolhardy.”

“It wasn’t,” said Tara.“It wasn’t foolhardy, and it wasn’t in vain.Trust is always a risk, just like going out across space and visiting other worlds was a risk for your people and ours.There’s always a chance of risk coming to danger.But not this time, Neegan.This time your trust was not in vain.We’re not your enemies.The Soorns are our common enemy.”

“She’s right,” said Kris.“We’re on the same side.”

The mood in the room was different now.The tension on both sides dropped like a meteor.I lowered my arm, but still stayed close to Tara.

Tara said, “On Earth, long ago, our two species, humans and wolf metamorphs, mostly didn’t trust each other.We feared each other and fought each other.Most of my kind didn’t know how to live with their kind.But a few of us, just a few at first, learned that the other kind weren’t monsters.We learned that we all had the same feelings; we all had the same fears.And just a few of us learned how to love each other.That was how things slowly changed.Today the lycanthropes live alongside us.And many of us do care for each other and love each other.”She touched me on the arm that I’d held out to protect her.“Some of them even protect us.They’re our friends.I believe it’s possible for our two species and yours to be friends.First, we have to learn to work together to save all of us.Then, maybe, we can try for something more.”

“That is what my empathy with you suggests,” said Catrox.“That is what we have been deliberating together since we left you.And that is the reason for the risk of releasing you.”

“What do you want to do now?” I asked.

“The female stated that she is the daughter of the one who leads you,” replied Neegan.He faced Tara and said, “We would have words with him.”

Tara looked over at me.She wore a hint of a smile, a look of encouragement.“We’d better get going,” she said.

The Princess had spoken.Neegan said to Catrox, “Select those who will accompany you and equip yourselves.Return the metamorphs’ weapons to them.Depart quickly and seek out their leader.Remain in communication.”

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