Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2004 23:39:56 -0700 (PDT)
From: CloseTheCellarDoor <closethecellardoor@yahoo.com>
Subject: Evil is a Man:    Dog Eat Dog No More  ---- Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN


It was seven o' clock, and once again Will and I had the den to ourselves.
Case dragged Russ off for more of his beloved sightseeing, Matt had a date
with the woman he met on the flight here, Cougar was out cruising the bars
desperately seeking a date for himself, and Malcolm was out doing god knows
what.

Earlier in the day, Will had pushed the furniture in our room around;
creating an open space in the center of the room to allow for working
out--and working out was what he'd been doing for the passed couple hours.
He wanted to be in tip top shape for his fight with Hadrian, and he had
been training hard all through the day while I sat back and relaxed,
thankful and relieved that I had already fought my last fight.

I walked into our bedroom from the main room of the den, carrying a soda
with me.  Will was on the ground doing sit-ups.  He was wearing gym shorts
and tennis shoes but has his shirt off, and, like usual when he worked out,
he was covered with sweat.

"How are you doing?" I asked him.

"We need weights," he answered between sit-ups.  "I've done about as much
as I can do without any equipment."

"Maybe we should join a gym," I suggested.

He grabbed my ankle as I walked passed him.  "Want to help me out here?" he
asked.

I set down my soda on the nightstand.  "What do you want me to do?"

He jumped to his feet, raised his fists, and started hopping around in
front of me like a boxer might do.  "Let's fight," he said, hitting me
playfully in the shoulder.  "Come on," he goaded

"I don't want to fight," I complained.  "I want to take it easy."

He hit me again.  "You afraid?" he teased.  "I bet I could beat you this
time.  Our fight in Philidelphia was just a fluke--I was having a bad day."

"You were not," I said.  "You were fighting better than ever that day."

He punched me playfully again.  "Come on, let's see what ya got."

"I don't want to get bloody," I said.

He reached forward and grabbed my neck into a headlock with his sweaty,
muscular arm.  "We'll just wrestle then.  It'll be like old times."

I pulled my head out of his arm, wiping his sweat off of my face.  "You're
all sweaty," I whined.

"So?  You don't care, you like my sweat."  He kicked off his shoes, pulled
off his socks, and yanked his shorts down.  His black pubic hair was matted
with sweat-- with my werewolf nose the smell permeated my senses.

"You want to do this naked?" I asked him.

"Of course," he said, grinning impishly.

I quickly took off my clothes as he watched and waited.

"You all set?" he asked me once I was as naked as him.

"Yeah," I replied.

He came at me, leaning forward and down, trying to grab my waist, but I
bent down as well and met him head on.  My cheek pushed against his cheek,
our shoulders pressed into each other, and he grabbed at my arms, covering
them with his sweat.

He grabbed the back of my head and pulled my face into his rank armpit, the
thick black hairs of which were drenched in sweat.  His smell once again
assaulted my senses.

He was laughing at the position he had forced me into.

"Get off of me," I said.  "That's disgusting."

"Oh, come on, kid," he said.  "Don't pretend you don't like it."

And he was right, I did like his smell.  It was distinct from the smell of
any other man--smelling Will's sweat seemed to trigger in me overwhelming
feelings of comfort, warmth, and lust.

But I pulled away from his armpit and pressed my shoulders against his once
again, both of us leaning forwards in this odd sort of embrace.

We struggled for a while like that before I grabbed his shoulders and
shoved them downwards.  Will slid down and fell face forward onto the
ground.  As he landed, he grabbed my ankles and yanked them backwards.
Seeing how I was already leaning forward, this little maneuver made me lose
my balance and fall face first onto Will's body.

I landed with my dick against the back of his neck and my face slamming
into his hot, sweaty ass.  I lifted my face off of him, looking down at the
muscular globes of his ass, and I definitely lost my concentration.  Will
always had that effect on me.

Will, moving fast, crawled out from under me.  I got to my knees and so did
he.  I stood up and he was charging me, wrapping his arms tightly around my
ribs and lifting me into the air, squeezing me painfully.  I tried to pull
his arms off of me but they wouldn't budge, and they were too slick with
sweat for me to get a good grip on.  So, I lifted my feet up and wrapped my
thighs around his hips, squeezing him in my own way.

This pressed by cock and balls right into his sweaty pelvis.  I twisted and
squirmed against him, loving the feeling of my dick rubbing into his furry
skin, and it wasn't long before I was hard.

He raised an eyebrow and smiled at me.  "You like that, huh?" he said,
squeezing me ever harder against his body and reaching down to grab my ass.

I shoved his chest hard with my hands, trying to knock him off balance, but
he remained firmly planted, chuckling at my attempt.

He let himself fall forward instead, driving my back into the floor,
knocking the wind out of me.

"You're on your back," he warned me.

I had forgotten for a moment that we were wrestling.  I quickly planted my
feet into the ground along with my elbows, lifting up my body and taking
the weight off my back.

Suddenly Will climbed up my body and straddled my face with his knees in a
move that was decidedly sexual.  He locked his sweaty thighs against the
side of my face, and leaned over, completely covering my head with his
body.  My nose and mouth were embedded in his wet, curly bush, and my chin
was against the base of his cock.

I inhaled, taking as much of his scent into my nostrils as I possibly
could, loving the smell of my man.

"I can hear you sniffin' around down there," he said.  "You like the stink
of my sweat, don't ya pup?"

I responded by opening my lips and tasting his wet, matted pubes with my
tongue.  I took them into my mouth and clamped my lips upon them, squeezing
his juice into me.

He laughed some and scooted his body further up, leading the base of his
flaccid dick right to my waiting lips.  I licked along the base of it as he
slid his body upwards, wanting so badly to take it into my mouth.  After a
torturously slow journey, the massive pink cockhead finally arrived at my
waiting lips.  I hungry gulped the head into my mouth, sucking fervently.

I felt his cock start to twitch and harden as he let out a gentle grunt.
This excited me further, I was ready to give him one hell of a blowjob.

"Alright, alright," he said, pulling his dick out of my mouth, much to my
distress.  "We're in the middle of a fight, remember?"

"You're the one who sat on my face," I reminded him.

He got off of me, pulled me to my feet, and we started the match again,
only this time both of us were hard and dripping precum all over each
other.

It wasn't too long before I ended up on my back again, with Will on top of
me.  I bridged up, keeping my back off the floor, and he was having trouble
pinning me down.

"You can't break me," I teased him as he wrestled around with my body,
trying to get me down.

"You want a bet?" he said.  "Stay in that position."

He climbed up off of me, walked over to my head, and then kneeled down.  He
put a knee on each side of my face again, straddling my head, only this
time he was facing the opposite direction as me, his body landing forward
upon mine.  This resulted in his huge, sweaty testicles covering my mouth.

"If you're trying to suffocate me with your nuts," I said, my voice coming
out muffled against his scrotum, "then you might be successful."

"I came for your dick," he said.  "Do what you want with my nuts."

I felt him nuzzle into my crotch and inhale deeply.

"Ah," he said.  "I've always loved the smell of my own sweat," he said,
"but you're the first person whose sweat I like even better than my own."

I tingled all over as I felt him run his fat tongue up the length of my
dick.  I eagerly sucked at his balls, the only thing I had access to at the
moment since his erection was pressed up against my neck.

He sucked my dick into his mouth, going all the way down on me, and I
moaned with delight.  He wrapped his arms around my thighs, rubbing them
gently.  He licked and lapped at my cock, and the pleasure was so intense
that I collapsed to the ground.

After a few more seconds of sucking, he pulled his mouth off, slapped my
ass, and then spun his body around, laying it down upon mine, dick to dick.

"I won," he said, grinning.  "You're losing your strength," he said.

"Well, it's sort of hard to stay tough when you have my dick in your
mouth."

"Even so," he said, "you're not fighting as strong as you used to.  You
need to buck up, find your aggression again."

"Just shut the hell up and kiss me," I said.

He smiled wickedly again, wrapped his arms around me, and lowered his mouth
to mine.  His stubble scraped my cheek as his lips pushed against mine and
our tongues met.

When he had finally pulled away, I told him, "You know, you're the only
person I've ever kissed."

"No joke?" he asked.  "You never kissed any of the other wolves?"

I shook my head.  "None of them would have kissed me, it would threaten
their heterosexuality."

"What about Case?" he asked.

"Case never kissed me either," I answered.  "He probably would have, if I
had given it more time.  But I'm glad now that I didn't.  I like knowing
that you're the only one I've kissed."

He kissed me again, briefly.  "You're the only man I've ever kissed, how
does that sound?"

"It sounds wonderful," I said.  And I kissed him again.

It was all so perfect.  As we kissed, I reached down and grabbed his ass,
completely exhilarated with the knowledge that this perfect body, this
perfect man was mine to do as I pleased with.  No more wondering or hoping
anxiously, no more sexual frustration, just complete openness and honesty
and togetherness.  It was what I had always dreamed of, and it was here
right in front of me, in my arms.

"I love you," I whispered softly as his lips gently touched my own.

He leaned up, looking down at me.  "What did you say?"

"I love you, Will," I said, louder and more firmly, looking him straight in
the eye.

He looked back at me coldly.  "Don't say that," he said.

He peeled his body off of mine, our hard dicks connected by a strand of
precum as he moved away from me, until the strand broke and I was left
alone on the floor, feeling cold for once.

"Don't take this to that level," he said bitterly, moving across the room
from me.

I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing.  I suddenly felt like the
fragile kid I had once been, trying my best to fight back the tears that
were threatening to invade my eyes.

He sat down against the wall, putting his face in his hands and his elbows
on his knees.  "You're just a nineteen-year-old kid," he said angrily.
"You don't know shit about love.  You don't even know what that word
means."

"Yeah, before that was true," I said.  "But now I know what it means for
the first time.  I've never loved anyone before you, Will, not even my
family, not really.  I know that I love you, I don't care how old I am."

He chuckled doubtfully.  "Puppy love.  That's what you're feeling, and
that's all."

I shook my head, rising to my feet.  "Puppy love is what I had for Case,
for Matt, for my dorm roommate."  I walked over to him, looked down at him.
"What I feel for you could never ever compare.  Couldn't even come close."

I straddled his body, sat on his knees, and grabbed his dick in my hand,
which he accepted passively.  His cock was still hard and glistening with
sweat and precum.  I pressed it back against my own cock and scooted my
body up his thighs until I was pressed into his body once again.

"How can I prove to you that I love you?" I said.

"You already have," he answered.  "For some reason, I believe you."

I kissed him excitedly.  "I don't care that you don't feel the same way
about me," I reassured him.  "Maybe someday that will change."

"Ain't nothing gonna change, kid," he said, shaking his head.  "Cause I've
loved you from the start."

"You did?" I asked, overjoyed.  "How come you didn't tell me that before?"

He shrugged.  "Cause I thought you weren't capable of the same kind of
feeling."  He smiled warmly.  "Now I know I was wrong."

He kissed me again, more passionately than ever, as he wrapped his arms
around my back and pulled me in as tight against his body as he would go.
Our cocks wiggled together, furiously spewing precum, and he started to
rock his body gently up and down.

His dick slid up and down my own, and I excitedly thrust my pelvis against
his, thrusting my cock up and down upon his.  I felt his hands slide down
and grasp each of my buttcheeks, and he used his arms to push and pull my
body against his own, kissing me like mad all the while.

We were both already so worked up from the wrestling match that it didn't
take long for us to cum.  Our orgasms reached us at the same time, pleasure
moving back and forth between our bodies as we both stiffened
simultaneously.  Will bit onto my lower lip and both of us started to shoot
together, flooding our bellies with hot, sticky cum that mingled together
and coated both of our cocks.  As my seed stopped and his had let down to a
trickle, I kissed him again, knowing that this time had been different and
more pleasurable than all the others because for the first time it was sex
between two individuals whose love for each other was professed and out in
the open.

Quite simply, it was perfect.  I looked forward to exploring this new level
of intimacy with Will in the time to come.

Later that night, after all the other wolves had returned and were tucked
safely away in their beds, Will and I lay in our own bed, wrapped together
in a loving embrace.

"You think I can beat Hadrian for us when the time comes?" he asked me.

"You'll beat him," I said.  "I believe in you."

He seemed to think this over for a moment.  "If I'm going to beat him, I
need your help," he said, his hand resting on my cheek.

"What can I do for you?" I asked, not able to think of any way to help him.
Then my face developed a twisted smile as I remembered how he had helped me
out before my fight with Watts.  "You want me to calm you down before the
fight?" I suggested.

He laughed.  "Not what I was thinking, but you could do that for me too.  I
want you to help me out during the fight."

"How so?" I asked.

"We won't know what kind of tricks Hadrian's planning for this fight until
the fight actually begins.  Remember how in my last fight, Hadrian was
trying to blind me with those goddamn flashlights?  Your quick thinking
there saved my ass.  I expect the same service for the next fight."  He
looked at me firmly.  "Keep an eye open.  If you find a way to help me out,
do it.  You're a bright kid.  I know you'll see things that I would miss.
Will you do that for me?"

"Of course," I said.  "I'll help you any way I can."

"Good," he said.  "That way it won't just be my win.  It'll be both of
ours.  You'll bring the brains and I'll provide the muscle."

"Deal," I said.

"We'll beat Hadrian together," he said.  "That's the only way we'll get it
done."

*****

A couple days later the full moon reared its ugly head once again, never
taking into consideration the inconvenience its presence had on things like
an ongoing wolf tournament.  Hadrian promised that the next fight's details
would be handed out soon after the full moon, and let all of his guests
know that victims would be provided for them, as well as for us Philly
refugees in the old den.

I wondered where Hadrian would possibly find 50 or so victims needed to
feed the multitude of hungry wolves.  Will told me that Hadrian collected
lost souls from all over the UK to become food for his den.  I was quite
disturbed that I wouldn't know anything about the men my wolves were
supposed to kill, but there was really no alternative for us.  Our pack
didn't know London well enough to find evil doer victims of our own, so we
had to rely upon Hadrian's men to provide for us this horrible necessity.

It was almost sunset on the night of the full moon and the English wolves
still hadn't made their delivery, which was starting to worry me.  It
crossed my mind that Hadrian might deviously try to deny us victims in an
attempt to do us in.  I told Will this concern, and he said that if it came
down to the wire, we'd go over to Hadrian's and raise hell, taking their
victims for ourselves if need be.  In the meantime, he said, we should just
assume the victims were coming as planned.

Finally, fifteen minutes before sunset, the wolves arrived.  We opened the
garage door for them and they drove a black van inside, opening the back
and pulling out four unconscious victims, as requested.

"They're women," I said, following the wolves down towards the kennel.

All four of them were female, looking to be in their thirties.  All of them
had been stripped naked.

"Yes they are," said Matt, excitedly.  "Not all that bad looking either."

"Where you want `em?" asked one of the wolves when we had entered the
kennel, as if they were pieces of furniture instead of living people.

"Put them each in their own cell," said Will.

The wolves tossed the women hurriedly into four cells, and then rushed back
out towards their van.

"I've never eaten a woman before," I said to Will, disturbed.

"Well it's just the same as a man, isn't it?" he asked.

Of course he was right, what was the difference really?  But somehow the
women lying unconscious in our kennel seemed to look more innocent and
fragile than the usual tough guy victims I had gotten used to eating.  This
tugged on my conscience even more.

"Where do you think Hadrian found these women?" I asked no one in
particular, as everyone was in the kennel now, getting undressed.

"Maybe they're prostitutes," suggested Case.

"Prostitutes?" I asked, concerned more than ever.  "Prostitutes may be
breaking the law, but they don't deserve to die for it, right?"

"It was just a guess," said Case, brushing it off.  "I don't know, they
could be anything.  Killers even."

Will's firm hand fell onto my shoulder.  "We don't have time to worry about
this," he told me.  "Get dressed, come on."

I quieted my nagging conscience and started to take off my clothes like the
rest of them were doing.

"Which one of us gets to have their own cell?" asked Russ.

"Malcolm," I said.  "Malcolm has the biggest appetite.  He should be the
one to have the victim to himself."

"Thanks, boss," Malcolm said as he went into a cell with one of the naked
women and locked himself in.

"The rest of us will pair up," Will said, pulling me into a cell for us to
share.  I didn't even want to look into the face of the woman resting
between our feet.

"Who am I supposed to pair up with?" asked Cougar as Russ and Case started
to get into a cell together without any difficulty.

"Me, of course," said Matt as he went into the last cell.

"Uh-uh," said Cougar.  "You always hog all the good parts," he said.

"Well, it's not like I can help what I do when I'm a wolf, can I?"

"Just get in the goddamn cell with him and stop complaining," said Russ.

"Fine," said Cougar, sulkily moving towards into the cell.  "But I want you
to remember this if you find me dead on the floor in the morning because I
didn't get enough meat."

"Stop being such a dumbass and lock the door," said Matt.

Cougar complied.

As the sun set outside, my anxiety seemed to take me over.  I really hated
this sick obligation of wolf life.

Will pressed his hand over my heart, feeling it race madly.  "Relax," he
said quietly.  "Before you know it, it'll be over."

I forced a smile, and then realized that I was comforted and calmed by
Will's presence.  During my previous full moons Will had been my enemy.  I
locked my eyes onto his, refusing to look down at the victim below.  He was
looking at me with nothing but love and understanding.  The compassion in
those eyes lent me courage.

My racing heart calmed itself just before the transformation from man into
beast began.  Notions of fear, love, and understanding fell away into
nothingness, and were forcibly replaced by the burning hunger.  I turned
away from Will and looked down at the food between our feet.  It was such a
simple yet powerful need that led me to take my first bite.

Hours later, when the sun would soon once again grant us our intellect and
free-will, I lay on the floor of our cell beside Will, chewing away at the
bones of the sacrificed victim.  Even in that diminished mental state I
somehow managed to feel an odd sort of affection for the wolf sharing my
cell, not understanding any real concept of the relationship we had, but
knowing he was valued nonetheless.  The feeding was long gone, along with
the terrible hunger, and all that remained was quiet fulfillment.

My tranquility was ripped out from under me as a threatening smell entered
my nostrils.

Beside me, Will dropped the bone from his mouth and stood up against the
bars.  I did the same, quickly and urgently.

Two intruders came into the kennel then.  I knew by their smell that they
were not one of us, and they weren't food either.  No, they were quite
simply the enemy.

My feeble mind couldn't absorb any physical details of the intruders except
for their alarming smell, but their images were burned into my mind later
for me to digest when I was once again my old self.

They were both handsome men, with beautifully carved facial features.  Both
were about average height--both were lean and muscular.  And both were
wearing identical, stylish suits.

That's where the similarities between these men ended.

The one that walked a little bit behind the other was Asian with a dark
pair of sunglasses on, preventing me from seeing his eyes.  He had a
detached sort of calmness expressed in his steady walk and rigid face.  He
looked to be about thirty.

The other one, the one that was leading, looked younger, and was Caucasian.
He had sandy brown hair on his head and a maniacal grin across his face,
and was lighter on his feet, walking with a cheerful sort of bounce.

This one had a long dagger in his hand, and scraped it along the bars as he
walked into a kennel, sending Will, myself, and all the other wolves into
an angry uproar.

"Calm down, puppies," he said, although I of course wasn't able to
understand these words at the time.

Malcolm, the largest wolf among us, went nuts as the men crossed in front
of his cell, snarling and growling, his foamy slobber dripping all over the
floor.

"Sit, boy," commanded the man with the knife.  Malcolm didn't obey.  "Oh,
how I'd love to make you listen," said the man, poking at him teasingly
with the knife.

"Is this him?" asked the Asian man, pulling out a blade of his own.

"No," said the Caucasian.  "A pity."

He moved on, looking into Cougar and Matt's cell, then Case and Russ's.
Finally he stood on the other side of the bars from Will and myself,
perusing our every feature.

Will and I were going even more berserk than Malcolm had.

The man's childlike eyes lit up suddenly.  "He's in here," he said happily.

The Asian man joined his comrade at the bars of our cell, looking between
us.  "Which one is he?"

The Caucasian man gave out a high pitched, demented little laugh.  "Perhaps
you can figure it out for yourself," he said.  His hand playfully unlocked
the gate that I was pushing against.

That gate flew open with the power of a rocket and I stormed out of the
cell and onto the surprised Asian man in front of me.  As I bit into his
forearm, my teeth slicing right through his suit and into his skin, he
pulled his arm away from me but didn't scream.

"This one's strong," he said, raising his dagger to meet me.

Behind us, Will had followed me out of the cell and was now baring his
teeth at the Asian angrily.

I howled as I felt a piercing pain in my side.  I turned to the see the
sharp end of a blade embedded into my ribs.  At the other end of this blade
was the Causasian man, moaning pleasurably as he pushed it deeper inside of
me.

I pulled off the blade and charged this man before he could raise his
weapon against me.

"I'll take this one," said the man I was fighting.  "You take the other."

Will and the Asian man had begun a similar battle beside us.  "This one's
just as strong," said the Asian man.  "Which one is it?"

The Caucasian just laughed playfully.

I fought this man with every bit of strength I could muster.  I knew then,
even with my complete lack of reasoning, that I was a good bit stronger
than him.  When I pushed him about, his body gave way to my force.  When he
hit me with anything less than his weapon, his blows could not harm me.

But my strength crumpled against the force of his speed.  He took a few
claw swipes from me, but dodged every bite I attempted to inflict, rushing
to and fro around the room with a speed that made me dizzy.

And then, to seal my fate and end the battle permanently, he sunk his fangs
into my shoulder.  I growled furiously and smashed his face with my paw,
hurtling him across the room into the wall.  He fell to the floor, his head
twisted unnaturally.

Sick laughter started to pour out of his twisted neck.  He got to his feet,
grabbed his head, and twisted it with as awful crackling until it was
facing forward and once again operable.  "Come here, little puppy-dog," he
said to me, smiling evilly.

I took one step towards him and fell to the ground, feeling dazed and
drugged and almost slipping into unconsciousness.  I felt a sharp kick to
my stomach, jolting me awake painfully, but I didn't have the strength to
stand.

"Ohh," called out the Caucasian in a decidedly sexual sort of way as he
continued to kick me.  "Oh how I love this flesh," he said to his comrade,
looking down at his muscular form.

But his comrade was in trouble, trapped under Will's beastly weight as he
was violently chewed into.

"Look at you," chastised the Caucasian man.  "If you want a job done..."

He bared his teeth and bent down towards Will's neck, but Will's paw flung
the man violently away.  Will stood up, fixated on this new prey, as the
Asian man, bloody and weak, crawled quickly out of sight.

The Caucasian man lifted his sword, swinging it towards Will, but Will
caught the man's wrist in between his jaws.

The man dropped his weapon as Will crunched harder, and he forced a laugh
through his anguished pain.  "This dog's a biter," he said, baring his own
fangs.  "See, doggy?  I can bite too."

The man leaned down and bit Will on the head, just a tiny bite before Will
dropped the man's wrist and shook him away.

But just as it had been for me, Will showed signs of fatigue.  He stepped
back, and slumped into a corner, his eyes open but slightly glazed.

The Asian man stood up, once again completely composed though his suit was
torn and bloody.  "Which is it?" he asked.  "Quickly--it's almost sunrise."

The Caucasian man's eyes danced playfully from me to Will and back.
"They're both as powerful as any wolf I've had the pleasure of fighting,"
he said.  "But one of them bears the mark I've been instructed to look for,
and the other does not," he said.  Then he picked up his sword, glided
towards Will, and scraped the tip of it across Will's pelvis.  "See?  The
scorpion.  It's this one."

The Asian walked towards Will, lifting his weapon, meaning to strike.

The Caucasian lifted his own weapon to block his comrade's progress.  "No,"
he hissed.  "I want to do it myself."

The Asian man walked off, moving back towards the door, looking hesitantly
at the five other wolves in the room who shook the bars of their cells
angrily.  "Then do it," he said.  "Quickly."  He looked at his watch.

A happy smile spread across the Caucasian man's lips as he lifted his
weapon and gazed upon Will.  "With pleasure," he said.

He set the point of the blade to Will's furry throat, and then, with a
gratifying gasp, he plunged the blade into the skin.

I trembled with fury upon witnessing this, my simple mind only able to
comprehend that my enemy was hurting one of my own.  But, with all of my
effort, all I could manage was a bit of a squirm and an angry howl.

"Ah," cried the Caucasian deliriously as he slid his blade through the
flesh of Will's throat, blood pouring down upon the man's hand.

"Sunrise is upon us," said the Asian from the door.  "We have to go, now!"

"I'm not finished," said the other one.

"That's good enough.  Let's go!"

Frustrated, the Caucasian removed the blade from Will's throat as Will
tumbled to the ground.  Then, shaking with invigoration, he moved towards
the door.  "Is there any pleasure more great than designing the slow death
of a werewolf?" he asked his comrade as the two of them rushed out of the
room together.

About a minute passed before I regained my mobility; as soon as I could I
was heading for the door, some instinct inside of me pushing me to give
chase to the intruders.  No reason gave way to my aggression; nothing
reminded me that the vampires would be running from me with at least twice
my speed.

I only reached as far as the kennel door before the morning transformation
began again.  Slowly, as my body painfully shrunk in size, the agony, the
anger, and the anxiety grew to monstrous proportions.

I turned on my heels and ran back towards Will's form on the ground on the
other side of the room.  His body had changed back into that of the
familiar man, but otherwise he remained in the same state of distress as
before.  His head seemed just barely connected by his wounded neck.  Blood
was rapidly leaving his body and pouring out all over him.  His eyes were
wide open, and his body was twitching painfully.  All of it together
combined to create the most horrible sight I had ever laid eyes upon, and I
was painfully aware how close he was to death.

I kneeled down beside him, my knees dropping into a pool of his blood, and
put my hands over his open wound, wanting so much to fill the hole in his
throat with the flesh of my hands.  My fingers were trembling as I touched
him; my whole body was shaking.

I was almost too horrified to speak, but I had to talk him through this.
"Will, I know it's hard but you have to heal yourself," I said.

His eyes looked up at me, sad imploring eyes as he gasped and coughed.

"I know you're trying," I said, forcing a smile.  "But you have to try
harder."

The others had come out of their cells.  Case came over and knelt down on
the other side of him.  Russ stood over Will's head and looked down.  The
others stood around us, watching, not saying a word.

"He's hurt bad," said Russ, shaking his head.

I looked up at Russ.  "You can save him, right?"  If Russ knew how to help
him, I was willing to beg for his help if that's what it came down to.  I
had no dignity and pride to speak of in this awful moment.

Russ wouldn't look me in the eye.  He stared at Will's pallid face, unable
to answer.

"We need to cover the wound," said Case, as calm as a paramedic.
Uncharacteristically, I found his leadership to be absolutely comforting.
"One of you get me some clothes, quick," he instructed the others.

Malcolm retrieved his sweatpants and handed these silently to Case.  Case
surrounded Will's neck with the pants, tying them tightly.

I grabbed Will's hand.  Except for the occasional twitch, there was no
movement in it.  It worried me.  "See?" I said, my voice shaking.  "They're
going to help you."

His eyes never left mine.  Even when Case was wrapping his wound, his eyes
were glued to mine.

"He's still losing so much blood," Case said as the yellow fabric of
Malcolm's sweat pants quickly turned red.  "We should sit him up," said
Case.  "We have to elevate the wound."

As Case and I started to lift him, Russ shook his head above us.  "No,
you'll kill him if you sit him up," he said.  "You raise his head above his
body and he'll lose consciousness."  Russ sat down and tilted Will's head
back.  He grabbed my hand and pulled it under Will's neck.  "Hold him
here," he said.  "Keep his neck raised but his head on the ground."

I held my hand firmly under Will, so glad that I was able to help in even
this small manner.  I held my arm firmly against him, positive that his
life hinged upon my efforts.

But nothing was changing.  His flesh wasn't repairing itself.

"What's wrong?" I cried out, anxious tears stinging my eyes.  "Why isn't he
healing?"

"Look at his body," said Russ, leaning down and pointing.  "He's got no
control over it.  His spine has been severed.  His body's trying to fix
itself, but it can't."

"So, what do we do?" I asked.  "How do we fix the spine?"

Russ shook his head sadly.  "We can't.  He's as good as dead."

These words stung brutally.  But then, what could Russ possibly know?  He
was an eternal pessimist.

"You're wrong," I told him, angrily.  Quickly I turned to Case.  "Case,
tell me how to help him and I'll do it."

Case's eyes darted across Will's body anxiously.  "I don't know, Rick.  I
don't know what else to do.  If Will is going to survive this, he's going
to have to do it on his own."

On his own.  Will was as tough as anyone I had ever known.  If anyone had
the strength to save himself on his own, then it was Will.

With one arm under his neck, I put my free hand against Will's face,
knowing that he probably couldn't feel it on his hand anyhow.  His eyes
were still with me, still showing his inner strength.

"You need to fight it, Will, that's what you do," I said.  "You're a
survivor, you will survive this too."

He opened his mouth, letting out a series of horrific gasping sounds that
just barely resembled words.

"He's trying to tell me something," I said frantically.  "What's he
saying?"

Case shrugged across from me, completely at a loss.

Will attempted his words again, urging me with his eyes to understand
whatever he was trying to say.  He started to cough blood out of his mouth
in little spurts.

"Don't try to talk anymore Will, just use your strength to heal yourself,"
I said, rubbing his cheek with my hand.

More coughing, more blood gushing out of his mouth, and then his eyes
rolled back into his head.

"No, no, no," I said, slapping his cheek lightly.  "Come on, Will, stay
awake."

His eyes opened again, and locked onto me with another burst of strength.
I smiled at him and rubbed his cheek with my thumb.

Then, quite suddenly, his gasps stopped, as did his twitching.  Only his
eyes upon my own gave me any sort of hope that he had some life still left
in him.

"Will, come on," I said, shaking his head a bit, and as I did so, I
realized that his eyes were no longer following me; they were just staring
straight ahead into nothing.

I shook him more fiercely.  "Will, come on!  Don't do this!"

I couldn't remember when the tears had started coming, but they were
flowing earnestly now upon his wilted face.

Case looked over at me.  "Rick, he's gone," he said.

I shook my head.  "No, he's not," I said.  "He'll come back from this.
Just watch."

I stared into Will's face as if the strength of my gaze alone had the power
to rouse him.  I rubbed my hand along his cheek, feeling his stubble under
my fingers, the outline of his jaw, the corner of his mouth.

"He's not coming back," said Russ, walking away from the body.  "Give it
up, it's not gonna happen."

I ignored Russ, willing with every fiber of my being for Will to recover
himself, to make any sign of life once again, even if it was just the
tiniest little twitch, just to give me hope.

I waited, but no such sign came.

He wasn't getting up again.  He was gone from me now, and I was so
completely alone.

Tears began to violently burst from my eyes.  I let my hands move freely
over Will's body, desperately wanting to touch him and be close to him.  I
knew I was making a fool of myself in front of the others but I didn't
care.  If desperation was deadly, I would have died right then.

Case put his hand on my shoulder, his warm, comforting skin contrasting
heavily with the cold clamminess of Will's skin under my touch.  "I'm
sorry, Rick," he said quietly.

"Get your fucking hand off me," I said, shoving it away.

I was in no mood to be comforted.  Did he think a simple gesture such as
that could actually alleviate the despair and the hatred welled up inside
of me?  How dare he even try.  He could never understand what I felt now.
Never.

I blocked him out, blocked the others out who were all looking at me but
unsure about what to do, and I concentrated on my Will, the only one I
loved, as my hands brushed over his skin, and my nostrils took in as much
of his scent as they could.

Suddenly I realized that his smell was distorting into something else,
something unpleasant.  It was the smell of death and decay.  I realized
that the flesh that my hands sought out so eagerly no longer belonged to
the man I loved.

I pulled my hands away in revulsion.  I looked at his face, his blank open
eyes.  This was no more than an empty, rotting shell.  It sickened me to be
so close to it, to smell the haunting scent of Will's death.

I stood up, still sobbing, and rushed passed them all, passed those faces
looking at me with a mixture of fear and sympathy.  I went into our bedroom
and locked the door.

I inhaled deeply.  This room still smelled like Will, not that version of
himself that was dead on the kennel floor, but a living and breathing Will
that deluged me with happy memories.

I opened the closet and smelled his clothes--he was here.

I crumbled onto the bed and burying my nose into his pillow--he was here
too.

Here he was still mine.  Here was my last moment of happiness.

*****

I stayed locked in my bedroom for several days.  I couldn't be sure how
long it had been, as I had pulled the clock from the wall so as to avoid
any reminder of the real world continuing on outside the bedroom.  I didn't
eat for all this time, the pain of the hunger mixing together with the
emotional pain until I could no longer distinguish between the two.

I slept for as much as I could, inevitably dreaming about Will and I being
together again and happy and inseparable.  Each time I awoke it broke my
heart all over again to know what sort of hellish reality I really
occupied.

In my grief and depression I thought I might never leave that room, instead
favoring starving myself and joining Will in death.  But my desperate
sadness with time cooled into a numb, quiet despair, incapable of the
passion required to commit self-destruction.

As the tears left, the hate returned.  All of the hate I had suppressed
upon Will and I getting back together came back tenfold.

My hatred burned red hot for these two vampires that had done this evil
deed, especially the Caucasian one who had taken such cruel pleasure in it
all.  I hated all vampires everywhere more than ever.

Most of all, though, I hated whichever wolf was responsible for leading the
vampires to Will.

My hatred reminded me that I couldn't lie here idly forever.  Will had been
murdered, and it was my responsibility to take my revenge.

I left my room finally when the bed started to smell less like Will and
more like myself.  Even his smell was slipping away from me, I realized,
and this room would soon hold no solace for me.

I unlocked my door and went into the main room.  I passed Cougar, who was
getting a drink from the kitchen.

"Hey, man, you doing okay?" he asked me.  I didn't respond.

"Better let him be, dude," said Matt from the kitchen table.

I went into the kennel, wanting to see Will's body one last time, but
nervous about what state it would be in.  Upon my entrance I realized that
his body was gone.  The wolves must have taken him away with the bodies of
the victims.  I felt a twinge of anger that I hadn't been asked what should
be done with Will's body, but let it pass.  Will was dead and gone.  How
his body was disposed of was an insignificant detail compared with the
weighty tasks that lay ahead of me.

I kneeled down and touched the dried blood on the ground that I knew once
belonged to Will.  There were no tears left for me to shed.  In my heart I
swore to him that his death would not be meaningless, that it would be
avenged.

*****

I sat in the same room in Hadrian's den where I had first had the
displeasure of meeting Hadrian the first time.  Across the table from me
was the devil himself, gazing at me with a mixture of displeasure and
disgust.

He had summoned me to this private meeting to discuss what he called
"Will's tragic demise."  I realized, slightly uncomfortably, that this was
the first time I had been alone with him since that fateful day in which he
had almost beat me to death, right in this very room.  If I had been put
into this situation several days ago I would have been trembling in my
seat.

Now, however, I felt no fear.  Fear seemed so petty to me now, a useless
bit of emotional drama, completely trivial.  Will's death had left in me an
emotional hollowness within.  Fear had been ripped out of my soul forever;
along with worry, happiness, love and any trace of humor.

No, I was no longer fearful of this dark figure across from me.  Smoke from
his cigar was gliding up the skin of his face, making him look even more
devilish.  Suddenly I was reminded of Will smoking his cigars in bed, and
this fueled the hate for Hadrian, that even he would manage to remind me of
Will in some way.

"You know, of course," his gravelly voice said, "that this was no random
killing."

I didn't even nod, this statement was so obvious.

"The vampires targeted Will for death, and must have had an inside source
to complete this sort of operation."

I gave a slight nod, of course aware of this as well.

"I've suspected that we've had a mole wolf, feeding information to the
vampire filth."  He pulled the cigar out of his mouth and looked at me
firmly.  "Now we know that the mole is one from your pack, someone who
could tell the vampires the location of your new den, tell them about the
tattoo that would be Will's only identifying feature when the full moon was
up."

I looked straight into his eyes.  "Or perhaps," I said, "the mole is you.
You could have just as easily led the vampires to Will."

Hadrian let out a slight laugh, staring at me for a moment.  "What would my
motive be?" he asked.  "Why would I choose to target Will?"

"Don't pretend that you valued Will's life," I said.  "You would have loved
it if Will had suffered one of those unfortunate accidents during his fight
in the tournament."

Hadrian kept his cool under this accusation.  "Yes, I may have wanted Will
dead," he admitted.  "But I wanted you and all the other wolves that had
the audacity to challenge my leadership dead as well.  I had hoped that
there would be more deaths than just one in the tournament, that's no big
secret."

"You are a fool then," I said to him.  "You want to eliminate the strongest
wolves in our community."

He raised his voice finally.  "I wanted to eliminate those wolves who would
seek to take my place, those who would refuse to follow my commands out of
arrogance.  But I've never had any alliance with vampires.  Vampires have
been my hated enemies for most of my violent existence.  And I would never
have done something so underhanded as to kill an enemy wolf cold-blooded,
while the moon was full no less.  Besides, why would I target him
specifically?  If I had sent the vampires in to kill Will, why wouldn't I
have added you to their list as well?"

"You knew Will was your greatest threat," I said.  "You must have known
that you would be fighting him in the final fight.  We all know he would
have won."

He laughed again.  "Let's not pretend the wolf was stronger than he was
simply out of respect for the dead.  I was about as scared of losing my
fight with Will as I was scared of losing my fight with the pathetic wolf
from Taiwan."  He leaned back in his seat and smiled.  "Besides, you're
missing one critical piece of evidence," he said, smugly.  "Your pack
changed the old code to get into the den," he said.  "I didn't know this
code, and nobody from my pack did either.  Only your pack new the code,
which must mean that someone from your pack was responsible for the murder
of your partner."

I nodded, ending the empty accusations against the man I wished was
responsible but wasn't.  "I know," I said.  "I've known this since I
watched Will die.  But I don't have any idea which one of them could have
done this."

"Perhaps," said Hadrian, smiling, "it was you.  You wanted to be alpha
alone, you wanted to finally step out of his shadow.  You couldn't beat him
fairly in a fight, so you had the vampires take care of him for you."

I raised an eyebrow.  "Do you really believe that?" I asked.

"No, not really," he admitted.  "The mole has been around longer than
you've been in the company of wolves.  No, it must be someone else in your
pack.  Whoever it is needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible.  You're
their rightful alpha--I leave that task up to you."

"But I don't know which one of them it was," I said.

"Well, you'd better find out," he said flatly.  "I'll give you three days.
If you haven't proven one of them guilty and dealt with them, I'll be
forced to eliminate your whole pack.  Got it?"

I gave him a sharp look and nodded.

"I'm assuming the final fight is off now that Will is no longer a
contender?" he asked.  "We both know that you were doing nothing more than
riding Will's coattails to glory."  He laughed a little, a cruel laugh that
made my hatred rise up my throat like bile.

"No," I answered him defiantly.  "The fight will most definitely be going
on as scheduled."

He looked equal parts surprised and angry.  "You must be eager to join your
rotting partner in the ground," he said, and that was the end of our
unpleasant conversation.

*****

I walked aimlessly through the city streets, trying to figure out which one
of my wolves would have killed Will and betrayed the entire species.  I
refused to go home until I knew which one of them I was to hate, because
until that point I hated all of them.

They all were suspect to me.  I meticulously examined the possible guilt of
each one, starting at the bottom and working my way up.

Cougar had been, perhaps, the first one to make enemies with Will, and
their combative relationship never really subsided.  Clearly Cougar had
always harbored ill-feelings towards Will, but were these feeling enough to
kill him over?  It seemed to me that Cougar had a strong motive for allying
himself with the vampires--he was sick of being at the bottom of the pack,
sick of being bossed around.  With the vampires he would have found the
power that he desired.  Was his time away from the pack really just a
personal getaway, or was that an excuse to run off to meet with the
vampires secretly?

I couldn't answer this for certain, but I didn't think Cougar was capable
of this.  I just couldn't imagine Cougar carrying on such an elaborate lie.
He was perhaps the most blunt and honest individual in the pack.

Matt.  Will had once told me that he had gone out of his way to be a
complete asshole to Matt.  Perhaps Matt's opinion of Will was as low as
anyone's.  Unable to beat Will in a fight, would Matt seek out some sort of
underhanded vengeance?  I knew enough about Matt to know he was capable of
deception, certainly.  But Matt seemed much too mellow a character to take
part in some elaborate scheme to destroy all of wolf-kind.

Malcolm was much more suspect to me.  He was as devious as Matt could be,
and certainly even more manipulative.  Out of all the wolves, I knew the
least about his background.  In fact, I knew barely anything about it at
all, he kept it veiled so well in secrecy.  And what about his constant
solitary outings into the city, never letting anyone accompany him and
never telling anyone where he would go?  Was he just a private person, or
was he using these outings to meet with vampire accomplices?  But then
again, Malcolm and Will never had any personal confrontations.  I knew they
didn't get along, but Malcolm couldn't have hated Will enough to have him
killed, could he?

Then there was Russ.  Russ who was the only member of the pack that I still
considered an enemy.  Russ had harbored a fiery and intense dislike for
Will almost since the beginning.  Russ was a cold-hearted individual that
believed in harsh punishment--I definitely could see Russ wanting to do
away with Will.  Also, Russ was very militaristic, he thought in terms of
battles and wars and grand strategies; I could envision him organizing a
union between himself and the vampires, knowing that through this union he
would have more power than ever he would as the beta of one of many wolf
packs.  He had argued eagerly that we should have remained in Philly
instead of coming to London--could this perhaps have been an attempt to
remain closer to the vampires?

In fact, Russ was so much the obvious suspect, that it almost seemed
unlikely to me that he would do something like this that would risk him
being exposed.  Certainly he would know that if I was convinced that one of
the members of our pack had betrayed us, I would assume that he was the
guilty party.  Would he really have taken such obviously self-incriminating
action?

And that left Case.  There was no question in my mind that he was capable
of the worst kind of betrayal, as he had demonstrated upon me more than
once.  Case had the intelligence and the ingenuity to hatch self-serving
plots with the help of the vampires.  Case had never admitted to harboring
any bad feelings towards Will.  But ever since I had ended the sexual
relationship I used to have with Case and started up with Will instead, I
could always detect a hidden jealousy in Case.

The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that Case was in
fact the betrayer among us.

I had to confront him.  I quickly made my way back to the den, walking with
an adrenaline haste that was fueled by my hatred.  A quick inspection of
the place was all it took for me to realize he was home.  I grabbed a long,
slender knife from my room, stuck it in the pocket of my jeans, and crept
into the barracks.

The room was empty, but I could smell his scent coming from the open
bathroom door.  I went into the bathroom, and shut the door behind me.

He was in the open shower, under the spray of a rusty showerhead, his bare
backside towards me.  Fine, I thought.  If it came down to spilling blood,
what better place to make a mess than in the shower?

"You smell different now, you know that?" he asked me, letting me know he
was aware of my presence without ever turning to face me.

"How so?" I asked, creeping closer to him.

"Before you smelled more like him," he said, lathering up his chest and his
shoulders slowly.  "There always seemed to be more of his sweat upon you
than your own.  Sometimes you smelled like his cum."  Case reached down and
began to lather up his cock, almost a bit trance like.  "Now you smell like
yourself again," he said, his tone of voice a little bit brighter.

His choice of chit-chat topics infuriated me, and seemed proof enough of
his guilt.  I came forward, stepped into the shower, fingering the knife in
my pocket.  The feeling of the cold blade brought me back to the night when
I had confronted Case the last time I had realized that he had betrayed me.
Will had urged me to kill him then, but I could not.  I kept Case alive out
of sentimental weakness, and now Will had paid for my mistake with his
life.

Will had told me over and over again that one needed to be prepared to kill
those who would destroy their loved ones.

I slipped the knife out of my pocket.  This time, I was ready to kill.

Case spun around to face me, and grabbed my wrist before I could plunge it
into his flesh.

"I know what you came here to do," he said, squeezing my wrist.  "I know
what you think I did.  But I didn't do it."

My eyes were undeterred, but my hand had faltered--I let the hand holding
the knife fall limply at my side.  "It had to be you," I said, but I was
already unsure.

He shook his head firmly.  "It wasn't.  I love wolf-kind too much to ever
betray them, you know that.  And Will was a brother of mine."

I pushed against him.  "You're lying," I said.  "The rest of us may have
been your brothers, but not Will.  You hated Will," I insisted, almost as
proof of his guilt.

I raised the knife once again.

He lifted his hands up in a gesture of divulgence.  "Look, you're right.  I
did hate Will--how could I not?  He took from me everything that I valued.
Alpha-hood, you..."

"I was never yours," I said.

"You would have been mine eventually if he hadn't interfered.  You don't
know how excruciating it was to listen to the two of you through those
vents all those nights, fucking constantly.  Or even worse, just
talking--throwing your closeness in my face and reminding me that I would
never ever know that kind of bond for myself.  I hated it, and yet I
couldn't ever stop listening."  He took a deep breath.  "I'm not as strong
as I look, Rick.  I hated Will out of pettiness and jealousy, that much is
true.  But I would never have acted upon that hate because I knew it was
wrong."  He looked away, distantly.  "Will was a good man."

"If you hated him so much, then you should be happy that he's dead," I
accused.

"I should be, yes.  But I'm not."  He looked firmly into my eyes.  "It
wasn't me, Rick.  It wasn't me."

I don't know why, but I believed him.  I believed in his innocence.  I
turned around and left him there alone in the shower, heading back into my
bedroom, suffering the loss of my recent conviction.

I was approaching this in completely the wrong way, I realized.  Pouring
over the motives of the other wolves was likely to get me nowhere.  I
needed real evidence here, not silly notions of feelings and character.

I laid on my bed and mulled over every bit of information I knew about all
of the wolves activities.  It took me hours of consideration until finally,
by process of elimination, I had realized my most likely suspect.

This time, I wasn't going to make the mistake of confronting the man until
I had my proof.  I went out to a drug store and bought a disposable camera.

Then, I waited.

The next night, my suspect announced that he'd be going out without the
company of other wolves, something he did regularly.  He left the den.  I
grabbed my knife and my camera, and followed him.

He went on foot to his destination, and I followed far enough away so that
he wouldn't hear me, see me, or smell me.  I followed him into a train
station.  He walked down the platform to a bench that was away from the
crowds of passengers.  This is where he sat, his back to me.

On this bench beside him was an attractive black man dressed in a nice
suit.

I couldn't hear what they were saying to each other, but I could clearly
see them talking.  I got out my camera and started to snap pictures.

Once I was sure I had my incriminating evidence, I left.  He was still
seated pleasantly beside his vampire acquaintance when I had turned the
corner and was walking back home, a new conviction upon me and new notions
of vengeance entering my mind.

******

The garage door rose noisily, illuminating the dark warehouse with the
yellow of the streetlamps outside.  I had been waiting here in this room
for over an hour.  As he stepped into the building, I hit the garage door
button that was on the inside wall, and the door lowered behind him.  I
stood guard over the entrance to the den beneath us; there was nowhere for
him to go now.

"What's up dude?" he asked, smiling his charming smile.

I didn't smile back.  "I've been waiting for you to come home," I said,
taking a step towards him.  "Where did you say you were again?"

"Nowhere special, just on a date," he said.  "A real nice specimen from
across the river."

I raised an eyebrow.  "Did you get lucky?" I asked.

He shook his head sadly.  "Nope.  No luck for Matty tonight, dude."

"You know, Matt," I said.  "I saw you on your little date tonight.  I think
your taste in women has gone downhill."

Matt's smile quickly disappeared.  He looked quickly from side to side,
then, acting decisively, he turned and ran back towards the garage door.
He pulled at it futilely, and then started to ram it with his shoulder.
With his strongest hit he could only manage to barely dent the door.

"It's no use," I said.  "You can't break it."

He hit it again, harder, and I realized I had never seen him this frantic.

"You can't keep me here, Rick," he said.  "Hadrian and the others will kill
me when they find out."

I pulled the knife out of my pocket, and came within a couple feet of him.
"Who's to say I won't kill you myself?"

He backed up against the door and smiled diplomatically.  "Fine, dude," he
said.  "You want to talk, we'll talk."  He tried to look as relaxed as
possible while staring at the knife in my hand.  "How'd you figure it out?"
he asked me.

Did I even want to tell him?  I figured it couldn't hurt.  "Once I knew it
was someone from the pack, it was just a process of elimination," I said,
looking at the knife I was twisting around in my hand.  "I supposed that
any wolf who was in league with the vampires wouldn't be attacked by them."
I shrugged.  "I had seen with my own eyes Case attacked by them, as well as
Cougar.  That left you, Malcolm, and Russ as possibilities.  All three of
you claimed to have been attacked by vampires in Philly.  But Malcolm and
Russ were attacked together.  That meant that if they had lied and had
invented the attack, they must have been working in tandem, which I found
unlikely.  You were the only one who claimed to have been attacked, yet
nobody was there to witness this attack.  When you came home, your clothes
were torn but there was no sign of blood on you, I remembered."

He laughed.  "Alright Perry Mason," he said, "don't you think one of the
others could have arranged for themselves to have been attacked by the
vampires just to throw everyone off?"

I nodded slightly.  "It was a possibility," I said.  "That's why I followed
you tonight just to be sure."  I gestured towards him with the knife.
"Alright Matt," I said.  "Now it's your turn to share.  I want to know
every lie you've ever told, got it?"

"Okay," he said, reassuringly.  "Okay, Rick, I know I owe you that much and
more."

"How long have you been a vampire spy?" I asked coldly.

He laughed.  "I'm no vampire spy," he said.  "I'm a wolf same as you.  I
just happen to have a close vampire contact."  He smiled, and exhaled
anxiously.  "You remember me telling you that after I left the New Orleans
pack I went around the country on my own, taking whatever jobs I could
find?"

"Yes," I said suspiciously.

"You remember me telling you I used to be a card dealer in Vegas?"

"Yes."

He wiped his brow.  "Well, the casino I worked in was owned by a rich
vampire.  Vampires were in and out of the place all the time.  I could
smell `em of course, but they had no clue what I was.  No fucking clue that
they had hired a wolf to throw cards at their customers.

"Well, there he was one day, the owner, walking through the casino.  He was
dressed differently than all the others.  He looked younger that all the
other stiffs in suits, cooler, with kick-ass black hair.  Anyway, he caught
me staring at him and introduced himself.  Can you guess how fuckin
terrified I was at that moment?  I almost took off running right then, but
somehow I kept my cool."

Matt laughed and looked at me as if we were engaged in typically casual
conversation.  I wasn't smiling.

"So," he said, continuing in the same friendly tone even without my
reassurance.  "This cool vampire's name was Griffith, and after introducing
himself he moved on, and I thought my secret was safe once again.  I was
wrong.  Griffith approached me months later, and invited me up to his
private penthouse.  I tried to refuse politely, but he wouldn't hear of it.
So after my shift ended I went up to the top of the hotel, where I was
treated like royalty in what was the nicest living space I had ever been
in.

"A couple hours into the night, Griffith leveled with me, telling me that
he knew what I was.  Apparently he had studied my work-chart, and knew that
I always either took the nights of full moons off or called in sick.
Again, I wanted to bolt right then and get the fuck out of there, but there
was a whole grip of vampires all over that room.

"Griffith offered me a deal.  I would stop being a nomad and once again
join a pack of my choosing.  I would give him any information he wanted,
and in exchange, if Griffith ever came to power, he would protect me and my
pack while he killed off the rest of the wolves."

"So, you are a spy," I said.  "It's that simple."

"You have to understand, Rick," he pleaded.  "They would have killed me if
I hadn't agreed."

"That's just one wolf life, Matt," I said.  "One life in the face of how
many wolves lost?"

"What do I care about wolf lives?" he asked, suddenly angry.  "All wolves
have ever done is killed each other.  I hated the wolves in my old den.  I
didn't give a shit if the vampires killed off every single wolf besides
yours truly.  Hell, I'd have been happier if they did cause it'd mean I was
safe for once."

I was angry.  "You think you're the only wolf on this planet that deserves
to live, Matt?" I asked.

"No," he said, shaking his head adamantly.  "After I joined Russ's den in
Philly, I liked all of its wolves.  I knew it was different from all the
other packs out there.  We were truly brothers, we looked out for each
other, you know?  Griffith promised that he would protect all of my
brothers as well as myself.  Before, we were constantly under the threat of
being killed by some territorial wolf with a bad attitude.  Jesus, Rick,
I've seen more than one brother die like this."

"You've already told me," I reminded him.  "Wolves were always their own
greatest enemy."

"Yeah.  Right," he said, cracking a smile.  "Killing all the wolves except
our pack was the only way I knew we'd be safe."

"And just let the vampires take over the world?" I asked, impatiently.

"Who cares what they do, really, as long as they are protecting us?"

I sighed.  "Hadrian suspects the vampire army comes from South Africa," I
said.  "Is that true?"

He nodded.  "Yeah, their headquarters are somewhere there, somewhere near
Cape Town."

"And that's why all the wolves in South Africa disappeared first?  The
vampires killed them off?"

"Yeah," he said.  "Griffith had the list of every pack and every alpha.  He
tipped off the wolves in Cape Town, giving them the location of their
headquarters and telling them to attack on a night that all of his enemies
were assembled.  In the same night, those African wolves killed all of
Griffith's vampires, and in return, Griffith killed all of them.  They
never knew they had slipped into the hands of a vampire.  It wasn't too
long after that before the vampire army started spreading through the
world."

"With the intention of killing every wolf besides the members of your
pack," I said.

"Right, Rick, we were always safe," he assured me.

"But some of the wolves got away from the vampire army," I said.  "Like
Hadrian, Will..." Saying that name hurt so badly.

"The vampires are going back to finish what they started, Rick," he
insisted.  "I've told them where Hadrian's den is, and as soon as they can
fly in enough vampires, they'll take it out.  Some wolves may have escaped,
but they know the faces and identities of all of them.  It's only a matter
of time before all of them are gone."  He reached forward and set his hand
on my forearm before I pulled it away.  "It'll just be us left before
long," he said.  "I'll make sure they keep us safe."

"You haven't kept us safe in the past," I reminded him.  "How many times
did they try to kill us?"  I grabbed the collar of his shirt angrily.  "Why
is Will dead right now?"

He put his hand up against me, trying to put some distance between our
bodies.  "When Will joined the pack, I told Griffith to keep him safe like
the rest of us, and they did.  I never told him about you because you
weren't even a wolf back then.  After you turned, I procrastinated a little
bit before telling them about you.  Maybe it was because you were being
such an asshole at the time."

I grabbed his collar more firmly, glowering at him.

"Anyway," he said, "it was idiotic of you and Cougar to pick a fight with
one of them that night.  Cougar was always safe, they would have never hurt
him.  But you were a new wolf, one not under my protection, and they would
have killed you if they had gotten the chance.

"So, after that night, I told Griffith everything about you, that you used
to be gifted, and now you were a wolf.  He was shocked about this and
disbelieving at first, but when he finally started to believe me, I told
him to protect you, I swear to god I did.  But he said he would not, that
he knew what happened when one of these gifted was turned, and that you
would be too strong to risk being kept alive.  I begged for your safety,
you gotta believe me, but he only wanted to kill you.

"After you were attacked again, I urged that you stay inside the den,
because I had Griffith's promise that he would not invade our home.  It was
the only place you'd be safe."

"What about the bugs on all the bikes?" I asked, accusatory.  "Did you
plant those yourself?"

He shook his head.  "I never knew anything about `em until you and Will
told us.  Anyway, after you had stayed indoors for a couple weeks, I
thought the situation was under my control.  But Griffith met with me
again.  He wanted me to hand you over to them.  I refused, Rick, I always
refused.  It was because of my refusal that they started to attack the
other wolves of the pack.  First Case.  Then Malcolm and Russ, and Cougar.
They were letting me know that if I didn't hand you over to them, my other
brothers would die."

"Sounds like your plan to keep us safe worked brilliantly," I said
sarcastically.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like that," he said.  "That's why I wanted
all of us to go far away from all the cities and just disappear.  But you
and Will had to bring us here instead to try to involve yourselves in wolf
politics.  Don't you get it yet?  Hadrian and the tournament, none of it
matters.  All of those wolves will be dead a few weeks from now anyway.  We
should have ran when we had the chance."

"Don't pretend that the vampires just happened to kill Will," I growled.
"Don't tell me that it was out of your control.  You gave them the
passcode, you told him about his tattoo.  Why did they come into our den
and kill only him?"

Matt smiled weakly.  "Griffith would never have stopped until he knew you
were dead," he said.  "I couldn't guess which one of you would be the first
to die, but I knew it would happen sooner or later.  So, I made a
sacrifice, Rick, I had no choice.  I gave them the code, I told them to
come in during the full moon and kill only you.  Griffith asked me how they
would be able to tell you apart from the rest of us.  I told him that you
had a scorpion tattoo on your pelvis."  He smiled, marveling proudly at his
own deceptions.  "Don't you get it?  They think they killed you that
night."

I jerked him against the garage door.  "You bastard," I growled.

"As long as they don't see your face again, they'll never suspect
anything," he was saying this with a smug smile.  "They aren't looking for
you anymore, and the rest of the pack is once again under their
protection."

"It wasn't worth Will's life, this security.  Nothing would have been worth
Will's life."

Matt shook his head.  "You gotta understand, Rick.  Will was never one of
us, not really.  He was never a part of our family, not like you are or I
am.  It had to be him."  He flashed his white teeth.  "I did this to save
your life.  You can't be angry at me."

"Can't be angry!" I shouted, raising my knife to his throat.  "Damn right
I'm angry!  It's because of you the man who meant everything to me is gone
from me forever!"

"Please, Rick," he said.  "Lower the knife.  You know I won't try to fight
you."

I laughed.  "I know that if you tried to fight me, I'd kill you
effortlessly.  You're pathetically weak compared to me now."

"I know I am," he said.  "That's why you're alpha and I'm not.  Just please
lower the knife, bro."

I pushed it against his throat.  "You're responsible for the deaths of most
of our species and the wolf whom you knew was my lover.  Because of you,
Matt, I'll never recover, I'll never be happy again.  Please, Matt, tell me
why I shouldn't kill you."

He smiled again, even under the pressure of the knife blade.  "If I die,
the vampires will kill you all," he said.  "There will be no more wolves
ever again.  I'm the only one who can save us, Rick.  I'm the only one who
knows how they work and who's controlling them."  He gave a slight shrug.
"Without me, you're screwed, dude.  Please, you have to forgive me."

I looked into his smiling face, this beautiful man in front of me that I
had once had such a crush on.  Before Will's death, I had counted him as a
one of my closest friends, second only to Will himself.

Did any of that matter anymore?

I shook my head.  "That's not good enough," I said.

His smooth charm turned into shock as I cut into his throat and through his
spine.  His handsome head fell to the floor with a thud.  I let the knife
slip from my hand.  I dropped the body as well, shaking the blood off of my
hands.

As I turned away from him, I felt no remorse.  I felt nothing except for a
subtle satisfaction, but even that did nothing to comfort me or soothe the
increasingly directionless anger inside.

I saw a pair of eyes watching me from the floor, half a head raised above
the hole that led to our den.  Those eyes and that head plunged downwards
as soon as I saw them.

It was Cougar.  How much had he seen?

I climbed down the ladder and went into the den.  Case was standing in the
kitchen, wearing just his boxers, obviously getting ready to go to bed.  He
looked at me inquisitively.

"Cougar just shot through here like a bullet," he said.  "What's going on?"

"I just killed Matt," I told him, walking towards my bedroom.

"Kill-killed him?" Case asked me.

"Yeah," I said, retrieving the disposable camera from my room, sticking it
in my pocket, and going back into the main room.  "Now I'm gonna go tell
Hadrian he was the spy."

"Matt was the spy?" asked Case, dumbfounded.  "Are you sure?"

I nodded.  "He told me everything before I killed him.  I'll tell you about
it later."  I started to walk towards the exit.

"Jesus Christ," said Case, shaking his head sadly.  "How can you be so
casual about this?  Matt fucked up and you killed him, that's it huh?  So
easy for you."

I turned towards him, angry at his outburst.  "Which part was easy for me,
exactly?" I asked.  "The part where I had to watch Will die a slow, painful
death in front of me, the part where I found out one of my best friends was
responsible, or the part where I had to kill said friend?  Because none of
it was fucking easy, Case, nothing is ever goddamn easy for me!"

"I'm sorry, I should have known," he said.  He walked right up to me and
pulled me into him, hugging me.  "Come here," he said soothingly.  "You did
what you had to do."

My face was nestled into his neck, and his strong arms surrounded me.  My
chest was against his, and he felt so warm and comforting against me.  I
shut my eyes and let myself drift into this warm physical comfort that
could almost be mistaken for Will himself.

His crotch was pressed into my pelvis, and in our closeness I felt his cock
twitch excitedly.  I inhaled--this body smelled nothing like Will's.  I
opened my eyes, the illusion shattering, and pulled away from Case's eager
arms.

"I have to go," I said, walking towards the door.

"I'll tell the others," he called from behind me.  "I'll have a talk with
Cougar."

I ran out of the room, frightened that I might be tempted back into Case's
arms if I were to remain.  I could not be so weak.  I no longer needed the
comfort of physical closeness to reassure me--I could reassure myself just
fine.

*****

I interrupted Hadrian as he was going to bed, much to his annoyance.

"The mole has been eliminated," I said, tossing the disposable camera onto
his bed.  "All the proof you need is right there."

"You work fast," he said, picking up the camera and examining it as if he
were trying to pry its secrets out.  "Anyone I know?  Knew, rather?"

"No."

He tossed the camera into the wastebasket.  "I believe you," he said.

"His body's in our den.  Could you send over one of your cars to pick it
up?"

He glared at me as if I were asking for both his kidneys.  "I suppose," he
said.

I started to go.

"Fight's tomorrow night by the way," he said from behind me.  "Midnight."

"Where?" I asked without turning around.

"Under this den," he said.

"What's under this den?"

He laughed smugly, but did not answer.

I left.

I went back home, rushing passed Matt's body on the ground level, not
wanting to face the horrors of my actions anymore than I had to.

Case wasn't in the main room when I got back to it.  He was replaced by
Malcolm, who seemed to be partaking in a late night feast.

"Are you the only one up still?" I asked him.

"Russ and Case are sleeping," he said, more interested in the donut he was
eating than me.  "Cougar took off.  He was, you know.  Upset."

Of course Cougar was upset.  He had seen his best friend die.  I knew I
wouldn't be able to sleep until I talked to him.

"What about you, Malcolm?" I asked him.  "You're not upset?"

He shrugged, looking down at his donut.  "If someone fucks with one of my
bros, I'll make sure they regret it.  Matt was my den brother, yeah, but so
was Will.  Matt turned his back on what it means to be a wolf.  He killed
his own bro."  He cocked his head slightly.  "Nah, I can't be upset.  Matt
got what was comin' to him.  Donut?"

"No thanks," I said.

"Hey boss," said Malcolm, putting down his food and looking me in the eyes.
"Tell me somethin, huh?  You ever think it was me instead of Matt?"

"I considered it," I answered truthfully.

He looked down and shook his head, laughing.  "I thought you might of."

"Can you answer one question for me, Malcolm?" I asked.

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Where do you go when you go out on your own?  How come you never tell
anyone what you're doing?"

He laughed, embarrassed.  "I'll tell you," he said.  "It's no big thing.  I
go to the theater."

"You go see movies?"

"Naw, man.  Not the movie theater.  The theater, like plays and shit?
Always had a thing for performance art.  Not doing it myself, no way bro.
But watching it."  He shrugged again and looked at me vulnerably, as if
waiting for me to rip into him.

"That's cool," I said simply.  "It's no big deal, really.  I like the
theater too."

He pointed a finger at me and looked tough.  "Don't you say a motherfuckin'
word to the others about that.  It's between you and me."

I had no idea why he wanted to keep it secret, but I agreed anyway.

*****

I called Cougar on his cell phone but he wasn't answering, so I sat up in
the main room, waiting for his return.  Late into the night I questioned
whether or not he would even come back home.  Maybe, in his anger, he had
taken off--it wouldn't have been the first time he had done this.  Perhaps
this time he wouldn't ever return.

Finally, after nodding off in my chair several times, I decided to give up
and go to bed.

Just as I had closed my eyes, I heard someone enter the main room from the
den.  I jumped out of bed, and ran out of my bedroom.  I caught Cougar just
as he was about to go into the barracks.  He stopped reaching for the door
in front of him upon hearing my entrance, but didn't turn around to look at
me.

I took the opportunity to say what was on my mind.  "Cougar, I'm glad
you're home," I began.  "I know how you must feel.  I know what it's like
to lose a close a friend, and you had no closer a friend here than Matt.  I
know you must hate me--"

"I don't hate you, man," he said, turning around to face me finally.  "You
did what you had to do, right?  Look, I don't know what kind of
relationship you and Will had, and you know what?  It's none of my
business.  Matt killed your boy, Matt killed one of his brothers, and he
deserved what he got."  He shrugged, as if wanting to say more, but not
sure what else to add.

I sighed in relief.  I had worried Cougar would never forgive me, or worse,
try to get some sort of revenge.  What a huge load of my shoulders this
was.  "Would you done the same thing if you were in my shoes, Coug?"

He looked off distantly.  "I can't say for sure," he said.  "I don't know,
I guess yeah, I would."

"So, are you okay then?"

"I'm okay," he said.  "I'm a tough guy.  Yeah, it sucks that my best friend
is dead, but now I know that Matt was lying to me ever since I met him.
Fuck, when you think about it, I didn't even know the guy."  He nodded
again, as if he wanted to be positive that I was convinced.  "I'm fine,
alright, man?  Now, go back to bed."

I smiled and nodded, turned and went back into my room, thankful that he
didn't harbor any resentment for me, but knowing that he wasn't as tough as
he claimed to be.  He was upset, I could tell, and whether or not he would
ever really get over this was uncertain.

*****

The next day the others mostly left me alone as I trained intensely for the
fight, only coming out of my room to eat.  All the stakes were resting on
tonight's fight, and I wanted to be as ready as possible, practicing late
into the night.

I had worked up a good sweat by the time ten o'clock rolled around.  I
called it quits, determined that I was strong enough to defeat Hadrian.  I
channeled Will's quiet confidence and constant courage--I swore that Will
would never die, instead his best traits would live inside of myself.

I walked into the bathroom, wanting to shower the sweat of the workout
away.  I caught my face in the mirror, and almost expected to see Will
staring back at me, but there I was instead, the same pleasant face I
always had, only now it was more gaunt and rigid, with dark circles around
the eyes and creases worn into my skin.  It was the same me as before, only
now I looked much older than my nineteen years, I looked formidable.

With my insecurities gone, the only thing that could frighten me about this
fight was the physical pain.  My last fight had brought a great intensity
of pain, and I was willing to bet my fight with Hadrian would be worse.
Could I take the pain like a man?

My knife was sitting upon the bathroom counter--I had retrieved it and
washed Matt's blood off of it the night before.  I grabbed it into my right
hand, and thrust it into the back of my left hand.

"Ah," I cried out, wincing, holding the blade through my hand.  I looked at
my anguished face in the mirror, made it rigid and ungiving before I pulled
the knife out again.  The wound closed itself quickly, leaving just a
slight sting.  Nothing in the mirror but a stiff-upper lip and dry eyes.

An odd impulse overcame me.  I stuck the point of the blade against my left
temple and pushed into my skin, without flinching.  A drop of blood dripped
down my face, and I followed its lead with my blade, cutting through the
skin of my cheek.  I told myself it was an exercise in strength, proof
positive that I could handle any pain.  But somehow there was more to it
than that.  I got the urge to peel back my face to see what lied underneath
my exterior.  What was I hoping to find?  I'm not sure.  Maybe the part of
me that I knew was utterly lost since Will's death.  Maybe proof that I
still had a soul.  Instead of reaffirming discoveries, all I found beneath
my skin was blood, tissue, and a hint of white bone.  I pulled the knife
out, and within seconds all that was left was blood.  I couldn't even scar
myself if I had wanted to.

I was washing the blood off my face and hands when there was a knock on the
bedroom door.

"Come in!" I yelled.

I smelled him before I saw him come into the bathroom and look at my
shirtless self through the mirror.  It was Russ, looking at me through the
mirror with those intense eyes that I had once been so frightened of.

"Come to criticize me before my big fight, Russ?" I asked, meeting those
eyes head on.

He shook his head slightly as he leaned back against the bathroom wall.
"I've come to make my peace," he said.  "In case you don't survive
tonight."

I laughed.  "Oh, even better," I said, sarcastically.  "What a vote of
confidence.  Did you ever consider that I might have what it takes to win
the fight tonight?"

"Hey," he barked.  "How `bout you shut your goddamn mouth and listen for a
change?"

I shut my mouth, and I listened, at least for the time being.

"Good," he said, folding his muscular arms in front of him.  "Now, don't
think for a second that I'm here to give you some sort of apology," he
said.  "It's not gonna happen, because I was never wrong.  You deserved
every thing you got from me, and that's the honest truth."

I opened my mouth to argue.

"Ah-ah," he said, cutting me off before I had begun.  "You just listen.
Now, it's no secret that back in Philly, I was hoping you'd lose every
fight you fought.  You once had so much promise--you were a good kid when
you came here.  I thought you understood your need for discipline.  I
thought you knew that you had to respect those who were older and stronger
than you were.  You were a good kid, and I thought with a little spit and
polish you'd turn out something like myself."

He shook his had sadly.

"Then you did a goddamned about-face on all of us.  Turned angry,
disrespectful, and cocky as fucking hell.  You were strong and you knew it,
not because you had earned it over the years like the rest of us, but
because of your God-given gift.  A goddamn teenager outranking me in my own
den?  No fucking way.  Every time you moved up in rank, I was pissed as all
hell.  And then you had to rub your success in all of our faces, shove our
goddamn noses into it as you abused each and every one of us."

I finally butted in.  "You did the same thing to me, don't forget about
that."

He raised his hand up to silence me and looked at me sternly.  "Everything
I did to you was about building character.  It was more for your sake than
for my own.  But what you did to me, that was nothing but twisted torture
from a twisted mind.  For your petty satisfaction, and that's it.
Pointless."

I was about to cut in again, not sure why I was just listening to this
verbal abuse, but he went on.

"Let me finish," he said.  "I thought you'd make the shittiest alpha I had
ever seen, but somehow, kid, you changed completely once you were alpha.
You stopped thinking about yourself and started thinking about the wolves
you were responsible for.  I thought maybe it was just a phase, that soon
enough you'd be back to your old, fucked up ways."  He shook his head.
"What you did last night, boy, that proves to me that you really do have
the maturity and courage needed to lead this pack.  Matt had it coming to
him, and you never wavered or faltered, you dealt out the swift punishment
that he deserved.  You got gumption, boy."

My frown cracked, and a slight smile forced its way through.  There were a
lot of things that I would never agree with Russ about, but this compliment
was touching nonetheless.

"Will was a lousy alpha but wasn't such a bad guy," he said.  "I'm sorry
you lost him."  He put his hand on my bare shoulder, a rare display of
physical comfort for Russ.  "Before, I never really accepted your
authority," he said.  "But, that's all changed.  I accept it now.  And I
was in the Marine Corp after all.  I know how to follow orders, and that's
what I'll do for you kid, from here on out."

I looked at the sincerity in his eyes and was moved by his words.  Feeling
closer to him than ever, feeling both stronger than before and inescapably
fragile, I reached forwards and hugged his body, wrapping my arms around
his back, and pressing my cheek against the firm chest of his green shirt.
The physical intimacy that I had denied myself from Case I found instead in
Russ, where I knew it was about friendship and support without any trace of
sexuality.

Russ held his hands up awkwardly, clearly not in the habit of receiving
hugs.  Hesitantly, he patted my back several times.

"Thanks Russ," I said.

"No problem," he said.  "Now, get off me, will ya?  You stink, kid, and I
just washed this shirt."

I laughed, letting Russ's body go finally.  "I have to get ready for this
fight," I said.

"I hope you beat him," he said.  "After all the shit you've been through
lately, you deserve it kid."

"Thanks," I said.  "I'll beat him, I know I will."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because if I lose, then all of this will have been for nothing."

*****

At midnight I arrived at Hadrian's den flanked by the four wolves of my
pack.  We were led down with the rest of the wolves three stories below
ground level, to a large, dark room with low ceilings, piled all around
with junk and clutter.  Was this to be our new arena?

The wolves were pulling back towards the edges of the room without even
being instructed to do so.  Hadrian was in the center of the room, wrapped
up in a robe, looking very sure of himself.  Beside him was his beta, not
dressed unusually except for the pair of huge rubber boots that went up to
his thighs.

"What's with the guy's boots?" I asked Malcolm, who was standing beside me.

"Looks like he's expecting bad weather," he said.

I became slightly alarmed as I considered the possibility that there would
once again be water involved in this fight.

"Everybody, welcome to the final fight," the beta began.

"Is the fight in here?" shouted Russ.

"No," said the beta.  "No, the fight will take place below us."  He waved
his hand towards some of the other English wolves.  "Open it up," he said.

Three wolves made their way to a manhole-like hatch on the ground and
started to remove the cover.

"Like always, you are all welcome to come and watch the fight, but I
wouldn't recommend it," the beta said, smiling with some secret knowledge.

The wolves removed the lid from the manhole, and the worst stench filled my
nostrils.  From the look of disgust on the other wolves' faces, I knew that
we were all smelling the same thing.

"The sewer," Russ said, shaking his head in disgust.

"The fight will take place in the sewers beneath us," said the beta.  "If
you chose to come down and watch, expect it to be a bit messy.  Please try
to keep out of the way of the fighters, and no spectator is allowed to pick
up any of the weapons that we've stashed down there.  Fighters, better
remove your clothes up here."

Hadrian whipped off his robe, strode over to the manhole, and jumped down
inside, completely ignoring the ladder.

"Why the hell would Hadrian want to fight in a sewer?" I complained as I
started to take off my clothes begrudgingly.

"He's a sick man," Russ said.  "He probably likes the smell."

Case squeezed my arm, trying to soothe me.  "You'll do fine," he said.

Watts came out of the crowd, walking towards me.  I hadn't seen him since
the wolves had pulled his mangled body away after our fight, and seeing him
here again was reassuring.

"Rick," he said to me.

"Watts.  Good to see you're still in one piece."

He nodded.  "Sorry to hear about your co-alpha."

I shrugged sadly, not wanting to discuss Will with this wolf who was
practically a stranger.

"None of the others are going down to watch," he said.  "But I'm going.
I've been watching `em work down here for days.  I even came prepared."  He
showed me the heavy black rain boots he was wearing with pride.

"Thanks, Watts," I said.

"Hey, it's the least I could do after what you did for me.  I can help you
down there, Rick.  There's no way you'll survive this fight without help.
I know my way around down there."

Just when I was about to take a sigh of relief, the beta's voice cut into
my ears.  "I heard that, Watts!" he yelled.

Watts and I turned to face the beta as he ran up to us.

"No spectator is allowed to help out the fighters," he said with an
official tone of voice.  "You help him out, and you'll tip the scales in
his favor."

"The scales are already tipped against him, Mark," said Watts.  "I'd just
be evening them out."

The beta shook his head firmly.  "No, you're out of line, Watts.  You'll be
staying up here with the rest of the group."

"What?" asked Watts, taking an angry step towards the beta.  "I can't even
go down and watch?"

"No," said the beta.  He waved his hand towards some of the English wolves.
"Make sure Brisbane stays put," he told them.

A group of London wolves surrounded Watts, and led him away from me.
"Fuck, I can walk on my own," he said, shaking their pushing hands off of
him.

Now naked, I walked towards the manhole, where the beta was starting to
climb down the ladder.

"Let's get this over with," said Russ, who was at my side.

I turned around to face the four of them.  "You don't have to go down
there," I said.  "Nobody else is, not even the other English wolves."

"We're going down with you," said Case.  He turned to Cougar, who seemed to
look more ambivalent then the other three.  "We're going down with him,"
ordered Case.

"What are you looking at me for?" asked Cougar.  "Yeah, I know, we're going
down there."

"Thanks, guys," I said, feeling truly blessed with their support.

I peered over the edge of the manhole.  It was too dark to see the ground
below.  A rank, warm breeze blew up from inside; the smell was nauseating.

"Oh, sick," said Cougar, covering his nose.  "It's like a giant metal
asshole in the ground."

If Hadrian hadn't needed the ladder, I didn't either.  I counted to three
in my head, and jumped into the darkness.

The drop was insubstantial.  I landed on filthy cement, but it was dry,
thankfully.  I was in a claustrophobic corridor that went off in both
directions, lit up by the same lanterns that had been hanging from the
ceiling in the abandoned health club, only the lanterns were spaced out
from each other enough to create great pools of darkness in the corridor.
I couldn't see any sewage around, but I could sure smell it.

Hadrian and his beta were a few paces away from me.  Hadrian was looking at
me, his smug smile never more pronounced.  Any fool would have known that
he knew this area like the back of his hand.

As soon as I stepped out of the way Case had jumped down by my side.

"Get outta the way!" yelled Russ from above, and Case ran out of the way
quickly.

Russ jumped down, looking around himself with a general disgust.

"It's fucking dark down here," Case said to him.

"Maybe you should take off your goddamn sunglasses then," said Russ.

Case took them off carefully and put them in his pocket.

"I'm coming down!" yelled Cougar.  Russ stepped aside, and Cougar landed
beside us.

As soon as he stood up, Malcolm's huge body came crashing down upon his,
knocking him to the ground.

"Shit, motherfucker," said Cougar.  "Get off me!"

Malcolm quickly stepped off of Cougar.  "You should have moved, fool," he
said.

"Maybe I would have if you had warned me you were jumping down," said
Cougar as he got up and brushed the dirt off of his clothes.

I walked towards Hadrian and his beta.

"Rick," said Hadrian with a half smile.  "I see that you brought your
entourage.  It's getting smaller with each passing day.  Scared to fight me
one on one, Rick?"

"Somebody has to make sure you don't try to cheat, Hadrian," said Case.

"That's what Mark's here for," said Hadrian, but his grin was transparent.

"Alright," said Mark, "let's get started.  You ready?" he asked Hadrian,
who nodded.  "Go!"

Instantly Hadrian started running off down the corridor away from us.  I
thought about trying to chase him down, but he had a head start on me, I
hadn't expected him just to take off like that.

"Coward!" shouted Russ.  "Why don't you turn around and fight like a man!"

But Hadrian had already disappeared in the shadows.  Mark, seeming a bit
tense, ran off after Hadrian.

"You gonna go after him?" Malcolm asked me.

"No," I said, turning around.  "Let's see what's over this way."

They followed me down the corridor as I moved in the opposite direction
Hadrian had gone.  It wasn't long before the concrete we were walking upon
dropped off ahead of us, leaving in its place a pool of thick, black
sewage.

"Sick," said Cougar, looking at the expanse of sewage in front of us that
was flowing very leisurely towards some unknown destination.  "I guess this
way's a dead end," he said.

"No," I said, pointing to the lanterns hanging from the ceiling ahead of
us.  "If they hadn't wanted us to go this way, they wouldn't have put those
up."

"How deep is it?" asked Malcolm.

I sighed.  "I fear there is only one way to find out," I said, moving
towards the sludge.

Case pushed me out of the way.  "I'll go first," he offered.

Slowly, Case lowered his shoe into the muck.  He hit a hard surface once
the sewage had reached to the level of his ankle.  "Oh, not deep at all,"
he said, dipping his other shoe into the water and walking out further.

I cringed as I stuck my bare foot into the sewage.  It was only a few
inches deep, and the ground felt like a corrugated metal surface.  I put my
other foot it and walked behind Case, thankful that the sewage was so
shallow.

"Ugh," said Cougar behind me.  "These are brand new sneakers I have on."

"You could take them off," said Malcolm, who was already himself in the
sewage.

"Yeah, right, I'm not going into this stuff barefoot."

"Hurry, let's go," commanded Russ from behind.  "If Hadrian knows where the
weapons are down here then he's probably already got one by now."

Russ's valid point lent us some urgency, and we hurried along.

As we walked through the sewage, I noticed that every now and then I'd walk
over a large crack in the metal floor.  Sometimes the metal floor on either
side of these cracks were uneven.  Just when I thought the floor we were
walking on seemed quite strange for a sewer, Case stumbled in front of me
and then splashed into a deep pool of sludge in front of us, completely
immersing himself.

"Damn," said Russ.  "Must have been one hell of a drop off."

Case splashed back to the surface, his head covered with brown.  "Shit!" he
yelled, treading water to stay afloat.

"Shit is right," said Cougar.

I very carefully felt with my foot along the edge that Case had fallen off
of, indeed feeling the drop-off.  I moved laterally, feeling with my foot
along the edge, until I reached a corner.  The raised floor didn't go all
the way to the wall.  Then I realized what we were standing on.

"Crates," I said out loud.  "These are crates, pressed together to create a
platform."

"Well, the crates end here," said Malcolm, "and we still gotta get to the
other side."  He shrugged.  "Only one way to do that.  It's balls to the
wall time, guys."  With that, he jumped off the crate and into the pool of
sewage, starting to swim towards the other side.

It was going to happen sooner or later, I knew.  I would inevitably end up
swimming in shit.  I sat down on the crate and eased myself over the edge,
trying to avoid submerging my head if I could.  I really didn't want this
stuff in my mouth.  I couldn't touch the bottom, so I began to swim slowly
across.

"After you," Russ said to Cougar behind me.

"Why don't I stay here and guard this area?" he suggested.  "In case
Hadrian comes back."

I turned around to see Russ push Cougar into the sewage.  "You're going
in," he insisted.

Cougar came up hacking and spitting, sewage covering his face.  "Fuck you,
man!"  He started to swim towards me.

"Hey, check this out," said Case.  I turned to face him.  He was pulling
himself out of the deep sewage onto a lone crate in the center of the pool.
"It's an island," he said.

"Move off of there," Russ said to him.

Case slid back into the deep water.  Russ, with a running jump, leaped off
of the crate he was standing upon and landed on the island crate.  "Huh,"
he said.  "See if there's another one like this."

I found the next island when I swam into it--it was another crate situated
a good deal to the right of the last one.  "Here it is, Russ," I said.

Russ leapt onto this next crate.  "They're stepping stones," he said.

"Yeah, but what good are they if you can't see that they're there?" asked
Case.

"We don't know where they are," said Russ, "but Hadrian does, you can bet
on that.  With these he can easily jump across this pool while Rick would
have to swim through it."

Malcolm was on the other side of the pool already, pulling himself onto a
dry concrete ground that looked incredibly inviting.  I swam for the edge
and pulled myself up beside him.  Cougar was quick to follow.

"Oh man, that is sick," said Cougar, pointing at Malcolm's head.

Resting upon Malcolm's black hair was a used condom.

"What is it?" asked Malcolm, brushing at his head, meeting latex with his
fingers, and pulling the condom off his head.  He held it in his fingers,
looked at it with indifference, and threw it away like a piece of lint.

Meanwhile, Case had found two more island crates in the sewage, meaning
Russ got to the concrete with just dirty feet.  "Okay," he said once we
were all on the other side.  "Where are we now?"

We were in a hallway that very quickly branched off into three different
directions, all three of which were lit up by hanging lanterns.

"Which way, boss?" Malcolm asked of me.

I could see that straight ahead, there was another pool of sewage leading
to what looked to be a dead end.  But, at the very end of the pool was a
closed cardboard box sticking up out of the muck.  It was brightly lit.

"I bet there's a weapon in that box," I said.  "Listen guys, let's split
up.  Case and Cougar, you go to the right.  Malcolm and Russ, go to the
left.  I'm going to go see what's in the box straight ahead."

"You sure you want to split us up?" asked Case with warning in his voice.

"I'm sure," I said.  "You guys can't help me fight Hadrian, so you might as
well do some exploring for me."

They wished me good luck as they went their own directions, and I walked to
the edge of this second pool of sewage.  I stuck my foot into the sludge,
hoping to find a crate a few inches beneath the surface, but there was none
there.  I sat down and once again eased myself into the vile liquid.

On my across the pool, I came across a few crates, more islands creating
stepping stones, and I mentally kept track of where they were.

The cardboard box was sitting one of these crates, and I pulled myself up
onto this island just as, somewhere in the distance, I heard a strange
mechanical sound, as if someone were starting an engine.

Whatever the sound was, I was positive Hadrian was responsible.  Feeling
rushed, I thrust open the cardboard box.

Lying neatly at the bottom of the box was indeed a weapon.

It was a single, shiny ninja star.

I picked it up angrily.  What on earth was I supposed to do with this tiny
thing?  I lamented my decision not to go the direction Hadrian had gone.
There was probably a whole nuclear armament stashed over there.

I took the ninja star anyway, hoping it would somehow be useful to me.
Hearing the motor sound come closer, I looked back in the direction I had
come from.

I could vaguely see Hadrian in the pool that my pack had crossed together,
jumping from crate to crate with ease.  His clean, white skin was evidence
enough that he had not yet needed to get anything more than his feet dirty.

In his hand, rumbling and smoking, was a chain saw.

I was convinced that Hadrian was absolutely insane, no better than
Leatherface chasing down his teenage victims and cutting them to bits with
his motorized toy.  I wondered how quickly and easily Hadrian would be able
to cut through my spine with that weapon.

I didn't take much time to ponder this question, instead jumping onto the
crate closest to me, trying to make it back towards the other hallways
before Hadrian did, before he trapped me in this dead end corridor.  I
hopped from crate to crate, moving even faster than Hadrian was, as he
stopped with each jump to carefully consider where the next island would
be.  I had each crate fresh in my memory.  I reached the concrete ground
and was running down the hall as Hadrian reached the other side of the
sewage pit that he was crossing.  I was running as fast as I knew how to,
running head on towards this laughing man who was waving a chainsaw in my
direction.

Thank god I reached the other hallways before he did.  I turned left, and
kept on running, but not before launching my ninja star at Hadrian.  It hit
the chainsaw and bounced off with a slight spark, proving itself completely
useless.

I ran and ran, not seeing any sign of Case and Cougar, knowing that Hadrian
was always a step behind me.  Finally, I passed another corridor, and I
skidded to a stop, looking down this new hallway.

In front of me was another pit of sewage, ending in another dead end.  On
the other side was another large cardboard box resting on a crate, with a
lantern lighting it up.  Standing beside this box was Cougar.

"Hey, over here!" he shouted once I ran into view.

I looked in his direction, not sure if I wanted to run down another into
dead end or not.  "What's in the box?" I shouted.

"A sword," he said.  "You could use a sword."

Yes, I could use a sword.  I ran down this corridor and jumped as far out
into the sewage as I could, my head becoming submerged for the first time,
but even the taste of shit is palpable when you're running from a werewolf
wielding a chainsaw.  I swam as fast as I could to the crate and pulled
myself up beside Cougar.

Hadrian turned the corner, stalking towards us with the chainsaw.  "You,"
he spat, pointing his weapon at Cougar.  "You'd better not be helping."

Cougar raised his hands in the air.  "I'm just a passive observer," he
said.  "I'm not touching anything."

I reached into the box and pulled out the sword.  It was thin and looked a
bit flimsy, but it was a real weapon this time, not just a lousy joke.

Hadrian had started to jump from island to island towards us, of course
knowing where all the hidden crates were in this pool too.

With one hand holding the sword, I dove back into the pool, swimming in the
direction of Hadrian, who was standing on one of his crates.  I knew he
wouldn't be following me into the sludge, as his chainsaw would be
inoperable in the water.  I thought about trying to swipe at his ankles
with my sword as I swam passed him, but he was leaning forward, pushing the
saw into the sewage, keeping himself well guarded.

I decided instead to swim around him, and head to the other side.

By the time I had gotten to my feet on the concrete floor, Hadrian had
jumped across the several crates between us to meet me there, jabbing at me
with the chainsaw.

I moved back and dodged just in time to avoid being gutted, and swung my
sword at him as fiercely as I could.

The sword hit the chainsaw head on and split into two.  Angry, I threw the
hilt to the ground.  Obviously the sword too was a useless piece of junk.

He jutted at me with the chainsaw again, but this time I ran away, coming
to the main hall and turning left just as Mark appeared, looking a bit
frantic.

"That way," he yelled to Hadrian, pointing at me.  "He went that way."

"I'm not fucking blind," said Hadrian, turning the corner behind me, trying
desperately to catch up.

Luckily I was just a bit faster than Hadrian, perhaps because I wasn't
holding a large machine in my hands.

I came to another corridor, this time leading off to the right, only
otherwise it looked exactly the same as the last corridor.  Another pit of
sewage, leading to a dead end, and another box.  Case was submerged down to
his neck besides the crate that held the box.

"A shotgun," he told me excitedly.  "There's a shotgun inside.  And it's
loaded."

That sounded like the kind of firepower I needed.  I ran towards the pool
and dove head first into the sewage, swimming frantically to the crate that
held the box.  I scrambled on top of it and opened the box, looking at a
very large, black gun.

"I don't know how to use this," I said as I retrieved it from the box,
surprised how heavy it was.

"It's just like any other gun," Case told me.  "Only a lot more explosive.
You aim right and I bet you can take his head off.

I walked to the edge of the crate, considering diving back into the sewage
with my shotgun.  "Will it jam up if I get it wet?"

"Probably," he said.  "Here."  He swam out to the next crate in front of me
and sat upon it.  "Jump here."

I jumped to this crate, and he swam out to the next one.  He led me across
all four crates, until I was one leap from the other side.

Hadrian whipped around the corner, walking towards me with a menacing pace,
the sound of the chainsaw filling my ears.

"Shoot him!" shouted Case.  "You've only got one shot here!"

I pointed the gun towards him and shot, missing his head, but hitting the
chainsaw.  It exploded noisily, sending smoke and chainsaw parts flying
into the air.

"Fucking piece of shit," said Hadrian, throwing the chainsaw down.

I dropped the shotgun and jumped to the concrete floor, running at Hadrian
bare fisted but with a strong conviction in my physical superiority.

Too bad I didn't see that he had picked up a secondary weapon somewhere
along the way, a short sword that he must have been hiding behind the
chainsaw.

He laughed and sneered as I stopped cold.  "You can't win here, kid," he
said.  "You give in now and I'll let you live."

I shouted angrily and charged him again, determined to fight him even if he
was armed and I wasn't.

I did my best to dodge his blade as much as I could as we fought.  Funny
thing was, even with his sword, I could almost beat him in such a simple
fight.

But not quite.  His sword landed finally onto my chest, slashing through my
pecs and slicing one of my nipples in two.  I shouted from the pain,
backing away from him as my chest healed

He could have taken the opportunity to attack me again, but instead he ran
away, turning right and continuing down the main hallway in the direction
that I hadn't yet explored, followed eagerly by Mark.  No doubt he wasn't
confident that he could beat me with just a short sword, and went off in
search of something better.  I knew that whatever weapon he had stashed
over there, there was no way I was going to get to it before he did.

"You almost had him," Case said encouragingly.

"I'm heading back in the other direction," I told Case.  "Towards Russ and
Malcolm."

He pulled himself out of the sewage.  "I'm coming along," he said.

"No," I said.  "You stay with Hadrian.  If he's coming my way, yell as loud
as you can.  I don't want him sneaking up on me."

"Alright," he said, and I was running off away from him.

I ran passed Cougar and passed the corridor that would lead me back out of
this horrific maze.  I kept on running, down this new corridor.

I stopped when I got to another pool of sewage, this one much longer than
the other the others had been.  Malcolm was immersed in the water in front
of me.

"Hey boss," he said.

"Where's Russ?" I asked him.

"He went up ahead somewhere.  You need to cross this pit."

I nodded in agreement.  "And I got to do it quick.  Hadrian probably isn't
far behind me."

Just then, in the distance, I heard Case's scream.  I had to move.

"You know where the crates are in here?" I asked Malcolm, hoping that I
would be able to jump across this pit without taking the time to swim
through the sludge.

"I know some," he said.  "But it'd be dangerous for you to try and jump to
`em."

"Why is that?"

"Cause there's these motherfucking spikes all through here.  More
pitchforks.  You can't see them, but they're there."

I sighed angrily.  I had never wanted to see another pitchfork again in my
lifetime, and now they were showing up to endanger me so soon after my last
fight.  "I'll have to swim across," I said.  "Very carefully."

Malcolm walked up towards me.  "No you don't," he said, grinning
devilishly.  "I'm just tall enough so I can touch the bottom of this pit
and keep my head up above water the same time.  You hop on my shoulders,
and I'll take you across."  He turned around and patted his filthy
shoulders.

"That would be cheating," I said.

"So, who fucking cares?  All Hadrian does is cheat."

>From behind me, closer now, I heard Case's scream once more.

I jumped onto Malcolm's shoulders and he started to walk across the sewage
much more quickly than I would have been able to swim, carefully
maneuvering around the pitchforks.

"There ya go," he said when we got to the other side, pushing me onto the
concrete floor.

I heard heavy footsteps and heavy panting behind us.

"He's here!" yelled Case.

I turned around.  Hadrian was on the other side of the pool, a werewolf
now, holding a new contraption that was easily double the size of the
chainsaw.

"What the hell is that?" I shouted.

Hadrian growled and pulled the trigger on this weapon.  Blinding orange
flames shot out across the pool, not quite reaching me but almost singeing
Malcolm.

"A flamethrower," Case said, standing behind Hadrian.

"Go, get out of here," Malcolm said, swatting at my feet.

I turned and kept on running as Hadrian started to cross the pit, jumping
easily from crate to crate without ever fearing the pitchforks below.

I ran turning right, then left, then right again, knowing my only hope was
to find another weapon somewhere, hopefully an assault rifle or a rocket
launcher or something equally powerful.

Instead I came to another pool of sewage, with no weapon in sight.  Russ
stood on the other side of the sludge, his clothes finally soaked with
brown water.

"Wait!" he cried out.  "There's pitchforks sticking up all through this
zone," he said.  "You're gonna have to take it slow here."

I heard footsteps behind me, and saw Hadrian walking towards me,
flamethrower in his hands.

"I can't go slow," I said.  "He has a fucking flamethrower!"

"Okay," said Russ, calmly.  "You'll have to try and jump on the crates."

"You know where they are?" I asked frantically.

"Yeah," he said, looking towards the dark water.  "First one is about five
and a half feet from the edge.  Three o' clock from your position."

"Three o' clock?" I asked, not at all used to these sort of descriptions.

"Move it!" yelled Case from behind Hadrian.  I looked back.  Hadrian was
almost close enough to fry me.

I ran towards what I guessed to be three o' clock, landed on the far edge
of a metal crate, and immediately my right foot slipped off.  I slammed
onto the crate with my ass, but my foot found the sharp spike of a
pitchfork, puncturing it from underneath.

I screamed in pain, pulling my impaled foot off of the spike.  The sewage
was stinging the wound.

"Nope, that was more like four o'clock," said Russ critically.

I glared at him as I got to my feet again.  "Tell me where the next one
is."

"Five feet away at eleven o'clock."

Eleven o' clock.  I concentrated, imagined my invisible target, ran and
jumped.

I landed safely upon the crate just as Hadrian torched the space in front
of him, flames covering the crate I had just been standing upon.

"Four feet, straight ahead!" yelled Russ.

I jumped onto the next crate.  Hadrian had already jumped out onto the
first one.

Two more crates found with Russ's help, and I was on the other side.

"What's up ahead?" I asked him.

"I have no idea."

I heard Hadrian pulling the trigger of the flamethrower once again from the
middle of the pit, and grabbed Russ and pulled him out of the way before
the flames rolled out upon us.

"Hey, you filthy son-of-a-bitch," Russ said, pointing an angry finger at
Hadrian once the flames had stopped.  "You're not supposed to be attacking
the spectators.  Where the hell is that biased referee of yours, anyway?"

Hadrian responded with a roar, and I continued to run, leaving Russ behind.
The passageway split off into two directions, and I ran to the right.  Soon
I came to another pit of sewage.

I stuck my foot into the water and felt the sharp point of a pitchfork.
Without the help of any of my wolves the only way I'd make it across this
water would be with extreme care.

I turned around and ran back towards the split in the passageway, convinced
that I had chosen the wrong direction.

As I turned the corner, I almost ran into Hadrian.  Both of us were
surprised.  He squeezed the trigger of his flamethrower, and I slid onto my
back.  The flames went over my body, and I turned over and crawled out of
the way, once again running towards the pit filled with spikes.

With Hadrian fast on my heels, I slid into the sewage as quickly as I
could, trying to avoid the spikes.  I had only managed to get halfway
across before Hadrian reached the edge of the pool.  I heard something
between a growl and a laugh come from Hadrian's muzzle, and heard the click
of the trigger being squeezed.  Both of us knew I was completely in range
of the flames and had nowhere to run.

I took a breath and dove down into the sludge, as the flames rolled over
the surface, the black sewage turning bright brown above me.

Just when I desperately needed to take a breath, the flames stopped.  I
swam to the surface, and inhaled.

Hadrian had jumped to a crate in the middle of the pit, not far from me.
He pointed the flamethrower directly into my face.

I quickly dove back down into the water as the space above me was ignited.
The sewage was heating up quickly, uncomfortably so.  I swam underwater
towards the other side.

When the flames stopped again, I popped through the water near the far edge
of the pit, gasping for air.  I tried to clamor onto the other edge, but
Hadrian was fast with the flames.  I was forced to dive back down into the
water as he lit up the surface once again.  Obviously there was no way for
me out of this trap.

I swam underwater back towards Hadrian, knowing the only advantage I had
was that he couldn't see me and probably wouldn't expect that I would swim
towards him.  I stopped when I reached the crate Hadrian was perched upon,
watching the glow of the flames above me.

When the fire stopped again, I took my chance.  I propelled my body up out
of the water, wrapped my hands around Hadrian's furry calves, and pulled
with all my strength.

It worked.  Hadrian lost his balance and fell backwards off the other side
of the crate, howling and shooting flames into the air above me.

His upper back landed right onto a concealed pitchfork, ripping through his
body.  He desperately struggled to get himself off of the spikes.

I swam around the crate and jumped upon him as soon as he pulled off of the
pitchfork.  Screaming angrily, I pushed him down into the water.

He was already heavy in his werewolf form, and with the weight of the
flamethrower strapped across his chest, he sunk like a boulder to the
bottom of the pit.

He struggled against me, but I held him down firmly.  He swat at me, bit
into my arm, but I wasn't letting him up.

This convoluted and drawn out battle between us had boiled down to nothing
more than two wolves trying to hold their breath.  When the stale air felt
sharp and desperate in my lungs, when the anxiety built inside me, I
ignored it and concentrated on how much I hated the man below me.

I felt him struggle more frantically under my body, his hits less and less
directed.  He wanted up.

Then, he stopped struggling, and I still held firm.

Finally, when I was sure it was over, I grabbed his body and swam him back
to the surface, breathing in the delicious air.  I rolled up onto the
cement floor, and pulled Hadrian up beside me.

Mark was waiting there for me, followed by all of my wolves.

"It's over," I told Mark.

He was bending down to inspect Hadrian's body.  "He's still breathing," he
protested.

"He's unconscious!" I snapped.

"He could just be dazed.  Give him a moment."

"Look," I said.  "I'll fucking kill him right now if you don't end this
match."

He finally submitted.  "Alright," he said.  "Match over.  You win."

Cheering and hollering, my pack surrounded me, complimenting me and
congratulating me.  All of us were covered with sewage and smelled awful,
but there was still a lot of hugging and laudatory punches.  Malcolm
hoisted me on his shoulders and we began to walk out of this maze, leaving
Hadrian's beta to deal with his superior.

"I gotta hand it to ya kid," said Russ as Malcolm carried me across a pit
of sewage on his shoulders.  "I thought it was gonna be your ass tonight,
but you pulled through."

"You should have known he would win this, Russ," said Case.  "It's Rick
we're talking about.  He's never lost a fight."

"Yeah, you fucking rule, man," said Cougar.

"Thanks guys," I said.  "I only won because of your help."  And that wasn't
just a polite thing to say, that was the honest truth.

When we got back to the ladder, I was the first one to climb up, back into
Hadrian's den.  All the other alphas were still there.  Upon seeing me,
they burst into a torrent of cheers.

I smiled happily and thanked them.  I was indeed satisfied that I had
dethroned Hadrian once and for all, and now the crown was mine for the
taking.  But there wasn't that huge sense of accomplishment and
exhilaration that I had felt upon winning my last fight.

Will wasn't here to share this victory with me, and that made the victory
nothing more than bitter sweet.  We had planned to defeat Hadrian together.
We had planned to rule side by side, and now I'd be forced to do it alone.

"Thank you, everybody," I said, and the cheering died down.  "Please don't
go to bed yet.  I need a shower, but afterwards I have a few things to say.
Meet me upstairs on the ground level in fifteen minutes."

The rest of the pack and myself showered in one of the den bathrooms,
washing furiously with soap and shampoo offered to us by the English
wolves.  Even after scrubbing and scrubbing, the smell of the sewage was
still there.  I could only hope that it would be permanent.

I got dressed in my clean clothes, and told my wolves the they should feel
free to raid Hadrian's closet for clothes they could wear.  After they had
left me, I took a deep breath, and went up to the ground level of the den,
joining the crowd of alphas that had gathered just as I had commanded.

I ascended the crate that had always before been Hadrian's stage, and
looked out at the multitude of alphas.  A good many of them cheered for me.
I felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility.  All of these wolves
depended upon me, and I wasn't going to fall short of their expectations.

"Now that I am your leader," I told them, "there will be some changes.
First of all, I now consider my pack to be the alpha-pack--that is, even
the lowest wolf in my pack has seniority over all of you.  Listen to them
and treat them with respect."

Nobody challenged this.  They were obedient; they would do as I told them
to do.

"Now, most importantly," I said, "the mole among us has been eliminated,
but all of us are still in danger of being sought out and killed by the
vampires.  The enemy has eyes everywhere, and it knows the identity of all
living wolves.  None of you should delude yourselves into thinking that you
are safe showing yourselves in public.

"But, there is hope," I continued.  "Any new wolf you turn will not be
known by the vampires.  I encourage all of you to go into your communities
and seek out men who would desire what we could give them, men who are
strong of mind and willing to die if need be.  Men who are willing to kill.
Turn them, turn as many as you can turn, and we will once again increase
our numbers until we have a large enough population to take control from
the vampires."

There was a good amount of vocal agreement to this point.  I went on.

"I ask all of you to divide yourselves by region and choose an alpha to
represent your group in a strategic meeting with myself that I will hold
tomorrow at noon.  This is not a contest--this is no position of honor.
Once you've chosen an alpha to represent you, you may leave this city.
I'll be in close contact with all of you, I'm sure.

"The vampires have committed genocide against our kind, and all we have
done in retaliation is cower and hide.  Now, be prepared, all of you.  From
this moment on, the wolves are going to war!"

Roaring cheers floated up from the crowd below me.  These wolves were ready
to fight, and they would follow me in any decision I made, good or bad.  I
swore to myself that I would lead these wolves to better lives, to
security, to victory.

*****

We assembled the next day in a meeting room in Hadrian's den that I had
never seen before, a sparse room with a long metal table and many chairs.
Light bulbs hanging from the ceiling lit the space only barely.

I sat at the table surrounded by the members of my own pack and the other
alphas picked to represent their regions.

Hadrian smoked a cigar on the opposite side of the table from me, looking
more than a little sour at his defeat.  "The vampires have complete
dominion over the New World," he was saying.

"With Africa included, that's three continents that have been cleared of
wolves," I said.  "What about Asia?"

The alpha from Bangkok spoke up.  "They've got Japan and Singapore
completely," he said.  "They have most of Korea.  We still have packs all
over China.  We have three in India.  Several in Southeast Asia.  Several
in Mongolia."

"Alright," I said.  "And the vampires?  How many are there?"

He shrugged.  "They're everywhere," he said.

"And Europe?"

Hadrian spoke up.  "We have strong wolf support here," he said.  "Almost
every major city has a pack.  Europe is the best place in the world for a
wolf to be, thanks to yours truly."

"Uh, that's not true," said Watt's, speaking up for this first time this
meeting.  "So, there's a pack in every European city?  There's still
vampires crawling all over the place."

"What, you got no vampires down under, Brisbane?" asked Hadrian
belittlingly.

"Not enough to get upset about," he said.  "They don't seem to bother much
with our little island.  The ones that do come round we've been able to
clean out."

I turned to face Watts.  "I need to hang low for a while," I told him.  "It
sounds like Australia's the best place for me right now.  Can you find a
home for me and my pack there?"

"Yea, sport," said Watts.  "All of you can come to my den in Brisbane.
There's enough space for all of us there."

"Good," I said.  "We'll make your den the wolf headquarters for the time
being, at least until it's safe for me to show my face again."

"Coward," sneered Hadrian from across the table.

"You got something you want to say to me, Hadrian?" I challenged him.

"Yeah," he said, leaning forward.  "What kind of leader sends his brothers
out to fight a war while he sits on his lazy ass on the underside of the
world?  You're supposed to be the best fighter, so why aren't you going out
there to fight?"

"I'll fight when the time comes," I responded.  "I promise.  And unless you
want to fight an army of vampires yourself in this very den, I suggest you
take your wolves and get the hell out of here as soon as possible.  The
vampires know about this den.  It's only a matter of time before they'll be
knocking at your door."

"I've already got a new den lined up," he said, pleased with himself.
"Seems I'm always one step ahead of you."

I glared at Hadrian for a moment, then continued with my plan.  "We have
the greatest chance of liberating Europe and Asia from the vampires," I
said, looking at the faces seated around me.  "Once we've doubled our
numbers, we'll amass an army here in London," I said.  "We'll work our way
East, clearing out the vampires one city at a time until we've made our way
across Asia--we won't even bother with Africa for now, that'll be our
toughest continent to conquer."

"And we'll leave America alone?" asked Russ.

"No," I said.  "I want my home back.  After we have Asia, we'll take the
army to the West Coast and move East."

"Incredibly stupid," said Hadrian.  "We have no support in North America,
or anywhere around it.  Does anyone else think it's foolish for us to
follow the idealistic war tactics of such a young kid?"  He looked around
the table for some support.

Nobody paid any attention to him.  "It's not just by sentimentality that
urges me to invade the US," I said.  "The king of the vampires is from
Vegas, and it is likely that Vegas holds his secondary headquarters.
Invading Africa before we are ready would be foolish of me, but invading
the US could be critical to our success."  I looked around.  "Anyone else
have anything to add?"  Nobody said anything.  "Then you're all free to go
home.  Thanks guys, I'll be in touch."

Hadrian and the other alphas started to clear the room.  I told Watts I'd
discuss our travel plans in a few minutes.  First I had to talk to my
wolves.

"Listen, I really hate to do this guys," I told them once we were alone,
"but I'm going to have to split us up for the time being."

"What?" asked Cougar.  "Why would you split us up now?"

"I know it sucks," I said.  "You guys are my family.  The last thing I want
is for us to be separated, but we have to act now.

"The vampires believe me to be dead and Matt to be alive.  As long as those
two things do not change, you four will be invulnerable.  You are the only
wolves in the world who can go anywhere in absolute safety, although how
long it takes the vampires to realize Matt is no longer with us is anyone's
guess."  I turned to Cougar.  "Think you can handle some more
reconnaissance, Coug?"

He shrugged.  "Yeah, man, I can handle it."

"I want you to stay here in Europe," I said.  "Find out everything you can
about these winged beasts that attacked Case and me the first time we were
in London.  I want to know what they are, how many of them are in
existence, how often they kill wolves.  Everything.  I won't have us wolves
win this war against the vampires just to face against another, more
mysterious enemy."

"That is very wise," said Russ.

"I'm not really sure how much I'll find out, but I'll do what I can," said
Cougar.

I put my hand on his shoulder and looked at him seriously.  "I want you to
be very careful here.  You may be immune to vampire hostilities at the
moment, but these other creatures will kill you just the same.  Promise me
that you'll stay at a safe distance from them, no matter what."

He nodded.  "You got it, bro.  I'll stay safe, don't worry `bout me."

"Good," I said, smiling and patting him on the shoulder.  I turned to Russ,
looking into his serious eyes.  "Russ, because of your military training,
your strength, and your smarts, I think you are my greatest asset here.  If
it's okay with you, I want to send you into the lion's den.  Are you okay
with this?"

"Drop the `is this okay with you' bullshit," he said.  "You tell me where
to go and what to do, and I'll do it, no questions asked."

"Thanks, Russ," I said, smiling at him.  "I want you to go into South
Africa.  The vampire's HQ is supposed to be somewhere near Cape Town.  Go
there and find out everything you can.  We need to come up with a plan of
attack, and I'm counting on you to conceive it.  But don't confront any of
the vampires directly, not yet."

"I'll try to resist," he said in all seriousness.

"Try and find the two villains who broke into our den during the full
moon," I said.  "I want them both dead.  I want them both to suffer."

"You want me to kill those two if I find them?" he asked.

I thought perhaps Russ would have been able to handle the Asian vampire on
his own, but was positive that he would be outmatched against the Caucasian
one, although I didn't want to insult Russ by telling him this.  "No," I
said.  "If you find them, tell me.  I want to kill them myself.  Especially
the one who took so much pleasure in Will's murder."

"Do you think that was the guy Matt sold us out to?" asked Cougar.  "That
Griffith guy?"

"No," I answered.  "Matt said Griffith had black hair.  This guy's hair was
light."

"He could have dyed it," said Malcolm.

I shook my head.  "Possibly, but I think I know who this vampire is that
attacked us.  The agent from the Bridge told me that the gifted that came
before me was turned into a vampire, and I think that was him, my vampire
counterpart.  Like me, he has incredible strength.  He's probably the
strongest vampire alive."

"He's an evil, sick son-of-a-bitch," said Russ, "and he deserves to die."

"Yes, he does," I said.  "And I'll do the job with my own hands."

"That's nuts," Case said to me protectively.  "Remember, you already fought
this vampire and lost."

"I fought him when I had a brain the size of a walnut," I said.  "As long
as I have my full mental and physical capabilities, I can beat him.  If you
find him, Russ, I want to be the first to know."

"Right," he said.

"What about me?" asked Case.  "Where do plan to send me?"

I turned to face him.  "Case, you'll go with me to Australia," I said.  "I
need you to stay with me, to protect me."

He smiled, obviously extremely pleased.  "This I can do better than any
other," he said.

I smiled back at him.  "You can help me plan our invasion of America.  I'll
need to stay absolutely out of sight of the vampires, or it will put the
four of you in jeopardy."

"You send me out whenever you need to," said Case, reaching out and
pressing his warm hand against the bare skin of my arm.  "I'll do
everything, anything you need."

"I know you will," I said, smiling.

"That leaves me," said Malcolm.  "Where you sending me, boss?"

I turned and looked up at him.  "Malcolm, your task is the most urgent.
Somewhere out there another gifted kid like I was lives."

"How do you know?" asked Case.  "I thought the agent told you that you were
the last?"

"It's weird, but I felt his presence when I turned," I tried to explain.
"I felt him taking the gift from me.  The agent was wrong.  I know he's out
there, and I may be completely off, but I had the feeling that he was
somewhere on the west coast, in Southern California perhaps.  Malcolm, I'm
sending you after him."

"I'll find him," he said.  "I've got a good nose."

"I hope you find him before anyone else does," I said.  "If the Bridge gets
a hold of him, we'll have another slayer on our hands, killing our kind
indiscriminately."

"That's unlikely," said Russ.  "If the Bridge doesn't know about him
already, there's little chance they'll be able to detect him in the
future."

"I know," I said.  "Although we certainly don't want the vampires to find
him either.  The last thing we need is two of those super-vampires fighting
us."

"Also unlikely," said Russ.  "Vampires won't be able to smell him like we
can."

"Right," I said.  "So we have the best chance of finding this guy."

Malcolm smiled his goofy grin.  "When I find this fucker, you want me to
bring him to you, boss?" he asked.  "So we can turn him into one of us?"

I thought about this.  If we were to turn this gifted kid, we'd have an
invaluable weapon against the vampires, a wolf as strong as myself.

But what if he were to challenge me?  He'd be the only one who could
potentially beat me and take my place.  This kid could ruin everything I
was planning for the wolves.

Any way you looked at it this kid was a nuisance.  It was sad, but there
was only one thing to be done.

"No," I said.  "If you find him, Malcolm, kill him."

It was a ruthless, heartless action, something I would have never ordered a
few days before.  But I was a different wolf now, one that wouldn't let
anything as tenuous as pity or compassion threaten the livelihood of myself
and all the wolves I ruled over.

"Kill him?" Malcolm asked, surprised.

"Yes," I said.  "Can you do it?"

His smile turned serious.  "Yes, boss.  Consider it done."


THE END



CLOSING NOTE

Well there it is, the end of the second story in a series of four.  Sorry
it took so long to produce--after I reached a certain point I found it hard
to continue.

I'm very excited about the next story--it will be quite different from the
previous two.  I've given enough hints; all of you should vaguely be able
to guess what the next story is about.  And, if you're really good, you
might be able to figure out what the fourth story is about as well.

But, as eager as I am to sink my teeth into the next story, I must take
some time off to work on other projects.  Seeing as how this series does
nothing for me financially (as fun as it is to write anyway), I must now
direct my creative efforts more towards my career.  Once I have made some
progress in that area, I promise I will return to this series.  We're only
half-way done, folks.

In the meantime, feel free to harass me at:

"closethecellardoor@yahoo.com."