Marked By the Wolf: Part 1 (Werewolf Shifter Romance) Read online

  Chapter 2

  I took his arm and he led me outside to a red sports car parked on the curb. Around us the city was alive with throngs of people, honking horns, and car exhaust. He opened the door, I slipped inside, and he got into the driver's seat. Once the doors were closed the interior was as quiet as a tomb. The whole world could have been in the middle of a nuclear war and we wouldn't have known. I'd never been in anything half as luxurious as this five-star hotel on wheels, and I squirmed in my chair.

  "Problems?" he asked me as the car jumped forward into the busy two-lane traffic.

  "I think your car's monthly insurance bill costs as much as my apartment," I commented.

  He chuckled. "Probably," he agreed.

  "So what do you do for a living?" I wondered.

  "Oh, I'm an errand boy." I turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "I'm very good at my job," he added.

  "What do you deliver? Drugs?" I joked.

  "Not exactly. I'm sort of a go-to man for the people I'm taking you to. When they want fresh-um, members, they trust my judgment enough to go out into the city and bring them back somebody like you. Fresh blood, as it were," he explained.

  "Well, I've got plenty of that," I replied.

  He smiled. "Yes, I imagine you do."

  We drove several blocks through fancy boutiques and shops that dazzled the tourists and party-goers. The Bohemian elegance of the small businesses gave way to forests of office buildings and hotels that towered over us like imperious overlords. A few of the buildings had garages beneath them and into one of these Stanley turned. The garage sat below street level and was lit with sickly fluorescent lights.

  There were two dozen other cars around the main stairs into the building above us. Many of them were long, black cars with chauffeurs at the wheel reading large books to pass the long wait. There were a few other flashy vehicles, and a group of men stood at the bottom of the stairwell laughing and talking. Stanley helped me out of the low vehicle and over to the stairs.

  "That's a nice one you have there," one of the men yelled to us.

  Stanley glared at him. "Hold your tongue, you idiot," he snapped. He hurried us past and into the stairwell that led up into the building. "I have to apologize for my friend. He's a little drunk around this time of night," he told me.

  "Is he one of the people I'm supposed to meet?" I asked him.

  Stanley smiled and shook his head. "No, not at all. The people you're going to meet are near the top floor partying as we speak."

  We climbed the stairs to the lobby of the building. It was a tiled-floor, echoing kind of lobby with a glass front and doors. Stanley led me to the elevators at the back and we climbed in. Just as he said there were fifty floors to the building and he pushed the button for the forty-fifth. The elevator climbed the floors and when the doors opened again we were in a different world.

  Before us was a large room lit with strobe lights and flickering colors that encompassed all the colors in the rainbow. On the left side was a long table filled with food of all kinds, and in the back was a small stage with a door on the right side. On the right was a DJ playing loud, fast music, and in the center of the room were round columns spaced evenly apart that supported the tiled roof. The rest of the floor was taken up with people dressed in sleek red dresses and their hair done up in the latest fashions. They occupied all ages, from the old matriarchs who sat in chairs placed beside the columns to the young teenagers who danced to the music provided by the DJ. Among the dancers and those at the table were others like myself who were dressed in street clothes and other less formal attire. The room was unnaturally warm and I immediately began to perspire.

  Stanley gently placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me out onto the floor. "What do you think of this party?" he wondered.

  "It's certainly-" I stopped when my eyes caught sight of a brilliant pair of blue eyes. They belonged to a handsome young man of about thirty who was dressed in a fine suit. His beautiful eyes scrutinized me with such a strong mix of interest and fear that my heart picked up its tempo.

  Stanley shook my shoulders. "Is something wrong?" he wondered.

  I shook myself and turned away. "N-nothing. I just thought I saw somebody I knew, but I was wrong."

  "Good." Stanley glanced at his watch and frowned. "I just remembered there was a call I needed to make. Would you excuse me for a few minutes?"

  I glanced at the time. A few minutes short of midnight. "Sure, we've got time to kill," I agreed.

  Stanley smiled, bowed his head and left for the elevator. I noticed a burly man stood on one side, and Stanley showed the man his coin. The man nodded and jerked his thumb at the open elevator doors. Stanley stepped into the machine with a few others and the doors closed behind them. I was alone and feeling slightly nervous about being around so many strangers. My eyes inadvertently returned to the young man. He still watched me, and I noticed an older woman stood beside him. She stood regally at his side in a blue dress with frills on the modest collar. Her white hair was short and permed, and she glanced from the man to me and back against to the stranger. Her lips moved, but I couldn't hear any sound over the noise of the music and laughter. The man pursed his lips and turned his head away, but his eyes stared at me out of their corners.

  I wandered over to the refreshments and a woman of about forty in a smart business suit came up to me. "You must be one of the new people," she commented.

  "Um, yeah, I guess I am," I replied.

  She smiled and looped her arm through one of mine. "The real party's about to start. Why don't I show you to the stage with the others?"

  "Others?" I looked around the room and saw that the other people in the normal attire were being led to the stage.

  "Yes. Now let's get you up there so we don't miss you," she encouraged me.

  She guided me to the stage and up the short flight to the top. The others and myself were lined up at the back of the stage, and our handlers stepped down to join the crowd congregating at the base. The DJ stopped the music and joined the partiers as they pressed against the front of the stage. The people were packed in a tight group that stretched from one side of the floor to the other. I saw the man there with his older escort. He had a tense stance as though about to jump onto the stage, but the woman held his arm to keep him from giving in to the impulse.

  The room quieted when the door beside the stage opened. Two men stepped out. One was a bespectacled older gentleman who wore a black suit and led his companion up the stairs. His friend was a young man of about thirty-five with long black hair tied back in a low tail that cascaded down his back. He had dark eyes and pale lips that smiled at each of us as they passed by to a podium at the front-center of the stage.

  The bespectacled man took the podium first and cleared his throat. "We are all gathered here at the bi-yearly Meeting of the Wolf to welcome our guests for the sacrifice of their time, and their lives," he announced. The mention of our lives caused a ripple of nervousness to pass through our little line.

  One of the men in our group stepped forward. "What the hell is this about our lives?" he asked the bespectacled fellow.

  "You have been chosen for a very important task," the younger man spoke up. He strode back down our line to the man who stood out. "We are a very select order of people who reside in this city. Our common bond is a gift and a curse. The gift is a long life, but the curse is that every two years we must satisfy the beast within ourselves. That night is now upon us, and we have chosen you to satisfy our hunger," he explained.

  "Fuck this, I'm out of here," the irate man replied.

  He tried to push past the dark pony-tailed fellow, but the man grabbed him. The dark stranger pulled back the other man's arms and sank his teeth into his throat. The man's body twitched and convulsed as blood poured from the wound. The other people in my line, me included, understandably screamed our heads off and raced for the front of the stage
to jump off.

  The first person to fly into the crowd, a woman my age, landed into a mess of clawing hands that pulled her down to the floor. The partiers dove on top of her and we heard her screams as they tore her apart. The others on the stage panicked and tried to force their way through the crowd, but my terror and lack of athleticism kept me on the stage and with a great, and terrible, view of the whole gory scene.

  The partiers transformed from the Wolves of Wall Street to just plain wolves. Their faces elongated and their hands lengthened into long, sharp claws. They tilted their heads back and let loose a horrible chorus of howls as their clothing tore from their bodies, replaced by thick coats of fur. They dove at those not transformed and pulled them to the ground. I couldn't see what was done to the others, but by the screams I didn't want to know.

  I stumbled back and saw the dark man toss the limp body of the man into the crowd. They caught him and pulled him into their midst, and I could hear the smacking of their lips and clacking of their jaws as they consumed his dead body. My back hit the rear wall and the dark man's eyes turned to me. They were no longer dark but yellow, and in their depths was a terrible hunger that could only be satisfied with my blood.

  I decided now was a good time to leave, and the perfect exit was their entrance. I raced down the stairs and heard a noise behind me. I turned in time to see the dark man lunge at me. With my eyes on him they weren't on the steps, and I missed the first one. It was a doozy that sent both of us flying forward. The dark man flew over my head, grazing my hair by a fraction of an inch. He landed on all fours five yards ahead of me. The door stood in the middle between us. I glared at him and he smirked back at me. His face stretched outward and his clothes ripped as he, too, became a wolf monster. I jumped for the door knob and he jumped for me.

  Then the lights went out. I heard a yelp from in front of me and the collision with the dark man never came. Howls and growls of confusion and terror came from the partiers. The few of those who remained alive of the line of normal people cried out for help, but I couldn't even help myself. Hell, I couldn't even see a foot in front of my face. I screamed when someone grabbed my arms. Their sharp teeth bit down hard on my neck. I expected them to drain me of my blood, but instead I was flung forward. My gut caught the knob and I fumbled for it.

  The door opened and showed it led into a long, brightly lit hallway. The light from the hall streamed into the dark party room, and I saw the dark man picking himself up off the floor. He was no longer a man, but a beast with a long snout full of sharp teeth. His pointed ears sat atop his head and his long, thin hands flexed his clawed fingers. Nothing remained of his clothing other than a bit of shirt and pants.

  I ducked inside just as he jumped at me and I slammed the door behind myself. His claws scratched at the area of the handle and I didn't stick around to see if this new dog could learn new trips. I dashed down the lit corridor, at the end of which was a pair of elevator doors. The door behind me opened and the clickity-clack of claws on linoleum echoed behind me. I pumped my pudgy arms and slammed into the button panel. The doors opened wish a swoosh and I raced inside.

  I swirled around and saw the werewolf pounding down the hall. Fifteen feet. Ten feet. I slammed my hand on the lowest floor available which was the farthest one from here. The doors shut just as the creature reached me, and his clawed hands dragged along the front of the doors. The elevator sped downward with the speed of a freight elevator. It soon hit bottom and the doors opened to reveal the parking garage. I stumbled out and saw the entrance to my right and around the elevator shaft. I rushed toward the noise and sights of the normal city, but the abnormal wasn't done with me.

  I was nearly at the opening to the garage when I heard a loud scratching noise from the stairwell. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a half dozen wolf things burst from the stairwell entrance. They sniffed the ground and one of their pair of yellow eyes turned toward me. My eyes widened and I looked ahead. Just a few more feet to freedom, but the feet behind me were so fast. My lungs ached and blood from my wound poured down my throat.

  I flew out into the busy street and nearly played in traffic. My luck changed when one of the cars that nearly hit me was an empty taxi. I threw myself over the hood. "Please help me!" I screamed.

  "Get off my car!" he yelled back.

  I stumbled around the side of the taxi and let myself in the front passenger side. "Drive!" I growled at him.

  His eyes widened, but he pressed down on the accelerator and away we flew. I glanced back at the parking garage and saw a half dozen disappointed shadows lingering at the edges. They weren't chasing me. I was safe.