Hidden in Sheridan (Tainted Series: Book 1)

Moon: FIRST QUARTER

Sterling - My father is often away, so it always surprises me when he shows up in human form. He’s a large man, with my same brown eyes, but his hair is wispy and never in control. With streaks of gray spread across the sandpaper brown lochs, and his beard is the same. Though his beard is tamed and under control, trimmed short in scruff all around his mouth and beneath his nose. As he descends the stairs I spot a touch of red to his face.

He’s not alone. The two figures beside him, Rory and Hank, follow him down. It had been a year since seeing Hank. I was grateful he had come to my rescue but his appearance home mid-semester isn’t a good sign. Hank is a stickler for academics. He graduated from high school with a perfect attendance record and valedictorian. Not a nerd or a snob, he just had a plan and he always followed through with it. So the fact this interrupted his studies meant I had to be cautious of his temper.

Hank is also dad’s doppelgänger, in looks, size and temperament. Though Hank’s beard is less trimmed and more on the side of mountain man. It’s wavy and sandy brown with no gray, and blends right in with his long wavy hair that covers his ears.

I start by smiling at Hank, trying to rely my gratitude for saving us. Surprisingly, Hank wearily smiles back but only briefly.

Together they take in the sight around them. Levi cowers back into the shadows, crouching low on all fours trying to look smaller and deter attention away from himself. His instincts were new but I suspect they were telling him how dangerous Dad and Hank were, in comparison to his own abilities.

On the other hand, Trinity shows no instinctive change. She stands tall in her place. Her arms hanging at her side, the chains still and steady on the floor around her. Though she looks small in the presence of my father, I can’t help but admire her graceful bravery.

I swallow hard as Dad steps closer to the cage. “You all believe a bite did this?” He asks, his voice a gruff.

“A few days ago, yes,” I say, my voice coming out smaller than usual. “The same Wolf that bit Ity today.”

His eyes turn on the girl. Scanning her from head to toe and studying my chain work. With his dark expression and critical gaze on her, Trinity still doesn’t flinch. In fact she smiled, “Please to meet you Mr. Wolfe. I’m Ity.”

My own heart jumps in my throat, everyone else stands in stunned silence, for a moment.

“I see you’re no longer mute.” Dad says.

Ity shrugs, “Things had to change.”

Mr. Wolfe walks away from Trinity and finds the chair behind the desk across the room to sit in. Hank walks up to her and pulls at her chains to check if they are actually secure.

“Little Red was attacked by the big bad wolf.” Hank jokes.

She looks down at her shirt, as did everyone else. “Apparently the irony was lost on me. But it seems so.” She answers.

“Are you worried?” Mr. Wolfe continues, “After seeing what could be happening to you?”

She looks back to Levi in the cage, and the two of them lock eyes. “No,” she says. “That won’t happen to me. But it is concerning that something which should be impossible, is happening right in front of us.”

“That’s the part that bothers me,” Dad says, “But why are you so sure it’s not going to happen to you?”

She looks back at Hank. Though he wasn’t the one talking he is the one closest to her. “It’s just a feeling,” she answers.

Dad doesn’t argue with her. In fact for the aggressive Alpha he is, I can’t help but note that he’s taking this all in rather calmly. My whole body fills with an uncomfortably heavy sensation which causes me to rock back and forth on the balls of my feet. I hadn’t been addressed in the conversation but for some reason I had a sneaky suspicion blame was about to come my way.

“Then why are you chained up?” Dad asks.

Trinity’s hand lift upwards examine her own situation. The sound of shifting chains roll across the basement. “This if for you. To put you all at ease.”

A small smirk appears on my father’s face, brightening his dark countenance. “You are brave. That is clear.” He says. “My wife says, there was no trace of a foreign substance in Levi’s blood. So she suspects taking your blood won’t do us any good. But, she insists it’s important to find out whats happening, and in order to do that we need to watch your transformation.”

“And when there is no transformation?” Ity asks.

“We use you to track down the wolf, and kill him. He’ll be very curious to see that his bite didn’t work on you.”

My face flushes as my pulse accelerates. I must have misunderstood, “You’re going to use Ity as bait?”

“It was said that she’s more eager to kill the one that bit her than we are. Which is strange since she’s so sure nothing is going to happen to her.”

This time Trinity’s eyes shift to the ground as the chains rumble to her sides. All went quiet for a moment. My eyes shift to Hank, and I realize he’s been focused on Levi for a long at time. Levi was quiet in the shadowed corner of the cage. His golden eyes reflecting the little light was in the room, causing them to appear as if they were glowing. His breathing was the only sound I could hear, deep, short-raspy breaths, like a wolf ready for an attack.

“Why does that look familiar?” Hank asks after a long moment of silence.

Rory squints into the same direction, “it does.”

“He,” I correct Rory. I can’t let them remove my friend from the equation entirely. Levi was still in there, but if they were to forget that and start referring to him as ‘it’, then my friend was as good as dead. “And you’re right. His transformation, looks like it’s right out of the movies.”

Rory chuckled, “Who wants to tell Hollywood they got it right.”

Rory’s attempt of lightening the mood worked. Hank stopped starring at Levi and instead walks to the desk and begins to tidy up the mess of books we had left out. Dad sits back in his chair his hand scratching his scruff below his chin as he thinks more deeply on what to do next.

Me. I continue to stand in place worring about my unanswered question.

Hank brushes his hand across the corner of the desk and suddenly Levi springs back into life. Leaping for the gate, his head slams so hard his shin splits open and blood seeps from the wound, but, that doesn’t stop him.

Levi did it again and again.

A deep grow boils up in Hank, as he takes one step closer to the cage. Rory and I shrink away from the challenge, and eventually Levi does too. Cowering in his corner with a whimper and shaking the pain from his head.

“He’s determined, isn’t he.” Mr Wolfe says the moment Hank backs down.

“I’ll watch him tonight,” Hank adds. “I don’t think Sterling should be down here.”

“I’m not leaving.” I say crossing my arms to show determination.

Hank softens his expression the way he did when I was seven, “I’ll keep them safe, but if something …”

“They’re going to be fine.” I insist. “Please let me stay here to help.”

Chains move as Trinity takes a seat. She props her back against the stone wall and finds a comfortable position; one knee up, elbow resting on it, her head resting carefully on her arm. It doesn’t look comfortable but she seems to accept it.

Both dad and Hank smirk in amusement, while Rory’s eyebrow quirks. “You seem relaxed.” Hank says. She responds by closing her eyes and ignoring our family for the rest of the night.

Trinity was right. The night was completely uneventful. I watched as she slept. No pain, no horrible mutation. Just hours that ticked away with her chained to that horrible stone floor. Her breathing sounded normal but her pulse was difficult to pin down. The smell of human was overtaken by us, the wolves in the room and by morning she no longer held the smell Levi always spoke of. Strawberries and some sort of flower.

He too had fallen asleep. It was around five in the morning when his body went limp and now he lay there, with his hair, claws, teeth the entire shift still in full effect.

I keep telling myself that sleep should bring him back.

“I need to return.” Trinity’s voice startles me out of my thoughts. Hank as well had been quietly sitting at the desk, a book in his hands and his feet kicked up on the wooden surface. At the sound of Trinity’s voice he closes his book and rises to his feet.

“You’re awake?” I stupidly ask.

Trinity’s hair rolls off her shoulders as she lifts her head from her hand. Her complexion perfect, no eye-boogers or signs of sleep across her face. Only the clear morning light across her green eyes as she looks at me.

How can anyone look so pretty after sleeping in a cement basement?

I run my fingers through my hair to find it in a tossed mess. I hadn’t thought about how I looked after the fight in the woods yesterday. I remove some dried leaves and shake the locks into their natural chic mess that always comes natural to me.

I clear my throat and ask, “Return where?”

“The Allen’s. I made a promise not to spend more than one night away without notice.”

“She’s never had a foster-kid keep that promise. You must care a lot about Mrs. Allen.”

“Not really, but promises are rare. And I keep mine.” She holds up her cuffed hands and looks from me to Hank. “I assume the moon has run its course. Am I allowed to leave?”

I look to Hank, his brown eyes look over Trinity for a full minute, before he approaches. His hands steady as he takes the cuff into his fingers.

“Come upstairs for breakfast first. Dad will want to discuss how to use you to catch the wolf.” Hank says.

Trinity shakes her head, her glossy brown hair shimmers, “The Allen’s will feed me.” Hank stops untying the cuffs to look at her. Breakfast hadn’t been an invitation, it was an order which Trinity wasn’t going to follow. “I get it,” she continues, “This wolf is going to be watching me and you’ll be watching me. So send Sterling with me. It won’t be suspicious to have him nearby because the rival pack knows you’re watching me. Plus, he’s in my grade so the Allen’s won’t freak out about me spending the night with an older man.”

A slight blush crossed Hanks cheeks beneath his beard, and he slid uncomfortably away.

“She’s got a point,” I say, “I’ll go with her and I can stick with her all day, in either form.”

“We’ll all go.” Hank said. Both Trinity and I exchanged looks my older brother rolled his eyes.

“No offense bro, but Hairy Mountain-Man will be harder to explain.” I say.

“I’ll shift and follow at a distance.” Hank practically growled. “You two go, I’ll talk with dad and track you up the mountain. Sterling -“

I lifted my hands into surrender pose, “I will not engage if I see him. I will call for help.”

Hank nods and I lowered my arms. The sound of chains pulls both of our attention back to Trinity. She waves her one cuffed hand forward, signaling for either of us assist in her release.

CHAPTER END