Wilder Animals Read online

  Wilder Animals

  Book Five of Underdogs

  Geonn Cannon

  Supposed Crimes LLC

  Matthews, North Carolina

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All Rights Reserved

  Copyright © 2016 Geonn Cannon

  Published in the United States

  ISBN: 978-1-944591-02-1

  Prologue

  Another seizure gripped Ari’s body, her arms tightening against her chest as her entire body went rigid in Dale’s lap. Dale stroked her partner’s hair and turned away to watch the streets of Madrona speeding past out the window.

  “Hold on, puppy,” she said. “We’re almost there…”

  Ari’s doctor, Aaron Frost, glanced over his shoulder when they approached the next intersection. He met Dale’s eye but didn’t offer any reassurances before he faced forward again. Gwendolyn Willow’s home was still two blocks away. Frost took the corner so fast that Dale was thrown against the car door. She wanted him to hurry, wanted him to drive over lawns or crash through fences if it got them to Gwen’s faster. Ari suddenly seized again, her hands rising in claws as her entire body went rigid. Dale wished she had put the seatbelt between Ari’s teeth, but it was too late now. She couldn’t tell if Ari was conscious or not; her face was coated with sweat, her lips pulled back over her teeth.

  Dale had never felt so useless. Years earlier, when she saved what she thought was a stray dog and ended up with a naked woman in her bed, she dedicated herself to learning everything she could about canidae. Known in literature and pop culture as werewolves, they were technically an entirely separate species. Not entirely human and not completely wolf, they were a blend of the two born with a gene that gave them the ability to transform at will. Their bite could transfer that ability, as could a blood transfusion, but humans past the age of puberty couldn’t survive the ensuing transformation. Their bodies just couldn’t cope with the strain. Eventually the urge to change became too much to refuse and their skeletal framework twisted itself into a pretzel trying to do something it was never meant to do.

  Ariadne Willow, Dale’s partner and girlfriend, was born without the gene. When she was a baby, her mother found someone willing to perform a risky procedure that would give the newborn the canidae gene and allow her to transform into a wolf. The procedure worked, to a degree. Ari could transform, but it was a far more painful process than it should’ve been. Every change left her with aches and pains that had once been manageable with massages, but in the past few months it had progressed to a degree that Ari’s doctor was warning them of paralysis and permanent disability.

  They were both aware of the danger, but they were equally knowledgeable of how dangerous the potential cure might be. Ari didn’t want to get the bite until it was absolutely necessary, just in case there were side effects they hadn’t thought of. Dale was willing to let Ari set the schedule since she was the one taking the risks, but she knew they were working on a very tight deadline.

  Now it seemed as if their time had run out. That morning, Ari was hurting too badly to get out of bed. Dale managed to loosen some of the tension with a massage and helping her get into a hot shower, but Ari still needed her walking stick. The stick terrified Dale, because Ari only used it when she could no longer pretend the pain was crippling her. At lunchtime she turned down any food due to cramping in her stomach. She tried to laugh it off (“The last thing I need is to start my period today of all days.”) but Dale could see the pain was real.

  She got up to take a pain pill and her legs gave out under her. Dale ran to her, the phone in her hand already dialing Dr. Frost. Within two minutes of his arrival, he had carried Ari out of the apartment to make a mad dash for Ari’s mother. “I should have insisted we do this a month ago,” he said as he pulled out of the driveway. “Hopefully we’re not too late.”

  Dale was the one who came up with the plan in the first place. A canidae bite was only fatal to humans because their bodies didn’t know how to survive the change. Ari’s body could do it, but the wolf part of her DNA wasn’t strong enough to do it properly. Dale suggested a bite from Ari’s mother could “infect” her, finishing the process that began when she was an infant. If it worked, Ari would be able to transform with only the normal amount of pain. If it failed…

  She looked down at Ari and stroked the hair out of her face. She was drenched with sweat, her eyes closed but fluttering too much that Dale couldn’t tell if she was conscious or if she’d passed out. She kept talking just in case she could hear her.

  “What if she’s not home?” Dale asked.

  “We have to pray she is,” Frost said.

  He laid on the horn as he pulled into Gwen Willow’s driveway, barely bothering to come to a complete stop before he was out of the car and opening the back door. He was an older man, with the white hair of a grandpa and the wiry frame of a scarecrow, but somewhere he found the strength to gather Ariadne in his arms. He had just picked her up when Gwen appeared, drawn by the commotion.

  “What’s…?” She looked at Ari and began moving toward the house. “Inside. Kitchen table.”

  Dale followed Gwen and Frost into the house and closed the door behind her. She ran into the kitchen and, at Gwen’s instruction to “just sweep that shit off,” knocked the centerpiece and dishes off the table to the floor. Frost placed Ariadne on the table. Her hands and the heels of her feet knocked against the wood as another seizure washed over her.

  “She waited too long,” Gwen said angrily, pulling off her clothes. She knew about the plan and had been bugging Ari to follow through on it. She understood Dale’s reasoning and believed there was no reason to worry, but she also respected Ari’s fear. Now she was angry. At Dale, at Ari, at herself, her anger didn’t seem to have a target. She was suddenly nude, but Dale was too focused on Ari’s pain to care.

  “Where… where does she need to be bitten?” Dale said.

  Gwen was suddenly the wolf, her transformation so seamless that Dale never saw any hint of a transition. She leapt onto the table and clamped her jaws down on Ari’s left arm. Dale screamed and clapped a hand over her mouth as blood welled around the wound and dripped down Ari’s forearm. She knew what had to happen, but her brain couldn’t process that with the violence of the act. Ari screamed when she was bitten, but her thrashing stopped and her eyes opened to look down at her wounded arm.

  Frost put a hand on Dale’s shoulder to keep her from moving toward the table. She was grateful to him for that.

  After what felt like minutes, Gwen jumped to the floor. Thirty seconds later she rose as a human, slightly out of breath and sweating. Ari’s blood was still smeared across Gwen’s bottom lip and the right side of her chin. She pulled on the shirt she’d been wearing and stepped to one side as Frost moved in to tend to Ari. He wrapped her arm with gauze but didn’t apply antibiotics, grimacing as he skipped that vital step. This was the rare occasion when they wanted the bite to transmit something. They could only hope that nothing else had been hitching a ride in Gwen’s mouth. Animal mouths were notoriously dirty.

  “You’re not an animal, though,” Dale whispered.

  Gwen looked at her. “Sorry?”

  “Nothing. Sorry. Just…” She shook her head and hugged herself. “What happens now?”

  “Now we let her rest.”

  Frost was already injecting Ari with a sedative. She had calmed considerably after the bite, and the drug made her slump against the table as if someone was letting the air out of her.

  “You’re both welcome to stay here until she wakes u
p, of course.” Gwen put a hand on Dale’s cheek and forced her to look away from Ari. “Do you drink?”

  “What?” She blinked and shook her head. “Uh, sometimes. A beer every now and then…”

  “You’re going to have a drink and lie down. There’s nothing you can do for her now, and you look like you’re in shock. You need to rest, too.”

  Frost said, “That’s a very good idea, Miss Frye.”

  Dale nodded. “Okay.”

  “I’ll take you to the kitchen. Dr. Frost…”

  “I’ll make sure Ariadne is comfortable.”

  “Through this door, at the end of the hall. There’s a guest room.”

  She put an arm around Dale’s shoulders and led her to the kitchen. Dale looked back and saw Dr. Frost checking Ari’s vitals. He looked concerned but unconcerned, so she allowed her own worry and fear to dissipate as she let herself be steered away. The panic was past and her mind could clear, could focus on what would come next.

  #

  Dale didn’t intend to nap. But the loss of adrenaline and the alcohol combined to knock her out. She only meant to put her head down on the couch, since Gwen had such lovely and huge throw pillows, but the next thing she knew, it was dusk. She sat up quickly before she was fully awake or aware. Gwen was standing at the window looking out over the backyard. She turned at Dale’s violent waking and then looked back outside.

  “She’s not awake yet. Dr. Frost wanted to let her sleep.”

  “Oh.” It was cold in the house. “Does he know how she’s doing?”

  Gwen shook her head. “Not yet. When she does wake up, will you tell her I’m sorry?”

  Dale frowned. “For what?”

  “For hurting her. Again.”

  “This is what Ariadne wanted, Miss Willow. Yes, she was scared, but she knew it was the best chance she had at getting better.”

  Gwen sniffled and Dale realized she was crying. She got up and went to her.

  “I’m glad she has you. Watching out for her, keeping her safe.”

  Dale said, “I’m glad she has you back in her life. She needs both of us, Miss Willow. I know it took a lot for Ari to trust you again, but she got there. She forgives you for what happened when she was a baby. And while she might not agree with what you did, she doesn’t disagree with the choice itself. Ari loves her wolf. She loves being canidae. That… you gave her that. You made sure she wasn’t a hunter. Ari was born to be the wolf. You just made sure she fulfilled her purpose.”

  Gwen looked at her. “Thank you, Miss Frye.”

  “I wish you’d call me Dale.”

  “Would it be out of line to ask you to call me ‘mom’ in return? I know you and Ariadne aren’t married, but you certainly seem devoted to one another. I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to.”

  Dale said, “I’d be honored.”

  Frost knocked on the door frame. “Miss Willow, Miss Frye? Ariadne is awake. She’s asking for Miss Frye.”

  Dale touched Gwen’s shoulder and followed Frost out of the room. “How is she doing?”

  “Groggy, but doing well. A canidae bite doesn’t manifest itself this early. Rarely if ever are there signs before the first transformation urges kick in. I’ll keep an eye on the situation, of course, but we may not know until the next time she tries to become the wolf.” He put his hand up. “I’ll tell her, but I’ll also tell you. I don’t want her transforming for at least three weeks. Preferably, she’ll stay in human form for at least a month. Humans who get bitten start to feel the urge around that time, so it implies that’s how long it takes for the ‘virus’, for lack of a better term, to spread through her system.”

  “Okay. Well. After today, I don’t think she’ll be in any rush to transform.” They reached the guest room. “Will the bite leave a scar?”

  “No, that shouldn’t be an issue.”

  She thanked him and waited until he was gone before she knocked on the door. She went in and found Ari propped up by pillows, eyes closed, her hands folded on her stomach. The overhead light was off but a lamp on the bedside table was casting a soft golden shine onto Ari’s face. Dale approached quietly and sat on the edge of the bed. Ari opened her eyes when Dale touched her hand. Her lips twisted into a weary smile.

  “Hey.” Ari’s voice was weak, and her eyes immediately began drifting shut again.

  “Hi.”

  “I guess I waited too long. Sorry.”

  “You were scared. I get that.” She reached out and touched Ari’s cheek. “I was scared, too. How do you feel?”

  Ari took a deep breath. “Well, Dr. Frost has me on a lot of drugs. So I feel great.” Her gaze drifted toward the ceiling. “It’s a weird cocktail. Keeps me safe from. You know. Normal… stuff. But lets the wolf thing do its thing. Thing.” She made a face and closed her eyes. “I remember being in the car with you. You were holding me. I liked that.”

  Dale smiled. “I liked it, too.”

  “Hey.”

  “Hm?”

  “I was less scared with you.”

  Dale bent down and kissed Ari’s lips. “Get some sleep, puppy.”

  Ari chuckled. “You call me puppy.”

  “Yeah, I do.” She brushed her cheek against Ari’s.

  “I love that. I’d hate it from anyone else. You know? But I would be sad if you stopped.” She pursed her lips. “Kiss puppy.”

  “Wow, you are on a lot of drugs.” She pecked Ari’s lips. “I’m going to let you sleep.”

  “I can sleep with you here.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Mm-hmm. Even better.”

  Dale toed off her shoes and stretched out next to Ari on the bed. Ari rolled to face her, and Dale rested her hand on Ari’s hip. They’d done enough research in the months since Dale came up with the plan, they knew the risks and they knew the real threat was that the bite would do nothing. Ari had been bitten by other canidae in the past without any effect. But the fact it was her mother’s bite could make all the difference. And even if it didn’t help, the odds were extremely slim that Ari would actually die.

  Still, even a fraction of a chance was more than Dale wanted to entertain. She put her face against Ari’s shoulder and fell asleep quickly to the sound of her breathing.

  #

  They stayed overnight at Gwen’s house, and she drove them home in the morning. Neka Teller, the young woman they rented their basement apartment from, came out to meet them in the backyard. She was a tall, athletic Native American, currently dressed in her pajamas. She was still holding the spoon from her breakfast when she came outside and, at a loss for what to do with it, stuck it into the pocket of her pajamas.

  “Everything okay? I caught a glimpse of you guys leaving yesterday. Looked kind of like an emergency.” She looked Ari up and down with concern. “Was that you who got carried out?”

  Ari nodded. She was still weak, still heavily sedated from whatever Frost pumped into her, but she made an effort to look as normal as possible even if the mere thought of speaking exhausted her. “Everything’s better now. I was just… I was having an episode. It’s all sorted out now.”

  “Are you sure? If you have medical bills or whatever I can be a little lenient on the rent.”

  “Thank you. But that’s not necessary. Sorry if we worried you.”

  Neka said, “Sure, sure. As long as you’re okay. You guys are the best tenants I could have asked for. Just let me know if you need anything.”

  Dale thanked her again. Neka lent a hand getting Ari down the stairs to their apartment and told them to let her know if they needed anything else. Ari thanked her again but, once they were alone, protested that she wasn’t an invalid.

  “I feel completely fine,” she said as she was guided to the couch. “I appreciate all the help, but it’s really not necessary.”

  “I know. But you went through a really traumatic experience yesterday. Forgive me for being concerned. You’re going to be pampered whether you want to or not. Understood?”
r />   Ari groused a little, but then said, “Thank you. For everything.”

  Dale kissed one of her eyebrows and smoothed down her hair. “Lie down and relax. Do you want the TV? The laptop?”

  “I’ll take a drink. Something not… uh, just something cold… I don’t care.”

  “One drink, coming up.” She went into the kitchen. She got some ice from the freezer, put it in a glass, and cracked open a carton of juice. “How do you feel? I mean, overall?”

  The couch groaned as Ari eased herself into a more comfortable condition. “Sore from everything yesterday. How bad were the seizures?”

  Dale looked down into the glass. She wondered if she should lie, pad the truth a little so Ari wouldn’t feel guilty. But then they had always been honest with one another in the past.

  “They were bad, Ari.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” She closed the fridge and brought Ari her drink. “None of it was your fault.”

  Ari said, “If I’d just let Mom bite me a month ago, it wouldn’t have gotten so bad.”

  Dale shrugged. “Bygones. The important thing is we got you to your mother’s in time.”

  “Right. Well, in a month we’ll know if worked. The fact that my seizures stopped doesn’t mean anything.”

  “Dr. Frost gave you a sedative before we got in the car, but it didn’t affect you. After the bite, you settled down immediately.” She took Ari’s hand. “I have faith.”

  “If you do, then I do.”

  Dale was willing to close the agency for the rest of the month, but Ari insisted she could still do the work. She spent the first day post-bite recovering at home, but the next morning she was up and dressed before Dale. She looked healthy, normal, and only after ensuring she wasn’t putting on a show of wellness did Dale agree to drive her to the office. There were a few surveillance cases that didn’t require more than staring at a video feed, while Dale covered the heavy lifting of background checks and following digital trails for other cases. Ari used credit card receipts to find a woman who had gone missing. Her disappearance was a choice, as it turned out, and Ari reported that fact to her concerned soon-to-be ex-boyfriend.