The Cactus Killer (The Inglewood Chronicles) (13 page)

Rites of the pack basically
meant a challenge for position. As I am the lowest of the low, this
challenge was probably designed to have me expelled. “What would
you gain from this, Kano?”

“
If I win, you must leave
the pack, and by extension the town, and never return.”

“
Okay, and if I win, you
get to become Omega, how does that sound?”

“
It matters not, Victor.
How to you expect to be victorious when you can’t unleash your
wolf?”

This wasn’t some drunk and
disorderly wolf to knock around long enough to sober up, so he had
a good point. Another fact that he didn’t know was that I was just
about on my deathbed not even twenty-four hours ago. Granted I felt
fine, but I could see mom and dad’s faces in the shadows. Both were
incredibly worried. Dad composed himself and stepped
forward.

“
Victor and Kano have both
agreed to challenge of rites. Do both of you understand what the
demands of each are?” We both nodded. “As Alpha, I accept either
outcome as final. Does either participant wish to
forfeit?”

Kano scoffed,
“Never.”

Dad looked at me. “Not on
your life.”

“
Then prepare yourselves,
the rites begin now!”

Kano wasted no time in
transforming into his Red wolf and charged. His snarling face
showed off an impressive set of fangs. I braced myself for his
attack and decided my best chance was to throw a punch just before
he got to me. About ten feet before he got to me, he jumped into
the air. As he closed, I felt a rush of adrenaline and timed my
punch. I connected hard into the side of his face and sent the wolf
sprawling.

“
Holy crap!” That was Felix
summing it up wisely. Just like that it was over. Kano couldn’t get
to his feet and soon transformed back into a human which was the
sign for defeat. His eyes were both black and blue and he was
missing two front teeth. He tried to get to his feet, but he
collapsed again.

Dad broke out of his
shocked stupor, “Victor Inglewood has emerged the winner. Does
anyone dispute this outcome?”

More silence, but it didn’t
last long this time. Soon the whole pack was cheering and Bernard
came over and put me up on his shoulders. I was no longer the Omega
wolf!

**Elizabeth**

I was curious about the
customs of werewolves, so I snuck over to the meeting with Reno.
Phil kept watch at the house just in case anything went wrong. Reno
and I watched from a nearby rooftop and to be honest, it was rather
boring at first with all the howling.

“
I’ll never understand
these fur balls. I like Vic, but if he was a full-on werewolf, I
think we would need to look into another candidate.”

“
Reno, just because we do
not understand their culture does not make it less inferior to
ours; though the howling would get old, would it not?”

While we both laughed, the
howling finally subsided into a more civil meeting. Again, nothing
out of the ordinary and it seemed as if everything would go
smoothly. That was until one rather arrogant wolf decided to make
his feeling known to the rest.

“
That guy seems like a
jerk. Why can’t he just be happy or at the very least keep his
mouth shut?”

“
Jealousy breeds contempt
Reno, especially in a pack like system. “

“
Do you know what an Omega
is?”

I had heard the term
before, and knew it was derogatory in the werewolf world. “Vic is
the lowest member of the pack; that is what Omega
means.”

“
That doesn’t make sense;
he seems to be the most creative and smartest of the bunch. This
Kano idiot should fill that role.”

“
I have a feeling it has
more to do with Vic’s condition that does not allow him to
transform. It makes sense the pack views him as the weakest
member.”

“
It still sounds like a
bunch of bullshit in my book.”

We continued to watch as
the matter escalated. Vic, using sarcasm as his weapon of choice,
unfortunately brought this confrontation to a boiling point. What
started out as just a disagreement had quickly dissolved into some
sort of werewolf duel.

“
Should we get involved
Ambassador?”

“
No, this is not our fight,
Reno. If we interfered, it would bring even more shame to Vic. We
must trust in our friend.”

Inside I wanted nothing
more than to step in. It was not even a day since we had to perform
a miracle to keep him alive and I had no idea what sort of shape he
was in. Reno and I continued to watch as Callum went over the rules
of engagement between the two. If Vic lost, he would never be able
to return to his home.

“
This is pretty serious
isn’t it?”

I nodded, “Yes, yes it
is.”

Kano soon turned into a
large wolf with red fur and a mouthful of daggers for teeth. Vic,
on the other hand, just stood there with a hard look on his face.
The wolf charged him and I saw a slight shift in his stance, he was
preparing for an attack. The wolf jumped at him and as he pulled
back to throw a punch, I saw a flash of red in his eyes, just like
a vampire gets when they transform. That was followed by a punch
that ended the fight just as quickly as it started. Both Reno and I
sat there stunned.

“
Ambassador, did you see
his eyes before he connected with that punch?”

“
I did. It would appear my
blood gave him quite the boost there.”

“
I’ll say, I’m surprised
that other wolf isn’t dead.”

I looked back down, and
Kano had transformed back into his human form. He was in bad shape,
black eyes and missing teeth. He promptly collapsed as the pack
started cheering for Vic’s effort. I smiled to myself, as I think
this was the first time he felt truly a part of his own
family.

“
Come Reno, we have watched
enough. He has earned the right to celebrate with his family this
evening.”

“
You’re right ma’am. But
damn, that punch was amazing. I felt it up here.”

As we prepared to jump back
to the street, I glared at Reno. “Do not call me ma’am; you know it
makes me feel old.”

As we jumped down, I am
pretty sure he mumbled ‘you are old.’ 

“
I’m going to take the job.
The pack gave me the okay if I want to and I decided I want
to.”

She looked at my
skeptically. “This is not one of your silly jokes? Are you
serious?”

“
Yeah, I think it is time
for me to expand my horizons. A little disagreement last night
reminded me that even if I am respected, I will never truly be a
wolf. I want to blaze my own trail if you will.” She didn’t need to
know all the details.

“
I am sure Cristof will be
pleased with your decision. You two are kindred spirits; you will
see once you meet him.”

“
Well it’s five in the
morning, so I suggest we both get a little shut eye. Your boss,
according to the email, is due in Santa Fe at seven tonight and I
would like to be well rested the first day on the job.”

“
It has been quite a long
week; I think I will take you up on that. I am a few days overdue
for my rest as well. I am starting to feel the drain.”

I was about to reply with
some sort of grandma joke, but I thought better of it. I wandered
upstairs and put on my flannel sleeping pants, turned the air
conditioner down to a cool sixty-eight and promptly fell
asleep.

I woke up around one in the
afternoon feeling great. I had slept really well, except I could
have sworn I felt someone cuddle up to me at one point. Well, I was
alone when I woke up and chalked it up to a dream. When I came
downstairs, Liz was in the kitchen again drinking her coffee. I am
pretty sure she spiked it with blood, but I never asked. I was
worried that she might be getting low and after making
pleasantries, I asked.

“
I know you have been here
longer than you planned, so how are you doing on food?”

“
I am down to my last two
bottles. That should get me through tonight and tomorrow, but I
will need to get some more soon.”

That might present a
problem. “I guess worst case scenario you could take another hit
off me, just don’t leech me dry, I need it too.”

“
That is sweet, Vic and if
I need to, I will let you know. My hope is Cristof brought some and
that will not be necessary.”

“
What about Reno and Phil,
are they doing okay?”

“
I have been sharing mine
with them. That is why I am pretty low.”

“
Then why don’t you leave
the last two for them tonight and seriously, just take some of
mine. I need to make sure you are good to go tonight just in case
anything happens.”

I wasn’t sure if she would
take up the offer but after a moment she relented. “Okay, I will,
but only just enough to get me through the evening.”

I held out my arm and
turned away. Just because I was a gentlemen didn’t mean I still
wasn’t a bit freaked out by it. It didn’t hurt nearly as bad this
time and after a few minutes the stinging sensation went
away.

“
Thank you, Vic. You may
want to get something to eat, it will help with the dizziness you
have.”

Sure enough, she was right.
As soon as I ate a few hot dogs left over from the other evening, I
felt a lot better. “Well, we have about a four hour drive to Santa
Fe. I suggest we leave here around three, just to get there around
the same time as the plane. Then we should have about thirty
minutes to scout the area and make sure everything checks
out.”

“
Alright, that sounds like
a good plan. Let us get ready then.”

A little while later, we
were on the road to Santa Fe. Liz vetoed using my Mustang, as she
said Cristof was used to a certain level of comfort and the Jaguar
would provide that. That also meant I was relegated to the
passenger seat and she took to calling me things like navigator and
co-pilot.

For the first part of the
trip, we just listened to the radio. I knew a really good classic
rock station that didn’t spam commercials all the time, and we got
into a groove singing along. After one particularly off-key
rendition of a popular rock ballad, laughter got the best of us and
ended our short lived dreams of forming a band.

“
Now this is how a road
trip is supposed to be, fun. We should’ve packed up sodas and beef
jerky.”

“
You and your abhorrent
eating habits! It astonishes me that you are in such good
condition. If I did not know who you were and saw your
refrigerator, I would have placed money that you were overweight
and a heart attack waiting to happen!”

“
What can I say, a wolf has
good metabolism. Don’t shoot me; I just signed for the
goods.”

After a dirty look,
followed by some scary driving as Liz tried to merge onto the
highway, I decided it was time to ask some more
questions.

“
So, what is this Cristof
like? I imagine him to be one scary hombre.”

I could see her brain
working from behind her sunglasses, probably thinking of a way to
explain him that wouldn’t make my head explode. “Cristof Rollins is
the oldest vampire in North America and second oldest only to
Roderick, the head of Europe.”

I heard that name before.
“Is this the same Roderick that rebelled against your
folks?”

“
The very same, though now
he goes by Rod. Poor Rod just wants to fit in with today’s society
and as such, is more like a wealthy teenager.”

“
It’s hard to picture
millennia old vampires acting like teenagers.”

“
Keep in mind we never
technically grow up. The age of maturity or the year we are turned
is when we stop aging. For some that also means the mind
too.”

So that explained why Liz
looked younger than even me. That in itself could be considered a
curse. “Sounds like Peter Pan syndrome if you ask me.”

“
Do not joke about the name
Peter Pan. He is very much real and a vampire I hope you never have
the misfortune to cross him.”

“
Stop pulling my leg
lady.”

“
I tell you the truth. The
year was 1806 and a vampire came across a young boy, no more than
fourteen years old, who had been mauled by a bull. The vampire
saved the boy from death by transforming him into one of us, but
being fourteen for the rest of your life is no gift. By the late
1880’s the boy was no longer in his right mind and started turning
other young ones into vampires.”

“
What happened next? Who
turned him and where did this all happen?”

“
Patience Vic, I am the one
telling the story.”

“
Fine, continue on boss
lady.”

“
The boy and his pack of
underage vampires were cornered in London. Rod led a group into the
heart of the city and captured them. It was a bloody affair that
almost exposed us to the world. Three humans died that day and
another was injured so severely he would have died too. But the
boy, who by this time renamed himself Peter Pan and his lost boys
were no longer a threat. Rod exiled them to an island off the coast
on England and using strong magic, put a barrier up. The boys are
stuck there, Foreverland as it was nicknamed, for all
eternity.”