Chapter 1 ~ The Lone Wolf

Hey guys!! So this is what I'm working on for July 2019 Camp Nanowrimo. Please vote/comment and let me know what you think! Any feedback is welcome & the more the better as it keeps me motivated to keep writing! Hope you enjoy :)

Dedicated to Nelson_Rodrigues for brainstorming Titles for me and coming up with Last Fae!! Thank you for your help!!

Chapter 1 ~ The Lone Wolf

The silver aura was hard to miss as it weaved its way between the scattered crowd of hardened alcoholics. I knew without further inspection that it was him. The same wolf, back again, just as he had been every night since I'd opened the place almost two years earlier. He had introduced himself as Kellan that first night, as if he'd expected my name in return. I hadn't given it to him of course; I had no intention of interacting with other Mythics ever again. Especially not a Wolf.

As he moved ever closer, my eyes drifted down to my left forearm and I allowed my fingers to trace the lumps and bumps of the scar that marred the pale skin. The bite itself was nothing compared to the loss I had woken up to the next day. My friends. My family. My species. All gone. And it was all because of them. The other six species of Mythics. They had attacked us, led by the wolves and now I was the only one left. The last of the Fae. And because of the bite on my arm, I had also become the very thing I hated the most.

"Delilah," His deep voice intruded on my inner thoughts and reminded me where I was. He'd picked up my name a few days after our first meeting from a drunk who had a thing for red-heads and wouldn't take a hint. It was the only word he spoke each night, as he'd learned early on that he wouldn't get a conversation out of me.

"Kellan," My mismatched eyes, one green, one grey met the dark grey, verging on black of his. I placed his beer on the bar and he took it with a soft smile. We had an understanding, Kellan and I. I let him drink in my bar and he left me alone. Admittedly, I hadn't had much of a choice. I had tried chasing him out for almost a year before I finally gave up and let him stay. He was the only Mythic that even tried to get into The Lone Wolf at this point, everyone else knew it was a no go zone.

I felt his dark eyes on me as I worked. The clamor of the pub seemed to dull with his presence and my skin itched. My wolf was closer to the surface whenever Kellan was around, something that made me hate his presence more than I think I would have otherwise. I shoved it back down, deep into the depths of my soul. Wishing it would suffocate down there and leave me to my human life. The desire to destroy that side of myself grew stronger and stronger every day. And so did it's will to escape. I hadn't let it out even once since that first day when I'd woken up a Wolf. But I feel it clawing at my insides almost as desperate to escape me as I am to escape it.

"Ahem," my head snapped back up to his tall frame, the apology in his eyes did nothing to appease my growing apprehension, "Something has happened." I dropped my gaze back to the rough cut timber of the counter and picked up a glass.

"Time for a refill, Barry?" I shifted my attention to one of my regulars down the bar. He lifted his distant gaze from the bottom of his cup to stare bleary eyed at my figure behind the bar. The shadow of a smile tugged at his lips before his attention snapped to the figure beside me. Barry shook his head and returned his attention to the bottom of his glass.

"Are you serious?" I growled turning back toward the wolf. Kellan held up both hands and took a seat at the bar stool directly in front of me.

"I know you don't want anything to do with us, but I..."

"But nothing. I let you drink at my pub. You leave me alone. That's it. No buts." I took a deep breath and loosened my clenched fists. The glass I'd been holding was nothing but dust when I released it, but better that than someones face. At least for now.

"People are going missing, Delilah." He spoke softly, I was probably the only one who heard him despite the attention we'd garnered with my raised voice.

"People? Or Mythics?" I spat at him on a whisper. He rubbed his temples with one hand before swiping it down his face and shaking his head. "That's what I thought."

"Please," he sighed, "I just need to know if you've heard anything?"

"Why would I have heard anything? If it's Mythics, it's got nothing to do with me."

"You are a Mythic, Delilah. It's got everything to do with you." My tenuous grip on the burning rage inside of me started to slip.

"I am not," I growled out. My hands gripped the solid timber of the bar, as if it were his neck. I could almost see the life draining from his face, and I let my eyes drift closed at the thought.

"You can pretend all you want, that you're human. It doesn't change the fact that you're a Fae. And a Wolf."

"Maybe not. But once I find a cure it won't matter." He opened his mouth, closed it and swiped his hand down his face once again.

"Okay," he murmured, "But everyone else has tried. We thought a Fae might have a chance and you're the only Fae left. I just thought maybe you could try to find them. There are children missing. Don't you think they deserve a chance?"

"The only Fae left?" I laughed, it bubbled up from unknown depths. From even deeper than the seething mass of rage, "And why do you think that is, Kellan? Maybe because you killed the rest of us? Killed my family? Slaughtered my friends? Wiped out my entire race?" He stepped back like he'd been slapped.

"Is that what you..."

"Get out," My hands shook by my sides. It was the first time I'd ever spoken the words aloud. The first time I'd accused a Mythic directly of their crimes. My breathing was erratic as I moved further down the bar, away from the silver glow of his Wolf aura. I poured a drink for another patron and then one for myself before he finally walked away. And for the first time in two years, he walked out the door before I finished for the night.

As I closed up hours later, rounding up the stragglers and herding them out the entrance before locking up behind them, I realised I missed his presence. Somehow everyone had learned that when Kellan stood to leave it was time to go. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd had to herd people out. Without my realising it, he'd become a significant part of my life. And when he'd asked for my help, I'd turned my back on him.

************************************

"Del? Del, are you okay?" Kat's voice drew me back from the depths of my mind.

"Yeah, sorry. I don't know, Kat. I just kind of feel like maybe I should have helped him?" The gnawing doubt had been occupying my mind since I closed up the night before. I didn't want anything to do with the Mythics and I had avoided using my abilities as much as possible since the night I was bitten but he'd asked for my help. Despite the pure hate that I felt for his kind, Kellan had never been anything but nice to me.

"Seriously? They ruined your life. They wiped out your entire race and turned you into some kind of hybrid Wolf Faerie. You do not need to help them. And you shouldn't feel guilty about it either! Have any of them ever tried to help you? Have they ever even apologised for anything that they've done?" She was right as always, and not for the first time, I was glad that I'd found her.

"Yeah, I know. It's ridiculous. I need to just get over it. They don't deserve my help after what they've done." I sighed.

"Exactly! Now are you ready to give me some blood?" She put on her best Dracula voice and laughed as I rolled my eyes. She really had no idea what Vampires were actually like. Kat was human but I'd told her about Mythics a few years ago and she'd been helping me search for a cure ever since.

"That's what I'm here for," I rolled up my sleeve and rested my arm on the stainless steel table in front of me, leaning back in the chair so I didn't have to watch as she pulled out the tourniquet, a needle, and a few vials.

"I think we're finally getting close, you know?" She murmured, concentrating on getting the needle into my vein. I stared at the lab equipment all around me, at the sterile environment with its multitude of reflective surfaces, and I forced my ever hopeful heart to remain calm. She'd been saying the same thing every time I came in to the lab for the last year or so now. At first I'd allowed the excitement to run wild. Allowed the hope to seep in. But each and every time I'd been crushed when weeks later there was still no cure, just the same meaningless words. She meant well, but my heart couldn't take anymore.

"Really? You don't have to say that every time you know?" I laughed to soften the blow but she glanced away from her work for a moment and waited until I met her eyes.

"I mean it this time, Del. I swear. I finally got up the nerve to talk to my professor about it and he had some really helpful ideas." I froze.

"You told someone about me?"

"What? No! Of course not. I just showed him some blood and said I was working on a cure for a disease. He wanted to know where the blood came from but I just told him that was confidential information. If he starts asking too many questions I'll just go back to working on it on my own again. I promise its fine. We're finally getting somewhere."

"Okay," I let a smile slip onto my face as she finally released my arm and stepped back with the new vials full of my blood. Her chocolate brown eyes watched me through her square glasses and she fiddled with the end of her long blonde pony tail, unsure. "It's fine!" I laughed, "Thank you for helping me like this. You're the best friend anyone could ever have and I'll never be able to repay everything you've done for me."

"Oh stop!" She giggled, putting the vials down before reaching over to squeeze me in a quick hug, "Alright, I've got to get back to work. I'll see you at the house later."

"Bye," I waved as I walked towards the door. After so many years of visiting this place I probably knew it as well as Kat did, so it was easy to weave my way around the lab equipment, out the door and into the elevator. As I stepped through the front door and out onto the main street I froze in place at the brief flicker of a violet aura across the street. I shook my head as my heart sank. Only Fae have purple auras. Knowing I imagined it doesn't stop the pain from lancing my heart. Yet another reminder of how alone I really was.

I pray Kat was right this time. Being the last of my kind was too much even after all the time that had passed. I needed that cure, I needed to be human. To forget I ever was a Mythic. To forget there was even such a thing.