Wolf

HARPER

Spencer had been gone a lot lately, but he made sure he would always come home, so I appreciated that he was really putting in the effort despite how exhausted he had been.

He really was this amazing superhero. Clade, I noticed, had stopped his usual promiscuous outings with his three women, which had me suspecting something must have gone wrong.

Heck, I couldn’t even think about sharing Spencer without jealousy boiling up, so I know how they must be feeling, and even though we didn’t need it, there seemed to be more staff hired at work.

Mr. Johnson hiring staff was none of my business. I still had the same amount of hours, which I was grateful for, and they were friendly enough, but his and their movements were just…odd.

They never seemed to do much, other than act as security at the front or out the back in the warehouse. It did cross my mind more than once that maybe he had done something he shouldn’t have and was now needing protection.

But I passed that off as too many movies and a paranoid mind. Well, that was until Spencer walked back to the stands with hot dogs and drinks.

We had been at Levi’s soccer game for about thirty minutes. There wasn’t a lot of action on the field, though.

Normal for an eight-year-old’s soccer game, but then I noticed the strangest reaction of all.

As Spencer made his way back, the collection of more men and women than normal, some of whom I had seen on multiple occasions, were bowing.

Bowing? I was sure it was. Not a full bow, just a head tilt with downcast eyes, and in return, he would nod as he went by.

“Here.” He handed me my drink and hotdog as I eyed him warily. “What?”

I thought for a moment, how was I going to tackle this without sounding like a completely insane person? “Jesus, sweet cheeks, what is it?”

“You said once, that I could ask you anything?”

“Yes, what the hell happened while I was gone?”

“This may sound…odd…but…”

“Holy shit, Harper, just spit it out already.”

I licked my lips. Perhaps I was going insane? “Did those people you walked past just bow to you?”

“Bow?” his voice was strained and he scoffed at me as though I was ludicrous. This instantly got my back up, he was making me feel stupid for even broaching the subject.

“Don’t make me feel like an idiot, Spence,” I warned.

“They didn’t bow, Harper, they simply just said hello as I walked past.”

“Really, Spencer Marcelo, because what it looked like from my eyes, was that they bowed to you because if they had said hello, it would have looked like they were saying hello.”

He burst into laughter, though it sounded fake, which made me even more suspicious.

“Sorry to disappoint you, sweet cheeks, but I’m pretty sure bowing is reserved for royalty and last time I checked, I ain’t a royal.”

I sat back, I was unimpressed by both his mocking tone and his dismissive attitude.

Yes, he was tired. He’s been working a lot lately, and his attitude is a little grumpier than normal. I can see his exhaustion by the bags he carries under his eyes.

But then to act as if I’m crazy, when he could have approached this a whole other way, a reassuring way, had my senses tingling in doubt.

Inside though, I was pissed. I didn’t know how not to be pissed. His reaction had made me feel foolish when I was just asking a simple question.

“Don’t be pissed at me, Harper, I can feel it.” He chimes in from beside me, his eyes never leaving the field.

How can he feel it? It’s not like we share the same body. I was never good with subtlety, so maybe that’s what he was picking up on?

Yes, he was here, and I had to give him credit for that.

In fact, he was always there when we needed him the most, especially for Levi, even though he was dead tired and he could have stayed home and slept.

Maybe I should cut him a break, maybe it is just my imagination? But then again, I just couldn’t get that nagging doubt to dissipate.

“Harper?” I heard him warn again, but I just couldn’t stop it.

I chose to remain silent, silent until I had worked through my own suspicious ramblings, like little pieces of a mystery puzzle were trying to connect themselves together in my head.

I chose to remain in my quiet contemplation state long after the game was over, only using small, short replies, even when we went to Patty’s diner.

She picked up on my strange behavior but only asked once about it. I smiled and nodded politely, even though, for some bizarre reason, I could sense just how frustrated Spencer was.

We arrived back to Clade’s house just as he was leaving. “Kid, you alright?” he questioned as I poured a cold glass of water.

“Yep, you going out?” his head snapped to Spencer, who just shrugged. Why the hell would he look at Spence?

“Yeah, unless you need me?”

“Nah, you go enjoy your night, you deserve it, we’ll see you tomorrow.”

“O-okay, ah, see ya later then.” The moment we heard the front door close, Spencer couldn’t hold back any longer. He wasn’t angry in his approach, more…defeated and bitey.

“Are we going to talk about the reason you’re in such a bad mood?”

“I’m not in a bad mood, Spencer, you made me feel stupid and I feel like you’re hiding something.”

“I’m too tired for this shit.” He flops down at the kitchen table.

“Mom! Mommy!” Levi comes bouncing in with his football in his hands.

“Yes, honey, what is it?”

“I’m going outside to play.”

“Okay, just stay near the house where you can hear me.” I smiled at him; he didn’t need to know what was happening, or that there was a ripple in our relationship.

“Coach? You coming?”

“In a minute, cowboy, ya mom and I are just having a talk. You go and get started; we shouldn’t be too long.” I appreciated his reassurance to Levi; even tired, he was still putting Leivon first.

“Okay.” He ran out the door at full speed, detecting nothing of our discomfort.

“That boy has two speeds, fast and faster.” I chuckled even though I was feeling discouraged at him ignoring my feelings.

“Come sit down, sweet cheeks, we need to talk about this.”

I timidly slouched into my seat, drilling holes into the tabletop with my eyes. “Let’s start with the first issue, the bow.”

His eyes still held a twinkle of mischievousness.

“Why did they bow?”

“They didn’t bow, they nodded in respect for my position within the community. It was a simple ‘hey sheriff’—that is all.”

“Fine, I accept your answer though I'm not convinced. There are strange things happening and I won’t be made to feel like a fool for questioning when you made it perfectly clear that I could.”

“Right so there’s our second issue, you feel like a fool. I’m sorry. My intent was never to make you feel foolish; you have and will always be, my number one priority, you and Levi. Now, since you are so convinced about strange things happening, what are these ‘things’ you are noticing that has you questioning a simple head nod so deeply?”

I flicked him an unimpressed look but forged on despite the mocking hint in his tone.

“Well, for starters, there seem to be more people at work—”

He scoffed. Once again, humiliation for sharing. This ‘talk’ was not going well and I could feel my anger boiling inside.

“You can’t seriously be questioning who Al—Chad hires?”

“Who’s Al?”

He looked away from me, now I know he’s fucking hiding something. I can feel it, like dripping from my heart and a giant big warning sign appeared in my mind’s eye.

“Hhhmm?”

“You heard, Spencer, who’s Al?”

“Chad, I said Chad.” I narrowed my eyes accusingly.

“You didn’t and if you’re going to hide secrets from me, manipulate and embarrass me to cover your deceit, then you can get the fuck out right now.”

“Harper, you’re going overboard…”

“I am trying to figure out why I am feeling this way, Spencer.”

“You’re fucking paranoid.”

“No!” I snapped with a flash of hurt, “you will not brush my feelings aside anymore. I don’t know how to explain it but I know you are goddamn lying to me. Tell me the truth because if I catch even the slightest twinge of a lie, we are over, Spencer Marcelo.”

By now I was slightly trembling with fury.

Yes, sometimes I have my head in the clouds and yes, I’m quite naive to a lot of things, and I admit I am emotionally driven but I could feel it, I could—it was like my entire body thrummed in warning.

“C’mon, Harper, you’re being ridiculous—”

“Get out,” I pushed my chair back and moved around the table, I was done talking about this. I had warned him not to palm off my concerns and he chose to insult me.

He grabbed my hand, but it was too late, the damage was done. I ripped my hand away with a scathing look of pure boiling anger. “What the fuck are you doing?” he bellowed furiously.

“I should never have trusted you,” I spat with vengeance.

“We fucking talked about this, we fucking talked about you trusting me—”

“No, we fucking didn’t talk about you keeping secrets and making me feel like an idiot…” Both of our tempers were getting the better of us now.

“It’s the same fucking thing, Harper Maddox—”

“Levi, get inside now,” I screamed, “we did not talk about your complete disregard—”

“You’re fucking blowing this out of proportion, making it into something it is not and pushing me away in the process rather than talking like fucking adults.”

Our mutual need to make the other see our point of view was a frivolous exercise and cutting each other off was only making matters worse.

“Levi… inside now.”

I pushed my finger into his rock-hard chest. “You couldn’t even let me finish anything, instead choosing to make me out to be an idiot to cover whatever it is you’re hiding. I told you I won’t risk Leivon’s heart and you made me believe you were worth it, that you were trustworthy.”

I pushed past him and headed for the door.

“You’re going to twist this into my fault? Make it out as if I’m the bad guy here? End us without a second thought? You will be the only one breaking everyone’s hearts in this scenario, not me.”

“You should have thought about the consequences of your actions, Spencer, you have no one to blame but yourself. Jesus Christ, where is he?”

I pushed open the front door as blind fury ran rampant inside of me. I stepped out, looking left and right. Where the hell is Levi?

Where the fucking hell is Levi?

“Blame, blame? Harper this is—”

But I cut him off immediately, “Spencer, where is Levi?”

“What? He was just… LEVI? LEIVON MADDOX, WHERE ARE YOU?” Spencer screamed at the top of his lungs.

Panic ripped through me, my heart raced as it thundered in my ears. ~Okay, Harper, you need to calm down~, ~he’s here somewhere,~ I told myself unconvincingly.

That’s when we noticed his ball by the driveway.

Dread washed through me as tears prickled at the sides of my eyes, where the fuck did my son go?

“LEVI? LEVI?” more tears gathered in my eyes, blurring my vision and I tried desperately to blink them away. Perspiration sprung from my armpits and forehead.

~No, no, no, where the fuck is my son?~

With trembling hands and unsteady legs, I ran to where the soccer ball lay.

~Come on, Leivon, where are you?~

Blood drained from my entire body, my deepest fear was suddenly becoming a reality and the waves of panic would not relent.

I couldn’t think clearly, my body began to shake as teardrops poured from my eyes splashing my cheeks.

I looked up at Spencer who was just as panicked as I was. Oh God, that was the wrong time to look at him.

He pulled out his phone and was speaking a million miles a minute but I couldn’t hear a word he was saying. All I could do was holler out Leivon’s name as the fear and panic exploded from my heart.

Spencer threw his head back, planted his feet widely and arched his back. I wondered what the hell he was doing until… he opened his throat and roared into the sky.

The sound was almost deafening, inhuman, scary as fuck and I couldn’t breathe. What the fuck was he doing?

I cupped my ears and fell to my knees as panic, hurt, fear, pain, every single emotion poured out of me like a cascading waterfall.

What the hell was happening right now? How had everything just gone from being so happy to unbelievably wrong in the blink of an eye? And where was my child?

Five large brawny, muscular men came striding out with deft focus from behind the trees, completely naked. Why the fuck are they naked?

One nude man. I recognized immediately—Flank. Flank Rogers the tow guy.

Spencer was shuddering with anger, “Explain now.”

His usual baritone was replaced with a dense thick growl, otherworldly with a harsh rasp and a dangerous edge of seething hatred.

His body began to shift, like it was contorting and twisting or something was trying to break free from his skin.

“We were in the middle of a shift change, it all happened so fast, they came out of nowhere and swiped him right in front of us. We chased the cars but were shot at, Jerica is bleeding out, they have some new type of bullet and it’s bad. I’m sorry Spence, I’m so sorry.”

Flank kept his head low as he explained, but all I heard was the words “swiped him right in front of us.”

Oh god, someone has kidnapped my son. Some asshole monster had taken my child.

The realization hit hard like a fist had collided with my chest. I recoiled into a blubbering, sobbing ball and shuddered as my heart was being ripped from my chest.

I heard the loudest, ear-piercing howl of pain I had ever heard in my life—it was worse than the roar that emanated from within Spencer.

It slammed into me like I had just been smashed into pieces by a truck.

I looked up at Spence in urgency and anguish, only to see his clothes shred from his body as his entire form twisted and extended.

Fur sprung from his flesh, bones cracked and broke as he collapsed into a heavy, heaving pile of—WOLF.

~What the fuck?~

The beast took a step closer to me, but I scrambled away, not caring that the tiny stones were cutting into my palms.

The wolf whimpered like I had hurt it and then took off at lightning speed into the forest as I stared in disbelief at the shredded pile of clothes that remained where Spencer once stood.

Darkness began to swirl at the sides of my eyes as my vision became blurry. What the hell was happening right now?

I heard Flank’s voice whispering as if he were far, far away. I couldn’t breathe, there was no air, no wind, no nothing but the wash of pain.

“Come on, Harper, you better come with us.” Then…darkness.