Of Wolf & Man

Chapter Nine

Liam scanned the hotel room to check if he was alone, but there was no need. He knew he wasn't. He also knew it wasn't a human in the room.
"Hello Russell. Nice to know Jonathan has stationed you here to wait for the girl."
Before Liam had finished his sentence, Russell moved around the corner and into view. Russell was only a year younger than Liam in human years. Being only 14 years old when he was infected, Russell looked younger than his age. He wasn't as burly as Jonathan or Liam, but he could handle his own in a fight. Liam was sad to know that Russell and Xavier, who was only 18 when he was changed, were the ones left to fight Roman when Liam disappeared with Rachel.
"Yes, it is nice to know. Aren't you supposed to be searching for the girl Liam?" Russell's tone was accusatory.
"I've been looking for the girl. I followed her scent here. I wanted to see if she had returned to her hotel room."
"The girl isn't here brother, but you already knew that. Why are you really here?" Liam began to feel uncomfortable. He had already lied to Jonathan. Could he lie to Russell?
"That depends on what you know." Liam said. Better to be vague and try to get information from him.
"I know you haven't lost the girl, what I want to know is why you are lying to Jonathan and why I am protecting you, we both know Jonathan doesn't know you have her hidden."
Liam knew that the charade was over, and he should just tell Russell what had happened after he took Rachel away. But Liam still needs information from him.
"What else do you know?"
"I know that I saw you jump in between Roman and the girl and I saw the blood. I know the blood isn't yours so don't lie. Next thing I knew, you and the girl were gone, and Xavier was pinned by Roman. You put us in danger Liam."
"I know Russell, I know. I am sorrier than you know. I thought Roman would flee." Liam looked down at his feet, full of shame and guilt over betraying his brothers.
"How badly is she hurt?" Liam looked up at his words.
"She has foot long scratches down her arm. I'm doing the best I can to heal them, but her body isn't taking to the serum."
"It's the vampire blood in her system that is halting the healing. We'll find a way to help her. I'm..." The look on Liam's face stopped Russell from finishing his sentence.
"What do you mean 'We' there is only me. Jonathan can't know that I have the girl."
"I didn't mean the pack, I meant you and me. I am the expert healer, remember?"
"I can't have you getting involved in this, it's too dangerous. If Jonathan finds out what I have done he'll kill me. He'll kill you too for helping me. I'd rather it was only my life on the line."
"Roman attacked her; you can't get in trouble for that. You saved her life Liam. She's alive because of you."
Liam looked away from Russell at that moment. "Roman didn't attack the girl."
Russell's face became so confused at that moment he didn't know what to say to Liam at all.
"I hurt her Russell..." Liam sighed.
"What do you mean you hurt her? How?" Liam closed his eyes and began to tell Russell what happened.
"I saw Roman advance and I snapped. I didn't think about what I was doing but I jumped in between them, and my back claws raked her arm. I felt them tear her skin to shreds and panicked. I couldn't focus on Roman anymore, she was dying, and it was my fault. I phased and ran to the woods with her. I took my shirt and wrapped her arm to cover the blood and took her to the beach house and tended her wounds. It took a half hour to get the bleeding to stop; when I saw what I had done to her I could have killed myself. I will never forgive myself for hurting her. When I was able to get some serum on the wound I wrapped it and fell asleep."
Liam didn't want to let him know too much, especially the fact that she's having vampiric dreams.
"Wow, that's a lot to take in Liam. How deep are the scratches?"
"Not very deep, they go into the muscle but there is no bone exposure. She has been exposed to the lycovirus. It's not enough to kill her but I still worry about Jonathan and Helene finding out about this."
"We can't hide the girl forever Liam. I need to see her, so I can judge for myself how her condition is and how well she is healing." Liam began to feel uneasy about letting Russell see Rachel. He knows that Russell can heal her better than he could himself but how will Rachel react to the whole situation.
"I'm not so sure about this Russell."
"What aren't you sure about? She needs my help." Russell said.
Liam sighed, "Fine. Help me gather her things. I left her alone and I don't want to be away too long."
"Okay. Let us hurry brother."
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Liam had Russell leave after him and through a different exit to keep suspicion off them. He waited in his car for Russell and wondered if he should just leave. With a sigh he realized that if Jonathan knew where he was, Russell would too, so he settled in his seat and waited. After about five minutes Russell opened the door to the car.
"I thought for sure you'd have left by now." Russell said as he put his seatbelt on.
"No point in trying to ditch you. You know where I am, also you know you don't need your seatbelt; it's not like we can be hurt." Liam said.
"It makes me feel human when I do it."
"Well you're not."
"Really? Thanks for the heads-up Liam; I always wondered why I changed into a mutant wolf at every full moon." Russell's voice was thick with sarcasm. Liam rolled his eyes and started the engine.
While they were driving Russell studied Liam, he looked more tense than usual which meant he was hiding something. Something big.
"What's going on Liam? What are you hiding?"
"It's complicated Russell."
"It really isn't. You can tell me. You've got to trust that I won't run to Jonathan with your secrets. We've done a lot of crazy things over the years."
"It's not that I don't trust you. I don't know how to explain it."
"Try me."
With a sigh Liam focused on his driving for and tried to think of what to say. He noticed that dusk was falling, and Rachel would be getting tired. He pressed his foot on the pedal and decided to trust Russell with the secret.
"Rachel has been having strange dreams." He blurt out.
"Everyone has strange dreams."
"Hers are beyond strange brother. The scratches are reacting strangely to her body, besides the fact that they won't heal, when she falls asleep she starts acting like one of them. She was thrashing in her sleep and I thought it was a seizure. When I went to check on her she hissed at me and jumped up so fast I couldn't register it. She was on top of the table hissing and scratching at the air. She reminded me of Katia the way she was moving and acting."
"Katia? This is strange. I've never heard of these symptoms before. I've studied all the materials in hopes that I could make one of us comfortable while dying if we were bit; then again, we've never experimented on humans before. I'm not sure about the vampires though. They've done many disgusting things, I would consult The Elders, but I know you want to keep this secret."
"Exactly. I'm worried for her. What if it's killing her? I don't know if I can take that Russell." Liam's voice broke and tears started to well in his eyes. He shook his head and focused his eyes on the road.
"Liam, I still don't understand how you could love her. You don't know her. She doesn't know you. Jonathan shouldn't have given you the assignment. You were completely inexperienced."
"Yeah, I was and the moment I saw her I fell. Hard. Even though she was only 15 I knew I wanted to know her and everything about her. Then the Elders noticed I was researching the experiments and informed Jonathan. He used the Alpha stare to see what my intentions were. He found that I'd fallen for her and what my theories were for turning her and forbade me from making contact with her. Helene even confronted me, said I was to steer clear of her niece and if I didn't she'd have The Elders sentence me to death. I've been hiding in the shadows ever since. Pining away for the girl I can never have. Keeping her safe from everything and nothing. Wanting so badly to touch her hand. Ten years and nothing happened. We kept her hidden enough that Nicolai and Roman were always one step behind and now they've found her, and she's been injured; by me of all creatures. I should just hand her over to you and let The Elders kill me. It's what I deserve."
"Enough with the tortured soul routine. You can't blame yourself for her getting hurt. It could've been way worse. Roman could've gotten to her and then where would we be? The Elders would sentence us all. She's alive, not in perfect condition but alive nonetheless. When we get there, I'll see what I can do. Jonathan expects you in three days. If you don't show he's going to The Elders seeking council."
Liam thought about what Russell said and noticed he passed the cabin. He turned the car around and doubled back to the lot.
"Well I'm hoping she'll have enough blood in less than two days or we'll be screwed. I really don't want to cauterize but I will if the bleeding doesn't stop." Liam parked the car and cut the engine. "I'll see what I can do, luckily I brought my medics bag with me when Jonathan stationed me in the hotel room. I knew you'd show up sooner or later." Russell unbuckled his seatbelt and started to get out of the car when Liam stopped him.
"There's something else I didn't tell you."
"Oh man. What did you do?"
"Don't say it like that. I had to tell her about werewolves and vampires."
"What! Why would you do that? Do you know how much trouble you'll be in?"
"I didn't tell her we were werewolves, nor did I tell her I'm the one who hurt her. She thinks I found her and brought her to tend to her wounds."
"This is bad Liam. Very bad."
"I know. What else was I supposed to say? She kept asking me questions and I couldn't keep deflecting."
"Well let's hope she won't ask any more. You're gonna be in a lot of trouble when Jonathan finds out."
"Are you going to tell him?"
"Of course not. You are. You know he'll use the Alpha stare on you and you'll spill your guts."
Liam sighed. That was one thing he hated about being a werewolf. Jonathan, being the Alpha, had powers he developed when he started the pack. He could make you do anything he wanted, also force you tell him anything you were hiding from him. He was also stronger than the rest of the pack. He had to be, to exert control over them. Without a pack leader there's anarchy and lots of fighting.
"We might as well head over; I don't want her to fall asleep and hurt herself."
Liam locked the car and they started walking across the sand toward the cabin.
Everything looked all right from the outside and that put his mind at ease. He walked up to the door and unlocked it then turned to Russell.
"Before we walk in there I'm gonna warn her, so she doesn't think the worst. I'll let you know when it's all clear."