Brother Wolf

Ch 16 Revealed

I stood as the lawmen came over.

"You the one that got attacked?" the sheriff asked, "Mister... umm..." He checked his notes. "...Brother-to-all-Wolves?"

"Yes, sir," I answered respectfully. "My legal name is Ulric Wolcott," I provided. "I use Rick, but most people just call me Brother."

"James Thomes," the sheriff introduced himself, offering his hand, which I shook.

"Sounds like a big mess here, Brother. Go ahead and tell us what happened," the FBI man ordered without offering his name.

"You know about the group..." I motioned toward the house with my hand.

"Mister Mackay filled us in," the sheriff interjected. "It's just the fight we need to hear about from you."

I couldn't help glance at the big man I'd only ever known as Mac, before giving the men in front of me my full attention.

"Their leader challenged me. I tried to talk him down. He kept insisting we needed to fight. Maximus tried to stop him, but he pushed Maximus behind him. The man yelled that he was going to kill me, then he lunged." I paused, shaking my head as I relived spitting out that bite of flesh and fur.

"I'm a wrestler," I continued, "and wrestling moves are second nature to me. When he came at me, I whammed my shoulder into him. I'd planned a simple toss, then a hold to pin him down. That would give him a chance to calm down. We knew he was prone to violence and were prepared to keep him on the ground. I was surprised when I saw the blood. We turned him over to see where he was bleeding and called for Doc. We immediately tried to staunch the flow..."

I shook my head again. "I didn't understand what had happened at first. It wasn't until afterward when we saw the knife that I realized what must have happened. My shoulder ram must have forced the knife he was holding into his throat."

"Sounds like an unintentional accident to me," the sheriff said. "We have enough evidence to prove his assault on you was unprovoked. We won't be pressing any charges. It's a pity about them boys in there."

"I'd like to talk to them if I can," I said.

"Yeah, give us a minute," Sheriff Thomes said, "it's just a formality at this point, getting their statements."

I nodded, moving just off the porch as the lawmen went into the house. I heard some yelling, then a boy about thirteen years old came flying through the screen door. The boy looked around wildly before his eyes landed on me. "You killed Alpha," he screeched, throwing his body at me.

I spun him around, pinning him with his back against my stomach. I could hear everyone else coming out of the house. The boy wriggled loose, dropping to all fours a few feet away from me.

"I'm going to finish what he started," the boy screamed, humping his back and flexing his arms and legs as he worked his way out of his clothes.

I held my breath, wondering if the hypnosis took. With relief, I watched the boy in front of me contort wildly, with no change to his body, and not even a hint of fur emerging.

"Carl!" Maximus shouted out.

The shout didn't stop the now-naked boy from flinging himself at me like a pouncing wolf. I took a few steps back to keep my balance as I caught the youngest teen in the group. Carl clung to me as I tried to pry him off. His hands dug into my shoulders, and his feet came up to claw at my stomach. Carl even sank his human teeth into my shoulder as I scrunched my neck and tilted my head toward him to keep him from my jugular.

Another rushing body knocked us down, tearing Carl and me apart.

"Twit," Jax hissed from on top of Carl, "I'll beat the shit outta you. What the hell you think you're doing? Change back right now," Jax demanded, shoving himself up against the younger boy below him. "It's a damn good thing Mac called a friend of his to cover for us. You want the whole damn world to know we're werewolves?"