Blood Ties: The First (A Bane Pack Novel)

Kendra found Merle in a booth near the back of a Burger King just outside the city. He looked up as she came in and smiled. She smiled back, gestured for him to come over, and walked up to the counter. He got up and strolled over, standing behind her in line.

It was 6:30 on the dot.

“Hey, kiddo,” he said, cheerful enough. The smile didn’t reach his eyes though, a fact that Kendra noticed all too well. She could see his uncertainty, his fear, and his nervousness. It was completely out of character for him. He was usually confident in whatever he did and she couldn’t remember a time when he showed fear of any kind.

“What’s going on, Merle?”

“Not yet. Let’s get some food first. You’re probably hungry,” he responded and he was right. Her stomach felt hollow and empty.

So they waited in line, neither one really talking at all except for idle little pleasantries. How was your day? Mine? Good. Good. That was about the extent of it.

They came up to the front counter a couple minutes later and ordered. When they both had their food and drinks, they went back to the booth and sat down. Merle looked increasingly nervous.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on or do I have to guess?” she asked, trying to smile reassuringly at him. She wanted to ease some of that fear in him, but no matter what she tried, she couldn’t get him to relax. “Is this serious then?”

He didn’t respond right away, but after a couple of seconds, he slowly nodded.

“About as serious as it can get, I’m afraid.” He took a bite out of his whopper. “This isn’t gonna be easy for either one of us, but there are things you need to know. To understand.”

“What things?” Kendra asked, scarfing down her food.

“For starters, I knew your…,” he began, but his voice trailed off. He looked at her and she could see a war going on behind his eyes. Whatever it was, he was fighting himself over it. Finally, he managed to blurt it all out. “I…uh…knew your mother,” he finished.

“You knew her?” she asked, confused. “How did you know her?”

“We were…,” he started, but again his voice trailed off. There was a moment where she saw his eyes go distant, as if remembering things that happened a long time ago. “We were in love.”

“Okay. Wait. Is that why you contacted me back in high school? It had nothing to do with my art, just my mother?” There was a little heat to her words as she said them. The pride she’d felt at having her artwork recognized by Merle was something she still carried with her. She was angry thinking that the only reason he might’ve had any interest in her work was because he’d been in love with her psychotic, crazy mother at one point in time.

“Yes and no. I made sure to look in on you ever since you were born. Watched over you, I guess. But I never lied to you about your art. You were always very talented and I thought that it might be a good way to connect with you.”

Kendra stopped eating, even though she was hungry.

She thought about what he’d said and decided he was probably telling her the truth. There was no way he would put crappy art up in his shop. He wouldn’t get any business.

“Alright, I believe you. I just don’t understand. You’re acting like I’m gonna be angry at you because you were in love with my mother once. I’m not angry about that. I was angry that you might’ve only liked my art because of her, that’s it.”

“I’m not finished yet,” Merle said, his voice somewhat quiet. “I don’t really know how to tell you this…” He stopped, unable to go on. Kendra grasped one of his huge hands.

“What is it?”

“I thought this would go a lot easier. Well, I thought this part of the conversation would.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Do you happen to know anything about your father?” he asked, the topic throwing Kendra off. What did her father have to do with this? Unless…

“Are you trying to say that you’re…” Now she was the one that lost her voice. She took a second to collect herself, to try and slow her suddenly pounding heart. Then she tried again. “That you’re…my father?”

He didn’t answer, but he didn’t really have to. It was right there in his eyes, clear as day. He looked away from her, but not before she saw his shame and guilt. She ripped her hands away from his, true anger filling her.

“You? You’re my father? And…and you never told me? Never came to get me out of that hellhole orphanage they stuck me in after my grandpa died? How could you do that to me?”

“Kendra, it’s not that simple. There are things you don’t understand,” he tried to tell her, but she was angry. So, so angry. It was the angriest she’d ever been. Even angrier than what Tyler had done to her.

All this time and he never told her.

“I don’t care how you explain this to yourself, Dad!” she snarled, putting a nasty sarcastic emphasis on the last word.

She looked him in the eyes, utterly disgusted. All she saw looking back was a man that abandoned her.

“I grew up with nobody giving a rat’s ass about me. I was alone. My own mother tried to kill me. Do you have any idea what that feels like? Do you have any idea the kind of issues that leaves a kid with? And now, here you are, my father, showing up like none of that ever happened. You’re a bastard, Merle. A real bastard.”

She got up to leave, so angry she couldn’t stand to look at him anymore. A rough hand grabbed her wrist, the fingers like steel bands.

“Please, Kendra. I know you hate me right now, but you have to stay. You have to hear the rest of what I need to tell you.” There was a desperate quality to his voice that caused her to hesitate but she remembered what it was like to live in that orphanage, crammed into a small building with twenty-three other kids. She remembered the abuse from the director and from the other kids. She remembered the crushing loneliness and the sense that she was worthless and unwanted.

All of that slammed into her mind and she ripped her arm out of his grasp.

“I don’t need to do anything. And I sure as hell don’t need to stay here and listen to you.” She started walking away again, but paused. She turned back to look at him. He looked like a devastated, worn-out old man. “Don’t try to contact me. Don’t try to visit me. You and I are done. Do you understand?”

He didn’t say anything to her. Instead, his eyes suddenly narrowed and his nostrils went wide. He sniffed at the air, the motion freaking her out because of her own display of weird behavior throughout the day.

“What are you doing?”

Again, he ignored her. His head whipped around all over the place, searching. On impulse, she sniffed too. The aromas of food cooking, various other scents of the people around her, and some cleaning chemicals came to her. Underneath all that, however was a different smell entirely. This one was completely out of place with the urban environment around her. Vaguely, she could smell the rich, musty scent of some kind of animal. She didn’t know what could give off a smell that potent but she thought it might be something big. Merle’s head turned to her, his eyes suddenly wide with panic.

“Run!” he yelled.

Before she could follow his instruction, the window next to their booth suddenly exploded in a cloud of flying glass.

She threw herself to the side, ducking under a table for shelter. She looked to where Merle was and found a huge, mutated wolf of some kind on top of him. The thing was the size of a polar bear and just as powerful looking. Its long front legs ended in huge paws with wicked-looking claws. Its limbs were wildly disproportionate to what a real wolf’s were. Mounds of muscle rippled along their lengths and across its somewhat lumpy body. Its head was enormous and had an elongated muzzle showing tons of protruding, sharp teeth, meant to rip and tear into a person’s body. Its pelt was covered in coarse, shaggy fur the color of dried wheat and looked about as brittle. There was also a strange patch of fur across its back that was just a little bit darker than the rest. She thought there might’ve been a pattern to it, but she didn’t stop to get an in-depth look.

Its amber colored eyes were focused solely on Merle, who was pinned to the floor. She could see the creature’s claws were buried about an inch into Merle’s chest.

Everyone in the restaurant yelled and cried out in terror the minute they found themselves face to face with a real live monster. She felt that same terror. A corner of her brain was screaming in panic but she didn’t leave. Everyone else in the restaurant, every last one of them, ran out. Most of them didn’t even bother with purses or whatever else they’d brought in with them.

Soon Merle, the freakish wolf, and Kendra were the only ones left.

“What the hell is that!?” she screamed. “What is it!?”

Merle turned his head to the side so he could look at her. His grey eyes were filled with pain.

“Go!” he shouted.

“What about you?” she screamed back, but he was already shaking his head.

“Just go! Now!”

But she couldn’t. She couldn’t stand by and watch him die, despite the anger and betrayal she still felt. He was her father, but more than that, he was still her friend. He was still the same man she’d turned to for advice and comfort over the years.

She got out from under the table and stood up.

“Hey, Freaky-Monster-Wolf-Thing!” she shouted.

The giant wolf swing its gigantic head over to look at her and she could swear it started grinning. It slowly took its claws out of Merle and started padding its way toward her. It took its time too, like it enjoyed the fear it was provoking in her.

Kendra backed up, trying to keep some distance between her and it. Her heart was beating a million miles an hour and blood was rushing through her head like a tsunami wave. She kept her focus though. She never let her eyes wonder away from the monster in front of her.

Then, without any warning, it lunged. Its claws flashed out, looking horrifyingly sharp.

She dove out of the way, her reflexes kicking in with mind-blowing speed. She heard the scrabbling of claws on the restaurant’s tiled floor and then it was coming for her again. She barely got an arm away from its snapping jaws. They closed on nothing but air and crashed together in an explosion of sound. She got her footing back and then cocked her arm back. Then she straight up punched it. It was a clumsy attack but she did manage to bash the thing on its nose. It howled in pain and jumped away from her. It paused a moment and then readied itself for another powerful lunge.

It jumped at her and….

A different wolf, this one just as monstrous in proportion as the other but with iron grey fur, hit it mid-air. She couldn’t see much of the other wolf. Most of it was that iron grey color, but twin bands of darker fur encircled both forelimbs. They crashed together and rolled across the floor, shattering several different booths, tables and chairs. They fought with savage brutality, each one trying to get a grip on the other’s throat. It was horrible but at the same time fascinating. She almost felt hypnotized by the fight.

She forced herself to snap out of it, however, and looked at where Merle had fallen.

He was gone.

She searched the restaurant for him but got distracted by a yelping, whining sound. She whirled to the pair of wolves and found that the tan one had latched its jaws onto the grey wolf’s flanks. Blood dribbled from its mouth disgustingly. Then it released its hold for a second before attacking again, blindingly swift. Its fangs sunk into the grey wolf’s throat.

“No!” Kendra shouted, her heart breaking for the grey wolf.

Blood spurted in a misty cloud and it didn’t take Kendra long to realize that the tan wolf had bitten clean through a major artery.

The grey wolf was dying.

Kendra didn’t think. She just reacted. She ran full speed at the two animals and threw herself on top of the tan wolf. She grabbed its jaws with both hands and wrenched as hard as she could. The thing was strong. Way stronger than it had a right to be, but it couldn’t fight against her for long. In a moment, she was prying the thing loose from the other wolf. She saw that one crumple to the ground with too much blood pooling underneath it. She was sure it wasn’t going to make it, but she couldn’t do anything to help yet.

She was still holding onto the tan wolf when it suddenly bucked with terrible strength and threw her into a wall. She collided into it with a loud crash, the impact knocking the wind out of her. She rose to her feet, her knees wobbly, and focused on the animal.

It came at her, its huge claws slashing. She jumped out of the way, but wasn’t able to get completely free. She felt hot, searing pain in her thigh. She yelled out against it and then tumbled across the floor. The pain was too much for her leg to take and it buckled under her weight. She crawled to a table, trying to use it as leverage to pull herself up.

She was breathing hard.

Her body hung half-limp from the table where she was hanging on, her nails practically digging into the wood. She didn’t know where the rabid wolf was.

She was exhausted. And she hurt. Her head hung down and the muscles in her neck felt completely useless. She couldn’t think.

Then she felt the whooshing of the wolf’s rank breath against her neck. She turned to look. Its muzzle was practically nose to nose with her. She felt like she should be afraid, like she should scream, but she didn’t. Mostly, she felt enraged. Angry beyond anything she’d ever felt before.

The pain in her leg started itching furiously and she scratched at it. Then the itch subsided and when it did she felt...whole again. The pain was just gone. When she looked down at where the wound should’ve been all she found was a torn gash in her jeans with her blood soaked into the material and that was all. Her flesh didn’t have a mark on it.

She stared at it, mystified.

The wolf suddenly snapped its huge fangs at her, intent on tearing her face off, but she rolled to the side and then jumped up. She was incredibly fast and was back on top of it before it knew what was going on. She put her hands on the upper and lower portions of its jaws again. Then she pulled as hard as she could, the wolf struggling against her. She could feel it trembling with the effort to hold her off, but it just didn’t have the strength to stop her this time.

It howled and shuddered with pain but she didn’t let go. She gave one final, momentous effort and then pulled its jaws completely apart. There was a very satisfying snapping sound and then the thing just fell to the floor, a pool of scarlet spreading from its bleeding head. She heaved herself off it, breathing hard with the exertion. The muscles in her arms were tired and limp and her rapidly beating heart felt like it was about to explode. She sat down with a thump.

Her little break didn’t last long though. There was a series of odd noises, like gurgling only with a lot of popping sounds mixed in. Her head snapped back to the tan wolf and found it slowly getting up. Its lower jaw hung loosely, swaying a bit. There was an even louder pop and then the jaw settled back into its former place. She backed up, the fear dumping adrenaline through her already exhausted body again.

“What the hell?” she asked herself.

The wolf focused on her, its pink tongue rolling out of its mouth. Then it rushed her.

She closed her eyes, waiting to feel the flash of pain as the wolf’s fangs pierced the tender skin of her neck. She waited to feel her life flooding out of her.

The attack never came.

She tentatively opened her eyes to see what the hold-up was. She found a tall stranger, his hair as black as night, in front of her. His back was to her, so she couldn’t see his face, but she could see the muscles of his arms as he struggled to hold the tan wolf back. The soles of his sneakers skidded across the floor, leaving black rubber smudges on the tile. He grunted with effort and then, unbelievably, he picked the wolf up off the ground, hoisting it over his head like he was a bodybuilder power-lifting. He whirled once and then threw it through a window. She heard the glass tinkling as it hit the ground, a yelp of pain, and then nothing. She didn’t move. She was waiting for the monster wolf to come back.

After a few minutes of agonizing uncertainty and fear, she realized it wasn’t going to. Whoever the guy was, he apparently chased the wolf away.

She stared up at him as he turned around to look at her and she stopped thinking for a second. He was hot. His face looked like it came straight out of some teenaged girl’s fantasy. He had bright green eyes to complement the dark hair and a slight, reassuring smile on his face.

“Are you okay?” he asked her, his voice rich and tainted by an almost imperceptible accent.

He held out a hand to her and she cautiously took it. He had a firm grip and he helped her up with ease. When she got to her feet, she stumbled slightly, still a bit weak from the fight. He held onto her and then helped her over to a chair that managed to survive the destruction. He sat her down in it.

“Guess that would be a no, huh?”

“I’m sorry,” she responded, brushing strands of her hair out of her face. She looked up at him, staring right into those dazzling green eyes. “Uh…thank you. Thank you for saving me from that thing.”

“My pleasure,” he responded.

She smiled, thinking that the pleasure was definitely hers. She looked around at the ruined Burger King. Then she remembered the other wolf. The grey one.

“Oh…oh no.” She ran over to where it had fallen.

Her motions were still a bit jerky from the exhaustion. She found it lying on its side, its breathing shallow and growing shallower. She knelt down beside it, rubbing her hand against its shaggy fur. She turned to look at her mystery savior.

“Is there anything you can do to save it? It tried to help me.”

He knelt down next to her, both of them trying to stay clear of the blood congealing around them. He examined the puncture wounds in the flank and neck, moving fur aside to get a better look. The punctures around the flank had slowed to a dribble, but the ones around the neck were still bleeding pretty badly.

“The ones here,” he pointed to the wolf’s flank, “are healing, but not these,” he told her as he examined the grisly tears to the wolf’s neck again, his brow furrowed in concentration. “I don’t think they will. He’s too old.”

“What does that mean?” she asked, confused and scared.

She was watching the stranger intently, looking for anything. Any sign of hope. She didn’t notice when the grey wolf started shrinking. Then it’s fur starting falling off in droves. When she finally realized what was going on, she scrambled away in a rapid, backwards crab-walk.

She watched in complete horror as the wolf changed into Merle.

Into her father.