Skinwalker

With my tea in one hand and the envelope in the other, I go to the kitchen table. Kendal is asleep and the obligations of the day are still far away. For some time, I sit with my attention on the creased yellow envelope, unsure if I really want to open it and get to know the people inside any more intimately than I already do. Catherine had been the closest thing to a friend I had for years. Tala, though a complete stranger, I know enough to understand that the people I trust respected her, faithfully put their lives in her hands, and want her back.

I set the mug on the wooden kitchen table. If I spend time pouring over these data sheets, will I be able to officially say no? Does the queen already have her fangs buried deeply enough inside of my flesh that, at this point, I can’t refuse? Can I turn my back on people who need me? Cassandra said Genetics Incorporated is hunting hybrids down. Does that mean they already know about me? If I do nothing, how long until they do know I exist and how long will I be safe?

When the sun has risen high enough in the sky that I no longer need the lights on over the table, I choose the first data sheet I was given: Catherine Lucella.

The image is old, sepia toned, and stapled to a few sheets of paper. I don’t need a colored photograph, or even an updated one, to know that her hair is the soft blonde of a young child; that her eyes are a shade of blue people could get lost in, or that her skin is the color of freshly churned cream. Despite the youthful innocence of her bushy eyebrows and shallow but delicate features, the girl is lethal. I fold the photo over to see the princess’s family tree.

According to the family tree Catherine’s mother died at the age of 24, a day after giving birth to her due to complications from the birthing process. The technology that existed in the late 16th century had many short comings and it was more common for women to die during this process than it is today. Her father died suddenly several years later, at the age of 41. At the time they probably didn’t know exactly what killed the man but today its assumed to have been heart failure, which is what’s typed onto the paper in my hands. There was never an autopsy for any type of confirmation. Together, Jeremiah and Elisabeth Lucella had three daughters: Scarlet, Eleanor, and Catherine. Each about two years apart.

Behind the family tree is Catherine’s specific data sheet, telling the story of the creation of the Lucella sisters in more detail than I ever knew. I had always wondered how three sisters all became vampires. It isn’t very common for vampires to have blood relations.

On February 21, 1593, the sisters buried their father in the cemetery of a Tudor Town called Norwich. This was the day that Catherine lost her life to a vampire who lured her away from the late funeral and her remaining family into a deserted street, where he attacked her. The vampire’s name was name was Gabriel LeGall.

Deciding he wanted her to be his family, wrongfully assuming the loss of her father meant the loss of the only family she had, he turned her into a vampire and took her under his care. Back then it wasn’t uncommon for a fourteen-year-old to be someone’s wife, which was exactly the role she played as he taught her what she needed to know in order to survive as a vampire. It was a relationship they maintained until she requested to return to her sisters several years later. Catherine was permitted to leave but not without obligation, and the promise to return.

Catherine returned to Scarlet and Eleanor, who accepted her for what she become. As time passed, they rebuild their relationships and adjusted life for their nocturnal sister. However, the young vampire had made an arrangement in order to return to her family: on the night of the new moon, if she wanted to stay with them forever, she had to turn them. Otherwise, she would return to Gabriel without them. The evening of the extra full moon, she turned her sisters, forcing them to forsake their human lives.

Together, the three lived in Gabriel’s care for over a century and a half. Catherine never returned to his side as his lover, however, the four were responsible for building the European subhuman government and the foundations that eventually spread throughout the world. When the American subhuman government began forming, Catherine and Scarlet moved across the world to operate in, leaving behind Eleanor who stayed at Gabriel’s side.

I had no idea that Catherine was the first of the three. I was never told she had been responsible for the deaths of her sisters. I’d never even known Gabriel’s roll in the circumstance. The data sheet makes my stomach turn. How could someone manipulate a child like that? Then again, she wasn’t actually considered a child then.

The next data sheet collection I choose belongs to Tala Benally. I don’t need to study her face because I know it well despite not actually knowing the werewolf herself. A photograph has been displayed on the shelve over the sofa in my apartment ever since I moved in. With a glance over my shoulder, I verify she’s still gazing over me now while I prepare to take a nosedive into her history. The photograph in my hand show’s a much more alpha type of woman than the one on the shelf.

In the provided photo, Tala’s black hair of shallow waves rolls over perfectly sun kissed, olive shoulders. Her dark brown eyes are wild and endless, and although her aura doesn’t show in the photograph, I know it must be unique. She’s a hybrid, after all, and hybrids don’t share the metallic silver aura of subhumans. I know, I see mine every day in the mirror.

Unlike Catherine, Tala’s features are fully developed, and there is nothing innocent, soft, or delicate about her rectangular face, strong jaw, and sharp nose. The wolf is far more feral looking than Catherine has ever been despite being equal threats.

According to the family tree that was provided with the packet, the werewolf has a significant extended family. Simply put, Tala has two half-sisters who are both older than she is. They share the same father but all three have different mothers. Both older siblings are tails and each have children and mates of their own.

Their father married Tala’s mother despite having a female daughter because their child was born with the scent of a werewolf, earning both females a place in the pack. Oddly, no other children came of their union, which comes as a surprise to me.

I suspect Tala’s mother is a quell, like mine; it’s the only explanation that accommodates a bridged for the genetic gap that female werewolves never could cross before. Quell are known to produce hybrids. Assuming the genetics hold, and a hybrid female could pass on a full set of genetics to future sons and daughters, the pack would have a strength it never had before. Then again, maybe they don’t necessarily want that?

I don’t expect to find many answers to my question in Tala’s data sheets, though. They’re fact based and contain only the significant life events of the person they’re written about.

The first few sentences go over her family tree, leading, uneventfully, into her father’s death when she was seventeen. He had made an attempt to overthrow the pack alpha and lost his life in the battle. At twenty, Tala overthrew that alpha, successfully avenging her father, and became the youngest alpha ever recorded and, of course, the only female alpha in history.

In the first six months of her time as alpha, she retained the roll despite being challenged seven times by pack werewolves and once by an outsider. After that much blood had been shed, she proved her worth to her people and there was never another challenge. Her undeniable dominance brought her great favor within the pack, and she proved to be worthy of the position. Over time, she earned their trust and respect.

Tala remained alpha until the day she was abducted. I know from Kendal and Noah that the hybrid was revered as a fair and noble leader. One, many of the pack members would have defended to the death, which is why it doesn’t make sense that she was just taken.

Once I’ve read over her data sheet, I wonder what the right way to destroy the information is. I don’t know who knows I have this and there really is no such thing as being too safe. Anyone who wants a document like this badly enough would pick the pieces from a shredder and tape the pages back together. I have nowhere to burn it and nothing to burn it with.

It’s baffling to me that this type of information was authorized by anyone in the government to be printed and taken out into the world no matter the reason. It’s such delicate information. In the wrong hands this simple form could not only put a target on our backs but cause far more fear of subhumans than we currently have. Humans know of our existence, they interact with us today more than they ever have in history, but they still know extraordinarily little about us. In fact, they only know what we want them to know, and the knowledge of hybrids isn’t something we’ve shared.

“What are you looking at?” Kendal asks, crossing the living room for the kitchen.

I slap my hand over the document hoping to hide anything of importance. My heart is beating rapidly against my rib cage a moment later and I have to think about the way I’m breathing to slow it down. Had she stolen a glance over my shoulder and seen anything? Surely, she would have made a bigger deal about me holding delicate information on her missing alpha if she had. Right?

Kendal’s hair is damp, and her body is wrapped in a salmon-colored bath towel. I hadn’t heard her wake up or make her way into the bathroom for a shower. I was completely absorbed in this and in a place that isn’t concealed enough.

“Nothing important,” I lie.

The scrutiny on her face tells me she doesn’t believe me. “Okay.”

Maybe I should tell her? Details inside this file directly affect her. Is it my place to keep this from her? Is it my place to tell her? Tala’s location is valuable information; information the pack would probably kill for.

I hadn’t been told to keep this to myself. Although, the inference could be made. News of subhuman abductions are not commonly known, and I’m now cursed with this truth. These two women are just some of the subhumans Genetics Incorporated has abducted. The fates of people I’ve never met lie on my conscious and it isn’t just about the ones who’ve already been captured. Every subhuman alive right now could be in danger of being their next target and that includes my best friend, my boyfriend, and the people I work with at the club.

If the trials are successful, a cure could be forced on subhumans who wish to remain what they are just as Joseph Aldridge predicted. Queen Scarlet sent Cassandra to find me because I’m the only person alive who can hide among the enemies and possibly do something to prevent that outcome. How do I say no to that? How do I agree to do it?

My whole body jumps at the knock on the front door. It takes everything inside of me not to yelp at the surprise, but my roommate remains still, unaffected, and observing me from behind the breakfast bar where she’s sipping at a cup of coffee. Despite the surprise, I’m thankful for the distraction.

I take the stack of papers, put them back inside the manilla envelope from which they came and then stuff it all inside of my work tote at the counter. It will be safe from my roommate in there. Pulling open the front door, I’m surprised to see Noah waiting on the other side. His brown curls look like he came here immediately after climbing out of bed this morning.

“Noah.” I close the door enough to hide behind; I’m not dressed for company and Kendal isn’t dressed at all. “What are you doing here?”

“We should talk.”

I glance at Kendal, who shrugs her bare shoulders.

“Come on in.” I pull the front door a little further.

While Kendal may have zero modesty in the presence of our guest, I do. My lightweight pajamas show much more of my body than I’m truly comfortable with, so I cross my arms to hide what breasts I have. If I had a robe, I would grab it. Hell, if there was a sweater somewhere easily accessible that would be fine, too. The only thing remotely available would be a throw blanket and that seems even more awkward somehow.

I’ve never seen Noah in our apartment before, yet he fills the space comfortably, looking like he belongs here. Maybe there were days he did come around more often? If that’s the case, it was before I moved in. Noah nods at Kendal, who replies with a similar gesture. She hasn’t been asked to leave so she isn’t going to.

“This was in your door,” Noah extends a white envelope in my direction.

The cover of the envelope is blank with the exception of my first name scrolled across it sloppily, meaning it was hand delivered sometime after we got home from work last night. Whatever is inside has been folded several times to fit. It feels like too many papers to fit in such a standard envelope which could be why the seal wasn’t closed properly. Instead of activating the glue someone taped it.

I tuck the envelope in my tote with the other one I just hid away. “What are you doing here?”

Noah looks at Kendal, almost like he just noticed her for the first time in that moment, and then makes a gesture with his head that means leave. My roommate rolls her eyes, grabs her coffee, and heads to her bedroom. On the way she removes her towel, exposing her bare body for all to see, throws it in the dryer, and starts the machine.

Kendal shuts her bedroom door with her foot and the apartment is filled with only the sound of one towel being tossed around the inside our old dryer.

“I’m here to extend an offer to you.”

“An offer? Like, a new position at the club?” I walk around the breakfast bar where I pretend to be a proper host and pour a cup of coffee for Noah. Truthfully, I just want to use the counter to hide behind as much as possible.

“Not exactly.”

“What do you mean?”

I’m not a coffee fan so I’m not exactly sure how people prefer it be made. Some people pour in milk and sugar. More often than not, Kendal drinks her coffee black, so this is how I present it to Noah assuming their taste would be the same.

“Kendal probably told you that Tate Gallagher is the new pack alpha?” he presumes, walking around the counter I was using as a shield and begins looking for the things he’d like to use to finish making his coffee.

“Mm-hm.” It’s safe to assume Noah has figured out that as best friends, we maintain a certain level of trust with one another, which means I know some things I probably shouldn’t be privy to. Hopefully he doesn’t realize just how deep that truth goes because some of what she tells me is information that the pack wouldn’t appreciate an outsider knowing.

“When that happened, I became beta.”

He says it so casually it takes a moment to process. “You’re beta?”

He nods.

“Wow, Noah, that’s great. Congratulations.” Kendal didn’t tell me that.

“As beta,” he brushes the celebratory moment under the rug, like it’s no big deal. “I have the ability to propose inviting new members into the pack and recently my first request was granted.”

I had no idea there was an application or referral process for joining a werewolf pack. Does he mean members from other packs can be brought in or werewolves without a pack can be given pack status with the right recommendation?

“Piper, I want you to consider joining.”

“What? Are you insane?” The words burst out of my mouth like a prison break. “I’m not a werewolf; hell, I’m not even a tail, Noah.”

“You’re a shapeshifter, and as one, you have the ability to join a pack of your choosing.”

“Have you lost your mind?”

Noah abandons casually making his coffee. “Piper, just listen to me for a moment.” When I maintain my silence, he continues. “You would be treated well; you would know what it’s truly like to have a family, and more than that, you would be safe.”

“Safe? Safe from what?”

“Anything.”

“Noah, this is absurd. I can’t just join a werewolf pack.”

I never wanted to be part of a pack, just hidden amongst members of one as a deterrent. Besides, he would be committing treason if he brought in a subhuman who claims to be something they’re not. He believes I’m a shapeshifter, he doesn’t know that isn’t the entire truth; I’ve never told him I can’t turn into an animal like he believes I can which means I’ve lied to him. Beta or not, he could lose his life if I agreed to this simply for ignorant misrepresentation.

“I know what your aura signifies.”

There’s a ring in my ear that gradually gets louder as his words sink in. I’ve never been hit with a heavier truth than the one in this moment. Does he actually know what my aura means or is he just assuming he does?

“What do you know about my aura?” I ask with a careful, even tone.

“I know you’re more than you say you are.”

“How?”

“Tala.”

Of course. Colored auras are the rarest type because they only belong to hybrids. Most subhumans will never see one in their lifetime, yet I’m standing in front of someone who has seen two. While I have no idea what color Tala’s aura is, she’s a hybrid, which means it isn’t silver. I should have known he would figure me out.

“Who else knows?”

“To my knowledge, only Tate.”

I nod my head and feel a bit of relief knowing my whole identity hasn’t completely come crashing down around me. Unfortunately, I also realize that Kendal now knows, despite the dryer banging around in the closet next to her bedroom. Her heightened hearing means she’s been a part of this entire conversation. Eventually, I’ll have to explain myself to her.

“Noah…”

“This will be the only time I ask you,” he says, cutting me off. “Please, take some time to consider the offer before you truly reject it.”

There’s nothing for me to think about because I’m not willing to come clean. I have no interest in telling anyone that I’m a skinwalker who doesn’t already know.

It feels like Noah wants to say more but my silence defeats him. “I’ll see you later.”

Why does everything always have to happen at one time?