A Kiss For Your Freedom
Chapter 68

- Hi Doc, said this Alpha whose name I don't even plan to remember because it's so useless. I'll take you on a tour. He has questions to ask you. You can answer him, he continues as if that might stop me.

- And I can know who I'm dealing with, he asks more suspiciously.

- My name is Yohan, I say, holding out a hand which he takes a second too long to shake.

- And what can I do for you Yohan, he asks instantly, a little too much about my first name.

- I just want to talk about a former member of the pack. A member you have treated.

His light gray gaze doesn't leave mine. He's seen others, he's tough, a Wolf of a completely different caliber than this Alpha who leads him.

- You can always ask, he continues, but as you see, I am already of a certain age and my memory is starting to play tricks on me.

- You couldn't have forgotten that one Doc. I'll let you talk, declares this young Alpha. Take your time Doc. There's no rush even if I'm not sure you can help him.

He leaves without even looking back. Clearly, he is far too young and inexperienced for this post. I could be an enemy come to destroy what is left to take governance of this land and yet he is not afraid. He is not afraid that I will attack this doctor without whom, I have no doubt, many would have died.

- So, he asks almost impatiently. I listen.

- There's no hurry, I don't think there will be one patient after another in front of your office Doc.

- You are right, however, my time is no less precious and I prefer to decide who I give it to.

- I see, I say, stepping forward slowly as he steps back. So I'm going to start, so as not to take up your time. Years ago, you helped a Wolf. A Wolf who deserted before returning by force and killing the Alpha in place.

I immediately see the slight tension in his body. Without even having to say his name, he knows who I'm talking about.

- I've looked after a lot of Wolves, he said, raising his head slightly.

- I have no doubt about that. After all, this pack was one of the two largest in the country, before him. I doubt you could have forgotten the one who changed everything, the one because of whom you made a kid believe that you obeyed him.

- I'm not making him believe it. I have always followed my Alpha and I will continue, as long as I am needed here, as long as there remains one and only Wolf.

- All in your honor. But let's get back to the one that interests me. Dorian. According to my information, you took good care of him, of course he was not alone and you allowed him to leave by providing him with a vehicle designed for his convalescence, for these injuries. I am wrong.

- That vaguely rings a bell. But I don't see where you're going with this.

- By providing him with a car, you also gave him food for a while and enough fuel to get him to his destination. Do you know where he went?

- No idea and even if I did, I wouldn't give you this information. I won't tell you where he might have gone. Why do you want to know? Why are you asking all these questions about him?

- We all have a goal, a profession and although I haven't been in a pack for a very long time, I am no exception to the rule. I do what I'm good at and then I have to eat well too so there you go, I replace the ones I'm asked to look for.

- It's really sad. Track your own people, hunt them, hunt them down, to sell them to the highest bidder. In a sense, he said smiling, I am quite happy to be old, my time is almost over and at least, before I die, I would have known the joy of living in a real pack, like a real Wolf, as all Wolves should be.

- Maybe, or maybe just that I'm just an evolution of what we're all going to become. Humans are expanding more and more. Destroy forests, our habitats. How soon will they discover our existence? How soon will they end up kicking us out if we fail to integrate? - Everything is a matter of perspective. When some people look for a new way of living, others understand that it is discretion that is everything, the fact that we manage to easily adapt, to blend into the landscape without forgetting who we are. - Indeed, it seems that everything is a question of point of view. But that doesn't change anything about my request. I would like to know where Dorian has gone? Where he and his companion left to disappear overnight, thus becoming ghosts of this hyper- connected world?

- I have no idea, really. I only treated him. I knew he wouldn't lead the pack. I've known him long enough for that, but he hasn't told me anything. He never gave me a map of where he was going, or even a destination.

- But like you said, even if you knew, you wouldn't say anything.

- Indeed. I have never betrayed one of our own. I would never go against my principles, the same ones that should be yours.

- I don't know why, I said smiling, but I'm sure you know a lot more than you want to tell me.

- As I said, I'm old and my memory plays tricks on me, he replies, smiling in turn.

So that's it. He wants to play. He wants me to believe that he doesn't remember anything when I'm sure that's not the case, when I feel like he's lying to me. Two options are available to me, either I warn his young Alpha to whom he will be obliged to obey or I use force and in this case, I am not sure that he will like what he will follow.

I advance a little further, walking slowly while placing my fingers on the counter which must have one day housed a secretary, or even a nurse, perhaps several. Everything is tidy, everything is classified, as if time had frozen, as if even if there are almost no souls living here, their pasts were comfortably lined up, almost waiting for their return.

He observes me, watches each of my gestures, my movements, he knows that all it takes is a spark for everything to ignite, for me to show myself as I am. So that I reveal my true personality to him. He sighs, smiling a little more.

- You can kill me. Torture me if you like. I don't know anything and even if no one were to move a single finger in what's left of this pack, it wouldn't change anything. Nothing at all young Wolf. I have seen so many others. So many deaths, so much suffering. - But you haven't experienced it.

- You think? Many wars have been fought, he said, unbuttoning his blouse. Many battles, he continues, dropping her to the ground. Doctors are prime targets, they treat without worrying about the camps, without worrying about who is on the table. We take care, that's all," he continues, removing his t-shirt.

I see the marks on his chest, the marks that will never heal, the wounds left long ago and yet still stinging. His smile is still there, just like those blistered wounds, just like this vestige of a past life.

- Go ahead, he said, opening these stockings wide. Go ahead, it won't be the first time and if it has to be the last, it won't change anything in my answer. It won't change anything about what I've always said. I am a doctor, I treat and the rest of my time I give to those who seem important enough to me for that.

I sigh, closing my eyes for a short moment. That wasn't my goal, but if that's what he wants, if he persists in saying nothing, then I'm going to have to change my tune.

"I'm very good at what I do," I said, heading towards the door. I always get what I want, what I'm looking for, that's why people pay me so much, that's why people call on me.

I lock the door with a slow movement, I want him to understand my every gesture, every action, every word I say.

- Of course and like every time, you just have to give me what I ask for everything to stop. So that I can leave as if nothing had happened.

- Let me guess what happens next. It only depends on me. From my answers. The tone I would use.

- That's almost right, well it probably would be if I wasn't who I am. Because from time to time, I have to say, I slip up. Sometimes I don't respect the rules that I have imposed on myself, as if they were just stronger than me. As if I needed it to let off steam.

He narrows his eyes without taking his eyes off me. Without changing position. To believe that he is ready, ready, for the suffering that is going to follow, for the pain that I am going to inflict on him and then he turns around and reveals his tattered back to me, his skin so blistered that it almost seems raw. and declares laughing,

- Go ahead kid but I'll take my secrets with me like I always did.

A touch of annoyance runs through my body, this mission definitely promises to be more and more thrilling. I should have more like this. But these days, we no longer kill people, we just have mistakes noted without getting our hands dirty, the rest is in the lawyers' contracts. It's so rare, a good bloodbath, eardrum-breaking screams, pleading looks when I've already made my decision. Fortunately I still have a few good customers left.

My Wolf is already so close to the surface that my fangs are growing without me being able to hold them back and although his back is turned to me, he does not hesitate to say to me, - Well

young Wolf, a control problem?

I feel him smiling, laughing, without me seeing it and this simple attitude makes my hair stand on end. I hear myself growl as a warning which makes him burst out laughing. There is no scent of fear emanating from him, nothing but confidence and certainty in his own choices. He's part of a pack and yet he seems almost freer than I ever will be.