Beautiful Creatures Series
Chapter 23: FERAL SECRETS / 1

Chapter 23: FERAL SECRETS / 1

Aspen Colorado…

Katelyn shuffled along as her fiancé Nigel walked her through the house he had bought them. He hadwanted it to be a surprise, and this was the first time she saw it. He had secured the mortgage andfurnished it with all new furnishings before even telling her he had bought it. They had been datingsince she was eighteen and engaged for the last year. She had been living at home with her parentsuntil now. Nigel insisted they move in together.

He had landed a new job as the head manager of the most prestigious hotel in town. He was nowmaking money hand over fist, and he had promised to finally give her the lifestyle she deserved. Ofcourse, this new responsibility meant his work schedule was heavy, but he promised her she wouldadjust to it.

Nigel had blindfolded Katelyn when he picked her up. She got in the car, and he had instantly coveredher eyes. They had driven some distance, so she was pretty sure they were out of town. Living out oftown was fine with her. Aspen was far too touristy for her liking anyway. Plus, she was a wildlifephotographer. She sold her pictures to various stock photo websites and collected them whensomeone leased one of her images. Living out of town would give her ample stomping grounds toexplore and photograph.

Nigel held on to her arm as he coaxed her to follow him. They had gone up a few steps, and through adoor, she suspected they now stood inside the house. “Ok, you can take the blindfold off,” he told heras he stood behind her.

Katelyn took off her blindfold, and she looked around. Her brow furrowed as she looked around. Therewas some furniture which was mostly covered in dust covers. There were workbenches and tools,along with various stacks of supplies. To her left was the kitchen table, and to her right… no kitchen.

The cupboards were off the wall, and the granite counter was leaning against a wall. The drywall wasmissing, there were no appliances, and the kitchen sink was still in a box.

Katelyn went silent as she looked around. “Now I know it doesn’t look like much,” Nigel said, comingaround her when he saw the horrified look on her face. “The kitchen was seriously dated, and I had togut it,” he explained. Katelyn turned and walked into the living room. It was all covered to protect it fromthe dust from the construction. “The guy is going to gut the bathroom and the laundry room also,and…” He said, jumping in front of her. “I’m going to have him build you a walk-in closet,” she nodded,not as stoked about their new home as he was. “It is only going to take a few months. I promise Katewhen this place is finished. It is going to be the house of our dreams.”

“You want me to live here during construction?”

“It is not that bad. The guy will just work around you,” she was not impressed. Nigel took her hand anddragged her to a set of glass sliding doors. He slid the door open and dragged Katelyn out onto thedeck. “Look at this view.”

Katelyn looked around. They were surrounded by trees and wilderness. Down in the middle of the yardwas a huge water feature which she had to admit was very pretty. She supposed the place hadpotential. “Only a few months?” She asked.

Nigel grinned. “Five tops,” she scowled. “But, I’ll offer him a bonus if he completes the job sooner,” hepromised. Katelyn looked at his hopeful boyish grin and the light in his dark eyes. Nigel was a good-looking, clean-cut business type. He was almost always in a suit, and he spent more time primping inthe mirror than she did. Always making sure his dark hair was just right, and his shaving job wasperfection. She supposed it was what made him so successful.

Kate rolled her eyes and gave in. “Ok, I suppose I can tough it out for a few months. Did you at leastresearch this contractor before you hired him? Is he reliable? Competent?”

“He came highly recommended.”

“Where did you replace him? Website? Phonebook? Sign on a bus?”

“No, I was talking about the job at work, and one of the desk clerks said that he had worked on herhouse and that he was very good. I contacted him and, of course, checked his references. Everyonehad rave revues.”

“How do you know they were actual clients and not friends and family lying their asses off for him?”Nigel went silent as he thought about her argument. Katelyn closed her eyes and sighed. “I swear youhave the word sucker on your forehead.”

“Look, he’s been working for the last week, and frankly, so far, he has been doing a fantastic job. Givethe guy a chance,” fine. She supposed she could just go with it. At this point, the house was destroyed.Be it this guy or another. She was going to be forced to put up with some contractor to put it right.

“Alright,” she sighed.

Nigel leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Perfect. Now I’m going to shower, and we will have dinner. But itis early to bed for me as I have the early morning shift tomorrow,” he said, walking off.

***

Feral Colorado…

The wind whipped through his fur as Darrell Savage raced through the woods. He leapt over someraised roots and pushed off a large boulder with his hind legs as he rounded the tree, his prey merefeet ahead of him. The deer had given him a workout, but the buck was growing tired, and Darrell wasclosing in. He nipped at the buck’s heels but missed. Darrell pushed harder and jumped into the airtackling his prey.

His mighty jaws clamped down on the buck’s neck, and the weight of his massive body dragged thedeer down. It struggled at first, but Darrell gave it a violent shake breaking the animal’s neck effectively,putting it down. His pulse was pounding as Darrell took a step back and relaxed as the rest of thehunting party joined him. The moonlight filtered through the branches of the canopy above. The wolvescircled their kill with a few snapping at one another still worked up from the chase.

A low growl rumbled in Darrell’s throat, putting an end to the squabbling. Darrell was a young would-bealpha wolf among omegas wolves. He did not run the pack yet, but he was next in line. But even now,the pack followed his lead, and as the future alpha, he had first picks of everything. With his blood stillburning from the rush of the chase, Darrell howled at the moon, and the others joined in. It was a soundthat could be heard for miles, a sound that could chill the blood of those who heard it.

They would have been a frightening sight, four massive dire wolves dragging a dead buck through thewoods. They were no ordinary pack. They were members of the Night Stalkers. Lycanthropes. Mysticalbeings that could change shape at will. From man to beast. Like wolves, they stood four feet tall andnearly six feet from snout to tail. With the exception of the polar bear, they were the largest landpredators in the world. They lived in secret, having been hunted to near extinction by mortals hundredsof years ago. There were only a small number of them still walking the earth hiding among the mortalworld, living like men.

Though they lived as men, the moon still held its sway. When the moon was full, it was difficult to keepthe beast at bay. When the moon was full, they slaked their bloodlust. In the past, they had to hunt tosurvive, but in the modern world, with food so readily available, they only hunted for sport, though theydid eat their kill.

Lycanthropes lived in small numbers. One or two scattered all over the world, but just outside Aspen,Colorado, they congregated in a large pack. There had not been a den of this magnitude in fourhundred years. They lived together in an old off-road community they had built decades ago, which thesurrounding communities called Feral.

Their numbers were not large enough to qualify as a town. They were more of a Hamlet (a communityof less than 100 with only a few buildings besides private homes). To the world outside theircommunity, the community of Feral and its residence were unfriendly to outsiders, and given they hadlimited services, not too many outsiders would visit. Hell, they were not even on the map. It was a placeto be feared and avoided at all costs, but to the men, women, and children within the community, theywere a family — a community of Lycanthropes, the first pack in hundreds of years.

Nearly thirty years ago, a few old dogs had founded the Night Stalkers to bring together their people,and over the years, Lycanthropes all over the world immigrated to Feral to replace others like themselves.Darrell and his sister Charlotte were some of them. After the death of their father six years ago, Darrelland his sister had moved from Texas to Colorado in search of other Lycanthropes and found the NightStalkers.

The Night Stalkers had grown fifty strong and had moved out of the nearby cities to escape the mortalworld. They bought some unwanted land and turned it into a home for all Lycanthropes. A place wherethey could be themselves. A place where they could be comfortable and live without hiding. Where theycould nurture their cubs and teach them to master their powers without the fear of being discovered,outsiders were not welcomed, and those that did stumble on their property were runoff and, in someextreme cases (if they were Lycanthrope hunters), killed to protect the pack’s secrets. They did not liketo kill mortals, it raised too many questions, but when it came down to the mortals’ lives or the safety ofthe pack, they were not above shedding some blood.

The pack leader Gordon Wilder had taken an interest in Darrell moulding him for leadership and theday Darrell would takeover. Still, a lot of the younger men did follow him. In Gordon’s absences, Darrellcalled the shots.

Reaching the grounds of their community, the men reverted back to their human forms. Darrell grabbedup the jeans he had abandoned earlier that night when he had changed for the hunt. He was zipping up

the fly when Charlotte held out his broken-in tanned hat with a smile. “Welcome back,” his sister said,glancing over at the dead deer and the other men as they got dressed. “It is a big buck this time.”

“It gave me a hell of a chase,” Darrell said, tucking his t-shirt into his belt. It was a hot summer’s night,and after that workout, he was already hot and sweaty and did not feel like putting it on.

“Hey, Charlotte, you want to cook this up?” Teased Lewis Hall, one of the men Darrell called a friend.As a man, Lewis stood six feet even with short brown hair and a nose that looked like a beak, which ledhis friends to call him Vulture when they were teasing him… how he hated that. He was a thin man butwiry and fast, and he had a thing for Charlotte, but that romance was one-sided because Charlottecould not stand him.

“I’m not your personal chef,” Charlotte snapped back. She was a pretty little thing with long blond hairand a curvy figure. She was very popular with younger men.

“Hey, Darrell, a little help?” Called Kenneth Wright as he dragged the buck across the ground. Kennethwas older than Darrell. He was not very big, but he was tough. He was a brunette with fine features. Hehad stolen Darrell’s girlfriend from him last year. Darrell did not hold grudges. He had only been playingwith her anyway, so when she left him for Kenneth, he had been fairly ok with it. Besides, he likedsingle life better anyway.

“I killed it. You clean it,” Darrell said as he stepped into his boots.

“I’ll get it,” grumbled Stanton Bradshaw as he stalked over to Kenneth and lifted the buck up over hisshoulders. Stanton was a big brute with an abrasive personality. He was not friendly by any means, butdespite his many faults, he and Darrell were friends. Stanton was not so bad. He was an intimidatingsight with his short straggly copper hair and one good eye. He had lost the other in a fight a few monthsago, but it did not seem to hinder his abilities in any way.

“When you are done with that, let’s go into the city. I feel like dancing,” Darrell said, taking Charlotte inhis arms, leading his sister in lively music less two-step, which made Charlotte giggle.

With a playful grin, Charlotte extracted herself from her brother’s arms, and they started to walk awayfrom the hunting party. “The Mausoleum?” Charlotte suggested as they strolled through the streets.

“Where else?” He smiled.

“I’ll round up the girls,” Charlotte said, leaving her brother on the street.

“You do that,” he said, spotting another of the pack’s females. Aster Wilder was just coming back froma walk to the community mailboxes up by the convenience store owned by one of the pack members.She looked sensational as usual. She was the pack leader’s only daughter. She was a luna and verylikely his mate when they were both ready to settle down.

Right now, they were just friends. Good friends. In fact, Aster was almost like another sister. Almost butnot, she was easy-going and fun to torment. He liked to flirt with her because he knew how to push herbuttons. She resisted him at every turn, and he never expected anything to come of his flirtations; itwas just harmless fun.

Aster was a drop-dead gorgeous blond with a full bustline and curvy hips. He loved to walk behind herso he could watch her hips sway side to side as she struts her stuff. Darrell crept up behind Aster andpounced her from the rear. His arms wrapped around her waist, and he nipped playfully at her neck.

Aster squealed and struggled against him. “God damn it, Darrell, you scared the hell out of me,” shehissed and slapped his hands. “Let me go.”

Darrell released her with a chuckle. “Quit playing like you don’t like it,” he said, stepping back. Asterturned to face him with an annoyed look. “We are all headed into Aspen; you want to come?”

“Sure.”

“I’m just going to shower and change before we go.”

“Good, you need one,” Aster teased. “I could smell you a mile away.”

Darrell grinned. “When are you going to go hunting with me?”

“Why so you can try to mount me from behind?” She grinned.

“You know one day, you and me….” He said as he walked backwards, heading for his cabin, “it is goingto happen. You best believe it,” she just smiled and waved goodbye. Darrell laughed; it was going to bea good night. He could feel it.

***

After dinner, Katelyn had taken her camera and gone for a walk in the woods. In the dead of summer,the sun stayed up until quite late in the evening, allowing her to see and navigate the woods. She hadbeen crouching behind some bushes to go unseen so as not to scare off the small white rabbit fifty feetaway.

Katelyn zoomed in with her lens and tried to focus. She had a perfect shot when a buck raced passedfrightening off the rabbit. Katelyn looked up from her camera and watched as a massive tanned wolflaunched itself off the trunk of a tree and took the deer down. Its massive jaws clamped down hard onthe buck’s neck. The beast gave the buck a few violent shakes killing it.

With the deer dead, the beast stepped back, and Katelyn had an amazing view of this incredible beast.Katelyn lifted her camera to phonograph the wolf. She had taken pictures of wolves before, but this onewas like no other. It was easily four times the size. It was six feet from snout to tail and stood at leastfour feet from the ground to shoulders. It looked as if it was all lean muscle beneath tanned fur. The

beast turned his head in her direction, and Katelyn was speechless. It had eyes as she had never seenbefore; they were a bright amber colour. This beautiful creature was magnificent.

Katelyn took a few more pictures and then ducked down even more when three other wolves the samesize but with different colouring showed up, praying they did not notice her. They were all snarling andgrowling at each other, and then they howled. Katelyn looked up at the sunset. The sun was almostdown, and the moon was already coming up on the opposite horizon. Not long after, she watched inawe as the wolves dragged their kill off. She had no idea that wolves did that?

Alone in the woods once more, Katelyn looked down at her camera screen, looking through thepictures she had taken. A smile curved her mouth. They were great pictures. These were going to sellvery well.