I Know I'm a Wolf - Young Heretics

It wasn't often that the past caught up with Caelan Harlowe, but tonight as he lay on the couch with the cat having crept higher in the night to nearly suffocate him, his racing mind had tripped.

*

The  man leaned against the iron gate, small, utterly insignificant against the singular path and backdrop of broad, sweeping branches leading to the plantation mansion . . .yet as confidently relaxed as if he owned the place. Oak Alley as it was known, was an historic plantation and  in modern days, a popular tourist destination, national landmark and restaurant.

The Louisiana Packs Association had rented the mansion this evening under some bogus name relating to Jacques Telesphore Roman, the plantation builder. The Roman family had been a wealthy line of werewolves in the nineteenth century, eventually falling out as even most wealthy families do over the long march of war and time. There were always rules to rentals, especially ones of such historical significance. 

But there were also exceptions, especially if you had on your planning committee a professional cleaning crew. At the end of the road, the start of the grand oak alley, the man waited in the velvet twilight, looking back occasionally at a rustle in the mossy boughs. The pale mansion was lit with twinkling lights of yellows and slightly blush tones. People were mingling, music was carrying, but none of it reached the man at the end of the road. 

He was waiting, eyes shining- unusually bright and toned the rich amber of fossils.

The taxi had pulled up two minutes ago, puffing smoke and sounding a few clunks away from a Triple AAA phone call on some desolate stretch of bayou highway. His brother had just finished paying the driver, small leather travel bag slung over his shoulder. They'd shared a look as the cab sputtered into the night, and then the man at the gate opened his arms wide and approached with as wide grin. 

"Well, hey, howdy, Sheriff Harlowe! My own brother in the flesh! Haven't seen you since you were a pup pissing in the corner!" 

"Sheriff LaMotte," Caelan said. "Looking good for your age. Here's hoping mom and pop saved the best genes for last." 

"Where'd you buy those jeans, a flea market? You're a sheriff, Harlowe. You ain't paid to be frugal. We're the face of the pack."

They hugged.

August swung the gate open, waved his brother on through with a hearty pat on the back. "You've no idea how fucking excited I am to have you here with us on the night of our grand celebration. We'll be in next month's newsletter, we're taking a picture before moonrise so don't get drunk off your ass. Two brothers as acting sheriffs! Fucking two of us made it- seven years apart with the same sire and dam! Always knew we'd come from a dominant line but holy shit that's absolutely unheard of. What a fucking stud pop was, eh? Look at us- look at you, with a graded stakes winner for a brother. You being a young colt, lineage like this, you could be retired tomorrow and fetch a commanding sum."

"Don't think that's in the cards for me," Caelan said.

"Should hope not. Whatever things you do and I hear your'e already making waves, taking out Navarro? Incredible. If I was gonna had a brother, I was hoping it'd be one as mean as you. Time comes for me to retire, I might as well buy this whole damn place. Can charge a fortune for every fucking bite or fuck. Fucking fantastic!"

The two walked the road to the house, August in merry spirits, maybe a little or slightly moreso buzzed, Caelan a bit quieter, a bit more unsure. He had just taken the reins in Texas- and if anyone was a threat to a sheriff's safety, it was another sheriff. Navarro had run with Caelan all of three times before placing a call to the board for retirement consideration. Caelan hadn't exactly done anything to force the older sheriff into retirement, other than perhaps a small tussle on the third hunt where he'd been invited to play a 'game' which had gotten a bit too serious for his liking and ultimately a lot more serious for Sheriff Navarro.

August was his brother. Since Caelan had found out he had one, he'd learned how hard August had been rooting for him through training and then the internship with Navarro. But August had survived everything Caelan had, for seven years longer. It put the young man on edge as much as it relaxed the older. He'd come, because his brother had invited him and because there was work to be done on a case he'd been working. A necromancer had crossed state lines into the swamps of Louisiana. Last spotted in Baton Rouge. They'd interacted several times prior, and several times since he'd arrived three weeks ago to hunt this thing down.

"You host this every year?"

"One of the greatest hunts on earth," August said. "You being wet behind the ears, you're in for a real treat. There's several sheriffs and retirees I'm dying to introduce you to. Connections are everything in this business. "

"Thought tonight wasn't about business." Caelan wanted to look at August, get a sense of his expression, but there was so much more to observe. His eyes had drifted to the mansion and those shadows moving within. To the left of the main door, a wolf the size of a draft horse rose up on its haunches and slipped around the side into the gardens. A much smaller wolf, this one shaggy white and female, barked at the two of them and darted after the other.

"Life's a business," August said with an eye to the bag. "What you got in there? You know guns ain't allowed on the premise."

"Change of clothes. Was planning on heading to the coffee shop to speak with the waitress who'd called in the tip on the man who'd left a briefcase full of snakeskin." 

August was quiet, Caelan was quiet, and then the older brother nodded and grinned. "Hope you brought a toothbrush, because we've got such a sweet night ahead of us, bro. Don't be planning on doing jack tomorrow. The Moonrise Hunt takes everything out of a man." He nodded after the shewolf. "This is the night of the Lupanare's choice. We hunt. They judge. Some of them, like that old fatass cheats his way to an early finish since he can't keep pace. Honestly, I'd do the same." 

Caelan could feel the wolf energy throughout the place. There was something about a predator that made the rest of the world come to a stand still. Some times it felt as though they were the only thing truly alive in a dead, cold world- everything fell underneath their feet or between their teeth. The scent of blood drifted through the air as they approached; blood on metal in a half dozen trailers to allow for easier cleanup and disposal of the sheep skin. There was a 'groomer' in each to hose down the transformed wolf and keep the blood spray to a minimum. 

The werewolves in Louisiana felt tonight as if they were the only things alive- and acted like it, too. 

"Not exactly how we're trained to behave," Caelan said, smiling on the outside as he was trained to do, but more than a bit disgusted by the whole affair as they walked deeper into the fray, moved around the intoxicated and intoxicating. There was drinking, and there were drugs, and there was sex in ways he did not have any desire to consider. He had been since infancy a solitary creature, and being near so many such as himself made him bristle up defensively. He did not trust, he could not relax, even as a pretty blonde woman with hair to her waist sauntered up with a drink for each of them. 

"Auggie," she purred, downing what Caelan had politely passed on. She twined her arm in Caelan's, leaned her chin against him and looked into his eyes. "Whose this? Looks just like you."

"This is my brother," August said. "One of the youngest sheriffs in Texas history, making waves in the lone star state. That ring a bell?"

"No," she said, moving with a sensual sway to the music. "Tell me."

"Sheriff LaMotte is a fine bullshitter, wouldn't you agree, Della?" Caelan said, taking a step back that the woman followed. 

"Sheriff Harlowe is a bit stiff, wouldn't you agree, Della?" Whatever charm Caelan possessed had dropped away into a sharp, warning look at his brother. 

Della's head tilted. She looked between the two men. "Hmm" she said. "Think I'd have to confirm the facts."

"The facts are what they are, ma'am," Caelan said, finding room in the night air to put a few feet between himself and her curious hands. 

"Well let me give you a little more information, Della, 'fore you scurry on off and get yourself ready. You really should check the facts," he said with a raised eyebrow. "What a silly sheriff Harlowe is.  This guy has got stones. Took out an entire vamp nest about ten miles outside of Austin. Wolfed out, went in solo, came back ten minutes later like one of Roosevelt's fucking rat terriers."

"He's exaggerating."

"He's humble. You bet this sweet ass of mine he'll prove it tonight." August paused. "Or, if you'd fancy a wager, dove, bet yours."

Della, twining her hair around her finger,bit her lip and watched Caelan. "You hunting tonight, sweetie?"

"Yes, ma'am," Caelan said. "In fact, I've gotta drop my bag in my room and prepare."

"Catch me someone good," she said, squeezing his hand and walking off. "I'll be waiting."

August tilted his head to watch her go. Caelan was looked at his brother. "Did she say, 'someone'?"

"C'mon, bro. Unleash your wild side," August said, snapping out of his trance as the two left the outside party and moved into the mansion's lavish interior. "It's good to feed those animal instincts, blow off steam. I know it's tough at first. I was the same way. But we're all pack tonight, bro. The chains are broken here. Drink what you want. Eat what you want. Fuck what you want. It's the Moonrise Hunt, baby!" He howled; several dozen howls rose up to meet him in the room over. "We've only got a few rules, Harlowe. No guns. No talking about tonight come sun rise- everyone breaks that one, who wouldn't after running off with a shewolf like Della?"

"This ain't exactly part of protocol, August. Is the board aware of this?"

August snorted. "I just called you the terrier, not the rat." 

"You know what I mean." 

"There's always one or two board members present. No one likes the rules, Harlowe. That's why they sanction breaks like this. It's nice to see real wolves like us running with inferiors like them." He gestured toward a more diluted hybrid strutting around the halls with a tipsy woman on his hairy shoulders. "Still got the same rules. Preserve the bloodline. Don't knock that shit up."

"Who's the someone?" Caelan asked. 

"Christ," August said, snatching the nearest drink out of a bystander's hand and passing it to his brother. He stole another one. "Have a drink and chill. Don't worry about it. We'll drop your shit off upstairs and get to it. Moon's almost up and I'm about ready to tear off this sheepskin."

"Cheers," Caelan said, taking a sniff of the drink in case there was a plant. He couldn't detect anything in his sheep skin so it was more instinctive than anything else. But there was no getting ahead without playing a part of the game, and Caelan was beginning to think that the sooner this night was over, the better.

Nonetheless, as the two brothers, walking back from depositing Caelan's bag and hiding the key where other's wouldn't likely find it, nonetheless the wolf energy was high tonight. This was not a pack he wanted, but for one night it was all he had. He and August moved through the crowd, Caelan learning a few names, putting some faces to those he'd only heard of, learning preferred drinks and catching a few words on loose lips.

And then they were back underneath the starlight, transformed and damp with water after being washed. The wolves were lining up in the back of plantation, snouts pointed toward wind-rippled stalks of sugar cane as the moon rose into the night. There were nine sheriffs Caelan counted, nine sheriffs excluding himself and August.  He could tell them all by their size and the distinct physical attributes distinguishing the wolves of old from the survivalists of the modern day. There were two legs and four legs coming to prowl among them and a pack of shewolves in the back of all shapes, snarling and yelling and cheering. 

The two brothers stood on the edge of the others, hung back behind. When Caelan moved toward the front of the swelling pack to better see what was going on, August tugged his tail.

They were waiting.

For what?

WITH THIS CHAPTER

I CONQUERED NANOWRIMO!