Eyes of the Wolf

By Melody Hewson

Drifter Jeremy Kaine has a secret. A very dangerous secret that keeps him apart from the rest of the world. A secret that he has never revealed to anyone.

Detective Nathaniel Knight has a secret. A secret he has told no one about a past he can't forget.

When Jeremy commits a brutal murder that he can't remember, his world turns upside down. Nathaniel is assigned to find him and bring him in. Lost and alone, the predator suddenly finds himself being the prey and must overcome new obstacles just to survive while also hiding from those hunting him.

But Jeremy can only hide for so long he must face his most bitter enemy. The truth.
(NOT your typical werewolf book)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melody Hewson
• Release date: Mar 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466189409

Melody Hewson

I am an author, a teller of stories both long and short, real & imagined. So for the sake of my own amusement, here’s a bit of information about me, written in the form of a short story. Whatever information you can gleam from these words is what you are worthy of knowing about it's creator.Hazel eyes stared up at a cloudless sky before falling to take in the house below it. To some, it would be judged by its flaws ; it's fading paint and scuffed floors. But to her it was perfect. It was hers. And it was home. To one side, a wild forest whispered sweet nothings in the breeze, which was answered by some distant bird's call. "Life is good." She said softly to no one. "And today is a good day."The sudden squawking of wild fowl pulled her attention to the shaggy black and white dog that rarely strayed far from her side."God damn it, Jackalope! Quit chasing those turkeys!""I looked heavenward for angels, while beautiful demons showed me the way." - Shannon Nacyl

Book preview

Eyes Of The Wolf

Written by: Melody Hewson

Copyright: Melody Hewson 2012

Smashwords edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedications: There are far too many names to list, this book has taken years to write and I had a lot of support from a lot of different people, but I would like to at least say thank you to a few.

Tara LeBlanc, a very dear friend of many years who is like the baby sister I never had, thank you for your unending encouragement, especially when my resolve was flagging. May she be affectionately teased for a long time to come for her special mention here.

My friend Soulie for all of her help in various ways.

Melissa Matna who was always willing to read some random snippet to help me with wording or concepts.

And especially Kylala Ky, who’s typical answer to my persistent questions was usually It’s already good. Do you feel like you could make it any better? And who’s sexy voice I’m hoping to use for the future audio-book. I just had to find the right bribe….

Also thank you everyone else that I have not specifically named (there were indeed many) who helped me in various ways along the way. I don’t know if I ever would have actually managed to finally finish writing this without all of you.

Eyes Of The Wolf

To look into the eyes of a wolf is to discover the spirit of the wild. - Eric Demspey

Everyone knows me differently, but nobody knows me at all. - Author Unknown

Journal Entry Excerpt

I have always had the bloodlust. At least as far back as I can remember, anyway. Somehow I managed to hide it from everyone, suppress it, keep it securely caged like a rabid beast that was biting at its restraints while waiting to be destroyed. And I did try to destroy it, at first.

In my first days of self awareness, that awkward and frightening time when I realized why I wasn't like either of my parents. I wasn't like ANYONE I knew, in fact. I didn't want to be different, so I tried my best not to be. I tried as hard as I could to destroy and expel what I thought of at the time were terrible demons, possessing me in an attempt to corrupt my soul. But my demons had strong self-preservation of their own, even back in the early stages of my youth, when we were both in such a weak and under-developed state. So I was never quite able to rid myself of the rabid beast, snarling with foam coated lips and jagged teeth, calling out hungrily for blood. I was only able to contain it. For a time, anyway.

Then one day, the beast finally broke free. The urges to hunt, to kill, to ravage, became stronger and stronger, growing inside me until they became an unbearable pain. I fought against them with all of my young might, praying for help and release of the evil trying to control me, but there was no relief from the invisible god of my parents.

When I was finally forced to give in, letting the instinctually driven monster within me take over, it was after I spied a small rat that I had scared out of hiding from some nearby tall grass. Without thought or foresight, I grasped the small creature in my bare hands and raised it to my mouth, tearing into it with all the feral savageness of a hunting lioness. It‘s squeaks and squeals of pain only fueling my madness. I had half devoured the thing before the monster hiding within me was finally sated and drew back, letting me return to my senses. For the first time in my young life, for but a few, fleeting seconds, I finally knew peace.

Inevitably, however, my humanity made a swift return. I remember how I looked down with such horror and revulsion at the mangled mess in my hands, the coppery taste of freshly spilled blood still lingering on my tongue like a half-remembered dream. The odor of a death, the scent of a living, thinking creature that had died in pain and fear, hovered around me like a cloud, clogging my nostrils and almost making me gag.

And yet, even as I kneeled there at the scene of my terrible crime, I felt the most unexpected twisting in my gut. I had an erection! No girl in my school, no naked model posed in a stolen magazine, no actress on television had ever filled me with such a burning need, a blistering heat that filled my young loins with a pulsing throb, aching pressing into my inner thigh.

Terror filled me then. The demons had won! They had forced me to commit some perverse act of animalistic savagery from which I could never be redeemed! My vision went fuzzy as a flood of tears spilled out of my eyes, pouring down my cheeks. Unable to endure my shame, I tossed the half-devoured corpse of the rat back into the grass and bolted for home. Once there, I locked myself in my room and sobbed hysterically for hours, refusing the comfort of my concerned parents, nor could I answer any of their worried questions. I could only cry, until finally the blessed sleep of the truly exhausted came to take me away.

When my parents finally managed to make it into my room, having to remove the very hinges to pull away the door, they saw the blood smeared around my face and shirt. They assumed I had been in a fight, likely with some bully, and gave me what encouragements they felt were appropriate. I never spoke a word about the incident and soon it fell from their memories.

Of course I was fully unaware of the fact then, but I was soon to realize the significance of my first kill. It was the moment of my awakening. The merging of two separate souls, two individual identities, into one single body. There was to be no more resistance. I could no longer hold back the monstrous beast I was to become. My destiny had finally overcome me.

It was only a matter of time before I began to hunt again. I started with lizards or small rodents, killing and eating them raw if I could do so without being caught. If I could not, then I would merely mutilate them and feel the lustful excitement swell within me from the scent of their blood, slowly draining from their twitching bodies. I became very quick and agile as a child, learning the skills and patience required of a predator, much in the same way as any young animal learns.

As I grew and changed, so did the strange force inside me, which I had once so foolishly considered to be demons. As I grew older and more mature, it to grew, beginning to take shape and evolve. My chosen prey evolved along with us. I abandoned the lizards of my boyhood and instead hunted small ground birds, rabbits, occasionally even a stray cat, but always small and mostly harmless creatures that could give me a good chase. Most of them managed to escape me, especially at first before I learned new tricks, but we was still growing. Still so young and inexperienced.

Once I managed to kill a dog. It was just a stray mongrel some careless person had left at the side of the road to fend for itself. Even though he had been a sheltered family pet, the mutt knew a hunter when he met one and gave me a good run. When I managed to corner him in a shed, he put up quite a strong fight. But in the end, he still fell prey to the predator growing within me.

However, It wasn’t until I entered puberty that my true transformations began. The rage, the bloodlust, the need that drove me in my youth finally developed completely, taking shape into its final form in my teenage years. Under the watchful gaze of a full moon, I transformed for the very first time, and became the Wolf. The vicious creature I had been harboring inside all along. Once the wolf took over our shared body, I became stronger, faster, better than before. My every sense became heightened and ready for the hunt. I was unstoppable. We were unstoppable.

Along with quail and rabbits, we began to add more difficult prey to the menu, hunting raccoons, opossum, and many other small creatures that occupied the woods surrounding my childhood home.

On my sixteenth birthday, we caught and killed our first deer. The chase was invigorating and the doe was fast, but the wolf and I were infinitely more cunning. How we reveled and bathed in her streaming blood, hungrily feasting her hot, steaming flesh even as her body still twitched in remembrance of the life we had just taken. After gorging ourselves on the rich bounty, how we howled and howled, celebrating our glorious kill by singing our own praises into the night sky, serenading the watching moon. The doe had been a special kill for us. Not only had she been my birthday gift from the wolf, but she was also our right of passage. We had become true hunters. The world was ours.

Chapter One

Kelly peered hard through the dirty windshield of her small car, raising a hand to block out the worst of the sun's blinding brilliance. Through the smears of dust and splattered insects she saw a figure walking along the side of the road. Kelly narrowed her eyes, having trouble making out exact details of the figure, but they appeared to have their arm extended in the universal gesture of wanting a ride. Yet the gesture was casual, as if not really caring whether she stopped or not, simply stating that if Kelly was in the mood to pause, they were in the mood to get a ride. Of course, the person could just be out for a walk for all she could tell. But on the side of the interstate?

Kelly always tried to help those in need, even those people that the rest of society had deemed unworthy of notice, despite the fact that it had led to a few close calls in the past when more was demanded from her than she was willing to give. In an unconscious gesture, Kelly slid a finger across a thin scar on her throat, left behind when a knife blade had come a little too close for comfort. But she had always been determined not to let a few bad apples spoil her belief in the goodness of humanity. Her resolve was further helped by the self-defense classes she had taken to attending, unwilling to be caught unprepared and defenseless again.

Kelly slowed down as she approached the hitch hiker, who had turned their head to look at her, their step taking on an uneven gait. Whoever the person was, they didn't look too dangerous through the dirt and bug-smeared windshield. Not that the seventy year old homeless man had seemed like a looming threat himself until he had put the knife to her neck. Finally, she got close enough to pull over and stopped the car a few feet ahead of the figure, leaning over the passenger seat to roll down her window.

The still unclear figure hurried it's pace to catch up to the idling car, quickly reaching the passenger door. Just as Kelly was about to release the window crank, the approaching figure leaned in, causing her to freeze in place.

Hey there. the man said cheerfully, flashing her a wide smile full of gleaming white teeth, often referred to as a wolf smile.

Kelly felt her breath catch in her lungs as she regarded the man, smiling back reflexively. His long, auburn hair hung loosely around his handsome face, shimmering iridescently in patches of captured sunlight. Loose strands of it danced playfully in a gentle breeze around his face, which was squarish with a strong jaw and full, sensual lips. Slight lines appeared at the corners of his eyes as he smiled, and his silvery-grey eyes mirrored the warmth of his expression. Um, hi. Hi! Hello! Kelly stammered, blushing at her sudden loss of articulation.

The stranger's smile deepened, transforming into an amused grin. Thank you for stopping. He replied after giving her greeting a nod of recognition. You're the first car I've seen in hours. I was beginning to think this road was deserted or something.

A quick flash of light caught Kelly's attention and she reflexively moved her gaze down to the small silver charm that danced in and out of shadow at the base of his throat, occasionally tossing spears of light into her eyes. The charm was remarkably clean of the harsh dust that clung to everything else that passed through the desert highway, including it's delicate-looking chain.

A soft chuckle from the man made her realize what she was doing, and that she was still bent over the passenger seat of her car. It's a wolf head. He said patiently, raising one hand to the necklace and pulling the charm closer to her for inspection.

Embarrassed at being caught bent over and staring, Kelly hurriedly straightened herself in her seat, blushing deeply, glaring at the steering wheel as if it were somehow to blame for her predicament. Oh, um... you're welcome. She stammered as he climbed into her car, settling a heavy looking backpack between his feet. But don't thank me yet. I may not be going the same way you are. Actually I am now, she thought to herself wryly. Where are you, um, headed to?

The hitchhiker laughed softly, as if reading her thoughts. Nowhere in particular, ma`am. Just whatever city I happen to find at the end of this particular road, so long as it has a motel or some place with a room available. He pulled down the visor of the car, putting half of his handsome face into shadow. Kelly watched out of her peripheral vision. "It'd be nice to get