Chapter 84 : Moonlit Madness Road Side Rest Stop, Open Highway, Outskirts... A final puff on the long thin white cigarette had seen Brick Kenneally tossing it onto the ground and stamping it out with his dark-colored workboot. He had a rather annoyed look that filed across his face as he took in the slightly spicy air that surrounded them. His nostrils flared and his muscles tensed as he took his time surveying the area. It had been a while since he'd really taken in the sights, having been so caught up with the current missing persons case and spending as much time with Layla as possible. A near-death experience had been just the thing to make him further appreciate the life he had as he noted the shifting of the wind that blew around him. He took a moment to reflect on his journey thus far and had been glad that he rolled into Temperance when he did, despite it being a pitstop for another package they had intended to intercept. His reluctance to give in to the call of the mo
Chapter 85: Beasts Of The HuntDeep Woods, Open Forrest, Outskirts... A series of violent snarls filled the open night air as many a humanoid wolf tore through the looming trees to get at the rich scent of blood that had caught their collective attention. The Howler M.C. had stumbled upon a group of outlaws who had taken up in the wilderness and had been having themselves something of a party with a good deal of drugs, and booze before the shift of the time and the onset of the werewolves descending upon their camp. Everywhere snarling teeth and razor-sharp claws had been digging into hot warm flesh and the splattering of crimson slick blood had been glorious as the brutes hunted and feasted on the corpses of the drunk and high brutes who had taken to camping in the wilderness to escape the long arm of the law. Brick had been the first to reach them, his teeth and claws ripping and tearing apart the fools who had never seen him coming. He could taste the copper in their blood as
Chapter 86: The Reeling From A Feral MindDeep Woods, Open Forrest, Outskirts... Once more the heat from the looming sun had beat down upon the naked and utterly confused Brick Kenneally as he attempted to rouse and make sense of his surroundings. He had still been more than a bit nauseous following his latest stint in terms of his wolfish nature. He had not been accustomed to ingesting human flesh and blood often and when he did it wasn't something he'd been proud of whenever he'd gotten back to himself following a transformation. This time had been no different as Brick struggled to get to his feet and make sense of how he'd gotten so far from his target. He recalled that he'd been hunting a particular fellow and as a result ended up catching his prey in more ways than one. Brick took his time getting his bearings as he moved rather gingerly amid the leaves and fallen twigs he had seen better mornings following his transformations after a full moon and days like this were not
Chapter 87: Blood Runs ThickerMid Day, Outskirts, Unknown Town... The orange flame from a freshly lit cigarette had been like a beacon in the dead of night as a lone man took a long slow drag from the end of the slim white cancer stick as he turned his attention to a rusted brown pickup truck that seemed to pull up on the side of the road beside his own dark brown four-door sedan. The waiting man had been quite young with long flowing brown hair and blue eyes much like that of the driver of the pickup truck. They had been similar in appearance with only the build of their bodies being the difference aside from obvious age and style of dress. The older man in the pickup had looked as if he had not slept in days while the younger man simply attempted not to urinate in his jeans as he looked upon his elder brother for the first time in months. "Well if it isn't my big brother, Jarrett Quinton Beaulieu." said the younger man as he puffed on another cigarette. "Still among the liv
Chapter 88: Cold-Blooded Comfort The Quinn Residence, The Backwoods, Temperance, South Dakota... By the time Layla Quinn had finished her rather lengthy and trying shift at Earl's Diner, she had managed to make it home in time to find the house a mess and the doors wide open. Brutus had been on the front porch looking as tired and worn out as ever but he greeted Layla warmly as he wagged his tail and looked up at her fondly. She smiled at him happy to see him home and her Daddy's truck out front but he'd been packing it up for some reason. Curious as to what her father had been up to now, Layla ventured into the house and noticed the mess he'd made of the place inside as well with clothes and shoes thrown every which way and boxes dumped out in the middle of the livingroom floor. She had been slightly annoyed given all the time she had taken out of her day to clean up so that he'd notice it only for him to come through like a tornado and mess it all up again dragging things out
Chapter 89: The Truth Shall Set One Free The Quinn Residence, The Backwoods, Temperance, South Dakota... By the time Brick and the boys came riding up to Layla Quinn's house, there had been a good deal going through the lead biker's mind. The scattered clothes and tossed-about boxes and suitcases had been a clear indication that Jarrette had been there but the dog and Layla had been on the front porch. Layla had been stuck there staring at the scattered mess and the tracks from her father's pickup left behind as she sat with Brutus and they had been getting on famously. Brick had noticed that she'd been upset and he had known all too well that she had plenty of reason to be given what he'd just found out and had a guess that she might have been told a measure of the truth about her so-called father from the man himself. Brick parked his bike and rushed over toward Layla who had looked up at him through tear-stained eyes. Brutus whimpered as he wagged his tail in greeting just as
Prologue: The Little Red Among Rabid WolvesThe County Fair, Unknown City, Unknown State....(2001) Unimpeded ruckus filled the background as twisting metal swirled and twirled in the distance as many a machine got a good work out due to the numerous rows of people all huddled together in single lines barely able to keep the shape as many a man and woman stood amid the heat of the beaming golden rays of the afternoon sun both excited and impatient at the same time. There were attendees of all shapes and sizes, big, small, surprisingly plump and inexplicably thin. There were people in various colorful outfits in combination of jeans and khakis, skirts and shorts, wearing shirts of every size and style while some were men preferred to wear no shirt at all and some women were dressed down due to the heat in some tight fitting and inappropriate garb that made the older people stop and stare, some wore sandals, some flip-flops, some were even barefoot and others wore tennis shoes
Chapter 1: The Same Old Boring Kind Of Life Layla's Bedroom,144 W. Guthrie Road, The Quinn Residence, W. Main Highway, Temperance, South Dakota.... Golden rays from an unrelenting sun seemed to burst through the thick beige drapes that lined the windows of a single bedroom on the east end of a small two bedroom house in the backwoods. It was a yellow house, a significant thing to remember due to all of the surrounding trees and dark brown soil that made the place really feel like home aside from the gravel road that lead out to the main highway which was covered in thick black asphalt and smelled heavily of readily replaced black tar. The trees provided a good deal of shade, but it depended where the sun was heavily focused and how determined it was to burst through the drapes. The baby blue eyes of a formerly slumbering sixteen year old girl opened to the new morning as wet tears began to dry along her supple pale colored cheeks. It seemed to always be this way whenever