Claws And Cartels Chapter 11

Beneath the Skin

Jerry’s POV

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Morning felt heavier than usual. My body was awake, but my head still carried the echo of that roar. It wasn’t just a dream this time—it was real, and terrifying. 

How did it do that?

How did the wolf’s roar come through me?

For a moment, it felt like my body wasn’t mine.

Its aura still lingered in my veins, a heavy presence pressing at the back of my mind. Stronger than it had ever been since the alley night.

There are so many questions I wished I could ask Dad, but lately even looking at him made my stomach knot. And Mom always looked angry walking around the house. 

I had no one I could really talk to—no one who could truly understand what I was going through.

Breakfast was the same as always: Mom looking angry, sometimes refusing to eat, Dad buried in his newspaper, and me trying not to choke on my silence.

Dad’s voice broke the ice.

“Jerry.”

I froze, my mouth choked with bread . “Ummm,” I managed to say.

His eyes flicked up from the paper. “You’ll begin training with Brad tonight.”

I forced the food down my throat, dry, eager to hear about the training. “Ok, Dad.”

I waited, but all I got was deafening silence. That was it. He didn’t explain. He didn’t ask if I was ready. He didn’t even glance at Mom.

The air between us grew heavier. Had Brad told him I asked for lessons? Or was this something Dad had planned all along? My chest tightened. 

I wanted to ask if Mom was fine with it, but her face gave me the answer. She sat stiffly, avoiding eye contact and eating louder than usual. Her spoons generated so much noise one would think she was making a toast. 

I had so many questions, but none of them were safe to ask. The food turned tasteless in my mouth, difficult to swallow.

Mom’s warm hug was all I had to hold on to when I was leaving for school.

At school, Sasha caught me before I even made it through the doors. She had this way of popping up when I least expected her.

“You look like hell,” she said. 

I forced a smile. “Rough night.”

She didn’t buy it. Her stare lingered, soft but prying at the same time. But Sasha wasn’t the type to push. She’ll wait until you crack on your own.

“You don’t look so good,” she said finally. “You’re distant and that says a lot.”

Her words sank deeper than I wanted them to. How is she able to read me so well? When she's only known me for barely a month. 

The day dragged, whispers followed me in every hallway, about how I bolted from the cafeteria yesterday, how “the Levin kid” was losing it. Darren threw me a look at one point, the usual smirk playing on his face. But he didn’t trouble me as usual. Maybe Sasha’s words had gotten to him.

Either way, the silence from him was louder than his usual jabs.

By the end of the day, my head felt cloudy, and my wolf wouldn’t stop pacing under my skin.

Brad was waiting by the car, arms crossed. He always wears sunglasses. He didn’t move until I was close.

“You holding it together?” he asked, in a casual tone, but his voice carried a weight that pressed on me.

“I’m fine,” I lied.

Brad let out a faint smile. “Careful. There are people you shouldn’t waste rehearsed lines on. It never works.”

“How’s school going?”

“Fine,” I answered curtly, my voice bearing traces of anger. I couldn’t take my mind off the unpleasant family condition at home.

“I’m going back to watch Mom and Dad tear each other apart with silence again,” Merely thinking about it makes my heart race.

“So are you still getting the celebrity treatment at school?” Uncle Brad pushed. I knew he was trying to be there for me, but I wasn’t in the mood for a conversation. The only people I really wanted to talk to were Mom and Dad. Sasha maybe.

“Yes, and it’s annoying,” I forced out a reply.

“Yeah, because you’re fighting reality. You’re trying to live like a peasant in a place where you are royalty. If you dare to swim against the tide, you must be ready to get wiped out.”

I sat there weighing his words. Uncle Brad always spoke hard truths, in a subtle way. He made the bitter truth easier to accept.

That night, Sasha’s words played back in my head: Why do you always let him run over you like that? Do you even know who you are?

A voice inside interrupted my thoughts, with an answer:

Vasilias. (King)

The word slammed into me, low and oppressive. It sent chills through my veins.

I didn’t want to hear another epistle, so I dragged myself out of my room with no destination in mind. I rushed past the hallway into the living room. It was crowded and noisy as usual, but everywhere quieted down slowly as they noticed me standing by the door.

All eyes on me.

It felt like school—annoying—but that’s what I needed right now. A crowd. If I was alone, the wolf would have all the comfort it needed to drive me crazy.

I sat comfortably amidst their stares. What I was running from weighed heavier on me than their judgment ever could. I felt invisible and invincible. The wolf wouldn’t be able to reach me if I had a distraction strong enough to block it out.

That’s it, I need to do something I truly enjoy. Chess, that would be enough to distract me.

I scanned the room for a chessboard and saw a girl around my age and a kid playing.

“Can I join you?”

“Sure,” she replied. She gave the kid candy and he left in a fleet of excitement.

“What’s your name?” I asked, setting my pieces on the board.

“Celine.” Her voice was soft and little, like a lullaby. The atmosphere was relaxing as she pushed e4.

I responded with e5. Basic.

Fast forward twenty minutes later—I’d already lost 3–2 and counting.

Celine was winning comfortably. I was about to make a move when my hands started vibrating.

“Are you okay?” Celine asked, worried.

“I’m fine. Just a little feverish,” I lied. Against my will, I picked up my queen and captured her bishop.

Blunder. She captured my queen cheaply.

Angrily, I raised my hand to slam the table, but it came down slowly. I wasn’t in control of my body. My wolf was messing with my head again.

Five moves after the blunder, I won the game. Both Celine and I were shocked.

“That was crazy! Were you hiding your true strength all along?” she asked with a smile of awe and surprise, her mouth still open.

“No, I just really didn’t want to lose,” I replied.

“Wow,” she said, looking at me in amazement. “Another game?”

“No,” the wolf voiced through me, faster than I could reply. “Maybe next time,” I added quickly.

The voice came again, calmer: You can’t run from me. As a king is bound to his throne, so is a man to his wolf.

My skin prickled. “What do you mean?” I asked, stupidly. I didn’t even know if I expected an answer.

The silence stretched. Then the laugh rolled in, thick and deep, shaking through my skull until I gripped the edge of the table, crushing it in my hands.

“You can’t fight me forever,” the voice growled, closer than ever. I could almost feel the breath.

I whispered back, “Leave me alone.”

It wasn’t just in my dreams anymore! Now it can control me too? 

Uncle Brad’s words rang in my head: “What you resist owns you. What you face—you own.”