"Something like that," he admitted. His tone was so serious she was struck dumb by it. He certainly wanted her to believe everything he was saying, and that was the best sign she had yet that all these stories were the truth. "It got pretty messy sometimes. I was part of the group who had to enforce the Code."
"The code? Like some sort of unwritten code of honor?" she wondered, and he shook his head.
"Nothing that noble. It was pretty much a matter of everyone inside our area of control following our orders or, well, getting taught a hard lesson." His mouth was set in a firm, thin line. Stephanie guessed he had some pretty bad memories and done some deeds that he'd rather forget. "It was a rough life, but I have to admit sometimes I enjoyed it. There was a lot of freedom not having anyone else to deal with or care about."
"At all?" Stephanie spoke up. It was hard for her to imagine someone so adrift from mankind. "You didn't have anyone else you cared about?"
"I was around a lot of tough people. They were hardly what I'd call human, much less pleasant," he explained. He shook his head when he recalled how horrible some of those monsters had been toward innocents and guilty alike. "Sometimes I worked with people who didn't care whether you lived or died, so long as I didn't get in their way when they were carrying out their orders."
All this time they'd been walking with a purpose, and Chuck suddenly let out a soft exclamation of triumph
"Finally found it. Thought I might have gotten rusty and gone the wrong way."
Stephanie looked to where his gaze was set and her mouth opened in wonder. They had arrived at a park, and it was a wonderful oasis of green among the concrete and false structures around them. There was a large metal fence around the acres of green, luscious grass. Trees had been planted in random spots here and there along a soft earthen path, but that only added to the rustic charm of the place. Beyond she could see there was an area in the center with benches surrounding a cascading waterfall. Even where they stood at the entrance, she could hear the soft falling of the water as it dropped into the deep pond.
"Nice, isn't it?" Chuck asked her, and she could only nod. "This was a place I went to whenever I wanted some peace and quiet. None of the other guys thought much about nature, so I was pretty much left alone until they needed me for something."
"It's wonderful," she applauded his choice. "Can we go look around?"
"Sure, but then we should probably head back to the hotel. It'll be late enough and we'll be tired enough we could probably turn in," Chuck pointed out, and Stephanie nodded in agreement.
The lovers wandered through the beautiful scenery for the better part of an hour. Stephanie could well understand how Chuck lost himself in the park. The place was enormous, what with twisting lanes that meandered through the trees. The fountain was as beautiful as she'd seen from the distance, and there were even some small fish happily swimming among pennies of wishes. Then the pair proceeded on further, and Stephanie realized the fountain was not in the center of the huge area. There were acres and acres of more trees and wonderfully soft grass, and she thought it was endless until they reached the far side. There Chuck turned and led them back to the hotel, and as the park faded from view behind the many buildings Stephanie sighed in contentment.
It'd been a pretty nice walk, and she was definitely ready for some sleep now.
It was a longer walk back to their hotel than Stephanie remembered, and about halfway she had to stop them in one of the less occupied parts of the commercial district. She took off one of her shoes and rubbed her sore arch. Being a small town girl she wasn't used to pounding along pavement, at least not for so long.
"You all right?" Chuck asked, and she smiled at his concern.
"I'm fine, just some blisters trying to rear their ugly heads," she replied, and winced when her fingers came into contact with a good one on her heel. "I guess I need better shoes the next time we go out like this."
"Next time?" a voice asked.
Stephanie's head snapped up and she saw a figure leaning against a building up ahead a few yards. She recognized the thin outline and that curt voice. It was Simon Ivanovich, Gregory's companion and the man Chuck had knocked down. He didn't look the worse for wear as he pushed off the wall and stepped out beneath a streetlight. She stepped back when she noticed the wide, ugly grin on his lips, and Chuck moved to half cover her with his body.
"What do you want, Simon?" Chuck asked the man, and Ivanovich's grin turned to a frown.
"You know what I'm here to talk about, Charles," Ivanovich countered. His beady eyes glanced over to Stephanie. "Since it's almost the full moon, she's got to make a choice now."
"Your group doesn't have any claim over her," Chuck shot back, but Ivanovich shook his head.
"You ran with us once, you should remember the rules," the other man replied in a curt, annoyed voice. "Once a new one's made, they belong to us unless they want out. It's going to have to be a different punishment for her if she wants out, though, considering banishing her won't have the effect on others that your banishment caused."
"You're not touching her," Chuck growled, and then he felt a tug on his shirt. He turned to find Stephanie clinging to him, but there were questions in her eyes.
"What's going on? Why's he here?" she asked. She looked over to the Ivanovich, and Chuck felt her hands shake from fear. "Does he...does he know about me being different?"
"Right now the thing that matters is us getting out of here," her partner insisted. He kept one eye on their opponent, but the man appeared to be engrossed in their conversation. "You think you can find the way back to the hotel on your own?"
"I really wouldn't recommend doing anything rash, Charles," Ivanovich spoke up in a scolding tone. Stephanie wished the man would shut up and leave them the hell alone. "We always run in packs, remember? I know you can take me out without any problem, but who's hiding in the shadows? Who will grab poor Stephanie here and drag her to Gregory?"
"What's he got to do with this?" Chuck asked, and Stephanie was surprised he didn't know what Gregory's involvement was in this confusing mess. He seemed to have all the other answers which she longed to hear. "Did he bump off the boss?"
"Let's just say he's top dog now, and anyone who says otherwise finds their life very uncomfortable." Ivanovich took a few steps toward them and held out his hand. Stephanie could feel Chuck stiffen. "Now this is all becoming a little tiresome. Let's just go and see what we can make of her, all right?"
"No, not all right," Chuck angrily answered. Stephanie yelped in surprise when he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. "We're leaving here right now and won't come back. Will that be enough for Gregory?"
"You know it won't be," Ivanovich replied as he shook his head. "There's no going back until we've made our decision with her."
"Like hell you guys are! I'm not going anywhere with you!" Stephanie surprised both men by shouting. She turned her fury on her partner. "What the hell is going on here? How the hell does he know about me being a werewolf?"
"You're hard to miss, even in a crowded room," Ivanovich explained. "And that's mean to be a compliment. You have a most intoxicating effect on alpha and beta wolves." Stephanie was repulsed when he then lifted his nose into the air and appeared to smell her scent. This man had changed since last they met from a stiff pencil-pusher to some sort of wild animal. "Yes, very clean and refreshing. Like a warm spring day. You've made a very good choice with this one, Charles."
"I'm going to warn you one last time, Simon. Get the hell out of here or I'll take you out," Chuck warned, and his eyes narrowed. "You know I won't hesitate to kill you if I need to."
Stephanie stiffened and her eyes grew wide. Her partner had just threatened to kill a man. He had really just said he was willing to kill him if he didn't get out of the way.
"You must be desperate if you're making that threat in front of your mate," Ivanovich replied, and his beady eyes turned to Stephanie's scared, ashen face. "Gregory told me what the girl was saying. She do
esn't know what's going on because you haven't told her."
"Damn it..." Chuck muttered, and he flinched when Stephanie tugged on his sleeve.
"What's going on?" she pleaded to know. Her eyes were begging for him to explain to her what Ivanovich was talking about, and what Gregory had told her at the conference. She had no idea Chuck held so many answers to her questions, but she wanted to know them. "Please, Chuck, tell me what he's talking about." Chuck sighed and half turned to Stephanie. The other side of his face, specifically his eye, was kept on Ivanovich.
"I promised I would tell you everything tomorrow, and I still mean to keep that promise," he reassured her. He smiled, and it was full of hope. "You have to trust me here, Boss. I'll tell you everything later."
"How about I tell her everything now?" Simon challenged. He stepped forward and Stephanie swore he seemed to get taller the closer he came to them. His voice had a gravely quality that wasn't natural. "How your precious Charles here was the one who-"
Before Ivanovich could get out another word, Chuck had rushed forward and punched him hard in the stomach. The sound of Ivanovich's air being pushed up his chest and out of his mouth caused Stephanie to recoil in horror. Then Chuck smashed a fist down on his head and he crashed into the pavement. The force was so hard that his body created an outline of itself in the sidewalk. Then Chuck reached out and grabbed Stephanie's hand. He pulled her halfway down the street before she could get a hold of his arm and pull herself free.
Stephanie was out of breath from the sprint, and the fear and confusion inside herself. She couldn't understand what was going on at all, or how it concerned Chuck. She'd made the promise with him not to ask, but he was just asking too much of her.
"What the hell is going on?" she almost shouted. Chuck, however, looked back to where they'd come, and suddenly he pulled her back behind him. Stephanie turned and gasped.
The hulking figure of Ivanovich was shambling toward them. He was half transformed into one of those werewolves, but it looked like something had gone wrong. His eyes were still human but his face was protruding into a snout. One half of his upper body was hairy and the arm was longer than the other. His shoes had split open and pink, clawed toes peeked out from the torn seals.
"You know you never mastered doing that without the full moon," Chuck told the hideous monster, and those human eyes blazed with anger. "Don't blame me for any side-effects that's going to have on you."
The creature only growled and tried to lunge at them. It tripped over its own mutated legs and fell onto the sidewalk. It would have been hilarious if the sight weren't so pitiable. The thing clawed at the ground and attempted to climb back up on its shaky legs, but it only fell back to the ground. Stephanie turned away, unable to continue watching such a pathetic creature. Chuck shook his head, and also turned his back on the thing.
"I feel sorry for you, Simon, but you're a fool. You've always been a fool," Chuck told the creature. He gently put his hands on Stephanie's shoulders, and the young woman glanced up into his face. She was crying, and the trail of wet tears glistened down her cheeks. "Let's go, Boss, before someone comes by and sees us with that thing."
Stephanie was too shocked to argue and struggle as he steered them back toward the hotel. They'd only gone a few feet when Chuck suddenly stopped. He looked straight ahead, but he appeared to be listening to a sound too quiet for her ears.
"So you're here, too, Cary?" he called out to the darkness. Stephanie gasped and flinched away when Miss Seville came out of an alley close to their right. The young woman scowled at them both and folded her arms across her chest. She was as impeccably dressed as usual and looked very out of place in this grimy part of town. "Are you going to stop us?"
"Of course not, why would I want that girl around?" Seville commented. She glanced over to the mutated creature. The thing had given up trying to rise, and was merely watching the three of them with those human eyes. "You idiot. I told you not to do anything rash and now I have to stop the mission to get you out of here," she snapped. The creature growled, and Stephanie backed up into Chuck's firm chest. Seville turned her attention back to the other young woman. Her lips turned up in a sneer and she turned up her nose. "You're hardly worthy of the honor you've been given, but like I said before, I don't want you around. Now get out of here before I decide that idiot isn't worth helping." She jerked her head toward Ivanovich, and Chuck smiled.
"Thanks, Cary, I owe you one."
"You owe me more than that, but get on," she told him, and she waved her hand around them. "There are others out here, you know, and they might not be as nice as me."
Chuck nodded and led the very confused Stephanie away. The young woman never imagined she would see kindness from Miss Seville, especially directed at herself. Her partner, though, wasn't as distracted in his thoughts, but instead was focused on their surroundings. Every moving shadow was a new opponent and every dark alley a hiding spot for their foe. Stephanie had a hard time keeping up with him while he dragged her through the streets. She was beyond relieved when they finally reached busy, populated streets with people and cars. Then it was a quick step over to their hotel and up to their shared room. Once inside, Chuck locked the door behind them and pocketed the key card.
"We should leave tonight," he informed her, and here she finally put her foot down. She wasn't going to be running out into the night in the dark not knowing what was going on or what they were running from.
"Now wait a second here," Stephanie objected. She sat down on the bed and flipped her shoes off her aching feet. "I need some time to rest, and you need a lot of time to explain what the hell just happened. That Simon guy just transformed into some kind of monster, and I want to know why you're so calm about all of this. I bet that guy could have killed us if he would've gotten a hold of that transformation."
"No doubt he would have tried, but he's not the only one with powerful abilities," Chuck commented with a glance at her. Ignoring her protests, he began packing his bag.
"I really don't think I'm up to doing even half that much of a controlled transformation," Stephanie argued. She shivered when she recalled how Ivanovich had looked half-transformed. "And I don't think I want to try changing now. Did you ever find some sort of antidote for this curse?"
"I'm afraid there's no such thing," he replied. He had such conviction in his voice that all hoped for that route of escape failed inside her.
"Then am I going to turn into something like that?" she whispered more to herself than to him. Her partner heard anyway, though, and he stopped his frantic packing to glance up at her from his bag. She had her arms wrapped around herself and she was noticeably shivering. "Am I going to mess up somehow and end up like some sort of freak?"
"No, you're not," Chuck insisted, and he went over to kneel in front of her. He gently took her shoulders and smiled into her tear-stained face. "You're going to be all right. I'm going to make sure of it."
"But how can you do that? How can you be so sure that I'm not going to turn into that thing?" A sob escaped her throat. She was so scared and confused, and she wasn't even sure she could turn to Chuck for comfort. It looked like he was deeper into this trouble than she was, but she couldn't figure out how and he wasn't telling her. The young woman looked into his eyes, and her words were soft but not accusing. "Why don't you trust me enough to tell me? Why don't you trust me like I'm willing to trust you?"
Chuck's determined expression slipped off his face and he frowned, but there wasn't any anger in his look. Instead he appeared to think over her words, and then he sighed. A small, bitter smile spread across his lips and he shook his head.
"You know, you're right," he agreed with her in a quiet, calm voice. He stood and stepped over to the window. Outside the night was waning. Soon a new day would present itself and the sun would shine through the glass. "You're absolutely right. I've been selfish in keeping everything I know from you." He turned back to her. "Can you ever forgive me?"
"That depends," S
tephanie slowly replied. She felt a breakthrough was coming, so she had to be careful with her words. "I don't know what I should be forgiving you for. Maybe if you told me then I could decide for myself whether you even need to be saying you're sorry or not."
"Again your common sense is showing that I'm still being a fool," her partner spoke with a chuckle in his voice. "But I suppose if I said I've been keeping everything from you, that wouldn't make any sense, either, would it?"
"Not a damn thing," she readily agreed.
"Then I suppose I should start at the beginning," he suggested, and she nodded.
"Yeah, all the way back, if you would," Stephanie added. A teasing smile appeared on her face. She was finally getting answers, and couldn't be happier about it. "After all, you haven't told me all that much about yourself."
"I wasn't meaning that beginning, but yours," Chuck replied. The smile slipped off her face. "When all this mess started for you. It was my fault. That's what I wanted to apologize for."
"What are you talking about? What did you do?" she asked. A horrible feeling rose in her gut.
"You know what I'm talking about," her partner softly answered. He stepped back over to her and knelt down on the floor in front of her. Gently he clasped her hands in his own, and looked into her eyes. "I'm the one who gave you this curse. I'm the one in that alley who cut you and made you into a werewolf."
Stephanie was stunned. Her mouth slowly opened and her eyes were wide. She could see he was serious, there was no doubt about that, but she couldn't take in that information. It was just too unbelievable, too ridiculous. Chuck had been the reason for all this horrible pain and fear she'd felt since that night? He was the one who'd touched her life and made her into this horrible monster that was eating away at her?
"I'd understand it if you wanted to hate me for the rest of your life, but I don't want you to do that," Chuck told her. "I really do want us to be together for the rest of our lives, but if you want to throw me out that window right now, I'd understand."
"You...you did this?" she whispered in a voice hardly heard by even herself. "You did this all to me?"