Surveillance has to be the most boring job in the world. I’ve been watching this place for a week. All I’ve got to show for it is a mountain of doughnut boxes, sandwich wrappers,  and coffee cups. If I have to eat any more jerky, I’ll turn into a cow. He leaned against the steering wheel. This really isn’t as glamorous as TV made it out to be.

You do know that all those cop shows edit this kind of stuff out, right? You honestly thought all those rednecks in wife-beaters just happened to do stupid crap on the same night? I’m quickly coming to the conclusion that I’m the smart one of our little duo here.

I thought you and I were supposed to blend together. Be one mind, one voice. 

Oh, sure. His wolf replied sarcastically. That is the only thing you picked up from Pops. He felt his wolf shrug and curl up. Eh, I’m kinda liking this more. After all, someone has to keep you company. Unless you just want to start talking to yourself.

I am talking to myself. Kyle angrily replied.

Yeah, but not out loud, hotshot. Unless you want to look crazy. Then again, considering the insides of this truck, you might already be halfway there. That or being thought a stalker. You really need to clean this thing out when you refill the cooler. I’m starting to think this rank odor isn’t just you anymore. Besides, it’s nice to watch you screw up when you’re in the driver’s seat, not me.

Oh, really? Remind me again just who was driving that let some bastard carry off Becca again? 

His wolf growled and showed his fangs as his hackles rose. Don’t even go there, hotshot. I’m already pissed enough at myself as it is. I don’t know how I missed that guy but I’ll find him. Don’t worry about that.  I don’t need some wet-behind-the-ears amateur to tell me how to hunt. 

Again, you are me, remember? Everything I know, you know. 

Yeah. But I’m pretty sure I’m carrying the best parts of us. Cuter too. He scratched an ear with a hind paw. Though you might want to get checked out when we get home. I’m pretty sure that continuing to hear voices, let alone conversing with them, is probably a bad sign for your mental health. 

Exasperated, Kyle settled back into the well-worn leather of his seat. Once Kyle had seen Lilith’s picture, it wasn’t all that hard to find out just what she’d been up to since the war.  Lily Travers first appeared on the scene in the early 90s and was apparently a wunderkind in the medical industry, graduating top in her class at John Hopkins and only rising from there. She spent a few years bouncing around the world from one prestigious position other doctors thirty years her “senior” would kill for. She then left the public sector and started up Amethyst before she was barely out of her “twenties.” He broke out his phone for the hundredth time and started scanning the Internet to see if there was anything more to what he’d already discovered.. 

For such a worldwide company, there wasn’t that much of a comparable online presence for Amethyst Pharmaceuticals or any of the other companies listed under the Amethyst umbrella. That’s very odd. Something’s definitely up with that.  

Finding nothing other than the standard boilerplate PR, he did notice something unusual in their hiring section. Apparently, there was a massive need for both drivers and security personnel at their main shipping depot about fifty miles outside Seattle, Washington. Over two dozen positions and all posted within the last couple of weeks or so. Interesting. Since he knew he wouldn’t be able to get into the Amethyst main building, he figured that this was his best option. So Kyle had driven straight there, pausing only to nap a few times at rest stops, and arrived within a couple of days. He was now parked in a stop-and-go about a mile away that rested on a tall hill overlooking the depot and the surrounding landscape for a few miles in either direction. Awfully nice of them to keep the grounds cleared for a few hundred yards in each direction. Clean lines of sight work both ways.

He spent a few hours scrolling through the local news feeds and found that Amethyst had been the victim of quite a number of recent hijackings, thus the need for the listings he found. Guess no one wants to stick around waiting to become a target. He thought he might be able to follow a semi from a safe distance and find out if it was up to something shady.

How did you plan on doing that exactly? You got a harpoon or something I don’t know about? We’re strong but we can’t just lift the thing off the ground.

I’d think of something!

Yeah. His wolf snorted. Ok, hotshot. I’m sure any truck driver would be willing to pull over for a complete stranger and show you his payload if you asked nice enough. Maybe if you offered a little bit of…
Don’t. Just don’t.
But it’s such a nice…
Finish that thought and I’ll get drunk enough that you won’t think straight for a week.

Heh. Good luck. Accelerated metabolism, remember, hotshot? I’d love to see you try it.

Kyle shook his head and resumed his watch. Unfortunately, not a single truck had left since he began his little stakeout. He had even alternated between staying up days and nights, just in case, but nothing had panned out. Guess they’re under lockdown until the cops catch those hijackers. He was about to put the truck in gear and head for the local truck stop to shower and change when he heard a motorcycle engine rev up the empty road. Huh. Haven’t heard that type of engine before. Wonder if it’s imported or something. Sounds more like a jet engine than a Harley.

Since he had nothing else better to do, he decided to watch it drive by. The sleek red and black-trimmed two-wheeler roared down the road. He turned the pair of cheap binoculars he had bought a couple of days ago at the truck stop to follow it. Its driver was a woman wearing some kind of typical biker outfit - leather vest with a logo he couldn’t quite make out over a white shirt, blue jeans, either dark brown or black leather boots. The only other thing she wore was a silver helmet with a long platinum blond ponytail blowing in the breeze beneath it.  She slowed down to make a turn but he noticed she glanced to her right at the depot, not on the curve of the road of the turn. Something tickled in the back of Kyle’s mind. Wait a minute, I think I’ve seen her before.

The theater screen popped up again and he watched “footage” from a couple of days ago. He didn’t have as clear a picture since he hadn’t bought the binoculars yet but there she was at the bottom of his vision. She slowed again to make the turn, and her head turned to the side again.
It could be nothing though. We’re next to a major highway after all. Kyle then started reviewing all the footage in his mind. Then again, every time I see her she’s always driving in the same direction; not once on the opposite side of the road. She slows for that turn, and looks right. Not once does she look in the direction of that left-hand turn. So something’s up with that. He gripped the steering wheel. Pops always said to trust your gut and it’s telling me something is up.

No kidding. By the way, usually, your “gut”, hotshot, is me screaming bloody murder at you. It’s about time you started paying attention. You’re right something is odd here. We should keep an eye out for her. It might just be the break we’re looking for. 

So now you’re McMutt, the Crime Wolf?

Hey, I just want to take a bite out of crime. What’s wrong with that?

I don’t even know how to respond to that.

Kyle heard his wolf chuckle. It still freaked him out.

Again, I’m you. Do I need to break out the flashcards, hotshot?

Kyle just fumed in silence. How do you win an argument against yourself? He heard his wolf laugh out loud at that and went back to watching the depot. About an hour later, a second biker drove past. The build was too thick to be anything but masculine. He also wore a vest with that same indistinct logo on the back. Wish I had better ones but I’m on a tight budget. All I can tell is that at least this blur matches the other blur. He watched the male biker slow for the turn, and, as expected, he looked right to the depot and not left to follow the road’s curve.  Two hours after that, both the male and the female riders drove past. They’re never changing their routine. They’ve got to be looping back around further up-road. No doubt about it, they’re up to something. The question, though, is what?

 

***

 

Kyle headed back to the truck stop to change and clean up. He grabbed some take-out from the taco shop inside and returned back to the stop-and-go.  He kept watch for the rest of the day but there still wasn’t any activity at the depot nor did the bikers make any more passes. 

He idled away the hours by watching videos on his phone. Wish I had this as a kid. Would have made those cross-country trips so much more bearable. Night fell and the depot’s security lights came on. As the previous times that he had watched the place overnight, there weren’t any obvious patrols made. No guards. This place has to be pretty understaffed to not even have a single guy make a round or two. Must be why they’re begging for additional help. The only motion he could see through his binoculars were the traversing security cameras located throughout the complex. 

At least, it’s bright enough that I can see without having to shift. I never could shift specific areas like Pops could. That night vision would come in handy right now.

Gee, I wonder if you're ignoring me all those years had something to do with that?

Am I this sarcastic to others?

Nope. But I get special privileges since we’re the only two in here. Well, so far at least. Still waiting to see if your psyche is going to crack more and I get company. Just do me a favor and make it some hot brunette. It’s not totally out of the realm of possibility. You know, like that time when you wondered just what it would feel like to wear a bra and panties?

So when’s that blending thing supposed to kick in?

I don’t know. You never stuck around those pack meetings long enough for us to find out. I’m not all-knowing. I just know what you know. I just see it a little differently is all. 

Kyle glanced at his phone. Almost midnight. Nothing out here except the bugs and us. 

A soft roar coasted on the breeze. The unmistakable roar of a vehicle’s engine. Several engines, in fact..

Guess again, hotshot.

Just when he expected to hear the roar grow as the vehicles grew closer to him, it suddenly died and the only sound was the chirping of the cicadas.

They must have pulled off the road further back and decided to walk to attract less attention.

He was quickly proven wrong, however, as he scanned down the road and saw four motorcycles heading toward him with no lights on or engines running. The only sign they were moving at all was from the overhead lighting on a few of the more dangerous curves. Must be coasting then. The more he watched though, the more he saw that the bikes hadn’t lost a fraction of speed as they came down the road. Ok. No muffler I know of is that good. I’m not a gearhead but I should still be able to hear something from the exhaust. 

 He watched them approach within a half-mile of the depot but lost them in the blackness. I don’t think I have a choice. I’ve got to be able to see what’s going on. The sole advantage of having sat there for the entire day was that he knew for certain he was truly alone. He quickly undressed and threw his shoes and clothes in the cab. He shifted and the night sky suddenly turned into a brilliant sepia tone. That’s better. He gingerly picked up the binoculars because they weren’t exactly made for a hand twice the size of a normal human’s. He tried to hold a single lens against his eye like a spyglass but his muzzle kept getting in the way. He was finally able to manage some kind of use out of them by resting the bulk against his snout and holding it away from his eye instead of against it. It didn’t afford him the best view but it was the best he could do. He scanned the roadway but couldn’t find the bikers. 

He decided to start scanning the depot’s perimeter fence instead since he figured that was the most likely target. He found them on the far side of the complex. He recognized the two he had seen earlier but there were three more with them. One he guessed was about half the size of the others and another was a walking mountain of meat that was a good head above any of the others and twice as thick. Guess that guy’s the muscle.

No really, you think?

Not the time.

Ok. Fine. But if that guy’s any indication, we might be chatting again very soon.

What really surprised Kyle though was the final member of the group. What is a kid doing there? They can’t be older than a third-grader. So these crooks aren’t just hijackers, they’re kidnappers too.

He felt his wolf growl and his own lips curl into a snarl.

For once, we’re in complete agreement.

Should we call the cops, hotshot? There’s a kid involved now. We can’t risk them getting hurt or being used as a hostage.

No. This is our hunt. I’ve got a lot of pent-up energy and anger to work through. I think I just found our outlet. Kyle watched as they started cutting through the fence. He expected them to grab a truck and drive it out. He was surprised to see them pass by all of the parked trucks and head straight for the building’s rear entrance. He watched Ponytail kneel in front of the door and guessed she was picking the lock. Whatever they’re here for, it’s not a truck. Change of plans.  He’d let them get inside the building and follow them. They had obviously cased the place in retrospect so he’d let them think they’d succeeded. Then he’d take them down, get the kid out, and see if he could get some information about Amethyst while doing it. 

He put the binoculars on top of the pile of clothes, fully shifted to his wolf form,  and loped off into the night.

 

***

 

The hallway was pitch-black but it might as well have been high noon for Kyle’s eyes. They glowed softly in the faint reflected light from the various monitors and equipment that were running throughout the office. He didn’t see anyone in the office or any guards on patrol. Something weird was in the air but he didn’t know what it was. As he slowly crept forward, each of his senses straining, he suddenly caught a stronger whiff of that copper-tinged scent.

Is that blood?

Oh my god hotshot. How pathetic a Wolf are you that you can’t even recognize the scent of blood? 

Shut up. There’s something different about it. I don’t know what it is but it’s not like any blood I’ve smelled before.

He looked down and found a dark droplet on the tile floor in front of a closed office door followed by another a few feet down and another. He gingerly tested the doorknob and found it unlocked. He slowly opened it and found two security guards unconscious, gagged, and bound with zip ties. Guess this place wasn’t completely empty after all.

Kyle slowly closed the door and turned the knob to keep the latch from making any noise as he shut it. Even still, the soft click seemed thunderous to his ears. He froze, ready for anything to come running down that hallway at him. He was actually hoping someone would. Bet any kidnapping theif would be expecting a rent-a-cop. Boy, are they in for a rude awakening! 

Kyle let a few minutes pass and then started following the blood trail left by one of the bikers. As he slowly stalked through the building towards the main offices, he started getting more and more excited. He was on the hunt for the first time since he was a kid and he was relishing it. Even his wolf started pacing in his mind, eager to catch up to their prey. 

The trail turned into a side corridor and Kyle followed it. He then saw spots as a thick biker helmet smashed into his snout. He yelped in surprise and stepped back, shaking his head to clear it. Looking back up, he saw the heavyset biker from earlier facing him. Kyle expected the biker to piss himself at the sight of a massive two-legged wolfman standing in front of him. Instead, that mountain of muscle cracked his knuckles and ran straight at him. Grabbing him in a bearhug the biker forced Kyle back around the corner and into the main hallway. He then flipped Kyle on his back and climbed atop him. Muscles then started smashing at Kyle with fists roughly the same size as his own with the power to back it up. Kyle felt like he was one of those tackle dummies he had plowed into when he tried out for the high school football team.  Each blow seemed more crushing than the last. He actually felt something in his cheek crack and bloody spittle flew from his mouth. He struggled against the man and tried to pry him off. He finally managed to get a bit of leverage to raise himself up and push against his opponent.
Bracing his legs against the floor, he used everything he had to push himself up. Straining, he managed to roll the mountain of muscle off him and get himself upright. He was still off-balance though when a hard kick impacted his gut. He stumbled back into a wall and knocked a bulletin board to the floor. Kyle tried to fight back but his opponent dodged every swipe. His return blows, however, never missed their mark. If this kept up, Kyle was in deep trouble.

All right hotshot, move over. My turn!

Suddenly, Kyle’s eyes glowed an even fiercer amber in the low light and he started slashing at the behemoth in front of him. He managed to scrape the mountain’s left bicep but he didn’t do any significant damage. Kyle lept backward to dodge a haymaker that was aimed right at his snout and to give himself some room in the cramped hallway. He looked to his right and picked up the fallen bulletin board and swung it in an upwards arc at the biker. The composite board shattered into fragments against his jaw, doing little damage but it bought Kyle enough time to plow into him. He grabbed the biker’s arm and swung him into the wall with enough force the concrete blocks cracked from the impact. He let go, expecting the man to fall unconscious. Instead, he pushed himself out of the wall, shook his head, and backhanded Kyle.  Hard.

The young wolf felt his nose break and blood began falling from his snout. Enraged, he slashed back at the biker but, for someone that big, he moved a lot faster than Kyle thought. The biker came back at Kyle and wrapped him in another bearhug, pinning his arms at his waist. Kyle was starting to have trouble breathing from the strain as his rib cage compressed his lungs.

This guy must have enough steroids in him to kill a horse! No human should be this strong! I can’t move! 

The two struggled around the hallway, Kyle desperately trying to break the biker’s grip. He started seeing blackness creep around the edges of his vision. What am I going to do? I can’t move! I’m no better at this than he is! What kind of a Wolf am I?! A flash of inspiration suddenly hit. Stupid mutt! You are a Wolf! Claws and brute strength are just part of the package. You’ve got a few other tricks in your bag! 32 of them! 

Kyle brought his head down and chomped into the biker’s right shoulder. Leather and skin punctured; blood flowed into Kyle’s mouth as the man howled in rage and pain. The biker’s grip loosened and Kyle took advantage of it. He slashed the man’s chest as he bit down harder, he felt his teeth scrape against bone. He broke free of the biker and started smashing his fists down on the oddly misshapen skull. Downside to all those ‘roids, buddy! He didn’t want to kill the man but he had to put him down. With one last hit, the biker let out and a grunt as his eyes rolled back and he slumped down to the floor. Kyle knelt and checked the biker finding a strong pulse as his chest rose and fell steadily. Good. I’ll leave this guy for the cops. He went back to the side corridor and ran into the largest office room he’d seen yet.

There was a massive bank of computers and a large screen with the kid he saw earlier sitting before it, typing furiously away at a keyboard. He didn’t know what the kid thought they were doing but he didn’t see the other three bikers either. He had an opportunity to get the kid out and he took it. He silently reached the kid when a shadow filled the light coming through the open doorway to the hall.  Glancing back, Kyle saw the mountain biker’s form fill the doorway. He was out of time. He rushed forward, grabbed the kid, and sprinted to a side door with a glowing EXIT sign above it. 

A high-pitched little girl’s voice shouted at him. “Hey! What are you doing? Let me go! Let me go!” She began beating her fists against his arms as she squirmed against his grip. 

As they raced down the hallways guided by more exit signs, Kyle looked down at the girl.. “Can’t do that kid,” he replied. “Look, I know I’m scary looking but I’m one of the good guys! I’ll get you away from those kidnappers and get you to the cops. Just try not to freak out, ok? You’ll be home soon. Promise.”

“Kidnappers? What are you talking about?! I’m not kidnapped! Not let me go or Bob will tear you a new asshole. That’s if Kurt doesn’t get to you first!”

“Look, you’re traumatized. These guys aren’t your friends! Now, hold on! I’ve got to get us out of here.”

She continued to pound on his chest. “You’ve got no clue what’s going on either! Now put me down or I’ll make you put me down!” 

Kyle actually barked a laugh at that. “Nice try kid. I’ve faced people a lot bigger than you.”

“Ok you mangy mutt, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She reached down to her belt and pressed a hidden button on the clasp. Suddenly, Kyle froze as he felt a sharp pain in his waist. He then dropped the girl as he collapsed to the ground shaking as a couple hundred thousand volts of electricity set every nerve ablaze. He couldn’t do anything except curl up as he lost all muscle control. When the taser blast finally ended, he sighed in relief, as the scent of burnt hair filled the hallway. Just as he finished taking a deep breath, he looked up and saw a massive booted foot heading straight for him. After that, blackness.