Artifice - Man x Man - Book Six

Chapter 50 (M)

The layout of this compound is similar to the last; the steel tables and whitewashed walls are blinding as we file into the medical room for Tonya to examine us for injuries. 

Gesturing to the table, she goes over the cuts on Verando while the others file in behind us to wait their turn. As she pokes and prods, he instructs them on how to disengage from their wolf form. An overly simple measure of simply releasing the cling to the state that had ripped through them when the change had occurred. 

Most people struggled with changing, and this 'breed' seemed to struggle with coming back. The screams haunt me, and I keep my eyes on the rise and fall of his chest; hearing someone else go through it reminds me of what he goes through every time he shifts, only he doesn't complain about it.

I'd been thinking a lot of our past lives lately, visions of battle reflecting in my mind at the slightest hint of past trauma. 

Was it a sign? A warning? 

As I hear the familiar pattern of feet, I free my eyes to look over our new 'recruits', primarily men but there are two women. They range in size from height to weight, though I'd never seen a pudgy lycan. I imagine the new metabolism would quickly turn these city dwellers into clean and trim warriors in no time. At least, that was my experience. 

"Senator Campbell." Verando greets as Tonya maneuvers him, inspecting his cuts. 

"I can't believe it; these are already healing? Did you say this just happened? You were hit by a car?" 

I eye the faint pink lines, feeling a bit suspicious myself, and I was there when it happened. I still have dried blood on my hands. I knew he could heal quickly, but this wasn't the norm. 

"I said you can call me Johnathan." The man seems disturbed, maybe it was his time spent as a wolf these past few days. I can't say I blame him. 

"We're missing one." He comments, earning himself a frown.

"Not everyone makes it when you have multiple inexperienced men and only a few leaders. I have no help, save for Nic who isn't much for commanding lycans; we are very lucky we got through with so few casualties. Consider this a win, Johnathan. I know you're processing this, but I believe you might have information that could be valuable. For starters, how those damn cats knew where we were." 

It seems evident to me, they were running around like idiots and attracted a bunch of attention.

 "How long have the cats been a problem?"

Johnathan crosses his arms over his chest. "A few years, it was a failed government project, lots of red tape so I can't really say how many of them there are. More than I thought now that I'm seeing them in person, we always suspected they would die out, but it would appear someone was maintaining them. 

We had a few run-ins with them, but we were able to outrun them on our way in. I suppose when you came through, they were more prepared." 

Verando nods in agreement. 

Extending his hand to me, I blink at the Senator and cautiously shake his hand. 

"You're a good man for all that you do for our people, Marcello gave me a debriefing, so it's you behind all of these 'miracles' we are all taking credit for." 

Flicking his eyes towards my warlord who swats Tonya away as she prods his shoulder in disbelief, he hops off the table. 

"You're a lucky man, Mr.Mercer."

Once more, he doesn't correct him, and I roll my eyes at the man. "You can call him Verando. Mr.Mercer makes him sound even older-"

Johnathan raises his eyebrows. "He doesn't look a day over 30. How old are you, son?"