The Wolf Of Penshaw Lake

“Look lively,” Dan hissed as I stepped out of the car. He walked hastily around the car and inspected my face in the fresh light of the morning. “Alright,” He said, looking at the three wolves who had somehow managed to squeeze together in the back of the beat up grey Corsa we had driven to the airport in. They looked hilarious in the suits Dan had provided; each one too small and crumpled on the six foot giants to look completely authentic. I would have laughed had it not been for the situation I was currently in. “Do not let Heidi out of your sight and for god sake, do not act like the rabid wolves you are.”

“Yes Boss,” they chorused.

I glanced at Trent and the other two cronies who were so far up Dan’s arse he could have shit them out again. Dan had to have some leverage over them, there was no way that he could control them like this, Trent alone was a bag of muscle and insanity. The other two...I paused to take them in as they walked either side of me, so close that I could feel the hairs on their arms tickling my own and the musty, dirty smell emitting from their skin entering my nostrils each time I took a breath in.

They were eerily similar, with shaved heads sporting some wispy growth; evidence that they hadn’t taken care of themselves in some time. They too were muscular, their bodies straining to escape the tight suits that they had squeezed themselves into. I looked from one to the other, not shy about being caught staring, until one growled at me baring his yellowed canines.

I suddenly realised how they looked so similar; they were related. They walked the same way, were the same height and were equally as disgusting. I guessed they were brothers and I wondered what they did to have been thrown out of their pack together. Perhaps they left of their own accord, but Mason informed me this was against every instinct that a wolf had.

Mason, I miss you,I thought. I wondered what he was doing as my feet kept carrying me in the direction of the airport when all I wanted to do was turn around and run as fast as I could in the opposite direction. Was he looking for me? Was he close? A part of me held on to hope that he would come bursting into the airport and save me.

But it was only a small part. The rest of me was acutely aware that I could be boarding a plane to Germany in less than five hours. I reached up to grip my hair nervously and bit back the tears as I once again remembered how Dan had come down the steps in the basement, clicking the scissors together. I balked as my eyes went blurry, remembering how he sat on my hips to hold me down and chopped off inches off my beautiful, long hair.

“Move,” brother one spat, pushing my body forwards with a shove of his hand.

I stumbled forwards, having momentarily forgotten where I was. I wiped my eyes as Dan spun around to see what the fuss was about. He glared at me, but I simply looked down, not wanting to see the hatred in his eyes. Instead I watched as the ground turned from gravel to smooth stone as we entered through the revolving door into the airport. I looked up once we were inside, slowly taking in the hustle and bustle as people quickly moved to and fro, afraid to miss their planes. I smiled sadly as a young group of girls giggled their way past us, one girl dressed in white, a veil over her hair and her friends all carrying colorful luggage. I noticed they were all wearing the same shirt,Alice’s hen doemblazoned on the back.

Dan came to stand beside me as our mismatched group walked towards the check in desks. I dragged my feet a little, but Dan stormed ahead so much so that I had to eventually jog to catch up, my ridiculous kitten heels clicking loudly on the floor with each step that I took. The two brothers went to stand back next to Trent, keeping a watchful eye of all the humans that surrounded us.

“Keep your distance,” he said to them. “If you crowd us, it will look suspicious. I will check in with Heidi, then you three check in after us. Understood?”

“Yes Boss,” came the expected reply.

“Understood Heidi?”

“Do you want the same reply?” I asked sarcastically, unable to help the attitude that filtered its way out through my voice.

“Do you want a slap?” He bit back, lowering his voice as we got into the queue.

“Try it,” I dared, glancing around the queue with my eyes before letting them rest on his own.

“Your life in Germany is depending on your attitude right now,” He said calmly, “I would choose wisely on how you wish to act.”

I gulped, he had me there. He folded his arms, waiting for my answer to his earlier question and I sighed in defeat.

“Yes I understand.”

***

We made it through the check in without an issue, much to my chagrin. The lady on the desk smacked her gum as she took a blind glance at our passports and waved us through. I stared at her as she paid more attention to the brutes behind us, twirling a piece of hair around her finger.

“Dumb bitch,” I whispered aloud under my breath as I heaved a sigh and followed Dan towards security. Dan faltered a little when we got in the queue once more, I could tell he was nervous by the way he stood and how he kept running his hand through his hair. I knew him better than he could imagine, as a child I would watch his every move and learn his tics to know what was coming next. I could tell the moment he got angry, or when he was moments from falling asleep due the empty bottles of beer strewn across the floor.

One emotion that Dan rarely showed was anxiety, but it had happened once or twice before when mum took a while to wake up after he had beat her unconscious. Dan was a monster, but was definitely nervous about the repercussions of killing her. He was exhibiting these behaviours now, watching the security guards every move, his ears twitching as he used his wolfish hearing ability to hang onto their every word.

We took off our shoes and placed them into a tray along with our bags, I caught the eye of a female security guard and raised my eyebrows at her, she cocked her head to the side but Dan coughed next to me, scaring me into quickly standing back next to him. I sighed, I doubted it would have been enough.

“Next,” called a TSA agent, gesturing for Dan to walk through the metal detector. He nodded and glared at me, his eyes burning a hole through my own with his words very clear.

Do not act out.

I watched as an agent stopped Dan for an inspection as the previous man waved me through. I wrung my hands together nervously and glanced at him, licking my lips to wet them. He narrowed his eyes as I stepped forward and through the detector to meet Dan who was waiting for me at the other side.

“Miss? Just stand aside so I can perform a search,” he called.

I turned around to see the agent gesturing me forward. Dan folded his arms as he waited at the end of the aisle, watching as the three idiots all got through the detector without any issues. I walked over and held out my arms as he patted me down.

“Are you ok?” He whispered as he leaned around my neck to check my collar.

“Mmm,” I hummed. I couldn’t speak, he would be able to hear me. I tried to think of a way to alert the guard to my situation, without letting Dan know for fear that the agent wouldn’t understand what I was trying to do and let me go back to Dan.

“Can you talk freely?”

“I’m fine Sir, thankyou,” I said, stepping away as he finished the search.

“Alright, you’re free to go,” He replied hesitantly, as though he wasn’t quite sure.

I nodded and turned around to collect my shoes, meeting back up with Dan. He narrowed his eyes at me, but satisfied I had done what he asked, he gestured with his head for me to follow him.

We ended up sitting at a small café, the only table free being one situated just outside the café windows where I could people watch in silence as Dan spoke lowly to Trent. I frowned as I saw the same female TSA agent as before, standing across the terminal by a kiosk, speaking into a walkie talkie. I cocked my head as I wondered if it was a coincidence, but I really was hoping it wouldn’t be.

“Can I get a drink?” I asked Dan who nodded, fishing out a five pound note from his wallet.

“Get me a coffee, you know how I like it. Be quick.”

I nodded hastily and jumped up out of my seat to join the queue, turning around to see that Trent had turned his chair around to watch me through the window. A lady behind me had a crying toddler who suddenly lashed out and hit my leg, spinning around I caught sight of a very apologetic mother who gripped her sons hand tightly.

“What do you say?” She asked him.

He looked at me with tired, sad eyes and muttered a sorry. I bent to his level and ruffled his hair, his mother bending down too. Turned around from the window I made the child laugh and decided it was now or never.

“He is super cute, what’s hishelpname?”

“Huh?” She looked at me as she registered my words. I pleaded with my eyes and her own widened before I stood up and smiled at her before going up to the counter to order. I took a chance at glancing back at Trent through the window and was thankful to see his expression hadn’t changed.

“Two coffees, one with milk and two sugars, one with just sugar please,” I asked, handing over the money.

“I’ll bring them out to you, where are you sitting?” replied the young, lanky teenager behind the counter.

I pointed to the wolves sitting outside and didn’t miss how the lady with the toddler followed my finger. I took my change and headed back outside to sit back in my seat.

“What took so long? Where are the drinks?” Dan asked harshly, leaning forward across the table.

“Sorry, a kid hit me so his mum was just apologising, they’re going to bring the drinks out in a minute.”

As I spoke, the barista came over with the drinks, setting down on the table. I thanked him, considering Dan just ignored him completely, choosing to take his drink instead and take a long sip. I sat back in my seat to sip my own, watching in disbelief as the woman with the child walked out of the café and towards the TSA agent who was still stood by the kiosk. The area suddenly seemed to have more security than normal and I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

“Boss,” said Trent who sat ramrod straight, staring out at the guards. “I’m not keen on the amount of security around here, maybe we should move towards our gate,” He suggested.

Dan looked up, “If we move, we’ll look suspicious. If we stay, we’ll look unbothered and as though we have nothing to hide.”

“We do have something to hide though Sir,” came Trent’s reply and I could see Dan’s hand tighten around his cup of coffee.

“They don’t know that,” Dan spoke slowly, emphasizing every word.

Suddenly, the atmosphere grew tense as three officers began walking towards the table. Dan’s face morphed into confusion as he smiled at the officers,

“Can I help you?”

“Something has come up with this young lady’s passport. Miss, can you come with us?”

I could have cried with relief, but Dan wasn’t about to let me go so easily.

“What’s wrong with it? Our plane is about to board in about half an hour man!”

“I’m afraid you may have to miss your plane Sir, she needs to come with us.”

I stood up and Dan gripped my arm, halting my actions, “She’s going nowhere. Trent, Oliver, Alex we need to go.”

The three wolves stood up menacingly, towering over the three officers. I knew then that our cover was blown, Dan was going to try and get us out of the airport. He moved forwards, his men blocking the officers from getting anywhere near him. I knew that they had a very slim chance of getting out of here, but they had the advantage of being lycans, they could easily take on a hundred humans and only break out a slight sweat. So I had to fight back too.

I stopped moving, planting my feet into the floor.

“Heidi,” Dan warned.

“I’m not going anywhere, you can’t fight every guard in here,” I told him confidently.

“Miss are you in trouble?”

“They have kidnapped me,” I stated only to receive a low growl from Dan.

They couldn’t reveal themselves as lycans so they were forced to stay as humans. I knew that if this were any other situation, Dan would have wolfed out by now and killed half the agents.

“Sir you are under arrest-” The officer began.

“Like hell,” Dan spat and grabbed me, beginning to walk towards the exit only to falter when he saw the growing number of police officers and TSA agents surround him.

“They have guns Dan, you can let me go and be arrested or they’ll shoot you. It may take a few, but they’ll kill you eventually,” I told him calmly.

He laughed, “-and let you go back to your Alpha? I’d rather kill you.”

Dan suddenly lunged for me, sending me flying to the floor, my head ricocheting off the hard stone. I gripped it immediately, my gaze blurry and conscious barely there, just able to make out the officers shouting for Dan to release me and lie down with his hands on his head. People were screaming, I could make out a woman screaming for the police to shoot him as his hands wrapped around my neck.

It felt as though everything was happening in slow motion, I heard the gun fire and felt Dan’s body fall onto mine as he let out an inhuman roar, leaving me to stand and go after the officer who fired at him. I watched through blurry vision as he took steps towards the officer, bullets firing through his body until one through his head sent him flying backwards and lying motionless on the ground.

It was then that I finally lost consciousness and let the world around me go black.