Werewolves: The Gravediggers pt. 9

This story features Dena's father, Jaci, and takes place several years before the events of 'Werewolves: Haven Rising.' 

[If you haven't yet read parts 1-8, click on the Collections tab and select 'Werewolves' to find the previous installments of this story.]

"That was close," Kaylen said as she stepped back around the shelf where Jaci was doubled over in a crouch. "You really do smell like hell, you know. Do you have showers in Haven?"

 "Yeah," he said. "But the water pressure is low. I hate the things."

 The tech groaned. "Well the next time you plan to come snooping around the base, you might want to wash up a bit first. If I hadn't thought fast, that guy would have sniffed you out like a bloodhound." She bit her lip and offered a hand to help him up. It probably wasn't necessary, but he took the gesture of good will for what it was. "I'm sorry," she said. "Your friend is gone and I'm lecturing you about your smell."

 "It's okay," he replied. "I probably needed to hear it. I had no idea I was ripe enough for that guy to smell me from around the corner. Sahale would have thought that was funny."

 "Funny?" the tech asked as she opened the door a few inches and took a peek outside. The hall was empty but she lowered her voice to a whisper just in case. "I didn’t think anyone stuck in a place like Haven would have much of a sense of humor. You're not what I expected at all."

 "Humans only saw one side of us during the war. At the beginning we were only trying to defend ourselves. Things…got out of hand."

 "That's an understatement."

 He ground his teeth. "I need to get out of here. Will we be able to sneak around him to the exit?"

 Kaylen nodded. "As long as nobody else is still working. But it should be safe—there normally aren't many soldiers in the building this late. It's pretty quiet, too, so you'll need to be extra careful. I have no idea how you walked in here without getting caught, and I don’t think I want to know. You weren't exactly acting like a master spy when you were in the server room." She opened the door all the way and held it as Jaci slipped through. She pointed across the hall at a small door marked as a bathroom and lowered her voice so he could barely hear her. "I'm going to head in there and I'll make sure I clunk around quite a bit. Leave a faucet running, run the electric hand dryer—that kind of thing. Jones will be expecting that kind of noise; it should cover whatever sound you make as long as your heavy breathing doesn't tip him off like it did me. Can werewolves breathe through their noses? Is that a thing?"

 "Very funny."

 "One other thing I should tell you before you go," she said, pulling him to a small alcove lined with janitorial equipment. It wasn't a perfect hiding place, but it wouldn't be necessary for long. Her expression looked conflicted and her lips twisted slightly as she spoke, like she wasn't sure if she was doing the right thing. "There was another werewolf in the room with your friend Sahale. He wasn't in-frame in the clip that I cut, but I saw him in the original reel."

 Jaci froze with shock. "Another wolf? Are you sure?"

 Kaylen nodded. "He was transformed and everything."

 "What did he look like?"

 She hesitated. "I feel really uncomfortable saying this, but you guys mostly look alike to me in wolf form. No offense. Seriously; I don't mean anything by it."

 He held back a growl of irritation. It wasn't her fault—all humans seemed blind to the glaring differences between wolves. If he got angry every time one of them brought it up he'd never have a moment's peace. At least the tech had the presence of mind to apologize for her failings. "You said the wolf was a male?" he asked. "What color was his fur? Distinguishing marks? Clothing?"

 "Umm. His fur was grey." She paused for a moment to think. "And he was a pretty big guy, too. No shirt, and the pants were nondescript—the stretchy type they usually put on werewolves so they don't have all their dangly bits flopping around after they rip off normal clothes like the Hulk. His pants were dark, but they were badly stained. I remember because I was surprised the cameras were high quality enough to pick up that level of detail."

 Jaci took a deep breath. It couldn't be…did Delsin know the truth about what happened the whole time? He knew that his friend was hiding something from him, but if Delsin had been there when Sahale was given the injections that made him go crazy and kill those doctors… "I know him," he whispered. "He told me that Sahale went feral and they put him down, but I didn't know about the experiment."

 Kaylen gave him a pitying look that somehow managed to make him feel angrier. "Look, I sympathize," she said. "I wasn't sure if I should tell you or not, but I figured that if it were my friend getting shot on that tape, I'd want to know who was in the room."

 "Yeah…" Jaci said. He was having difficulty holding back the tears. All he could picture was the colonel standing over Sahale's bleeding and broken body before putting him down like a dog with a bullet to the skull. "I haven't had a human talk honestly with me in a long time. Thank you. Some of the others can't remember how things used to be when we didn't all hate each other. Being kept in isolation does that to a person—wrings all the hope out of you until all that's left is bitterness."

 The tech put a hand on his shoulder. "Just don't do anything stupid, okay? I don't want to find out that I was responsible for getting you or anyone else killed." She bit her lip as she looked him over. "You look like hell. Are you gonna be able to get out of here on your own?"

 Jaci gave himself a shake. "Yeah," he said. "I'll be okay. I won't forget what you did for me, tonight. Hopefully you'll do the same—remember we're not monsters. We have feelings just like you do. We love and we fear." He took a deep breath. "We hurt."

 "You also feel anger," Kaylen said. "Don't be too harsh on that other guy when you see him, okay?" She popped her head out of the alcove and looked back and forth in the hallway. "I don’t think there's anything he could have done to stop what was happening. That Colonel Williams guy is a monster."

 "He could have told me what really happened," Jaci muttered. "But don't worry; I'll give him a chance to explain." He gave her a quick pat on the back before wondering if she'd consider it appropriate. Fortunately, she didn't seem to mind. "You'd better go. That soldier is going to start wondering why you haven't used the bathroom, yet."

 Kaylen stepped out into the hall and swept her fingers through her long hair nervously. "Guy already thinks I'm slow and lazy. He's just pissed because he's stuck here watching me and he'd rather be in the barracks with his buddies doing whatever gross stuff they do together in the off hours. Don't worry about me; I'll be fine. Just take care of yourself." She headed toward the bathroom and pulled the door open far louder than necessary, slamming it against the opposite wall. A moment later the metallic sound of a toilet stall door closing was followed by a theatrical sigh of relief.

 Any other time, Jaci would be amused by the woman's commitment to the bit, but his mind was awash with raw emotion. He needed to put all that aside for now and focus or he'd never have the chance to confront Delsin and find out why his friend lied to him about Sahale's death.

 The hallway felt colder than he remembered it as he slinked through, taking his time while Kaylen continued to make a racket in the bathroom. He was starting to wonder if she may be overdoing the act, but that would only matter if he stuck around long enough for the irritated soldier to work up his nerve and get off his butt to ask the tech if she was okay. He cinched up his poncho and shivered as the rain-slick coat brushed up against the exposed skin of his neck, leaving a small pool of droplets on the floor as it shifted. He peeked around the corner into the main hall where he'd entered. Jones was sitting at what looked like a reception desk, reclined with his back to him, studiously ignoring his duties. Jaci was starting to see why the man had been reassigned to Haven—anger issues and discipline problems seemed to be the prime reasons for this kind of 'punishment.'

 The access card beeped as Jaci pressed it up against the reader. He held his breath and pulled open the door just as the soldier started to turn around in his chair.

 "Hey!" Jones called out. "That you, Rob? I'm stuck here waiting for this idiot tech to—"

 Jaci closed the door, cutting the man off mid-complaint. It would seem suspicious, but it was better than allowing himself to be seen. The rain had slowed to a drizzle and there were far more people going about their duties than there had been during the downpour. Fortunately, none of them seemed inclined to ask him who he was or where he was going as he walked briskly back to the medical building. From there it was easy enough to stash his uniform and shift into his wolf. No one ever asked questions about wolves coming back and forth from this area of the base, it was only once he strayed outside closer to administration that he'd be questioned.

 It came as a relief when all four paws hit the pavement and he could finally stretch out in his favored form. He'd head back by foot across the bridge into Haven territory. There was no need to bother one of the drivers to escort him; they hated being dispatched this late anyway, and the fewer people he interacted with the better. He had a lot to think about during the half hour it would take to cross the span. He'd already decided to leave Delsin alone for the moment; there was no reason to invade the privacy of his home and disturb his wife and kid. For all he knew, Tama didn't even know that Sahale was dead, yet. The last thing she needed was to find out by witnessing a shouting match between him and her husband.

 Jaci could wait for answers, and besides, his wife would be missing him. He'd have to come up with a convincing cover story for staying out this late. Aiyana could be quite shrewd when she put her mind to it—he hated lying to her and he was worried that he wasn't nearly as good at doing it as he originally thought. She knew something was up, and sooner or later he'd need to come clean.

 He heaved a cavernous sigh and started running, covering ground with incredible speed on all four legs. Before long he settled into a regular rhythm. It was comforting, somehow. Tomorrow on the way to work, Jaci would give Delsin an ultimatum. Either his friend came clean about what happened with the colonel and Sahale, or Jaci would blow the whole operation wide open. No more lies. No more deception.

Next Week: The voters have spoken! Did you ever wonder what happened to Warlord Haken between Werewolves Book 1 and 3? What could possibly have separated him from his pack for so long in the aftermath of the Battle of Haven? We'll find out starting next week!

Werewolves: The Gravediggers will continue from Delsin's perspective in future installments after our time with Haken is complete while Jaci takes a breather.