Jax's Beat and the Bitter Memory
The air in Sector Gamma at night always
smelled the same: a mix of dirty city and the
wild smell of the werewolves who lived there.
It felt rough in my throat, always reminding
me what this place was. My area to watch. My
area to keep under control.
My boots made loud sounds on the wet
sidewalk as I walked. Each step was like a
beat in the quiet night. My eyes looked at the
dark shops and hidden alleys, searching for
any movement, any sign of someone breaking
the rules or changing when they shouldn't.
When I talked to the wolves here, I was always
short and just business, almost mean.
Anything else felt… risky.
"Evening, Officer Yorne," a low voice said
from the dark doorway of a bar. It was Kael,
the leader of the local wolf pack. His eyes –
those strange gold eyes – looked at me in the
dark. He stood just inside, a big, quiet figure
watching his area.
"Kael," I answered, my voice flat and cold. Just
the facts. Just the law. "Curfew is now. Make
sure your people follow it."
His eyes stayed on mine a little too long, a
strange look in them. Respect? Anger? I didn't
care. Keeping the peace in this city meant
staying far away from them.
"Understood, Officer," he said finally, his voice
even. He didn't say anything friendly, and I
didn't either. That's how it had to be.
A bad taste came into my mouth, even though
I didn't want it to. It always did when I had to
talk to them. The memory, clear and awful,
flashed in my mind: the full moon like a bad
eye in the sky, the screams in the night, the
tearing, the blood… and the gold eyes, full of a
wild hunger I would never forget.
Now. My mind told me to do
it right away, like putting up a shield. The cold
sidewalk hurt my hands as I went down, the
hard work feeling real compared to the bad
memory. Each push-up was a small way to
feel in control, to remember that I was the one
in charge now, that I wouldn't be surprised
again.
Why now? Why did even a short talk with their
leader bring back that terrible night? Was it
because I always knew they were different,
the danger I felt around them? Or was it
something about Kael, a small way he looked
like the creature that had… that had taken
everything from me?
My radio made a crackling sound, breaking
the quiet. "Officer Yorne, we might have a
problem in your area. Alley off Elm Street.
People say they heard… strange animal
sounds."
A problem with a werewolf. My hand
tightened on my stick. This was it. This was
where my control could break.
"Got it, dispatch. I'm going there," I answered,
my voice not showing how worried I was
inside.
Elm Street. That alley was near the edge of
the werewolf area, a place where things often
got tense. Humans going too close, or wolves
who couldn't fully control their changes. Either
way, it usually meant trouble.
As I got closer to the alley, the air smelled
strong – not just the usual wild smell, but
something sharp and stinging, like the air
after lightning. And under that, a faint metal
smell. Blood.
My hand went to my gun that shoots
tranquilizers. Normal procedure. But the knot
in my stomach got tighter. This felt different.
I moved carefully, my flashlight shining in the
dark. The alley was narrow and full of
overflowing trash cans. The "animal sounds"
were gone now, and it was eerily quiet.
Then I saw it. A person lying on the ground,
partly hidden by a trash can. Human. Male.
And the deep, rough wounds… they weren't
from any animal I knew.
My training took over. Look at the scene. Keep
it safe. Call for help. But seeing the torn flesh,
how violent the attack was, made me feel cold
and scared.
Another memory flashed – the busy
paramedics, the flashing lights making
everything red and blue, the empty, sad feeling
as they covered… her.
Focus on what's
happening now. I forced myself to breathe, to
push down the fear. This wasn't that night.
This was now. I had a job to do.
I checked the man for a heartbeat. Nothing.
He was dead.
A soft crying sound came from the dark
shadows of the alley. My flashlight quickly
pointed to the sound, showing another person
leaning against the brick wall. A young
woman, her face white with fear, her eyes
wide with shock.
"Ma'am, are you okay?" I asked, my voice as
calm as I could make it.
She jumped at my voice, then nodded slowly,
her eyes still on the body behind the trash
can. "It… it happened so fast. There was this…
this creature…"
"Can you tell me what it looked like?" I asked
quickly, my senses on high alert.
She shook her head, tears running down her
face. "It was… big. Furry. Its eyes… they
glowed."
Gold? I felt a chill.
"Did you see it change? Turn from a human?"
She thought for a moment, looking confused.
"No… it just… appeared. So fast."
That didn't make sense. A wolf changing in
public without control was rare, and usually
they would be acting restless before it
happened. And a full, wild change into a
creature that could hurt someone this badly…
it was strange.
My radio crackled again. "Officer Yorne,
backup is coming. About five minutes."
Five minutes felt like forever. I needed to keep
the woman safe, make sure no one else was
in danger.
As I gently helped the woman stand up, I saw
something she was holding tightly in her
hand. A small, silver necklace.
Silver. Just like Maeve's dream. Just like the
metal Ronan found. What was going on?
"Ma'am, can I see that necklace?" I asked, my
voice trying to be normal.
She hesitated, then slowly opened her hand.
The silver shone in my flashlight. It had
wolves carved on it.
"Where did you get this?" I asked, my mind
racing.
Her voice shook. "He… he gave it to me. The
man… the one who…" She stopped talking,
unable to finish the sentence.
The dead man had a silver necklace with
wolves on it? That didn't make sense.
Humans usually don't wear things that show
the creatures they're scared of.
Suddenly, a low growl came from the entrance
of the alley. My hand went to my weapon.
More trouble?
A figure came out of the shadows, their body
changing, getting bigger, fur growing all over.
But it wasn't a wild, out-of-control change. It
looked… planned. Controlled. And the eyes…
they weren't the wild gold eyes of a crazy
animal. They were smart, thinking. And I knew
them.
Kael.
He stood at the alley entrance, his wolf form
huge and scary, his eyes looking at the body
behind the trash can, then at the silver
necklace in the woman's hand.
"What happened here, Officer?" his voice
rumbled, the human words mixed with a deep,
animal sound.
"We have a dead man, looks like a werewolf
attack," I said, my voice tight. "This woman
says she saw a big, furry creature with
glowing eyes."
Kael's eyes flicked to the woman, then back to
me. A muscle moved in his jaw. "Glowing
eyes? Did the change… look normal?"
"The woman says it happened too fast. No
change that she saw," I answered, feeling
more and more suspicious.
Kael's eyes went back to the silver necklace.
His wolf body stayed tense.
"That necklace…" he started, his voice low.
"Where did he get it?"
The woman cried softly, holding the silver
tighter. "He… he said it was a gift. From… from
someone he cared about."
A gift? Silver? To a human? From a werewolf?
That was something that never happened.
Against all the rules.
Then, Kael's eyes snapped to me, his gold
eyes suddenly sharp and accusing. "Officer
Yorne, did you smell anything… strange here?
Anything other than the dead man and the
woman?"
I thought for a moment. There was that
sharpness,
stinging smell, like after lightning. I couldn't
figure out what it was.
Before I could answer, another voice cut
through the night. "Kael? What's going on?"
Another figure came out of the shadows, their
change also controlled, planned. It was
Maeve, her wolf form smooth and quick, her
eyes full of worry and suspicion.
Her eyes fell on the body, then on the silver
necklace. She gasped softly.
"That necklace…" she whispered, her voice full
of sudden fear. "Liam… he had one just like it."
Liam? The missing pack member? The one
Maeve had dreamt was hurt by silver?
Everything suddenly made sense in a terrible
way. The strange attack. The quick change.
The silver necklace. The sharp smell… it
wasn't just the air after lightning. It was the
smell of a change that was forced and wrong,
probably caused by… silver.
Liam hadn't just disappeared. Someone had
used him. Made him bad. Turned him into a
weapon.
And the bad memory of that night, the wild
hunger in those gold eyes… it wasn't just a
sad memory from the past. It was a scary
warning of a new, dangerous threat. The
peace in Sector Gamma had just been broken.
And a much bigger danger was now upon us
all.