1
Will
Onceuponatime,Will had sent wishes to the full moon with his howls, but what had come true for him were the slick slaps of skin against skin, stinking breath against his face, the taste of his own blood, and other unspeakable things.Instead of meeting a prince under the full moon, Will had been sold to beasts.All the wishes he could still hope to have would have to come true by his own hands.
Will carefully turned away from the large form next to him in the bed.Everything seemed so loud in the darkness—the other man’s deep breathing, Will’s own panicked heartbeat, which hadn’t slowed at all while he had waited for the small hours of the morning, resisting sleep.He moved, inch by inch, away from the other man.
Will refused to think about what that man—Ed—would do if he found Will sneaking out.What Ed had already done was more than Will wanted to think about.
Will had considered packing a small bag, but that would’ve been too dangerous.It might have been discovered and given his plan away.All he had dared do was leave clothes under the bed, in such a way that they looked like incidental, forgotten laundry.
The floor was cold against Will’s naked feet.He stood, willing his heart to quiet down.If Ed woke, he could say he’d just wanted to go to the bathroom, but Ed was still sleeping.Will got his clothes, pulling them out from under the bed with his toes then crouching to pick them up.He couldn’t make too much noise.He had to get this right.This might be the only chance he ever got.
Will didn’t dare put the clothes on in the bedroom—loup-garou hearing was sensitive.He walked through the dark house to the kitchen, grabbing his shoes on the way.
There were shards from a broken glass on the kitchen floor.Ed had thrown it when Will was too slow getting his beer.Will walked around the broken pieces and quickly cleaned himself with a wipe.He took one last look at the dirty dishes in the sink, then pulled on his clothes, fast, scared the sound of the fabric rustling would wake them.
Before he turned the doorknob, he listened to the house.It was quiet.There were no screams, no shouting.No grunting or breath against his skin, rank with the stench of beer.If Will was lucky, Ed and his pack of three would sleep through this.All of them were loups-garous.Vicious.If Will was unlucky, then…
He looked at the doorknob.They might hear the door.There was a terrible moment when Will considered going back, lying back down next to that man, falling into the same fitful sleep that was the only kind he’d known since he’d been sold.There was a horrible moment when he wondered whether that might be the safer option.
Will opened the door and crossed the threshold.He wasn’t sure whether it was courage or foolishness.Now, if they found him, they’d know without a doubt that he had tried to run, and they would punish him.
Will closed the door with as little noise as he could.The alley behind the house was dirty.Trash bags rustled in the wind, soda cans rusted and collected dirt.Will had to watch where he stepped so he didn’t make any more noise.His heart was thundering in his chest.
Out on the street, he quickly broke into a run.He knew he had to put as much distance between himself and them as possible.They were bigger and stronger, and in their shifted forms, they would be able to outrun him, even if he shifted as well.
Winchester Boulevard was quite a hike on foot.There were trams in New Elvenswood, even at night, but he had no money.It took him an hour to get there, even running most of the way.
When he finally reached the address he’d been given, he was sweaty and trembling with the cold whenever he slowed down to catch his breath.The house he was looking for had a large planter by the front door with a red and white plastic windmill in it.Diana had said the windmill would be there.It was such a silly thing, and there wasn’t even any wind to move its spokes, but Will nearly broke into sobs with relief.
Will was scared to knock, but at this point, it was this or wait for Ed and his pack to hunt him down.He knew they wouldn’t just kill him.If it had been that, if he’d known that was the worst he’d have to fear, he might’ve given up at any point over the past four years, might’ve just accepted death.It was everything else the loups-garous would enjoy doing to him that he feared.
He was panting as he stood in front of the door.Like he had with the kitchen door, he waited.
Then he did it.His right knuckles, three knocks, hoping this was the right thing.
Will looked over his shoulder as he waited to be let in.This neighborhood was one of the nicer ones in New Elvenswood.The whole city tended to be clean and touristy, even if Will had never been allowed to see all that much of the place.The dilapidated house Ed and his pack had rented was the exception rather than the rule as far as Will could tell.
Across the street, there was a light on in an upstairs room.Will imagined that whoever was up was awake because they wanted to be.He imagined they were working late or maybe just reading.Just living their life.Will hadn’t lived in such a long time.He wasn’t even sure what it felt like anymore.He could barely remember it.
The door opened, and Will flinched.
“Yes?”the vampire asked.
Will had known it would be a vampire, but still.This one’s sheer presence spoke directly to Will’s wolf nature, making him want to show his belly and submit.Tall and well-dressed even at this hour, the vampire was stunning to behold, but in a sharp way: almost white-blond hair, icy eyes that had a hard darkness to them, and a thin mouth set in a pale face.
With a last shallow breath, Will forced the words he’d prepared in his head out of his mouth.“Diana said you can help people in trouble.I… There’s a pack of loups-garous, and I need to get away from them.I can’t pay you, but I’ll do what you want.I’ll work for you.”
Will’s voice nearly gave out during the last part.He started shaking violently.It occurred to Will that the vampire looked like a Viking, and his cold eyes were only growing more glacial in their regard.Will doubted the man had laughed for more than a minute in the last hundred years.He knew the vampire was a lawyer, but he felt silly now for asking for help.He expected the vampire to tell him to go and fuck off, just with nicer words.
“Come inside,” the vampire said instead, opening the door wider.
Will hesitated for a moment, then stepped into the vampire’s foyer.He jumped when the door fell shut behind him.
“How does a werewolf know my gardener?I hardly see the woman myself.I keep trying to pay her, and she keeps avoiding me.Brownies and their stubbornness.”
The house looked nice.Clean.Shiny black and white marble floor.Roomy.It smelled good here.
