Page 14 of Caligo

I heard him following in step behind me. “Great at sex and an environmentalist. I must be the luckiest guy around.”

I ignored his comment and reached down to pick up the scraps out of the bush. “What the hell? It’s fabric! Why would there be fabric out here?” I had started to accumulate quite the collection of material and wasn’t sure what to do with it all.

Jasper’s voice carried over to me. “Huh. Maybe another pack wolf uses this area to shift too. It might be scraps of a shirt. Probably a young one who doesn’t know how to clean up his trace yet. Funny I can’t smell anything though.”

That hadn’t occurred to me. I still wasn’t used to the fact there were not one, but multiple werewolves in my life. “Makes sense. I’m gonna grab the big pieces here. You can crack the whip on your wolf buddies later.” I grabbed a large scrap wrapped around a branch, but the fabric was stuck around the back of the bush. As I reached around the bush, I touched a bit of something which was definitely not cloth. It was cool to the touch. And clammy. And oddly soft. I felt sick to my stomach. I think I knew what I was touching before I wanted to acknowledge it. Before I pulled away the branch, revealing the mauled body of a young man. I slapped my hand to my mouth to stifle a scream, and fell back onto the hard dirt. His face was torn and bloody, and a deep cut ran the length of his slender neck. He was young, barely out of his teens.

Jasper was close and jogged the last few steps to see what had scared me. “Baby, don’t tell me you startled a sleeping racco… shit!” The joking tone of his voice cut off as he realized what my discovery actually was.

“Jasper. He’s…” I couldn’t even bring myself to say the word.Dead. I had never seen a dead body before. He tugged me away from the bushes, and didn’t stop until we were in front of the bike.

“I knew him. Cody. He was new to the pack, from California.” Jasper shoved my helmet into my hands. “From the looks of his injuries, another wolf took him down. And he hasn’t been dead long. Why the fuck couldn’t I smell him?”

I tried to strap on my helmet with shaking hands but kept missing the latch. Jasper leaned over and did the clasp for me. “Don’t we need to call someone, or do something? We can’t leave him there.”

Jasper shook his head. “I’ll call the pack leaders when we get in. They’ll want to take care of the body themselves. But with how fresh the kill was, my priority is getting you home and safe. You’re a natural, and you’re quick, but I’m not about to throw you into something dangerous when it’s not necessary. I’ll bet you anything whoever did this is still out in those woods as we speak.”

He tapped his fingers on the handlebars and barely waited for me to get on the bike before he was turning over the engine, racing through the empty streets towards my apartment. I couldn’t help from glancing over my shoulder towards the woods, seeing eyes in every dark hollow. My heart thudded in my chest, and I was sure the sound of that alone would keep me awake until we took this killer down.

* * *

Jasper stopped travelling for work. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t hear any of it. “I know you can take care of yourself. It’s only while you’re still training. I’m the one who told you everything. It’s my fault you’re a target.”

“Jasper, you know I would never think any of this is your fault. You’re not going to be able to protect me forever,” I protested.

“I know,” he said, his face hard. “But I feel better knowing when I can, I have your back.”

If this small thing was going to help him sleep at night, then I wouldn’t push the matter further. Our training sessions adapted, too. Instead of going to our park we drove outside of town, to the pack lands. We trained every day without fail, until I was exhausted and could barely move. Jasper pushed me hard and I pushed myself harder. I couldn’t fail, not now. I grew muscles in places I didn’t know muscles could exist.

My father’s Boy Scout lessons finally came in handy, and I passed Jasper’s lessons on wilderness survival with ease. The guys usually offered to join us, and I readily agreed. I didn’t want to get complacent, defending against Jasper. They all had different styles, and the change definitely kept me on my toes. Duke was by far my toughest opponent -- he was quiet, but quick. I had to work hard to best him. Adrian was unpredictable, confident in his youth. But my favourite to spar against was Beau, because he always made me laugh and kept things light.

“Goddamn, baby girl, you got a sister? You’re ten times tougher than any wolf chick. Wouldn’t mind if she was my mate.” Beau waggled his eyebrows at me as we grabbed some water. I had had my blades at his stomach for the fourth time in as many rounds.

“Watch yourself, Beau.” Jasper warned, but he was smiling.

I grinned at Beau. “Just me. I doubt you would’ve been able to handle two of us anyways.”

“The real question is, could you have handled me?” Beau winked, making me laugh.

It felt good to feel in control, able to be carefree like this. These moments were few and far between. Cody’s death had made it into the news, and the pack leaders barred Jasper from actively hunting the other wolf. Defensive measures were another matter, but they didn’t want to put the pack into the spotlight any more than necessary. The killer seemed to be laying low, too. The lack of control left Jasper feeling frustrated, and he grew more protective of me. But his protective nature didn’t translate into coddling.

“Okay, break’s over. Let’s go again.” Jasper clapped his hands, walking over to us. “This time, Beau, I want you to shift, and don’t go easy on her. Don’t tell her your plan ahead of time. Let Ava think on her feet.” He turned to acknowledge me with no warmth in his voice. “Green, you need to stop leaving your left side vulnerable. It’s going to get you killed.”

Jasper was a good teacher, and he trained from a place of concern, but sometimes he could be blunt. I sucked in a breath through my teeth. Beau whistled. “Shit, Jasp, I know you’re not a guy who minces words. But Ava isn’t one of the guys, she’s your girlfriend.”

Jasper whirled around, with an apology written across his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”

I shrugged him off. “It’s fine, Jasper. I’m not dumb, I know what I’m getting into isn’t safe. But it’s different hearing how dangerous this really is out loud.”

He watched me with concern, but nodded once he saw I was being honest. I unsheathed my swords and glanced up at Beau. “You ready?”

Beau had already undressed and was getting ready to shift. He smiled. “Born ready, Ava.”

The sky was purple with dusk by the time Jasper let us wrap up our session. The air smelled like snow was on its way.

“You guys wanna come back to Adrian’s place?” Beau asked as we packed up our stuff. “I think we’re gonna hang out there tonight.”

I wrinkled my nose and Jasper stifled a laugh. I had been to Adrian’s house a few times. I loved the kid, but his place was like a college dorm. His dining room table was a pool table. Like, an actual pool table.

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