Content Warning – Physical/domestic abuse, some swearing, and mentions of rape and suicide.

The black car pulled up in front of a dingy looking house, the figure sliding out the driver’s side in a soundless, fluid motion. Opening the back door, the figure hefted the dead weight of the “corpse” over his shoulder, pushed the door closed with a hip, and hurried into the house.

Relishing the silence, the figure stalked purposefully down a flight of steps and into a small cell. Dumping Lenora onto the twin sized bed none too gently, he smirked down at her and huffed out a derisive chuckle. “How does it feel to be dead, Lenora? I can talk to you, but you can’t talk back and give me that holier-than-thou bullshit you spouted off when you kicked me to the curb. I was married. So what? Do you think I loved that harpy I was chained to? I didn’t love you, but you made quite a trophy, really. Dating a famous person had its perks.”

Scornful laughter came again. “I told you I’d get even, but you only shrugged it off. You didn’t believe me, which really pissed me off, Lenora. Nobody ditches me, blows me off, and gets away with it.” He leaned closer so he could whisper into her ear. “I quite like you in this condition and would have no qualms about keeping you like this. But my brother would be distressed and for some ungodly reason, he wants you live and kicking.”

With a dramatic, mockingly regretful sigh, the man removed a small vial from his pocket and shook it slightly until the milky white contents glowed and shimmered. “As much as I dislike the idea, I’d better give you the antidote to that potion our dear Valerie put into your tea. You’ll wake up in about twelve hours, and then the fireworks can begin. I guess I’d better get Valerie over here so she can take care of you in case you have side effects or something.” He pried Lenora’s lips apart and dribbled three drops of the glowing potion onto her tongue. “I’m not much of a nursemaid, after all.”

The figure, who was none other than Shane Clayton, turned on his heel, slid the bar door open, then turned a key in a heavy steel lock after stepping through. There was a lot of work to do before this night was through.

“Valerie, get your ass over here,” Shane barked into his cell phone once his call connected.

“For Phaedra’s sake, Shane! I can’t tonight. My sister-in-law just died.”

“You’ll get over here if you know what’s good for you. Do you want a repeat of last week’s treatment?”

“Um…n-no. that’s not necessary,” came the quavery voice.

Shane smirked. “I thought you’d see it my way.” Valerie’s resistance to his mind control was starting to surface, so Shane had needed to alter the drugs he was giving her. Before injecting her with the new combination, Shane had slapped her around mercilessly and raped her three times in a single night. The next morning, Valerie had been pliant as silly putty and ready to do his bidding without the slightest hesitation. Shane hadn’t erased the memories of his brutal attack since he intended to use it as leverage if she should ever lip off again.

“I…I’ll be over in ten minutes,” Valerie whispered. To Shane’s great satisfaction, there were tears in her voice with an audible sob just before the call disconnected.

Upon Valerie’s arrival, Shane steered her into the living room. “You’re going to be moving in with me permanently. I need your help with something and besides, I’ll be able to keep a better eye on you.”

“What do you want now, Shane?” Valerie asked in resignation.

“I’m going to let you in on a dirty little secret.” Shane leered at her, then tugged on her hand. “Follow me.”

Valerie didn’t protest, for she knew what would happen if she did. He was quick to put bruises on her, but he put them in places not normally visible due to clothing. As a wolf, she normally healed faster. She still did, but the drugs Shane was feeding her significantly slowed down the process. Her ribs and kidneys were still sore from the last beating Shane had given her.

Valerie’s eyes widened as Shane led her to a part of the house she’d never seen before. “Where are you taking me?” she asked in trepidation as a flight of stairs leading to a pitch dark basement loomed before them. Was he about to push her down the stairs? Valerie hung back, a feeling of foreboding overtaking her; she really didn’t want to descend those stairs.

Shane grabbed Valerie’s wrist and yanked her forward. “I don’t have all night. Let’s go.”

Nearly tripping, Valerie had no choice but to trudge down the steps after Shane. She blinked in the darkness, but her eyes didn’t take long to adjust. This place was majorly depressing, especially with what looked like a small jail cell on one side. “Just what is the purpose of bringing me down here?” she asked coolly.

“Look on the bed, Landgraab. We have a very special guest,” Shane said with a smug, self-satisfied smile.

Tendrils of dread snaked down her neck at Shane’s look. When he smiled like that, it usually meant he’d done something horrible. Very slowly, Valerie turned her gaze to the cell and screamed when she looked at the bed. “Lenora!” she gasped. Unable to believe what she’d just seen, she rubbed her eyes and looked again. Lenora’s body still remained, unmoving, on the bed.

“What is she doing here, Shane? What kind of awful, sick shit are you up to now?” Valerie asked in a trembling voice.

Unable to look away, Valerie stared in shock, tears streaming down her cheeks. She’d been dead asleep when the call came informing her of Lenora’s illness and hospitalization. She’d had one of her unexplained severe headaches, which was always accompanied by holes in her memory. By the time she’d listened to her numerous voicemails and gotten to the hospital, Lenora had been only moments away from dying. Not only did Valerie feel the ache of grief, but the heaviness of guilt assaulted her, too. She hadn’t been a very present member of the family lately, and it was only getting worse. Not being able to account for pieces of her time made things even harder.

“You know how bad Allen wants her. You know as well as I do that he was growing more and more obsessed with the idea of having her. I knew if I didn’t make it happen, he’d have a total psychotic breakdown, and I can’t have that,” Shane said as casually as if he were talking about acquiring a new coat. “Besides, it kills two birds with one stone. Allen can have his fun, and I get my revenge for her insolence.”

“But she’s dead, Shane! What good is she to either of you dead?” Valerie tried to stem the flow of tears but was unsuccessful. “This goes beyond disgusting.”

Shane laughed a cold, humorless laugh. “Ah, but here’s the rub. You see, she’s not really dead. She just appears that way, thanks to that lovely potion which you put into her tea. It was the surest way of being able to nab her and bring her here.”

Valerie stared at him in confusion. “But…I didn’t put…no!”

“But you did, Landgraab. You’ve been following my orders for months now. That day you went to visit Lenora, you were under my control. You did your job well, and that potion worked like a charm.” Shane grinned at her, looking like Hannibal Lecter. “You’re in it up to your neck, and you’re going to continue to cooperate if you know what’s good for you.”

Valerie stared, agape, as Shane revealed her dastardly deed. Could this be why she was losing time? It had to be. Shane was doing something to her, manipulating her somehow without her remembering any of it. Could this also be why she couldn’t transform into wolf form?

She looked at the bed again and covered her face with her trembling hands. Yes, she’d been an awful daughter, sister, aunt, and siste-in-law, but she would have never, in her right mind, actually hurt any of them. But I’m apparently not in my right mind, Valerie thought to herself as a piteous sob escaped her.

“You can’t do this, Shane. Everyone thinks she’s dead. You can’t do this.”

“I can and I did,” Shane said. “Don’t worry, Valerie, dear. Your precious family will have something to bury, and they’ll go on believing their precious Lenora is gone. Meanwhile, I gave her the stuff to reverse your potion–”

“It’s not my potion! This is all you, Shane, and I’m going to–”

Before she could say anything else, Shane grabbed her and slammed her against the wall. Stars exploded in Valerie’s vision as her head connected sickeningly with the cold, unyielding wall. “You will do exactly as I say if you know what’s good for you.” Still holding her, Shane pulled a gun from his pocket and thrust it under her nose. “Know what this contains? It has silver bullets, my girl. You either do as you’re told or I’ll kill your precious brother first. Then, I’ll kill your nieces and nephews one by one. Finally, I’ll finish you off after showing the recordings I’ll have made of their murders. Get me?”

Seeing the conscienceless, dangerous glint in Shane’s eyes, Valerie had no doubt he’d do exactly what he said he’d do. She whimpered, trying to draw back from the gun and its lethal bullets, only to be hindered by the wall at her back. “Y-yes,” she whispered in absolute terror.

“Good.” Shane released her, the cold, easy grin back in place. “Now, I’ve given her the stuff to reverse this potion, so she’ll wake up in about twelve hours or so. You’re going to come down and check on her. Then, you will take care of her when she wakes up. I’m told she may be a little sick until it’s completely out of her system.”

“What are you going to do with her?” Valerie asked in a squeaky voice.

“I’m going to convince her to forget about her former life and be what Allen wants her to be,” Shane said.

“It won’t happen. You’ll never make her forget about her family,” Valerie replied.

“I have my ways, darling. You, of all people, should know that.”

Shane turned on his heel and stalked up the stairs, leaving Valerie feeling trapped in every way possible. She was in a far bigger mess than she realized and had no idea how the hell to begin extricating herself from it. Hugging herself at the waist, she shivered as both a physical coldness and chilling fear gripped her. With hesitant steps, she made her way to the bed and eyed Lenora warily. Bending close to Lenora’s face, she listened for the slightest sounds of breath. Hearing none, she placed her ear on Lenora’s chest to listen. She was about to straighten when she heard a distinct thud under her ear. There was only one, but Valerie was certain she heard a heartbeat. Straightening slightly, she took one of Lenora’s hands and blinked owlishly at the warmth she felt. “Shane said you weren’t dead, and I don’t smell death here. Your hands are warm, too. Did Tyrone feel this or is this you trying to come back?”

Valerie studied Lenora, really looked at her for the first time in a long time. It was no wonder everyone loved her. Lenora was a beautiful person both in physical looks and in personality. Valerie had idolized Lenora when she was younger. Hell, she still did. Lenora was what Valerie always wished she could be: beautiful, selfless, brave, serene, and talented. Plus, Lenora had a husband who loved her with every ounce of his being. Was she envious of her sister-in-law? Yes, at time, she was. “I might be a worthless waste of space, but I would have never hurt you,” she said aloud as she stroked a lock of hair away from Lenora’s face. 

As she continued to finger the beautiful golden hair she’d always been fascinated with, Valerie bit her lip and blinked back the tears that easily wanted to surface. “If Shane is right, I did hurt you. Oh, Lenora, if he’s right, I put something horrible in your tea that put you here. How can I live with myself if it’s true?” Slipping her fingers under Lenora’s limp right hand and stroking her thumb over Lenora’s knuckles, Valerie closed her eyes and bowed her head in shame and self-condemnation. “Please forgive me, Lenora. It should be me lying here and not you. Oh, Phaedra, I want to be dead! I just want to die. Please forgive me, Lenora, even though I don’t deserve it.”

Just then, Valerie’s fingers passed over a spot on Lenora’s right palm that brought her up short. The spot contained an extra degree of warmth, and when Valerie’s fingers moved over it, she saw a great wolf in her mind’s eye and shivered with fright as a bone-rending, terrifying howl surrounded her. With a strangled scream, Valerie dropped Lenora’s hand and sprang to her feet. “What the…?” Cowering in the corner, Valerie hugged herself and rubbed her arms where goosebumps formed. It took her a few minutes before her wildly beating heart slowed and her ragged breathing returned to normal. She didn’t want to do it again, but she felt an inexplicable compulsion to touch Lenora’s hand once again. Steeling herself, she returned to Lenora’s side and took her right hand. When her fingers, again, passed over the spot, the great wolf’s image and howl engulfed her. This time, she held on longer and shivered when the wolf came nearer.

“You have done great wrong, Valerie,” the powerful voice boomed. “You have put Lenora in perilous jeopardy, and by doing so, you have set cosmic events in motion that could destroy not only this universe but many others.”

“I didn’t mean to, Great Drogo. I swear, I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know what I was doing,” Valerie cried in misery, falling to her knees beside Lenora.

“Had you accepted the help that was offered to you many times over, none of this would have happened. Instead, you chose to wallow in self-pity, turn away from your family, and seek refuge where only evil resides. Now, you must do your part in helping to set things right,” the great wolf thundered.

“But…but how? Shane said he’d kill Tyrone, his kids, then finish me off if I didn’t cooperate. He’s somehow controlling me, and there are things I don’t remember. I’m at his mercy,” Valerie said.

“The next tine you are away from here, you are to immediately go to Dr. Neil Hughes and tell him what you have done and about your lapses in memory. He will help you. The two of you will need to work together to begin setting things right,” the wolf commanded.

“Y-yes, Great Drogo. But…but the silver bullets.”

“They will be seen to in due course. If you do not follow through, Valerie, you will suffer a fate worse and far more painful than any silver bullet will give you,” Drogo said icily. “Do I make myself clear?”

“yes…yes, Sire,” she whispered.

Valerie was still shivering when Drogo disappeared. Still holding Lenora’s hand, she turned it over and gently opened her sister-in-law’s fingers. She gasped as she saw a clear mark of the sword and shield there. It looked as though it had been drawn there in blood. When Valerie tried to smear it with her finger, the mark didn’t budge. Each time she touched it, images and howls of the Great Alpha Wolf ascended, making her shudder.

“Tyrone did the Wolf Ceremony on you, didn’t he, Lenora? Yes, of course he would have. I shouldn’t be surprised.” Valerie leaned over to kiss Lenora’s brow, then wrapped her arms around her. “You’ll be protected now, thank the gods for that. I’m going to make this up to you, Lenora, I promise. I’m going to find a way to actually do something right for once in my miserable, worthless life. I have a lot to do to atone for my sins before I end myself, which I now know I must do. It’s the only way to make it right in the end. I’ll somehow find the courage I need to do what I must do. I hope one day after I’m gone that you and Tyrone can somehow find it in your hearts to forgive me. I’m so sorry, Lenora. I’m so…so damned sorry.”