Like Cats and... Wolves? The Werepigeon Apocalypse [FREE and COMPLETED]

Chapter 3

It was cold and everything hurt. Not exactly the greatest conditions to wake up into. Nick opened his eyes only to shut them tight a split second later, when the sharp light from the fluorescent tubes on the ceiling shot a spike of pain through his already sore head. What was happening?

“Adira?” He felt the wolf’s presence but she didn’t respond, only groaned in pain and exhaustion. It seemed that Nick was on his own for now.

His thoughts were all scrambled but he did remember arriving in the town, going shopping. And then? There was a cat, he was sure of that, but what part did it play in what was happening to him now?

His wrists and neck itched and hurt way more than the rest of his body, it was a burning sensation, a very painful one. He reached for the sore spot, ignoring the quiet jingling that accompanied the movement, but his fingers quickly recoiled upon touching a smooth metal that felt as hot as a cranked-up stove. Nick’s heart sank upon realizing somebody had put silver shackles and a collar on him. Somebody who picked him right off the street, drugged him, as Nick now remembered, touching the aching spot on his shoulder where the needle pierced his skin, and chained him to a wall with silver.

They must have known he was a werewolf. You don’t exactly go around using silver chains to tie up people you kidnapped unless you know how much pain it causes them and how weak it makes them. And weak Nick definitely was. That’s why he barely felt Adira’s presence. Not only they couldn’t shift with silver wrapped around his neck, but it was affecting her way more than him, forcing the otherwise strong wolf to crawl into a corner and quietly whimper in pain.

He tried opening his eyes again, carefully squinting around in the sharp white light. What he saw didn’t exactly improve his mood. The room didn’t have any windows and the bare concrete walls didn’t seem very welcoming. There were thick steel bars coming from the ceiling down to the floor, surrounding him from three sides, forming a big cage around him. The thin silver chains led from his wrists to a loop mounted on a wall behind him. There was a shorter chain around his neck, secured in a place with a padlock. Aside from a small tap sticking out of the wall and a hole in the floor underneath it, the cage was empty. No bed, not even a damn blanket.

The metal had already started to burn through his skin, especially on his neck where it was so tight he could barely breathe, and Nick had to bite his lip not to start crying in pain. Seriously, how did his life turn into such a nightmare in just a few days?

“Adira?” he tried to call her again. “Come on, please, stay with me.”

The wolf murmured something, trying to appear strong and brave. “I’m here, little one,” she replied after a few minutes and Nick felt a tiny bit of relief. This whole situation was frightening enough even with her by his side. He didn’t want to go through it alone. “I can’t… help you. Sorry, Nick.” Her voice was weak as she battled against the effects of the silver but she stayed with him, knowing how much he needed her right now.

The tiled floor was really cold and Nick moved to sit with his back against the wall, carefully moving the chains so that the least amount of his skin possible was exposed to the silver. There was a sturdy-looking door embedded into one side of the cage but even if it was unlocked, the length of the chains wouldn’t allow him to reach it. He hypnotized the door at the opposite side of the room instead, both hopeful and terrified of what was going to happen when it opens.

“They weren’t wolves.” Adira stirred in his mind, clearly angry with herself that she couldn’t protect Nick. “I didn’t smell wolf. Just the cat. And those two men, they were… I don’t know. Never smelt anything like that before.”

Not wolves. But how else did they know he was one? Nick focused on trying to solve the puzzle and not on the pain his whole body was in. There were more supernatural creatures than just werewolves. Vampires, witches, demons, fae, and countless others. Vampires usually stayed away from werewolves, finding their scent repulsive and blood disgusting. Demons and fae mostly toyed with unsuspecting humans, having a tremendous amount of fun manipulating the poor beings around and feeding off their emotions. Wolves were immune to their parlor tricks and the creatures left them alone for the most part.

Which left witches as the most probable option. Did some local witch think a rogue werewolf was a threat and decided to take him out? They didn’t exactly love other supernaturals but usually just ignored them unless their covens were in danger. Did Nick really give off such a bad guy vibe? He didn’t even do anything wrong, all he has done in this stupid city was buy a toothbrush. Was that such a horrible crime he deserved to be imprisoned and tortured?

“I don’t think they are witches,” Adira sighed. “Magic gives off a specific scent, but I didn’t pick it up anywhere around the city or off those guys that took us.”

Cold slithers of panic circled around Nick when he realized there was one more option that he didn’t take into consideration. There were humans who knew about the world of the supernaturals and were specifically trained to track and kill vampires and witches. And werewolves.

The Hunters usually went after the vampires who got out of control or after the witches who craved too much power, cast the wrong spell, opened the wrong book. Werewolves rarely dealt with them, no sane Hunter would dare to kill a member of a pack and risk unleashing the pack’s revenge on themselves. But rogues, that was a different matter entirely. Rogues were free to be hunted and killed by literally anyone, nobody would bat an eye over that. If it really was the Hunters who had him chained to a wall, Nick was truly, cardinally screwed, with no way out.

Before his brain could start offering him vivid images of what torture would they put him through before finally ending his suffering, the lock on the door leading to the room rattled. Nick clenched his fists, the fingernails digging into the skin on his palms as he tried to calm himself down. He had Alpha blood. Granted, he would have made a terrible Alpha, but still, he should probably try to go through this with some dignity and not die while crying and begging for mercy.

Two big, bulky men entered, glaring at him through the bars. No doubt the ones who took him off the street earlier. A frail old lady followed them inside, her blue eyes narrowing when they landed on Nick. She was tiny, especially compared to her buffed bodyguards, but there was an aura of authority radiating from her. No doubt she was the one in charge. Not a typical Hunter, though. Maybe she was a witch after all?

“No,” Adira shook her head. “I don’t sense any magic.”

One of the men unlocked the cage and moved inside, standing right above Nick with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Seeing the old woman coming closer as well, Nick tried to stand up, stopping when he heard the guard growl quietly. “Stay down, fleabag,” the man spat out and raised his fist, no doubt ready to provide Nick with more incentive to follow his order.

“Alright,” Nick murmured, staying still and keeping his head down. He was in enough trouble already, the last thing he needed was for that brute to think he was challenging him.

The old lady crouched in front of Nick, sizing him up with a cold stare. Nick had seen enough action movies to know one of the important rules while being kidnapped is to avoid eye contact with the kidnappers, to look as submissive and as harmless as possible. Still, he couldn’t help himself but glance up into her wrinkled face. Her stern expression didn’t give out any clues to what she was thinking.

“Who sent you, dog?” she finally asked after an excruciatingly long silence.

Whoever these people were, they clearly didn’t like werewolves. Nick did his best to make his voice sound calm and composed and it still came out as a quiet whimper. “Nobody sent me. I was just looking for a place to live. I’m really sorry, I had no idea this territory was taken and I swear that if you let me go, I’ll disappear and you will never hear-”

“Was it the birds?” the woman interrupted him, clearly not believing a word he said.

Nick blinked in surprise a couple of times. Birds? What the hell did she mean by that? “I-I’m sorry, I don’t know… The birds? Is this about the duck Adira ate on the way here? I-If that… I’m sorry for hunting on your territory, I had no-”

“A duck?” The lady leaned closer and growled right into Nick’s frightened face. “Are you making fun of me, dog?!”

Nick’s eyes widened in fear. “What? No! I swear I don’t-”

“Shut the f**k up.” She stood up and scoffed. “I don’t have time to deal with stray puppies now.” Leaving the cage, she addressed the two men that came with her. “Keep him chained up. Give him a dose of wolfsbane just to be on the safe side.”

The mouth of the man standing above Nick curled into a vicious smirk and he reached into an inside pocket of his jacket, pulling out a syringe filled with a violet liquid. “NO!” Nick screamed out in horror when the guard took the cover off the needle and leaned down, reaching for the boy’s arm. “PLEASE!” Desperately trying to scramble away from the man, Nick’s eyes found the woman. “You don’t have to do this, please! I can’t escape, I can’t shift, this… This is just torture,” he whispered, feeling the tears rolling down his cheeks. The chains didn’t allow him to move any further and the guard roughly grabbed Nick’s elbow, pulling him closer. “Please, don’t do this,” Nick whimpered, turning his head to the side. He didn’t need to see the poison being injected into his body.

“I thought you were doing this with dignity,” Adira rolled her eyes.

At that moment, Nick hated her almost as much as these people who kidnapped and tormented him for no reason. The stupid wolf was supposed to be on his side! He didn’t waste energy arguing with her. He had seen what such an amount of wolfsbane does to a werewolf, his father forced him to watch how the captured rogues were tortured and questioned, hoping it would make his son stronger. It had the opposite effect, though. Listening to those desperate screams only made Nick scared and nauseous. And if there was even the slightest chance he could avoid the same fate, then to hell with dignity!

The old woman smirked, opening her mouth, but before she could say something, a violent hiss from the door interrupted her. Nick squinted in that direction, noticing a cat standing in the doorway. The same damn tabby cat that got him into this mess in the first place. The lady stared at the animal for a few moments, her brows furrowing, but then she sighed, waving at the guards. “Leave him. As he said, he can’t get out, and we have more important things to deal with right now.”

The man holding Nick let out a frustrated growl, clearly regretting not catching the boy faster, but he obeyed the order and put the syringe away. “Until next time, fleabag,” he smirked upon leaving the cage, locking it behind him. The door to the room was left open, probably because the cat was still sitting on the doorstep, her gaze fixed on the prisoner.

What was this place and why did everyone seem crazy around here?