The Werewolf Whisperer (The Werewolf Whisperer Series Book 1) Read online

"Hanna wants us at the ranch."

  Xochitl swallowed her food. "¡Híjole!"

  "Excuse me," a voice next to Xochi said.

  "¡Híjole!" Xochitl reared back startled as two Punk kids, a guy and a girl, suddenly stood next to their table. "Where the hell did you come from?" Out of the corner of her eye, Xochi saw Lucy sink a little lower in her seat, trying to hide.

  "There." The Punk guy pointed to a table across the room.

  "Miss Lowell?" The Punk girl holding Lucy's book Hounds, and Ferals, and Werebeasts! Oh, My! squeaked and thrust the book toward Lucy. "Would you sign my book?"

  "Um, sure." Lucy took the book from the girl and opened the front cover.

  Xochitl knew this would take a while, as Lucy never knew what to write. It was kind of funny to Xochitl. Lucy was great at taming Weres but lousy at PR.

  Xochitl studied Lucy's groupies. The Punk guy was dressed from head to paw in black — black leather jacket, black T-shirt, black jeans. He sported a Mohawk of jet black spiked hair that emphasized his pointed ears.

  Punk Were!

  Xochi nudged Lucy under the table with her foot and nodded slyly in Punk Were's direction. Lucy raised one eyebrow as if to say "Oh, I see."

  Punk Were's girlfriend, on the other hand, was not a Were, just a girl. She too was dressed in black, but Xochi thought she had more style, with her spiked bob haircut, leather biker jacket, tutu of black tulle and black and white striped tights peeking out of her thigh-high boots.

  "Just make it out to Megan," Punk Girl Megan said and turned to Xochitl who noticed the words Kyon Knows poking out from under the girl's leather. "You're Zach-ittle, right?"

  Lucy chuckled.

  "It's So-cheel or So-chee. Take your pick," Xochitl said, exasperated. She pointed to the words on the girl's T-shirt. "So, what's Kyon Know?"

  "Oh...My...God...like...EV...ER...RY...Thing. He's like the Nostradamus of our time." Punk Girl Megan looked to her boyfriend. "Me and Troy have been following him...at least I think it's a him...for like a year now."

  Xochitl watched Were Boy Troy and Punk Girl Megan interact. She obviously did all the talking, and he just nodded in agreement.

  I wonder if he's a Hound?

  "Anyway," Punk Girl Megan blathered on, "he's like the K-Day expert or something. Says the Kyon Virus isn't a virus at all. Says it was some kind of gene thing. And that the Kyon project was a mistake."

  "How would he know?" Lucy looked up from the book, and Xochi could see all she'd written was To Megan,.

  "Well, at least you got to the comma part," Xochitl said to Lucy who shot her an evil look.

  Smiling, Xochitl picked up her phone, googled Kyon Knows and began scanning the conspiracy theory website.

  "Oh, Kyon just knows. Says he's gonna tell us what's really going on," Punk Girl Megan continued. "He posts all the time, though there hasn't been anything in about two weeks."

  "Well, if he's gonna tell us, why doesn't he?" Lucy asked.

  Xochi knew it was a rhetorical question but Punk Girl Megan apparently did not.

  "Well, Kyon Knows says that all will be revealed when it's time," she replied.

  Meaning he doesn't know shit. Judging by this site, he's loco.

  "Hey, why name the site after the virus?" Lucy crammed an entire stuffed potato skin in her mouth.

  "Kyon's Greek for wolf," Punk Girl Megan supplied.

  "It's ironical, genius." Xochitl glanced up at Lucy.

  "And you know that, how?" Lucy asked.

  "You see," Xochitl again waved her smartphone in Lucy's direction. "I have this neat little device that allows me to look stuff up on this thing called the internet." She nodded at Lucy's out-of-the-box burner phone. "You could too if you got rid of that ancient piece of crap." Xochitl glanced back down at her phone satisfied she'd won this round of their on-going technology war.

  "Whatever." Xochitl heard Lucy mumble and figured she was rolling her eyes at Xochi right about now.

  "Ha!" Xochitl burst out as she feverishly typed away on her phone.

  "What? Lucy asked.

  "Seems Megan here," Xochitl said, "just tweeted that you're kinda behind the times." She glanced up at the Punk girl. "You are @KyonKnows751k, right?"

  "Yeah!" Punk Girl Megan chimed in. "I'm like, number seven hundred and fifty-one thousand, because I was kinda late to the KK movement..."

  Noticing Lucy looking confused and irritated, Xochitl interrupted Punk Girl Megan. "See Twitter is..." Xochitl began to explain to Lucy, but then remembered whom she was addressing and thought the better of it. "Oh, never mind."

  Lucy shot a "watch it" look at Xochitl, and she decided it might be time to drop the subject.

  "You were saying this Kyon Knows is a movement?" Lucy turned her attention to Punk Girl Megan and Were Boy Troy.

  "Oh, yeah," the girl replied, looking eager to expound on Kyon Knows' manifesto. "There's millions of us now. He says the youth are the only ones that truly see. It's so true..."

  Uh, huh.

  As Punk Girl Megan blabbered on about how the youth would save the world, Xochitl and Lucy began tuning out the girl's ramblings, until...

  "Kyon talks about you too," Punk Girl Megan said to Lucy.

  "He does?" Lucy asked as both her and Xochitl's interests were piqued.

  "Oh, yeah," the girl continued. "He calls you the missing piece of the puzzle. Talks about you all the time."

  Xochitl scanned the website again on her phone. "Yep. Here's something." Xochitl read aloud to the group. "'Not sure how Lucille Lowell figures into the equation, or how she is able to do the things she can do, but it is clear that Kyon Knows she is the missing piece of the puzzle.' Well, there you go." Xochitl looked up at Lucy. "You're a puzzle piece."

  "Har. Har." Lucy feigned like she didn't care, but Xochitl saw concern in her eyes.

  Over Punk Girl Megan's shoulder, Xochitl noticed a muscular, Armani-clad gentleman enter the restaurant.

  "Bob." Xochitl waved. "Excuse me," she said to Lucy and the groupies, scooted out of the booth and walked toward her friend. She glanced back at Lucy and felt bad about leaving her with the Kyon Knows cultists.

  "So, you made it." Xochitl wrapped her arms around Bob. "We had to book out of there."

  "Good thing too. It got a little hairy," Bob replied. "But I wouldn't worry about it."

  "Okaaay..." Xochitl said, immediately feeling worried. "We're over here." She changed the subject and pointed the way toward the booth. "We already ate though. But we can get you something."

  Bob waved off the suggestion. "I'm good." He surveyed the expansive dining area decorated in streamers and balloons. "This place is larger than I remember. Was there a party or something?"

  "It's the Under New Management Grand Re-Opening," Xochitl explained as they weaved through the tables.

  "But I thought the Peters won this a while ago?"

  "Yeah, but they remodeled, brought it back to its golden days." Xochitl and Bob approached the booth.

  "See." Xochitl heard Punk Girl Megan say as she turned Were Boy Troy's arm toward Lucy. "That's you."

  "Oh." Lucy leaned forward over the table and inspected the boy's arm. "Looks...nice."

  "What's up?" Xochi asked as she and Bob walked around to the opposite side of the booth.

  "I was just showing Lucy...She said I could call her Lucy. I'm so excited," Punk Girl Megan chirped, "Troy's tattoo of her." She turned Troy's arm toward Xochitl.

  Xochitl and Bob eyed the tattoo of a nondescript woman's face with spiky hair. It could have been Lucy or it could have been Were Boy Troy's mother for all Xochitl could make of it.

  "It really captures the essence of you, Luce." Xochitl smirked at Lucy.

  "Doesn't it?" Punk Girl Megan squealed.

  "Really?" Lucy shot back. "Because I was just thinking the same thing about Troy's other tattoo."

  On cue, Punk Girl Megan turned Were Boy Troy's arm over to reveal another tattoo of an indignant looking woman with long hair.

&nb
sp; "Does that say 'Viva la Werewolf' underneath it?" Xochi asked, squinting to read the text under the Were kid's tattoo.

  "Sure does." With a smug look plastered on her face, Lucy rested her chin on her hand and looked up at Xochitl. "Remarkable likeness, isn't it?"

  "Remarkable," Bob agreed.

  "¡Das asco!" Xochitl mumbled to Lucy and Bob. She slid into the booth between her two friends who were trying to contain their laughter.

  "Pardon us, kids," Lucy said, still chuckling. "We've got some business to take of."

  At first Punk Girl Megan and Were Boy Troy didn't move, and Xochitl thought they didn't get Lucy's polite way of saying "hit the road." But then the Punk girl grabbed her boyfriend by the arm and commanded, "Come, Troy." Before turning to leave, she proudly stated to Lucy, "I learned that from your book."

  Laconic Were Boy Troy just smiled and stared sweetly at Punk Girl Megan.

  "Great." Lucy genuinely looked pleased. "Keep it up."

  "Thanks," Punk Girl Megan said.

  As the two Punk kids walked away, Xochi heard the girl squealing on her phone. "...No, she was super cool..."

  "Looks like you made a good impression," Bob said.

  Tami stopped by the table and set a menu and a glass of water in front of Bob. "Thanks," he said. "I don't need a menu."

  Lucy was still watching Were Boy Troy.

  "So, Hound?" Xochitl asked, drawing Lucy's attention back to the table.

  "Not sure." Lucy had a puzzled look on her face. "He's more high-functioning than a normal Hound, but less wild than a Feral. Now I'm wondering about Nicolette."

  "Because you told her she could love her Were, just not luuuvv her Were?" Xochi asked.

  Bob choked on his ice water.

  Lucy ran her hands through her hair. "Hell, I don't know anymore."

  "Well, it's not like you're an expert or anything." Xochitl grabbed for one of Lucy's fries. Lucy swatted her hand.

  Xochitl turned slightly in her seat to look at her old friend. "So Bob, how are the guys? I didn't see them at Greystone."

  "Yeah, Mick and Prez are working on a couple of jobs right now. Business is booming. Seems everyone needs a security detail in this town these days." Bob chuckled.

  "And Lefty?" Xochitl asked. She hadn't heard from her friend in a while and was a little worried.

  "Lefty's great," Bob said. "Just saw him and Miguel not too long ago."

  "You did?" Xochitl could hear the tension in her voice, and she saw in Lucy's sympathetic smile that she'd heard it too.

  "Now don't get upset, kiddo." Bob rested his hand atop Xochi's. "Lefty's been good for Miguel. And vice versa. The kid has real purpose now. He's even training Miguel."

  "Training? Like dog training or..." Xochitl had a hard time pushing out the next word. "Werefights?"

  Bob nodded.

  Her anger spiked, and her mouth felt as arid as the Mojave. She reached for her glass of water and took a sip.

  Werefighting had become very popular in recent months. Lucy and Xochitl had had a few run-ins with some pretty shady establishments. Lucy had told Xochi these fights were reminiscent of some of the dogfighting rings she had taken down back in her cop days. Xochitl remembered all too well what those days were like.

  "It's not what you think, Xochitl," Bob said. "These fight clubs are more like what boxing or mixed martial arts was a few years ago. They're legit amateur fights. And Miguel's good at it. Real good. He's even won a couple of tournaments."

  "He's already been fighting?" Lucy asked. "And he has to turn to do this, right?"

  Xochitl could barely contain herself. "How is he supposed to stay human if he keeps turning? Lefty should know better!"

  "Xochitl." Bob was beginning to match Xochitl's anger. "Don't you come down on Lefty. He's been great for Miguel. Keeps him calm, focused. That's what these fights do for your brother. They focus his energy. He's gonna turn...It's a given."

  Bob pulled his hand away from Xochitl, his eyes cast down.

  Great. Xoch. The man's obviously here for help, and all you can think of is yourself.

  "Bob?" Lucy used her signature calming voice, which Xochitl had come to know so well over the past two years. "What can we do for you?"

  Xochitl looked over to Bob, waiting for his response. His hand shook as he reached for his ice water again. Xochitl studied his palm, marred by a large gash matching the one that ran from his hairline down the right side of his face. She recognized the jagged wound, having suffered a similar one at the hands — or rather, claws — of her baby brother.

  Bob wiped away a droplet of water that ran down his chin with the sleeve of his three thousand dollar suit.

  "You can put a soldier in Armani, but he's still a soldier." Xochitl passed Bob a napkin.

  "Remember when I left Arrowhead?" Bob looked straight ahead at Lucy, but Xochitl knew he was speaking to her.

  "Yeah," Xochitl replied. "You left before I could say goodbye. Mick said you had to get home."

  "Yes. Well, I wasn't completely honest with you or Vern."

  "Go on," Lucy prompted.

  "I mean," Bob continued, "I wanted to help you find Miguel. That part was true. I owed it to Carlito...but I had other reasons." He pulled out his BlackBerry and scrolled to a picture of a teenage boy with longish blond hair, riding a skateboard. Bob passed his cell to Xochi and Lucy. "That's Travis, my youngest...before...before..."

  Bob began to sob quietly. Xochitl put her arm around his shoulders.

  "It's okay. I got you, Bob. I got you," Xochitl whispered and rubbed his back.

  She looked at Lucy and mouthed, "We need to help him."

  Lucy nodded.

  "Bob." Lucy gazed back down at Bob's BlackBerry. "I need to know in detail what's happening with Travis."

  Xochitl knew Lucy would take over from here, and she was grateful. It broke her heart to know that Bob was suffering like she had suffered.

  It's one thing to help random strangers with their Were problems. It's an entirely different thing when it's one of your own.

  "Um..." Bob cleared his throat, seeming to compose himself again. "Travis turned not long after the initial outbreak."

  "Sorry, Bob," Lucy interrupted. "When you say turned, do you mean he turned into a Werebeast?"

  "Yes," Bob replied.

  "Bob!" Xochitl broke in, shocked. Lucy held up her hand. Xochi clammed up, knowing the next bits of information would be crucial.

  "And what happened?" Lucy coaxed Bob to continue.

  "We were arguing in the garage about, I don't know something stupid probably, and I was getting on him. Then, he started shaking and convulsing. Next thing I know, this huge, seething tan Beast was standing in front of me. His eyes glowed with rage...a bright poisonous green...I'll never forget how his eyes looked." Bob took another sip of water. "I didn't know what to do. I reached for a shovel and slammed it into his head as hard as I could. Knocked him out cold."

  "What did you do with him?" Lucy asked.

  "Initially, I called in a couple of my guys. We hid him out in a facility near Simi Valley until I could figure out what to do. You have to understand, people were gunning the Afflicted down without any hesitation."

  Lucy flinched.

  "I couldn't let my boy go out like that," Bob said. "I had to find a way to help him."

  Seeing Lucy retreat into her own thoughts, Xochitl grabbed Bob's hand and gave it a squeeze. "We understand...But you said initially. What did you do with him afterward?"

  "I've got a lot of money. So I built a room for him on our estate in Calabasas," Bob explained.

  Xochitl was floored by this information but refrained from commenting.

  "So, he's been a Werebeast in a room in Calabasas this whole time?" Lucy asked without one hint of judgment in her voice.

  And she's back.

  "Actually, sometimes he was normal, like Miguel," Bob said. "Two months ago his transformations started lasting longer."

  "So, he's permanently a Beast now?"
Lucy asked.

  "No, but he's rarely human."

  Xochitl's body tensed with trepidation.

  Could Miguel stay a Beast too?

  Bob nodded and turned to Xochitl. "That's the other reason I helped you, kiddo. I figured I could learn more about what was going on and how to help Travis, just like you wanted to help your brother."

  "Is that why you took the data we recovered from Vern to your people?" Xochitl had wondered about that information for some time. She'd never found out what, if anything, had come of it.

  "Well, yes. But I did share my information with Vern not too long ago. Didn't he tell you?" Bob asked. "I would never betray the team like that."

  Xochi shook her head. "I know. But I haven't spoken to Vern much lately. He's been pretty busy on base. I guess they're helping more with the border patrol. Coyote smuggling stuff."

  "Yeah, I've heard about that," Bob said.

  "What did you find out?" Lucy asked. "About the information you retrieved?"

  "Oh, well, my people don't think it's viral," Bob said.

  Xochitl glanced at Lucy, and she knew they were thinking the same thing.

  Better keep up with Kyon Knows.

  Xochitl quickly took her phone out and bookmarked the site.

  "They think it's more to do with the DNA of an individual being changed, at the molecular level. Some really heady stuff. I don't quite understand it myself," Bob continued. "I would've given our findings to you if the damn government hadn't swooped in and shut down my lab."

  "They shut your lab down?" Xochitl asked. "How can they do that?"

  "They cited some shit about illegal experiments. There was nothing I could do." Bob sighed. "I think Ames had something to do with it."

  "Ames?" Lucy asked.

  "You know that CIA guy I told you about," Xochitl said.

  "Oh, right. Do you think he's been watching you?" Lucy asked Bob.

  "Oh, I know he has," Bob replied. "Look, my lab was working on some things not completely FDA approved. But it was strictly to help people like Travis. I think Ames got a hold of proof and took it to the government."

  "You think?" Lucy asked.

  "Well, I can't prove he did. But that's the thing about the CIA, they do things you can't prove." Bob took a look at his watch. "To get down to it, I need your help. I know of a place that's giving asylum to the Afflicted."