Spell of the Werewolf

  Spell of the Werewolf

  J.R. Loveless

  J.R. Loveless Publishing

  Copyright 2020 by J.R. Loveless

  First published 2020

  Cover Design Copyright 2020 by TL Bland

  This book is a work of fiction. All characters, places, and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places it purely coincidental.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Created with Vellum

  Spell of the Werewolf

  By J.R. Loveless

  Two centuries ago, Justin was turned against his will into a werewolf - a mindless, angry beast three nights a month. Ever since, he has done everything he can to atone for the blood on his hands, even going so far as to hunt his own kind. The burden of carrying on is heavy and unforgiving, and he’s reached the point of not caring if he lives or dies.

  Vincent is a hybrid, half-werewolf and half-human, spending his days, and nights, hunting werewolves. Vincent may be half-monster, but he lives and breathes by his human half. Hunting werewolves and taking down as many of the creatures as possible is all he can see.

  A chance meeting changes everything. A deal struck between them, a threat to humanity, and their mutual attraction combined brings them together in an explosive way. Vincent has found the one who can break down the walls around his heart – will he now be able to carry through on his promise to end Justin’s torment, or will Justin live to see another moonrise?

  Chapter 1

  The crunching of bones breaking and mending echoed off the cement walls and metal cage surrounding him, while his gasps of pain mingled with the excruciating change until Justin lay there a panting, trembling mess. He curled into a fetal position, staring at the bars and wondering how much longer he could continue to live through the unbearable transformation. Every full moon he became a monster with no thought of anything except feasting on flesh, human or otherwise. He’d lock himself in a steel cage lined with silver in the basement of whatever house they were renting to stop himself from hurting anyone on the three nights he couldn’t control himself.

  “You’re back to normal, I see.” A low voice came through the darkness.

  Justin closed his eyes against the brightness of the light flicked on and Kara, his best friend and caretaker, stepped toward the cage with keys in hand. She unlocked the door, then the chains, and helped him to his feet. After handing him his clothing, she went back upstairs without another word. Kara was the only person in his life who knew about the beast inside of him. She’d been a loyal friend and his only family for the last ten years. But before her, he’d spent almost two hundred years on his own, merely surviving.

  Despite his outward appearance of an eighteen-year-old young man, he’d actually lived for two hundred and eighteen years. He stood at an even six foot with a wiry, lean build, which never changed no matter what he ate or how much he exercised. Black hair, as dark as a moonless night, just brushed his shoulders when he didn’t keep it tied back. Most humans found it hard to stare into his eerily light blue eyes. Maybe because they could sense the evil lurking beneath the surface, or perhaps they could see the creature pacing inside him, waiting for the nights it could be free.

  In the time since his life changed forever, he’d seen many wonderful and horrible things: the invention of trains, cars, and airplanes, wars, slavery, death, and blood. The only cure he knew of to end his torment was either death or to kill the one who’d bitten him. His desperate search led him here, to Japan, where he spent every waking hour not working trying to find word of the bastard’s whereabouts.

  Justin made his way upstairs to the kitchen and found Kara cooking breakfast on the old stove in the house they’d rented. He watched her as she moved about the tiny kitchen. Petite at five-foot-two, she had beautiful auburn hair that hung down her back to her hourglass waist. She kept it in a ponytail most of the time. Bright green eyes complimented the light dusting of freckles across her nose. He cared for her a great deal, even loved her in his own way, but he knew it wasn’t the kind of love she wanted from him.

  Thirty-five now, she’d found him ten years ago lying in the bushes in her backyard the morning after a full moon. He’d had large wounds all over his body from a fight he’d been in with another werewolf in the area. She’d tended his injuries and taken care of him until he’d regained consciousness. When he’d awakened, she’d demanded the story from him; she said it was either that or she’d call the police. So he’d told her everything, his past and the monster hiding beneath his flesh. They’d been together ever since, moving from place to place in search of the one who could break his curse. They both worked odd jobs during the day to support them as they moved from city to city and country to country. It’d been her idea to build the cage lined with silver and secure it to the ground wherever they were.

  Setting a plate on the table for him and another for herself, she slid into one of the chairs. “You were overly anxious last night. More so than usual.”

  Justin looked at her and then away. He picked up his fork but didn’t begin eating immediately. “I don’t remember anything, you know that, Kara. Maybe there’s another werewolf close by.”

  There were many malevolent creatures in the world that humans remained unaware of, or they chose to ignore the obvious signs, writing off anything unexplained as animal attacks. Mostly, his kind stayed away from one another unless they felt threatened. “Tonight’s the last full moon, for this month at least. I don’t know how much longer I can take this, Kara. I want it to be over.”

  Kara studied him for a long moment before replying, “We’ll find him, Justin. You just need to have patience.”

  “How much more patience can I have, Kara?” Justin snapped. “It’s been two hundred years. Another hundred and I’ll go insane!”

  She looked at him sadly but didn’t say anything. They sat in silence for the remainder of breakfast. Justin barely touched the scrambled eggs, attempting a bite or two to appease Kara, but he couldn’t stomach the idea of eating. He knew she meant well, and she couldn’t really understand why he wanted to die, but her words only served to reinforce why he couldn’t continue to live like this.

  After breakfast, Kara washed the dishes and then grabbed her purse. “I’m on my way to work. I’ll be back before the sun sets to lock you in.”

  He watched her leave, staying at the table even after she’d gone. The night he’d been bitten played in his head like a mini movie, almost as if it were someone else’s reality. It was 1802, and he’d been out drinking at a local tavern, celebrating the birth of his best friend’s baby. When the owner finally kicked them out at two in the morning, he started toward home, weaving along the street in his drunkenness. Most people were tucked in their beds asleep. No noises could be heard other than the odd stray cat in the alley garbage bins or the lone bark of a dog in the far off distance. A loud crashing sound echoed off the cobblestones and in between buildings just before a large heavy weight slammed into him. He flew through the air, landing with a thud on the unforgiving street.

  He realized a huge animal, something akin to a wild dog, lay on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Before he could react, the animal sank his teeth into his shoulder. Justin remembered screaming in pain as blood poured from the torn flesh. He heard a gunshot as
someone came running down the street, yelling to scare off the dog. The animal let go and ran off, leaving him lying in a pool of his own blood.

  The man who’d saved him had taken Justin to his home and rung the doctor. The doctor stitched him up and bandaged his wound. Justin returned to his own home the next day and went about his normal life. The wound healed in a miraculously short amount of time, and he’d begun to notice strange things happening to his body in the following weeks. He found himself abnormally attracted to the scent of blood, and he could smell things from several hundred feet away. His eye sight and hearing grew sharper, and his strength increased three fold.

  The first full moon came a little over three weeks after he’d been bitten. He was out chopping firewood for his parents when it started. He thanked God every day since then that he hadn’t been home when it happened. He remembered dropping to his knees as a sudden pain gripped his entire body. His screams of anguish filled the forest behind his home; the snapping of his bones breaking was the only thing louder than his cries. Hair sprouted along his hands and arms; his jaw elongated into a snout. He could still feel the terror he’d felt during his first change. He lost consciousness afterward or so he’d thought. He figured out the next morning that when he became the monster inside, he lost all control of his awareness and the beast took over.

  The only thing he remembered was waking up covered in blood the next morning. He’d vomited at the grisly sight beside him. A mutilated body of a man lay near him. He couldn’t even identify the face of the man, to know who he’d been, because his face had been torn to shreds and then gnawed on by some great animal. He’d gone to the nearby river to wash the blood away the best he could and made his way slowly toward home, where he’d snuck into his room to pack some of his things. He left a note for his parents telling them he was sorry, but he could no longer stay with them. They weren’t safe with him. He’d saddled his horse and left for good.

  He’d been running ever since. The only person he’d gotten close to in the last two hundred years was Kara. Even after ten years he still feared for her safety, but she never let him take off alone no matter how many times he tried.

  Pushing up from the table, he went to get ready to head to his job. He worked as a waiter at a nearby sushi restaurant. When he finished showering and getting dressed, he snatched his keys from the hook and stuffed his feet into his shoes by the door. Outside, the sun shone brightly overhead, hurting his eyes, and he slid his usual pair of sunglasses on as he climbed onto a black motorcycle sitting at the edge of the curb. The engine started with a low purr, and he took off down the street, darting into the rush-hour traffic on the main street.

  Arriving at the restaurant, he found his boss, Lee, in a panic. “What’s going on, Lee?” Justin greeted him.

  “Justin, great, you’re here. I need your help. The hostess called out today, and you’re the only one with full experience to take care of the front. You’re on Maître d’ duty today.”

  Justin sighed and scowled. He hated running the hostess stand. It didn’t bring in any tips, but he needed the job as long as they were in Japan. So he nodded at Lee and went to the back to change into one of the spare host outfits they kept in the back. The first hour progressed uneventfully, mostly table settings and prepping for the day. Lunchtime tended to be their busiest time. Before long the restaurant became crowded, and Justin didn’t have a spare minute to think. He felt exhausted by the time the lunch rush ended, and he snuck out to the alley behind the restaurant for a five-minute cigarette break.

  Happily dragging on the cigarette, he felt the nicotine fill his veins and breathed in relief. A sound at the end of the alley caught his attention, and he saw a man standing there, watching him. Justin narrowed his eyes at the stranger, staring him down, and wondered what the man’s problem was. Admittedly gorgeous, the stranger appeared to be a few inches taller than his six foot with a head full of white hair, which hung over one shoulder in a braid straight down to his waist. Justin’s keen gaze could make out the deepest violet eyes he’d ever seen.

  Justin felt an odd tingle of foreboding trickle down his spine the longer they stared at one another. Tossing his cigarette on the ground, he stomped it out with his boot and went inside, ignoring the man’s eyes boring into his back. He returned to the front to relieve Kaito, the only other host backup, and he almost gasped out loud in shock. The man from outside stood waiting for a table, and a beautiful woman with bright blonde hair stood next to him. “A table for two, please,” she murmured.

  “This way.” Justin once again felt the man’s gaze burning into the nape of his neck and shrugged his shoulders to try and release the tension in them.

  He seated the couple, glanced at Hitomi to get her attention for the new patrons, and returned to the host stand. Every once in a while, Justin could feel the man’s eyes on him, but he studiously refused to look at him. He didn’t know what the stranger’s problem was, but it wasn’t his to take on. By late afternoon he knew he had to leave soon, or he’d be caught outside when the change began. The second he felt his skin start to itch, Justin realized he had to go. The beast lurked beneath the surface, pacing restlessly. The first night of the full moon the shift took over an hour, but with each successive night, it happened faster and sooner. By the third night, it no longer needed the moon to be high overhead when it came.

  He went to his boss and told him he had to leave.

  “I need you to stay, Justin,” Lee replied sternly.

  “I can’t. You know that, Lee.” Justin didn’t say anything further, immediately heading into the back of the restaurant to change into his street clothes. He left through the rear entrance, went to where he’d parked, and slid onto his motorcycle. He saw the same white-haired man leaning against a building nearby as he started the engine, and Justin glared at him as he zipped into traffic toward home.

  The sun hung low in the sky, and with each passing minute Justin could feel the beast pressing in on him, clawing at his skin to be free. Kara pulled up to the house just as Justin rounded the corner of their street. He barely took the time to turn off the bike before dismounting. “Hurry,” he told her.

  The sun sank below the horizon, moving quickly. He could feel the sensation of electricity dancing along his nerves, and sweat beaded on his brow as they rushed into the house and down the basement stairs. Kara just managed to get the lock clicked into place when the change began.

  Chapter 2

  The moon rose higher into the sky the longer Vincent waited outside the house of the boy he’d seen at the restaurant. He’d followed him home and seen him meet with a petite red-headed woman out front. He held his swords with both hands in preparation for the beast to come charging out of the house, but as the time passed and nothing happened, he realized the animal didn’t appear to be going on their usual rampage. Confusion creased his forehead. He could have sworn the younger man was one of them. Why hadn’t he already changed?

  Vincent slid his swords into their sheaths, creeping closer to the house. He found a window that looked into the kitchen, and he saw the woman from before slumped near a door, crying. He stopped and listened. There! The sounds of a wild beast howling and raging could be heard from inside, but it sounded as though it were caged. He frowned and headed around the house toward the noise. A small window, spotted with dirt, looked in on a basement. Vincent’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw the beast was, in fact, in a cage. Its huge paws pulled at the bars with impossible strength, but it only held on for a short moment before wrenching away, seemingly in pain. The animal threw its head back and howled with rage, rattling the door again.

  He needed to get in there. Heading around to the front of the house, he tried the doorknob but found it locked. Growling in frustration, he knocked on the door. A couple minutes went by and then the woman cracked open the door and asked rudely, “What do you want?”

  Before she could stop him, he shoved his way inside, slamming the door behind him. She launched herself
at him and tried to prevent him from getting any further into the house. Vincent batted her away like a fly. The sound of her grunt of pain when she hit the floor didn’t even phase him.

  “What are you doing here?” she screamed, struggling to her feet again.

  He ignored her and strode through to the door he’d seen her leaning against. Flicking on the light as he took the stairs two at a time, he saw the beast pacing the cage. Vincent sneered in disgust. Werewolves were one of the nastiest creatures in the preternatural world, driven only by their animalistic need for flesh and blood. Unlike typical shifters, werewolves stood on two legs, and they became nothing but the animal they shifted into. They lost all sense of their humanity. The one before him topped out at seven and a half feet with black fur and massive paws. Razor sharp claws glinted in the moonlight every time the beast attempted to grab hold of the bars, trying to break free, and saliva dripped from the three inch fangs protruding out of the elongated jaws.

  When the werewolf saw him, it went into a frenzy, raging at him and trying to break free from its prison. Vincent pulled one sword from its sheath. His swords, made from pure silver, had been used to kill many of these monsters over the years. He approached the cage and was about to slide the blade through the bars toward the beast’s heart when he heard a gun cock behind him.

  “If you don’t get the hell out of here right now I’m going to shoot you, mister.”

  Vincent pulled the sword back and looked over his shoulder toward the woman standing at the bottom of the stairs with a deadly looking pistol aimed at him. He knew it wouldn’t kill him, but it sure as hell would hurt. “Why are you protecting him?” he demanded.