Betrayed By My Doomed Mate

CHAPTER 11 - PROTECTOR

Josh said that all he knew was that he heard one of the employees come into the building screaming in despair. Then everyone in the department went to check what had happened, and that's when they saw the bodies already stretched out. No one knew who was the first person to see them. The security team was already behind the footage.

Jack and Kurt moved a little away from the others. “Where were you?” asked Kurt, curious and serious. Jack told the truth. “You went out to lunch with Cassie? Cassie?” he inquired, even more curious. Jack confirmed once again. “I thought you wouldn't risk our condition,” he confronted. “Anyway, we have more pressing problems to deal with presently,” he finished.

Cassie's descriptions of what happened only emphasized what the pair wanted to deny. They still couldn't remember anything, it was hard to believe they had done that, they didn't even know why they had changed during the party. The clue they had was the horrible smell in the room. At least Jack remembered it more clearly.

Cassie moved closer to Jack, somehow seeking some sort of comfort. “I'm sorry lunch didn't go as planned,” he said. She replied that that situation was not within his control and was grateful for his concern in letting her get close to that.

“Wolves scare me a little,” she said. Jack tried to make an expression that he was not upset to hear that. Although he didn't intend to tell her the truth should that romance go forward. Jack didn't even consider himself her height, as she was a very self-assured person. It had been strange to see a frightened expression.

Cassie's dream, when she was younger, was to be a dancer, but she gave up when she realized that she would have no support from her parents. There weren't many competent dance companies around, and coming from a reasonably well-to-do family, she had to be up to it. The medical school was already pumping, and her parents were surprised to hear a nice “no” coming from her after suggesting the option. Her family had three large restaurants around town, which meant that she was as good in the kitchen as they were, perhaps that was where her gifts for handling leadership began. She enjoyed the family business but had other plans, and that's when she ended up at New Shadow. Her parents practically disowned her for it.

An hour later, the environmental department collected the wolves. Both companies obligingly published the news. Kurt had taken some photographs for the story but kept some for himself. Jack wrote the story and published it soon after Josh and Cassie approved it.

It didn't take long before curious faces appeared from reporters and normal people wanting to know what happened. In fact, most of them already knew about Cassie's account and testimony about the wolves. They wanted to know if the dead wolves were what she had seen. She knew they weren't, Kurt and Jack knew too, but the information about the colors of the wolves had not been revealed, and most people had probably ignored that part. Cassie wanted to say that they were the same wolves, but that might close the case and justice would not be served.

When the workday finally ended at 5 pm, everyone was released. The building was still filled with curious people, both in the commercial part and in the apartment part.

Cassie was ready to leave the commercial wing and go to her apartment when she was taken by a crowd and reporters all over her. There were a few cameras around her, and they were asking non-stop questions about the case involving the wolves and her reports. It was apparent how extremely uncomfortable she was. Trying to get through the crowd, ignoring the questions, she ended up pressed against the wall. She didn't know what to do or how to react to it all, she had never dealt with a situation like that before.

Between men and women, Cassie was trying to get away from the wall, but she couldn't. She was screaming at them to get off. She screamed at them to get out of the way, but they didn't obey her, on the contrary, they seemed to push her even harder. No one appeared to help her, no one except Jack. In a second she realized, he was in front of her, preventing the crowd from getting any closer, yelling at them to get out of the way. Some still ventured past him, but that's when a man with a camera tried to force his way through. He turned around and punched the man hard in the face, who automatically went down with his camera, breaking it. Everyone was shocked by the scene and started filming Jack, who grabbed Cassie by the arms and ran out with her. “This way,” he said, running. “I know a safer way,” he said, running through the hallways toward the decommissioned elevator in the back.

As they entered the elevator, Jack closed the door by pressing the button several times. Cassie still said nothing, just leaning against the wall, catching her breath. Jack then caught his breath as well and then smelled blood. As he looked in the direction of the smell, he noticed a few drops of dried blood on the floor, probably from the victims. Immediately, he scraped his shoe to wipe it off, disguising himself. His body shuddered a little as if he was having a bit of a chill and the beginnings of an anxiety crisis. “Jack?” asked Cassie. “Is everything okay?” she worried. He, his back to her, moved his head in the negative sign, but still felt the tremor through his body. There were then three are in Jack's body and his mind went black and countless flashes of bloody bodies appeared in his mind. It was the twelve of them. Some quick flashbacks had him in first person as a wolf, viciously attacking a human neck. The following flashbacks had the same purpose, to make him remember the atrocity he had committed. If before he still had any doubt, now he was sure.

It took a few seconds before he recovered from the trembling. Cassie approached the buttons and pressed the number for the eighth floor. Although it was a decommissioned elevator, it worked but was rarely used. Jack escorted the girl to her apartment, as he didn't know if other individuals would show up to bother her. “Please have dinner with me,” Cassie requested. Jack tried to deny it but was eventually seduced by her insistence. Finally, he went inside.