Wolves were not like cats. They are not food motivated in the way that cats are. It has been stated many times that the intelligence of wolves prevents them from being trained. This he could personally attest to. His goal was not just to train the wolves, but to enthrall them. The legends of Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed and Gilles de Rais were true and catalogued in the texts that Natalia had found, translated, and interpreted. She was an amazing woman, all things considered. He hoped her new demure attitude would continue and he would not need to engage in any more lessons for her. He did hate the idea of those under evolved, filthy, amoebas who called themselves humans touching her. They were good for only two things, food and servitude.
The wolf in the enclosure gazed up at him with his head cocked to the side. His ears were attuned to the sounds of cage doors opening and Tony quietly talking to the other wolves.
‘Dutch’ looked back at the man in the feeding enclosure. His bright golden eyes were outlined with a heavy black line of fur like mascara. His muzzle was accented by a thin line of black fur as well which pulled back a little to show his canines.
He looked into the wolf’s eyes. There was a deep intelligence that seemed to have a memory that stretched back beyond the three short years of its life. The deep golden color was a glassy reflection of that past. He tried to bore deeper, past the glassy surface, to where the animal’s mind was.
He pushed past it as the animal held his gaze. His world exploded with images and memories that couldn’t possibly be the animal’s own. Images of old men in furs with hunting bows and short spears seemed to race through his mind. The smell of moose and caribou flooded his sense. He could see vivid green trees and harsh white snow drifts. Forests, deserts, harsh dry mountain ridges, and muddy wetlands and even beaches assaulted his mind as even more images flew past him, too fast to fully understand.
He tried to break away, but found with rising panic that he couldn’t. Kenneth flung himself backwards in his chair, covering his eyes with his forearm. The violence of the act and obscuring his gaze pulled him out of the memories that threatened to swallow him.
The sudden commotion raised a few yips from the other wolves and some other guttural sounds. “Are you OK, Boss?” Tony called out.
“Yes, I’m fine you idiot!” Kenneth snarled back at the man. “Are you done feeding those animals yet?!” He wasn’t so much angry at the handler, but more at himself.
“Almost Boss. I’ll be done in a minute or two,” Tony said, sounding hurt.
Kenneth rubbed at the back of his head and his shoulder where the back of the chair had buried itself when he fell backward. He untangled himself from the chair and stood up slowly, righting the fallen chair as he did so.
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‘Dutch’ had turned around and was lying down facing away from Kenneth, showing him his butt. Kenneth wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be an insult or not.
Kenneth watched the animal for a moment. He kicked the cage again but the wolf did not turn around. He kept his head resting on his fore paws, with his tail out behind him in a relaxed posture. This may not be his territory, but he sure as hell has no fear of me. Maybe I should educate him?
No, Tony would never allow something like that and still want to work here. Tony was useful as he was. He liked the man, and the wolves were well cared for, which is what he needed. He didn’t want to enthrall him and have him lose those instincts that made him so good at his job. Sometimes there were limits to what he could do, and at times like that he hated all humans and animals equally.
Kenneth moved his chair out of the feeding enclosure and closed the outer gate. He hit a button to open the inner gate that would allow, ‘Dutch’ to get the raw chicken and lamb leg from the feeding enclosure.
The wolf stayed where he was for a long time. His ears twitched at the sound of the gate opening but other than that, he remained still. Kenneth wanted to beat the crap out of the thing. It knew that it could eat whenever it damn well wanted to and it knew that he would eventually leave. His posture was saying, “I do nothing for your pleasure.”
Kenneth had to walk away from the wolf before he did something that he would regret, like killing it. He stalked out of the place and into the parking lot. The cool night air soothed him and he inhaled deeply the smells of the city.
Something had happened in there. He had never had a connection like that before. The images that he could interpret were of places wolves either lived or used to live. The desert was a new one though. And beaches? When did wolves ever travel along beaches? Maybe Aisha would know? Maybe Natalia had found something else that he could use. After scouring and studying those texts he finally learned what the wolf mind was. The only thing was, he hadn’t read anything about what he had just experienced. Was this just a natural step in the process that no vampire scholar had bothered to write down? Or was this some kind of mental defense that the wolves had developed after all these years. He didn’t really know, but he was going to find out.
He didn’t wait for Michael to open the door. He slammed the door shut and waited for his driver to run back around the car and get behind the wheel. Michael looked into the rearview mirror respectfully.
Kenneth pinched his lower lip as he looked up at the animal research facility. There was something going on with the world. He had gone to sleep a few days ago thinking that he was on his way to power and control over his own destiny. Today, it seemed, that he was being blocked at every turn. Even the vague idea of enthralling that dancer he had seen yesterday wasn’t appealing right now.
How much money could he gain? How many facilities and clubs could he own? Sooner or later Alessandro would find out about all these places that he had bought. That had been paid for through his clubs and some dummy corporations, but it was only a matter of time before his Head of House would come looking for him for answers. The answers to Kenneth’s questions were out there. He just hadn’t collected all the pieces of the puzzle yet. But how long could he keep going before his day of reckoning came?