Sui Generis – 38

 

"Are you certain?" Antton asked a few minutes later. "Because it will impact not just you, Brand, but Mag as well."

Brand looked at Mag and they both nodded. "We talked about it, in case you really did want me to become an Enforcer. He knows it's important, and that it's dangerous." Brand took Mag's hand, smiling softly. "As he put it—well, implied at least—for him it would be like being the partner of a cop or someone in the military. He'd be waiting at home and praying I came back alive and in one piece."

"Then what you two have is now a permanent arrangement?"

Again Brand smiled at Mag before replying. "Yes, it is as far as I'm concerned."

"It is," Mag said adamantly.

Antton tapped his lip. "All right then, I'll let the council know. Pending their approval—and I'm sure that won't be a problem—I'm putting you in Randulf's capable hands for training." He paused, glancing at Randulf. "Take Mag with you when you work with Brand. Under the circumstances, it won't hurt for him to know what's what and how to take care of himself."

"Why?" Brand asked before he understood. "He could become a target, the way he was with Fedor."

"Exactly. Although the situation would be different because it wouldn't be part of a plan."

"I'm not sure I like that idea." Brand looked worriedly at Mag.

"Then back out now," Antton replied with some asperity.

"He's not backing out," Mag pronounced, sending an irate glance Brand's way. "I might be just a human, but if I know what to expect, I think I can take care of myself if I have to. Hell, Brand, I lived on the streets and survived just fine. It's not like I'm some preppy rich kid."

Brand nodded, adding, "Now, but…"

"You were?" Randulf asked, seeming surprised.

"Way back when I guess you would have called me that. Then things went bad between me and my family and I got out of there fast. I decided—" Mag glared angrily down at his hands, "—a conversion camp was not going to be in my future. And that is all I'm going to say about that. It's in the past and it's staying locked up there." 

"Understood," Antton said. "We all have histories we do that with." He stood, telling them, "Now, as I said, I have to tell the council we have a new member. I suggest, Randulf, you start working with Brand as soon as possible. There are rumors that Alanna Jans is heading this way."

"Only rumors?" Randulf asked, frowning deeply.

"So far, yes. Obviously, we're trying to determine if there's any truth behind them."

"If she is, this could become very interesting, to put it mildly."

"Who is Alanna Jans?" Brand asked.

"I'll let Randulf explain," Antton said before leaving the room.

Randulf paced as he began talking. "Alanna is a very vicious, rogue werewolf. Once, many years ago, she was one of the sweetest, most docile female werewolves I've ever known. Then she made the mistake of falling head-over-heels in love with a human. No insult intended, Mag."

Mag nodded. "None taken."

"Unfortunately, this man was a bastard, to put it mildly. He used her, abused her, and then when he was finished, he turned her over to a friend of his as if she was just a piece of chattel."

"If she was a werewolf, why didn't she rebel and… and do something to him?" Brand asked. "Surely she was strong enough to have stopped what he did to her, at least on a physical level."

"That would have given away what she is and at that point, she wasn't willing to—for everyone's sake. Besides, as I said, she loved him and never quite came to grips with the fact he was only using her to satisfy his own insane needs. Needless to say, when he tried to dispose of her by giving her to his friend, she finally got the message. By then, she was broken mentally and emotionally. Something snapped and in the end she killed both of them, quite horribly. Since then, she has gone on a rampage, seducing and then killing human males indiscriminately. Before you ask why she hasn't been caught, she learned a trick or two along the way on how to stay beneath our radar until it was too late."

"The female of the species," Mag muttered.

"In this case, that quotation holds very true," Randulf agreed.