Chapter 0.4: Lucian Wilder

Lucian, tell us your story.

Lucian finds himself in the bustling city of Boston, a place vastly different from the wilderness he grew up in. As a werewolf who has spent most of his life with the close-knot confines of his pack, the urban environment poses new challenges. He has read books before, and does his best to avoid drawing attention to himself. Alas, the intricacies of city life can be confusing and he often finds himself in awkward or even dangerous situations.

One day, while exploring the city's streets, Lucian unknowingly wanders into the territory of the Viper Kings, a notorious street gang that controls the local black market. Unaware of the danger, he unintentionally disrupts their illegal deal, causing tension to escalate. The gang members confront him aggressively, assuming he is a rival gang member.

Once the arteries of a vibrant city, the streets of Boston were now veins in a festering wound, carrying the corruption of the city's underbelly. The stench of wet asphalt and spoiled dumpsters hung thick in the air, and a damp chill clung to the brick walls. I could almost taste the rusty iron of the fire escape ladder above me, sense the dry moss growing on the crumbling mortar, hear the soft sigh of the city exhaling through steam vents.

There in the gloom, I stood before the Viper Kings, as disparate a group of cutthroats as you'll find this side of the Charles. The gang's leader, a stocky, reptile-eyed man called Hiss, smiled at me, a fanged grin plastered over his nicotine-stained teeth.

"Vesper," he drawled, "You sure got a thing for the exotic, don't ya?"

"We've been over this, Hiss." I forced a casual chuckle. "I get what I need, you get the green. Do you have the tears or not?"

Our negotiations carried on like a dance: a bitter tango of words and threats. I knew their game, the way they coiled around a deal, squeezing till you were ready to pop. We danced on the precipice of agreement when an unexpected third party crashed our private soirée.

A lanky figure staggered into the alley, his silhouette distorted by the rain pooling on the uneven ground. He wore military-style gear, but his wide eyes betrayed him as just another mundane who thought army surplus meant they were a badass.

Hiss scowled at me, a switchblade suddenly in his hand. "This some kind of setup, Vesper?"

"No!" I raised my palms, heartbeat pounding in the sudden stillness gripping the alley. “I've never met him!”

"You expect us to believe that, chica?" A woman from Hiss's crew chimed in, a pistol peeking from her leather jacket.

While Lucian does have to admit he is still a bit naive about how city life works, he is pretty sure he just walked in on a drug deal. Shit. "Sorry! Went the wrong way, I'll just be going."

But Hiss’s eyes narrowed further, if that were even possible, scales around his eyelids rippling with irritation. “Ain't no one leaving till we clear this up,” he snarled, his gaze still locked on me. “This reeks of foul play, Vesper. You think we're amateurs?”

As if to punctuate his words, a fourth gangster stepped into the mouth of the alleyway. The knife in his hands glinted in the moonlight.

I tried to keep the situation from spiraling. My voice was ice on glass as I responded, “Hiss, I swear on my life, I had nothing to do with this. I just want the siren tears, and I've got the money to pay for them."

The snake shifter hesitated, eyes flicking from the mundane to the wad of cash clutched in my hand. After a long moment, he shrugged. "Sure. It'll be double for the tears — and you leave the wolf behind. If he ain't with you, then he's with the Pack."

How did he know I'm a wolf! He's not talking about MY pack is he?! No, its gotta be a local ww group or something. Ugh, its probably futile to argue no connection to a local pack. I need to bolt.

"Not with the Pack! I could swear on it or something?"

So he really is a shifter. Shit. No wonder Hiss thinks I set him up.

"You hear that? He swears he's not with the Pack." Hiss laughed, glancing at his men as they chuckled along with him, then turned back to the intruder. "You're a long way from home. I think I'll send the Pack your pelt as a warning of what happens to lost little wolves."

The last thing I needed was to get caught in the middle of a shifter gang skirmish — I didn't buy the intruder's claims that he wasn't from the Pack any more than Hiss did, which meant I needed to wrap this up fast. "You can have the wolf, but I'm not paying double. Same price as last time."

I don't think there is any scenario where waiting helps Lucian attempts to leave, ready to possibly fight his way out if he has to.

"Hiss, at the rate you keep murdering your customers I'm shocked anyone still tries to buy from you." Hope walks out of the shadows with her hands on her holstered guns, an open motorcycle helmet partially covering her face. "Then again, I was here to deal too, so all of us are idiots, apparently. Idiots who are going to walk away, peacefully, unless you goons decide to be even stupider."

Hiss's scaly face morphed into an inscrutable canvas. "Hope. You're early." His reptilian eyes swept over me as he extended a hand lined with sinew and scars. "Fine. Same price as last time."

I exhaled the breath I had been holding and traded a wad of cash for a tiny glass vial. Iridescent liquid shimmered inside it as I held it up to the moonlight. "What of the wolf?" I asked.

He flicked his fingers at me. “Take him if you wish." His benevolent grin vanished. "But if he ever sets foot on Viper territory again, I'll make sure he dies screaming."

“Charming as ever,” I muttered under my breath.

The werewolf, lithe muscle twitching, looked ready to bolt. I grasped his trembling hand and led him past the menacing silhouette guarding the alley mouth like a Cerberus of the streets. He glowered at me, and I tossed him a cheeky grin as we passed by. Hiss's men were lowlife scum, but they knew better than to cross their leader — at least when he stood twelve feet away from them.

Hope waits until they seem clear, backs away around the corner, and leaves, grumbling vaguely under her breath.

"Sorry for stumbling into you're... transaction? I am actually pretty lost. .... do you know anything about this Pack he mentioned? I didn't know there was any organized werewolf presence in Boston."

"The Pack is a shifter gang, mostly wolves, a few cats. They've been fighting the Viper Kings as long as I can remember, trading the same few blocks of land back and forth every few months. Dunno if I'd call them organized, exactly. Wouldn't advise joining up either, not unless you like constant dominance challenges." I shook my head in disgust. "You had the bad luck to wander as deep into Viper territory as it gets. What are you even doing here?"

"Hmm, you could say I had a very, lets go with sheltered upbringing, and am trying to learn all it is that I have been missing out on. Why I was on that street in particular? Looking for supernatural stuff, public library is not exactly helpful for learning about that. Did NOT expect there to be entire gangs of shifters though; challenges some of my assumptions. Do you know where I could just, learn more about this entire supernatural world I have just stumbled onto?"

I barked out a laugh. "No, the public library wouldn't have information on nightwalkers. We're a secretive bunch, as a rule." My tone turned bitter. "I'm a hedge wizard. That's what Arcanum and the Council calls it when someone figures out magic on their own, without instruction. So I get what it's like, to be on the outside, not knowing what the hell's going on."

We rounded a corner, falling silent as we passed by a pair of men coming the other way. "I'm Vesper, incidentally. What's your name?"

"Oh" Lucian holds out his hand to shake, he is pretty sure that is how one greats a new person. "I'm Lucian!"

I eyed his hand, bemused, but shook it after a moment. "You got a job? A place to stay?"

"Nooot yet" Lucian admits, a little embarrassed. "Was hoping to find a job with supernatural dealings"

Well that was easy. "I could use an assistant. Someone to run errands, help procure ritual materials, that sort of thing. I can't pay you but you could stay at my place, and it'd be a good way to dip your toes into the supernatural world. Better than poking your nose into every dark alley until someone bites it off, that's for sure."

"Sure! I will take you up on that, thanks!"