Seduced by a Lycan - Chapter Four

Staff Sergeant Sean “Cougar” Jacobson looked around the quarters that had been his and what remained of his team’s home for the last six weeks. It was good to be back in the US. He had eight weeks of leave coming to him and this time, he was taking them. While he was away, he had decisions to make. One of which was whether to re-enlist. After his team’s last botched assignment, the decision was not as easy as it should have been.

Each time he left on a mission, he knew it could possibly be his last. The knowledge he might not make it back alive had always been acceptable as long as the undertaking was successful. However, after experiencing torture firsthand, Sean was no longer quite so confident the military was his life as he’d once believed.

Then there was the other thing that happened to him…

Corporal Cameron “Spook” Rodriguez slapped him on the back, interrupting his musings. “Sarge, you remember what I taught you. Call if you run into any problems.” Spook arched his eyebrows meaningfully.

Sean gave a brief grin. “I doubt I will. Your instructions were very detailed and thorough.” His smile faded. “I never thanked you.”

Spook flushed. “Ah, don’t mention it.”

“I have to. What you did for me and the others, you saved our lives.”

Spook was the youngest, most inexperienced member of his team, and surprisingly had turned out to be the one with the ability to save them all.

Spook looked down at the carpet. “Some would say I damned you for all eternity.”

“Hey! I’d rather be,” he glanced around furtively and lowered his voice, “a werewolf—”

“Lycan,” Spook corrected.

“—lycan, than dead,” Sean said.

Spook raised haunted eyes to Sean. “Too bad the others didn’t feel that way.”

He laid a comforting hand on Spook’s shoulder. “Cam, you tried. You made the offer when you didn’t have to. Those of us who took it—”

“Who survived,” Spook interjected.

“Who survived,” Sean acknowledged, “appreciate you for doing so.”

Their special ops team of ten had been ambushed while on a mission to find and destroy a newly formed al Quid’a cell the government got wind of in the jungles of Central America. Those who hadn’t died in the ensuing firefight had been captured and held hostage. The terrorist bastards had no intentions of releasing them, but got their jollies torturing them one at a time for information they knew the men hadn’t possessed.

Right when they’d lost all hope, Spook revealed he was Lycan born. First he explained what it meant, and then he offered to transform them. The process was not without its own share of danger. First, they had to survive a vicious attack by Spook in wolf-man form. Unlike in werewolf legends, a simple bite wouldn’t do. If Spook managed not to kill them—and there was no guaranteeing he wouldn’t since the taste of blood could make him loose all control—then the virus could.

The L-virus is what transformed them into Lycans. The virus attached itself to the Y-chromosomes, causing delirium as their body temperature spiked to inhuman levels while the infection took hold. The onset lasted about thirty-six hours, and it took about ninety-six for the virus to run its course, with the first twenty-four hours being the worst.

If the fever didn’t kill them, they still had to survive their first shift with their sanity intact, which occurred during the first full moon after being bitten. Despite the risks, Sean had jumped at the opportunity. Given a choice between possible and certain death, he’d chosen transformation. As team leader, he’d demanded to be first.

Of the eight of them that had been captured, two refused, one didn’t survive the attack and another didn’t survive his first change. Only the four Lycans—Spook, Weasel, Monk, and he—had made it out of Central America alive.

“Well, remember the Lycan brotherhood is everywhere, even where you’re headed. You have any trouble, give me a call and I’ll put you in touch with folks who can help. You still have the numbers I gave you?”

Sean patted his chest pocket. “Right here.”

“Good.” Spook cleared his throat and seemed uncertain what to do next. He looked like a father who didn’t want to let his kid go off to college, but knew he had to release him to the real world sometime. Smiling wryly at the thought, Sean reached over and lifted his gear off the bed.

“You tell your girl I said hi. Bet she’ll be happy to see you.”

Adjusting the strap of his duffle on his shoulder, he corrected Spook. “She’s not my girl. Von’s engaged to a former army buddy.”

“She’s not married yet. That means you still have time.”

“I told you, Hooch is a friend. I wouldn’t do him like that.” At one time, Hooch had been a brother to him, had even saved his life once during a firefight by pulling him out of harm’s way. You didn’t repay a man by stealing his girl.

“Sure, Sarge.” Spook’s expression spoke volumes. “You just remember what I told you. See you when you get back.”

Sean nodded and walked out the door. Only to himself did he admit that he was in love with his best friend’s girl, and if Von ever looked at him with a hint of the love he felt for her, screw friendship. He’d do whatever it took to make her his.