The Wolf Folk Series: Prince Tosco

Pedro was the first human in thousands of years to be changed, but, unfortunately, he would not be the last, when those of the wolf folk and the humans who had protected them for more than ten thousand years are discovered by Lord High Alpha Jeremiah as he begins his search, it will become necessary to save many lives, to save many wolf folk from a lifetime of misery. Young Jorge also begged to be changed and, again, Tosco gave his permission. When the lamed boy emerged, he was the most beautiful young man and wolf the Wolf Folk had ever seen. No trace of his injury remained and he did as he swore, Wolf Warrior Jorge Carlos de Montoya became the scourge of those who would be slavers. He would never be as large as other wolves but few who lusted after the children could sleep nights worrying about how soon El Jorge was coming for them!

Jorge took the name Jorge Carlos de Montoya to honor the man who changed him and made him a Wolf! Prince Alpha Carlos himself sat with him and guided him through his change from a human to one of the storied Wolf Folk.

When he had emerged from the same closet that had been used for a prior conversion, Jorge could feel that he was different. He first noticed that he did not limp when he walked down the hall to give his oath to the Lord Alpha of all wolves in the Americas, Lord High Alpha Jeremiah.

Jeremiah had flown in when Tosco had notified him of the conversions and he had wanted to see for himself an occurrence that had not taken place since their kind had fled the old world during the Great Migration more than ten thousand years earlier.

Lord Jeremiah was standing at the end of the hall and, as Jorge walked towards the Great Lord of Wolves, those gathered to witness the historic event gasped. Jorge heard whispers, "Lord of All Wolves, the boy is beautiful!" He would not understand their comment until he passed by a mirror!

Jorge knelt before Lord High Alpha Jeremiah Franklin Tate, "MY LORD HIGH ALPHA, LORD AND LEADER OF OUR KIND, I SWEAR BY THE GREAT LORD OF WOLVES ABOVE US ALL THAT I SHALL HONOR THE PROMISE I MADE TO MY PRINCE ALPHA, PRINCE CARLOS de MONTOYA, HE WHO GAVE ME HIS NAME AS MY OWN. I SHALL COMMIT WAR UPON THOSE WHO WOULD ABUSE CHILDREN. I SHALL PROTECT ALL CHILDREN, BE THEY WOLF OR HUMAN AND THEIR TORMENTORS SHALL KNOW MY WRATH. IN THIS OATH, I SHALL KNOW NO BOUNDRIES, NO NATIONAL BORDERS, NOR SHALL I CONFINE MYSELF TO THE AMERICAS, NO LONGER SHALL THOSE WHO PREY ON CHILDREN, SAVAGE THEIR BODIES AND SOULS, AND PROFIT BY THEIR SALE LIVE TO ENJOY THE FRUITS OF THEIR OWN WICKEDNESS. I HEREBY PROCLAIM THAT THOSE WHO DO THESE TERRIBLE THINGS SHALL KNOW DEATH, A DEATH SO HORRIBLE THAT EVEN THE LORD OF THE UNDERWORLD SHALL NOT RECOGNIZE THEM. THIS I SWEAR UPON MY LIFE AND MY SOUL."

Those who witnessed THE OATH OF JORGE, gasped, the young wolf had declared war on those who preyed on children world-wide! It was an Oath to be repeated by all those who followed Jorge in the protection of children; an Oath that knew no boundaries, no national borders nor sanctuary for the criminals who preyed upon children, Wolf OR Human!

He had created a special corner of Hell for those who did those things!

There were several younger wolves in attendance and they stepped forward and knelt, "Great Lord of Wolves, grant us leave to follow this Warrior and assist him in his Battle against those who commit atrocities against the young of this world!"

Jeremiah was also shaken by the event and had to sit down. He called Jorge to him and the Young Wolf Warrior knelt at his feet, his head bowed, "COMMAND ME, GREAT OVERLORD OF WOLVES."

Jeremiah replied, "Are you so committed to this Crusade that will take you wherever there are children in peril, away from your family, friends and all that you know?"

Jorge responded, "Yes, my Lord, I am so prepared."

Jorge turned to the young wolves who had proclaimed common cause with him and said, "If thee are prepared to accompany me on my quest, thee know that thou shalt not know a warm bed, a tight roof nor a full belly until every child is safe and cared for."

The young wolves then knelt before Jorge and said as one, "Command me, Wolf Warrior"

Lord High Alpha Wolf Jeremiah said, "Warrior Wolf Jorge, stand before me." He continued, "I PROCLAIM THEE WOLF WARRIOR LEADER AND GUIDE TO ALL CHILDREN. LET ALL WOLVES KNOW THAT THIS WOLF IS SPECIAL TO ME AND TO ALL OUR KIND. HE IS TO RECEIVE ASSISTANCE FROM ANY WOLF, BE HE LORD OR WARRIOR AND HE IS TO KNOW NO WANT, ALL WOLVES ARE COMMANDED TO ASSIST, SUCCOR AND SUPPLY WOLF WARRIOR LEADER JORGE IN HIS WAR UPON THOSE WHO WOULD HARM OUR CHILDREN, BE THEY WOLF OR HUMAN! ANY WOLF WHO FOLLOWS WOLF WARRIOR JORGE SHALL BENEFIT OF OUR LOVE AND ASSISTANCE AND SHALL KNOW NO WANT SO LONG AS THERE ARE WOLF FOLK IN THIS WORLD."

Two more young wolves stepped forward to join Jorge and he left the hall with six young wolf warriors following him.

Almost immediately, a legend was born among the street children, "If you need help, think about a young wolf named Jorge and he will come to you and take you away from those who are hurting you."

Jorge's first target was Puerto Vallarta, he could hear in his mind the screams of children being whipped and tortured.

The next morning there was a pile of bloody body parts piled in the Marketplace, hardly recognizable as human and twenty good citizens of the town were missing.

A piece of cloth was held down by a stone on top of the pile of body parts. The cloth had a bloody wolf paw print and a crude J written in blood on it.

There were forty new children being cared for by the villagers at Hacienda de Montoya.

Soon, stories were being reported from all over Mexico and Central America of piles of body parts being left in towns and villages, with a cloth banner imprinted with a huge paw print and a J in blood.

The stories spread into South America as well as north of the border, into the United States and Canada.

Neither Carlos nor Jeremiah understood how Jorge and his troops were moving so fast and so far in such a short period of time, but, there was no question that EL JORGE was at the bottom of it.

The name was whispered in bars and cantinas, in saloons and dimly lit corners by huddled criminals who feared for their lives. Those who had purchased protection from the authorities through favors and child slaves, found themselves being dismembered by a frightful being whose eyes glowed blood red and saliva dripped from his fangs.

Jeremiah returned to his home at Greystone Manor in Charlotte and began putting together his expedition to Europe and Asia under the guise of an anthropological quest. That all the members of his expedition were of the Wolf Kind, was neither unusual nor detectable to any human authority.

At the last moment, seven young wolves came to him and asked Jeremiah to be included in the expedition. They were all hooded and wore friars' robes. Jeremiah had his suspicions, but he said nothing and agreed to include the newcomers in the expedition.

The morning they were to depart, the newspapers were filled with a lurid story of death and dismemberment of prominent business men and women in Seattle. The picture showed a pile of stacked body parts and a crude banner imprinted with a paw print and a large J, the imprints were done in blood and the severed heads of dead victims were neatly stacked beside the piled body parts!

Jeremiah called the hooded wolf, who appeared to be the leader of the last group to join them and asked, "Do you know anything of this?" He showed him the newspaper and picture.

From inside the hood, a quiet voice responded, "Ask me no questions, my Lord, unless thou are prepared to hear my answers. I will not lie to thee." The voice was ethereal, and cold enough to have come from an open grave.

Jeremiah shivered and said, "No, perhaps I am better off not knowing what your answer would be."

The figure in the cloak bowed, saying nothing, and disappeared down the passageway of the ship. The sailors, being quite superstitious, cringed and hid anytime the hooded figure came their way.

They sailed two hours later, bound for Barcelona. The six hooded figures and their leader were seen from time to time, but they caused no trouble and seemed to disappear as the ship docked at Barcelona.

Jeremiah thought no more about them until they had completed their research in the archives held by the University in that city. Their research yielded only clues, no defining information and they readied themselves to continue on to Antwerp.

The night before they were to leave, the leader of the group of hooded men again came to Jeremiah, asking to accompany them further. Jeremiah agreed and he wondered what the newspapers would report the next day.

As they were getting into their taxies, Jeremiah purchased a newspaper from a young vendor on the street corner. Splashed all over the front page were vivid pictures of piled up body parts, recognizable barely as human. On the top of each pile was a ragged piece of cloth with a J and a paw print, both were written in blood.

There was one of the hooded individuals nearby, but, when Jeremiah headed in its direction, the figure shook its head in a "NO" and disappeared in the crowd.

On the back page of the same newspaper was a story about the Sisters of Mercy Orphanage finding over twenty children on their doorstep and a large bag containing a half million American Dollars' worth of historic Spanish Gold Coins!

By now, Jeremiah just accepted that the hooded men would accompany them and he knew enough not to expect brilliant conversation from them. He was a bit surprised, however that there were two more individuals than he had seen when they left the United States.

He asked no questions, knowing he would receive no answers.

They arrived in Antwerp and Jeremiah busied himself in his research, those who had accompanied him for that purpose roamed the University records and archives, some of which had remained sealed since the dark ages. Again, they made no major breakthrough, but each little tidbit of information was welcome.

The same story held for Frankfort, London, Stockholm and Vienna. Slowly, their ancient legends were becoming clothed in flesh and blood of those living in the present day.

The police in Vienna called on Jeremiah and showed him newspaper stories of the "murders" that had taken place in each of the cities he and his group had visited.

Jeremiah could truthfully say that he had no idea what was going on and that he and his colleagues were not involved.

Strangely, none of the hooded figures were around when the police came calling. Whenever a policeman looked upon a Hooded One on the street, that policeman looked through the figure, never seeing him.

Their next destination was Moscow and it was there that they came across their first important clue. They found a passage in the church records about wolf-men who had been burned at the stake in the village of Kurilovo in 1652.

The Church Archivist told them that the church was now abandoned, but the building itself still stood and there were many strange paintings on the old walls.

That sounded like a place they needed to visit and Jeremiah had to "coerce" an official at the Directorate of the Interior to gain permission to visit the old town.

The official kept insisting there was nothing there to see, and Jeremiah detected traces of someone having tampered with the man's mind sometime in the past. That, if nothing else, tweaked Jeremiah's interest. The tampering was definitely the work of one of his own kind!

The Directorate provided them with transportation and, suddenly, the hooded figures were back among them.

The figures attracted no attention from any of the government drivers or guards supplied to them. It was as if they were invisible to the Russians.

Jeremiah was thinking something was strange going on, but, as he was thinking that, he heard in his mind, "Don't ask, My Lord, it is better you do not know!"

Jeremiah knew better than to kick up a fuss around the Russian Authorities, so he said nothing, even though he was pretty sure he could handle them himself.

It was slow driving to Kurilovo, the roads were terrible and the closer they got to the town, the more the countryside looked as if it had been hit by a terrible blight. Many of the trees were nude of foliage, and the crops were stunted and bearing little fruit or pods.

When they arrived the villagers were sullen and uncommunicative, they refused to show them around and Jeremiah had to locate the old church himself.

He touched some of the minds of the villagers and he recoiled in horror, their minds were full of fear and hate. They were frightened of some kind of spirits that had been punishing all who lived there since the Middle Ages! If they tried to leave, they mysteriously died before they reached the next town.

Jeremiah saw the hooded ones go around an old building, one of them held up his hand motioning for him not to follow them.

It came to Jeremiah that they should look at the old wall paintings in the church, it was an idea that just "popped" into his head and he purposely did not pursue the thought further.

He smiled mentally and thought, "See, I am learning!" He was pretty sure he heard a youthful "chuckle" in return.

Jeremiah led his party into the old church. The roof was mostly gone and the walls were crumbling. For some reason he felt they needed to go below the church, into the catacombs, it was like a compulsion driving them on.

Their drivers protested greatly, saying the place was dangerous. The villagers added their protests, that the catacombs were haunted by fearsome beasts.

Now, Jeremiah was sure he was on the right track and he led his party down crumbling stairs to a large cavern directly beneath the old church. They were carrying lanterns and heavy hand lights, Jeremiah thought he saw someone move around a corner, so he followed, calling to his party to come with him.

He came around a corner and was confronted by one of the hooded ones, he had thrown his cowl back and Jeremiah discovered the face of young Jorge. His face was drawn and showed great pain, he said nothing but motioned the party to follow him.

They began seeing crude drawings on the walls of people being tortured, upon close inspection, all those being tortured were Wolf Folk!

At last, they came to a small room, closed with a heavy wooden door. Jorge opened the door for them to see several figures standing there, three were obviously adults the rest were children.

They all were so thin, at first Jeremiah was not sure they were alive!

Jorge dropped to his knees and said, "Please My Lord, these are all that remain of the Wolves who once lived here. Please help me save them, they are starving and cannot last much longer."

Jeremiah shouted for his archivists to bring all the food they had with them, NOW! He rushed up to the adults and found they spoke no English, so he was forced to mind speak with them. Being of the Wolf Kind, languages were no barrier in mind-to-mind contact.

It was a family group, an old Grandfather and his son, the son's wife and their three children. They had been discovered by the authorities and the villagers hid them in the catacombs, but the authorities again found them and were only waiting until after the Americans had left to kill them all! They wanted no Westerners to witness their brutality towards these people, just because they were different.

Hampers of food were brought down, disguised as photographic equipment and sketching supplies.

While the wolf-folk were eating, a man from the village above came into the room from a different direction and said. "Me Antonovich, me folk watch and care these folk many years. Must you take, not safe them here now. Go you must this day, soldiers tomorrow day come."

Jorge had a small child in his arms and tears running down his face, "Please, Lord Jeremiah. Take these folk, they cannot survive here any longer. They are the last who have survived here."

Jeremiah took the child from Jorge's arms and saw it was a small girl child of the wolf folk, he held a piece of fruit as the child nibbled on it. She giggled and Jeremiah was lost, he mumbled, "I am not into girls, but this sweet child shall be mine own daughter!"

Jorge smiled and replied, "Yes, I know My Lord, let us get these folk out of this damp cave, I will cloak them if you will carry them out into the Lord of Wolves' blessed sunlight."

It was as if the tattered remains of Wolfdom had disappeared, although Jeremiah could still feel the child in his arms.

They emerged into the sunshine of the upper world, Jeremiah could feel the small child snuggle into his arms as if she were asking him to protect her.

He did! She would become the first adopted daughter in the New World, a place her own ancestors had feared to go and she would lead a revolution, she would be one of the first girl wolves to be able to make change! Before then only the female consort of a reigning Alpha Wolf could make her change.

They repacked their photo equipment and climbed back in the cars for the return trip to Moscow. The hooded ones rode in the cars with them, but none of the authorities took notice of them. Even when policemen on the streets looked directly into their vehicles, they saw nothing!

Jeremiah's party had pretty much figured out who these hooded ones were and they ALL approved of what they had just done. The Warriors in the party would soon be active participants in saving the Wolf Folk remaining in Russia and assist in their rescue.

They got back to their Turicom Hotel and smuggled the Wolf Family up to their rooms.

There, they called for room service and had food delivered to Jeremiah's room. The hotel staff did not find it odd, that Jeremiah had ordered more food than would be indicated by the number of people in the room.

Jeremiah just "harrumphed" and he heard a giggle in his mind, he knew Jorge was nearby. He was answered, "Si."

They spent the next two days, stuffing the family with food and Jorge mysteriously appeared with new clothing for the family. Jeremiah's new daughter, Katrinka began blooming into a beautiful young woman and, as she gained back her strength, she became his ally in mentally assaulting the Russian Authorities.

Jeremiah kept up his inspection of the old records and determined that Kulsharif in Tatarstan was their next target. Since they had already "bumfoozled" (Katrinka's word for what they had done to the minds of the local authorities) the minds of those in the Ministry of the Interior, it was easy to obtain permits to visit the ruins of the Great Mosque of Kulsharif.

The place had no airport, so they hired large trucks and SUVs to carry them to Tartarstan.

Those they had rescued remained with them, the children becoming used to the foreigners more quickly than their parents. They discovered the Warriors' great love for them and more than one gruff veteran Warrior was seen with flower garlands around his head!

The old Grandfather, Alexandrovich, however, was no fool, he spotted who and what had rescued his family. He knelt before Jeremiah and said, "Wolf Lord, me family save you, me you beg us protect. Yous hunt people us. Help me yous, knows me of others yus kind."

Jeremiah reached down and pulled the old man to his feet and replied, "Yes, old Grandfather, I am a Lord, but I am also like yourself, I put my trousers on, one leg at a time. You are of our family, our folk, THOU ART WOLF!"

The old man did not know exactly what this Wolf Lord had said, but he got the idea that they were welcome and these new folk would care for him and his family and take them to a place of safety, a new home as the old legends had foretold! The children of the ancients who had left so long ago, had come back for them! The ancient tales foretelling the arrival of a Wolf Lord to rescue them were true!

It was a long trip to Kulsharif, it would take at least two weeks for them to get there. In that time, the family of Alexandrovich would become close to the wolf folk who had rescued them.

Their children had no fear of the hooded ones and were frequently seen sitting in the lap of a being whose face could not be seen, giggling and laughing like young children should.

Things would be tough in Kulsharif, but El Jorge would again, come to their rescue. El Jorge was more mighty in power and deeds than the local authorities had ever before encountered!

Kulsharif is going to be a challenge but El Jorge will show his true strength of both courage and strength before they can get away from the place.