Cernunnos - 3. Chapter 3

Hitting the floor, his body crumpled. Body parts slammed against both the floor and the wall, causing Cyn to yell. Pain shot through his leg, opening up his stitches. Cyn cried out, but knew he needed to get away. No! He...He’s going to kill me!

“Cyn! God…” The doctor shot to the open door and hollered for some nurses for assistance, then rushed over to the injured deer. Should have seen this coming. As the doctor got closer, the more the cernunnos squirmed. The more he moves, the worse that leg gets! Need to end th-

“Stop.” A deep and grave voice permeated through the room. The doctor’s body doubled over and Cyn’s eyes reeled in his head. His body became numb in fear, stopping all movement. Sprawled on the floor and as blood began seeping out of his bandaged wound, Cyn couldn’t control his fear as he wet his gown.

He didn’t mean to look up, but as he shook, he caught a glance from the other man in the room. The man had to be a monster. Cyn estimated him to be six and a half feet tall with muscles oozing from the tight gray t-shirt under the leather jacket. His jeans were slender but showed off the calf and thigh muscles down to the oiled leather boots. With the sides of his head faded down to minute hairs, the top of the giant’s hair was slicked back and held with a hair tie.

Creating loud clomps, the black boots stepped toward the deer. Cyn couldn’t move. His fear settled into his heart and he couldn’t comprehend any sort of survival thoughts. I...I want...to move...but I can’t! As the man in the leather jacket got closer, he stopped in front of the turned over hospital bed. With little effort, the man put his hands on the plastic guard rail and lifted.

Cyn stared in total terror and awe. He...just picked it up! No grunt. No struggle. The terrifying man set the bed back upright without saying a word. Then he set his sights on Cyn. Covered in his own bodily fluids, the deer felt frightened and ashamed of himself. Is...this how? How I’m gonna d- “Are you the cernunnos?”

The deer’s heart skipped a beat as the deep voice echoed in the room once more. Breathing erratically, Cyn barely mustered a nodding motion as he looked down to the floor. I...I can’t even look at him.

“What’s your name, little fawn?” Despite the gritty tone, Cyn could almost smell the sincerity of the larger man’s pheromones. It was at this moment, the deer realized he misinterpreted the initial scent of the man. It’s...it’s not him! He’s not the silver wolf! The scents were very similar, but not quite the same. He...he smells like...like maple. Not syrup, but wood. Forest-like. The silver one smelled woodsy, but it was more sour. “Your name, cernunnos.” Glancing up at the man’s face, it still oozed authority, but the tiniest of smirks appeared once the rugged man got Cyn’s full attention.

“C...C...Cy...Cyn. Cyn, s-sir.”

“Do you know who I am?” Cyn could only shake his head. “I’m going to be blunt with you. My name is Arric. Arric Claude. And I need you to help me find who did this to you.”

Shaking uncontrollably, Cyn let tears rush down his face as he nodded. Arric knelt down and in a flash, placed his giant hands onto Cyn’s shoulders. The deer was frightened by how fast the man moved. With another inhale of the man’s scent, the injured shifter’s heart stopped. He...He’s a-

“I’m a wolf. But you must understand this. No one. And I repeat. No one will ever lay another finger on you in vain. I will personally see to that. Do you understand?”

Cyn could only nod, even if it meant the opposite answer. I...just want… “Cyn. Don’t just give me an answer. I want honesty. It is my job to find those responsible for breaking our governing and local pack laws. You...are a victim here. Not a fortunate survivor. A victim.” Letting go of the little deer, Arric pulled his knee back and swiveled, facing the other way and crossing his legs in a seated position. Widening his eyes at the move, Cyn recognized it as the way the doctor sat. “Doctor Ronnet told me you respond well to conversation like this. Can you talk to me as I sit here, Cyn?”

Studying the large man in the new position, Cyn’s body began to calm down. But the pain pushed itself to the forefront of his mind. “Y-Yes.” As he slightly moved his leg, the deer felt as if his wound caught fire and let a gasp out. Arric darted his head towards the deer, and quickly shot to his feet, barreling to the door.

“We asked for nurses! Get them in here! There’s a patient on the floor and his wound has reopened! Hankel! Dunn! Get your asses moving!” As the man shouted words of authority, two male nurses and a female scurried in. They quickly coordinated with Doctor Ronnet to get a sedative started and Cyn back in the bed. As the staff tried as gently as they could to lift the deer’s body, more pain attacked Cyn. “And someone get a fresh gown! And a mop and bucket!”

The deer wanted to struggle, but he could only lay in silence as the large wolf’s voice permeated his mind. It’s...so strong. I can’t move. Once in bed, a nurse grabbed the IV stand and stuck in a morphine sedative. Before Cyn could process what was being stuck in his arm, he felt weakened. His eyes drooped and he could barely bob his head. His eyes closed and everything went dark once more.

“He’s sedated. Let’s get him cleaned up and brought back to surgery. We need those stitches reattached. Call for Doctor Morgan and have this brought to priority level ‘A.’ And if he throws a fit, tell him I can hand him his pink slip now or later!” Ronnet barked orders to his staff and made sure that Cyn’s vitals were stable.

Allowing a deep breath, Ronnet could only hope for the best for his new patient. Turning to Arric, the doctor dipped his head once more. “I’m sorry this didn’t go as well as we planned.”

With his hand held up, Arric shook his head. “No, this was my bad. I wanted to come in, but I forgot how fragile cernunnos are. I should have placed myself in his shoes. He’s a deer who was just mauled, and we have him surrounded by wolves. This won’t be easy, doctor.” Exhaling out of his nose, the menacing man placed his hands on his hips. “What do we know so far from Cyn?”

Pulling out his phone, Ronnet flicked through his notes. “He was attacked in the Kettle Morraine, along with his herd. There was one more cernunnos with him. Attacking them were three wolves, led by a silver furred wolf. I asked for more details but Cyn got sidetracked. One wolf went after the normal deer while the silver one and the last wolf hounded the cern.”

Arric stood in anger. He knew of a couple wolves nearby that fit that bill. “Go on.”

“The other wolf went after the unknown cern, and the silver one attacked Cyn. From the medical report so far, minor wounds on the stomach and sides, and one major wound on the left leg. From what Cyn recollected, there was a different wolf, one different from the original three. This one attacked the silver wolf, essentially saving Cyn from certain death. THe only detail we got from the deer was that the fur was darker.”

Arric’s amber eyes grew wider. Another shifter? Saving the cern? Damn, I wish we knew more! “Is that all?”

Ronnet shook his head. “We’ll know more in a couple hours when the test results come back in.”

“Test results?”

“Yes. We ran some swabs from Cyn’s wounds. We’re hoping for DNA or some specific lycanthropy strands.”

Folding his arms into his chest, Arric huffed. “I’m looking for an unbiased answer here, Doc. Can you think of anyone who would pull this?”

Ronnet closed his eyes and let out a nervous breath. “How big of a list do you want?”

Snarling at the answer, Arric pulled out his phone and dialed a number. Not even after half of a ring, the other side picked up. “I want a squadron of thirty wolves. Ten teams of three. Cover the entire Kettle Morraine. Pick up any scents of cernunnos and wolves that have been in the area, and give me a detailed report by nightfall. And I don’t want any bull shit, you got me, Sheamus? I want your best on this.”

“Boss? Kettle...Morraine?”

“You got fur in your ears? Yes! KMSF! Now get to it!” Arric pressed his touchscreen to end the call. Damn...I miss my flip phone! Can’t hang up with authority on phones anymore. “Sorry you had to hear that Doc.”

Ronnet gave a smirk and shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, someone’s gotta be the bad guy.”

With a quick snort, Arric thanked the doctor and walked out of the room as he began noticing the putrid stench. He quickly saw a female shifter nurse who bent her neck to him. “Where’s the operating room? They took the patient from Room 224 for surgery. I’d like to either watch or wait for the surgeon.”

“Sir, we can put you in the observation room. When the Doctor Morgan is done with the patient, I’ll let him know you want to speak with him.”

Arric appreciated the young nurse and her ability to stay cool under pressure. “Keep up the good work, nurse…?”

“Nora, sir.”

Giving the lady a subtle dip of the head, he waved his hand out to signal her to show him the way. She took off with a brisk pace and Arric almost needed to increase his stride to keep up. Slow down! It’s not a damned track sprint! Down several hallways and through the automatic swinging doors, Arric was shown to a small room with a large window pane. There, he saw several people covered in blue gowns, washing and scrubbing their hands in a prep room attached to the main room. The main room with a knocked out Cyn half naked on the table.

As the group of people began huddling around the deer, Arric squinted as they began working. C’mon. I know he’ll make it, but I need answers. And that little fawn is the one holding them!

***

I’m fucked. Royally fucked! Jesus, what have I gotten myself into? Why did I even do that? If Kara and Jaime weren’t there with me, I’d have been done for.

But so would have that cern. I don’t know what came over me, but I stopped that...that bastard! Yeah...feels good to call him that. Not everyone knows who he really is, but Eike...he went too far. It was one thing to kill off the cern’s deer. But to go after them, as a race? That’s...just plain reckless, and inhumane. They’re shifters, too! Capable of human emotion and intelligence! That’s just...wrong! We can’t hunt them. That’s why the laws were put into effect.

Guess...Guess I gotta do it. This is gonna be a fun phone call.

The shifter grabbed his phone, pressed a few buttons, and put the phone up to his ear. “Me again...not yet...sorry, sir, but there’s something you should know.

“I’m the wolf that brought the deer to the hospital.”