Oregon in the Fall - 6. Chapter Six: Trinity

The silence in the room was thick, almost tangible, as we all turned to face Mark. He stood by the door, disheveled. I could’ve asked him how he’d gotten free, but that wasn’t necessary. His arms were singed, his flesh moist and bare. I could see bone. With enough force, a werewolf can do many things. And if pain isn’t a concern… Well, I knew how that worked. It’s how I managed to escape after all.

The raw emotion in Mark’s gaze was a tumultuous mix of regret and determination. That wasn’t enough for me, though.

“I know I have no right to ask for your trust,” Mark began, his voice steady despite the obvious strain, “but I’ve come to help, Grey.”

I studied him for a moment, the memories of our shared past swirling in my mind. The wolf within me bristled, torn between the urge to confront and the need to understand.

“Talk,” I said finally, my voice a low growl that echoed slightly in the quiet of the bar.

Mark nodded, taking a cautious step forward. I growled at him. “Beatrice was more than just a shaman to our pack. She was a guardian, one of the few who knew the secrets of the ancient curse. It’s not just a blight upon our pack, Grey. It’s a part of something much bigger, a war that spans across the supernatural realm.”

Clara leaned forward, her eyes sharp. “A war?”

“A war that’s been brewing for centuries,” Mark replied, but keeping his eyes on me. “It’s about balance, about powers that were meant to keep the world in harmony but have been corrupted over time. Beatrice was one of the few who sought to restore that balance.”

Dave shifted uncomfortably, his gaze flickering to me and then away. “And what does this have to do with me? With us?”

“Everything,” Mark said. “Grey, when Beatrice shielded you from the curse, she also imbued you with a gift, a key to undoing the damage that’s been done. And Dave, your powers, I don’t think they’re a coincidence.”

How did he know that? This wasn’t the Mark I knew.

“How do you know all this?” I said, a little louder than I intended to, “You lied to me, for years?”

All the feelings came rushing back. I’m sure nobody would be able to tell what I felt, though. Because I didn’t know either.

The tension in the air broke for a moment when Mark’s healing wrist made a hissing sound and a piece of chain that had embedded in his flesh dropped to the floor, accompanied by some steam and an audible clink.

“Eew,” Dave said, disgusted. Clara let out a chuckle.

“Grey…” Mark said, “I haven’t been truthful with you.”

I felt a chill run down my spine.

“No shit. Honestly, I have no idea who you even are. The Mark I knew never existed,” I said, “and how do you know all these things? You knew what I was struggling with for years, and you didn’t say a word. Instead, you just agreed with my father, and my brother. You sided with them. Against me. I was completely alone.”

“I had a job to do,” he said.

“You had… a job to do?” I asked him. What?

“Yes, and I failed. On the day Beatrice disappeared, I knew she was going to talk to you.”

That made no sense.

“She told me that if anything happened to her, I needed to make sure you were safe. She said… I needed to be close to you to make sure the curse didn’t affect you. Grey, we were both kids. I’m sorry… When you told me you wanted to leave to go find her, I just remembered her words. And you wouldn’t budge… so I told your dad about your plans to leave,” he said.

“That was you?” I screamed at him, “They chained me up!”

That hit home. He lowered his head and started sobbing uncontrollably. He had been my everything. I had confided in him. And he betrayed me. I was seething with rage, so much that I’m sure my eyes must’ve been glowing red. That’s when I felt Dave’s hand on my arm. It did the trick to calm me down, just a bit.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” Mark said.

I needed a moment to compose myself, when I finally said, “So why are you here now?”

“Grey, after you left… things deteriorated within hours. They became so uncontrollably vicious. On our run last night, they mauled a group of hikers. For fun. They just ripped them apart and howled in joy,” he said, his head still facing the floor.

That couldn’t be on me? What did I have to do with that? Should I have stayed? Fuck.

“Fuck,” I said.

“It’s not your fault. I failed you. I knew that if we were to fix things, I had to come find you. You were their tether, I think? I don’t know exactly how everything works. Only Beatrice will have those answers for us,” he said.

Mark. My Mark. It still felt ok to have him around. And he wasn’t a threat, was he?

threat. no. maybe.

I went over to him. I gently put my hand on his chin and guided his face upwards. Our eyes met, and I wiped a tear off his cheek—he smelled like flowers.

“I’m sorry I attacked you. Running away wasn’t easy, and when I saw you here, I thought I had failed,” I said.

I turned around towards Dave and Clara and asked them, “Is it ok if he sits with us?”

Clara smiled. “I haven’t been this entertained in years. Of course, it is, sweetie. Besides, you have no idea what I’m capable of if any of you decide to go feral and slice up something I own, or someone I love,” she said.

I chuckled, nervously. “I don’t, and while I’m not planning on slicing up anything or anyone soon, I sure would like to know more details on that, Clara,” I said to her.

“I have no doubt you’re going to find out soon,” she said. She was beaming with delight, something she did a lot, and I liked it.

I looked at Dave, who wasn’t looking too happy. His lips were pressed together, and he was looking at the table, a desolate look on his face. I ran over to him, leaving Mark standing where he was.

“Hey… hey!” I said to him.

He looked up at me. Those eyes.

“What’s up?” I said.

“Nothing. I thought…” Dave said.

“I know,” I said, with a smirk.

ours.

His eyes were fixed on mine, he was shifting his gaze between both of my eyes, alternating nervously, waiting for me to say something.

“Nothing changed, Dave,” I said, “I meant it when I said I found you.”

A warm smile appeared on Dave’s face. He touched my nose.

kiss.

No. Inappropriate.

“Still no shine,” I said.

“Give it time,” he said.

I felt Mark slumping behind me, crushed. There is past, and there is present. I thought what we had was real. It wasn’t. I think it wasn’t his fault, but that doesn’t change the fact that he did lie to me, no matter the reasons. What we had was never real. Or at least not real for the right reasons.

“Sun and moon,” I said, my eyes still fixed on Dave.

Clara made a gagging sound, and said, “I’m being surrounded by magical gay people.”

Dave and I started laughing. When Mark chimed in with a laugh of his own from the desolate spot I had left him standing in, it broke whatever tension was left in the air.

“It’s getting late. And if Dave’s ok with letting the other two men here raid his closet later, we should postpone the shopping trip to tomorrow. I am starving,” Clara said.

“Can’t you just conjure up some food?” I said.

“Listen, Grey. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and just assume you’re referencing my immense magical repertoire. If that is the case, I can. But I won’t. It’s very draining. And considering everything that happened, including the fact that we just cleaned the kitchen together, I think we should order in some pizza.”

“Pizza!” Dave said.

Dave ordered the pizza. Notably, he left out the meat. That was good for us wolves, as we preferred our meat raw, eaten directly from the animal. In human form, I honestly preferred not eating meat altogether. Cooking it was so weird.

Clara surprised me and Mark when she tidied up the mess we made in the bar with some intricate weaving of her hands. The surrounding air seemed to dance to her motions. Chairs were moved, objects were rearranged. A tiny crack in the windows that I probably caused when I threw Mark across the room repaired itself. I watched all of this with glee, and I started clapping my hands like a little child.

“I’m glad I’m entertaining you,” Clara said.

“Oh, you are. How are you doing this?” I said.

“It’s complicated,” she said.

Complicated, huh?

“Wait. Why did you hire me and had me clean up the kitchen when you can do… this?” I said, waving my hand at… the everything.

“Well, sweetie. You needed a job, right? I felt the cleaning could be a nice bonding moment.”

“Well, thank you,” I said, “you are wise beyond your years.”

She tilted her head at that. “That’s an interesting way of putting it. Huh,” she said, looking lost in thought.

What didn’t I get here?

There was a knock at the door. Mark growled, and we both tensed up, turning towards the noise.

Clara clapped. Loudly. “Snap out of it! It’s just the pizza!” she said. Dave laughed.

So this was it. While we were eating, I realized it had only been 24 hours since I met Dave and Clara. And what, 48 hours since I broke free and ran away?

Dave had ordered eight pizzas. That was wise of him. I was extremely hungry, only to be overtaken in hunger by Clara.

“You’re eating like… me, Clara,” I said.

She was stuffing her face with pizza, just shoving a full slice into her wide open mouth and chewing it, contentedly. She still managed to smile at me.

“I’m taking that as a compliment,” Clara said. Or at least it was what I interpreted from her muffled words.

“Mark, how did you find me so fast?” I asked him.

“Fast? It still took me half a day. You were clever in taking a bus. Made it hard to trace your scent,” Mark said.

“Half a day. I honestly thought no one would be able to find me.”

“You underestimate me.”

“I mean it when I say that I think we are ok right now, but I don’t think I’ve ever known you.”

Mark choked at that.

“I know,” he said, “and I can’t change the past. But I’m here now.”

“Can we go back to the fact that both of you seem to already be including me on this adventure of yours? I am really trying to keep up, but I don’t think my brain works fast enough,” Dave said.

“Dave, you called to me,” I said.

“I did?”

“In your dreams, remember?”

“Oh. But it was a dream.”

That got Mark’s attention. “You talked to each other in your dreams?” he said.

He seemed lost in thought.

“What is it?” Clara said.

“I have a theory,” Mark said, looking at Clara, then he looked over at Dave and said, “Give me your hand.”

“Pizza hands!” Dave said.

“You know, when you run over dirt and leaves in a forest with your paws, you stop caring about these things,” Mark said and took Dave’s hand into his, “And Grey, take my hand, too.”

I reached over the table, reluctantly, furrowing my eyebrows. He grabbed my hand.

“Now both of you, take each other’s hand,” he said.

We did.

Fuck.

It was… electrifying. Power, from one side to the other and back. A circle of life, unending. Limitless. I think I started laughing from pure joy.

“They’re glowing again,” Clara said, with an annoyed tone to her voice.

I guess we were. The golden light was flowing in all directions, from me to Dave to Mark to me to Dave. Why? I let go of their hands and stared at Mark.

“There’s something about Beatrice you’re not telling me,” I said.

“Yeah…” Mark said, and turned towards Dave, “Dave, what’s your birthday?”

Dave looked puzzled. He said, “January 19, why?”

“Yeah, mine too. 2003?” Mark said.

Dave slowly nodded. My mouth opened slightly. It dawned on me, but I wasn’t quite there yet. My gaze was shifting between the both of them.

“You’re his…” I said.

“Brother,” Mark said, smiling.

Dave just stared at him, his mouth wide open. Even Clara seemed fazed by this now. “What?” she said.

“But Dave’s not a wolf,” I said.

“Grey… I wasn’t born wolf either,” Mark said.

My mouth hung wide open, astonished. No, shocked.

“You were turned?” I said.

He simply said, “Yes.”

“I thought that was impossible?”

“Impossible, no. Improbable, yeah.”

My mind was racing. Brothers? Mark was turned? There hadn’t been a successful human turned wolf in centuries. Or I guess there had been. Well, fuck.

But it wasn’t just racing because of that.

“You were both born on January 19, 2003,” I said.

They both nodded.

“My birthday is April 14, 2002.”

“Ok?” Dave said.

“Around the time Beatrice helped my mom during childbirth, and did the… curse thing… The protection. She also… became pregnant with you. With you both. We are nine months apart.”

“What?” Clara said.

“What?” Dave said.

“What?” Mark said.

Yeah.