The Night Beat

Jude or Ken?”
    “Mating,” he said patiently. “As in having a litter, puppies, babies, offspring, propagation of the species. Am I getting through?”
    “Yeah, yeah. Again, why no dusting of Jude and Ken?”
    Ralph sighed. “I have to keep reminding myself that you never got the full werewolf indoctrination and also remind myself that you never listened to a word I said before tonight. While we can make a werewolf any time we want with our bite, werewolves can only reproduce genetically with another werewolf. And we have to be in wolf form to impregnate.”
    “Oh.” I truly learned something new every day. Recently every hour. It was a good thing I was a being open to learning. “So, they don’t want me mating with you?”
    He coughed. “I think so. Might be with any werewolf, though.”
    “You’re the only werewolf I know well enough to consider mating with.” I thought about this. It was true. “Ralph? Why haven’t I ever considered dating another werewolf? We have plenty around. And, by that token, why don’t we have more werewolves working with us? We have plenty in Enforcement, but they never team with us. You’re the only werewolf I’ve worked with in at least a century, maybe more.”
    Ralph was quiet for a few long moments. “The party line is that we need to have a variety of beings in teams. And it does make sense. I think we fight well in mixed teams.”
    “But?”
    He sighed. “But a werewolf pack is unstoppable, and that’s not just rhetoric. The Adversary couldn’t claim you because Black Wolf and his pack arrived in time. Before you were made undead, that was what we werewolves did for the most part -- we wandered in packs to protect the newly formed undeads, save beings from being murdered or dusted by the Prince’s minions, and so on.”
    “So, werewolves were the guerilla fighters.”
    “Yeah, we were. Most of us were in Special Ops. Black Wolf was one of the highest ranking officers in Special Ops. You joined Necropolis Enforcement, got your training, and then, if you were good enough, you moved up and over to Special Ops.”
    “I’m not in Special Ops.” I tried not to sound disappointed.
    “You’re too important.”
    He said it like it was obvious. It was to me now, because of what had just happened, but the way Ralph said it, it was clear that it wasn’t a new idea to him. “What am I supposed to do? I mean my overall role in the grand scheme?”
    “I have no idea. I wish I did. No one knows, really. But the Adversary wanted you too badly, and you stood up against him when it looked like your only option was to die horrifically. You have no idea how rare that is in any being, let alone a human with no training. To stand against ultimate evil and choose your God even though horrible death awaits you otherwise. It’s why more than just Yahweh watch over you.”
    This was news. “I know Usen was there, because of Black Wolf. Is that what you mean?”
    “I mean you’re special to all the Gods and Monsters and they all watch over you to some degree. Why do you think Jude took such an interest in you? He knew you were special. I think he started out like I did -- staying close to protect you.”
    “I suppose.” I let the obvious statements slide -- Jude and I would always be more than friends and have to avoid each other for eternity because of it. I hoped it wasn’t going to turn out that way with Ralph. I also didn’t want to talk about how two beings who were supposed to protect me had fallen in love with me, and vice versa, as I thought about it. I wasn’t sure if I was in love with Ralph, but lust was by now a total given and realistically, the thought of him being dusted made me want to throw up in the same way the thought of Jude being dusted did. “Was Ken also on Guard Victoria duty?”
    “No. Not that I know of, anyway.” Ralph sighed. “He’ll be a good replacement for the Count, but he still has years to go.”
    “Let’s hope he gets them. Because I’m sure the Count is right after you on the minion’s hit list.”
    “Most likely. Face it, they want all of Necropolis Enforcement neutralized.”
    “And yet, they had their best opportunity at the Little Church and they didn’t take it.” I was heading us on a fascinating tour of Prosaic City. Sadly, our pursuers weren’t losing us. Trailing, yes, but not getting lost. Some days you just couldn’t get rid of a tail.
    “Right. Meaning they need something else before they’re sure