10.27pm or so…after these events at least.
A couple hours later there was a knock on the door, they hadn’t returned from their hunt as yet so I was all alone. It was moron from school, the one that wanted to make dear old ex jealous with the new girl. How on earth did he manage to find out where I live?
“Hello.” I said once I’d opened the door and saw who it was. He smiled charmingly at me, evidently hoping to use his good looks to make me do his bidding, what ever that was.
“Hello there. I realised that I didn’t catch your name earlier.” He said politely.
I raised a brow at him “You don’t know my name yet you know where I live? Isn’t that a touch contradictory?”
“Oooh, the lady knows big words.” He mocked softly and my eyes narrowed angrily. “It’s just skill. Now, your name?” he prodded further.
“Miranda. Now leave, please.”
“Oh, no. I don’t think I’ll do that Miranda. See I have a cousin in –“ here he mentioned the name of the coastal town we have just fled from “and I’ve heard some rather disturbing news about you and your…family.”
“Oh really?” I yawned obviously, seeming to be bored. “And just what that might be?”
“That they are behind numerous murders at that town!!” he said truimphantly.
“Really? Fancy that.” I was being rather blasé and bored with all this theatrics, not giving him any hints. I tend to have to handle this side of things, whenever we have to leave or enter a town. “Does your cousin happen to know what actually killed those people or are they just spreading gossip?”
“They know!”
“And I believe it was a large…animal of some sort yes?”
He nodded grudgingly and backed away as I stepped outside, shutting the door behind me. The wind tousled my hair and brought his scent to my nose, I breathed it in deeply, imprinting it on my mind and stifling an instinctive urge to snarl. Danger, whispered his scent.
“Well how could my family be involved in an animals crime?”
The wind changed, blowing between us and removing the scent from my nose before I had to give in to the urge to flee or fight. That wouldn’t exactly go down well in this situation I believe.
“Because they, and you, are werewolves!” he gasped finally.
I gazed at him steadily. “Perhaps you had better come inside.” I said softly.
He glanced to the bushes and I saw a faint rustle. So, he had not come alone but had people expecting him to return if he vanished from sight. At least this human is not completely idiotic, well, he had some prudence to his name.
I let him in and turned the lock as I muttered scornfully “Fool.” He didn’t even bother to watch the door, was merely gaping around at the immaculate room. I despise mess, or clutter or anything of the sort. “Not what you’d expect from a family of…werewolves was it that you said?” I asked sweetly.
He shook his head shakily “N-no…werewolves are always living in filth, they are less than animals.” He muttered absently, almost as though he were talking to himself. I managed to refrain from rolling my eyes and walked by him, turning my face away to hide the silent snarl.
I led him to the kitchen and bade him to sit at the oaken table as I went to the kettle and set the water on to boil. “Tea or coffee?”
“Coffee…what?! What do you think you’ll do here?” he sat weakly at the table, resting his head on my work.
I yawned and stretched, leaning back against the bench as I waited for the water to boil “Do? Why I’ll do nothing.” I said blandly “What would I do at this time of night?”
He gaped at me in incomprehension. Don’t you just hate stupid people? They are so annoying. He gazed down at my sums, frowning slightly as he tried to make sense of the complex equations. “What is this?”
“Algebra I believe.” I turned away and stirred the cups, pouring milk in to cool them down before setting his cup before him and clearing away my papers. “Now, what did your cousin say to you?” I asked softly and before he could reply there was a clicking of claws on wood that heralded the return of my family.
Howard was the first in from the back door he glanced at my guest and quickly shunted our parents back out onto the patio. “Who-what was that?” stammered my guest.
“Our pets.” I replied, shutting the door behind Harolds golden tail.
“Uh-huh…Are you a werewolf?”
I smiled at him but made no reply, taking a small sip of my coffee instead.
“I bet you are, I bet you all are.” He muttered.
“Mmm…depends on what you class a ‘werewolf’ as.” I said placidly, not affirming nor denying his claim.
He stared at me “So you are were (like ‘where’ only more breathy with the wh).” He whispered in awe.
Harold chose that moment to walk in. I discreetly rubbed the corner of my mouth, telling him that he had blood there and he swiftly wiped his mouth clean.
“Howdy.” He said to my ‘guest’, letting him get the full impact of Harolds famous charm.
“Hey…” was the dazed reply.
“Now…hang on, what’s your name?”
“Jack.”
“Ah, thankyou. Now Jack, how could you believe such a thing about my baby brother? Isn’t he the sweetest thing?” I said to Jack beguilingly, persuading him to forget what brought him over here. Harold of course made a face at me because I called him a ‘baby’.
“I…yeah.”
“There now, if Harold darling isn’t a …werewolf,” I said the word with a not wholly feigned shudder, such an ugly way to describe the noble lycan race.
“How could anyone else in my family be so. Don’t these…creatures, travel in groups?”
“Um….usually.”
“See? I’m not a werewolf, Harold isn’t either so that means there isn’t enough …things here to be a group or whatever right?”
“Right…” he still sounded rather doubtful, not entirely confident in his case but neither disbelieving mine either. I swiftly ushered a still stuttering Jack out the front door, gave him a peck on the cheek and slammed the door shut just as mother leapt into the kitchen, snarling at father who had control of the carcass at that point.
“Mother!” I snapped angrily. She didn’t even glance at me. I gave a glare at Harold and got a ‘not my fault’ shrug in reply as he sat down to drink his water.
I snarled an insult at mother who immediately rounded on me, her teeth bared in defiance. I swiftly went lupine and snarled another insult, backing it up with an order to obey.
Now those of you that know a fair amount about lupine behaviour know that in each pack there is a boss female, in ours I fill that position. That means that mother needs to obey my commands because she’ll have Harold to deal with if she doesn’t. In the Pack however, Harold and I are merely adolescents, albeit highly prized ones so mother must obey the Pack boss female, not me.
She rumbled low in her chest and leapt at me, attempting to slash me with her fangs. I easily leapt aside and tore open her shoulder, blood clotting her grey fur as she whined, the bloodlust dimming in her eyes. I rumbled a command to her, giving father a hard glare so that he backed away from the meat pleasingly as mother lay down on the floor, lowering her head submissively.
I sniffed the meat absently and lifted my upper lip slightly, scenting other wolf scents. This was not their kill. I rounded on my parents and snarled abuse at them, accusing them of being carrion eaters and thieves. Sullenly mother changed back into her human form, her shoulder bleeding freely, father not too far behind.
I glared at them and placed my hands on my hips angrily “What were you two thinking? Do you want us to be tossed out?” I snapped at them. Mother shook her head warily “You’re not Wolf! Speak!” I snapped out, greatly irritated with them.
“No daughter…but we could find no game!”
“So return empty handed, it’s simple. I don’t understand how two bitten such
as yourselves could fail to understand that.”
Mother whined, losing coherence with her human form briefly “We didn’t want to disappoint.”
“Poppycock. You were upset because Harold prevented you from hunting a human and wanted to prove that you were more powerful than mere animals.” I snapped in irritation. Harold chuckled softly and downed the rest of his water as I sent a soundly scolded pair out to bury their ‘meat’.
“Did you know that your ‘Jack’ is the son of a wolfhunter?” asked Harold conversationally.
“He is?”
“Of course sister mine, and if you spent more time lupine you would have known that for yourself.” He yawned elaborately.
I rolled my eyes “And you were letting his sister catch a handful.” I mocked him and was delighted by the blush that I got in reply.
“Yes well, humans are delightfully…inventive in that area of things.”
I snorted and tipped the remainder of Jacks coffee down the sink, rinsing out the cup as I did so.
“Oh, and there is a Pack meeting tonight.” Added Harold absently.
“What? Why?” I was rather surprised, the Pack usually only meet once a season and we’ve already had our Autumn Meet.
Harold gave me a look as though I were stupid “The Wolfhunter, duh.”
“Ah.” I murmured, making a slight face at him before sitting down and pulling my papers before me again to work on the sum I had left half completed earlier.
Midnight, or there about.
My parents ran through the back door, vanishing eagerly into the forest that was a couple hundred metres from our porch. I locked the door and carefully hid the key before turning to face the welcoming night. Harold was waiting for me patiently, gazing at me intently as his golden fur seemed to glow in the shadows of the house.
I stretched my arms out, relishing the night air on my skin as a familiar tingling ran over my body. It always felt slightly odd going lycan, but even more odd returning to human as you tended to feel decidedly naked without your fur.
I shook myself, my white fur reflecting the faint moonlight so that I seemed to be a creature of fantasy. We walked slowly to the forest, I re-acquainting myself with the sheer power of my lycan body, relishing the strength, agility and the keenness of my senses.
My nostrils twitched and I glanced at a bush briefly, an involuntary reaction to scenting a particularly plump rabbit. There are some things that you should go out of your way to eat...like rabbit. Even if they are the very devil to catch, which is all part of their attraction of course. I trotted on, Harold at my side as we followed the scent of our parents which slowly mingled with scents from members of our Pack.
The clearing where the Pack lay was darkened, not even the faintest hint of light reached the depths of the forest here. A pitch blackness that complemented most of the Pack, being dark-furred and bitten.
The boss male stepped forward to greet us, rather than simply waiting for us to take our place in the Pack. His upper lip lifted slightly, revealing the barest glimmer of teeth as he challenged us, making us either have to submit and accept his dominance or fight for his place.
I of course, lowered my head deferentially, even as I kept my eyes on him, he’s never challenged us before. Harold kept his head high and glared at the boss male, not accepting dominance even with lip service.
The boss male, Silentpaws as we knew him as, snarled at Harold or Flashkill. Flashkill snarled right back, Harold fading into the lycan mind as his human response would have been exactly that.
I was Silversnow, as silent and as deadly as the freezing snow to the unwary. Silentpaws rumbled a warning at Flashkill, demanding that he give in and accept dominance as a pup should. Flashkill snarled that he was no pup, but an adult in his own right. Mother voiced her support of Flashkills statement, saying that he were a better hunter than most, if not all lycans here.
Silentpaws didn’t like this and turned on mother, tearing open her shoulder and would have done more if I had not sunk my fangs into his rump and tore out a sizeable chunk. He, of all lycan, should have remembered to never turn his back on the Silversnow, frostbite strikes the unwary.
I immediately backed away to stand beside my brother, not even offering the merest hint of deference to Silentpaws. Mother whimpered and father padded to her side, licking the cut soothingly as we faced down Silentpaws.
‘Silversnow, Flashkill, you are a perversion of the Pack.’ Snarled Silentpaws, favouring his hind leg that had the reminder of my teeth and why I had my name.
‘We are not.’ Growled Flashkill, baring his fangs at Silentpaws. ‘We came as we were bid and now we refuse to submit to you another time. It is the way things always were and always will be. The young remove the old when the old are decrepit.’
Silentpaws snarled an insult and leapt at Flashkill, only to go sprawling as Flashkill dodged to the side. I levelled my blue gaze at Silentpaws, a barely concealed warning in my stance as I watched him carefully.
‘Violenthunt, Slaughter.’ Snarled Silentpaws, calling them to him for support in a battle entirely of his own making. Obediently they came, a red and grey lycan and a black one, to take their positions either side of Silentpaws. They got their names because they relish in causing pain to their prey, human, animal or lycan, all yelped the same to them.
I eyed them warily as Flashkill flattened his ears, preparing for a fight. All three lycans focused their attention on Flashkill, circling him and preparing to lunge and make stinging snaps until I snarled viciously behind them.
'Flashkill is my brother.’ I snapped, my fangs clicking in the air just behind Slaughters leg, just shy of hamstringing him. ‘And I’ll not stand and let you hurt him.’ My teeth crunched down on Silentpaws’ tail, breaking bones as a warning.
Silentpaws glared around at the Pack, watching as they drew back in fear. Very rarely were I seen to hunt, or even lycan and the ease at which I moved to sink my fangs into his body and Slaughters narrow miss gave them a wary respect for me.
Silentpaws snarled and lunged at Flashkill, starting the battle as I headed off Violenthunt and Slaughter, nipping chunks from their faces and chests. They completely ignored Flashkill and Silentpaws, for all that their snarls echoed through the trees where I were silent, my fangs bared in warning; there was no doubt in any lycan mind, who was the more dangerous.
My legs flexed and I dodged to the side, avoiding Slaughters attack as I tore open his shoulder in reply. They both lunged in at once and I sprung away, turning and landing forepaws first on Violenthunts side, shunting him to the ground and breaking ribs as I pushed off of him to avoid Slaughter.
A flash of pain travelled along my tail, Slaughter had managed to break the skin and tear out a chunk. I spun as soon as my paws touched rotting leaves, sending a few clumps flying as I met another lunge with my fangs, just missing an eye.
I lost my nerve slightly, bloodlust was in Slaughters eyes, and Violenthunts'. This was not good, not good at all. They were in the grip of bloodlust, all reason gone and only a primitive urge to taste flesh and feel the lifeblood throb out into their mouths was all that guided their actions.
I sprang over them again, digging my claws into the leaf litter I lead them on a short chase through the forest as I ran a circle back to the clearing, dashing past the fascinated members of the Pack as Flashkill flaunted the reason for his name in a flamboyant death-strike to Silentpaws.
A paw twitched slightly as Silentpaws gazed up at the two lycans that had more than their paws in his death. A golden muzzle dripping his lifeblood and a white one crimson from two foes flesh. His glazing eyes widened, the bloodlust in them vanishing as his limited lycan mind registered that neither one of us were in the throes of that insanity.
I waited, panting slightly, for Violenthunt and Slaughter to attack. I knew they had seen Silentpaws’ death or had gathered that he was no longer hunting as Flashkill was standing and Silentpaws was not. I stepped over Silentpaws’ body, my paws avoiding the patched of blood on the ground as I paced the clearing, watching for the attack.
There was none, Violenthunt and Slaughter entered the clearing, still bleeding to crawl the final few metres to me and Flashkill on their bellies. I stopped my pacing and gazed at them steadily, somewhat surprised that the bloodlust had let them go so easily as they rolled onto their backs, offering us their unprotected stomachs and throats to our fangs.
Flashkill raised his head to meet my gaze, pride in his gaze as he took control of the Pack but insisted that I head it with him. I gazed down contemptuously at the still vulnerable Violenthunt and Slaughter, turning my back on them to stand beside my golden brother, our fur stiffening from the dried blood as the Pack came to do homage to their new leaders. ‘I cannot be the boss female.’ I told Flashkill quietly.
‘Why not?’
‘You need a mate, and it would bring bad blood to mate with me.’ I said softly, accepting the allegiances of the females of the Pack and striving to ignore Violenthunt and Slaughter, who crowded my paws in begging for forgiveness.
Flashkill thought this over for a few minutes ‘True. But I have no mate at this time and need a boss female.’
‘Choose one of them then.’ I pointed my snout at the females that had given me their obedience. ‘You know I would be rarely around or amiable to Pack will.’
Flashkill gave me an amused glance ‘Sister mine, you know that would not work.’
‘Why ever not?’
‘You are obviously the only boss-worthy female here, my mate would have to be stronger than you.’
‘She would need not fight me. She could have the rank with my blessing.’
‘But you would not obey her, would you?’
I licked the blood from my snout as I thought that over ‘Probably not.’ I conceded.
‘Nor should you!’ said Slaughter quietly from somewhere around my underbelly. I glanced at him and he whimpered and licked my paw in apology.
Flashkill stepped away from me to gaze at the two lycans at my feet curiously. They lifted their upper lips slightly, warning him off although offering no other defiance.
‘Why are you there?’ he asked them bemusedly.
‘She could have killed us, she should have spilt our lifeblood but did not. She helped us fight the insanity and deserves our loyalty more than the Pack does.’ Murmured Violenthunt softly, echoed by Slaughter. I blinked and stepped away from them to gaze down into their faces. They lowered their heads to the floor and flattened their ears placatingly, not raising their gaze to see even my paws but staring firmly at the ground.
I gave Flashkill a glance that said ‘this is all your fault’. He grinned at me and shrugged, meaning it might be his fault but it’s my problem. ‘Oh get up.’ I said in exasperation. They hurried to their paws and winced as the sudden movement pulled on their wounds, reminding me and them of the battle just fought.
They were mortified at the memory and I was seriously resigned. ‘Someone take care of their wounds?’ I asked no one in particular as I examined my tail, licking the sluggishly bleeding skin and cleaning the blood off my fur.
Two females cleaned the fur of Violenthunt and Slaughter, ignoring their whimpers of pain as they shifted the flesh of the deeper wounds. I checked the rest of my body over, extremely gratified that it was only my tail that had been wounded and that I won’t have any oddly placed bandages to explain away.
Flashkill inclined his head to me before singing out the triumphant cry of a lycan that had successfully taken over a Pack. I joined my voice to his and soon the whole Pack was singing, just for the joy of being together and able to greet one another.
Harold and I led the way back home, the wind ruffling our fur and promising a cold day in the dawn. Mother and father trotted up to their room after I had let them in and Harold got a drink from the kitchen. I glanced back towards the forest and saw two shadows dart behind trees, as though striving to stay out of sight. I frowned slightly and shut the door, turning the lock with a quiet snick.
As warned, it is massively long, and there's fur, a fight scene and death. Which means this rightly ought to be R, right? I'm setting it as R anyways. A little mystery solved and another not so subtle one developed. I'm hoping that you're enjoying this, whoever is checking it regularly, even though I don't get crits. Another three sections and an epilogue and tada, we have the entire story up for reading.
Enjoy writers and all.
~Chibi
