by Chris Savage
After a while running through the woods, Casper gave in to the urge to completely shift to his wolf form to cover more ground. As he ran, he felt his spine shudder and crack, bending to a wolf-like posture. His face shrunk as his canines extended even more. He was in no time on all fours and his speed increased significantly. He began to cover more ground faster than his hunters, which relieved him a bit. This, however, did not last long. The hunting pack suddenly recovered the previous distance as they continued to chase him. He realized that they must have shifted totally as well. They were in control of this hunting exercise, as well as their shifting process, unlike him. He started to wonder as he ran, whether they had the intention of killing him, because if they did, he thought, he most likely had no chance of survival. Casper suddenly heard a loud howl in the woods, distant from his location. The howl went on for a while, continuously and successively.
He hoped that was help, but he knew no one who could howl. Scratch that, he’d just found out he could howl minutes ago. He did not let such hope distract him from his fight for survival, as he kept up his pace and continued to run.
Casper’s wolf form was a marvel. Literally. He apparently did not know it yet, as he was running to save his life, but his wolf form was a completely silver-furred wolf, with blue eyes and a piercing stare. He replicated his athletic looking human body in his wolf form, and this time with perfect athletic abilities. He was a fast wolf, a very fast one at that, considering the fact that he’d only turned for the first time some minutes into the chase. His mind, however, was only occupied with one thing and one thing only: survival.
There was another loud growl from the same segment of the woods from which the howl came. It was a long and extended growl. He assumed there were additional parties to the hunting pack. After a while running, he noticed the sudden disappearance of uniformity in the way the hunters were arranged. Perhaps they’d decided to spread out. But no, some of them stopped running at certain times and joined the chase later on. At certain points he heard loud growls from the hunting pack. He turned around as he ran but he could not see anything or anyone. It took him a while before he realized that there was a fight within the pack chasing him. This made him more worried, because the only message that sent was that another pack had joined the hunting and there was a tussle for him. Soon he heard no howls or growls, just a number of wolves still chasing after him. They must have been pretty desperate to have held out this long. He felt his joints weakening, but he didn’t care one bit about any pain he could possibly be feeling at that moment. He could nurse his pain later while he thought about turning into a wolf, all after he escaped these monsters. He wondered if his uncle’s death had anything to do with the wolves. He struggled for a while with the thought of whether or not his uncle was a wolf before he died, but he shrugged off such ideas. For now he hated what he was and all those who chased after him. He avoided associating his late uncle with anything of such nature.
In no time the wolves began to close in on Casper as they chased. He would not let them get him alive, he thought to himself. He would end it right before they took him if it came to that. He was not going to allow a bunch of carnivores to have him for dinner. He forgot that his wolf instincts were his direction at that moment, and wolf instincts never pointed to suicide, or perhaps he never knew that he was not in full conscious control of his own actions.
Shane heard the loud growl from a distance and recognized it immediately. How did it happen? It can’t be. This is bad. As they chased the young wolf, he looked at Mark, who gave him a nod and continued the chase. Shane stopped and allowed the pack to continue the chase according to the plan. He looked up towards the sky and replied to the growl with an equally loud one. In no time, a huge alpha figure landed from nowhere, delivering a vicious blow to Shane’s face, impacting upon his landing. The blow threw Shane a few meters away, but he got on his feet immediately.
“Shane. So it’s you this time. The spoiled alpha could not come and take his coveted wolf himself,” the wolf man said as he stared Shane in the face, smiling mischievously. “Oh, don’t look so surprised, Shane,” he continued. “I’ve got to hand it to you guys, I did not see this coming. Guess you’re not as weak a pack as I thought you were,” he added with an evil laugh.
Before Shane could speak, the wolf man was already before him, landing another deadly punch to his body before he could register his surprise at the intruder’s speed. Shane was thrown farther this time and managed to get up on his feet. He wiped the blood coming out of his mouth and muttered, “Damion.”
“That’s right! Thought you’d forgotten! How’ve you been, Shane? Still uselessly old?” he said with another laugh. He was having fun at the expense of the other wolf.
“Come on, Shane, playtime’s over. Enough modesty. I’m not having fun here!” he shouted as he grabbed Shane by the neck.
Like a reply to his plea, the older wolf detached himself from Damion forcefully and delivered a massive hit on his shoulder. Damion growled in pain, shouting on top of his voice. Shane attacked again with a kick, which was his greatest weapon in battle, sending Damion deep into the woods out of sight. Shane immediately joined the chase to catch up with his hunting pack. He would have stayed to finish off Damion, but that was not his mission, and he was in charge of the capture. But Shane did not take into consideration that Damion was fast in healing and speed. Damion, taking another route in the woods, cornered and attacked the hunting pack under the leadership of Mark, who took over from Shane.
On catching up with the pack, Shane met some members of the hunt, including Mark, in a fight with Damion. Some of them continued the chase. Damion was having a field day against the hunting crew as he fought with all his might, defeating the four of them while sustaining serious injuries in the process, mostly inflicted by Mark. As Shane arrived to the scene, Damion attempted fleeting towards the direction of the search, only to be attacked by Mark, who had been lying on the ground after being hit previously. Shane was absolutely enraged upon seeing the injuries sustained by his team, especially Mark, whom he loved dearly. He leaped against the injured Damion, grabbed him by his limbs with both hands, lifted him in the air, and sent him flying with yet another kick backed up by raw anger this time. Shane immediately signaled to his wolf men that it was time to catch up with the boy.
Casper got to a certain clearing in the woods where he decided to find a place to hide. While contemplating, he suddenly felt the pack edging closer to him with a speed they had not run at since they began the chase. They had increased their speed. This time it felt like they were coming for blood. He could never outrun them at this rate, neither could he successfully find a place to hide, as there was no time. It seemed like they had intentionally been slowing down to indulge him so far, which meant they could take him anytime they wanted. He panicked, but this time was too much in a panic to run. He felt them surround him from different sides. Suddenly two wolves leaped into the clearing and faced him. He in turn went into beast mode again, growling and displaying his sharpened claws.
“It’s no use, boy,” a voice called from the top of a ridge close to the clearing. Casper looked up and saw a man standing there, most of his clothes ripped off. He made a huge leap off the ridge and landed right before Casper. “Don’t fight it,” he said. “It’s no use. Besides, we mean you no harm.”
Casper was enraged by the man’s statement.
“You mean no harm?!” He retained his half wolf form. I could’ve died in these woods! You’ve been chasing me for hours, you monster!”
“No, you could not have,” said a voice from the dark, which Shane recognized as Mark’s. He smiled.
Casper looked back at Shane. “What do you all want from me? Why can’t you just leave me alone and let me be?”
“I am sorry we can’t do that, Casper.”
“Why? You all need a new wolf to toy around with? You need an errand wolf in your league of monsters? No thank you!”
“You’re in grave
danger, Casper, believe me. If we wanted you dead, it would have been done in the alley. We’re just trying to help here, Casper.” Shane was being a model leader here. He was calm, trying not to lose the wolf. But his efforts looked counterproductive, as Casper got angrier by the second.
“Am I supposed to be grateful that you did not kill me? I was on my own when you all attacked me!”
“You attacked us, Casper.”
“And so you decided to chase me into the woods? I don’t know who I am anymore. I don’t know why I’m a wolf and then a human again. All I know is you all had claws and fangs and chased me into the woods! I’m going nowhere with you.”
Mark stepped out of the dark into the clearing. The moonlight reflected directly off his milky, beautiful face.
“We’re out of time, Casper,” he gently said. “You need to come with us. A war is coming. We can’t let you be on your own.”
Casper began to growl once again. “If a war is coming, then worry about your house! Leave me out of your war!” he roared, as he went straight for Mark, trying to knock him down and escape.
Shane was suddenly by his side as he took the first step towards Mark. An injection was already in his neck as well, putting him to sleep. Mark retrieved the wolf from Shane, who let out a loud howl, signifying the end and success of the mission.
The pack reciprocated, and collectively they headed back to the cabin.
Chapter 5
The entire pack convened at full moon right in front of the lake before the Naltice Cabin. There was eating and drinking amidst non-stop music. There were periodic howls as well, just to remind one another of their reason for feasting. The Naltice Pack had a tradition of feasting on the first day of every full moon. The pack was well aware of the threats that lay ahead and the seriousness of those threats. Members of the pack who went hunting for Casper the previous night were more aware of the dangers surrounding them, particularly the annihilation of all other packs, planned by Damion. Shane had not spoken to William since he’d returned, as preparations for the feast had been in order. He planned to give a full report to the alpha during the full moon celebration that night. William was confident that Shane had everything under control, and so did not bother to hurry to catch up. He joined the men while feasting and let out an authoritative howl, which was duly followed by every member of the pack. The same ritual was repeated three more times by William, and was reciprocated every single time by the entire Naltice Pack.
William stood up to interrupt the festivities, addressing the entire pack.
“Fellow wolves of the Naltice, it is no longer news that we’re in a position in which we have not been since the Great War. One that is absolutely delicate and must not be taken lightly. Unity has always been what kept us stronger. It kept us together before the Great War, even after we lost important leaders of this pack. It kept us going during the wars and has kept us strong even afterwards.
“We’re aware that members of our pack, led by the great Shane, set out last night to establish contact with the missing wolf. We have not been fully debriefed on the mission but I heard it was successful!” There was a round of applause from the pack, as Shane sat in a corner, raising his bottle of beer to William.
“I know that some of you think I am too hard in the way I deal with things, especially with things that affect this pack. You’re right. I am. But that is because I learned how to keep this pack together the hard way, and for that reason my resolve to keep us together will continue to grow stronger. This pack means everything to me, people. Everything. And that is exactly what I give this pack. Everything I have.
“We will not lose to Damion, or to the Hagen Pack, or anyone who wants to eliminate the peace that has existed between different packs for years now! We will preserve the peace, and we will do that for centuries to come!” There was a louder, more resounding round of applause from the pack members this time, as William carefully stepped out of the spotlight and the celebrations continued.
In the cabin, William carefully sat down as he watched his pack members enjoy themselves outside. All he cared about was keeping his people together, away from Damion’s plots and schemes, and to keep the missing wolf safe, now that Shane had established a connection with him.
His thoughts were interrupted by Shane stepping in the room. He stood up to embrace the man who had always been his source of guidance in the pack, making sure his ego and anger issues never got the best of him when making decisions, especially when they were not in the best interest of the pack.
“I didn’t see your hunting party return last night. How did it go with the missing wolf when you found him?” William was curious. He wanted to know how it went, if the young wolf was on their side now, or at least on Shane’s side.
There was silence. Shane wanted to find the right words to break the news to William but simply lacked it.
“Shane? How did it go with the boy? You found the boy, right? Does he know of his true nature yet?” Shane stood up and faced the window, staring out at the other celebrating pack members as he sighed once again.
“Things didn’t go as planned, William,” he said eventually. He knew that it was not his fault, and that he could not have avoided the outcome, but it was his responsibility to make things go right, and he’d failed.
“Shane, tell me the boy is alive.”
“Oh, he’s alive, that’s not the issue. In fact, you can come and see him yourself.”
“What do you mean see him myself, Shane, isn’t that why you went to town to… Shane? Tell me the boy’s not here!”
That was something Shane always admired, and would continue to admire about William. His intuition. Although in this moment he would have preferred if the alpha was wrong.
“Yes, William. He’s here. In the holding room, in fact.”
William was absolutely livid. The plan was to establish a connection with the boy, so as not to allow him to swallow whatever lies Damion had been feeding him. The boy knew nothing about being a wolf. However, Shane narrated the happenings of the previous night to William, and by the time he was done narrating, the alpha was a believer.
“You say he’s in the holding room?”
“Yeah.”
“Take me to him.”
It was a silent walk to the holding room. William had realized that Shane had no choice but to act the way he did, and that things would have gotten out of hand if he hadn’t. But he would have preferred if the wolf was not dragged halfway across the state into the wild. He knew that winning his trust would be difficult now that he had been introduced to the wolf part of himself. It went both ways: the bond of love between and among wolves was just as strong as the feeling of hatred felt by any wolf, especially towards another wolf.
At this point William thought of what to say to the wolf to settle him. It was a totally nerve wracking experience for him the day he’d first shifted into his wolf form. In his own case, he was born into the pack, where he was already surrounded by wolves. He had Shane, his father, and other members of the pack who were ready go guide him and give their all to protect him. He was the son of the alpha. And despite all these, his first shift was a life and death showdown. It was a full moon, so he saw it coming. He had been told the feelings he would go through, over and over. He knew the right things to do once the shifting started and the steps to take before and after. Yet it was still the most unpleasant feeling he’d ever felt.
He tried put himself in the shoes of the young wolf who had to shift for the first time on a night without a full moon—which was difficult, especially since he had to shift in a fight or flight position, which was immediately followed by a run for his life, deep into the woods, chased by other wolves who were most definitely stronger than him. William felt pity for him as he thought about all this. However, he kept mute as they both walked towards the room.
“Why do you think he shifted before he saw any of you?” William asked Shane, after confirming all the details of the story. He wanted to unde
rstand the type of wolf he would be dealing with in the coming minutes. He knew how experienced Shane was, so he relied on him in matters like these.
“He could sense us all around him. We were about eleven members of the pack placed at different areas. He felt our presence and it was overwhelming. He had never been surrounded by that amount of wolves, most likely, and it triggered a fight or flight response even before he saw us. He’s a special one, just like we expected.”
“No kidding,” was William’s reply as they approached the waiting room door.
The wolf sat quietly in one corner of the waiting room. He was clothed only in a pair of trousers as he sat in silence. His legs were folded and his head was bowed down, his blond hair falling and covering his face. His ribs, running across his body, were pronounced by the way he sat, reflecting the athletic nature of his slender figure yet again. Shane knocked on the door but the wolf did not move an inch. He remained where he was without making the tiniest attempt to even look upwards. Shane opened the door and stepped in.
William had been looking outside the room through the window and the sight of the wolf awakened curiosity he had never felt before. He wanted to know everything about the wolf. He stood rooted to the spot as he continued to stare at the young man from outside the room. Shane, however, tried to establish a connection with the wolf once again. He took some steps close to the man and spoke.
“Casper, that’s William outside the room. He’s the alpha of this pack. He wants nothing but your safety.”