Fire & Flesh

by Kerri Carr

Paul heard Andy snicker as he stoked the fire in the cave.

  “You tell him, Amy,” Andy said, popping some berries in his mouth. “I’ve been trying to tell him that I want to stay in the woods, but he won’t let me.”

  “What! And why not? The woods are better than those human houses and their garbage everywhere,” Amy said.

  “With all due respect, unlike some people, I have a good brother and, plus, I have his best interest at heart. The opportunities out there, with the humans—”

  Amy held her hands up silencing Paul. She had her eyes pinched closed and shook her head like she was disappointed.

  “Pauly, this is not about humans versus were-creatures. This is about you not wanting to face the beast beneath the man,” Amy said, walking towards him.

  Paul swallowed, feeling a tightening in his throat, and in his jeans.

  “There is nothing wrong with creatures like us. We don’t follow the same stupid, cookie-cutter rules that the humans do. Look at you, trying to be stiff in trousers, trying to control yourself and reign in your instincts,” Amy said, raising an eyebrow.

  “I want what’s best for my brother. There is nothing wrong with that,” Paul said, not sure if he believed it. The two minds in his skull often raged against each other. One said to get a job, and pay bills, and get a mortgage and raise a family. And the other was wild, mad, like electricity flashing telling him to run, to hunt, to climb, to be free.

  “Look, bro,” Andy said, cutting in, “I know you want the best for me, but I’m gonna be honest, that job sucks ass. I’ve been feeling like a caged animal, no pun intended, and now I know why. I was meant to be out here! I just—I just don’t think the human rules apply to me. And I hate pants. I hate clothes! Always have,” Andy said, ripping off his pants, and the shredded scraps that remained of his t-shirt.

  Amy looked at him approvingly, and Paul couldn’t help notice his brother looked a little swollen below the waist.

  “What about you, Pauly? I remember a time when you weren’t so keen on clothes either, hmm?” Amy said, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

  She and Andy stood side by side watching him, each with their arms folded, waiting for Paul to make a move.

  Paul hung his head, wincing, and slowly pulled off his shirt.

  “Whoohoo!” Amy hooted, “still as sexy as I remember.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” Andy said, “Besides I’m way better in the sack than him.”

  “Oh?” Amy said, biting her lip.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Paul said, his nose flaring.

  “Why not? I mean you clearly don’t know a good thing when you see it,” Andy says, squaring up to his brother.

  “You don’t even know her!” Paul said, shoving his brother backward.

  Amy growled loudly and shoved them apart.

  “Enough! No one owns me,” she said, her eyes glowing like she was about to transform.

  Paul relaxed his shoulders, and Andy nodded an apology.

  “You know what? This is such a typical human move. You don’t see the big picture,” Amy said, looking off at some spot in the cave.

  “What do you mean?” asked Andy.

  “Do you know what I saw, back at my brother’s camp? Before we started chasing you I mean?” Amy asked, seeming to ignore Andy’s question.

  “What?” Paul asked, shrugging.

  Amy paused and looked at Paul like she had the world’s most precious secret on the tip of her tongue.

  “Two wolves,” she said, “Two wolves fucking, right by the campsite. No one flinched. You know why? Because we are animals, and we wolves accept that. And you know what else? Two other wolves joined them, trading off like it was nothing, right in the snow. They didn’t just trade each other in the wolf bodies either. They kept up doggie style, in the open, even when they were on two legs.”

  Paul exhaled, not realizing he was holding his breath. He couldn’t help looking at Andy, who was fully erect. Paul felt embarrassed for him, but Andy didn’t seem to care.

  “Take your pants off, Pauly,” Amy said, walking closer to Andy.

  “What?” Paul said, his voice hoarse.

  Amy stared at him, and outstretched her hands, grabbing Andy’s dick. Paul seethed, but he didn’t move. She kept stroking it with her fingers, and Andy moaned in reply. She jerked on it now, slowly, and kissed Andy. Paul watched her pink tongue lick his lips, and saw Andy’s hands slide down the length of her curvy spine, settling on her round ass.

  “Stop it, Amy,” Paul warned. His mouth warned, but he was swelling in his trousers. Something about the rhythm of them touching was angering him, and also making him hard at the same time. His pants felt uncomfortable, and he wished he could take them off. No, he wished he could trade places with Andy. Just for old time’s sake.

  “We are animals, Pauly,” Amy said, pulling her tongue out of Andy’s mouth, “I remember when you were an animal.”

  Andy turned Amy around, so her back was to him. What was his little brother doing? Amy grabbed Andy’s hands and put them right on top of her pussy. He smiled up at his brother and then started kissing Amy’s neck. Amy guided his hands until he had two fingers inside her, stroking her. First slow, then faster. Her juices were glistening in the dim campfire light on his finger.

  “Ah!” she cried out, and it seemed she would collapse. Andy jerked himself off with his free hand, coming all over Amy’s back and legs with a low growl.

  “Come join us, Pauly,” Amy said almost as a whisper.

  Paul didn’t know what came over him. He ripped off his jeans in one sweeping motion, and Andy stepped back.

  “No, stay,” Amy said, grabbing Andy’s hand.

  Andy seemed to look to his big brother for permission, and Pauly reluctantly nodded.

  “Pauly,” Amy began, leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

  He moaned a reply, sinking into her kiss.

  “Pauly, I remembered when you liked me on top,” Amy said, waiting for him to respond.

  He nodded, glancing over her shoulder at Andy. He looked nervous, but his hands soon started caressing Amy’s ass. It was like if all of the lights went on in his brain.

  “Amy, are you sure?” Paul asked, feeling his dick stretch until it was poking her leg.

  She nodded and pulled him onto the ground. He laid on the cold ground, naked and she climbed on top of him. Andy squatted a few inches away waiting. Amy sat on Paul, and he felt her slick wetness as she adjusted his now fully erect dick inside her. She leaned back, kissing Andy, and rocking slowly on Paul. It felt so good that his breathing grew ragged. He glided his hips with hers, building the rhythm. Then Amy pulled away from Andy, and leaned forward, perching her ass in the air, and still rocking on Paul.

  “Now, Andy,” she said, closing her eyes, and slowly rocking on Paul.

  Paul couldn’t help but watch his brother stalk towards them. He needed something to stop him from coming. She was so tight and wet. It was only a moment before he just exploded inside her. Andy perched over her and pushed her forward. Paul leaned up on his elbows, spreading his legs to give them room—and to watch. Andy’s dick slid into her ass, and she cried out in ecstasy. Andy bared his teeth like he would come, or transform any minute. Amy was so much tighter now with both brothers inside her. She started screaming out their names one after the other, “Andre! Pauly!”

  Andy bucked violently into her, and she held Paul’s shoulders for support, taking every thrust. Paul dug his claws into the earth, trying so hard not to—and then he came, growling like a monster from hell, emptying himself into her.

  She howled, the sound riveting off the cave walls, and then lastly Andy, growling like he had been uttering bearspeak his whole life.

  *****

  Paul stirred awake, feeling the rays of sun on his cheek. Touch wasn’t the only sense of his that was tingling: sound, sight, hearing, taste. He could still taste Amy faintly on his lips. They had gone on and on until the three of them collapsed in
a pile on the cold cave floor. Andy’s smelly, wet foot was on his face, and Paul’s hand was somehow still locked on Amy’s ass. He pulled the tangle of limbs off of him, then got up and stretched, clearing his head.

  The snow had melted some. The air smelled wet, and it felt too warm. He walked over to the mouth of the cave, ready to explore when a dark hairy figure turned the corner the same time. It was twice the size of Paul when he transformed and now six times his size since he was a man.

  “Shit!” Paul screamed, jumped back transforming before the creature could come any closer.

  It was a bear. A grizzly with beady black eyes great, floppy black lips, pulled back over yellow teeth as long and sharp as talons. Paul growled in the direction of Amy and Andre, waking them. They stirred awake. Amy seemed the quickest to transform, and Andy sleepily followed.

  The grizzly tilted its large head left and right, appraising them. Its once-bared teeth were now hidden behind the black, rubbery lips in what was unmistakably a smile. Paul was confused. He thought for a moment and then realized — this was a werebear. It nodded as if it could read Paul’s thoughts, which was impossible.

  In a beat, the bear rose on its hind legs, the bear body melting away to the equally burly body of a tall, black man with the broadest shoulders Paul had ever seen.

  “At ease, gentleman,” he said with a booming laugh, his voice a roaring wave, echoing through the cave.

  Paul transformed back to human, his skin was covered in sweat from fright.

  “I don’t know you,” the man said, squinting his eyes at Paul. He was a foot taller, and his body language was demanding an answer.

  “I—I’m Paul, and that’s my brother Andre. And she—”

  Before Paul could answer, the man growled at Amy and fell on all fours like he was ready to attack her.

  “Stop!” Andy yelled, stepping in front of Amy in his human form.

  The man rose slowly, anger and confusion causing deeper creases in his already wrinkled and weather-worn face.

  “You keep company with her kind?” he asked, pointing his giant hands at Amy. Amy rose to her feet and shook out her auburn hair.

  “Watch your tongue!” she barked back.

  “You must be lost, sweetheart. This is bear country. Get out!” He roared.

  “Wait a minute!” Paul yelled, “This is free land. Humans—” “Humans left. The fishing village just closed down. It’s been barren for weeks. We claimed it hours ago. Why else do you think she’s here? We heard her pack a few miles out. They were delicious,” the man said, bearing yellow teeth.

  “No!” Amy yelled, jumping forward. Andy held her back, trying to console her.

  “Wait, wait. You can’t claim this land. The wolves have always outnumbered the bears. And who is thiswe? Who are you?” Paul asked.

  “I’m Aupon, the leader. And this is my den,” he said, stepping to the side.

  They seemed to appear from nowhere. Black, tawny, brown, grizzly, polar, hundreds, thousands of bears, coating the forest with their massive bodies. Paul was dumbstruck.

  “Oh my God,” Andre said. Paul watched him tighten his grasp on Amy. Amy shook with fear and anger. She had to be thinking what Paul was: how is this possible?

  “I’m sure you have questions, young pup. And I will answer them, but we don’t keep dogs as pets,” Aupon said, sneering at Amy, “Get rid of her.”

  “Shut up! What have you done with my brother?” Amy demanded, trying to pull away from Andy. It was no use. Andy had her in a tight hold.

  “Your—brother?”Aupon said, looking at her. His eyes were alight with recognition. He walked closer to her, striding past Paul, who was frozen in confusion.

  “Of course. Yes, of course” Aupon said, pulling her hair back. He was looking at her family mark, the white streak of hair.

  “Don’t touch her,” Andy said, protectively.

  “Oh, you are a fool, son,” Aupon said, “the wolves are here for the land too. They want to claim all of North America. You two being here means you are entitled to share it with my den, of course. Her brother knows the squatting and numbers rule. Why else would she be here with you two?”

  “What are you saying?” Paul asked.

  Aupon shook his head, and gestured grandly to the forest, “Corion has known I was coming for weeks. From the smell of this cave, your little dog hasn’t been naked enough with you two.”

  Paul squeezed his eyes shut. It was happening again. Amy and her tricks.Amy and her desire to please her wicked brother so much that she would crush the skulls of werebear cubs to get her brother’s approval. He knew she could not be trusted. It was all too convenient. He couldn’t believe that after all these years he fell for her again.

  “Liar!” Andre yelled, “I mean, look at her! She is just as shocked as us to see all of you out there. She wouldn’t do that.”

  Aupon laughed, waving the hoard of werebears forward.

  “Of course she would. Of course she did. She distracts you two here while my men and women fight ten miles away. That’s a day's journey with the injured, of course. Corion couldn’t have you two joining the party with his pack already outnumbered by the true masters of the forest,” Aupon said with a knowing look at Paul.

  “She’s right, Andre. She did this to me before. She’s fluent in bearspeak. She knows how we travel, how we transform, and how strong and fast we can get. We are stronger than them one on one, but they’ve always outnumbered us. She knows the right buttons to push. Jesus how could you, Amy! My brother. Me?” Paul said, his eyes boring into Amy.

  “I didn’t! I had no—Pauly you have to believe me. Corion didn’t tell me anything. He just said we were traveling further north. I thought humans were here too,” Amy said, her defiant gray eyes, rimmed with tears.

  “I believe her,” Andy said, with a nod.

  Paul scoffed. “Andy, she will devour you. I had the sense to leave her years ago before she finished me off. It’s all an attention game to her. She can’t have me so she’ll settle for you,”

  “Settle for me? Settle! She didn’t sound like she was settling last night! She came to me first,” Andy yelled.

  “Yea and she finished on me. Just like old times,” Paul growled, “Look, I don’t give a damn about her. It was just sex. All this talk of animals and instincts is not us, not our world, man. Let’s just go home now. Let them deal with this.”

  “No!” Andy said, throwing his arm around Amy, “Amy was right. This is our world. These are our problems. Look, I’m a werebear. I stand for my kind, but I will not let you hurt her. I will die first. It’s not right to make her pay for her brother’s crimes. Hell, he’s not even here to defend himself! How do we know this is all true, man?”

  “You doubt the words of your own kind, boy? And for a dirty mutt? Your brother just said she plays this game with our kind, our men. We have good women. We have women who bear pure-blood masters of the forest. Not some bewitching devil dog who can’t get it off with her own kind!” Aupon yelled.

  “You will have to kill me first,” Andy said, his eyes glowing with a vengeance.

  Paul felt his eyes widen. What was Andre doing? This was a terrible mistake. The hair on his arms raised as he felt the horde of werebears behind him closing in. He could hear their impatient growls in bearspeak. Some were still thirsty for blood. Some were still grieving the death of loved ones, and some could already smell the distinct smell of pine and fresh powdery snow: a werewolf.

  “As you wish, son. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Aupon said, snapping his fingers.

  In a wave, werebears rushed the cave. Aupon was in his grizzly form, shoving Paul into the wall to keep him from helping his brother. Aupon growled a warning at Paul, his giant paw flush against Paul’s chest. Paul growled loudly, his black bear hide ripping off his human skin. He shoved past, clearing a running path for Amy and Andy. Both nodded thanks and transformed, paws pounding down the glassy black cave in the opposite direction.

  “Run!” Pau
l growled in bearspeak, doing his best to hold the angry werebears back. His shoulders, neck muscles ached as werebear after werebear fought and fought to get through the narrow passageway. Paul felt his breath get ragged, his knees crumple, and he hit the ground, trampled by the angry bears.

  *****

  “Wake up, son,” Aupon said, stirring Paul. He still felt the familiar chill of the cave floor, except now his head and body were throbbing.

  “Ow,” Paul groaned, rubbing his head.

  “Should have stayed out of our way, yeah?” Aupon laughed.

  A chorus of laughter followed, and Paul sat up, realizing he was surrounded by men, women, children of every race, size, shape. He had never been surrounded by so many people in his life, let alone what he assumed were werebears. Some were naked, others wore scraps of fabric.

  “We don’t bite,” came the voice of a short white man with gray speckled hair, “I’m Geoff. I’m the doctor, most days. Aupon moved you before we got any serious paw prints on you.”

  Paul stood, feeling woozy. Then he remembered.

  “Where is my brother? And Amy?” Paul demanded.

  “Got away,” Aupon said, dismissing Geoff, “Don’t worry we have scouts out looking for them. I’ve got some Russian black bears that could be bloodhounds in another life.”

  “And Amy?” Paul asked.

  Aupon looked away.

  “I can’t make any promises that she won’t get—banged up or worse. You have to understand, her brother brought this on himself. Did you know he hunts werebears for sport? Like a human does?” Aupon asked angrily.

  Paul couldn’t answer. Images of his dad being taunted by werewolves in England come unbidden to his mind.

  “Ah, I see this information is not new to you. Look, son, I am a peaceful man. I don’t want trouble,” Aupon said, holding up his large black hands as if in surrender, “But! But, the werewolf is a different creature. It has no morality. It is a monster. And it has taken a role not meant for it. The bear has always been the king, the ruler of the forest. Men fear us, and so should the werewolf. I am only taking our rightful place back.”