by K A Faul
Mina padded forward, keeping low to the ground, following the strengthening scent. She halted, spotting a huge deer in the distance munching on some leaves. It would provide a good snack for the pack.
Time for breakfast.
Mina rushed forward, sending out a loud howl. The deer’s head jerked up, and the surprised herbivore bounded away.
Answering howls sounded in the distance, including several from ahead. Perfect, the pack already had their breakfast surrounded.
Her heart raced, and the thought of the taste of the delicious venison pushed her to run harder.
Thrilling. Beyond thrilling. The chase sang in her blood.
There’s my dual nature.
Mina let loose with another howl as she rushed after the deer. The poor creature might be able to outrun a normal wolf, but not a pack of werewolves. She could probably run down the deer herself with a nice burst of speed, but there was no reason to waste the energy when she had four other wolves to help her corner their meal. For all her issues, she understood the fundamental value of the pack.
Loud growls sounded from all sides of the deer. The brush shifted ahead as a light-furred wolf came into view, Anna, not Thomas. The deer changed direction, and Mina charged after the animal.
A howl ripped from ahead, and the deer jerked to the side. This time, Mina was ready and pounced, crashing atop the animal and dragging it to the ground.
She moved her slathering jaws toward the throat of the animal. She froze, her already thumping heart kicking up even more, fear spiking through her mind.
Mina shook her head, trying to clear it. Her wolf side called for her to make a kill, but her heart beat faster and faster, as if she were the one about to die. She’d felt nervous, but never this way during any of their hunting exercises.
She let out a low growl and shook her head once more. It was almost as if she could feel the deer’s fear.
Sorry. Not doing this because we hate you. We need to eat.
The animal’s head jerked to the side. The wolf and the prey stared at each other for a moment. A cooling wave of resignation passed through Mina, and the deer laid its head down.
What the hell?
It was as if the deer were telling her it gave up and to make it quick.
Mina brought her massive jaws down on the throat of the animal, crushing it. She stumbled backward, watching the now dead animal. So much for accepting her dual nature.
She shook her head a few times. She must have been letting her imagination run wild. That was the only explanation that made sense. Otherwise, she’d be forced to confront the bizarre idea that she somehow felt the mind of the deer in the last moments of the animal’s life.
You made the kill, Thomas sent. You eat first.
Someone else can, Mina sent. Need to catch my breath. Damn thing could move fast.
She sat back on her haunches, panting. Any remote idea of telling Thomas about what she’d experienced vanished in an instant. They’d only just begun the Rite, and she didn’t need him thinking she’d lost her freaking mind.
Maybe Mina had. Deer didn’t broadcast their feelings to wolves, normal or werewolf, and it wasn’t even like she could exchange thoughts with other shifters. It wasn’t like she’d not tried with Linh on more than few occasions.
Too soft. Thomas, Garett, and Sheriff Storm all said it in the last few months.
Maybe they’d been right about her. She’d never been a vegetarian, but before, she didn’t have to hunt and kill her own food. All the hunting during training might finally have caught up with her conscience. Or maybe it would end up with her appreciating meat all the more. The future would reveal itself eventually.
Mina stared at the feeding pack. She’d offered the animal a quick death, and they would now consume it. This wasn’t sport hunting; it was nature.
It was as her father said. She wasn’t a human or a wolf; she was both and would need to come to terms with that.
Hell, Mina already claimed she had. She couldn’t let a few stray weird thoughts derail her Rite of Passage.
Mina padded over to the carcass. I’ll take my share now.
Chapter 15
The next afternoon, Mina found her conscience less troubled as she popped a berry into her mouth.
Stupid berries better not start sending me sad little messages of fear or whatever. Though with the way things are going, I wouldn’t be surprised if they do tomorrow. Time to become a werecactus.
The rest of the pack lazed about in human form, most resting against tree trunks, all except Thomas who still stood. They’d been marching through the forest as wolves all morning and some exhaustion had crept into their muscles.
Their acting alpha crossed his arms as he surveyed the other wolves. “We’re making good time. I’ve got no problems with your performance so far.”
Mina gave him a mock salute. “I’m going to be honest, Thomas. Thus far, I’m not exactly feeling the tension. It’s been more like a nature hike than anything else.”
“She’s right, br—Thomas,” Jorge offered. He shrugged.
Ryan and Anna nodded their agreement.
Thomas chuckled. “You should be happy and not surprised. It’s not like anyone expects trouble on Earth. More importantly, you’ve spent more time as wolves than humans, and you’re getting completely comfortable with eating in wolf form and drinking from streams.”
“I’ve done that before,” Mina said.
“Yeah, but you always knew, in the back of your mind, your house was there for you at the end of the day.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that.”
“Think about how it’d slow us down if we had to bring a lot of gear with us. You’re experiencing a valuable lesson in the power of werewolves to sustain themselves in the field.”
Mina shrugged but didn’t bother to mention she was getting increasingly less comfortable with eating in wolf form. She’d never heard of a wolf failing a Rite of Passage because of a sudden attack of vegetarianism, and she didn’t want to be the first one. Besides, it was more honest to kill her own food than buy it at Gold Burger or the grocery store.
Two birds rested on a branch high above her, watching the pack. Tension radiated off then. Mina was sure of it. She just didn’t understand why she was so sure what the birds were feeling. They didn’t look any different than thousands of other birds she’d seen throughout her life.
The birds weren’t the first animals she’d spotted that seemed so freaked out. Of course, five werewolves on the prowl gave plenty of reasons for animals, two-legged or four, to be worried. She could be overthinking the whole thing.
Thomas took a deep breath as he looked over the Initiates. Mina knew full-lecture mode was coming, and she shifted her butt to get more comfortable.
“Now that we’re on to the second day,” Thomas began, “I wanted to make our next moves clear.”
“We just have to get to the portal,” Ryan said. “Right? You just told us you’re not expecting any trouble until we get to Esper.”
“You use a lot of magic portals back in Idaho?” Thomas raised a brow in question.
“Uh, no.”
Mina snorted. “Enlighten us, our glorious alpha, on what deadly fate awaits us if we aren’t ridiculously careful.”
Thomas frowned. “There are some dangers associated with even the portal. I’ll talk more about that when we get there, but the big thing you need to realize is that this isn’t exactly just some hole between the worlds you step through.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s why we need the magical mushrooms. You won’t be able to pass through the portal without eating them as they have some sort of stabilizing enchantment. I don’t understand the magic other than it works. Also, you won’t be able to get back without consuming a different type of one in Esper.”
Mina nodded slowly. “Okay, no big deal. We get our Esper-walking mushrooms and move. So what?”
Thomas chuckled. “So what?”
�
�Do they do anything else other than let us pass through the portal?” Anna asked, concern on her face.
“That’s the right question.” Thomas sighed. “Side-effects include hallucinations and fatigue. Unlike in most situations, werewolves are more susceptible to the effects. Maybe because they are magical. It’s pretty common for wolves to fall asleep after eating the mushrooms, too.”
“So they are like shrooms crossed with Benadryl?” Mina barked out a laugh. “Are you kidding me? How are we supposed to go through a magic portal if we’re stoned out of our minds and half-asleep?” She hopped off the ground and dusted off her pants. “You sure you actually fought a manticore? Maybe it was just some little bird, and you let the shrooms convince you otherwise.”
Looks of concern appeared on the faces of the other Initiates. Mina wasn’t sure if they shared her worries, or if they were more worried about her attitude toward Thomas.
Thomas sucked in a breath. “Do you always have to be so difficult?”
“I get that you have to do all this dribbling out knowledge crap because it’s our Rite, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to just sit there and wait when we’re at risk. So, yeah, when the safety of my friends is on the line, then I do have to be difficult. I’ll be Empress of all Bitches if I need to.”
The other Initiates all nodded their agreement, Anna and Ryan with enthusiasm. Mina could tell the latter was holding back some sort of frat boy cheer.
Thomas and Mina stared at each other for a moment, and she swore she could see the faintest look of approval in the man’s eyes. She blinked, taken off guard.
Thomas grunted. “The traditions of our clan weren’t developed by total idiots. The hallucinations end long before the other effects of the mushrooms.” He pointed deeper into the forest. “The mushrooms themselves are in a cave we can rest in until we’re fine, and then continue the Rite. Plus, the mushrooms on the Esper side don’t have any side effects. So, don’t worry. We’ll all just hole up, and no one will be in serious danger.”
“What happens if you try to go through the portal without the mushroom?” Ryan asked. He raised his hands in a placating gesture. “Not saying I’m worried about getting high or whatever, but just curious. It seems like we’re going through a lot of trouble.”
Thomas stared at him for a few seconds. “Even a werewolf will die if it gets ripped into enough pieces, and I’d appreciate you not dying on my watch in a cheap and stupid way.”
The others all grimaced.
“Has that actually happened?” Mina asked. She didn’t want to give in to cheap intimidation.
“Yes, but not for almost a hundred years.”
She swallowed, trying not to shudder at the thought of a magical portal shredding someone like cheap paper.
“Good,” Thomas said. “I’m glad you’re all taking this seriously. Like I said, we’re making good time, so we find our mushrooms, eat them, rest, go through the portal, rinse and repeat. Easy enough as long as we get what we need to.”
“Unless we run into a manticore,” Mina said.
Thomas grinned. “If I’m leading you, you can take down a manticore.”
“Maybe. What about a kraken?”
“Don’t kraken live in the ocean?” Jorge said. He glanced to the others, and they nodded.
Mina shrugged. “It’s Esper. Things are weird there. We can’t be sure what kind of weird creatures or people we might run into.”
“I hope I never have to go back to it after the Rite.”
An eager gleam appeared in Thomas’s eyes. “Don’t be disappointed if we don’t run into anything dangerous. Most packs don’t, after all.”
Mina smirked. For all his playing at responsibility and self-control, their acting alpha was just another werewolf in the end. He relished the idea of being able to show their power against an enemy who wouldn’t return with nukes later. For the first time since meeting the man, she felt she needed to pull him back.
“We’re going to be eating magical hallucinogenic mushrooms,” Mina said. “That strikes me as plenty dangerous right there.” She furrowed her brow. “We don’t even know how we’ll react. Yeah, yeah, we know we’ll be sleepy and high, but everyone reacts differently to drugs, natural or not.”
“True enough. That’s why it’s important we stick together and are careful. The pack will watch out for each other, and that way, we won’t have serious trouble.”
Mina looked Thomas up and down.
“What?” he asked.
“What did you see when you took them?”
He gritted his teeth. “A lot of things. None of which you need to know about. Not everything’s for public consumption.”
“Kinky, Thomas.” Mina winked.
His only response was a grunt. Everyone else laughed.
“It’s kind of like we’re werewolf gardeners or something,” Jorge said. “With all this going and getting mushrooms and all.”
The Initiates chuckled.
A loud crack echoed through the forest. Dozens of birds took flight in the surrounding forest.
All the mirth from before evacuated the area. The entire pack turned rigid and silent, slowly looking around them as if they expected a dragon to charge through the forest and attack them at any second.
Ryan stood with a frown. “What the hell was that?”
“You know what they say,” Mina said. “If there’s a tree falling in the forest and no one’s around, does it make a sound? Maybe the trees are testing their sounds.”
Ryan looked confused. “But we’re around.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “This is hurting my head.”
Mina winked. “All the more reason for it to make a sound.”
Thomas stared off into the distance. “It didn’t sound like gunfire, so I’m not worried. But still, everyone be careful. I don’t want to deal with any stupid poachers. We’re on a tight schedule, and we don’t have a huge amount of time to deal with idiot humans.”
“If we’re afraid of a few falling trees,” Mina said, “then a manticore’s going to eat us alive.” She grinned. “Let alone a land kraken or mummy dragon.”
The other Initiates’ looks of concern faded.
“Mummy dragon?” Ryan said.
“I’m sure they have a few of those in Esper.”
Even as Mina smiled, she peered off into the distance. The tension of the animals wouldn’t leave her mind. She couldn’t be sure if they were afraid of the pack or something else.
Maybe some manticore popped some shrooms and decided to visit our side. That would be fun.
She glanced over at Thomas, whose eyes continued to survey the area. Even if he believed what he said about it not being a gun, he still didn’t think there was no threat.
She thought about telling him about the animals but decided against it.
It’s not like he’s going to believe me. Hell, I don’t know if I believe me. Guess I don’t need mushrooms to see and feel weird things.
Chapter 16
They reached the cave in wolf form early the next afternoon. They didn’t hear any other treefalls, but Mina couldn’t shake the feeling of tension that seemed to radiate from every animal she spotted in the forest.
With each step farther into the forest the pack took, the less convinced Mina became that the animals were afraid of the wolves. Wolves couldn’t fly to chase after birds and weren’t likely to go after some of the smaller animals. She didn’t know if the animals knew that, but she would have thought that, on some level, they’d know that by instinct.
Ha. I’m more animal than human, but I don’t know crap about how animals think.
Something was in the woods with them. She was convinced of it. Something more dangerous than a pack of werewolves.
Mina shook her head, trying to force the concern out as the pack slipped into the darkened cave.
A few holes in the roof of the cave allowed enough light to provide some dim illumination. Moss and fungi covered the walls, but interspersed among the more conve
ntional flora also sat lightly glowing red and black-striped mushrooms, each about an inch in height.
Thomas padded ahead of them and stopped in the back of the cave.
Everyone shift to human form.
We can drug it up in wolf form as easily, Mina sent. Might be more comfortable to rest that way.
Just do it.
Aye, aye, sir.
The seconds of agony passed as the wolves all shifted back into their human forms and more fully took in the strange environment.
“Yeah, it totally makes sense that we’re going to put that in our body,” Mina muttered. “That ended so well for Alice.”
Ryan and Jorge peered closely at the mushrooms. Anna watched Mina instead.
“We’ll consume the mushrooms and rest here,” Thomas said. “Sometimes, the hallucinations stop soon, but we’re not moving out until everyone in the pack is okay. Is that clear?”
The Initiates all nodded.
“Wonder what I’ll see,” Ryan said.
“Probably just weird colors and crap,” Jorge said.
“Maybe it’ll let us commune with Rogan,” Anna suggested.
Mina sighed. “If that was true, then I think someone would have mentioned it.”
The blonde girl sighed and nodded.
“It varies,” Thomas said. “Some wolves are barely affected. Others see weird colors, and others see full-on fake people and creatures. Most people get sleepy.”
Hallucinations or drowsiness. Mina didn’t like their options, especially if some other creature lurked in the woods. Even though she didn’t have evidence any beast, land kraken or otherwise, might be coming toward them, that also didn’t mean it couldn’t or wouldn’t.
She rubbed her wrist. “What if someone, you know, has a really bad trip? Gets violent. We are werewolves in the end. We’re violent enough, even when we’re not high.”
“That’s one of the reasons I wanted everyone in human form. It’ll keep mobility, claws, and fangs limited. I’m doubting anyone’s going to be that great at hand-to-hand when they are hallucinating, and it’ll be hard to do any actual fatal damage that we can’t heal.” He shrugged. “Not exactly like we brought gold blades with us.”