SWNOVELS Chapter 18 New Fur
Dylan winced in pain and held his stomach. “Dylan, have you changed yet? Transformed in your wolf,” Peyton asked. “Nope,” he replied through clenched teeth. “It’s time then, let’s get you outside.” I lifted his arm onto my shoulder and Sawyer took his other arm. We carried him outside and I helped him slip out of his shorts and t-shirt. He doubled over in pain and growled. Dylan screamed in agony as his skin tore as his new wolf body slowly and painfully emerged. My heart ached for him, I knew this pain all too well. His back arched and his spine elongated. A vicious snout broke out from the center of face, his teeth grew into razor sharp fangs.
The first transition was always the longest and most painful. I winced as his body cracked, broke, and reformed. Finally it was over and Dylan stood in front of us as a powerful new wolf. I pulled my sundress over my head and transformed into my wolf. I sniffed him and he sniffed me. Once we were accustomed to each other’s scent. I tossed my head towards the woods and he dipped his head in response. We walked side by side into the trees. He lifted his snout into the air and sniffed deeply. I let him explore and run around. I kept up with him to keep him safe and to guide him back home. Dylan was as inquisitive and adventurous as he was in human form. He raced around the forest and smelled everything.
He led us to the lake near the house, without hesitation he launched himself into the water and swam around. I sat on the shore and watched him. He had enough eventually and climbed out and shook his fur out right beside me. He sprayed me with water droplets and made a sound that resembled a laugh. I showed him my fangs and he ran off in search of new smells. An awful smell reached my nose, I barked at Dylan and he returned to me. I took a deep whiff of the foul smell and snarled. He breathed deeply and followed the smell. We tracked the scent and I began to recognize the trees. We were close to the old gargoyle cave.
We followed the smell for a few more minutes and it grew more pungent. I found the source of the smell and Dylan whined. Someone had removed the rotten corpses of the witch twins from the cave’s depths. A huge hole was dug in the ground maybe fifty feet from the cave entrance. A man and a woman leapt out of the hole and glared at us. I stepped protectively in front of Dylan. The woman growled at us and the man ripped his shirt off and phased into a wolf. The wolf looked incredibly familiar, I knew this wolf. It had been a couple years ago but it was burned into my memory. The woman stripped and shifted as well, once I saw her wolf form I knew exactly who they were. The she-wolf howled, a chorus of angry howls accompanied hers. It was time to run.
I backed up, nudged Dylan hard to get his attention, and tossed my head toward home. He turned tail and raced off into the woods. I backed away slowly and watched the intruders. I saw a dozen wolves materialize from the woods and join the two. I ducked behind trees and backtracked several times to ensure no one followed us. When I was confident we were safe, I rushed back home. Luckily Dylan had beat me there, he was already back in human form and about to pull his clothes on. I slid to a stop beside and groaned through the pain of the transformation. “Dylan, help me get everyone to the living room asap. I recognized those intruders.” He nodded and hustled into the house. I pulled my sundress over my head and straightened it out.
Once everyone was gathered, I began, “Thank you all for coming. While Dylan and I were out on his first run, we encountered enemy wolves at the old gargoyle cave. The bad news is that I recognized two of them, they were Chad’s two wolves when we kicked his ass. The two that fought but I released on the condition that they didn’t return to bother us.” Angry growls echoed all around the room, there were a couple of my wolves who had no idea what all this was about. I rushed through a hasty explanation of who Chad had been and why this was such a huge problem.
“No doubt they want revenge for what we did to him,” Quinn spat. “How many were with them,” Casey asked. “I saw a dozen, maybe more. Once I saw Dylan and I were outnumbered, we got the hell out of there,” I answered. “We may need to gargoyles to win this,” River commented. “It’s possible, but I hope not,” I replied. “Why not,” Kai inquired, “They helped us in the past.” “I want to try to keep their existence as secret as possible.”
“So why did you tell us,” Peyton asked. “If you are going to be part of the pack, you need to know what it entails,” I confirmed. “I had to find out the answers to this life with little help, I’d rather you not have the same experience.” Ellis growled savagely, “Enough! When do we kill these monsters?” Peyton interrupted, “Shush Ellis, we need to make sure they truly have violent intentions.” “There’s a small chance they don’t know they are on our territory,” Drew added.
“I disagree,” Ash’s voice was eerily calm, “Drew you don’t know them like we do. The only logical reason they could be here in such numbers is war and revenge. Have you ever seen the rug in the center of Reese and Quinn’s room?” Drew shook his head. Quinn disappeared into our room and reappeared a few seconds later with the wolf skin rug in her arms. She dropped it irreverently onto the coffee table in the center of the living room.
“Meet Chad,” she demanded coldly, “This was a monster, not even human. He treated his pack like slaves. He was a male chauvinist beast who treated women worse than objects. He killed Sloane, Reese’s best friend from college in cold blood. He made Kai, Ellis, Ash, and Phoenix’s lives hell for so long.” Her voice jumped an octave as she said Phoenix’s name. “ Not to mention that he bit me, turned me, tried to kidnap me to force me to be his sex slave. He deserved every bit of agony and torture Reese and I gave him.” Kai, Phoenix, Quinn and my eyes filled with tears, we each remembered the pain and torment that monster inflicted on us. “So believe me when I say, they do not have good intentions.”
Drew, Peyton, Sawyer looked with disgust and pain in their eyes at the wolf pelt on the coffee table. “He also nearly killed Casey, don’t forget that,” River added sadly. “As much as I detest violence, I’m afraid we have only one true course of action,” Casey began, “their mere presence here is an act of war.” Everyone was quiet. I finally broke the silence, “I will go to them and issue a single warning. They probably won’t listen, but I feel like I should do this. Although, I would rather not go alone. I will take volunteers.” Casey and River stepped forward as did Quinn, Phoenix and Dylan. I nodded appreciatively, “This will be extremely dangerous. Thank you for volunteering, let’s get this over with. Kai, if we are not back by the time Goliath and the clan awaken, bring them and the rest of the pack to the gargoyle cave for a fight.” My volunteers and I left the house. I had a nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach.