Moonlit Fur Chronicles: Torn Fur

Quinn and I stayed the night at the RV. I heard someone build a fire, put on a pot of coffee, and start breakfast. I borrowed one of Rivers’ outfits and meandered outside. Jules poked at the fire and Phoenix was clattered around the kitchen gear and pulled breakfast together. I sat tentatively by the fire across from Jules. “You probably don’t want to hear this, Alpha.” He spoke to me, his eyes locked on the tinder. “You are doing better than you think you are. We all can see it, we heard it in your voice last night. We know you’re new to this.” Tears began rolling down my face.

Phoenix brought over a skillet of eggs. She set it beside Jules and sat next to me. She put her arm around me and hugged me. “Reese, don’t be so hard on yourself. Being a leader is incredibly hard. I know I can’t do it. You are still figuring it out. Be gentle with yourself, The same way you are gentle with us.” Jules nodded his head. “She’s right ya know. Phe is one of the smartest people I know.” Phoenix blushed. I smiled softly. They were so cute together. They worked together and got breakfast ready. The coffee pot whistled, Jules lifted it off the hot coals.

Quinn stumbled down the RV steps. “I smell coffee,” she mumbled groggily. I blushed, she was gorgeous even half asleep. She kissed the top of my head and sat down next to Phoenix. “Smells good guys.” She picked a mug of coffee and took a sip. “Is there any news on Casey, Alpha? Are they healing?” I shrugged, “I haven’t checked on him yet.” A twinge of guilt ran through me. I stood up slowly. I listened for Casey’s breath as I climbed the stairs. I heard Rivers’ deep calm breaths and Casey’s shallow raspy breaths. I cracked open the bedroom door. Casey had shifted back to human sometime in the night. Their skin was ripped in several places, deep jagged lacerations. My heart broke as I looked at Casey. River had tried patching him up in the middle of the night. She clearly didn’t have enough medical supplies.

“Don’t worry Reese, I’ll be fine in a few days,” came a hoarse whisper from the bed. “River has my back.” I choked back tears, “Get some rest Casey.” I quietly closed the door and tiptoed back to the campfire. “Casey is on the mend, I think they will be okay in a few days.” Jules raised his mug in silent cheers. Ellis and Kai joined us. “So Great and Fearless Leader,” Ellis joked. “What is the plan for payback? There’s no way we are letting that douchebag get away with this.” The circle was filled with voices of agreement. “Shhh, Casey is sleeping!” Quinn hissed. Everyone nodded.

Ellis was right. We needed a plan. We had to get Sloan back and we needed to end Chad. I wouldn’t let him hurt anyone else. I looked at my small pack, huddled up in pairs for warmth. “I am going to the cave that the kid told us Douchebag was living in. “I would like two volunteers to go with me and the rest to watch over River and Casey.” Quinn was the first to volunteer, Kai was a close second. We shed our skin and donned our fur. We retraced our steps from the previous night. We ran around trees, jumped over boulders. I thought about Sloan, his face, his laugh, his absurd adventures. I was filled with a fiery anger.

I could barely make out the scent of dry blood. We were close. We circled the clearing once and searched for enemies and traps. I tentatively stepped into the clearing, sniffed the air, and searched for clues. I could smell Casey, the scents of the forest, and the kid who led us to Casey. There were no scents that led to the south. We had no choice but to trust the terrified turncoat. I pointed my nose south and picked up speed. We ran about two miles with no sign or scent of Sloan or Chad. The hope in my heart dwindled, my anxiety whispered foul things in my head.

I caught a whiff of something. I stuck my nose in the air and inhaled. The faintest hint of wolf smell drifted past my nose. I growled and stalked in the direction of the smell. It came from over the hill before us. The scents and sounds of life became clearer. Smoke from a campfire fluttered to the sky, sounds of laughter floated across the ground. We were close, we had to be. We crouched low to avoid detection and crept closer. The wolf smell wasn’t right. It was supposed to be stronger, a pack of Chad’s size should’ve made the air rife with wolf smell. I crept forward, I needed more information.

The sounds of laughter grew suspiciously quiet. Have they seen me? There was at least one wolf near the cave. “Come out you little bitch! I can smell you,” Chad strutted out of the cave. I didn’t want to lose the element of surprise. I knew this was most likely a trap. I slowly lifted my head above the grass. “There you are! Did you bring my little slut too?” Chad gloated. Quinn growled loudly. “So spicy! I’ll enjoy breaking you!” I barked angrily at Chad to turn his attention back to me. “Yes Bitch you have my attention. You have become a threat to me and mine. I will give you one last chance, out of the goodness of my heart, to give my little slut back to me. In return I will give you your human pet.” Chad reached into the darkness of the cave and pulled Sloan into the sunlight.

Sloan was beaten and bloody, “Reese! Run awa-” Chad viciously punched Sloan in his stomach. I snarled loudly. Chad laughed as Sloan slumped to the ground. “I’m getting tired of this game, Bitch. You are on my land and I want you gone! This is your last chance to survive!” He screamed, “On the night of the full moon, bring my slut to the clearing where it all started, pack your shit and leave my turf or you will die. You and your traitor dogs! Now leave!” Four huge wolves emerged from the cave. No wonder why I couldn’t smell them, the cave had concealed them. Chad gruffly picked Sloan up by his neck and tossed him unceremoniously into the darkness. The four massive wolves were definitely larger than us and we stood little chance in an outright fight. I hated to leave Sloan but I had no choice. The four monster wolves advanced toward us and growled menacingly. I, Quinn, and Kai stepped back and scampered off. I lifted my voice and howled encouragingly to Sloan. I hoped he knew we would come back for him.

We didn’t run but walked back to the RV. I needed time to think. The full moon was four days away, I knew this meeting was a trap. Chad was going to try to kill us. He was going to throw every single wolf he had at us. We needed to be ready. We needed to prepare. Hopefully Casey felt up to plan the battle with me. I needed his help. I didn’t know anything about large scale combat. Quinn and Kai sauntered along beside me. I was glad for their company. I felt so lost and alone. A phrase I heard long ago popped into my head, ’Heavy is the head that wears the crown’.

We made it back to the campsite without incident. I was worried when I saw Casey as they sat in a chair beside the fire. “No no, I’m fine. We wolves heal remarkably fast,” Casey said weakly. “Not that fast,” River countered. “You’re lucky I let you out of bed!” It was great to see the spark in Casey’s eye. He was well on his way back to full strength. We needed him if we were to survive the end of the week. We shifted out of our wolf forms, dressed, and joined our friends around the campfire. I explained the situation.

The circle was quiet. Everyone tried to come up with ideas on how to fix this. Jules asked a question that infuriated me, “Okay just so we are all on the same page…This Sloan…this human… Do we need to save him?” Quinn growled. Everyone glared at him. “Let me be perfectly clear.” I enunciated slowly, my voice low and dangerous, “Sloan is part of my pack. I don’t care if he is a wolf or a human. He will be treated with the respect a pack member deserves. You agreed to that when you begged me to be your Alpha. Do you understand?” Jules looked away and hung his head.

Phoenix scowled at him, “You’re better than that!” The air was thick with tension. “Okay, let’s try it a different way,” I started. “What do we know?” Quinn started, “This rescue mission is an obvious trap.” Ellis continued, “douchebag has been recruiting. Turning more wolves, making more fighters.” Phoenix contributed, “The odds of winning a straight fight are slim. We need something to increase our odds.” “Traps!” exclaimed Jules, “We need traps! I used to hunt a little in another life. I know something about basic trap construction and deployment.” He seemed eager for atonement.

“Good! Jules you can set up traps to give us an edge. What else do we know?” I asked. “Chad is going to be furious. He wants revenge for you beating him,” Kai added. “He wants to kidnap me and make me marry him or something nasty,” Quinn continued. “He wants to kill Jules, Phoenix, Ellis, and Kai,” Casey piped up. “He will stop at nothing to get what he wants,” River concluded. “We can build small platforms in the trees to pounce on Chad and his thugs from above,” Kai interjected. “They’d have to be strong to hold our wolf forms. Or we could shift in mid air,” Jules mused. We were coming up with good ideas. Everyone was getting involved and I appreciated it.