The Pack - On the Run

Everything happened as if in slow motion.

I heard my heart pulsing in my ears, a loud thump, thump, thump as I threw my hand out to grab Mikey. Jonah cursed and wrapped his arm around my brother’s waist, shielding him with his own body. As he turned, he suddenly jolted with a yip, and stumbled forward, almost falling face first on the ground with Mikey in his arms. I screamed, covering my mouth with my hand while Jonah regained his balance, clenching his teeth as he did, eyes burning and full of rage. With a great effort, the teenager hauled my brother back behind a car and straight into my arms. Mikey collided with me with so much force it stole my breath away and made me fall onto my bottom. I felt sharp pebbles dig through jeans into my skin, scratching on my exposed arms, and I hissed as a stinging pain shot through my injury. Jonah slid behind the car, smearing blood on the side doors. Another bullet ricocheted against the car with a metallic bang that exploded in my ears. Then, the tense silence befell, disrupted only by my panting and Jonah’s soft groaning.

“I swear both of you siblings will be the death of me!” The teenager half-growled, half-shouted, his face covered in patches of fur, his eyes an eery sheen of light blue. “What the hell are you waiting for? Run!”

I jerked as if woken up from a dream and crouched, readying myself for a sprint. As Jonah abruptly shifted in mid-jump, pushing for the woods, I pulled Mikey behind me, praying to all saints and gods above for us to make it out alive.

For Jonah to make it out alive.

Somewhere behind us, I heard a sudden bang and a yelp, but I didn’t turn back to see what had happened. Mikey, however, snapped his head around and started to trash against my hold, whining. I steeled my resolve, ignoring his need to help his friend, and dragged him so hard I was almost ripping the kid’s arm from its socket. I didn’t care. I was in flight mode, about done with everything, focused only on our own survival.

I decided then and there that we were leaving for good. I had had enough. I was going to steal a car or run straight ahead until we reached another town or city where we would be safe...

We stumbled into the greenery, and so my brother’s whines turned into blatant growls. I paid no mind to them as well as his desperate attempts to break free from my hold. Instead, I dragged him into the meadow - the same one I had rolled into two days ago, or was it three? - and we rushed downhill, straight into the soft grass. My lungs were already on fire, my legs shaking underneath the weight of my body, begging me to just stop. Exhausted from the run and fear, I collapsed onto the ground, taking my brother with me.

A crow cackled in the distance.

I whizzed, brushing my hair at the back of my head with a trembling hand, and started thinking, my mind racing 100 miles per hour.

But then, I heard a noise.

I snapped my head in the direction of the sound, noticing something I sure as hell wasn’t expecting to see. My eyes rounded with shock. I clumsily stood up, staggering back as if struck while I stared at the only person I was not ready to meet.

“D-Dad?” I stuttered.

I wasn’t sure whether I was relieved or anxious that he found us after that cursed night when all had gone to hell; when I had shot him and mum had left him to bleed on the floor.

He looked familiar, and yet, not at all. His hair, a deep linen blond, was longer, dull, and slightly curled at the tips. His face was thinner and had a cruel edge to it, while his eyes... The green of his irises was rimmed with blood red. It made him look vicious, half-crazy even, unrecognizable.

I took a wary step back while Mikey whined at my side. My father flashed me a wide grin, one that showed his elongated canines.

I shuddered.

“Ah, my dear Josie... Mikey...” Dad nodded his head at my brother, whom I shoved further behind my legs, feeling the strong urge to shield him from my father’s view. The man caught on that, and his left lip curled upwards while his nostrils flared, the expression as quickly gone as it appeared. A mild smile graced his lips instead. “I’ve been looking for you for quite some time now,” Dad continued, spreading his arms wide apart. His nails were abnormally long, sharp, and covered in a sticky red substance. I didn’t need the olfactory input to recognize blood, though its pungent scent still hit my nostrils. “Won’t you give me a hug?”

Neither I nor Mikey moved an inch. My father’s eyes flashed with irritation, and he dropped his arms, taking a step forward. Despite the urgent need to scram, I stood frozen on the spot, simply watching. I was pretty sure Jonah said something about not running away from wolves, about their instinctive need to chase. It was the only thing I could remember, actually. So I stood still, regardless of how much the mix of fear and adrenaline pushed me to scram.

“Wh-” I licked my suddenly chapped lips and tried again. “What are you doing here?”

“You know what I’m doing here, Josephine.” Dad gave me a condescending smile. It caused creeps to run down my spine, and yet, I couldn’t actually detest him. Not fully; not really.

Dad suddenly cocked his head to the side, and his smile turned predatory. I gulped, straining to hear whatever had his interest but failed miserably. My father took another step forward. “Your mum tried to take you away from me; to pull us apart. But we are a family. And family is meant to stick together. Ain’t. That. Right?”

Against my better judgment, I backed away. Flashes of memories assaulted my brain, so I squeezed my eyes shut to get rid of the images, to cut off the screams, pain, and blood. It wasn’t a time for having a freaking mental breakdown.

“Now, I can’t smell your mother anywhere. Where is she?” My father’s voice sounded muffled in my ears as though he was speaking through the water. I opened my eyes, sucking in a calming breath as I shook my head. Fuck if I knew. Dad frowned, circling us like prays, and I angled my body so that he was always in front and Mikey far away from his reach. ”Where. Is. She, Josephine?”

He didn’t let me reply, not that I could actually say anything that would please him. Suddenly, he just leaped on us. I pushed Mikey out of the way at the very moment dad wrapped his hand around my neck, spitting in my face. “Where’s Melinda, Josephine?! Where’s my mate?!”

I gasped, crawling at his hands as I frantically fought for air. Black and white dots exploded in front of my eyes while my canines struck at my bottom lip, nails elongated. They pierced the man's skin, but that didn’t seem to phase my dad one bit. In fact, he didn’t even seem to notice. Panicked, I started trashing in his hold, feeling my lungs burning, screaming for oxygen. I heard my own whine. God, I was going to die. Blackness started to narrow my vision...

It was Mikey who came to my rescue. With an inhuman roar, he pranced at my father’s arm and bit him hard enough that dad released some of his hold. I immediately sucked in sweet cool air while my father became preoccupied with my younger brother. He lifted the kid by the nape of his neck like an annoying little pup and threw him at the nearby tree. Mikey yipped, and I wailed, but it came out in a soft rasp. I threw my leg blindly in front of me, only by some miracle landing a hit at my father’s balls. He doubled over, thankfully, releasing me completely. I fell in a heap on the ground, whizzing and coughing, but as soon started to back away on all fours towards Mikey, who was lying on the grass, not moving.

Oh God, he wasn’t moving...

Suddenly, a wave of blinding pain snapped my leg outward like a twig. I yelled, my voice mixing with my father’s roar of fury.

Fur sprouted from my arms.

I was shifting.