Ursanthropy

Justin

“Yes, the males can shift into their animals, so what? They only do that to protect the pack, their family, their loved ones!” Doreen shouted towards her father.

Her father…

The moment that she had called him her father, my heart stopped. It had never occurred to me that I could have a sister, as he had never spoken of her before. But even as she so casually called him that, my father hadn’t flinched of me now knowing this information.

So I just listened to every single word that came out of my sister’s mouth, explaining everything about packs and glorifying every single aspect of living in one. I couldn’t believe what she was all saying, it was as if my ears were ringing from an incredibly annoying sound.

It can’t be true what she is saying, right? My father had shown me their mindless rage. I had killed dozens of them! Knowing that they couldn’t control themselves! He had explained how their DNA had worked, that with a single angry thought, their cells transformed into that of an animal. I had seen it with my own two eyes even!

“Liar!” I suddenly yelled towards her and she turned herself towards me. Confusion was written on her face, but that soon got replaced by a little understanding and even pity.

“No, I’m not lying. It’s the truth!” She begged me to believe her.

“No, I have seen it! I have felt it! If I can’t calm myself, I’ll turn into a raging bear!” I shouted back.

“Is that what he has been telling you? That’s not what being a shifter means!” She said while pointing at my father.

Jack

There was a loud crashing sound, as I could hear the doors of the entrance being bashed in, followed by plenty of loud roars and clashing of weapons.

This was the moment where I would use the match to lit up the powder from the bullet, that I had poured inside the lock. I quickly lit the match, by scraping it against the brick wall, and held it close to the inside of the lock while turning my head away. With a fast single blow, the powder exploded and I cursed for the backfire that caused my hand to bleed.

The door swung open and both me and Maxwell found our way out of the cellar and into the hallway.

On the right, bears, tigers, leopards and female warriors fought their way inside, against the other warriors that were once loyal to me. I wanted to fight along with them, I wanted to get rid of all the betrayers that still stood on Dennis’ side even though they saw Vic storming in as well, even though they all knew that I was in the packhouse too. But as I took a look towards my left, where the hallway lead towards the ballroom, of which Dennis was now coming out of, I knew that I had another job.

“Don’t! You’ll get yourself killed!” I heard Vic shout in my head, as she already anticipated my actions.

I turned around, to look at her while she was fighting off another bear. I contemplated her words, as I knew that the room behind Dennis, was filled with all the Alphas that had just agreed to him becoming King. If I should attack him now, they all had to obey their loyalty and defend him at all cost.

But what he has done to me, to my pack, to all those women and to Doreen… It made me furious! I wanted to rip his throat out, and the fact that he was walking slowly towards me, with a smile on his face, didn’t make this situation any different. I started to shift, letting the anger consume me and getting ready to sacrifice myself. If only he would be dead, I wouldn’t care about anything else. If all the other Alphas are that loyal to him, then they can take my life as well.

“No! Lure them outside!” Vic pleaded with me again, but it was too late.

Dennis

I had been furious to know that even though I had made sure that my office was guarded, Damien had been able to get out of it. I had plans to let him be killed by all the other Alphas, to make me more likeable by at least some of them, if they were still doubting my skills. But I had underestimated his intelligence and strength, only because he was already way over his fifties and I didn’t think that he still had it in him to fight his way through anything.

But even though I didn’t had the hunter King in my possession anymore, I was still smiling, as the sight right in front of me, was comical to watch. My loyal warriors were fighting hesitantly, losing ground by the second, but I didn’t care about that, I had a room filled with somewhat loyal Alphas, right behind me.

I was untouchable, even though Jack was thinking different right now. I could see his fur sprouting out, his eyes turning dark as he was about to charge his way towards me. But what he didn’t know was that the two Alphas who showed their loyalty to me immediately, were rather strong Alphas to even begin with. The French speaking one was a fast wolf, and the silent one was a sturdy rhino.

I looked backwards, towards them, and they didn’t have to be told what I wanted them to do, as they immediately stepped forward and shifted, right before Jack rushed his way towards me, in full raging bear mode.

I stepped backwards, getting inside the ballroom again, to lure Jack inside as well. Because, if the rhino and wolf weren’t able to kill him, then I still have something else to use against him…

Doreen

“What did you do to him?” I asked my father, while being concerned about the boy.

The defensive line to keep my father distracted, by me asking stupid questions, had been blurred by the appearance and strange behaviour of the boy behind me. I had thought about some idiotic questions to ask my father, to keep him busy, but I had real questions that I wanted to be answered right now. So this was no longer a means to distract, but rather a meeting of which I wanted my confusion to be cleared with.

“I just showed him what shifters are like, that’s all.” He replied, while shrugging and putting his hands in his military issued pants.

“But why?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Fire can only be fought with fire, so it was logical for me to train someone like you, to follow my guiding.” He simply said and now I looked back to the boy, at which I could see pain in his eyes.

But why pain? What was this boy to my father? He was still so young and had been doing things for my father that no single person should have to face at all! But as soon as he realized that I had been looking towards him, he turned his pain into something angry. How much of his brain had my father tainted, for him to act like this? I needed to get deeper with this, to push him further.

“So, he is nothing to you, besides a nice, strong partner in crime?” I asked my father.

“He’s not even that, he is just a means to get what I want. But I guess that he can’t do that now, as he obviously had let himself get caught. So, I guess that he isn’t that strong after all.” He replied casually and the boy behind me took a strong breath inward.

My father wouldn’t have heard that, but it was definitely there. The boy making that gesture, clearly let me know that he wasn’t fond of what my father had said about him. He clearly didn’t agree to the statement of him not being strong enough, and I began to feel rather sorry him.

There was still something that was bugging me, as his scent was both familiar and unfamiliar to me. His presence was confusing me and I was starting to wonder more and more, who this boy actually is.

I could tell that he was curious to find out more about me too, because he could have easily told my father that I had been the cause that he had been captured. That I was able to command another to show their respect towards me. But he didn’t. He wanted to keep that card stowed away, until he had no other choice but to use it.

“But how old is he? He can’t be older than eighteen.” I asked my father.

“Sixteen, in a few days.”

“Sixteen!? What the hell! You have trained and forced a sixteen year old to fight for you? To take care of your dirty jobs?! I knew you were a cruel man, but something like this?” My anger started to boil, but I couldn’t let him get to me.

The small grin on my father’s face let me know that he wanted to get me to anger myself, to show the boy how uncontrolled our kind’s anger can be, but I can’t show him that. If I do, I would show a lot more…

“Are you done with your questions, darling? Because this was clearly a distraction and I’m getting bored.” My father asked me. “Unless you have some other questions to ask me, then I’d be glad to wait here a little longer, to see how this all works out.” He continued.

“How what works out?” I asked him curiously.

“Well, now that we stand here, and you ask me all these questions, while you are all alone, makes it clear that you didn’t want me close to anyone else. So I suppose that your captured mate, is fighting his way out right now, Isn’t he?” He replied and now I furrowed my brows.

I know that my father is intelligent, but I had hoped that he didn’t see through this situation so easily. In the distance I could hear faint growling and crashing of things, but indeed, I had been waiting for the others to get outside, right back here. About now…

“It’s actually a good idea though, to get them outside, I mean, you don’t even know how Dennis managed to be crowned King.” My father continued and now I was even more curious.

He knows something that I don’t, yet he knows that I’m smart as well, as he was the one that made sure that I had learned and read about every book that I could find in our house. So, what he was saying, wasn’t about the simple fact that Dennis’ roots made the rest of the room he had been in, decide to make him King. There was this glint in my father’s eyes, that makes me think that something so trivial as a last name, wouldn’t be the thing that turned the Alphas over. There is something else that Dennis had said or done, to make them do that!

Something that is only inside the packhouse, as my father explicitly said that it was a good idea to get them outside.

My jaw dropped, as I remembered Jack to say that the ballroom at the back of the packhouse was barricaded on three sides by a large hill, making it unable for people to run out if something dangerous would happen in there. That’s why Jack decided to never use the room, as it wasn’t completely safety proof!

Dennis has something inside there, that he had used to persuade the others into crowning him King!

“GET OUT!” I shouted over the link, trying to focus on Jack while doing so.