Engulfed

The immense white cat landed on its paws, turned towards the wolf and bared its fangs. The wolf stood resolute as if to challenge the tiger. The cat growled deep in his throat, launching its body towards the wolf, slashing with its claws. The wolf jumped to the side, whirling around to catch the tiger’s left flank, only to be met with a firm blow on the top of the its head. The cat’s claws sunk deep into the wolf’s head, down to the bone. The wolf pulled back with a yelp. The tiger took a slow calculating step forward, blood staining the snow under his paws. Jae took a step back, the blood flowing into his eyes. The tiger lunged forward, enveloping Jae in an embrace of fangs and claws. The two rolled on the ground, leaving more bright red blood in the snow. Drew wrapped his jaws around Jae’s shoulder and bit down with incredible force. The sound of bones snapping echoed against the pine trees with Jae’s cries of agony. Just then, two more wolves came snarling into the clearing. Drew tossed Jae’s broken, quivering frame to the side, and met the new wolves. The wolves stopped short.

A wall of flames erupted behind Drew.

“That’s enough!” Dante shouted “Your boy lost. It’s over. Take his busted ass home, before I slaughter all of you.”

Just then, the larger of the two wolves rushed towards Dante, fangs bared. The large wolf pounced on him. Dante grabbed his jaws, holding them open. He then twisted the wolf’s bottom jaw, breaking it. He pushed the wolf’s body off to the side. The next wolf made his move, rushing toward Dante, stopping at the last moment to flank him. Dante turned to face him, waiting for him to pounce, but this one was smarter. The wolf kept his distance, mindful of Dante’s line of vision. The wolf retreated behind the trees for a moment. Dante followed him deep into the forest.

“Hide all you want, mutt. I’ll find you if I have to burn this whole forest down!” Dante roared.

The sound of a twig snapping pricked his ears. Dante turned to follow the noise. The wolf lunged from behind. Dante spun around to meet him. The wolf knocked him once again to the forest floor. Dante’s fist landed hard on the top of the wolf’s skull. He then tossed the stunned wolf to the side. He stood up, finding his balance, the wolf doing the same.
Their eyes locked together, watching every move, every step, every twitch, just waiting for the other to make his move. Dante’s eyes flashed a crimson red.

“Enough games. This ends now.”

Flames swirled around Dante’s body. He took his stance, and launched a huge fireball at the wolf. The wolf let out a whimper, and took off as fast as his feet could carry him, back towards the others. Dante turned and let another fiery blast fly after the wolf. The wolf dodged the flaming ball, singeing his fur. The trees around them were ablaze. The crackling and popping of the burning wood drowned out all voices. The wolf stopped in another clearing, turning and twisting his head in every possible way, trying to find a way out of the inferno. The wolf took off running again, stopping and starting several times, each time more frantic than the last. The wolf stopped again and paused, choking on the thick smoke. His ears perked. The wolf moved to run back for the woods, but was met with a third fireball. Dante had finally caught up to him.

He was getting ready to launch a fireball that would incinerate the lanky wolf, but suddenly the ground beneath their feet trembled slightly and Azlynn’s voice rang through the air, sharp as a whip.

“Enough!” she snapped. The smoke cleared in an icy gust of wind, and Dante felt a tugging in his solar plexus. Suddenly he was back in the clearing, as were all the wolves, Drew, and Charlotte. The big one whose jaw Dante had broken had healed, and was glaring daggers at Dante. He looked like he might attack again, but then his eyes were drawn to Azlynn, and even in his wolf form he looked wary and a little afraid. Azlynn’s eyes had gone all Angels & Demons again, and her fangs were protruding over her blood red lower lip. “Save this ridiculous pissing contest for another time,” Azlynn said, glowering. “We have a killer to find. Turn down the dial on your testosterone and your damn mating instincts, you idiots.” Drew and the other wolves all crouched low to the ground, eyeing each other with hostility but making no further moves to attack each other.

“Shift back,” Azlynn ordered. When everyone was human again, Azlynn shot them all a last disgusted look and then waved her hand. Charlotte and the remaining wolf, the smaller one who had never shifted out of his human form, were pulled forth from the stand of trees where they had been crouched, watching over the terrified wolf pup who was whining and squirming in Charlotte’s arms. Azlynn took a moment to relax her features, taking on the more serene and angelic look. She laid a hand on the puppy’s head and murmured something softly. The pup’s eyes drooped, and then he was sleeping soundly. Then Azlynn faced the rest of the group, her eyes flashing in annoyance again. She traced a symbol in the air, and Dante felt another, stronger, yank in his gut.

Without warning he was shooting through the woods at lightning speed. He was landing on solid ground and falling on his face before he even had time to register that his feet had ever left earth. He sputtered as he skidded through the snow. Around him the other wolves were also groaning and muttering curses. The only one who landed gracefully was Azlynn. Charlotte landed on her butt with a squeak, and the short wolf did a painful-looking belly flop on a pile of snow.

“I certainly hope you’re all proud of yourselves,” Azlynn said, looking insufferably superior as she brushed a snowflake from her shoulder and surveyed the rest of them sprawled on the ground.

“You could warn a person before you go Star Trek on their ass,” Dante muttered, pushing himself to his feet.

“I don’t generally give out warnings to people who are in the midst of instigating a war with werewolves,” Azlynn replied coolly. “Honestly, Dante. You and Drew both ought to know better than that.”

“Well they started it,” Dante grumbled.

“Yes, and if I hadn’t gotten involved, you definitely would have finished it. Exactly what were you intending to do?” Azlynn crossed her arms and cocked her head, watching him with pursed lips.

“I was defending myself.”

“Oh, of course. Was that before or after you almost burned the forest down, Smoky?”

“Well I guess it’s true,” Dante said. “Only you can prevent forest fires.”

Azlynn rolled her eyes and huffed delicately.

“All right, look, Scooby over here lunged at me, so I fought back. That was it.”

“Yeah, he lunged at you, so you broke his jaw, and then chased his friend through the woods, launching fireballs at him. I would almost say you were enjoying yourself.”

“Think what you want, I don’t have to stand here and listen to this,” Dante snapped, turning away.

“Where exactly do you think you’re going?”

“To go drown my sorrows.” His indignant march was ruined when Azlynn suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Gah! Would you quit that!”

“As soon as you stop being an ass. I thought you were a Weredragon, not a Weredonkey.”

“Yeah, ha ha, very clever.”

Azlynn crossed her arms again, staring back at him without blinking.

“Uh, guys? Maybe we should get Forest here to Fern so he can alert his parents that he’s okay,” Charlotte said. Azlynn spun gracefully on her heel and sauntered in the direction of the meeting house. Dante’s mind blanked. His eyes focused on Azlynn’s ass. His peripheral vision faded into tunnel vision. He followed every move like a pathetic mosquito to a bug zapper. That’s so not fair. He trudged after her, Drew moving up to walk beside him, shooting a brief glare over his shoulder at the wolves. Azlynn flung open the doors to the meeting house and strode inside. The murmurs ceased as the wolves glanced up. Fern rose from where he was seated at the head of the room.

“Since when is it acceptable for a pack to keep a human trapped against her will, Alpha?” Azlynn demanded. Fern’s eyes narrowed and Will and the rest of the team suddenly hurried forward from where they had been standing in the corner. Will embraced Charlotte. Then he shook her by the shoulders. “Just what in the hell were you thinking, running off like that?” he demanded. “Look what you’ve gotten yourself into!”

“You have the nerve to lecture the Alpha when your little pets here attacked us?” Jae sneered. Dante and Drew both rounded on him, but Azlynn elbowed them in the ribs.

“As a wolf, I’m sure you understand the desire to defend one’s mate, and the concept of pack loyalty,” Azlynn said, giving Jae a hard look.

“Charlotte is my mate,” Jae growled.

“She is not!” Drew said, his eyes starting to narrow to cat-like slits.

“I’m nobody’s mate!” Charlotte interrupted shrilly. “Both of you shut up!”

“Silence!” Fern thundered. “We clearly have much to discuss. I will grant you amnesty for fighting with my enforcers, since you have returned our pup safely. Henry, kindly get a message sent to his parents.” The short wolf nodded and hurried from the building. Fern ran a hand wearily over his face. “Jae, Ridge, I need to speak with the two of you privately for a moment.” Jae stepped forward, shoving his shoulders hard against Dante and Drew as he forced his way past them. Drew growled low in his throat, and Dante muttered, “fucker,” under his breath. The tall wolf, the one Dante had nearly roasted, swept after Jae. They joined Fern and all three disappeared through another door.

The dining hall chatter started up again. The wolves stayed on one side, and Charlotte and the others stayed on the other side. There was a thick tension that everyone was carefully ignoring. Dante leaned up against the wall, doing his best to look bored as his gaze roamed the room, watching for any signs of trouble. Azlynn sat down in one of the wooden chairs, casually propping her feet on the table and pulling out a knife to polish. Dante’s eyes lingered on her for a moment, his earlier anger at her faltering as he watched her smirk to herself as she ran a cloth over the silver blade. Candlelight flickered across her features, making her violet eyes sparkle and her raven hair glisten.

He finally pulled his eyes away from her and continued to survey the room. His gaze landed on Charlotte, and he blinked, astonished. Her eyes were riveted on Azlynn, and she was wearing the same love-struck look of awe that Dante himself typically did when he looked at Azlynn. He blinked several more times, hoping it was all in his head. But no, when he glanced at Charlotte again, she was still gazing at Azlynn with total goo-goo eyes, looking her up and down.

The hell?!

“Drew!” Dante hissed. “Drew!” The Weretiger didn’t hear him; he was too busy pouting while he talked to Will. So much for a cat’s hearing. Dante glanced around, finally finding an empty beer can resting on the table. He picked it up and tossed it in Drew’s direction. It hit him in the head. Drew winced and whipped around.

“Get your fuzzy ass over here!” Dante whisper-yelled, gesturing.

“Dante, what the hell was that-”

“Dude, your girlfriend wants to bang my girlfriend.”

Drew froze with his mouth still open. “Come again?”

“Charlotte. She totally wants to have a Black Swan moment with Azlynn.”

“Are you high?”

“For once, no. But she’s checking Azlynn out. It’s like she’s a starving redneck and Azlynn is a Sunday barbecue!”

“Dante you have officially gone around the bend.”

“Just look for yourself, man.” Dante grabbed Drew’s head and turned his face toward Charlotte. “Just look!”

“Okaaaay, what am I looking at, exactly?”

“Dude, I know that look, I have seen enough porn to know what that look is. And I know you have too, so don’t lie to me!”

“I don’t know, man,” Drew said doubtfully.

“You, what, how can you, gah!” Dante glanced around wildly. “Rico!” he called quietly. “Hey Rico, come here.”

“’Sup?”

“Okay, look at Azlynn,” Dante instructed.

“With pleasure.” Dante punched him in the arm. “Dude, not cool. Jesus. Now, look at Charlotte.”

“Okay?” Rico looked confused.

“Notice anything…interesting?”

“Uh no…oh! Oh, yeah.” Rico doubled over laughing.

“What? What is it?” Drew demanded.

“You done snagged yourself a lesbian, bro,” Rico responded.

“What are you talking about?” Drew threw his hands up in exasperation.

“Charlotte’s wearing the ‘Fuck Me Now’ look.” Rico hooted. Drew continued to stare between Charlotte and Azlynn, looking baffled. Then realization followed by horror dawned in his eyes.

“What-how-when…what? Dante, I hate you.”

“You think Azlynn knows?” Rico asked. “Cause that would be awesome.”

“Do I know what?”

The three of them jumped. Azlynn was standing in front of them, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

“Okay who wants to explain this one?” Rico whispered. “Not it,” he and Drew said simultaneously.

“Have fun, DeMarco.” Rico slapped him on the back. “I need another drink.”

Assholes.