Status: We are what we are; don't need no excuses for the scars from our mothers, and we know what we know 'cause we're made of all the little bones of our fathers.
The Last Wolf
Chapter Twenty Five
Colt’s ragged breathing and rough screams finally ceased after the third dose of medicine White River forced down his throat and a deep tissue massage using the herbal mixture from Phoenix. Hours passed, but no one relaxed. The night seemed wrong. It felt dangerous and out of tune with the Shifters.
“Where’s Luna?” Viper asked while rubbing her temples.
“Last I saw, she was running,” Macon answered, “I think she’s sick.”
“Where’s Raider?” Bear piped up from the edge of the doorway.
“I haven’t seen him today,” Macon answered.
“Neither have I,” Viper chimed in.
“They’re both stupid and deserve each other,” Phoenix hissed from her seat next to colt. She kept her eyes trained on his sharp features that seemed so much softer while he slept. The playful energy drained from his body left his skin looking greyish and sickly.
“That can’t be good,” White River stated, ignoring Phoenix’s comments. He nodded to Bear, who threw himself into his animal skin and stalked toward the woods. “Go with him,” he instructed. Viper without question agreed turning into one of her most hated animals, a crow, and flew out of the room.
“What should I do?” Macon stood nervously in the room. Phoenix hissed from her spot.
“Go get some fresh water,” White River suggested.
Phoenix drug her eyes from Colt’s face and glared toward the medicine man. He shrugged his shoulder and turned his back to her. “You’ll do well to use some of that heat. I imagine his body won’t adjust to the cold.” White River left the room with vivid thoughts swirling through his head.
A soft knock brought Samantha Waters rapidly to the visitor. Her daughter went missing a little over a month ago. She remembered the night her daughter, Dahlia, left with that monstrous animal that broke through her two story bedroom window. Samantha still woke from nightmares of the creature she’d seen her daughter become.
“Luke,” she yelled before she threw open the door. The smile that plastered across her face faded into accusation and threats before her husband, the preacher, could reach the bottom of the staircase.
“What the hell are you doing at my door,” she hissed.
“I need to…” White River started while Luke made his way to Samantha’s side.
“There’s only one thing you need to do.” Luke’s voice boomed over the man standing in the summer night breeze on his porch.
“No, you-”
“I’ll give you something to say no too,” Luke stated. “You brought me the most precious little girl in the world. We never questioned you or her, not until she turned into a beast before our eyes!”
“You cooped her up! After she’d killed a man!” White River growled. “The wolf in her came out, and you tried to trap it inside her. What did you expect?”
“I expected to save my daughter!” Luke glared into the man’s stony eyes, but White River wouldn’t budge.
“There are questions that need answers.” He stated. “Now, will you help me or not.”
“Not!” Luke grabbed the door and slammed it, but White River’s foot blocked the door.
“Dahlia is missing in what we call The Dark Forest. It’s where those things you hired so long ago to get rid of the wolf pack that protected this town live.” He glared into Luke’s eyes before turning toward Samantha. “Dahlia has been missing for two days. Do you understand what that means?”
Samantha shook her head while Luke stepped back opening the door wider. Neither of them moved to allow the medicine man into their home, but they both had questioning looks across their faces. They wouldn’t admit what they did all nearly seventeen years ago was wrong, but they knew those things—the things that looked human on the outside—were more than dangerous.
“That means that the moon’s power over her is gone; it lasts from full waning to full waxing. She’s human out there with those creatures.” He shook his head while a worried expression covered his features. “She won’t survive as long as her parents did, that is, if she manages to survive at all.”
“Are you serious,” Samantha gasped.
“Unless she’s here? Did she come home?” White River took his turn to accuse the woman with the short blond hair. She shook her head vigorously. “Then say a prayer, and hope to God she has something on her side out there.”
Darkness surrounded me. My hand disappeared before my eyes when I moved it more than three inches from my face. I woke up in tattered rags with an inky, metallic taste in my mouth. An animal cacophony echoed around me. For a second I pictured myself in the 1950s Disney version of Alice in Wonderland. I waited for the dog with the broom tail to come by with its bright, Rudolf-like nose and sweep the yellow brick road from beneath my feet. But there was no yellow brick road, no dog with a red nose, and there was certainly no way of getting home from here.
Panting grew close. I could feel the moisture from a cold nose at my ankle. Memories of teeth sinking into my thigh flooded my vision while I waited, afraid to move, for this creature to do what it was going to do. Fur tickled my calf while the cold nose moved along my leg. The warmth of a tongue brushed against the dried blood on my upper thigh. I cringed. Familiar dull yellow eyes filled my vision. Blonde fur covered his wolf features.
“Macon?” I questioned, knowing different but not remembering this one’s name.
The wolf shook his head before growing its human skin. He pulled something from around his ankle. The sound of jeans being pulled on met my ears before he helped me stand. “Here,” he whispered, “put this on, and be quiet about it.” He pushed a shirt into my hands. I pulled it over my head. “I’m Raider, remember?”
“Right.” I whispered while pulling the long shirt over my head. The shirt was more like a short dress.
“We’ve gotta keep moving!”
“Why are you helping me?” I’d met Raider once or twice. He always told the others I could take care of myself, but he didn’t seem to think so now.
“Because Wolf Girl, I don’t like losing.” He grabbed my hand and started running through the trees. “And I have a bone to pick with these guys.”
“So…”
“I’m not helping you,” he growled, “I’m using you to get what I want.”
Snatching my hand out of his, I walked in the opposite direction. “That’s the wrong answer.”
“Hey!” He hissed. “No, Wolf Girl!”
“You should’ve listened to him, Little Wolf.” The whisper I’d heard before floated into my ears. My shoulders began to shake, and this time fear took over.
“Welcome to my neck of the woods.”
“Where’s Luna?” Viper asked while rubbing her temples.
“Last I saw, she was running,” Macon answered, “I think she’s sick.”
“Where’s Raider?” Bear piped up from the edge of the doorway.
“I haven’t seen him today,” Macon answered.
“Neither have I,” Viper chimed in.
“They’re both stupid and deserve each other,” Phoenix hissed from her seat next to colt. She kept her eyes trained on his sharp features that seemed so much softer while he slept. The playful energy drained from his body left his skin looking greyish and sickly.
“That can’t be good,” White River stated, ignoring Phoenix’s comments. He nodded to Bear, who threw himself into his animal skin and stalked toward the woods. “Go with him,” he instructed. Viper without question agreed turning into one of her most hated animals, a crow, and flew out of the room.
“What should I do?” Macon stood nervously in the room. Phoenix hissed from her spot.
“Go get some fresh water,” White River suggested.
Phoenix drug her eyes from Colt’s face and glared toward the medicine man. He shrugged his shoulder and turned his back to her. “You’ll do well to use some of that heat. I imagine his body won’t adjust to the cold.” White River left the room with vivid thoughts swirling through his head.
A soft knock brought Samantha Waters rapidly to the visitor. Her daughter went missing a little over a month ago. She remembered the night her daughter, Dahlia, left with that monstrous animal that broke through her two story bedroom window. Samantha still woke from nightmares of the creature she’d seen her daughter become.
“Luke,” she yelled before she threw open the door. The smile that plastered across her face faded into accusation and threats before her husband, the preacher, could reach the bottom of the staircase.
“What the hell are you doing at my door,” she hissed.
“I need to…” White River started while Luke made his way to Samantha’s side.
“There’s only one thing you need to do.” Luke’s voice boomed over the man standing in the summer night breeze on his porch.
“No, you-”
“I’ll give you something to say no too,” Luke stated. “You brought me the most precious little girl in the world. We never questioned you or her, not until she turned into a beast before our eyes!”
“You cooped her up! After she’d killed a man!” White River growled. “The wolf in her came out, and you tried to trap it inside her. What did you expect?”
“I expected to save my daughter!” Luke glared into the man’s stony eyes, but White River wouldn’t budge.
“There are questions that need answers.” He stated. “Now, will you help me or not.”
“Not!” Luke grabbed the door and slammed it, but White River’s foot blocked the door.
“Dahlia is missing in what we call The Dark Forest. It’s where those things you hired so long ago to get rid of the wolf pack that protected this town live.” He glared into Luke’s eyes before turning toward Samantha. “Dahlia has been missing for two days. Do you understand what that means?”
Samantha shook her head while Luke stepped back opening the door wider. Neither of them moved to allow the medicine man into their home, but they both had questioning looks across their faces. They wouldn’t admit what they did all nearly seventeen years ago was wrong, but they knew those things—the things that looked human on the outside—were more than dangerous.
“That means that the moon’s power over her is gone; it lasts from full waning to full waxing. She’s human out there with those creatures.” He shook his head while a worried expression covered his features. “She won’t survive as long as her parents did, that is, if she manages to survive at all.”
“Are you serious,” Samantha gasped.
“Unless she’s here? Did she come home?” White River took his turn to accuse the woman with the short blond hair. She shook her head vigorously. “Then say a prayer, and hope to God she has something on her side out there.”
Darkness surrounded me. My hand disappeared before my eyes when I moved it more than three inches from my face. I woke up in tattered rags with an inky, metallic taste in my mouth. An animal cacophony echoed around me. For a second I pictured myself in the 1950s Disney version of Alice in Wonderland. I waited for the dog with the broom tail to come by with its bright, Rudolf-like nose and sweep the yellow brick road from beneath my feet. But there was no yellow brick road, no dog with a red nose, and there was certainly no way of getting home from here.
Panting grew close. I could feel the moisture from a cold nose at my ankle. Memories of teeth sinking into my thigh flooded my vision while I waited, afraid to move, for this creature to do what it was going to do. Fur tickled my calf while the cold nose moved along my leg. The warmth of a tongue brushed against the dried blood on my upper thigh. I cringed. Familiar dull yellow eyes filled my vision. Blonde fur covered his wolf features.
“Macon?” I questioned, knowing different but not remembering this one’s name.
The wolf shook his head before growing its human skin. He pulled something from around his ankle. The sound of jeans being pulled on met my ears before he helped me stand. “Here,” he whispered, “put this on, and be quiet about it.” He pushed a shirt into my hands. I pulled it over my head. “I’m Raider, remember?”
“Right.” I whispered while pulling the long shirt over my head. The shirt was more like a short dress.
“We’ve gotta keep moving!”
“Why are you helping me?” I’d met Raider once or twice. He always told the others I could take care of myself, but he didn’t seem to think so now.
“Because Wolf Girl, I don’t like losing.” He grabbed my hand and started running through the trees. “And I have a bone to pick with these guys.”
“So…”
“I’m not helping you,” he growled, “I’m using you to get what I want.”
Snatching my hand out of his, I walked in the opposite direction. “That’s the wrong answer.”
“Hey!” He hissed. “No, Wolf Girl!”
“You should’ve listened to him, Little Wolf.” The whisper I’d heard before floated into my ears. My shoulders began to shake, and this time fear took over.
“Welcome to my neck of the woods.”
♠ ♠ ♠
Alright, so here's chapter 25. Hopefully it's good enough to hold you guys over for a week since I'm taking a little vacation. I'm not leaving the house, I'm just not going to post for a week. I need time to catch up with my brain and to try to refocus because I have too many ideas in my head at once. I want to finish this story an my fan fiction before I start anything else new.