2: Leer - Pack Takeover (7 page)

 
Leer shook his head. “Wrong.” He was intent on keeping his gaze on Chaos. “This isn’t a fight you have to pick.” His tone changed. “Tee loves you.”

Chaos glanced at me, sized me up. Sniffed.

I wouldn’t say there was indecision in his eyes. Resignation maybe. A dullness, like he wasn’t feeling anything--just going through the motions. His gaze shifted back to Leer.

“You have to fight for it to appreciate it. You and I both know that.”

I remember trying to swallow, trying to speak--then trying to scream. Leer told me that he wanted to apologize, to warn me, to explain to me what I was about to see. But he didn’t have time. He couldn’t turn his back on Chaos. And I know that’s true now.

More popping sounds.

You know, until you see it--you don’t get the whole shapeshifting thing. It’s got to hurt. Right before my eyes, Leer grew bigger. His muscles bulged--like they weren’t already bulbous, stretched, Popeye-type muscles. Well, they stretched more. Bones cracked.

Chaos laughed, “She’ll hate you now.”

I was backing up into the corner. It was horrifying. With every word that Chaos lipped, Leer seemed to grow--and when hair started to push its way from his pores, or folicles, or whatever--I feared for my life. What the hell had I gotten myself into? Staggering backward slowly, I hit the wall. My eyes must have been like saucers.

All I could see was his back. His shoulders hunched a little, so he wouldn’t hit his head.

Leer said unequivocally, “I’m gonna kill you.”

I sunk to the floor, crouching in fear, still clutching my shirt. From there, I could see Chaos better. He chuckled. I wondered how he could
not
be afraid.

But then, it didn’t take me long to figure it out. He said, “Bring it on.” His eyes flashed. I could hear cracking sounds. He let out a horrible wailing, gnashing, growl thing. And, much faster than Leer had changed, he was looming over us.

I’m sure I muttered, “Oh my God.”

Leer flinched. I knew he heard me. I wondered if I was distracting him. I was. I was also empowering him. I wondered if he would be too tired--after what we’d done--to come out on top.

Chaos sent me another message.
If you care for him--at all--come with me now. I won’t kill him.

A noise escaped my throat.

Leer tipped his head. Instinctively, he said again, “Don’t listen to him.”

I blurted, “He says he’ll kill you--if I don’t go with him right now.”

Oh, that did it. Leer leaped first, tackling Chaos. They rolled backward, crunching into a chair I had in the far corner.

Just a kitchen chair. I’d been cleaning cobwebs. Yeah, I have no life.

I heard someone grunt in pain. I sent up a prayer that it wasn’t Leer. Then I thought, what the hell am I waiting around for? I mean, jeez. Get the hell out of Dodge, girl.

They were busy. Definitely busy. It sounded like a whole pack of dogs. Growling, yelping, snarling. Within seconds, their fight had pretty much destroyed the little bit of décor I’d managed on the room. They bounced into walls, slammed against the bed, crashed into the bedside table.

I got my shirt over my head, started buttoning my jeans. They rolled my way.

There was blood, too. I could smell it. When they landed at my feet, blood splattered when a slashing claw stroked--I screamed and jumped long-legged hurdle style around them. Forget shoes, I thought, as I ran toward the door.

Like I said before, I don’t know how they do it. Damn if I ain’t gonna put it on my list to learn though. My escape got their attention. Next thing I know, they’ve zipped to the living room, chasing me in only a few leaps.

Almost to the front door, reaching out for the knob, I felt a claw on my back, yanking me off my feet. I lost my balance. And let me tell you, there was a helluva lot of pain. I know it was Chaos who got me.

I hit my head on the wall going down. I think I blanked out.

Growls. So many sounds of growling, fighting dogs. It went on forever, I think. Maybe it just seems like it. I swear, there’s a time distortion thing that happens. It was probably only a few minutes. I mean, how long can two dogs fight without one ending up dead?

When I came to, I’m sure it was only a minute or so after I fell--I was afraid to move. My shoulder and back were bleeding pretty bad. He’d gotten me clear to the bone in a couple of spots.

I sent up another prayer. Now, I wasn’t freaking religious before this, but meeting werewolves… kinda helps you pick a side. I was looking for miracles.

I never would have asked for the kind I got just then.

Damn if the sounds of the fight, the smell of blood--concentrated pheromones between the raging wolves and me--didn’t bring the whole damn pack down on us.

The door slammed open, banging into my legs. I yelped. Then I rolled into a ball and cried. I didn’t care who came. I thought I was dying. My body was hurting so bad….

I know now that the emotions I was fighting, the anger mostly, were helping me to morph. Oh, God… there is
no
pain worse than the first time. None.

You’d have thought that one of these other--dogs--that came in would have thought to grab me and get me out of there. Kind of like--steal the prize.

They don’t think like that. Pack behavior, jump into the fight, one winner will emerge. That’s how they do things.

And the bitches? They showed up too, not far behind the others. But they don’t think like humans, either. They hoped I’d die on the floor. Very competitive.

Okay, with all this commotion, you’d think a neighbor or
somebody
would call to complain to the cops. Downtown mentality says, “If it sounds that bad, just hide and hope it isn’t bloody when the sun comes up.” In short, no one wanted to get in the middle of whatever was causing the brawl. They probably thought the pit bulls and Rottweilers had gotten over their fences and off their chains and were going at it.

I didn’t really care. I was lying on the floor in a ball, praying to die.

Chapter Seven

That’s when I felt it. A lick to my wound.

Okay, that sounds gross, but--it felt good. Soothing. I let it go on for a couple of minutes before looking over my shoulder to see who was doing it. It was a young female. A very well-bred-looking wolf.

You might think she liked the taste of blood--and you’d be right. But werewolf saliva has a healing quality, too. So it worked for both of us. It also made us friends.

I don’t have to say that my place was trashed in a matter of minutes. They had no regard for my personal belongings. And it was an out-and-out rumble.

My new friend asked, “Are you all right?”

I blinked. She was in full wolf form. A
pretty
husky. She was speaking in English to me.

I growled, “I’ll live.” I didn’t mean to growl. I just
hurt
. Ya know? I tried to move. “Ah, everything--hurts.”

She watched me. I could see her nose twitch. She said, “You slept with Leer.”

She glanced over her shoulder. The others were in a circle around Chaos and Leer. We couldn’t see a thing.

“Chaos will kill him.” She said it with certainty--and a touch of disappointment.

I felt a coil inside of me unwind. My body felt like it was stretching. I mumbled, “I’ve got to get up, stop them.”

She sat on her haunches. Matter-of-factly, she said, “You can’t. You are hurt.”

I gritted my teeth and muttered, “Watch me.”

Fury was building inside of me. I mean, I invited Leer to my home. He was welcome. He had done nothing but treat me with tenderness. The rest of them had to go.

You might think--jeez, this chick should’ve tried to run again. Well,
this chick
wasn’t turning her back again.

My new friend tried to warn me. “You are changing. It is best to stay on the floor.”

“Bullshit.” I put a hand to the wall. I got to my knees. Felt like I was clawing my way up, ya know?

Pop. I slipped. Something had happened to my leg. “Shit.” Another pop. The other leg went out from under me. I landed face first.

I reached for her. “Help me.”

To her credit, she didn’t smile. I know that the other bitches would’ve laughed at me--used that against me later. She said, “I don’t want to change. Looks like it hurts.”

Fera, that was her name, was born a wolf and hadn’t yet morphed. She wasn’t too long for it, though, and that is why she’d been allowed to come on the hunt.

Well, truth was, everyone else had come after me. No one had remembered to tell her to stay put. There was hell to pay later over that--since Fera’s a bit of a princess. But, at the time, I think God and Gaia were on the same page--and sent her to help me.

Hunt. I said hunt, didn’t I?

Now, you might think--there is no way in hell that an entire wolf pack was hunting in a downtown area. I beg to differ. They prowl the streets all the time. Some are in human form. You see them all the time. Their dogs, wolves and hybrids, look like the most obedient creatures, walking right beside them. Well, those are the ones that haven’t morphed--getting an education on the city.

People disappear all the time. People are
mauled
all the time. I never really believed that before. Now I realize--that’s life. The fact is, humans are not the only thinking predators on the planet.

So, I writhed on the floor for I don’t know how long. I can’t believe the fight went on for ages, but it sure seemed like it. Fera told me that my change was pretty quick. I guess it’s like labor. Doesn’t matter how long it takes, it’s excruciating while it lasts. Fear of doing it again takes a long while to go away. But each time you do it, it gets easier.

Fera thought she was helping me. She said, “Let it happen.”

I fought it. I tried to keep control. That just makes it worse. Prolongs the process.

Reaching out, I grappled for a hold on something--clawed into the carpet. I mean--clawed. My hands had turned--to extended, girly, wolf paws. Long nails that curled. I cried, “What’s happening to me?”

Simply, Fera said, “You’re changing. Let it happen.”

I heard it echo a dozen times. I don’t know if she said it that many times, or my mind was looping in and out. It didn’t matter. It finally sunk in. I let go.

From there, it didn’t take long. Thank God I’d grabbed my ‘fat’ jeans. They were way loose on me, and stretchy denim. At least, until I shifted. I realize now--jeans were to protect my womanhood from rape by Chaos, maybe cover my scent a little?

I ended up on all fours. I didn’t look like a wolf. Not like Fera. I was half in. Like Leer and Chaos, I had gone crinos. And when I hit that form completely, I shook my head to clear it. Then I growled.

Fera said later that my eyes flashed and she was a little scared, even though I didn’t direct it at her. She said I was magnificent.

When I growled, several heads swiveled in my direction.

I told them, “Get out of my house!”

They didn’t move. I pinned my gaze on a small one, not too far from me, and repeated, “Get out of my house!”

I heard, “Sure. I was bored anyway.” The wolf kinda slinked away.

One bitch joked, “Look at what the dog dragged in.”

A few snickered. I figured that bitch needed to learn a lesson.

Here’s the thing about being in crinos--you just wanna rip something apart. And you have the adrenalin flow and added muscle mass to think you’re big enough to do it. For me to peg on that bitch was stupid. She was an alpha, top dog in the pack, as females go. Which meant, in wolf terms, she’d fought her way to the top. She was the scrappiest damn fighter of them all.

And her name was Tee. I didn’t know that then, but she was the bitch that Leer had brought up to Chaos right before the fight began.

The pack was a little torn. Some were watching Chaos and Leer, who were in what seemed like an endless fight now. And blood
was
everywhere. On occasion, the watchers scrapped and skirmished. And then, I was squaring off with Tee. I learned later that it was short for
teeth
.

Some wolves claw. Some wolves bite. Some do both.

Now, I tried to be reasonable. I demanded again, “Get out of my house.”

Tee said, “You’re a stupid bitch. We’ll leave when we’re ready.”

Like I said, in crinos, you’re just looking for a fight. I didn’t think twice. I leaped on her.

Stupid, pure ignorance.

The only thing that saved me was luck. I didn’t know how to fight like a wolf. I didn’t know any rules. I didn’t know to show some respect.

She tried tolerance. She rolled with the attack. I ended up on my back with her over the top of me. “Warning,” she said. “Don’t try that again.”

Tee stepped off of me, thinking I’d be smart enough to get it. Well, I’m smart enough, but I was in crinos for the first time. My brain wasn’t running the show.

The second she turned her head to watch Leer and Chaos again, I leaped. I got lucky. My mouth latched onto her throat. Tee fell back, put her paws up--but didn’t claw. I was disappointed that she didn’t fight me, I think. And a little confused.

I didn’t want to bite all the way through, but I couldn’t hardly let go. Ya know? I mean, there was a part of my brain that kicked in--and said…
let her loose and die
.

I tasted blood. My nostrils flared. I’m sure my eyes dilated. My nostrils flared again. I smelled fear.

I guess that scent is what messed up the fight between Leer and Chaos. You see, Chaos and Tee were tight. They’d been kind of running the pack, but it had been a tenuous hold on the tempers. Leer had been sniffing up her butt--so to speak--and Chaos’s for some time. All that was mostly politics. Top dog syndrome.

Tee was in the worst predicament of her life. And so was I. I couldn’t move and neither could she.

Chaos heard her yelp. He hesitated. Leer got the upper hand--if you wanna call it that. And they rolled, too. Chaos was hard put--keeping his head in his own fight--and worrying about his bitch. Because…he really did love Tee.

Why fight then? Especially over another female? Because that’s what alphas do. If they back down from a fight, or a challenge of any kind, they lose their position.

The only place you can go from alpha position is death or outcast. A wolf born mate won’t go with you if you lose all respect--because that’s about all they have to live by. Especially an alpha bitch who can stay on top--with the winning alpha.

So, as screwed up as it was, Chaos and Tee were fighting for the same thing--for their position in the pack, and for each other. I don’t think it ever occurred to them to slink off and try another life, or to start another pack or something. Like humans--me--I’d say, “Hey, let’s just move to Cleveland. I hear the place rocks.” Or something. Toronto? Never tried Canada before.

But, at the time, I didn’t say anything. I didn’t really understand what was going on. Didn’t have time to reason it out or talk sense to the crowd--or myself even. All I knew was that I had a mouth full of fur and if I moved, I’d probably be dead. I kept my eye on the bitch.

Leer had one thought in his head, he said, he wanted to kill Chaos. I guess he registered Tee’s yelp, but he knew where his business was, and what he had to finish. He has a faith in Gaia and destiny that is rather awe-inspiring. He said he knew it would come to that--a fight between him and Chaos. And he knew he’d win, if he was the one to find me first. To him, it was a fait accompli and all he had to do was his part.

You might wonder why Chaos came for me if he had Tee, and could have the pick of all the rest. Well, as cool and tough as Tee was--she wasn’t a breeder. Not kin, anyway. And an alpha is required, by some unwritten wolf law, to take the best female available--to move up in partners if it is possible. So, it didn’t matter where Chaos’s heart was; he had a responsibility.