Three Wild Werewolf Tales (5 page)

Richard grunted, and Sean yelped when he felt a large hand around his arm and then he was pulled closer. “Two nights, that’s it,” Richard told him, wrapping his arm around Sean’s waist. “After that you leave.”

Sean nodded and moved with Richard as the other man rolled onto his back. He shifted to get more comfortable. “Deal, I do want to complete this trail.”

Richard let out a laugh. “That’s assuming,” he said, his voice low and dangerous, “you can still walk after two more nights with me.”

Now that was a challenge Sean was more than ready to accept.

Caged Wolf

by Calandra Hunter

Copy right 2013 Calandra Hunter

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author or publisher except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or deal, is purely coincidental.

~*~

Richard was going to be angry with him in the morning, Alex thought to himself. The older werewolf didn’t like it when he had to put younger wolves like Alex in their rightful place. Of course Alex had been wrong to chase the lost hiker through the forest, but come on, the young man had run away. He was prey and Alex had only been a werewolf for two years, he didn’t have full control over his wolfish instincts or his transformation.

Not like Richard, who didn’t need to spend entire nights as a wolf anymore and could transform into a human at will. Well, a human with longer nails, shaggier hair and amber eyes. It was better than nothing.

From Alex’ vantage point in the bushes, he watched as the hiker shouted at Richard, then watched Richard transform into his human from. Well, that was going to make things interesting. Richard was one of the first in the pack to remind them of the need to keep being a werewolf a secret. Obviously the hiker couldn’t spend the night in the woods or the tree he had climbed into, but transforming in front of a human?

Alex huffed, then quietly ran off, leaving Richard to deal with the lost hiker. Maybe there’d be something else to hunt. He sniffed the air, and caught the scent of some of the other werewolves out tonight. Best to avoid the others, he was feeling restless and frustrated, and meeting them would only lead to more snarling and growling.

He tried to enjoy the feeling of solid ground under his paws, the wind in his fur, but he could only think of how Richard had treated him earlier. Wolves didn’t like losing battles of dominance over prey, and part of him was already thinking of Richard’s weaknesses and how to exploit those next time.

He sniffed the air again, hoping to smell something else to chase, to sink his teeth into. His human side had no interest in challenging Richard, the older man had been a werewolf for as long as he had lived, there was so much Alex could still learn from him. His wolf side, though, needed to let off some steam.

What else could he chase? Head towards the stream and go for fish? Venture closer to the cabins used by hikers and howl outside to scare them? He entertained that thought for a moment before discarding it. Best not to go too close to those cabins.

Alex was so lost in thought, focused on something to distract the wolf side, that he completely missed the car speeding down the road, and by the time he made the connection between the smell and sound of tires on asphalt, it was too late.

The car slammed into him, a searing pain in his hind leg, and Alex was thrown into the air, his head hitting the road hard. He dimly registered the squealing tires as the car pulled to a stop. He had to go, but when he struggled to get up, the pain from his hind leg and his head became too much. He fell back down, letting out a pathetic whine.

Werewolves healed fast, he told himself. Even if something was broken, he’d be fine in the morning. He needed time.

“Oh fuck, fucking hell.”

Alex smelled the panic before he heard it in the driver’s voice. A young man driving too fast because there was no one else on these roads at night. Of course. The door slammed shut as the man got out of his car.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, buddy, I’m sorry I hit you, okay?”

He noticed that the man, despite being panicked, did his best to sound soothing and comforting, and he also kept his distance from Alex. He tried to get up again, and while he did better than a few seconds ago, his headache was still too much and he felt dizzy before collapsing on the road again. Alex dimly thought that it was typical that his head hit the asphalt in the same way as before, and then he passed out.

~*~

When he regained consciousness, Alex realised two important things: One, he was in the guy’s car and two, he was wearing a muzzle. He tried to open his jaws, then growled when he realised the muzzle was fastened properly. Who was this guy that he took a wolf home and had a muzzle lying around in his car?

“Not happy, huh?” the driver called out. “That’s all right, I’ve been a vet long enough to know not to take it personally.”

A vet. Oh great, Alex had to be hit by a vet of all people. With his luck, he’d be getting a gazillion needles jabbed in his body, vaccinations and anaesthetics and – and whatever else vets kept in syringes. At least his injuries didn’t hurt as badly now.

He wished he had control over his transformation like the older wolves had, because turning back into a human right now was the only solution Alex could see to his current problem. But no, he’d be stuck as a wolf until the sun came up. And by then, who knew what the vet had done to him? Probably neutered him or something.

Humans weren’t supposed to know about werewolves, although Richard hadn’t paid that unspoken rule any attention earlier. Still, if possible, Alex had to get out of this without the vet realising what was going on. And that meant making sure the guy didn’t sedate him. The last thing Alex needed was to wake up groggy and disoriented. All right, how to avoid getting sedated by a vet?

Act docile.

If the vet was well-trained, he’d be wary of an injured animal, especially a wolf. The muzzle alone told Alex this guy was careful. Caring, but careful.

“We’re nearly there, buddy, and then I can check how badly I injured you. Sound good?”

Alex huffed, and settled down. He would go along with whatever checks the vet had in mind.

The guy briefly turned his head to glance at him, his glasses reflecting the moonlight. “You still seem to be breathing normally, that’s good. Maybe I didn’t hit you as hard as I thought.”

He could tell that the vet was surprised by this, but then vets didn’t know about werewolves. Alex remained quiet, listening to the classic rock on the radio, and hoped his headache would pass along with the pain in his hind legs. Did werewolves get concussions? He hadn’t even hit the asphalt that hard. He tried to move his leg, wincing at the pain. Best to leave it. He hadn’t been wounded as a wolf that often, a few bruises and scratches that had healed before the night was over. This injury was obviously a lot more serious than that, and he would simply have to wait and rest.

They drove into the driveway of the vet’s office, which was attached to a home, and Alex waited to see what would happen now. Would the vet risk carrying him?

The vet went into the home for a moment, then came back several minutes later with a flashlight. He was also wearing latex gloves. When he opened the backdoor and flicked on the flashlight, Alex closed his eyes at the bright light.

“All right, buddy,” he announced as he opened the backdoor. “Let’s do a quick check of your injuries before I drag you inside.”

Alex had to give it to him, the guy knew how to sound soothing. He let the guy prod his painful hind leg and less painful upper body. He winced, and only growled once, which he thought was pretty decent of himself. The vet’s panic and fear had receded as well as his hands slowly crept up to touch Alex’ head.

“You’re a well-behaved wolf, anyone ever tell you that?” the vet told him as he was awkwardly crouched over Alex. “Very well-behaved.” He went back to lightly prodding Alex’ hind leg again, intently looking at Alex’ movements and reactions. “Nothing seems to be broken.”

The surprise in the guy’s voice was obvious, and Alex didn’t blame him. He had definitely broken a few bones earlier, but the worst of his injuries had already healed. And the vet must’ve seen enough dogs to know the usual outcome of being hit by a car.

“There’s a lotta blood, though, so I’m afraid I’m gonna have to take you inside and examine you.” The vet opened the door to the office part of the building, then jogged back to pick up Alex. The guy was stronger than he looked, because despite some huffing, puffing and swearing, he managed to carry Alex inside.

Finally Alex was put down on a cold examination table and the vet moved around the room quickly, grabbing various things Alex couldn’t quite see. He was also distracted by the smell of the room, the penetrating scent of assorted disinfectants reminded him of stepping into the dentist’s office, except a thousand times worse. But that overwhelming smell didn’t mask the underlying scent of blood and fear and death. It was stronger, more primal than the chemicals, and it was starting to affect Alex as well.

“I am so not trained for this,” the vet muttered, dumping various bottles and bandages on a rolling cart next to the examination table.

He whined as the vet got to work, cleaning his fur around the wound, wincing at the sharp pain. His wolf side wanted to lunge forward and tear the vet’s throat out, more out of fear than pain. The office smelled wrong and unnatural, and Alex was now relieved the vet had put the muzzle on him. No matter how tempted Alex got, he wouldn’t bite the vet.

He did growl a lot, ignoring the soothing voice of the vet. He had to get out of here, but he was still in too much pain and even if he managed to jump off the examination table without making his injuries worse, opening a door as a wolf was a lot harder than as a human.

“You’re doing great, buddy,” the vet assured him, his voice low. “We’re nearly done, I promise. Guess you wolves are hardier than I thought.”

Alex huffed. The vet didn’t know the half of it.

“I’m still gonna have to keep you here tonight for observation,” the vet continued. “And call the local ranger in the morning, check on what the exact protocol is. You’ll be back with your pack before you know it.”

He certainly hoped so. If he got out of here early enough, maybe the others wouldn’t even realise he’d been gone. God, it would be incredibly embarrassing to explain he had got hit by a car. The vet taking him home was just icing on the cake.

“That’s you nearly done, buddy, I just need to stitch you – what the hell?” The vet dropped his soothing tone and frowned at Alex’ wound, which was no doubt healing nicely. “Huh, could’ve sworn his wound was big enough for stitches,”” the guy muttered to himself. “Must’ve just been the blood I cleaned up.”

Alex was relieved the vet had come up with a good explanation by himself, and that he wouldn’t be stitched up. That probably would’ve involved sedatives of some kind.

The vet stood up, and went through a door that led to a dark room. Alex could smell animals in there, dogs and a few cats and even a ferret. “Hey, hey, ssh, it’s all right,” the vet muttered, turning on the light in the room. A few of the dogs started barking, but some more quiet words from the vet made them stop.

Alex knew they wouldn’t keep quiet for long, not with him in there. Most animals were simply scared of him. They somehow knew he wasn’t an animal, but not a human either. He was strange and wrong. Cats tended to hiss at him and avoided him, dogs cowered in a corner, growled threateningly at him or barked in an attempt to intimidate him. He hoped that the dogs in there had the sense to keep the noise down. He needed his rest.

Eventually the vet returned to carry him in, and as Alex expected, there was some hissing and scuffling from the other cages as the vet walked past them. The door to Alex’ new home was open already: A large, steel dog crate that he would not be breaking out any time soon. There was a plaid blanket in there, a water bowl, and even a squeaky toy, which was rather insulting. He wasn’t some dumb pet like the rest of these animals. On the bright side, there were at least two empty crates between himself and his nearest neighbour, a Dachshund cowering in a corner. It had already wet the blanket.

He let himself be manhandled into the crate, and he tested his injured leg before settling down. It still hurt, but nowhere near as bad as before. He lay down, watching the vet close the latch at the top. A latch was good, Alex would be able to open that himself with his fingers tomorrow. The latch was, unfortunately, obscured from Alex’ view by a metal plate. Maybe some other animals had attempted to chew on it in a bid to escape? Still, just because Alex wouldn’t be able to see the latch properly didn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to open it. Come morning, he’d be gone.

The vet watched him settle down and smiled. “I really am sorry about hitting you, buddy. Sleep well. I’ll check you in the morning.”

Alex watched as the vet got up and left. The room was once again mostly dark, illuminated only by the moonlight coming in through a window. He’d be stuck here for hours, and Alex knew he had no one to blame but himself. He should’ve been more careful.