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This story belongs to me.



Ch2



The look of absolute horror on her face was too much. Tears formed quickly as her eyes darted around my humble home. The wooden floor covered in places by animal pelts, the curtains made of old cloth. The tears rolled freely down the sides of her flushed face.



"No," she whimpered. "There... There has to be another way." All I could do was watch her. "There isn't a... An infirmery must be nearby... A local doctor? Anything?" I shook my head.



"Unfortunately the closest one is two days from here and they may not even have the necessary equipment." My voice stayed even, unfeeling. she started sobbing violently, tears falling uncontrollably. I leant down over her and whispered, "This is not my first encounter with major wounds. I have the material to take care of this, now be a woman and stop blubbering." My hand caressed her jaw and neck tenderly in contrast to the harshness of my voice. "If your body can withstand childbirth, then you can handle a needle and thread." She only moaned more.



"Ive never had children," she whimpered. "I've never even been with a man." I rolled my eyes.



"Suit yourself, if you want to cry, then cry. Just know that you will have to be stitched up, not today but soon. Now stay put while I grab new dressing." I walked away for a moment to grab what I needed when there was a loud thud on the floor. I whirled around fast enough to see the girl run out the front door way and onto the wooden catwalk connecting my small cluster of hand built huts and outposts.



A growl forced its way from my chest and I gave chase. No sooner had I reached the doorway that I heard her scream. For a moment I saw red, and while in that state, I saw the Pack's Alpha, followed by a group of large and feral males. They had hold of the girl, passing her around, groping her while laughing cruelly.



"Brygant!" I howled the Alpha's name so loudly the birds nearby took flight. He turned to me casually.



"Kyrah," he kept his voice calm, "it is nice to see you are well."



Faster than an instant I threw a dagger--one of the smaller ones I kept belted around my thigh--that hit home in the shoulder of the male currently terrorizing the human girl. He howled and let her go, giving her just enough time to scramble back and hide behind me. I was angry with her, but my anger would have to wait. The Alpha was on my doorstep and his very presence demanded my attention. With Brygant, the last thing one wanted to do was turn their back to him.



"So I take it you got my message? Tell me, how is the whelp?" The condescending tone was intentional.



Brygant and I had once been friends long ago. We were raised together under the same roof and went through our blood rite together as comrades. But when the previous Alpha, his father--the man who adopted a starving half blood stranded in the woods--succumbed to age and illness, the Pack's tolerance of my tainted blood ended and I was shunned. As the new Alpha, he had the power to keep me safe and welcome, but he bent to the will of his people and banished me from Pack territory. Though he granted me my land and all rights to its laws, the pain of betrayal never fully healed, and I doubted that it ever would. He got to me like no one else could, he knew what buttons to press, what strings to pull, but in this instant all I could think of was how I would kill any one of them if they so much as tried to touch the human again.



"The whelp," Brygant spoke, "is well, he is fully healed, but I cannot say the same for your little pet." His smirk sickened me. "Tell me, dear sister, did you deal those wounds yourself?" I growled low and dangerously. The girl stiffened behind me as my claws started to grow. "Ah ah ah, now Kyrah show some manners in front of your guest." He wagged his finger like a parent scolding a child.



"I'll show you manners." I could not speak normally now, everything came forth as a growl. His amused expression vanished quickly, replaced with somber seriousness.



"You killed three of my finest new bloods and stole what is rightfully mine, Kyrah." He looked at the girl and I heard her whimper. "She was given to us as payment for keeping her town safe. Now hand her over, sister, I will not hold my Lupine back this time." I glanced back at the girl and down at her bleeding belly before looking at Brygant again.



"Need I remind you, as per our agreement, any Pack member caught by me in my territory may be immediately extinguished and whatever valuable they carry that touches the ground in my domain is rightfully mine." I watched him stiffen. "They carried her in a sack to keep the second half of that agreement, but they're mistake was violating the first half. Once they were dead she freed herself from the sack and in doing so, touched my soil. She no longer belongs to you or the Pack, she belongs to me." He growled at me menacingly. This time was my turn to smirk.



"You care nothing of humans--"



"That may be so, brother," the word was heavily laced with sarcasm, "but nevertheless she is mine now, if you want a human virgin to bed then I suggest you find another one. And don't cut through my forest or more of your Lupine will fall to the monster of Shollery."

This story belongs to me.





Ch1



Footsteps. Faint as they were, I could still hear them. The trees vibrated ever so slightly. The one I was currently perched in was practically singing. Birds steadily fell silent as they were passed. Intruders were not common, but still an annoyance. The Pack should have known not to send their scouts through my territory. They would not get far though. So far they had set off every alert trap I had set to warn myself of prey or enemies, it would not be long before they tripped either a drop cage or a pit trap. That's why I followed them, keeping a safe distance between us. Stalking.



I crept closer slowly and steadily to keep from being noticed. Staying up in the forest canopy, leaping from branch to branch. My buckskin wraps kept the tree bark from grating against the soft pads of my feet gradually as I ran. My mask kept my breath from fogging noticeably as I panted. My hood hid my platinum hair from the moonlight. But nothing could hide my glowing green eyes.



As I closed in on the small detail of Pack scouts I could not help but notice one of them carried a large burlap sack. Despite my annoyance, my curiousity spiked. What would make them risk cutting through my land? Judging by their path I could easily tell that they were coming from the human city to the west and were heading back to Pack territory, unfortunately for them, as per my agreement with their Alpha, they would not return alive.



While running through the branches I pulled my bow from its sling on my back and reached for an arrow from the quiver belted at my hip. Quicker than any human eye could follow, an arrow was nocked, aimed, and loosed. My shot was only slightly hindered by the wind, as I had aimed for a head shot, instead my arrow found a much bloodier target. Right through the throat. The leader of the detail fell, choking on his own blood which filled the silence with gurggled cries. The other three halted to help, and that was their mistake. I nocked another arrow and aimed for the male carrying the sack. The deadly missile flew through the air too fast for even these trained warriors to dodge. A sickening crunch resounded as his skull was puntured. Finally the last two turned around, eyes scanning, trying to find their attacker. I ducked behind the trunk of the tree I was in. If they saw my eyes my location would be compromised. Deep slow breaths slowed my heart beat. Their footsteps were creeping closer to my hiding spot. This would be my only shot, one arrow to take out two nearly full grown males each twice my size. Nerves hardened, steady breathing, wait. A twig snapped only two feet from the tree and I bolted to the next tree and loosed my arrow at them, and missed. They dodged my shot!



I dropped to the ground, slinging my bow onto my back and pulling out my dagger and stood ready. My daggers were beautifully crude, a foot long each, the blades sharp and shaped rather oddly. They were no human-made weapons. The males jumped back at first but took in my overall size and appearance and began to laugh. I recognized them as newbloods. Younger Pack members who may have just gone through their blood rite to be full Pack members. They were very young and, no doubt, incredibly cocky. I did not move while they laughed their sides sore.



"So this is the monster of Shollery Forest? Please, this has to be a joke." The male who spoke was tall and lanky like many of our kind, his sandy hair and hazel eyes also a common trait. His companion was a little darker with brown hair and eyes to match. "Two lucky shots and now you challenge us with two little knives? Are your claws not sharp enough little girl?" He was taunting me, but nothing new, just the same recycled lines no matter who dealt them. Just as the hundreds of occassions before, I refused to dignify his questions with answers, intead I let my actions speak for me.



Crouching low to the ground I could move faster than any other Lupine warrior. I darted around their legs, slicing their achilles tendons, temporarily crippling them. Now was my chance to finish them before they healed. With a swift kick to the temple I knocked the brunette male out and turned to the sandy maned male. He tried to stand, I let him, giving him some time to heal, just enough to walk, then I pounced. It may not have been my cleanest kill but, despite the blood, it was incredibly effective. My dagger ripped through the tender flesh of his throat. Blood pooled in the underbrush when his body fell. The other male was still unconscious, but I was not going to kill this one, rather I would use him to send the Alpha yet another message. And it seemed I would continue to do so if ever my forest was invaded again. At that moment however, I wanted to investigate the contents of their package.



After tying up the boy I walked over to the blood stained burlap sack that was now empty. I froze in that instant. Whatever was in that sack was alive. A prisoner? Hostage? Deserter? Whoever it was, judging by the heavy and clumsy tracks, they were running for their life. I picked up the bloody sack and sniffed it, female and fear. It was heavy with fear. Then there was the more distrubing scent: human. Why would four young Lupine have a human girl? Surely the Alpha was not allowing them to take human concubines. He would never cross such a blurred line. Either way, she was trapped. No human could escape Shollery once they stumbled in, so I would let her run herself ragged and track her then. For now I would worry about delivering the pup to the Pack's doorstep and then worry about the girl.



I walked back to the unconscious pup and hefted him onto my shoulder, his extreme height making it impossible to run with his feet dragging the ground behind me. The moon crawled slowly across the sky as the night aged. It was nearly dawn when I reached the border. The pheromones in the air from mating season were so strong it almost knocked me off my feet. I dropped the limp body and retreated back in the seclusion of my forest, putting distance between me and strong stench of rutting season. Once I could breathe without choking the hunt began. I had to find the girl to interrogate her before someone or something else could.



My feet padded rapidly on the soft earth of the forest floor. The scent was everywhere and my domain was too large to cover on two legs in one day. While running I grabbed a moss covered rope--one of the many scattered throughout the trees--that hung from the canopy and unhooked it from its hold. I held on as the pulley system activated and pulled me up to a small outcrop I had built on the tree. One of my many outposts in the tree tops. Without skipping a beat my clothes and weapons were stripped from my body and hidden in a hollow nook in the tree trunk. I then grabbed the rope and kicked the lever to let me back down to the ground and hooked the rope back onto its hold. Sometimes I could recall what modisty felt like but it had long since proved useless. Without thinking, my body started running again, wind pulling at my hair. Then the change.



It came in midstride. My body exploded with change. Arms grew longer, thicker with muscle, claws growing from the tips of long thick fingers. Legs became stronger and human feet morphed to become more canine in structure. An incredible pressure filled my head as my skull reformed. My spine cracked and shifted, growing longer. Finally, platinum, nearly silver fur covered my body.



Every sound became clear, every scent, even my sight was better. I let out an earsplitting howl that echoed throughout the forest and I listened again. Silence, but for the heavy exhausted breathing somewhere in the darkness. Scenting the air, I followed her clumsy trail, galloping on all fours to reach her before she moved again. When I found her the sight was not what I had expected.



Dark curles splayed around her pale face. Her dress was torn in places that suggested struggle, and her boots and socks were caked in mud. I crept closer to check for injuries, being as gentle as my claws would allow, turning her over onto her back. The coppery smell of blood filled my nostrels. Her belly was gashed, what looked more like she had come close to being gutted by Lupine claws. I held back the urge to growl and lifted her onto my shoulder and ran toward the center of my domain, back to my home. The girl remained unconscious during the trip, even when I changed back, even when the pulleys lifted us up to my tree house. It was not until midday that she awoke. But what woke me was her scream.



I sprang from my bed and pulled on my tanned leather jacket, lifting the hood to cover my face. I hurred to the room I had set her in and found her curled up in a corner, shivering, clutching a fur blanket to her chest, on the brink of tears. A sigh escaped me and I crossed the room to kneel in front of her and reached my hand out to touch her head gently. She jerked away and stared up at me with wide eyes. Her hair was still damp from the bath I gave her. I grabbed her chin as tenderly as I could manage with calloused hands and turned her head to check her more minor cuts and bruises, then I tried to move her arms and the blanket out of my way to see the dressing on her belly. She pushed my hands away then and tried to shove me away from her.



"Leave me alone!" She hit my shoulder. "Don't touch me you filthy--" her hand hit my chest, making me wince. Sometimes being female had its downsides, for example: the pain of her hand hitting my breast. But still I didn't move, and I let the realization sink in. Her eyes were almost instantly wide. "You... You are... A woman? What happened to--"



"The men that took you are dead. Now settle down, the wound on you belly will only grow worse if you agitate it so." My voice was harsh, raspy from long months of silence.



"Dead? All of them? How, who--"



"Enough, I said settle, now."



She stared up at me with big brown eyes, her pale face slightly flushed pink. For a moment I feared she would cry. It was almost enough to break me, but before that happened she fell silent again and looked out the small window that lit the room. The light had a green tint to it, giving the room a strange fey look, and judging by the mild wonder in her eyes, the girl seemed to think the same. I reached for her again and grabbed the blanket, instantly her eyes darted back to me and her hands tightened on the edge of the blanket.



"I need to check you wounds, hold still." My patience was running dangerously thin. Maybe it showed in the set of my jaw, but she seemed to understand and she let go of the fur. I sighed and pulled it away from her naked body, ignoring the heat creeping up my neck. The wrapping was soaked through in spots with brown dried blood. "Hold onto my neck." She listened without protest and wrapped her arms around my neck. I tucked my arms behind her back and under her thighs and lifted her, holding her body to my chest. Gently I carried her to the main room of the tree house and sat her on my work bench that had been cleared of all my equipment just a few hours earlier to make room for her when we arrived. The girl sat still now, not speaking, instead she watched me with her big brown eyes. There was still a hint of suspicion which comforted me. It would worry me if she trusted a complete stranger, which ruled out her being lured by the groupd of men at the spur of a moment. Either the girl thought she knew them--which would require long term planning--or they caught her off guard as a pass by kidnapping. I would not know until the Alpha showed up, and he would. All I had to do was wait.



I looked back at the blanket on the floor in the doorway of the other room, stained with blood and something else. Then I could smell the salt. Tears. I turned my attention to her again and my hands worked fast, cutting the bandages as carefully removing them, wetting them wherever they would stick. I tried to ignore her whimpering, but she sounded so much like a hurt pup it was nearly impossible.



The gashes were not deep enough to kill but were still too deep to stitch, they were packed with blood soaked cloth that I took great care in removing. I laid her down and studied them further. Sloppy, a struggle wound. She would eventually need stitches, but I did not want to close the wound while it still needed much more cleaning, if I did this wrong it would scar too badly. Pity filled me for her sake and I winced at the thought of having to tell her.



"What is it?" She sounded worried, or maybe it was impatience. Either way, she was not letting me avoid confrontation. I took a deep breath and looked down at her.