Running Wild

What Are You?

Three days later, Lila’s long weekend is over and she begrudgingly headed into work. She flung her backpack on the floor next to her desk and sat down in her chair, just staring at the screen in front of her. The long weekend was so amazing and she didn’t want to be back yet. She knew she’d get into the work once she started, but she took a moment to decompress from the time away.

“How was your weekend?” Drew asked, barely looking up from a file he was flipping through.

“Oh, good... can’t complain...” she trailed off and grinned, looking down at her feet, hiding it from him. “Went on a date.”

Jacob gasped dramatically and Drew smiled. “Good! You deserve it!”

“Does Tobias know?” Jacob inquired. Drew and Lila blinked a few times at Jacob wondering if he was intentionally being thick or he just hadn’t caught up to speed yet. Drew leaned over to Lila and whispered:

“Give him a minute...” They waited. Josh gave them a confused look and then it seemed to dawn on him as his expression lightened.

“OH!” Jacob exclaimed.

The three laughed at Jacob’s misunderstanding and they started asking her for details. She was about to respond when her cell phone rang. It was an unknown number, but looked familiar. Lila answered. “Hello?”

“Lila! There was an attack on the farm!” It was Luke and he sounded panicked and out of breath. Lila jumped to her feet and fumbled to grab her gun.

“Luke! Are you two all right? Where’s Tobias?” she sounded panicked and the boys watched her, nervously.

“He took off after it!” Luke said annoyed.

“f**k. Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can! Don’t leave the property!” Lila grabbed her keys, slipped into her jacket and practically sprinted to the door. Drew ran after her and stopped at the top of the steps to the precinct while she ran to her squad car.

“Tobias?” He shouted.

“Yeah! Tell Jacob to be at the ready in case I need backup!” She jumped into the car, turned it on, and flicked on the lights and siren. She peeled out of the parking lot and headed straight to the highway, leading to the country. ‘f**k, Tobias! You can’t do this to me!’ She thought angrily, furrowing her brow. ‘Please be safe....’

Unfortunately for Lila, the farm was a ways away and even with traffic moving out of her way and her speeding, it still took her about twenty minutes to get there. As soon as she pulled off the highway, she killed the lights and siren and drove up the drive, pulling off into a clearing by the fencing. She could see Luke standing there, leaning against the fence, catching his breath. She parked the car and jumped out, leaving the door wide open. She shimmied off and tossed her jacket at the fence and hopped over the top, stopping to check on Luke first. “Are you all right?” she asked, drawing her gun.

“I’m fine. But Tobias...” His words shot fear through her and waited for him to say the worst. “He kept after it! Down that way, towards the lake!”

“Okay. You stay here and arm yourself in case anything comes back. I’ll try to catch up to him.” Lila had always thrived under pressure, and it came in handy in situations like this. Turning from Luke, she headed to the path he had pointed out to her. She ran as fast and as quietly as she could. Luckily, the trails were just like the ones she jogged for exercise and she traversed them with ease.

After about ten minutes of running, Lila came to stop not far from the lake, illuminated only by the moon and fireflies, a few meters away. She stopped to catch her breath, but was also listening for any sounds around her. She stifled her deep breathing as she heard voices in the distance. She kept to the tree line, quietly raising her gun to be ready for anything. A few hundred yards later, she started to make out four figures standing by the edge of the lake. Inching closer, she suddenly recognized one of the figures: Tobias!

Lila crouched down and watched. There are three people standing, facing Tobias. Two young teen boys on either side of a tall, muscular black man, all looking very irritated. She silenced her radio and decided to observe before intervening.

“Well, well, well! Look who decided to come out from hiding?” The tall man placed his hands on his hips, taking a defensive stance.

“Shut up, Tiberius!” Tobias responded angrily. “You attacked my livestock on my property and now the police are involved!”

“Ah yes,” Tiberius said, laughing coldly. “The little blonde. I heard about your new PET,” he sneered. Tobias let out a deep growl and Lila’s confused expression only deepened. She shifted silently, adjusting the gun in her hands.

“She’s not a pet,” defended Tobias. “And I believe I made my position clear, that I would be taking on the roll my father left. As it is my RIGHT as his oldest son!” Tiberius threw back his head and laughed loudly as the two teens smirked.

“Taking? Oh, no, Tobias. You left us. You left the pack without an Alpha for a month. I came along and picked up your mess. I had to provide for them if you weren’t going to!”

“Yes, I can see that. Killing fenced in cattle and roping in two Pups to help...Definitely looks like you’ve got the provision thing down.”

“He didn’t have to ask! We came of age and decided he was right!” one of the teens spoke out. Tobias let out another low growl and the ‘Pup’ took a step back from him.

“You may be of age, but you have a lot to learn... PUP. None of you had any right! Greiving the loss of the last of your family is not weakness!” Tobias defended himself. Lila’s expression softened, feeling saddened for him.

“Doing it without the pack is!” Tiberius spat.

“Luke hasn’t left my side.”

“Ha! Don't get me started on him! He's been a sheep following the strong from the beginning. Just like his parents.”

In a flash, Tobias had lunged at Tiberius and sent him flying backwards into the trees. The teens take off and Lila watched in shock as Tobias stood his ground. Tiberius had hit something, and hard, but then, after a moment of silence, a deep, low animalistic growl emitted from just out of sight. Lila grabbed her gun tightly and slowly raised it, using both hands to steady her aim.

Tiberius, or what Lila thought was Tiberius, reappeared, but his appearance was much, much different. He had glowing golden eyes, an elongated snout in place of his human nose and mouth filled with sharp teeth, hairy arms and long claws jutting out from paw-like hands.

Lila gasped in shock.

Both Tiberius and Tobias whip around to look in your direction and Tobias’ eyes met her own, terror filled ones. His face turned extremely worried before Tiberius reached out and scratched him across the face. “LILA! RUN!” Tobias shouts.

Lila didn’t hesitate one second. She was up on her feet and running as fast as she could. Her heart was already racing and she didn’t want to stick around anymore. What the hell had she just witnessed?

There was growling and roaring behind her, but she didn’t stop for one moment to see. The forest fell silent for a moment and all she could hear was her footsteps. But soon, faster footsteps start chasing after her. She was running with real, true fear now and couldn’t see who or what it was. Her only goal was to get back to the safety of the farm. Something was telling her to get there.

Even with her being in her element and after seeing what she just saw, she tripped on a risen root and stumbled down a gully. Her gun went flying from her hand and her radio shattered on a rock she had landed on. “f**k!” she seethed.

She scrambled to try and get up, but as quick as a blink, there was someone on top of her, pressing her wrists to the ground above her head, straddling her abdomen. “NO!” She stopped struggling long enough to realize that what she had seen before by the lake was not the moon playing tricks.

Tiberius smiled wickedly down at her, bearing his fangs and digging his claws into her wrists. She realized he was too strong to fight off: unnaturally strong. “Ahhh, what a beauty. And such a wonderful scent! No wonder Tobias was staking his claim...” He leant down and got close to her ear, his hot breath sending her heart into overdrive. “Too bad he isn’t here to save you. Sub-come to me, female, or I can think of several places you’d NEVER want these claws.” One of his hands shifted to hold both wrists while the other made its way down the side of her face, cutting the skin. Lila flinched under the pain. She glared up at him, tears and blood running down her face.

“Never,” she whispered.

“What did you say?” Tiberius said, his anger apparent. He began to sink his claws into her shoulder, tearing through her uniform and flesh like butter. She closed her eyes and hissed through her teeth at the new level of pain. She mustered some strength and tore one of her hands away from his tight grasp, letting the claws tear through the flesh. She swung as hard as she could and punched him in the side of the head. He growled at her, barely phased by her hit.

“NEVER!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping someone, anyone would hear her.

He let out a loud howl and raised his hands up. She crossed her arms over her face and he began swiping his claws into every available surface. Lila screeched in pain and suddenly, the attack stopped and his weight was lifted from her body. She uncovered her eyes tears and blood blurring her vision, but she say Tobias above her. She reached for him before it registered that he now looked just like Tiberius. She quickly pulled her hand away from him and backed up weakly. His pained expression said he was sorry, but he turned and went after Tiberius.

Lila tried to rise and get away, but she suddenly realized how wet the ground was around her. She lifter her hand and saw blood; her blood. She was too weak to move. She laid down, turning to see the men fighting just a short ways away, circling each other like wolves, and her head began to spin.

“Leave her alone and I might let you live!” Tobias growled.

“Oh, no Tobias. Only one of us will walk away from this. And I have big plans for such a fine mate!” His tone made Lila’s skin crawl and then it dawned on her that he was talking about her!

Her vision started to fade as she saw Tobias’ form turn into the largest wolf she had ever seen. They lunged at each other and she completely passed out.

---

BEEP BEEP BEEP...

Lila heard a distant, steady beeping and the sharp smell of sanitation solution; she started to wake up. She squinted her eyes against the fluorescent lights above her and then heard someone rush to turn the lights off. She sighed and looked around her surroundings: the hospital.

“What? What happened?” Lila asked, her eyes still adjusting to the light. She couldn’t really see who was in the room.

“Don’t try to move too much. You’re in Regional Hospital. You’ve suffered some severe blood loss and injuries...you’ve been asleep for six days in a medicated coma.” Lila squinted her eyes and saw a nurse in a mask and bright blue scrubs standing next to her bed. Next, her sight fell to her own body, covered in bandages and a sudden, sharp pain hit her.

“OH, ow...Ow!!” Lila laid back in the bed while the nurse reached over and pressed a button next to her IV. Lila assumed it was pain medication, but her head was swimming, so she closed her eyes and took some deep breaths. “Tobias...” she whispered, wishing he was there.

“I’m here,” he replied. Lila was startled by his response and turned her head to see him sitting in the chair next to her bedside. He looked normal; without a single scratch or mark marring his skin. A little disheveled with a good 5’o’clock shadow going; he offered a hesitant smile.

“Tobias, I-” Lila began.

“Nurse, please give us a moment?” She nodded and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Tobias moved his chair over and placed a hand on hers. “Before you say anything, I want you to know that it was never my intention to get you mixed up in all this mess. If I had known who was behind the attacks... I never would have brought you to investigate...” he took a deep, shaky breath, resting his head gingerly on her bandaged hand.

Lila knew that what she saw, what she felt, was real.

“I should have been able to tell, but they covered their scent. They were meticulous and pre-emptive to purposefully throw me off...”

Lila remained silent, letting the shock settle as the heart monitor rose slightly in the background. She gazed at him, thinking about what she was going to say. “You owe me an explanation.” His head rose.

“At the very least of it, Lila. I’m so, so sorry.” She motioned for some water and he obliged. She took a few small sips before speaking again.

“What the hell happened out there?”

“Well... what do you remember?”

Lila thought back: the conversation, the glowing eyes, sharp claws, the pain, the blood. Her eyes welled up with tears and she looked down at her bandaged upper body, raising a hand to her cheek where Tiberius had scratched her first. She told him what she thought he had seen, what she experience. What Tiberius had said to her, to him. The conversation at the lake and the fight for her life.

She finished speaking and turned to face him. His shattered expression confirmed it: He and Tiberius had truly transformed into wolf-like creatures.

“It was real?!”

He nodded.

The heart rate monitor began to quicken as her heart began to race. Lila raised her hand to her head, leaning back into the pillows again.

“What are you?” she asked, shortly.

He hesitated, his expression uncharacteristically vulnerable but still firmly determined.

“I’m an Alpha Werewolf.” He paused, taking a deep breath as though to settle and lingering hesitation. The hospital noises in the background seemed oddly muffled, muted and distant. There was a strange intensity in the air between them, which left Lila holding her breath as ever single moment seemed to warp and stretch until she lost all sense of time.

“And now...” he hesitated again, meeting her gaze and seeming to search for something in them until his resolve hardened. “So are you.”