Wolf's Bane

Chapter 8 Pt. 3

Sam's eyes darkened after the girls had responded. Looking down at Brad, he smirked. "Looks like Brittney gets to seek out a new mate." He bent down and grabbed Bradley's shirt again. The boy was confused, but he turned to Sam with pleading eyes. "Please, man, you know I didn't mean it. I was just looking for you."

Sam shook his head and moved the boy out of the house. The following measures were not meant for female eyes. Dragging the pleading male to the woods, Sam shoved him against a tree. "You came to my mate's home trying to challenge me. What do you think I do to people like that?"

"I-I don't know, man." Brad had difficulty talking with his face pressed against the tree's bark. He waved his hands frantically as he spoke. He was always a 'hand talker.' "I mean, with Zach missing-" Sam cut the boy off with a punch to Brad's ribs. "You're gonna be 'missing' too. Well, more like a message to others of the bachelor pack." Grabbing the boy again, Sam pulled him through the woods.

What was the alpha going to do to Bradley? The wolves were growling, and Brad fought against Sam's grasp. The moisture of the rain had caused Brad's shirt to slip. With a yank, Bradley was free, and the distance from the green home had brought his confidence back.

"Can't run forever, Bradley!" Sam called out as a clap of thunder sounded over their heads. Removing his clothing, Sam allowed the change to take him. The raven wolf growled before muscles bound. The hunt was on.

Paws sunk into the earth with each wolf's powerful gait stride. He was gaining speed on the helpless teen. Brad looked over his shoulder as a flash of lightning illuminated the woods. Screaming out in horror, Bradley could see the spiked raven coat of the alpha. Its intense blue gaze on the boy as it slowed to a stalk. Crouching low as it moved forward, Brad could see the muscles of its back legs bulge. He knew his life was soon to be over.

The attack was quick. Sam's form was in the air and on top of Brad in no time. Teeth, claws, and natural weapons dug into the boy's clothing and flesh. Yanking and shaking, Sam tore into the meat of the boy. Blood spilled onto the ground and splattered onto the wolf's form. Vicious growling left the snarling wolf, and Bradley fought back even in his dying breaths. His stomach had been torn open, and gashes along his throat poured blood from the severed jugular.

Brad gasped as he swung his fists toward Sam's head. A few struck true, and the wolf backed away only to shake its head. Its vision had been compromised with the last punch to its head. With double vision now, Sam growled at the dying boy, only to turn and walk away. If Brad did survive, he would tell the other boys of the bachelor pack. If he didn't, then his body would prove the message Sam wanted to send.

The walk back to the green home was short-lived. He sat on the steps to the front door and whined. His dark fur was covered in blood, and he knew he'd feel the effects of the punch once he became human again. He knew he'd have to be near to use telepathic communication.

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Walking into the room, Luna could only stand in the doorway. She couldn't make herself stay in there for very long. She looked around the room for any misplaced items, and there were some. Some pictures had been moved, and the bed was no longer made. She tried her hardest not to cry at the thought of it, but it wasn't long before she had begun to make the bed. The sheets were a blue color. But seemed to have faded due to dust. Just moving them had caused her to start coughing. "This is terrible." She said to herself right before finishing the bed.

Her next step was to fix the pictures. Most of them also seemed faded from dust. She decided to take her hand and brush some of them off. Soon her eyes landed on a small one, turned upside down on the dresser. She picked it up to put it back, only to freeze. She smiled slightly at what the picture was of. Her father was on the right, and her mother was on the far left. In the middle was her holding a little baby Gage. She could remember taking this 8 years ago before everything happened between her and her mom. Her hair matched her mom's. But something about Gage's was different. It didn't fit her mom's, orange-colored, and her dad's, brown. Gage's was redder and darker than both her and her mom's. "Hm..."

Luna put the picture down in its spot before looking towards the closet that seemed to have been moved around. She made a slight growling noise before she began picking up the loose jackets.

Luna heard Sam all the way from the back room. She finished up what she was doing before walking out and closing the door. She opened the door only to see a bloody Sam wolf standing at her door. She suddenly looked towards Gage, who seemed busy with her toys. She then looked back at Sam. "You're going to stain my carpets... just..." She looked towards the bathroom. "Go to the bathroom. I'll bring you something to change into. Get all of that off of you." She opened the door enough to let him through but tried to stay between him and Gage's view.

Sam swayed his tail only to limp into the house. With an inaudible whimper, he spotted Gage, rushed down the hall, and slipped into the bathroom. Using his nose, he shut the door and hopped into the tub. Sitting down, he let the change come back to him. Sam sat in the tub without the water running, shivering and covered in mud and blood. The punch that doubled his vision was to his temple. Thankfully it hadn't been strong enough to do any significant damage. Sam closed his eyes and tried to get his vision straight again with his hands pressed to the tub floor.

Luna tried to find a way to get him some clothes. By the looks of it, he didn't have anything here to change into. Her mind went back to the bedroom she had just cleaned. She opened the door and began going through the drawers. She found some boxers that still had the tags, a shirt, and a pair of shorts. She only hoped this was big enough to fit. She left the door open this time as she walked to the bathroom. She knocked a bit before realizing that it was quiet. She took a deep breath before slowly opening the door. Her eyes mainly stayed on the floor as she walked in. "Hey. I uh... I found some of my dad's old clothes. They ain't much, but...." She put the clothes on the sink before moving her gaze slowly to him. She wasn't trying to be nosey, but she was distressed. She saw his eyes closed before rubbing the back of her neck. "Are you okay?" She asked this as she silently got on her knees next to the tub. She wanted him to know that she wouldn't try to look at him.

The scent hit his nose before she knocked. Silence remained as she walked into the bathroom. "My vision is doubled. He clocked me in the temple." His head turned toward her voice. His nose took in her scent, but he didn't open his eyes. "I can bathe myself but can't see right now." The bruise had started to show under the muck of the mud. Completely bare to her. If she did look, many scars would show etched into his skin. Most were darker than his natural skin tone, but some were lighter.

His weight shifted, and he moved his hands to the hair tie that kept his braid together. With it removed, the long hair unraveled and draped against his back. This hid the paw print birthmark that was located at his tailbone. "Thank you for the clothing." He wanted to kiss her, but without being able to see where exactly she was, he decided against it.

Luna bit her lip a bit before sighing. She shook her head before bending over the tub to turn the water on. She wasn't going to just leave him like this for who knows how long. "If it's too warm or cold, let me know." She looked at him for a second. She'd never seen his hair down before. It was a pretty strange thing to see at this point. He was completely covered in mud and dirt. She felt like taking a bath would be a bad idea, so she stood up and grabbed the removable showerhead before handing it to him. "Here. Don't want to sit in your own filth, do you?" She laughed a bit before sitting back down.

Hearing the water turn on, he felt the liquid hit his hands and smiled. "That's a perfect temperature." He figured she turned it to her preferred temperature and chuckled. Feeling the chill of the showerhead, he took it with his right and felt for the jets with his left. When he was sure it faced him, he smiled. "Nah. Never been one for baths anyway." With the rain down on him, he moved it over his face. The warmth of the water felt nice against his skin, and moving it over to his chest, he opened his eyes. The room was blurry, but his vision was clear. He turned his head toward Luna now. "Have I ever told you that you look like an angel?" It was corny, but at this instant, with the light of the window and the lights over the vanity, she did look like a red-haired angel.

Luna rolled her eyes before she felt her face turn red. She couldn't understand why he couldn't keep to himself sometimes. "Oh, shut it you." She smiled a bit before standing up off the floor. Since he could see now, she didn't feel as though she needed to be in here. "Clothes are on the sink." She smiled a bit before walking to the door.

"Stay with me." He gave a whine as he watched her walk to the door. He was standing now, and the shower jets had washed away most of the debris. "Please." She was the only one he would absolutely beg for. Just the fact that she had the power to make him beg was odd to him. Looking back to the shower wall, he set the showerhead on its hook and sighed. How he wished she would just jump into the shower with him.

Luna stopped hearing him, and she sighed a bit. She wasn't sure what to do, but his plea was enough to make her stay. When she turned around, she hadn't expected him to stand. This caused her to suddenly cover her eyes with her own hands. "Jesus. What have I gotten myself into." She said this as she slightly peeked through her fingers. She was pretty curious. It seemed to defeat her sense of privacy. "Just close the curtain or something. I'll sit over here." She moved to the toilet and put down the seat to sit on the lid.

"Oh, right." He gave a chuckle and closed the curtain. He didn't want to get the floor wet after all. Taking the rag she had left for him to use, he lathered it with soap. "You know. Your modesty is adorable." He spoke after a while of washing. "The fact you hide your eyes when I change, and now. It's quite cute." He gave a gargled chuckle before he spits the watered-down blood from his mouth. His vision had improved, and the room wasn't as blurry as it had been. Though, he still strained his eyes to read the shampoo bottle.

She moved her hands from her face before giving a bit of a chuckle. "It's not so much of modesty. More like my mom would murder me if she found out I had seen a... Ya know." She pulled out her phone and started going through all the friend requests from before. "So Sam... did you kill him? And Zach?"

Stopping the lathering process of washing his hair, he looked in her direction. It was something that had never been asked. They just assumed that the boys ran off. "I had to." He spoke flatly. He looked down at his shampoo-covered hands. The soap's red tint showed the blood in his hair. "If I didn't, they could have hurt you. Zach was because he was going to go to the rival pack. Brad, well, he broke into your home and wanted to challenge me for the territory." Rinsing his hands, he continued to scrub his scalp and run the shampoo through his hair. It was hard to maintain, and Sam thought about cutting it. "You ever cut hair before?"

Luna listened to a bit before nodding in understanding. She knew he couldn't see her, but she didn't want to say something she would regret. She never understood how things worked regarding the wolves, but she decided not to question it. "I cut Gage’s hair from time to time." She looked away from her phone before looking in the bathroom mirror. She didn't like the look of her hair but thought she looked weird with it short. "Why? Plan on cutting yours?"

He turned off the water after having rinsed and looked at her. "It needs it. Getting hard to maintain, you know?" He took the towel off the sink and wrapped his waist with it. The hem of the towel rested on his hips as he looked at the bruise in the mirror. "Thankfully, he didn't hit me harder. Would have killed me if he did." Poking at the bruise, he winced a few times till he could touch it without feeling pain.

She watched him poke at the bruise before making a wincing face herself. "Stop poking at it." She couldn't keep looking at him, though. Her face was getting redder the more she thought about it. Her eyes then looked down at the floor as she crossed her arms and legs. She was hoping he'd get dressed soon so she could go watch a movie and not embarrass herself. "Can you get dressed already? It's hard to focus when there's a hot guy in front of m-" She immediately stopped and covered her face again. f**k!

Looking at her through the mirror, he smirked. "A hot guy, my Moon?" He unwrapped the towel and began to dry off. He didn't want any moisture on his skin but knew changing again would be wrong. The wolf needed rest, after all. Hanging the towel over the shower rod, he began to get dressed. He'd have to clean the house again, and this caused him to sigh. It would have to wait till after the movie.

Wanting to tease Luna some more, he raised his eyebrow and smiled. "You know, we could always complete the bond?" This was said as he walked toward the door.