Alpha of the Ranch

The Revelation

Panic. That's all Victoria felt as she watched the creature that was once Oliver standing at the backdoor. But that wasn't Oliver anymore. It was some fearsome creature in his body. His face had contorted and he now had something akin to a maw. His eyes were golden. His fingers had elongated and he'd grown long, black nails. She even thought he'd gotten a bit taller.

Yes. She was panicking. A lot. And while she didn't know what to do, she knew she couldn't stay sitting on her ass. Part of her kept screaming out to run as fast as she could back to her truck, but she dismissed the option. She couldn't run. She knew this creature who was once Oliver would chase her. It would catch her. It could devour her.

Slowly, Victoria rose to her feet. "Hey there big guy." She softly called out, putting as much confidence into her words as she could. It was difficult. She'd faced down bull calves that seemed more tame. "Why don't we just uhh..." She trailed off unsure of just what she'd even want to do. She licked her dry lips as she thought and the creature seemed to watch the movement arduously. It took a step towards her on inhumanly long legs. Victoria didn't step back, which took willpower she didn't know she had. But her years on the ranch had instilled in her that she had to stand her ground.

Victoria blinked and the creature was even closer now. It stepped off the back porch and onto the ground. It took another step forward before a fierce growl erupted from below. Victoria looked down. She'd totally forgotten about this little stray wolf in her fear. Why hadn't it run away? But there it stood, ears pressed back, teeth exposed, and whole body shaking like it was just moments from darting forward.

A deep, earth-rumbling response came from the creature. Victoria saw its attention was now on the wolf, agitation rolling off of it in waves. It's breathing became even more labored and, somehow, it seemed more teeth were exposed. It leaned forward onto its front claws and was still a humongous sight. It's eyes were locked on the wolf in front of her, like it was ready to tear it to pieces.

"Wait, no. Don't hurt this little guy." She said before she could even process it. The creature clearly understood her and she realized it was not the right thing to say. It shook its head angrily and began pacing back and forth on all fours, growls still rumbling out. It was clearly agitated, but Victoria took it as a good sign that it hadn't ripped her apart yet. She wanted to deescalate the situation as best she could.

She moved forward a little and placed her hand on the top of the little wolf's head to get it to stop growling and calm down. The little wolf responded well, cutting out the growls and backing up a little to sit down. The creature in front of them growled louder, but it seemed to be cut short as it began its pacing again, shaking its head like it was trying to clear something.

"Okay. Let's just all take a breath." Victoria cleared her throat a little. "Umm...Oliver? Is that you?" She still couldn't connect the man with the jade green eyes to this...thing in front of her, but she'd seen what she saw.

The creature stopped pacing and faced her. It stood back up on two legs, peering down at her and the foolish wolf companion. It shook itself from head to toe and, slowly, Victoria watched as it shrunk a little, his face morphing back to the one she was used to until there stood Oliver. His shirt was ripped on the sides with the sweater gone. His pants were more like shorts now. And he looked flushed with embarrassment. His eyes kept shifting from Victoria to the ground and his hands rubbed together awkwardly.

"Yeah. I think there's something I need to tell you."