A Lone Wolf

flower moon cresting

I followed her from the club, watching the sassy sway of her hips as she marched ahead of me on her impossibly high heels; her head back, her back straight, looking every inch the queen she was destined to be.

I frowned to myself; she was clearly young but was it really possible that she didn't know? What kind of life had she been living to be completely unaware of what, of who she was?

I travelled the world hunting her kind and here, in this run down, deadbeat seaside town, I find this absolute gem living in complete ignorance.

For the first time in my long career, I felt a pang of sympathy for my quarry; the shift was going to be exceptionally painful for her and she was going to be terrified; if she was afraid of anything.

I watched her long, glossy dark hair swinging at her back, her little blue skirt skimming the tops of her slender thighs and chuckled to myself; she really was a beauty.

Hearing my laugh, she whirled round like the wrath of God to glare at me. I took her in fully for the first time.

She was small for her kind but curvy, in that lithe, under developed, youthful way. Her perfect, pale skin glowed under the moon, a slight red bloom of annoyance spreading over her cheeks.

The exquisite roundness of her plump breasts heaved softly, her skin like satin next to the blue of her frock.

Her face was finely made; high, yet soft cheekbones, slender pointed nose, small red lips; little pointed chin, high, proud forehead and those eyes, huge, dark eyes that could swallow you whole.

With her small, long limbs and huge orbs, she could almost be mistaken for a trembling doe rather than the predator she was.

"What?" She snapped at me, interrupting my pleasant reverie.

I held up my hands and took a step back, not realising how close I'd gotten. The last thing either of us needed was a scene right here. I glanced at my watch: I had ten minutes to convince her to come out of sight.

Why did I care? I shouldn't care, I should be putting the dog down before she becomes dangerous; now would be a perfect opportunity; she was charmingly vulnerable. I put my hand in my pocket and felt the silver blade in there.

Her gaze followed my hand, c*****g her pretty little head with a frown.

No, I couldn't do that. The guild may mock me, lord knows I'm beginning to think I'm a fool but that sort of thing? Well, it just isn't tennis. To slit her pretty throat before she can even put up a fight? It offended my sense of honour. No, there will be plenty of time to get her later on but for now, I was curious; I wondered what form she'd take.

For her to be completely alone, the bloodline must be an impressive one; strong enough to survive the inevitable human cross breeding.

There used to be thousands like her but after the war they scattered and hid, the few full blood pups born were shrouded in secrecy. Now, I had an unshifted pup in front of me and I wanted to see what she became.

I saw her eyebrow raise as I studied her, realising that I was taking far too long with my thoughts.

"I know you just met me but we need to go somewhere out of sight princess,"

Her eyebrows shot up and I cringed and facepalmed at how that sounded.

"No no no, not like that" I backtracked, waving my hands frantically, " it's just... it's nearly midnight and you shouldn't be seen....."

Even worse, she started to back away, fear evident on her beautiful face. As she turned to bolt, I grabbed her slender wrist, earning myself a ferocious snarl. Panic overtook her features and tears welled in those eyes that were beginning to turn a startling shade of green. I could feel her trembling, no, vibrating under my hand, she was panting in pure panic, struggling to breathe as she writhed against my grip. I thanked the goddess she wasn't at her full strength but she was still a challenge to hold.

"f**k, princess, we're out of time" I said.

Knowing that I was losing control of her, I took the only option available and scooped her into my arms, gripping her slender frame tightly as I sprinted for the sea wall and jumped.

She screamed briefly as we went over. The moment I landed she started to fight me. It took everything I had to pin her, trying to make soothing sounds as she struggled.

"Princess, calm down, I'm not going to do anything to you, we just need to talk" I tried.

She growled at me, making her cry harder.

"I know, you're frightened, you don't understand why that's happening; I can help you just please stop"

She went limp and started sobbing. Suddenly she convulsed, a look of agony contorting her lovely face; a whimper escaped her.

"Princess, we don't have much time;" I searched for the words to say something " you're going to think I'm mad but I need you to listen to me," I said as softly as I could.

She had stopped fighting, her wet eyes huge and glowing, sweat beginning to sheen her trembling body. She nodded, clearly thinking I was insane.

"Ok; did your parents or grandparents have anything unusual about them when you were little? Anything you thought was odd?" I asked, noticing for the first time her bracelet with the wolf charm; someone knew something.

She shook her head, her quiet sobs calming as she looked at me.

"If I'm right, and I know I am, you're feeling hot right? Like your body is buzzing?"

She nodded mutely, wide eyed.

"And you can smell things stronger, everything is looking sharper?"

She nodded again, taking a tissue from her pocket and delicately wiping her nose.

"What's happening to me?" She whispered.

I felt my heart constrict; she looked so small and frightened, barely more than a child right now.

I sighed deeply, knowing that I was about to blow this girl's world to f*****g bits. f**k you Selene!

Just then she clutched at her side with a gasp.

"Sshhh, you have to be quiet; I'm sorry, this isn't ideal but we can't draw attention; f**k it all to f**k, you're a werewolf Princess and you're about to make your first shift"

I was aware that I was rambling as a stroked her back; I thought she hadn't heard me until she let out a strangled laugh between her gasps.

"You're bloody mad" she panted, just as another pain wracked her little body.

"You need to take your clothes off Princess or you'll shred them as you change" I said in my best matter of fact tone. Bugger it, she's going to think I'm a perv; well, not that I'd mind catching her naked under better circumstances.

She snorted, throwing me a withering look. The pain had clearly subsided for now.

"So you mean to tell me," she began in a haughty tone, " that I am about to sprout fur and fangs and run off to bite people?" Her expression almost made me laugh, carefully blank, yet still conveying that I was a bloody i***t. I shook my head suppressing a chuckle.

"Yes and no;" her eyebrows shot up. " This isn't American Werewolf in London, you're not going to turn into a blood crazed half woman beast but yes, the fangs and fur will happen but you're going to look like just a very large wolf, not a monster" I garbled, trying to get it out before she either interrupted me or punched me.

Instead, her jaw dropped and she just shook her head in disbelief.

"That's it, I'm out of here, I'm sat on the beach at midnight with a f*****g fruitcake. I'm going home, I don't feel well" she rapped out, frowning.

"I can't let you do that princess," I said, grabbing her wrist. "This is going to happen tonight whether you believe it or not and It's against the law to show the humans. They'll shoot you on sight and I can't let that happen."

She shook her head wide eyed.

"You really believe this s**t don't you?" She said wide eyed.

"I believe it because I know sweetheart. I'm not blowing smoke up your arse, I'm doing you a favour! How the f**k do you make it to eighteen without knowing you're a f*****g wolf?" I wanted, angry on her behalf.

"And what are you?" She squawked, her voice rising, " the Easter f*****g bunny? No, a vampire? A fairy perhaps?"

I shook my head sadly, " a hunter" I said looking at my shoes.

"A hunter" she deadpanned.

"Yes, I travel the world searching for people like you to kill them; I'm not going to kill you!" I shot out, noting her look of panicked disbelief. I glanced at my watch. Four minutes.

" Right now I'm more worried that you're about to shift and you know nothing about it. It's going to hurt and you shouldn't be alone; you creatures should live in packs, you don't do well solo,"

She c****d her head questioningly before collapsing to the floor, whimpering and shaking, clutching at herself, trying to ease the searing pain I knew was burning through her body. She gasped silently, her eyes wide.

"Make it stop" she pleaded. I got to my knees and gathered her shaking form to me, tucking her head under my chin and stroking her back. She smelled delightfully of roses and shampoo. Perhaps in another life I'd have taken her home; but I was 27, she was just a slip of a girl. I rocked her gently as she twitched. This should be a proud moment for her, she should be surrounded by her pack, excited to meet the other half of her not sitting in a stranger's lap, sobbing on a beach, frightened and alone. And that was partly our fault.

The guild had wiped out many of her kind after the war forcing them to hide, making them rarer and rarer; and the ones that were left often went mad, killing them was necessary. Wolves lose their minds without the pack.

I shook my head sadly. Would this girl ever find her mate? Would she settle for a human partner and live her life feeling incomplete, hiding herself, her wolf slowly fading away?

For the first time I questioned my training. Was it right what we were doing? Wiping out a species? I sighed heavily and noticed that the shaking had stopped. She was breathing heavily, barely conscious.

"You're close sweetheart, I'm going to have to put you down but I'm right here." I cooed, laying her gently on the sand.

She barely flinched as I started to pull her dress up over her body, wriggling it up under her, revealing her shapely buttocks, clad in black lace.

"You'll thank me later honey, you're very close to the change and it's going to hurt darling. Try to be quiet if you can."

She didn't respond and I carried on stroking her hair. I heard that first crack at dead on midnight as she gasped and her whole leg changed direction. She cried out as her back arched and she started to grow. I backed off, cringing at each snap and cry. I'd never seen a first shift up close, it looked excruciating, her eyes wide and mouth open with pain as her face elongated and her teeth started to push through. I reached over to stroke her shoulder, earning myself a growl just as golden fur started to spread over her body. She gave a final scream as her whole form seemed to explode outwards, I covered my face from the cloud of sand, lowering my arms to see a magnificent golden beast, one of the biggest I'd seen, it's fur shimmering in the moonlight, it's startling green eyes trained warily on me.