A Wolf's Claim

CHAPTER 11

*Tex*

It was the day after I saw Stella with that douche bag, and I still wanted to tear him apart. Where did they even meet, and when? She never mentioned anything to me! The whole thing still bothered me and I couldn't get my mind off of it. It was going to haunt me, until I gathered more information.

I woke up early, walking downstairs to make some coffee, where I was surprised to see my dad already awake. It was six in the morning, and he was already dressed and ready to leave for work. I raised an eyebrow at him, while he did the same to me. I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat in front of him at the small round kitchen table.

"You seem troubled." Dad said, his low country rumble stirred the cowboy in me.

"I am..." I paused, unsure if I wanted to tell him everything.

"What about?" He pressed, smirking, sipping his coffee.

"Stella." I murmured, and his eyes grew wide.

"You found her?" He asked, leaning forward with interest.

"Yeah... I drove past her house and she was there, with some other guy. I didn't know him. I'd never seen him before, but he was huge. She acted like they were together... so did he..." I rambled, feeling the pain consume my chest and harden it.

"How big, exactly?" Dad asked, squinting his eyes.

"Massive, his muscles were enormous. That's why I didn't engage in a fight, because I knew I'd lose." I shrugged, glancing down at my miniscule biceps compared to Jace's.

"What's his name, son?" Dad asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Jace. That's all I know. I never got a last name." I sipped my coffee, allowing the burn to override the agony in my chest.

"That's all I need." Dad smirked, pulling out his phone.

"What are you doing?" I asked, trying to peek at his phone.

"Jace sounds of interest to me, I'm going to do some research." Dad shrugged, sending out a text message.

Something deep inside screamed that it was a mistake, telling dad about Jace... but there's no undoing it now. Maybe dad will help me reason with her, determine why she's lost her damn mind! It's not like Stella to take off, especially with a random man she doesn't even know! Something about all of this doesn't sit right with me, but I can't control a damn thing, I'm just here for the ride.

"Come with me, son. I think it's time I show you what our family does." Dad said, his words leaving my stomach churning.

"What do you mean? We sell guns." I grunted, and watched as his smirk began to twist.

"That's not all." Dad said, tugging my arm towards him.

We hopped into his lifted truck, taking off down the street. I had no idea where he was taking me, but my gut knew it wasn't anything good. I've never felt afraid of my dad, but lately the sensation has only been growing. There's something dark about him that I never noticed before, something ominous and terrifying.

After about forty-five minutes, we pulled up in front of a ranch house. It looked abandoned, but something told me it wasn't. Dad turned the car off and motioned for me to follow him, hopping out of the truck. We walked through the front door and into a well-furnished house, with a group of men standing around something in the center of the room.

Dad led me straight to the center, where another man was bound and gagged. He was strapped to the chair, beaten mercilessly, and barely conscious. I took a step back, my heart pounding against my chest, and panic starting to rile up my nerves. I gulped, looking between the stranger and my father. This isn't the man that raised me... I don't know who this man is!

"Dad..." I softly muttered, but before I could say anything else, he interrupted.

"This isn't just a man, Tex. This is a creature of the underworld!" He roared, and everyone around us cheered for him.

"What?" I said, looking at the barely breathing man.

"Watch." Dad smirked, and turned to grab a branding iron.

"DAD! What the hell are you doing!?" I shrieked, running towards them, until someone caught my arm.

Dad branded the poor man, and soon the man's skin started transforming. Loud cracking sounds filled the once silent room, and the man that once sat before me disappeared. Replaced with a giant brown wolf, so giant that the restraints broke, and the chair shattered beneath him. I stared in awe, unsure of how to react. Did I see what I think I just saw? Blinking my eyes, staring at the magnificent creature.

It snarled, using its head to push through the crowd, knocking people over. Soon chaos erupted inside the house, as the wolf was bolting for the exit. I stared in amazement, dumbfounded, while everyone else was screaming around me. It was surreal, until a loud bang brought me back to reality. A gunshot rang through my ears, as I watched the wolf fall to the ground.

"No!" I shrieked, running towards the creature.

The minute I neared it, the wolf disappeared and transformed back into a naked, brutalized man, the one that was there before. I took a deep breath, kneeling beside him and listening to his last couple of breaths. The man died, and I had to stop myself from shedding any tears. I felt all eyes on me, because I seemed to be the only one in the room that cared about this living creature. I turned to face my dad, who was still holding his smoking pistol.

"He was a werewolf, son. Those are dangerous creatures, and it's time you learned about them. I think your little girlfriend has been captured by one." Dad stated, pulling me away from the dead man.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" I pulled away from him, staring back at the man and stopping in my tracks.

"Come on, I'll show you." Dad said, pulling me towards another room.

The room was plastered with different news clippings. Throughout time, werewolves have been reported, but never taken seriously. Dad led me toward his computer, where he pulled up several files. Each one with a different title, but the first one is determining the difference between man and werewolf.

Werewolves are usually very muscular when in human form, when they aren't in their wolf state, and their skin is warm to the touch. They're usually in groups, with other large men. The women, however, aren't as large. They're much harder to identify, unless they shift in person.

They can transform into a wolf, with extremely powerful strength. The only thing that can kill a werewolf is silver, being shot with a silver bullet or stabbed with a silver blade. Anything else will only slow them down, as they're fast healers. They desire raw meat and hunt humans when they're in their wolf state, a tragedy to humankind.

I gulped at the information, glancing at my dad with wide eyes. What exactly am I reading, and why? Dad showed another file, this one described another group. This was a group of humans, a group of mostly men who hunted down werewolves. They called themselves The Silbermen.

I stared at the picture in the center of the article, the familiar man leading the group, my dad. A lump formed inside my throat, coming to a sudden realization of everything. My dad wants to hunt down Jace, Stella's boyfriend... and I'm not super bothered by the idea.

In fact, that explains why Stella was acting so weird! Maybe he did have some kind of wolf curse on her, and that's why she was so quick to leave! I have to save her, I have to help her, before she's brainwashed entirely!