Rise Of The Wolves: The Beast Within

The Darkest Night

He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. He could barely even move. The only thing he could do was sit there, in the cold tomb and cry his heart out. So much pain, yet so little ways to express that. He did not know how to cope with such pain since he had never dealt with anything this bad before.

Lifting his head, Marcus looked around him for the first time since he had crash landed there, and noticed that the sun was beginning to set. He had less than an hour until the full moon would rise, and only a little while after that until it reached its apex. He didn't know if he had it in him to face the transformation. But he knew that he had no choice. Recently it was as though he never had a choice.

With a heavy sigh, the raven haired boy finally found the strength to stand up. He knew he had to find somewhere quiet where no one would go. He wouldn't be safe in a tomb stone. Especially not on a Saturday night when drunken secondary school kids would come out to unsafe places to party hard. He was bound to be discovered and he couldn't let that happen. The town would go crazy and hunt him down and despite him feeling like that wouldn't be such a bad thing right now, he knew it would cause nothing but chaos.

Knowing he didn't have much time, Marcus headed for the woods, not stopping until he was deep enough into the woods that even he, who had explored them a million times with his best friend, did not recognize where he was. That's when it happened. That's when the change began to happen. He could feel it beginning to happen.

Dropping to the ground, he let out a half human, half animal growl as he felt canines protrude from his gums. Barely a few seconds later his eyes flashed golden, and looking out at his surroundings he could see so much more clearly than he had with his natural eyes. Everything seemed so different with his newly heightened senses.

If it weren't for the pain of his body twisting and contorting, he would have reveled in the beauty of the dark. The pain though, was like none other he had ever felt before. Inside it felt like all his organs were trying to break out of his body, his heart pounded so hard against his chest that it felt like it was going to explode out of hi.. His head felt like it was on fire. He was no where near prepared for what came next.

As his nails grew into claws that were sharp enough to pierce through human bones, and thick grey furr began to grow on his face, he felt and heard the sickening c***k of his bones shifting and reforming inside him.

He felt as though his skin was burning as his face grew into a wolf's snout. It seemed like an eternity of bone cracking and agonizing pain before the change fully happened. Once the transformation had happened, all the pain he had felt, disappeared as though it was never there. He felt like a whole new person in his new found body.

Finding himself in this new, wolf form, he felt oddly comfortable. So much energy surged through him in that moment. Without thinking he took off racing through the woods. His senses were heightened to a whole new level. As he raced through the woods it was as though everything around him had slowed down but at the same time had come to life.

In his ears was the sound of crickets hiding in the grassy patches and the enhanced cawing and squaking of birds. Everything around him had come to life, including the woodland itself. Things that he never once took any notice of, soon caught his eye as nature took on a vivid expression.

Through his eyes, everything seemed brighter. The little daisies and dandelions pure white and sunshine yellow where bright and beautiful. The colours were jumping out at him from every direction he glanced in. It was the most magical thing he had ever experienced. It was one that would open his heart and his mind forever.

The smell of the trees and the earthy smell from the ground wafted up his nose like never before. He could pick up scents that went all the way back towards the town area.

Even the feel of the dirt between his paws as he continued to run was a blessing to him. For once in his life, he felt comfortable with himself. He wished he could stay in this paradise forever. But he knew that sooner or later he would have to go back and face reality. For now though, he was happily exploring his new found strength.

He had found beauty in being what he was. He had expected to feel like a monster but instead his new self felt like a gift and not a curse.

********

Eric got through the door to his cabin that he hid out in, in the woods, and slammed it shut behind him. He was enraged. Full of anger.

Anger that was ready to explode out him, which is why he had chosen not to make the transformation tonight, since he had learned the skill of being able to turn whenever he liked. He was afraid that if he turned into a wolf tonight, he would lose control of himself and go on a killing spree. That was the last thing he wanted to do. His father may be sleazy and he may be a wolf but, in no way was he a monster. He would never let himself go there.

Needing a way to get all his anger out, he went to the back room, where he kept all his work out gear and just flipped out. First he ripped the punching bag down from where it was hanging, tore it open and threw it across the room causing a huge crash as it barrelled into a load of ornaments that once belonged to his mother. Walking over to that same unit where the remaining ornaments stood, he slammed his fist down on the wooden surface, hard enough that it went through the wood, leaving a hole with sharp wooden spikes poking up. Not caring about the bloodied state of his hand he slid it across the part of the surface that was undamaged, causing all the remaining ornaments to fly off and hit the wall, smashing into billions of pieces instantly. The sound of smashing had satisfied him in a strange way.

Dropping his hands to his sides, his shoulders tensed as he breathed heavily, resulting in him slowly calming down. Looking around at the mess he had made, he came to a conclusion. He was truly alone.

He knew his mother wasn't coming back. William had obviously had her killed after he discovered that they were back in town. His father hated him. Not even that actually, he didn't even exist in the eyes of his father.

After everything he had done, dragging his mother back to town, begging her to let him meet his father, going there thinking he would be accepted, after losing his one questionable father figure to a fire, in which the man, Samuel, had saved a set of twins, and lost his own life in the process. The man was a hero, and Eric had to admit that he did kind of miss him.

After everything he had been through it all came to the same conclusion. Eric was alone. It was all his fault. That's how he felt, and no matter how hard he tried, the guilt did not switch off.

********

Time passed by quickly and soon Marcus slowed down as he returned to his human self. Now he was refreshed, he knew it was time to face his father. He only hoped that he would have the strength to deal with whatever was thrown his way next.

Of course he was still pained by the truth, and he was still upset that it took sixteen years for those secrets to come out and on top of that he was still angry at his father for the betrayal, but he wouldn't let his anger get in the way and stop him from what he had to do. If only he had that part figured out, but unfortunately he hadn't managed to think that far ahead.

He had been so busy with processing everything that he had forgotten to even think about what he was going to do next. Only now did he have time to think about it.