Monster

The stagnant air of the old musty pub lingered too long in my nose. A small metal dish of re-served peanuts sat in front of me, centered in the round table. A cold beer sat on a paper coaster just beyond my fingertips, condensation beading down the outside of the bottle. I had been sitting there at that table for hours as I waited. I knew he’d come there eventually; it was only a matter of time. I tried to blend in until the one I was hunting for arrived. I ordered a drink, only for appearances.

His face was burned into my mind, and his name was branded across my thoughts. I wouldn’t miss my opportunity. This was a different hunt than the ones I had been occupied with over the past six months. I had to be tactful in the way I approached this target. Many different variables presented themselves in this situation. This was a special hunt.

You see, I wasn’t in my usual hunting grounds. I wasn’t roaming the back alleys of St. Louis like I had been for the first few years of this life. I wasn’t even in the United States. I was across the pond… I heard someone say that once. I had found my way across the Atlantic Ocean to France. From there, I tore through the countryside on foot until I came upon the little village of Cassagnas. It was there that I had found the one I hunted. Cassagnas was home to a tiny, lesser-known pub where he frequented. I could feel it in my bones. He was there.

I’d found him, followed him, stalked him and his companions from the shadows. I watched and was never seen. It only took me two days to learn his routine as I tracked the man through town. Normally, I wouldn’t bother with anything like this.

Usually, I would get a name and a vision that showed me all the evil and twisted things people had done in their lives. I’d see them take the life away from others in secret to gain power, money, status, you name it. Some people will go to unspeakable lengths to get what they want. I still didn’t know who, or what the thing was that granted my visions and power, but when he called for me, I always answered. I couldn’t ignore him if I wanted to. Part of me grew used to it, sometimes I found myself even liking it. When he sent the visions, everything else fades from my mind, and that’s when the hunt begins. I don’t stop until I find them, transform into the monstrous beast that I’ve become, and then kill them without hesitation. But like I said, this was different.

My target visited the pub every night once I laid eyes on him. There were usually others with him wherever he went, roaming the world together. They almost seemed like his protection… or maybe his keepers. I was unsure. I had to get him alone. Last night when I followed him to this pub for the second time, the companions all stepped outside to smoke. For a few moments, he was alone. This was what I needed before I figured out what came next.

I left the black hood of my coat up in the low lighting of the tavern. I got a few curious looks from some of the locals that were spaced out around the place. Their prying eyes darted away quickly when I’d glance up. The feeling that rolled off me was palpable. It was always like this when I had the monster primed and ready for action. Its presence was dominating, even as it hid behind my human form. The other drinkers would mind their own business and subconsciously take a wide berth around my area. The only one that dared enter my presence was the shaky young waitress whose unfortunate job demanded she ask me if I’d like another drink as they eventually emptied.

Right at about sunset, he walked through the front door. His dirty-blonde mop of hair hung down into his eyes. The matching stubble coated the lower half of his face, just as it had since I first laid eyes on him. It wasn’t the same face that was burned into my mind. That face was hidden behind the overgrown and unkempt hair that was barely taken care of. He looked stressed and tired as he ambled over the uneven floor of the old establishment. Two older, thicker men were trailing right behind him. They seemed like they were all friends, yet the two shadows that followed him seemed subtly on alert.

The two men were both dark featured, one was tall, the other short, but both had a French vibe. It was their clothes first, and then it was their voices as they spoke to one another. My guy was American. He was silent, but I didn’t need to hear him talk. I knew his story. That too was burned into my brain. Well, his whole story was unknown to me, but I knew enough to track him down halfway across the world.

The three men came into the pub, lightly joking with one another as they ordered a few beers from the nice, unsuspecting girl behind the bar. After hours of dealing with me, she had no idea something was off with the three new customers. I had left her so shell-shocked that nothing else could warn her of danger. I dialed down the monster's presence, pulling back its murderous aura to blend in with the patrons now that my targets had arrived. These three were cursed. They were werewolves. This made my situation even more dire because it was the night before the full moon. If I didn’t get to him tonight, I might lose him.

This pack of werewolves was nomadic, and they moved around a lot. They were not like the Talbots. The Talbots were the pack that I had met back in St. Louis. Their leader, Jane Talbot, was tied in with my old friends, the Chasses, very closely now. She and Frank, the oldest member of the Chasse family, had thrown caution to the wind and were basically living together. Obviously, being the alpha werewolf, they had ways of doing things to lighten the risks associated with her true nature, and the dangers it posed. But ultimately, they made it work. Frank really seemed happy for the first time since I knew him. I only saw glimpses, but I wanted what he had.

I started to think about my own happiness, Autumn, Carter, and… Eleanor. Autumn’s face appeared in my mind along with the memories of her whole family. For a moment… I thought I was back there. I smelled her scent in my memory, remembered the feel of her blood pulse against her skin with each heartbeat. It was nice. I wanted to be close to her again.

I had to shake the thoughts away. If I lingered in them too long, they’d distract me from my current situation. At any rate, this hunt was ultimately for them, so I had to get focused. I’d deal with what I was feeling later.

The three wolves found themselves sitting a few tables behind me. Still, I kept an eye on them in the reflection of a small glass refrigerator. It was probably the most expensive thing in this little hole of a bar. They laughed and got rowdy, calmed, spoke silently, and after a while, they seemed sullen. They knew what was coming in just one day. The full moon would soon rip them from their bodies and send them into a killing frenzy. I could see that they all feared it and that these bar trips every night might have been mental preparation for the change. They feared what they’d do and of who they’d kill. They knew that they were about to lose control.

Their pack was wild, and not all its members feared the transformation as these three did. In my short time in the area, I did a lot of detective work. In another life, I might have made a good cop. Detective Sam Roberts… on the case.

I shook my head at myself… stupid.

This pack was nomadic for a reason. The older, more vicious leaders did not hold the same apprehension about the violent transformation. They welcomed it. Yearned for it. They morphed, hunted, and killed anything in their path on this glorious night. When they left a wake as big as they did, it was only logical to move. So, they lived nomadically, never staying one place long enough to be tied to anything. Their violence was rivaled only by their lack of concern for the damage they were doing to the supernatural world’s secrecy.

They were making waves like the ones I made when I first began hunting in St. Louis. I hunted criminals, specifically murderers, and made them pay for their crimes. However, I was leaving bodies and taking people too noticeably, and it was raising suspicions. In my defense, I didn’t know that there was any kind of world of creatures. I just thought I was alone. A single destructive monster tearing through the darkness. Something humans wouldn’t understand. These werewolves knew what they were doing. They were mobile and couldn’t ever be pinned down to one location long enough to really be hunted by whatever elders lived on this side of the world. Or… they knew, and they let them do this. I wasn’t sure. It’s not like I knew much about their world. I was more supernatural adjacent as I still didn’t know exactly what I was, and I didn’t make my presence known to anyone else.

However, I wasn’t a normal supernatural. I tracked people and creatures with something other than my normal heightened senses. I could focus in on people in a way that other creatures couldn’t. If I got a vision and a name, I knew who I was looking for, and it was only a matter of time.

I investigated the reflection of the refrigerator and saw the two other men standing from the table. The sandy-blonde mop stayed put as the other two slid their jackets onto their backs. They were drunk enough to forget the responsibility of watching the one I hunted. They eased passed me to the entrance. They walked right by me, totally unaware of how close to death they were. I had pumped the brakes on the monster once they had arrived calmly, not wanting to let their own enhanced senses pick up on my presence. If I didn’t keep myself under control, they’d sense me in an instant and run. Or they might hurt someone.

The crooked wooden door wedged itself back into the frame as the momentum from the two men passing through carried it closed behind them.

I stood from my seat immediately, pushing the half-full beer towards the stale peanuts. The few earlier eyes reshot quick glances but turned away even faster than before. My muscles stiffened and raised my body upright, towering over the rest of the seated patrons. I turned around towards the one I had come for, making my way across the warped floor to him. My senses were heightened, my attention was on his beating pulse and every micro-action he performed. I waited for any sign of an attempted escape. I had to be careful with this one. When I was only feet from his table, he looked up to my approaching form. He probably thought I’d just pass by to the bathroom. I stepped straight to the chair in front of him and sat down like I belonged there, calming the monster inside.

“Hello,” I started.

“Who are you,” he asked with a curious but careful tone. His American accent stuck out from the rest of the foreign voices.

“No one.” I asked, “Who are you?”

He looked cautious as he slowly craned his head around to the entrance, searching for his buddies’ return.

“Jimmy,” he lied.

I knew his name, but I wouldn’t push him yet. I only had little time with him while his friends smoked.

“Well, Jimmy,” I played along, “let me ask you a question before your friends get back.”

He looked shocked but unafraid. He was unsure of what was happening but confident that harm wouldn’t fall on him. He was a werewolf with two pack buddies just out the door, what could possibly go wrong?

I continued, “If you had the opportunity to leave this pack and be free, would you?”

He looked confused. Alerted that I knew what he was, but he knew nothing about me. I was a stranger to him. He really thought about my question, even though he was unsure if this was a test by the elders of his pack or a prank by his friends outside.

“There’s no escaping the pack,” he eventually spoke, thinking this was the answer I wanted to hear.

“No escape?” I asked. “Why?”

His blue eyes shot back and forth, continually eyed the front door, waiting for the return of his friends. He was uncertain about what was happening and didn’t want to fail the test he thought he might be taking.

“You can’t just up and leave the pack. You’d weaken them. We’re never alone. Someone is always watching to catch runners. My friends outside aren’t supposed to leave me alone like this. They know I don’t want to be here, but I weaken the pack if I leave. I can’t escape,” he defeatedly spoke.

“Can’t, or won’t?” I asked.

“Who are you?” he asked me again. “Who sent you here? Was it Darry? Is this about Paris because I learned my lesson. Darry knows that…”

This time I felt like a little truth might spring him forward, “I came on my own. I’m not with your friends. I came for you.”

He was silent for a moment again. “You’re not from around here. I can tell by your accent,” the lying Jimmy observed.

“Likewise,” I said.

“What do you want from me?” he asked hurriedly. The new realization that this was not a test, and I was no acquaintance of his captors, had him eyeing the door nervously for his returning friends.

“I want to give you the chance to leave. I want to get you out, free and clear,” I openly spoke.

He was utterly shocked by what I was telling him. I could sense him focusing on my heartbeat as I spoke, to see if I was lying. Once he realized I was giving him total honesty, he rushed me with questions.

“Why? What do you want from me? Why would you help me?” Hope lingered in the few moments between questions, possibilities arose in his mind. I could see hope in his darting eyes.

“You remind me of someone,” I eased into it. “Let me ask you another question. If you were free of the pack, what would you do? Would you go back home?”

“Home?” he asked. “What do you know about my home?”

“I know you still have one. You have family and friends that would give anything to see you again. They think you’re dead,” I let him know.

“I know… I never tried to contact them. I wanted them to think I didn’t make it. I couldn’t let them know what I’d become, or let them come here and fight this pack,” Jimmy honestly opened. “These aren’t werewolves… they’re monsters. They worship the power of the wolf. They’re nothing like the ones my family has seen before.”

I smiled at his words, looking down at the stale peanuts and snickering at the similarities between us.

“Why are you laughing? Is this some kind of joke to you?” Jimmy looked back and forth between me and the door, stressed at the situation I was putting him in.

“No… like I said before, you remind me of someone. Myself actually. We have a lot in common,” I said. Then I reiterated the facts, “You can go back to your family. If you go back, you’d be bringing things together again.”

“No… I can’t. My family, they hunt people like me. If they saw me like this… I don’t know how they’d react.”

“I know exactly how they’d react… Allen.” I used his real name.

He stared me straight in the eyes, totally taken aback. Fear of his real name and familial ties being discovered by his pack became real. He feared them, and of what they’d do to his loved ones.

“How do you know that name?” he ordered. “Nobody knows that name here… don’t say it again!”

His fear was palpable, “You’re that afraid of them?”

“You don’t know what they can do! They can track me anywhere. If they ever knew who I really was, they’d kill anyone I cared about. Then, they’d find a way to America and kill my family,” his response was powerful.

“You have people you care about here?” I asked. “Who?”

He was very hesitant now, scared of the situation that was growing around him. He knew if he talked, it had to be fast.

“A girl, Eloise. Her family was killed by the pack elders when she was a teenager, and then she was cursed to join. The same pack that killed her family. She’s hated them longer than I’ve been around.”

“If I clear you a path, will she run with you, or will she stay and lead them directly to you?”

“She wouldn’t do that,” he answered quickly. “But, she won’t believe we can escape. She’s been trapped here most of her life.” He shook his head quickly, “The elders are all… evil. They kill and feed, that’s all they care about. Even in human form… they eat people. All that matters to them is the power they feel on the full moon; and the alpha… Darry, his bloodlust has been unmatched since even before I was cursed. He’s led the pack, totally unchallenged for over five years. Nobody has even tried to overthrow him. He’s too strong.” He looked defeated, the thoughts and hopes that quickly manifested were fading away. “We can’t escape.”

I pulled the silver blade from underneath my jacket and quickly set it on the table in front of him. It looked very out of place beside the metallic peanut dish. His eyes went wide at the sight of the familiar-looking type of blade. The silver finish was unmistakable. The twisting symbols and figures that were etched on the sides and spine were familiar to him, and it brought to memory every silver blade he had ever seen before.

“How do you… Where did…” Allen’s mind was going a hundred miles an hour. “Look,” he slowly breathed as he tried to calm himself, “one hunter can’t take on this whole pack. Even if you had my whole family with you, I don’t know if you’d have enough hunters to kill them all. Especially not this close to the full moon. You can’t clear a path for us.” He knew it to be true.

“But I can,” I said. “Your friends are about to finish their cigarettes, and they’re about to come back inside. You don’t need to do anything. Don’t even tell Eloise what happened here. All I need you to do is, when the full moon comes, point her out to me.”

I stood from the table. The chair legs groaned across the floor as it skidded back. I quickly positioned the silver blade back underneath my coat.

“Wait,” he urged. “What are you going to do?”

“Don’t worry about that. Pretend I was never here. I’ll take care of the rest.”

He looked stunned and fearful of what was coming. I knew he doubted the things I said I could do, but that was fine. I didn’t need him to believe, because he’d see soon enough.

“Who are you?” he asked desperately.

“Like I said… no one.”

I stepped away from the table, turning abruptly as the door opened roughly through the frame. The other two werewolf keepers returned with fresh smoke in their lungs. I passed through their stink as I exited the pub. I could see Allen’s reflection in the same glass from before, watching me leave… terrified at what was coming. He didn’t fear me, he feared what I was about to cause for him.

It was the next evening, the night of the full moon, and the white orb sat almost dead center in the blackened sky. It looked so big like you could just reach out and grab it. The moonlight was so bright that it made the darkness of the forest almost clear.

I was on a hillside shrouded in a thick band of trees. I was downwind from the small encampment of werewolves, watching from a distance so I wouldn’t alert them to my presence. The knowledge I gained from the Chasse's bestiaries reminded me of things. The most important was that a werewolf's senses and strength are never as potent as they were on full moons. So, I stayed cautious, only to not alert them early and miss the signal from Allen.

I needed to make sure I protected the one named Eloise. He seemed like he really cared for her, so I’d do everything in my power to not just save him from this life, but his friend also. If he thought of her in such a way to generate the reaction from last night. She was family to him. That meant that she’d be family to Autumn, Carter, and Eleanor. I had to protect the family, even if they didn’t know her yet.

Down in the camp, tucked at the bottom of the hill, I saw a group of figures moving around. I counted eleven people down there, their heartbeats faint but steady in the cool night air. The moon was bright, casting a silver glow over everything. It could have basically been daytime for me.

The camp itself was simple and makeshift, thrown together with speed in mind. There were a few tents scattered around, dark shapes against the ground, ready to be taken down quickly if they needed to move. A large tarp was draped over a fallen tree, leaning at an angle, acting as the main gathering spot for the group.

The people below were on edge, some looking eager, others anxious. They were all preparing for the transformation that would soon take over, turning them from human to something far more primal. Some of them seemed ready, almost eager to let the beast inside them take over. Others looked more hesitant, like they were second-guessing what was about to happen.

A man stepped into the center of the group, standing on a small platform made of rough wood and stones. His voice cut through the night as he spoke, grabbing everyone’s attention. While they were focused on him, I took the chance to move. I slipped through the trees and rocks, getting as close as I could without being seen. The wind was on my side, blowing my scent away from the camp, and my footsteps were light, barely making a sound as I quickly closed the distance.

In a matter of moments, I was in their camp. The monster struggled beneath my flesh, clawing for an escape, begging for a kill. It rattled the walls of its cage inside my mind.

When I stepped out from behind the few tents that littered my path, I came to an opening that looked out at the eleven people. They spotted me instantly, every feral eye burned into me with a yellowish-orange glow. Their mouths hung open wildly, jagged teeth already warped in human form to match the savage look of their eyes. Even still holding human form, these people looked like something other than human.

I found the dirty blond mop of hair hidden amongst the crowd. Allen stood in the back left of the formation, just beside a very dark complected woman. Allen looked to be comforting her before the change began. They both kept more natural looks than the others, except for the eyes. The strange colored eyes contrasted greatly with the woman’s dark skin. This was Eloise, the girl he cared for, another victim of this strange pack of vicious animals. She’d been taken from her life just as Allen had. Allen's wild eyes connected with my blackening gaze in an instant, just as the rest of them were alerted to my presence. He reached over and grabbed the woman's hand, nodding to me. As soon as he saw me, his heart was racing so fast I thought it’d burst out of his chest. He was terrified of what was going to happen to them. But a faint glimmer of hope was in his eyes. He wanted out, he wanted to go home.

She looked up to Allen as he grabbed her hand quickly, the wolf inside of her hyperalert and overwhelmed by her senses. Everything had them on edge this close to a full moon, especially when they struggled against the transformation.

The man on the platform twisted to me in a violent rush as they spotted me within their camp borders. He had long scraggly black hair that surrounded his swollen amber pupils. He looked very muscular under the tattered clothes he wore. I could see scars tracing lines across random parts of his skin.

"Qui êtes-vous?" the man asked in French.

I didn’t know what the hell he had said. I guess I should have brought a translator.

"Hello," I said to the group, calmly acknowledging them.

"Ah, you're American, just like our friend Jimmy," the man spoke again in English, pointing in the direction of Allen and Eloise. "It is regrettable that you've stumbled upon us, tonight of all nights." He started laughing darkly.

"I didn't stumble in," I said. I took a guess if this was the one Allen had spoken about before. “I came for you, Darry.”

He was very serious now, looking around in all directions in the valley. "Me?” Darry asked. “Well, here I am.” He spun around dramatically on his little stage, making his inhuman looking friends laugh slightly in their grotesque forms. “What is it you want from me?”

“I’m here to kill you!” I spoke very calmly as I stared into his eyes.

He looked back and forth between me and a few pack members. Then, Darry burst into laughter, looking around to the rest of his pack. They all joined him. This was prime comedy for them. I guess by day I could have been a detective, but by night I would have been a fucking comedian with how much these assholes were rolling.

I didn’t say anything, I let them have their laugh. It might be the last moment they’d ever have one.

Darry and his friends laughed for a little too long. Things kind of got a little awkward for a minute while I just stood there being laughed at. It was comical, even for me, like they were laughing me out of their camp, not even taking me seriously. I almost thought I should say something again just to make sure they knew I wasn’t joking. Thankfully Darry turned back to me.

“I see one man. I also see a whole pack of werewolves. Why would you seek me out, only to seal your fate?"

Then, I reached beside me, feeling the presence that followed me everywhere I went. I reached into the space that didn’t exist and grabbed the handle. The air shimmered as I gripped and pulled, materializing a large knife emblazoned with symbols, carvings, and names. The largest name being mine. This was my weapon, not some silver blade of the hunters. This thing came from somewhere else. Bestowed upon me by my predecessor, Jon, once I accepted my fate. It bordered between a large knife and a short sword. It was hungry for blood. It had an aura about it, like it was alive.

"I've come to end things here. I’m going to kill you, and anyone else with you," I answered him.

I was holding my blade in a reverse grip, trailing its length up behind me. Darry noticed it appear from nowhere, looking intrigued. But he was too cocky and strong to be worried about some kind of special hunter with a fancy blade. After all I was alone.

A twisted laugh ripped from Darry's throat again. Many other beasts that had begun to surround me echoed his maniacal chuckle. They were entertained at my confidence and lack of manpower.

"One hunter versus all of us?" Darry was thoroughly pleased. "This won't even be a challenge."

"Not all of you," I responded. Then I turned to the others and talked very lightly, almost a whisper. I knew they could here every word. "I want everyone to listen to me. This is your only chance to survive what's about to happen. If you don't want to die tonight, then chain yourself up to those trees." I pointed over to the few more giant trees fitted with heavy chains and shackles. They used these bindings to teach runners, as Allen called them, a lesson.

Allen hesitantly pulled the girl, I assumed to be Eloise, to the chains. She didn't understand. I think she thought he was going to get her into trouble or killed. She looked like she was starting to resist him.

Then an older looking woman with scraggly hair started barreling towards them, angry at the instant betrayal to the pack, "How dare you!" Her screams were wild and ferocious. She lunged at Allen and Eloise in a vicious and unforgiving attack. She wanted to teach them a lesson.

I launched my blade through the air with a speed that was hard to track, the metal flashing in the moonlight as it sliced through the darkness. The charging werewolf didn’t even have time to react before the blade buried itself deep in her skull. The force of the impact was so fierce that it ripped her feet from the ground, her body jerking violently as the knife drove her head into a wooden pillar supporting one of the tents. The entire sequence happened in the blink of an eye, a brutal, merciless strike that left her lifeless body hanging like a grotesque ornament. The blade wedged deep in the wood, holding her suspended in death.

Blood sprayed from the impact in a crimson blast, droplets misting across Eloise’s face and splattering down Allen’s right arm. The shock hit them like a physical blow, both stumbling back, eyes wide with a mix of horror and disbelief. Allen’s gaze locked onto me, the reality of my words sinking in. He was shocked in his growing hope that maybe I really could do what I promised. But it was Eloise’s reaction that struck the deepest chord of fear. Her face, mid-transformation, twisted with terror, a primal dread that rippled through the rest of them like a wave.

They all felt it… the undeniable, ominous presence that had just revealed itself. It flashed out across the land to blanket the camp and surrounding area. The monster was rising.

Darry's eyes burned with anger, "You killed her! That will be the last thing you ever do." His calm demeanor was only showing because he was focusing on the change. He was willing it forward at the peak of the full moon. The rest followed the alpha’s lead.

I heard the clinking of chains and shackles as Allen and Eloise restrained themselves. They were the very same chains that the two wolves had been bound with countless times before when they tried to escape. Eloise seemed more willing after she saw me kill that woman who charged them. Allen was speaking to her, urging her to do as he asked. She looked scared, but trusted Allen’s plan as she hurriedly snapped and locked the shackles around Allen’s wrists. He did the same for her.

They were locked up and waiting for whatever was about to happen. Darry saw them do it and spoke directly to them, "I'll deal with you two once we end this. You two won't live past this moon. The pack will consume you."

Then, a rumble started growing in Darry's chest as his flesh darkened, rapidly growing fur that matched the tone of his darkening skin. He became taller and muscular as the bones in his skull began to shift into new places. His look morphed into a face that was more wolf-like than human, with massive fangs elongating from his protruding jaws. He stood tall over me, probably between seven and eight feet.

For the first time in my whole life, I saw a werewolf fully transformed. Darry was solid black and littered with scarred gaps of fur across his body. Countless battles and fights from a lifetime of animalistic bloodlust had marked and transformed him into the alpha he was.

I saw tears in Eloise's shifting eyes. Allen held her close in the chains, hoping he made the right decision listening to me. I think Eloise was preparing to die. She thought they had messed up, and this pack would finally end her life, just as they had her family.

Then I looked around and saw that nobody else had chained themselves. They all stood against me down in that valley. Even the two that were with Allen in the bar. They had made their choice.

They all began to shift into their two-legged wolf form, musclebound and hungry for flesh, my flesh. Even Allen and Eloise thrashed and growled from within the chains as the beasts ripped out. They couldn’t hold it back anymore. The metal chains thrashed and swung aggressively as the two changed into monstrous carnivores. The two werewolves, one dark brown and the other a dirty blonde, were safe within the chains. The other werewolves’ attention was all on me.

Darry surprised me as he spoke a few words as the full werewolf, "Now... we eat!" He growled the words through his teeth. Then, they all lunged forward, coming straight at me.

Finally, I opened the door inside of my mind and let the monster free. The change started as it always did; eyes blackening, hands and face burning, teeth shifting and extending, and my body expanding up and out as the muscles twisted into different positions. My clothes were a thing of the past after they ripped and fell away from my body. I was too large to be contained.

The wolves actually stopped their initial steps as I became more hulking and threatening than they were. I saw in their eyes what I saw in everyone else that saw me this way… fear of the unknown. They realized quickly that I was no lone hunter. I was something else; and now was the time to show them. Everything I had learned about this pack made me check the boxes in my mind, and yes, they fit the bill for the ones I deemed killable. They killed innocent people, showed no remorse, and would keep doing it until they met their end. So, I made the decision. They were going to die… all of them.

Two werewolves ripped towards me in a quick burst of fury. They took off from standing on two legs to bounding across on all fours. They moved roughly, no fluidity in their movements, only sharp and powerful pulses of muscle. As soon as their claws hit the ground, they shoved forward violently, closing the gap between us quickly.

They were both on me in an instant, and I had to make a decision. Was I going to do this fast and get it over with, or was I going to show them what a monster truly looked like?

I swung my razor fist into the side of the left one’s head at a downward angle, planting his skull into the ground. A mist of fluid spritzed up from the impact. The second one glanced off of my right shoulder as I attacked the first, bouncing off of me to the ground. He quickly recovered and shoved off towards me again, letting out a guttural snarl. The first beast’s brain was leaking fluid and blood out of the shattered skull that was slightly buried in the ground. I pulled up from the first one and wrapped both of my hands around the second wolf’s neck as our bodies met, stopping his momentum entirely. His sharp teeth were inches from my face as he thrashed and lunged forward with every muscle fiber in his body. I kept one hand around his throat and put as much pressure on him that I thought he could handle, driving his legs into the ground as he fought against me. As he was held in place by our opposing forces, I quickly used my other arm, sidestepping slightly, to reach behind him and hit him as hard as I could right in the spine. The snap sounded in the valley only a second before an earsplitting yelp. I folded him in half like a piece of paper. He wasn’t moving. Two down.

I was done with the show and was ready to end them. I just wanted the wolves to see how outmatched they were. I wanted them to feel like the prey, and to see what their victims felt all those times.

They all tore across the valley towards me, the remaining six. Darry led the charge, being the first one in the oncoming herd of six werewolves. This made my life easier since I knew if I killed the others first, he might tuck tail and run.

In what was probably only ten seconds, I swung my talons ferociously, shredding through the necks and faces of every wolf on the attack. Darry’s leg was right beside my foot after I ripped a portion of his neck out, so I stomped down and shattered his bone. A roar echoed through the valley as the pain gripped him. Two other dark werewolves went down quickly as the blood poured from their throats. They could heal quickly from damage, but not from such a massive loss of blood and tissues.

Three others were reeling from the attacks, trying to have a few moments to heal and possibly flee. I gave them a chance earlier, and they weren’t getting a second. As the two others died, and Darry growled in pain, I dominated the last three as I attacked them in a rage. I flung one of them across the encampment towards the central tent that hung off of the fallen tree. The werewolf hit the tree right where a broken branch had left a spiked stub, impaling him through the chest. I pounded one of their faces into the ground with my monstrous fists, and then I swung my talons through the back of the last one’s neck as he began to flee. His head was thrown across the encampment into the side of a tent. It bounced off of the tent’s tight canvas-like material and rolled halfway back towards the headless wolf and me.

I slowly walk towards Darry’s werewolf form as he stayed in his place, unable to stand. He was shocked when I walked past, unsure if I was sparing him. I paced over to the place where my supernatural blade rested inside of the wooden beam, still holding the female by the skull. I calmed myself, lessening the monster's grip on me. I slowly returned to my human form as I paced through the grass of the valley. My body compacted and my skin lightened back from the dark grey that cloaked the beast. My fangs and teeth receded to regular lengths, and my eyes finally returning to the blue I was born with. In human form, I pulled the knife from the wood, and the woman’s body fell away. I gripped the engraved metal tightly in my hand.

I walked back over towards the giant werewolf. His enormous leg looked like it had been run over by a tractor. It was flattened, protruding bones, and sticking out at an unnatural angle. His growls never ceased as I approached with the monster’s blade. He actually spoke through his snarls.

“Kill you,” he seemed like he was talking to himself, the words barely escaping through the loud snarls. “He’ll kill you,” he seemed delirious.

“No,” I said. “Your pack will consume you.”

His large wolf eyes looked scared, and the real fear was apparent on his face. He knew what I meant.

I grabbed him by his large, twisted leg and pulled him mercilessly. He tried to escape, swinging at me with his clawed hands. I stabbed my blade into his stomach, anchoring him to the ground. I beat my human fist into his twisted face repeatedly, bones crunching and his large fangs falling from his bloodied maw. My strength still too much for him, even in my human form. I ripped my blade from him and continued to drag him to his fate. I stood in front of the two werewolves that were restrained by the large chains, Allen and Eloise.

They had been thrashing in their bonds violently as they shifted but slowed down as the killing began. The power of my own monster got their attention, even in their animalistic haze. They realized that they were totally helpless once the chains were on and couldn’t escape me even if they wanted to flee. However, when I threw Darry at their feet, they knew what I wanted, and in an instant, they wanted it too. Their primal minds wanted the same thing. They needed to feed. The two wolves could only move about a foot in any direction, but it was enough to grab Darry and pull his weakened body into their grip.

Allen and Eloise mauled him. They fought over his body as it got tangled in their chains, causing more damage, ripping pieces of his body free with their powerful movements. They tore him in two, splitting the alpha werewolf and consuming a surprisingly large amount of him.

As the two surviving werewolves fed under the light of the moon, I paced the camp. I was covered in blood and had no clothes. I checked through the tents in search of new attire. I looted every tent that was erected down in the valley.

Once I had cleaned myself up and dressed in the old unwashed clothes, I found a seat on the other side of the encampment, away from the werewolves. I needed to calm myself but hearing the noises of the wolves killing and consuming Darry made it hard to do that. So, I sat and waited, breathing steadily as I closed my eyes. With every breath in the cool night air, I reclaimed total control over my conscious mind. As I breathed slowly throughout the rest of the evening, I felt the beast recede into his cage, deep down in the pits of my mind.

It was morning, and Allen and Eloise were human again. After they killed and ate Darry, they turned on each other for a little while. I wasn’t sure if I should have stepped in or not, but ultimately, they were both alright. They struggled and fought in the chains for so long that they wore themselves out and eventually fell unconscious towards the end of the night. They slept for maybe an hour and a half before the rising sun woke them.

Their clothes both lay beneath them, shredded and caked in blood and dirt. I had already found some suitable clothes for both of them and laid them out just a few feet away in neatly folded stacks.

They both helped each other out of their bonds and found the clothes I set out. They saw me sitting on a log some distance away, watching them come back to the human world. I waited for them, letting them have a moment alone.

I heard them speaking, but I didn’t listen. They looked around and saw the carnage that was spread out around them. I could see the emotion from where I sat, and I wanted to give them a moment. Eloise began to cry as she reached out for Allen. Allen grabbed her and pulled her in tightly. In that first moment of life after the pack, they felt something that neither of them had felt in a long time. They were happy, and they were free. Down in the green valley, the two survivors of Darry’s pack felt a peace that they hadn’t felt in a very long time.

After they had their moment and readied themselves to deal with the dark hooded figure that watched them from a distance, they came to me. They were holding hands, prepared to deal with whatever happened next, together.

They walked up, only feet from where I sat. I stood to meet them, slowly getting up. I could tell that they were both unsure of what would happen next.

“Free and clear, Allen,” I spoke first. “Just like I said.”

Allen looked around at the bloodied camp, mayhem spilling out from almost every square foot. The once feral wolf that hung from the jagged branch above the central tent was now a man. A gruesome corpse of a man. They were speechless, and fearful.

“You can do what you want, but don’t take too lightly what I told you before,” I suggested.

“What was that?” Allen asked, too overwhelmed with everything around him to remember.

“Your family… you can go home,” I reminded.

“But how do you know that? How do you know anything about them… or me?” He asked again, “Who are you?”

“Who I am isn’t important, but this chance you have here is. They’ll accept you back just as you are, trust me.”

He was quiet for a moment, thinking deep and earnestly. All the possibilities that he imagined the night before were now real and tangible.

“Thank you,” Eloise spoke for the first time. Her French accent was heavy in her English words. She seemed sincere but wary. They both did.

Allen seemed like he was thinking about it, “How would we even get across, back to America?”

“A plane. It’s a cargo freighter that’s heading straight for Norfolk. Once we’re back in the states, you can decide what you want to do. But you have to leave with me now. If we want to make the plane, we’ll have to be there by tomorrow night.”

“What about passports, money, identification?” Eloise asked about logistics. “We have none of those things!”

“You don’t have to worry about any of that. All you have to do is come with me,” I offered. “It’ll be a fresh start. You won’t have to worry about what will happen after all of this,” I pointed to the dead, mangled bodies. “I’m sure this will draw attention.”

“He’s right,” Allen said to Eloise. “If we go across to America, it will be a clean slate. We can disappear. Nobody will be looking for us once they see everyone else here, dead. We can just die with them.”

“But,” Eloise spoke slowly, “I don’t know anything about America. I’ve never been out of France.”

Allen comforted her, “It will be okay. We stick together… I’ll be with you.”

She nodded, knowing that they couldn’t stay if they genuinely wanted to be free. Darry and the pack were bound to have connections to others that would come looking once they realized they were all dead. They had to disappear just in case.

“Okay then,” Allen said, “we’ll go.”

I nodded, wasting no time, “Follow me.”

Once we made it into the country, we got some clothes, cleaned up, and got some food. Eloise and Allen looked more American now that they were out of those filthy nomadic clothes. I had found myself something that matched my usual attire; a jacket with a dark hood to conceal my face, some darker jeans, and brown leather boots.

It was dusk, and we were all three walking through the dense trees on the outskirts of St. Louis. I knew it would all start coming back to Allen quickly once he saw any kind of landmark from his memories. Eloise was taking it all in ever since we stepped off of that plane in Norfolk. We hopped trains after that, riding the rails like transients as we made our way across the skeleton of the new world. The railroads were my guides back in the first days of this new life. I usually followed them when I was out wondering for a place to hide after first becoming the monster. It didn’t take me long to end up in St. Louis, but I’m not sure if it was me, or if I was being guided there by the other thing. The entity that gave me the visions and spoke to me with terrifying power.

We broke through a tree line to a familiar opening. It was the same place I had been when I met Jane Talbot for the first time. I looked up the hill and pictured Autumn and Eleanor running up to get the height advantage as they had on my first outing with them. I could almost see both of their dark hair whipping behind them as the memories played. I stood there for a moment… missing them.

“I know where we are,” Allen realized.

“What is this place?” Eloise asked.

“This is the Talbot’s land, in the Rockwoods Reservation. I knew this place looked familiar. This is where another pack lives. My family has known them for a long time.”

“Another pack?” Eloise stopped in her tracks. Her words almost trembling. She was terrified that she was about to be taken from one murderous tribe of beasts and be thrust into another.

I grabbed her arm, quickly shifting her attention to my serious attitude.

“They’re not like the ones you’ve known. They’re different. They don’t want to be monsters, so they live a certain way. This pack has rules, laws that keep them from killing humans. Otherwise, you’ll have to answer to Jane.”

“He’s right,” Allen agreed, pulling Eloise back from my grasp. It was subtle, but he was trying to get her away from me, and the feeling I put off.

They both were beyond grateful for what I had done for them, but I could see the fear behind their eyes. They didn’t know what I was, but they knew I was dangerous.

She turned to him, whispering like I couldn’t hear, “Are you sure we can trust them? I won’t go back to how it was before. I won’t!”

“El, trust me!” He urged. “If we want to stay here then we’ll need others to help us adjust. Jane can teach us the way she maintains her pack on the full moon. This will be a good thing, El.”

It was funny how some of Allen’s mannerisms reminded me of Carter. There were times on our trip back from France that I felt like I was with Carter again. I hadn’t noticed it up until this point, but he had been calling her El, just like his mother. It was funny how that worked out. The big difference being that Eleanor didn’t transform into an inhuman creature on a full moon. Allen was a young version of Carter just like Autumn had features more like Eleanor.

“Jane can help you both. She’s more tied in with your family now than you probably remember,” I told him.

Allen shook his head as he observed the house through the trees. “How do you know so much about my family? Who are you?” he asked again. Then he looked straight at me, “What are you?”

“Now isn’t the time for that. But I will tell you this…” I got very serious, shifting my eyes to completely black so they’d remember this moment. “I’m a killer!” I spoke harshly. “If I think someone needs to be delt with, I end them. I pulled you both out from there, but if you can’t control yourselves here, or hurt one of your family, I’ll be back! Don’t talk about me and don’t tell anyone what you saw that night in the valley.”

They both had backed away from me as my eyes pulsed black and my voice twisted and deepened. The fear they felt the night I killed their pack returned full force. Even after all I had done for them, in that moment in the woods, they were terrified of me.

“Now,” I returned to normal and reached into my pocket and gave Allen a small piece of paper, “this is a cell phone number. Don’t tell anyone you have this. Keep it to yourselves. Only call this if you think your family is in danger. I mean real danger that will threaten everything you have here in St. Louis. This is your last resort,” I emphasized the importance as much as I could.

They both looked like deer in headlights, almost like they didn’t even want to take the number.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?” I asked them.

Allen and Eloise nodded as their heart rates slowly eased back from their climbs.

I felt strange saying this to them, however I still felt I needed to protect the Chasse family, even if it was from their own son. However, I couldn’t deny their nature. They were both still werewolves that needed to be taught how to live here among humans. I didn’t think he would hurt anyone, but I needed both of them to know I’d be the consequence, if nothing more than to keep them honest by fear of a gruesome death. They had been living with violent animals for a long time. This would be a major adjustment for them.

I turned and started walking back in the direction we had come from. My part was over. I had to go check on a few things while I was in the city.

“Wait,” Eloise called, “will we… see you again?”

I turned but kept backing into the shadows of the thickening trees. They were lusher with thick greenery than they were in the early winter months; the last time I was there.

“We’ll see,” I said, fading away into the forest.

In moments, I was completely gone from their senses. However, I stayed close enough to make sure they met with Jane. I knew that once she realized who was standing in front of her, they’d both be welcomed with open arms.

Eloise and Allen paced up slowly through the woods and crossed the street. They stepped into the yard and to the front door of the large farmhouse. Allen took the lead and wrapped his knuckles on the wooden door. He was only on his second tap before someone had already opened the entryway. The werewolves enhance senses picked them up in the woods before they crossed the street.

The first face I saw was the one I knew to be Bran. That asshole from the first visit I took out there. He still had a douchebag look on his face, but luckily right behind him was Jane. Her large frame and dark hair made her stick out like a sore thumb.

“Who are you?” Bran asked, ready to fight. It annoyed me, but I had to give him credit; he was just protecting his family.

“They’re werewolves, like us, Bran,” Jane looked interested. This wasn’t usual behavior for normal werewolves, to just casually stroll up to another pack in their home. She was intrigued.

“Jane…” Allen spoke around Bran.

Jane cocked her head to the side, unsure of who she was looking at. I watched her eyes scan Allen, then Eloise, and then back to Allen.

“It’s me…Allen. Allen Chasse,” he spoke to her.

Her eyes were blank momentarily as her brain processed the impossible in front of her. Then her eyes went wide, pushing past Bran and stepping on the front porch directly in front of him. Even Bran’s expression changed as soon as he heard the name. They all knew exactly who he was and what they thought had happened to him.

“Allen…” Jane eyed him intently as she examined his face and her own memories. “You’re alive?” Jane asked, her expression consumed with shock and confusion. “How did…” Jane couldn’t think clearly. They had a few moments of slow confusion where they tried to figure out what was happening, and how it was possible. She pulled him in for a hug, which surprised me.

“Come inside, both of you.” Jane grabbed Eloise’s hand and led her inside in a welcoming but forceful manner.

Eloise seemed to let her guard down a little as she witnessed the kindness of this pack's alpha werewolf. I could hear her heartbeat slow and calm as she entered the house. She wasn’t used to this kind of treatment, and she never expected it from another alpha.

After the door closed behind them, I heard Jane ask, “Allen, what happened to you? Where have you been all this time?”

“It’s a very long story,” he said. Then, in the quiet of the house, Allen began to tell his tale.

As I made my way deeper into the abyss between the trees, I began to think about my friends. Everything I did to bring Allen back to St. Louis was for the Chasses. I wanted to return to their lives as I was before. I knew I would have to build their trust back, but it would only be a matter of time. But nothing could be nailed down. I wasn’t in full control of my life.

I started to hope for the future. The last six months were hard, and I felt like I was starting to come out of the darkness that was holding me back from my friends. I played everything back through my mind.