Sanctuary - 9. Chapter 9 - Hel

“Are we in the countryside?” Hel blinked at the wide open view of green and trees offered to him. He turned around to look back he way they had come, but the city was still behind them, a confusing mess of grey buildings, concrete and people. Hel had never noticed before the way large settlements smelt, but now that he stood with his trainers on the grass, he could taste the difference in the air. There was a clean, green smell to everything, and already the traffic noise had faded to be replaced by the call of birds, the rustle of the leaves, and the soft creaking noise that he knew James could hear as well.

“It’s the sound of things growing,” the werewolf told him in a conspiratorial whisper.

“No bud,” Aki smiled at him, “we’re in the park. There are a lot of them, but this one is the largest.”

“I think the bench over there is a good place,” James gestures with a smile. “I suppose there’ll be no wandering around for us if we need to babysit our sleeping teenager.”

“I’m not asleep!” Hel complained, but he followed Aki and Peter over towards the park bench which was tucked out of the way in a curve of the path. James didn’t come with them, but started heading to a little group of trees a little distance away. “Hey! Where are you going?”

James smiled at him, a warm and open gesture that Hel found reassuring beyond any words he could think of. He didn’t know what it was about the man, with his tousled brown hair and rough stubble, but Hel liked him far more than seemed reasonable in the short number of hours they had known each other.

“I’m gonna go and change. Don’t follow me, OK?”

“OK…” Hel chewed his lip thoughtfully, and then ran to catch up with Aki. He might have been much thinner and weaker than he was, but Hel could already feel his muscles ache in the best way as they tried once again to fall into the smooth motion for which he had trained them. Hel wondered if, now that he had his new IDs, Aki would let him go to the gym. He stopped at the bench, and Aki gestured for him to sit down.

“When he says ‘change’…?”

“Oh yeah,” Peter smiled, “he means getting furry. There’ll be a full moon in two days. He has to change then, but close to and with practice, it is possible for a werewolf to control his changes. Ahh… there he is.”

James trotted towards them, holding his discarded jumper and jeans in his teeth, and Hel stared at him. He knew it was rude, but he couldn’t help it, because James had turned into a wolf with thick sandy brown fur, a damp black nose, and a bushy tail, twitching from side to side as he walked. His eyes were exactly the same, and Hel knew he would be able to pick that particular wolf out of any collection of canines. James dropped his clothes at Peter’s feet, then pushed his head into the man’s lap and made a collection of soft and happy noises as his ears were fondled, his tail wagging back and forth with gusto.

“Hey babe,” Peter bent nearly double to push his face into the wolf’s thick fur. “You want me to look after these?” The wolf snorted at him, his ears forwards, and Peter laughed. “Yeah, alright. Go on without me then.”

“What’s going on?” Hel frowned at his new friends, then at Aki. The man was now, officially, his guardian, and Hel wondered if it changed anything between them. “Aki?”

“I think James wants you to go running with him.”

“Huh?”

“Well you’ve got four feet don’t you?” Aki smiled broadly, “I’m sure you’ll keep up fine.”

“But-.” Hel glanced down as his skinny frame. The new clothes helped, because at least they fitted, and Aki had been pretty generous with letting him chose what he wanted, though the boy hadn’t chosen the sort of high end street fashion and sporting goods stores he’d once been accustomed to. But the basics were good, and way better than what he’d grown used to in the previous few months. He hardly seemed anything to compare to the big, strong, well-conditioned canine that now stood before him. “I don’t know how.”

“He’ll show you,” Peter replied with a smile.

James stood with his head on one side, his eyes locked with Hel’s own, and the boy felt drawn to the big wolf in a way he really couldn’t describe.

Instinct… the back of his mind said. Hel shook his head, trying to dislodge the thought, but it remained, burning bright and strong until all he could think about was joining the werewolf on the grass.

James bounced up onto his hind feet and placed his big front paws on Hel’s chest. He flexed his toes over Hel’s heart, and the boy felt the muscle jump and pound faster and faster below his ribs. James made a happy noise in his throat followed by a soft bark, then pressed his muzzled against Hel’s jaw and cheek. The warmth of his soft fur made the boy’s skin prickle, and when the wolf hopped down again, Hel felt a tug in his heart, like a fishing line set around the muscle, dragging him from his seat.

The world faded slightly, the hues of grass and trees and sky no longer quite as bright, and Hel turned to see his body sitting on the bench, slumped sideways a little, sleeping on Aki’s shoulder. The fiery figure smiled at him with pride, and Hel barked in surprise. He’d barely felt the separation, but the texture of the grass under his paws was real enough, and Hel blinked up at the James, surprised to find the sandy brown much larger than himself. James might have been wolf-shaped, but his spirit was still there, still human, and they both turned to grin at Hel as James’s ears pricked forwards happily.

Hel barked.

James didn’t say anything, but the boy could feel his excitement. He had never consciously engaged with the softly glowing blue body in which his spirit was housed, but Hel felt his tail twitch in time with James’s, and he woofed softly. The werewolf’s chest rumbled, and a moment later he pressed his muzzle into Hel’s neck, growling gently. Hel felt his heart race, warmth spreading through his body, and in the next moment James spun away barking, his tail flashing as he pranced. Hel didn’t have any choice but to chase him.

The big wolf was sure footed and fast, but Hel wanted to catch him. He sprang away barking, ducking under James’s muzzle and dashing across the grass. The werewolf chased him, and suddenly they both were running flat out across the park, not chasing each other or anything else, but just running as fast as they could. Hel put his head down and sprinted, watching his paws flashing underneath him, eating up the ground at a speed which made everything else seem stretched and blurred. James was right there with him, his solid form a dark shadow in Hel’s washed out spirit world, but he barked and ran, and Hel wanted to feel the fierce joy that flowed through James’s thick fur along with the breeze. The blue wolf didn’t think he ever wanted to stop.

When James stopped and spun, Hel was travelling to fast to stop. He tried to brake, feet digging into the ground in front of him, but he slammed into James anyway. The other wolf was as solid as the ground, and together they went tumbling and spinning over each other, grass and sky flashing alternately with fur and James’s bright eyes in Hel’s vision. He felt teeth on his skin, and the boy who was a wolf yelped and bit back, his teeth snapping shut on empty air. There was no pain, and the realisation dawned suddenly that James was playing with him. Hel put his shoulder against the wolf and pushed, throwing his weight into the brown fur and dislodging James’s footing. They played in circles, pushing each other over, James huffing against his chest and belly before stepping over him. Hel gave as good as he got, and a little bit of his brain couldn’t help but be reminded of the last rugby game he’d played. Only when James’s posture changed, his head coming up, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth, did Hel realise how tired he was. He sunk onto his stomach, and flopped his tail happily.

“You boys have fun?” Aki stood smiling down at him. “Peter is looking after you.”

Hel wuffed softly.

“Time to head home, and feed you. James and Peter have to get their train.”

Hel whined. He was happier than he had been any time since the moment he’d raised his fist to that kid in the playing field, and he didn’t want James to go. The big wolf was powerful and he demanded Hel’s attention in a manner the boy hadn’t known before. He’d been scared of James when he’d first arrived, a big werewolf with a wide grin, stubbled jaw, and his arm around the other Rectory Officer, but now he didn’t want his playmate to leave.

James sensed his disappointment, and before Aki had the time to say thing else, the werewolf pushed his wedge shaped head into Hel’s ruff, and thrummed contentedly in his throat. Hel knew, without anyone having spoken, that this would not be the last time the two of them would run and play. He brushed past Aki’s leg as he followed the werewolf back towards his copse of trees. Peter was still holding his clothes, and the man handed them back to his lover as he passed. Peter was a faint grey shape picked out in darker tones in Hel’s vision, and it was a slight shock to realise the other Rectory Officer was human, and could not see him. He was looking after his body well enough, and Hel didn’t think he’d ever seen his empty shape look happy or contented. It would be something to think about later.

He passed through the branches and leaves of a shrub just in time to watch James’s human shape solidify. His tail was the last to go, and Hel make a surprised bark in his throat as he watched the fur fade into nothingness, the bones shrink and the skin set itself once again in James’s other natural shape. The werewolf turned, and for a moment they stared at each other is surprise.

James was naked, which Hel supposed was to be expected, and the boy tried to take in as much of his body as he could. The older man was well built, powerful, his chest showing off flat planes of muscle. Hel had always wanted to look like that, even though he knew his body was more naturally lean and athletic rather than muscular, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away. After a frozen moment, James grabbed for his clothes, and pulled his jeans on hurriedly.

“Hel!” The anger in his voice made the boy turned back his ears and whimper. “Jeez, don’t sneak up on me like that. It’s rude to interrupt a werewolf when he’s changing.” James sighed, and pulled on his shirt. “I know, you didn’t know,” the reached down and ruffled the wolf’s blue ears. “Come on buddy; let’s get you back.”

Hel had tried many times to get back into his body with no success. With James and Aki watching him, he simply laid his muzzle onto his own thigh, and sighed. Being a wolf with James had been fun, but James was human now, and Hel wanted to join him. He closed his eyes, trying to picture the way James had looked naked, the curve of his muscles, the way his skin had dipped at his tail bone before it reached his arse, and in the next heartbeat Hel was back in his body, and wondering why the thought of James naked was doing interesting things in his jeans. Aki had grinned and knuckled his shoulder softly, and Hel had been able to taste the man’s pride. He wondered if any of them would be grinning so broadly if they’d been able to see the inside of Hel’s mind.

“Good run, babe?” Peter asked with a gleeful smile. James laughed, and picked his partner up as though he weighed nothing.

Hel had found Ishca and Aki’s intimacy uncomfortable, and he’d wanted to sneer or make a stupid joke like his friends had always done when there were gay people on TV: but seeing James press his face into Peter’s hair, his chest rumbling with indistinct words meant only for his lover, made Hel feel hot and irritated. When the werewolf turned to grin at him, Hel felt his cheeks growing warm.

“He’s a natural.” James reached out to ruffle Hel’s soft blond hair. “Maybe one day you’ll have to come up to the wilds and see us. We can run around the heath all day long. Do you know how to swim?”

“No,” Hel frowned.

“I’ll teach you.”

“Come on babe, we gotta get the train.”

With their arms around each other, Hel felt strange being so close to James and Peter, and he drifted back to stand with Aki in a space that, even after less than a week, felt familiar and safe.

Saying goodbye was awkward, but at the gates of the park, Hel closed his eyes as James hugged him hard with one arm. The werewolf grinned at him, and Hel held on the texture of his voice when he whispered.

“Be a good dog now.”