System of a Wolf - 9. Chapter 9

“Test twenty two. I have a list of erotic sounds. I will play them and see if I feel anything. There has been nothing so far.”

Gara’s ears flicked as he stood up. The laptop was running, an elf sitting on a bed on the screen. The wolf hadn’t seen Erith in a long time, and it confused him. Something was going on. A soft moan came from the computer, and Gara folded his ears. He wasn’t supposed to hear those noises, those were bad noises.

‘He called for us.’

‘He doesn’t know what he’s asking. He wouldn’t know how to handle what we hide.’

Gara let out a quiet huff, ignoring the voices in his head. He always felt weird when they talked to him, like his head was stuffed. It was not a pleasant feeling, but after nearly ten years, he was used to it.

The wolf’s nose lifted, sniffling loudly as he tried to figure out if Blake was still here. He whimpered slightly when it became obvious the human was gone. No cuddles tonight then. It seemed like it had been ages since he’d last seen his friend, but the mage was not here. He couldn’t even smell the remnants of Blake’s stay.

‘He gives the best cuddles too.’

Gara had to agree. Blake’s cuddles were the best. It made him sad that the human wasn’t here anymore, but maybe he would be back some day. The wolf hated dealing with the moon by himself. It was so lonely and he never got to see anyone.

‘He said he wanted a dog. A dog! Can you imagine dealing with a dog, Gara?’

‘Someone to play with, to cuddle with… ooh, I want a dog I want a dog-’

A friend would be nice. Someone to roll in the back yard with. Gara grumbled quietly, listening to the soft tinkling of liquid splashing from the computer. It reminded the wolf that his bladder was full, and he wandered from the room, hoping Erith had left a door open. He hated using the bathtub.

A sudden sniff brought him to a halt. There was a small treat on the ground, a beef bone. The wolf gobbled it greedily, the taste of dusty meat filling his mouth. He didn’t care about the dust; it was too delicious to worry about small imperfections. And even better, he found another bone sitting at the end of the hall. And another in front of the open back door.

‘Can’t say he’s stupid.’

‘He left Gara candy. Isn’t that nice? I wonder if he’d let me have candy.’

‘Don’t talk to him. He doesn’t know how to help you. Besides, he’s only using Gara. I bet there are more bones buried an inch in the yard so Gara will dig.’

Gara shook his head roughly. He didn’t like it when the voices argued. Following the treats outside, the wolf stopped by the back fence, raising his leg. Business taken care of, he started sniffing around, wondering if there actually were more treats. To his excitement, the wolf found that there were bones buried in the yard.

He spent the next few hours digging, until a clap of thunder startled him. Cold rain began falling from the skies, and within minutes, the wolf’s paws were filled with mud. Gara continued digging halfheartedly, but there was nothing left. At least, nothing that he could smell through the rain. The yard was filled with shallow holes, roughly dug into the dirt in a misshapen oval.

‘Told you. He’s plotting something.’

‘But Gara likes digging. Maybe this was just to entertain him?’

‘No, it’s to impress his new boyfriend.’

The wolf trotted back inside, tracking mud throughout the house as he headed to the kitchen. He was full from the treats, but the sight of a full food bowl convinced him that his belly could be a little fuller.

It didn’t take long before he was heading back to the bedroom, leaving paw prints everywhere. Curling up in his bed, Gara grabbed an antler and started gnawing on it. The onset of boredom was fast.

‘Gara needs a friend. Tell Erith Gara needs a friend, Varen.’

‘Shush Lynn. He’s going to sleep already.’

‘Tired puppy… such a good puppy…’

The words soothed Gara, his tail thumping softly against the floor as it wagged. He wished the voices had bodies. Lynn would give great pets if she had a body. And she could give him more treats too, if she had thumbs. And soft warm kitty cuddles.

‘Keep dreaming.’

He would keep dreaming. Dreaming of warm hugs, bountiful antlers, and wolves to run with. They made for such pleasant sleep as he finally dozed off.

Blake stepped off the bus, legs stretching as he tried to work out a few kinks. Following Dr. Marin to the school car park, the black wolf joined a group of nearly twenty other wolves. A red wolf broke away from a neko, bounding toward Blake, and the black wolf steeled himself as Devyn skidded to a stop in front of him.

They sniffed each other briefly as Jason approached. Blake took advantage of the neko’s hands to roll over, encouraging Jason to rub his belly. Soft moans escaped the wolf as the neko’s claws scratched nearly every single itch he had.

This was a ritual Quarian Academy did every full moon. The first night of the moon was spent on a run around the school. It showed pride in their pack and their school, and it showed Astara that they were not afraid to be who they were. Some wolves kept to themselves, but for any who had ever gone to the school, they were allowed to run with the pack. And for those who had no wolf form, they were welcome to chaperone, as Jason often did.

Clambering back to his feet, Blake’s ears flickered at a loud call. A calico neko approached with a wide smile, embracing Jason for a moment.

“Hey, we’re going to get the run started in a second. It’s supposed to rain in about an hour, so we want to get the run done with soon. I already got Etul into his chair,” Dylan said. “Devyn, make sure you stay with the pack this time. We don’t want any more mishaps.”

‘I’ll handle Devyn, you just make sure Brienne doesn’t start tossing her ball again,’ Jason signed.

“Oh gods no, we had a long talk about that,” Dylan laughed, glancing back at a woman who was helping a white wolf with a wheelchair.

Blake let out a hoarse chuff, laughing at the memory himself. It hadn’t been that bad. Dylan’s partner had been tossing a ball back and forth as she walked the previous month, and Devyn had decided it would be fun to chase a bouncing ball. In the wolf’s defence, it had been fun for everyone else, watching him snatch the ball from the air inches from her hands. Brienne had a few words to say about it after, but even she admitted that throwing a ball around a pack of hyper wolves had not been the smartest idea.

“Okay, we should get going. The night isn’t going to last forever,” Dylan sighed, glancing up at the moon.

It didn’t take long to straighten everyone out. Soon, the pack of wolves were heading out of the car park, led by Dylan and Brienne. Jason brought up the rear of the group, a couple of elves and humans interspersed with the wolves as they walked. Blake took up a spot near the back of the group, watching Dr. Marin weave among the younger wolves. The old wolf did his job well, soothing those who were still somewhat new to being wolves.

Blake had to admit he felt safer surrounded by other wolves. Nothing could touch him right now. Shadows that he would have jumped at when alone held no terror in a group. A car that might have tried to hit him didn’t dare touch him when to do so would invite the fury of an entire pack down upon them. He couldn’t be little right now, but that was okay because he was strong. He was one with his pack, and the gods help anyone who might upset him.

Dylan led them through the suburbs around the school, keeping everyone at a walking pace. Blake was ready to break out, to run and be free, and he could see more than a couple other wolves who seemed to have the same idea. But they were reined in by Dr. Marin. The older wolf kept an eye on the pack, tempering urges with gentle nudges or soft yips. More than once, he had to step out of the pack to bring a straying wolf back to the group. Any wolves he missed were quickly brought to heel by Jason, the mute neko getting his point across surprisingly well with a scowl.

Not that the neko was angry. No, Blake knew this was all for protection. In the eight years since Queen Amber had taken the throne, the laws against werewolves hadn’t budged. They were still the lowest members of society, even beating out mages for the scorn of the world. There wasn’t much any of them could do to help that. Most wolves were just grateful the queen didn’t seem as strict about the laws as Dowager Finley. Jason was just trying to keep everyone safe.

A sudden motion caught Blake’s attention. He wandered off slightly, still keeping an eye on the group. A garbage bin was sitting against a curb, and he could hear rustling around it. The wolf’s eyes picked out a dark fur spotted with white.

The two stared at each other, Blake feeling his heart thudding loudly in his chest. He would have thought a skunk would keep far away from a wolf pack, yet here one was, staring him down.

The creature stamped its feet suddenly, hissing loudly. Blake took a nervous step back. He could already smell the burning rubber scent of the skunk, and he didn’t want any of that near him.

A sharp whistle startled him, and Blake’s head spun as the skunk’s tail raised. Jason was heading toward him, and the wolf barked urgently, a warning to stay away. He took another step back, his head turning just in time to see the skunk’s hindquarters rise in a handstand.

Acid sprayed out in a stream, liquid stretching ten feet to hit Blake in the muzzle. The wolf yelped in physical pain as the stench hit him like a truck. He scrambled back, trying desperately to escape the smell, but there was no escaping the thois that clung to his fur. The sound of retching cut through his yelps, Jason doubling over nearby as the neko dealt with the spray in his own way.

“Shit, who pissed off a skunk?!”

Blake whimpered, scraping his face along the pavement as he fought the skunk’s attack. He couldn’t get rid of it, and his face was starting to burn from the smell and the acid.

“Gods that’s atrocious…”

Brienne approached the two, covering her nose with the sleeve of her shirt.

“Come on, let’s get you two back to the school. The lockers are open, you can take a shower and try to get that shit off.”

She grabbed Jason’s arm gingerly. Blake followed them away from the scene of the crime, his eyes squinting through a layer of musk. It was hard to see them, but he made it safely back to the car park and followed Jason into the locker room. The neko stumbled into the showers, peeling off his clothes and tossing them aside. Water sprayed down on them, and Blake dropped under the liquid, seeking any kind of relief from the spray.

The smell only seemed to grow worse. Beside him, Jason scrubbed himself, the neko spitting out bile in a futile attempt to rid his mouth of the taste.

“I’ll get you fresh clothes,” Brienne called from the doorway. “Blake… we’ll figure something out.”

The damage was done though. There was no way Blake could go inside smelling like this. He would be spending the entire night trying to get rid of the smell. With luck, it would fade when he shifted, but the werewolf knew better than to trust his luck.