A Wizard's War - 10. The Curse

Connor felt the excruciating pain of his bones breaking and snapping back into place as he emerged from the maw of the hairy beast. He was soon standing completely naked in his own living room and feeling quite sore and stiff. He looked around at the scattered mess he’d left as a wolf but was grateful he woke in his own home for once. Simon was heating water and he took the bucket to the washing basin to fill it.

“Warm bath?” Simon asked, “Get some of that goo off of you.”

“Yes, please,” Connor smiled warmly at Simon and felt other parts of his body react pleasantly as well. He covered his groin and tried to focus on something else. He couldn’t understand why he always reacted this way to the young man. It was like he was drawn to him, and it made him unhappy considering the young man’s imminent departure.

“Did I do anything dangerous?” Connor asked.

“You almost got away from me,” Simon answered as he finished pouring out the water. With his back turned, Connor noticed the blood for the first time.

“There’s blood on your shirt!” Connor was alarmed and ran to Simon’s side, completely forgetting to cover his semi-erect penis in the process. Simon tried to keep his shirt down, but Connor lifted the fabric and discovered the scratches beneath.

“My gods!!” Connor felt mortified, “What did I do to you?”

“It’s nothing,” Simon pushed his hands away, “Really, just scratches.”

“What if the scratch of a werewolf is dangerous?” Connor worried, “We have no idea what could happen to you! I knew this was a bad idea and I allowed it to happen anyway.”

“Seriously,” Simon laughed a little, “scratches aside, last night was actually quite enjoyable.”

“I don’t think any of this is funny! I can’t believe I hurt you!” Connor groaned.

“Please,” Simon pointed to the bath, “get in before it gets cold.”

Connor eased himself into the large basin and had to sit cross-legged in the bottom of the tub. Simon used the sponge to carefully dab water over his body and wipe away the remnants of his change. As Simon worked, Connor felt a warm soothing presence settling over him and he sighed audibly with pleasure. Simon’s hands worked over his back and shoulders, gently massaging, and providing more warm energy.

“What is this feeling?” Connor almost drooled as he spoke.

“It’s how I connected to the wolf,” Simon answered, “I don’t understand it fully, but it is getting easier and easier with you.”

Connor felt Simon wiping down his arms, slowly lifting each one to carefully wipe underneath before rewetting the sponge. Connor could recall Simon underneath him as his furry, panting body was locked on top of him. As he remembered the sensations of the wolf’s lust his own cock began to stiffen in response. He was attracted to Simon because the wolf had also been. The bond they shared was compelling and harder to resist the longer they were linked.

“Please stop,” Connor whispered weakly. He both meant it and resisted the request at the same time.

Simon continued to rub his body and cleanse his naked hairy skin. Connor could sense that Simon was also aroused as he went about his careful work. He wanted to see the man naked, to feel him against his own flesh not as a wolf, but as a man. He wanted the animal to take control even in his human form so he could take Simon the way he wanted to be taken.

“It’s not real,” Connor tried to push through the haze of their bond together, “Please stop!”

Simon’s hands left his body, and he stood uncertainly in front of Connor. Their bond was suddenly broken, and Connor could think more clearly. He still felt aroused and greatly attracted to Simon, but at least the feelings were his own.

“I’m sorry,” Simon looked worried, and he handed the sponge to Connor.

“I just…” Connor began, “I couldn’t control it. If I am with you as a man, I want it to be my choice.”

“I understand,” Simon hung his head, “I’m still learning how to control this, whatever this is. I think I can lose myself just as easily as your wolf can.”

“Is it… magic?” Connor asked.

“Yes,” Simon nodded, “I’m a warlock. A new one at that.”

“That’s why you were unafraid of my wolf form and how you survived our first encounter.”

“Yes.”

“There was one thing that I gained from our connection,” Connor reconsidered, “I was able to recall things, vague memories from my time as the wolf last night.”

“I wonder if I could help you recall things before last night?”

“Exactly,” Connor was kind of thrilled at the prospect. Maybe he could finally get some answers.

“Are you sure you want to know?”

“Better than not knowing,” Connor replied, “I want to know if all this guilt is warranted. But let me finish bathing and we can try again while I’m fully clothed.”

“I’ll draw a spell form,” Simon ran to his bag and pulled out a large book, “Maybe I can limit how much power I’m using while we are bonded.”

Soon Connor was bathed and dressed, and he took up a seat in the center of the circle Simon had drawn with chalk upon the wood floor. He sat cross-legged on his bottom and Simon took up a similar position in another circle. The two circles were connected with strange patterns and Simon had drawn several runic symbols on the outside. It all looked like nonsense, but it had taken nearly an hour for Simon to consider his work to be precise enough.

“Some of Breakwhite’s catechisms allow for the activation of memory and higher thought,” Simon indicated some symbols on the ground, “I’ve never attempted to channel them, but when joined as such with our circles of protection it should be safe.”

“Should be?” Connor looked nervously up at him.

“Unfortunately,” Simon bit his lower lip, “There are no guarantees. Last chance to back out.”

“No,” Connor strengthened his resolve, “I need answers. Besides our connection was not a negative experience, I honestly trust you completely even though I have little reason to.”

“I won’t betray that trust,” Simon responded as he began to let loose his power. Connor could feel it creeping up his spine and inching its way across his mind. The magic was less seductive now and more focused on his thoughts and memories. Simon found the most present and painful memories of Connor’s mother. Her frail form was lying on the bed and her breathing came in rattling rasps from her lungs. Connor felt tears pour from his eyes as he tried to push the memory aside, but the journey only went deeper, and he was stumbling out of the local tavern. The drink helped him cope with his mother’s passing.

“Connor,” a gruff voice had spoken in the night. Connor had wheeled around drunkenly to see a man hidden in shadow.

“Who’s there?”

“I need you to help me, boy,” the man had spoken cryptically, “Time to take your place by my side.”

“Show yourself!” Connor had cried out as he moved closer to the stranger. In the dark Connor had heard sickening cracks and guttural noises. Then there was groaning and growling in the dark alley where the man had been hiding. At last, a great white wolf had emerged from the shadows and its unnatural red eyes reflected the streetlights around them. Connor had fallen back in surprise and terror.

“Now you see me, boy,” the beast growled, but Connor had understood in his mind what the wolf was thinking.

“Blood of my blood…” a woman spoke as she emerged from behind the white wolf. Her mouth was elongating, and her hands were claws.

“We are the cursed ones…” the wolf growled in Connor’s mind.

“We are the wolves of Graymere,” the woman finished as she morphed into a wolf before Connor’s very eyes. Then the white wolf was upon Connor and he smelled the foul breath puffing out into the night air.

“Return to us, my son,” the wolf growled in Connor’s mind and his body began to contort and spasm as he shifted into a beast like the others.

“No!!!!” Connor cried out alarmed as he skittered out of the circle Simon had drawn on the floor. The sudden snap of their connection caused Simon to grab his head in pain while Connor cowered in terror next to his bed. He recognized the voice now, the voice from the shadows was his father. Over and over the chant echoed in Connor’s mind.

Blood of my blood. We are the cursed ones. We are the wolves of Graymere.

Simon’s head was still pounding hours later, and he was having trouble focusing, but he needed to help Connor calm down and return to the present. He found that their bond had been closed off when he tried to pacify the big man, it was as if Connor was not allowing him to see more. Simon had helped Connor to the bed and had just sat with the man, his arms around Connor’s shoulders.

“Blood of my blood,” Connor whispered repeatedly. Simon had pressed on the trigger points as Connor revealed them, but he was unable to see what memories he had given the man. Clearly the last one was not pleasant, and Connor had been inconsolable since. Simon pressed their foreheads together and tried speaking to Connor again.

“Please, let me in,” Simon urged, “Let me help you.”

“Blood of my blood, blood of my blood,” he went on muttering.

Simon sighed in frustration and got up from the bed.

“Don’t go,” Connor suddenly pleaded. Simon turned around and saw the bright amber eyes beseeching him to stay.

“Ok,” Simon nodded, and he wrapped Connor in his arms again. Connor did not resume his chanting and Simon figured this was progress.

It was late in the afternoon when Connor finally stirred, Simon had drifted off to sleep since he’d not gotten much rest the night before. He probably wouldn’t have noticed Connor at all, if the man hadn’t needed to move his arm to get up.

“Are you better?” Simon asked groggily, “I’m so sorry… I never shoul…”

“No,” Connor shook his head, “It worked, actually. I know who the white wolf is.”

“Who is it?” Simon sat up more alert now.

“My father,” Connor responded, “He’s been the one that calls me out in the night. He and the other wolf is a woman.”

“Your father?” Simon asked, “I assumed he was…”

“Dead?” Connor snorted, “Probably would be better that way.”

“I’m sorry,” Simon reached out and rubbed the man’s arm affectionately.

“He left my mother and I after beating her nearly to death,” Connor spoke, “I never saw him again, until the night my mother died, and he came to me as a wolf.”

“That’s terrible.”

“I’m sorry I retreated like that,” Connor sat back down on the bed next to Simon, “When I recalled my first shift, I could suddenly see it all. Everything my father made me do, compelled me to do while I was a mindless beast.”

“You don’t have to be his prisoner anymore,” Simon rubbed Connor’s back, “You’ve got me.”

“You had to give your body to a wolf to keep the animal at bay,” Connor chided, “I hardly see that as a solution.”

“You don’t understand,” Simon shook his head, “I was meant to do that. I am probably the only person you could meet that can take it. In fact, it fuels me and gives me strength.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Connor put his head in his hands.

“Lots of things don’t make sense lately,” Simon agreed, “I never thought I’d meet a true werewolf, but here you are.”

“So what?” Connor asked, “You abandon your journey and stay to keep me from my father’s grip?”

“Or you can come with me?” Simon asked.

“We can’t run,” Connor shook his head, “I’ve tried that. And he’ll continue to visit this curse upon me night after night.”

“So, what then?” Simon asked already knowing the answer but hoping Connor would arrive at the same conclusion on his own.

“We have to stop him.”

That night the call of the white wolf rose again over the city and Connor felt his body begin to shift and change. He could feel his heart racing and his blood boiling as he longed to hunt prey and tear into meaty flesh. Nothing tasted sweeter to the wolf than the metallic tang of fresh blood on the tongue. Connor began to sprout more hair and his fingers began to elongate into claws.

“I’m here,” Simon spoke and Connor could feel their bond beginning to form. He looked at the sweet boyish face smiling at him. Simon seemed so naïve, but he had a confidence and a resolve that Connor admired. Simon’s emerald green eyes were enchanting, pulling Connor in. His body was very toned, and Connor was clearly attracted to him. The wolf wanted him too. He could smell the pheromones from Simon so clearly as his snout began to elongate. His teeth ached as they grew sharper.

“Can you resist him?” Simon asked as he put his hands on Connor’s exposed fur. Connor felt Simon running his hands gently over his furry stomach and he wanted to flop on his back and kick his legs.

“That feels good,” Connor tried to purr, but he just garbled out a string of guttural noises.

“Can you resist the wolf?” Simon placed a calming hand to Connor’s face and smoothed the shifting features. Connor could feel the change slowing, the bones were not radiating with intense pain anymore. He found that he could in fact resist the wolf’s impulses with Simon’s help. Previously, he’d forgotten the shift and was unable to control it in the moment, but with Simon’s touch he was still present.

“That’s it,” Simon held Connor tight and both men felt their erections rub together with only Simon’s trousers to separate them.

“You smell so good,” Connor managed to speak in a deep baritone growl.

“You are so soft,” Simon rubbed up against him. Then Connor watched in amazement as Simon unfastened his trousers and let them fall to the floor. Simon’s own large erection rubbed against Connor. Connor’s penis was unusual in his current state, more pointed and thicker near the base, caught somewhere between man and beast. He leaked more fluid than normal as Simon ground up against him.

Simon reached up, put his lips to Connor’s open maw and Connor instinctively began to lick the man. Connor kept licking all over Simon’s face and Simon pulled away laughing.

“So weird,” Simon chuckled, but Connor wanted more, he wanted to get right in and experience Simon’s scent. He gruffly turned Simon around and bent him over onto the bed so he could bury his face in Simon’s ass. He began to lick and huff at the intense aromas located there, feeling the hot canine urges rising inside of him. Simon responded with pleasurable moans, and it made Connor work harder, burying his face and tongue into Simon’s delicious hole.

“Fuck, that’s amazing,” Simon gasped.

After a time, Simon turned around and sunk to his knees before Connor, then he opened his mouth and swallowed his cock down to the thick knot. Connor threw his head back and growled as he experienced Simon’s talented tongue and throat around his cock. He grabbed either side of Simon’s head in clawed hands and used the man for his pleasure. Simon gagged and choked a few times and Connor would ease up, but Simon was eager to get right back on. Connor let him.

Connor’s erection was screaming, and the swollen knot was at its fullest, he was ready for release. He took Simon by the arm and tossed him easily on the floor, so his ass was up. He pushed his way inside the man’s wet hole, and it was so hot and tight around his massive cock. Fluid was pouring out uncontrollably and it helped make each stroke easier as Connor thrust his mass inside of Simon. Then the huge knot popped inside of Simon’s hole and Simon bucked and squirmed beneath him.

“You like that?” Connor growled.

“It feels so fucking good,” Simon moaned. Connor pulled back and the knot popped back out and Simon groaned with discomfort and pleasure.

“Oh my gods,” Simon grunted as Connor began to push the thick knot back inside. As it passed through the opening again, filling Simon’s hole the ass began to twitch and spasm. Connor could feel that Simon was orgasming, and he could smell the scent of the man’s cum in the air. Overcome with his own lust, Connor began to unload inside of Simon, but unlike any human ejaculation he had ever experienced it seemed to go on and on. Connor’s whole body was twitching as he continued to flood Simon’s bowls with copious amounts of his seed.

They fell asleep still locked together and Connor had Simon wrapped in his furry arms. When the dawn light woke them the next morning Connor was fully human again and his flaccid penis had fallen out of Simon during the night. Simon laid against Connor and lazily stroked his chest hairs.

“That was amazing,” Connor smiled, “I didn’t know sex could feel that good!”

“I told you I found your wolf side to be quite enjoyable,” Simon grinned back at him. Then they shared their first proper kiss.

To the east of the river town of Mayweather were high rocky bluffs with many cascading waterfalls that flowed down to meet with the Belamere river. Atop the largest bluff was an old settlement that was established due to its prime location and beautiful view. From the top of the bluff, one could see out over the endless expanse below and, on a clear day, Mermaid Bay beyond. Nothing but crystal-clear blue water stretching endlessly to the horizon.

But most of this settlement was now desolate and empty, very few remained and most had moved to the nearby town of Mayweather. The empty houses stood like grim sentinels, dilapidated and warped by the long years and strong winds that sometimes battered the bluffs. In the early morning hours two large wolves loped into the town and bounded toward the largest mansion on the bluff. One white and one gray. The people who remained in Graymere Falls stayed in their homes at night and barricaded their doors until the sun was high overhead.

“Graymere?” Simon repeated, “You’re sure?”

“Yes,” Connor nodded, “Blood of my blood. We are the cursed ones. We are the wolves of Graymere.”

“There is an old town called Graymere Falls,” Simon pulled out a map he had shoved in his bag, “Here. Next too Mayweather.”

“That seems pretty far away,” Connor looked doubtfully at the map.

“But that might explain why your father only calls you late in the night,” Simon considered, “It takes a while for them to reach you here. And it wouldn’t be that far for a wolf moving directly across the plains.”

“But why come here to hunt?” Connor asked perplexed, “What did he need my help with?”

“Maybe there is a pattern to the victims he chose?” Simon wondered, “Maybe the killings are not as random as we think.”

“They seem random,” Connor explained, “First there was a candle maker on the west side of town. Then an old woman was found slain near the bridge. Several were taken as they were traveling on the road, much like you nearly were.”

“Then why kill them?” Simon asked.

“The taste of the blood is incredible to the wolf, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be human. I recall several hunts where we fed on only wild game like rabbit or the occasional deer.”

“We are missing some part of the whole picture.”

“And maybe Graymere Falls has the answers,” Connor looked worriedly at the map again.

“Why do you look so nervous?” Simon asked.

“I’m afraid if we go there, we will be on his territory.”

“That’s why we go together.”