Savage Moon 06 - The New Breed - 29. Chapter 29

My eyes burned fiercely as the intense fever caused a sweat to break out on my brow. My breath began to heave out of control, my heartbeat racing...almost to the point of malfunction. My body's normal instincts for survival were suddenly experiencing an overdose of adrenaline, and trembled helplessly as it fought to keep up with the rush.

The pack began to line up evenly on either side of Cyrus, spreading out to let me know just how strong they were as a unit. Just how powerful, how savage, they could be. And how quickly they could dispatch me if Father so much as gave them the nod to do so.

"Once again...you try my patience, boy..." Cyrus grimaced. It terrified me. It truly did. But I had already taken a stand, and I was too scared to back down now. No telling what they might do to me. Showing him a moment of weakness would get us both ripped apart for sure.

"I don't want any trouble, Father. I just want you to let us go." I said.

"You're still trying to convince yourself that you're a good person, aren't you, Wesley?" He said with an evil smirk. "You pretend to care. You pretend to hold on to the best parts of your humanity. You PRETEND to be a victim. But look deeper, Wesley. You know that isn't true. Don't you?" Cyrus stepped closer, and I felt my fearful tremors getting more severe. "Be honest with yourself, boy...you LIKED it. You liked being superior. You liked indulging in the sexual pleasures that I provided you. You liked hurting those people..." He smiled. "...Killing those people..." Just thinking about it made me sick to my stomach, but I attempted to hold my ground regardless. "You may try to fabricate a reality where you've done nothing wrong, but lies only last for so long, Wesley. The truth...is eternal. It is absolute. And deep down, you know that you enjoyed every minute you spent wrapping your arms and legs around that naked boy while breathlessly thanking whatever false deity you pray to above for bringing him into your bed. You try to avoid the sinful thoughts assosciated with the things you've done for the sake of a clear conscience...but that time is done now. It's time for you to embrace truth. The lie must come to an end."

"Cyrus...please, I just..."

"Enough!" He snapped, causing my adrenaline to pump even harder through my veins and bringing me to the very brink of a transformation. "Embrace the wild animal within you, Wesley! Acknowledge its existence. You're a 'BAD' person, Wesley! You know it. I know it. Accept it. Drop the guilt. At the end of the day it really doesn't matter, does it? You get to have anything you want right now. No remorse. No regret. I'm telling you that it's ok to be evil. Evil is who we are. Enjoy the power, the permission, that I've given you. No one else matters. Their pain, their suffering, their very lives...have NO value or meaning unless you deem them worthy of having it. And when you look at Isaac...when you think about his life and his feelings...you don't really give a shit about him. Do you? Be honest. You never did. He served his purpose, and that's all he was good for." Cyrus made sure to mentally hold the others back for a while longer. Apparently trying to talk some sense into me. "Slaughter the lamb, Wesley. Trust me when I say that you're not going to care about any of this tomorrow morning. We can get you another boy anytime you want one. Hell, you can go out and get your own. Even the most peaceful of Buddhist philosophies will teach you to free yourself of the burden of worldly attachments. You got what you wanted, now let him go and we'll get you another one. How do you feel about maybe getting a redhead next time....?"

"This is crazy, Cyrus!" I said. "You don't have to kill him and you know it!" Hearing the words, Isaac's feet instinctively took another step or two backward. Filled with fear, I had to remind him, "DON'T RUN!!!"

Cyrus grinned. "Hell, let him run. Go ahead, boy. Run! Hey, maybe you'll live to 'fuck' another day. Right, Isaac? What do you say? Shall we play a game?" He turned around to the others, "What do you say, my brethren? Do you think the Amish kid's got a shot?"

"Aaaaoooooooooowww!" They all began to holler and shout in unison, taunting us. Knowing very well that Isaac didn't stand a chance.

Cyrus turned back to me, and said, "This is your last chance, Wesley. Are you going to stand with your pack? Or are you going to throw everything away on a boy you barely know from any stranger in the street." He stepped closer, his voice reaching a low, unnatural, rumble. "And believe me, pup...there is a wrong answer."

Very slowly, I spread my arms out, and Isaac and I took a half step backward.

Cyrus grinned and shook his head. "Such a massive waste of talent." He looked back over his shoulder. "Shank. Razor. Fetch me my prize..."

As the twins' eyes began to light up with a sinister glow, they stepped forward. Always in sync with one another. Always a double image.

The fear in me began to build to uncontrollable levels. My heart racing, my bones cracking. As I felt the heft of me swelling, my vocal chords changing their pitch, my teary eyes looked over at Isaac and I warned him, "Don't...run...."

But my voice wasn't even mine anymore. It was something different. Something monstrous.

The rest of the pack seemed so offended that I would dare be so bold as to initiate a transformation against them. My brethren. My family. I watched as their faces began to twist and distort into something utterly demonic. I could feel the calling of my pack. I could feel their connection to me, and the boiling rage that was sure to come with me standing in their way.

As Shank and Razor got closer, my transformation increased its urgency. My fangs, now fully exposed. My knuckles snapping and popping as my hands stretched and angled themselves into long claws. I could feel the tearing of my skin, the blood and the marrow. The 'itch' as the hair on my body pushed through to triple its normal length. A dark blond mass of fur, coating me all over as I cried out in pain.

Still not entirely used to operating a body of this size, I began to stumble...occasionally falling to one knee, but quickly regaining my balance.

Cyrus watched me with a smirk. "Interesting. Very interesting, indeed."

The others on the porch began to move. I saw John Boy take off his sunglasses and set them down, his bright silver lenses shining through angrily narrowed slits of his eyes. I was startled as I saw nimble little Dexter suddenly leap up and balance himself on the railing of the porch, long strings of saliva dripping from the corners of his delightfully menacing smile. Both Sebastian and Kristen walked down the steps, shoulder to shoulder, right behind Scout, who instantly took his position in front of Cyrus.

But it was Kriegar that worried me most.

He stepped around Cyrus and fearlessly approached me. His eyes were aglow with the others, but he hadn't even really started the change. He didn't need it.

"Is this how you treat Father? Huh?" He barked at me. Still half human, half wolf, my body still struggling on failing limbs and unsure footing, I kept backing away from him. "Don't you run from me, boy! I stuck my neck out for you! We ALL did! And you fucking BETRAY us for a piece of ass?!?!?" Kriegar stood right in front of me and with both hands he PUSHED me back! My legs wobbled, but I concentrated on holding myself upright. "What the fuck is wrong with you? HUH??? Pussy!" This time, Kriegar smacked me hard across the face, and the monster within reacted. I roared at him with a fury, fangs fully visible, my anger reaching a boiling a point. But Kriegar wasn't scared. He never flinched. The second time, Kriegar slapped me face down in the dirt. "You've got a whole LOT to learn before you can bear your fangs at ME, baby boy!"

Losing my self control, I jumped up and lashed out at Kriegar's face with the claws on my right hand. The nails sliced through his flesh, drawing a brief splash of blood from his cheek. However, it was mostly an involuntary action. And now that I had done, I regretted it almost instantly.

Looking around me, I saw Shank and Razor spreading out on either side of me...grinning at me as they were two far apart for me to stop both of them from getting to Isaac if they really wanted to. Lucky for me, the twins seemed to be making a little 'game' out of it. We were terrified, and they were drawn to the scent of it.

I tried to remind Isaac not to run, but my voice wouldn't work. My jaw had become extended and awkward, and the painful metamorphosis was still expanding. Every time I got used to one form, it changed again. All at different speeds, keeping me off balance.

Attempting to keep Isaac safe, I tried to lunge at Razor, growling to keep him away. But he only laughed at me, jumping just out of my reach as he kept moving in time with his brother, flanking us on both sides. Shuffling around in the dirt, I turned around, running in the other direction to snap violently at Shank, who stayed just out of my reach as well. A wide grin on his face as he mocked me with a few fake barks of his own. "Ruff!!! Ruff!!! Grrrr-RUFF!!! Hehehe! Aaaooowww! Hahaha!"

I felt something hot stinging me on the back of my neck and clumsily spun around to see Razor tossing lit matches at me from a distance! "C'mon, doggie! BARK for me, doggie! BARK! Woof woof! Come on, now! Having problems getting it up, youngster? Hehehe!"

Stuck in the middle, I was completely helpless. Neither one of them would get close enough for me to strike out at them. They were always just out of reach. And then, I saw Kriegar recovering from the deep gashes I left in his face. In fact...I saw the wounds beginning to knit themselves back shut right before my very eyes. A sudden shiver of horror washed over me as I saw Kriegar wipe the excess smear of blood off of his face...look directly at me, and say, "You know what, Wesley? You are seriously beginning to blow my buzz..." And without any effort at all, Kriegar seemed to grow in size until he was towering over me...even from a few paces away. His muscles bulged to the point where his shirt tightened...then ripped open at the seams! His neck swelled, his fangs reached full length, and a terrifying roar thundered throughout the entire area...his breath like steam in the early morning air.

What's wrong with me? CHANGE! Ummm...growl, or switch, or...or....Shazam! Shit!

It only took Kriegar a few frightening moments to turn into a full blown wolf in front of me. Bigger than anything I've ever SEEN! Staring at me with his nostrils flaring, his chest heaving while sucking in giant gulps of air. Shank and Razor still teasing me on both sides, and Isaac too scared to move...too scared not to.

Suddenly, faster than I could have imagined possible, Dexter leapt forward from the railing with a shriek...fully changing before his feet even hit the ground. He scampered forward in a mindless frenzy, ready to rip us to shreds! But Cyrus put his hand up to hold him still. Calmly saying, "Dex...not yet. Not now." Dexter spun around quickly, his claws, both front and back, kicking up rocks and turn as he returned to Father's side...where he petted him lovingly on the head. I've never seen an animal look so wild.

Another lit match hit me on the ear, and when I turned to snap at Razor, Shank darted in behind me to poke me with the sharp end of a stick. I swiped at him with my claws, but he was much too fast, stabbing me again and again wherever he found a vulnerable spot exposed. Then...having Razor toss a lit match right on the bridge of my nose...I simply found myself too fucking PISSED OFF to play this game anymore!

As the rage intensified, the most primal parts of myself began to draw on the calling for assistance. For guidance. And the calling didn't reject me. I could feel the combined energies of all nine of my brethren as my body prepared to take on a full reconstruction.

I don't think the others expected that...

I saw Cyrus' smile fade as I siphoned energy from our union and used it against them. And soon, my body began to complete its mutation. My strength, my speed, my senses...all enhanced. All working together. And despite their teasing and humiliation a few moments ago, the rest of the pack suddenly began to take my defiance seriously.

Shank and Razor instantly bent down to put their hands on the ground and change as well, and I felt a jolt of fear as Kriegar angrily stomped his foot on the ground and roared threateningly at me...as if to intimidate me into 'powering down', but I refused. Even though Kriegar was quite obviously the strongest of us from what I've seen so far. And he actually did scare the piss out of me!

"You're making a huge mistake, Wesley..." Cyrus said. "You're going to end up in a world of pain if you don't learn your place, young one."

Dexter tried to quickly scamper forward again, but Cyrus held the prickly blond haired wolf at bay. One would have thought that Cyrus was holding an invisible leash on him the way he could get him to almost stop on a dime. But he insisted that it wasn't Dexter's 'time' yet. As if he didn't want to clean up the horrific mess that Dex would have created had he been let loose to hack and slash at us with the full insane fury that he had been trying to keep under control for oh so long. Dex remained ready. Snarling and growling and aching to get involved.

Sebastian didn't seem all that affected by what was going on. His beauty was undisturbed, his face, void of expression. He stood at Father's right side, with a fully transformed John Boy on his left. The entire pack had turned against me. I was all alone.

That's when Isaac reached the limits of what little courage he had left, and with a loud scream and tears of terror flooding his eyes, he turned tail and made an insane dash for his truck. Running as fast his two feet could carry him!

This alerted the twins, and both Shank and Razor snarled and took off after him!

I had no idea how I was going to handle just ONE of the pack on my own, much less two...but I wasn't thinking about that. I spun around and sped off towards them, hoping to reach Isaac before the twins did. That's when I heard a loud howl behind me and realized that Kriegar was coming right after me!

I could only run faster! Push harder! Isaac had almost made it to the truck, but Shank and Razor were closing in on him from both sides! I wasn't going to make it in time! I had to run faster, dammit! FASTER!

Kriegar was taking great leaps and bounds forward, practically snapping at my heels. I didn't know if I should be more concerned about catching what was in front of me or NOT being caught by what was behind me. But I was leaving it all up to my spontaneous instincts now! I can only hope they won't let me down.

I noticed something strange in those few seconds that it took me to get close to the truck. I'm not sure if I was doing it on purpose or not, but there was a deeper part of my consciousness that realized that I had more power than I thought I had. More energy at my disposal. And suddenly, as I became more determined to outrun Shank and Razor...I could feel myself almost 'draining' their energy right out of them. Leeching whatever I could manage...and it seemed to slow them down slightly while simultaneously speeding me up. Was this how it works? Is this the advantage of a pack alpha?

As the twins were running up to opposite sides of the truck, I knew that Isaac would be headed for the driver's seat. So I veered off to the right just as he opened the door. Shank would have bitten him in half for sure if I had been a split second later! Instead, I pounced forward, knocking Shank out of the air, mid-leap, and biting him on the leg!

He yelped for a moment, and then craned his neck back to snap back at me. I rolled him over in the dirt, but cried out as Razor came up from behind to sink his teeth deeply into my shoulder. By the time he let me go, I was bleeding profusely...and only had enough time to get to my feet before Kriegar's massive body came stampeding forward to RAM me in the side and knock me back a clear ten feet without even trying. I could hear Isaac screaming for help in the truck as Shank and Razor barked and clawed at the windows on both sides. They were trying to find a way, looking to smash in the windows. Even jumping up on the hood, searching for weaknesses.

My abdomen ached from Kriegar's impact, and he stared me down...waiting for me to get up. Antagonizing me with a growl...his head down, blocking me from getting back to the truck.

I got up on shaky feet. I was an alpha. There should be some kind of edge that I have here. But whatever it was, Kriegar scared it right out of me...and the calling wasn't helping at all.

I tried to duck and dodge around him, but he was quickly to block my path. And when I got to close, he rammed me again, nearly flipping me head over tail every time.

In the background, I could hear Dexter practically losing his ever loving mind! Barking and spinning around until he had kicked up a full blown dust cloud. It was the only thing that got Kriegar to lose his focus. I took my only opportunity to dash to the left, and I felt Kriegar's claws rake my backside as he tried to catch me. It cut me DEEP! And it burned! But I was able to jump on the back of the truck. I had no way to communicate with Isaac to tell him to start up the truck and get us out of here. He was so consumed with horror that his panic was overtaking his normal thought processes.

Razor was on the hood of the truck, and jumped up to the roof to challenge me. We took powerful strikes at one another until I got in a lucky blow, knocking him down to the ground. I quickly barked as loud and as fast as I could to Isaac in the truck, trying to point my nose towards the keys in the ignition.

It may have taken him a moment to think about it, but thankfully, he quickly sat up and started the car. Hearing the ignition, Shank and Razor went ballistic. And I only heard a few heavy gallops before I saw Kriegar's gargantuan body heading for the side of the car at top speed!

The powerful impact rocked the entire truck, lifting it up on two tires and nearly causing it to roll over! Luckily, the second the truck was back on the ground again, Isaac threw the car into reverse and began to peel out of the driveway and back towards the road. All three wolves came running after us, and I just tried to keep my footing in the back of the truck for fear that I might be thrown over the side.

As soon as Isaac hit the main road, he spun forward and put the truck in drive. The short pause was almost enough for Kriegar to hit us again, but that truck had a pretty strong engine. Before we knew it, we were racing down that dark road with Isaac's foot pressing that gas pedal all the way to the floor! And in the distance, I could see Cyrus still standing in front of the porch...watching me. I could almost feel his anger from there.

The dark road winded left, and then right, and the wolves weren't far behind us. Kriegar roared at me and I barked back from my position on the truck. I could tell that he wanted to grab a hold of me sooooo badly, but as large as he was in scale...he began to run out of steam, and started falling behind.

The twins, however, had a lot more stamina. They weren't as fast as the truck was on the straightaways, but Isaac had to slow down on every curve, giving them a chance to catch up again. I saw them charging along each side of the truck, each twin attempting to snatch my attention away from the other. But I watched them both. My head snapped back and forth until I was nearly dizzy from it. Suddenly, Shank jumped up onto the back of the speeding truck and I was forced to savagely tangle with him in order to protect myself. But the second we got into it, Razor jumped up from the other side. I couldn't bite one without being bitten by the other. I could slash the other without being slashed by the first one. I could feel the scratches cutting me to ribbons. They were SO fast! Both of them! And they didn't hold back.

It wasn't until I saw a rather sharp coming up ahead in the dark that I used their coordinated attacks against them. Razor was the one who was going to be most affected by the centrifugal force of the turn...so I lashed out at Shank and forced him to push forward. I took some heavy damage, but the moment I felt the truck taking the curve, the tires squealing as they tried desperately to grip the road beneath them, I maneuvered my self to the side and sent Shank falling forward into his brother. From there, it only took a shove from me to send the both over the side of the truck and into the ditch on the side of the road!

The twins were dazed, but only for a moment...before they got up and started coming after us again. This time, we had a bit of a head start on them. Some significant distance between us, despite the twists and turns of the road. I watched them trying desperately to catch up, but we clearly had them eating our dust.

Then...just as I was about to rest easy...I noticed a tiny little dot waaaaay back in the distance. It was behind Shank and Razor in the road...but catching up fast. The dot got closer, and closer...it was REALLY moving! Until it ran past Shank and Razor and started catching up to the truck as if it was standing still. A tiny blond wolf, his little legs a blur beneath him.

Scout...

I could only brace myself as he got closer, taking the winding road much better than this big old truck ever could. And then he jumped up in the back with me and began to bite and scratch me all over! Trying to even figure out what parts of me to defend was pointless. He went at me like a sack full of angry bobcats, wiggling and darting around me so fast that I could hardly keep my eyes on him.

I tried to fight back, but he was so small. He was practically sliding between my legs every time I got a hold of the little son of a bitch! He even got a few nips at my throat a couple of times!

I think Isaac saw me having a really hard time in the back, and tried to help by swerving the truck back and forth on the road. Scout and I slid around a bit, but he was still a hell of a lot better at this than I was. Then...he jumped right at me, his little legs wrapped around my chest, his hands on my shoulders, his razor sharp fangs snapping at me...trying to bite the flesh right off of my face! All I could do was hold him up in the air and support his weight. If I let him go, even for a second, he'd tear me to pieces. Then I heard Isaac honk the horn as the truck glided over to the side of the road.

I looked up, and briefly, in the headlights, I saw some low hanging branches that reached out from the wooded area on the side. Catching the hint, I used what was left of my strength to hoist Scout even further up, keeping him and his iron jaws from making an early morning snack of me...and he saw the branches coming too late.

My hands took some of the impact as the thick tangle of branches snatched the little bastard right out of my hands and flung him mercilessly to the hard road below! Had it been a normal person, it might have come close to taking his head clean off. But something tells me that Scout will be up and scowling again in as soon as a couple of minutes.

As my heartbeat began to slow itself down...and my adrenaline rush began to return to normal...I could feel my muscles relaxing. My body losing its monstrous shape. My hair shedding and covering the back of the truck. Then came pain. Intense, unspeakable, pain! Followed by a fever. And a burning sensation over every wound...of which I had many.

Exhaustion kicked in, and I nearly passed out. Nearly. But not quite. It's best I stay awake. We need to get away. Far far away. He won't stop. Cyrus won't just let me go. The insult alone is enough for him to kill me and everyone I love. I know that for a fact.

The only questions is...what do I do now?