Silverwolf - 8. Mine

Monday, April 15 (¾ waxing moon)

Ursula spent the next two days waiting and preparing. Finally, her contact was in town, and they planned to meet. It was a breezy, sunny morning, and Ursula chose the community forest for the meeting. She sat under the protective shade of the redwoods on an old wooden bench and patiently waited.

The tops of the redwoods swayed far above her. The smell of earth, loam, and wetness lay over everything, and the sound of the wind through the trees made her smile. She sighed as the dappled sunlight played over her skin, and her careful eyes watched the movement of a kestrel as it soundlessly cut through the air, forty feet overhead.

Ursula's skin tingled. Her senses, honed from years of training, told her that a gaze had landed on her. She subtly put her fingertips inside the sleeve of her long, roomy blouse. The reassuring hilts of her daggers were there. Though she also carried a snub-nosed pistol on her leg, she vastly preferred the blades and could use them to deadly effect.

The sound of feet on the trail behind her informed Ursula of much. 'One person. Lighter in weight. Probably female if an adult.' All of this, she knew without ever turning to view the newcomer.

Step, a slight scrape of a sole on soil, step, step, scrape.

Ursula smiled and relaxed.

Her contact sat down beside her on the bench. The younger woman had long, brown hair, green eyes the same shade as Ursula's, and had dressed simply in jeans, low boots, and a brown shirt. She leaned back to look at the tops of the trees.

After a moment, the woman smiled. "I can see why you like this place."

Ursula nodded. "Yes. It's beautiful, and still very wild for such closeness to the works of man." She glanced at the woman beside her. "It's good to see you again, Joan."

Joan nodded. "It is good to see you too." She gazed at Ursula with fondness; then she let out a heavy sigh. "I suppose we should discuss him."

Ursula patted her leg. "Yes." Much rode on the next few days, and she felt the worry from the woman beside her. "Joan, if it doesn't work, then we both know what must happen."

Joan clenched her jaw. "I don't want to be responsible for his death." There was a pained expression on her face. "From what you have said, he has suffered much already."

Ursula sighed. "Yes. I know." Her eyes once again found the tops of the trees as they danced in the wind. "But, he cannot control himself. Even with the help of his son, Daniel Polis is a hazard to those around him." She swallowed, showing the only sign of the nervousness she felt. "If you cannot handle Daniel, then I will do the deed."

"I will handle it." Joan slumped. "Everything depends on me. Daniel's life, a possible conflict with Silverwolf, and then those in his circle as well." She shook her head. "I don't want to fight the Silverwolf. He has done nothing wrong, and I don't know if I would survive it."

Ursula nodded. "I know." She never stopped watching the treetops. "If Daniel must die, then I will make sure Silverwolf is no longer a threat." She turned her hand so that her palm was up. Joan looked down at it, and she clasped the older woman's hand. Ursula smiled sadly. "Don't worry, Joan. We will find a way."

⧫

Tuesday, April 16 (¾ waxing moon)

The following day, a delivery came - one Wolfgang had anticipated. The slim man stood just inside the door of his rental house and cut the tape on the container.

"Yes." The open cardboard box lay at Wolfgang's feet, and he examined the contents. He picked up a pair, then turned the heavy-duty leather gloves over and nodded at their stitching and the thick material used in their construction. "These are great. I think Jed's right - the lumberjacks will love them."

He was at the house alone. Jed and Franklin both had to work, but they were to join him later and Wolfgang looked forward to that. Until then, he had another chore to handle.

Wolfgang loaded the box of gloves into his car. Soon he was at the door of Eureka Fabrics. He delivered the gloves, along with the design of the protective symbol that he needed stitched onto each pair.

The shop assured him the gloves would be ready for pick-up the following day by noon. Wolfgang got back into his car.

"I hope you're right, Evan." Wolfgang spoke of the protective power of the symbol, and its efficacy in preventing possession. He shook his head as he drove. "There are a lot of people depending on you, so I hope you're right."

⧫

Evan McAllister sat in a seaside cave just north of Eureka. Water lapped over his bare feet as the tide reached its highest point, and he gazed out over the choppy swells.

He was safe in his hiding place. The only possible way human eyes would see him was if a boat stopped at just the right place offshore. Even then, he would have warning. No one would know he was there.

More critically, Evan was not within the influence of the local New Moon spirit. It would surely sense his presence if he entered the forest. Evan knew the spirit was on a vengeful streak, and that it could see his complement of entities as a threat.

Evan would wait until the time was right. He required no sustenance. He could ignore the chill and discomfort of the water and sand within the cave. So he would hide and prepare.

He looked up at the roof of the small cave. It was only a foot above his head, even with him seated on his rump with his legs outstretched. Clods of mud, clay, and tiny roots were there, and he reached. A piece of clay-rich dirt came away in his hand, and Evan cocked his head at the earth. He put the little treasure on a flat stone off to the side.

Evan dipped his hand into the wet sand of the cave and hollowed out a little depression. Soon, it filled halfway with water, and he smiled at the tiny pool he had created. Next, he crumbled his clod of earth into the water.

"Spirits, invest in this earth your power. Lend us your strength." Evan dusted the last of the dirt off of his fingers and into the small depression. He saw with senses beyond what the typical mortal enjoyed, and the mud he had created glowed dully with supernatural power.

With a single, perfectly steady finger, Evan took a dollop of mud. He began to draw symbols on his forehead, cheekbones, and neck. Then he continued down his arms and torso to end with ancient words of power whispered to him by the spirits within himself and those in the world.

After several hours he finished. It was now dark, all except for the growing brightness of a steadily filling moon.

Evan leaned back, much of his body now covered in arcane symbols. It would be eighteen days until the new moon. He only hoped that the command of the spirits he carried would be enough to see him through the upcoming struggle.

⧫

Thursday, April 18 (one day until the full moon)

"I know I need to be here, but I hate this place." Daniel scowled as he scanned the cabin. The austere structure on the edge of BLM - Bureau of Land Management territory was to be his home and prison until the full moon passed and he regained his senses.

Jed nodded. "Yeah." He let the backpack with the wrapped packages of beef slide off his shoulder. Jed put the beef away in a small fridge, tucked under the counter. The propane fridge and stove were cased in heavy metal frames to protect them. Even then, here and there the frames were bent, and holes from sharp canines punched through some spots. "This is the best option, dad."

Daniel sighed. Jed watched him. His father's eyes flickered with amber and Jed felt the ire of the beast within him. "I said I know it," Daniel growled. His wolf was close to the surface, and it colored everything Daniel said or did.

Jed lowered the metal bars over the two windows in the small, one-room cabin. He locked them in place with a silver-coated pin, one Daniel's beast wouldn't be able to remove. Jed turned. His own wolf was strong, but he kept it in check because he had to - so that he could help his father. Plus, with the amount of sex he got from Wolfgang, Franklin, and Shawn, Jed's wolf was manageable.

"Dad." Jed stepped close to his father. He let the power of his gift bleed into his voice as he spoke. "You will remain calm, controlled, and you will feed the beast the meat in the fridge when he needs it." Jed put a hand on Daniel's shoulder. Daniel's eyes were streaked with amber while silver flowed across Jed's irises. As Jed helped Daniel retain control, his own ebbed. It couldn't be helped. Jed had to lend his father enough strength. Otherwise, Daniel could tear a hole in the rough, wooden walls of the cabin and escape.

Daniel blinked. He slowly nodded. "Yes." It was too close to the full moon for the beast to subside completely, but the voice helped. He stared into his son's eyes. "Yes. I'll be fine." He smiled, and Jed noticed the soft points on all of Daniel's teeth. "I have to be fine."

After a few more minutes to secure the cabin, Jed closed the door, then locked it with the key on the outside. The beast, once it took Daniel, was clever but it wasn't exactly a heavy thinker. While in the throes of the moment, his father wouldn't be able to unlock the door.

Done with his monthly task, Jed began the walk back. The only access to the cabin was an old logging road, far too rutted and treacherous for his pickup.

Jed breathed deeply, attempting to find his calm. The smell of cherry blossoms was strong and he shook his head to clear his sensitive nose. Jed continued on his way. So focused was he on retaining control, he missed a tiny detail he might otherwise have noticed.

⧫

Joan waited for Jed to disappear. She heard the engine of his pickup, some distance away, then rose from her hiding spot, crushed cherry blossoms falling from her skin, hair and clothes as she did.

'Gods, that was close.' She had inadvertently hidden right next to the path Daniel and Jed used to access the cabin. Even with the masking scent of the flowers, Joan was exceedingly lucky to avoid the detection of the Silverwolf and his father.

She turned to consider the cabin about fifty feet away. In only moments she would know the fate of Daniel Polis. Everything hinged on how the next few minutes went.

Joan approached, her feet snapping little twigs on the ground of the small clearing that surrounded the cabin.

"Who's there?" There was fear in Daniel's voice. Joan knew it wasn't fear for himself. "Stay back! Please, if you know what's good for you… just stay back."

Joan put a hand on the door. "I'm here to set you free, Daniel."

Even through the wood, she heard him gasp. "No. No, you can't open that door." He grunted, and she listened as he began to pant. "No!" His voice now came from lower in the room, and she knew that he was on his knees. "Please. Run. Run!"

Joan took a deep breath and withdrew the key from her pocket. Where her mother had acquired a copy of the key to the lock on the sturdy door, Joan didn't know. But Ursula had her ways, and such skullduggery was just one skill among many her mother possessed.

She slipped the key into the lock with one hand. With the other, she drew out a long, sharp dagger. The weapon's hilt was steel, wrapped in leather. The blade was edged with silver. She knew the weapon was deadly to Daniel, and if she had to, she would use it.

Joan turned the key, and her knuckles whitened as she gripped the dagger. "One way or another, I'm setting you free."

She threw open the door.

⧫

The door opened. Daniel's wolf salivated and stood as the shift completed. The small, weak voice of Daniel quieted in the mind of the beast and instead, there was left only the need to tear, rend, and kill.

Sunlight framed the intruder as she stood in the doorway. A blade was in her hand, but the beast feared no weapon. His teeth bared, and the ears on his head pointed back and down against his skull. He made to leap, his muscles bunched under his thick, black fur.

"Stop."

The woman's eyes nearly glowed emerald, their sea green color consumed in that very telling way of their kind. The power of her voice hit Daniel's beast like a sledgehammer and his growl turned into a whimper. He blinked and hunkered down. Instinct drove him to roll onto his back, and he offered his neck and belly to her. The long, gleaming blade caught the light as she moved.

Confidence and power rolled from the woman. She approached to stand over Daniel's wolf, the dagger still in hand. He watched as she cocked her head. The arm with the weapon raised, and she flipped her wrist.

The wickedly sharp, silvered blade buried itself a couple of inches in the wooden floor. She knelt, and Daniel stared into her emerald eyes. His tail swiped back and forth on the floor and an eager whine unconsciously came out of him.

Joan put a hand on Daniel's huge skull. Relief and happiness forced her to grin. Her own beast reveled in finally using their power over another wolf, one who needed her — one who needed guidance.

She scratched between his amber eyes and leaned down until her face was only a few inches from him.

"You." Joan wet her lips and smiled. Her hand slipped around to grip the back of his neck and his silky fur slid through her fingers. "You are mine."

⧫

It was late on Thursday, and Shawn got the text as he suspected he would. ‘Hey. I need you. Come see me.’ An address in Cutten appeared on the phone, and Shawn frowned.

"Huh. What's Jed doing in Cutten?" Shawn shrugged, got into his car and quickly followed the streets to the address listed in the phone message.

Shawn parked on the street in front of the house. The nearly full moon lit the quiet houses and trees in a bright glow.

He got out. The nape of his neck tingled as he closed the door to his car. Even without the address, he knew where Jed was.

Shawn could always feel something different when he was around Jed and Daniel. Jed spoke to him some of the "beast" they lived with, and there were times Shawn swore he could sense them. In particular, he could feel the interest, predatory nature, and bloodlust of Daniel's wolf as the moon filled.

So now, that familiar prickle on Shawn's skin warned him that Jed was close - and more, that he was deep in the throes of his beast. Shawn walked to the door and raised his hand to knock. He hesitated and cocked his head. 'Another.' There was another presence in the house, one that registered to his uncanny sense. 'Something different. Someone different.' He wet his lips and knocked.

After a few moments, a thin, black-haired man opened the door. He wore only a skimpy pair of shorts, and the fellow smiled. "Hi. Shawn, right?" He stuck out a hand. "I'm Franklin. Jed said you'd be coming."

Shawn nodded. "Hey, yeah." He shook the offered hand. Shawn's cock stirred as his skin contacted Franklin's. 'Uh… whoa.' He was a little surprised at his reaction to the young man. Usually, it took the voice for him to find men desirable, but something about Franklin was especially alluring. He swallowed. "Err, is Jed around?"

Franklin grinned and stepped aside. "Oh yeah." He shut the door behind Shawn as the man entered. There was a knowing look on Franklin's face, and he put a hand on Shawn's shoulder. "Come on. They're back here."

Shawn let the handsome man push him gently through the house. As he approached the back bedroom, Shawn turned to Franklin. "'They?'"

Franklin's grin broadened, and he pushed open the half-cracked door to the bedroom.

⧫

Jed pressed Wolfgang down into the mattress. His desire, the roiling beast, and the growing power of the moon over him had turned Jed into an intensely tactile and needful creature.

They were both naked. Wolfgang lay his head back, panting as Jed's teeth scraped the skin of his neck. There was an incredible war in the slim blonde. Jed's dominance was overwhelming, yet, so was the way Wolfgang internalized Jed's aggressiveness. He felt it all, and the only reason Jed had him on his back was because of the big man's prodigious strength.

Franklin returned, and with him was a man who appeared to be in his early thirties. He had short, wavy brown hair, and his eyebrows were both up at the sight of Jed having his way with Wolfgang.

Franklin smirked at the tangle of limbs and bodies on the bed. "Ah, they got started without us."

"Hello." Wolfgang tried to greet the man from under Jed. "I'm-" Jed interrupted by sitting up, grabbing both of Wolfgang's legs and pushing them over his head. "Unnn…" Wolfgang groaned as Jed shoved his tongue inside him.

"Whoa." Shawn chuckled and reached up to unbutton his shirt. "Introductions can wait, I guess."

Wolfgang lay on his back, handled by his incredibly strong lover, his eyes colored silver as the beast roiled through both him and Jed. He observed as Franklin watched Shawn's hands.

"Here," Franklin said, stepping close to Shawn and began to undress him. "Let me."

Shawn gulped, and he stared at the dark-haired server. Franklin's deft, slim fingers soon had Shawn's shirt undone.

Knowledge of Shawn was echoed in Jed's wolf, and while Wolfgang shared it with Jed, he too knew Shawn. So it was with some fascination that Wolfgang and the beast watched Shawn and Franklin.

Franklin ran his hands up Shawn's chest and pushed the shirt off of his shoulders. The thin man smiled, leaned forward, and gently brought his lips to Shawn's.

Shawn's eyes stayed open initially, and then they slid closed as he kissed Franklin.

Through Wolfgang, the beast growled in approval.

Jed's head snapped up, his silver eyes wide as he watched the two men. He grinned, then stood up. Jed moved behind Shawn, and his hands snaked around his waist. "You like kissing Franklin?" Jed's words were a husky whisper in his friend's ear, but Wolfgang noticed the lack of the voice. Jed unbuckled Shawn's belt and pushed his jeans down to his knees. Shawn's bare dick stuck out in an erection and crossed with Franklin's still trapped in his clothes.

Shawn nodded, and his jaw dropped as Franklin nibbled on the skin of his neck.

Jed's big hands gripped Shawn's bare hips and pressed his pelvis against the man's ass. "Mmmm. You lubed up." Jed chuckled. "Good."

Wolfgang positioned himself behind Franklin as the server and Shawn continued to kiss. Shawn rubbed Franklin's cock through his shorts, then Wolfgang pulled the offending clothing down so that it was no longer in the way.

Now all of the men were naked. Wolfgang looked past the kissing pair of guys between them and met Jed's eyes. The big man's silver irises looked back and forth between Shawn and Franklin, and then they landed on Wolfgang. The two men shared a grin.

Wolfgang took a palmful of lube, slicked his dick well, and rubbed some on Franklin. He positioned himself, then pushed himself into their young lover.

Both Shawn and Franklin clung to one another, and each made breathy sounds as the men behind them slid into their bodies.

Jed growled, reached across, and pulled Franklin to him. They kissed roughly, and Wolfgang stretched to do the same to Shawn.

Currently, Wolfgang had his cock inside Franklin, his lips on Shawns, and Jed had one firm hand on a shoulder. He experienced it all. Everything they felt and desired - all of it cascaded through Wolfgang. The beast added another set of perceptions and needs, and Wolfgang's knees wobbled.

'Too much.' His mind tried to filter and parse the massive stimulation, but he began to lose track of who felt what. He was screwing, and he felt like he was getting screwed, kissing, getting kissed, he was masturbating Franklin and Shawn. Through it all, the beast howled in his mind.

'Oh god, I like kissing him. I like it.' Shawn's thoughts fluttered across Wolfgang's awareness as he made out with Franklin.

'Mine. All of them, mine.' Jed and the beast were temporarily joined in purpose, and Wolfgang heard them as well.

'Oh, I like the taste of this new one.' Franklin's tongue danced with Shawn's, and the server groaned around his mouth.

He had never before experienced anything like what was happening. Instead of separate input from his various partners, Wolfgang swam in a sea of sensation, thoughts, desire, and need.

Wolfgang pulled back a moment, and a glimmer of silver appeared in Shawn's typically dark eyes. Wolfgang marveled at it, knowing the beast had somehow used his unique gift to forge a link between them all.

It couldn't last. Wolfgang typically was driven to orgasm by his partner's sensations, but the connection he had with them all was working both ways. This time, his partners had no choice but to follow Wolfgang's lead.

The sensation began to crest, and the beast forced him to speak. "Ours." Every one of them uttered the word, and they all groaned.

Wolfgang and the rest of the men orgasmed, and all felt everything the others did. Franklin squirted semen on Shawn's groin, while Shawn's streaked down Franklin's leg. Franklin gaped, and his knees buckled. He would have fallen, had the others not held him up.

Jed and Wolfgang continued to drive their hips. Then, in perfect synchronicity, they slowed and stopped. All of the men panted.

Shawn laughed, a bit incredulously. "Uh, fuck." He grinned at Wolfgang. "So, I'm Shawn." He nodded, his eyebrows raised. "I see why Jed likes you guys!"

Wolfgang could only respond with a chuckle.