Three Wild Werewolf Tales (17 page)

“Leave him out this,” Stephen snarled. He hated seeing Daniel like this. “We get it, you’re a power-hungry asshole. Well done on convincing him it’s normal what you’ve done. But come on, you didn’t think it was going to last?”

“If Daniel comes with me now, I won’t hurt you,” McClanahan said, ignoring Stephen’s words. “Much.”

Stephen growled. He really wanted to sink his teeth into McClanahan’s flesh. But when the other members of his pack arrived, he caught their scents. He could smell Alex approach from behind them, along with Holly and Peter. Karen and Lily couldn’t be far behind. “You might want to rethink that.” He wanted McClanahan to leave, the sooner the better. Maybe if the other wolf had some time to think, he would realise that Daniel was never coming back with him.

McClanahan raised his head as he smelled the other wolves approach. “Is this your entire pack?” he asked, as Alex, Holly and Peter came closer, running towards them.

“There are others,” Richard replied calmly.

Stephen remained quiet, the wolf inside him hoping McClanahan was enough of an idiot to attack again so the pack could deal with him. The human side just wanted McClanahan to leave quietly and without Daniel.

“Leave our territory, McClanahan,” Holly called out. “You’ve done enough harm.”

McClanahan’s eyes focused on her, and he growled at her. “Holly. Peter. You’re still alive.”

“And you won’t be if you don’t leave,” Peter snarled, and Stephen agreed with him.

Stephen felt better with the others by his side. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could stand, his hind leg hurt like hell. As he glared at McClanahan, he resolved not to show weakness until the other wolf had left.

“You don’t even know him,” McClanahan snarled, although his posture was less certain than earlier.

“We know enough,” Holly said. “We know how you changed Daniel. Lurking in parks so you can bite humans on purpose? You’re lucky no hunters are after you yet.”

McClanahan remained quiet, regarding them all carefully. Then, with a huff, he turned around to run off. “This isn’t over!”

Once McClanahan was out of sight, Stephen sat down, wincing at the pain. “I thought he was never going to leave.”

Daniel moved past Richard to sniff at Stephen’s wound. “That looks serious.”

“It’s nothing.” It was pointless, the others gathered around and Stephen was still bleeding. “It looks worse than it is!”

“I’ve heard that one before,” Daniel replied meaningfully. “We need to get you some help.”

“Didn’t you hear what McClanahan said?” Stephen asked, in an attempt to distract them. He knew what help Daniel had in mind and no thanks, he didn’t need a vet. “He’s going to come back.”

“Peter and I will follow him to make sure there’s plenty of miles between him and our town during the day,” Holly said dismissively. “And Daniel’s right, you need help.”

Stephen hated the way they all turned to Alex.

“D’you think you can walk to Richard’s cabin, or does he have to carry you?” Alex asked, his tail wagging happily.

“Walk,” Stephen declared, getting up again and ignoring Daniel’s soft, concerned whine.

~*~

Stephen was in a terrible mood when a more human Richard put him down on the floor of the living room. “I could’ve walked in myself,” he grumbled while Richard reached for his phone to dial the vet. He curled up, huffing when Alex and Daniel came in. Holly and Peter had left to tell Karen and Lily what had happened before following McClanahan’s trail.

Alex stood listening by Richard’s side for a moment, but Daniel immediately came over to Stephen, his yellow eyes worried as he nudged Stephen’s tail aside to look at the wound. Stephen immediately put his tail over it again, not caring it’d get covered in blood.

“There was no need to do that,” Daniel said, sitting down.

“What, fighting McClanahan? No, there definitely was a need to do that.” He glanced at Richard, who had hung up. “We should’ve fought him.”

“And risk the rest of you getting wounded as well?” Daniel lay down beside him. “It’s not worth it.”

“It is.”

“You think so?” Daniel asked, tilting his head slightly.

Stephen met his gaze, and his stomach was squirming. He wished he could take his words back, because he knew how it must’ve sounded. “I mean, he needs to know that other werewolves, other packs won’t accept his bullshit.”

“Right.”

Stephen wished he knew what Daniel was thinking, and fortunately Richard came over with news about Nathan. “He’s on his way,” he told Stephen. “And I know you’re not happy about it, but that wound looks pretty bad and I’m not taking any risks.” He reached out to pet Stephen’s side, and Stephen growled. “You want me to call Nathan again and tell him to bring a muzzle?”

Stephen lowered his head, resting it on his front paws and admitting defeat. He wasn’t having a good night at all.

~*~

When Nathan arrived, Richard sent Alex and Daniel out, and Nathan knelt by Stephen’s side. “Can’t you guys stay out of trouble for one night?” he asked, but smiled down at Stephen.

Stephen ignored him and narrowed his eyes at Richard. “I would’ve been fine without him.” He whined when Nathan started to clean up the wound. The chemicals the vet was using stung, which Stephen expected, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. And the smell was terrible, filling his nostrils and giving him a headache on top of it.

“Daniel was better behaved,” Nathan muttered, and glanced at Stephen’s head and sharp teeth. “At least there’s not a lot of dried up blood in your fur so I don’t need to shave you.”

Now that would’ve been a perfect way to end his night, as if getting defeated by McClanahan and having to be carried wasn’t humiliating enough. He let out a soft whimper as he remembered how well the evening started, just running around with Daniel and showing him the forest.

“Did he get hurt anywhere else?” Nathan asked, looking up at Richard.

“Just his dignity,” Richard told him. “Is it a bad wound?”

“It’s deep, and he definitely needs to see his doctor, get antibiotics... I don’t know what this wound will look like when he’s human, but it’ll probably resemble a dog bite. You’ll have to look at it in the morning.”

Stephen’s ears perked up a that. Nathan wasn’t staying?

“You’re heading home?” Richard asked.

“Give me a few more minutes with my patient, and yeah. I didn’t exactly get a good night’s sleep last night – not that I’m ungrateful to you for letting me crash here – but I want to sleep in my own bed,” Nathan explained, brushing Stephen’s fur out of the way as he cleaned up some more blood.

“Alex’ll be disappointed, he liked having you here,” Richard remarked.

“He mentioned that, yeah.” Nathan was smiling fondly. “He’s adorable as a wolf, it’s like dealing with an overexcited puppy except he doesn’t pee everywhere.” He looked up sharply. “Don’t tell him I said that.”

Stephen met Richard’s yellow eyes, and he could tell the man was struggling not to laugh. He’d be laughing himself if he wasn’t in pain. “Is he nearly done?”

Richard repeated the question, and Nathan gave Stephen an apologetic pat on his back. “Nearly,” he said.

Stephen stared at the clock on the ceiling, willing time to go faster.

~*~

“You’re going home?” Alex looked up at Nathan imploringly, butting his head against Nathan’s hand, demanding to be petted.

“Is he very disappointed?” Nathan turned to Richard, who was smiling.

“He’ll live.”

Alex whined quietly, licking Nathan’s hand. “Come on, you don’t want to drive back home tired, do you?”

Nathan laughed and kept stroking Alex’ fur. “I’ll see you in the morning, okay? I’ve bought more bacon for you.”

Stephen huffed as Alex wagged his tail at that. “Can’t they do that outside?” he grumbled.

Daniel, who had walked over to him to sniff at his bandage, looked at Nathan and Alex as well. “I think they’re sweet.”

“It’s nauseating,” Stephen continued, knowing it was unfair to be annoyed at them They weren’t the ones who had hurt him, after all. “Alex is a wolf, not a domesticated dog who needs feeding. What’s next, a leash?”

“What they do in the bedroom is none of our business,” Daniel said, amused. “Besides, you didn’t object to me feeding you last night.”

Stephen was still reeling at the mental images and his eyes were wide as he looked at Daniel, who was radiating innocence. “What, no, that was different,” he spluttered, his ears flicking around in agitation.

Daniel watched him for a moment, tilting his head slightly. “If you say so,” he said, then moved to say goodbye to Nathan. He nudged his head against the vet’s thighs until he got a brief pet on the head too. Alex watched him with a wary expression, but didn’t push him away.

Stephen was watching Nathan and Daniel closely too. Nathan had told him not to put any weight on the leg until he transformed, so he was stuck lying here. He was grateful for the vet’s help too, but he’d tell him tomorrow.

“All right, that’s enough,” Alex gave Daniel a friendly head-butt against his shoulder. “He needs to go home and sleep.”

“Just make sure he knows I’m grateful for his help,” Daniel told him, pushing back.

“If you two are going to play-fight, do it outside,” Richard warned them.

Alex immediately stepped back. “Calm down, I’m leaving with Nathan.”

Richard showed the two of them out and Daniel settled down next to Stephen. “It’s so weird, last night I was the wounded one.”

“You still are,” Stephen reminded him. While Daniel was doing better, he still wasn’t fully healed.

Daniel looked like he’d been about to argue, then his ears perked up like Stephen’s had done when Richard came back in.

He gave them both a nod. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Sleep well!” Daniel settled back down again, lying close to Stephen.

“Thanks,” Stephen said. Richard hadn’t asked if Daniel was leaving or not; he just assumed Daniel would want to stay here. With him. Or maybe he just figured Daniel wouldn’t want to go back out in case McClanahan was still around.

“Aren’t you worried?” Daniel asked.

“I’ll be fine. We’ll figure something out before tomorrow night.” He didn’t know what, but he knew he didn’t want to face McClanahan again without help.

“Something that doesn’t involve fighting?” Daniel asked quietly, his ears lowering as he worried.

“Don’t you want him to get hurt?” Stephen sure would’ve liked to if he had been Daniel.

Daniel’s ears flicked forward at the question. “No,” he said immediately. “The only thing I want is for him to leave me alone. And your pack as well, obviously.”

“But he’s hurt you,” Stephen pointed out. Shouldn’t Daniel want revenge?

“Yes, he has. And now he’s hurt you.” Daniel closed his eyes and whined. “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt because of me or him. Why did he have to bite me in the first place? I’ve never felt like biting anyone.” His yellow eyes were sad. “Have you?”

He could lie. He could tell Daniel he had never wanted to bite anyone in his life, but the werewolf deserved the truth. “A few times, yes. Sometimes humans wander into the woods at night. You know how strong the urge to hunt is.” He was only making excuses for himself now.

“But have you ever bitten anyone?” Daniel asked, his ears and face carefully neutral.

“I bit Alex.” It still hurt to admit it. “I hadn’t been a werewolf for long; I couldn’t control my instincts very well. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I should’ve stayed further from the campsite.” He watched Daniel carefully, hoping the other wolf wouldn’t hate him for this.

“That’s what he said too,” Daniel said quietly, resting his head on the floor.

Stephen stared at him, surprised. “Alex told you what happened? Then why ask me?”

Daniel’s eyes met his. “I wanted to see if you would tell me the truth.”

“It was an accident,” he said, relieved he hadn’t lied.

“I know.”

“We’re not - I’m not like McClanahan.”

“I know.” Daniel huffed, amused. “I was just curious, Stephen. Close your eyes, you need your rest.” Daniel closed his, settling down to sleep.

Stephen got more comfortable, but he watched Daniel for a couple more minutes before falling asleep himself.

~*~

The transformation the next morning hurt more than usual, his wound re-opening under the strain of his skin changing. He managed to avoid the fireplace and curled up against the wall, his back to Daniel. Once the pain faded, he looked at his hands, then his wound. A thin stream of blood was running down his thigh and Stephen cursed under his breath. He’d need another bandage.

“Stephen?”

He turned at the sound of Daniel’s voice, and seeing him naked and human sent a bolt of desire through his body. Daniel was across the room, sitting on his knees, his bare chest rising and falling rapidly with exertion from his own transformation. “I’m fine,” Stephen replied, unable to look away. He wanted to leap forward, tackle Daniel to the ground and hold him there while they kissed, hands wandering down until –