Forced to Start Again

Now or Never

Xander let his legs pump as he ran in a full sprint to his cave, knowing Raina well enough to figure out her approach. As he ran he was letting his thoughts catch on how exactly he was going to shift back to his humanoid form, but his mind didn't linger there for too long as he guessed everything would fall in place and he would be able to shift back when he really needed to. At least, he hoped that's how it was going to work out.

The wolf swerved and dodged the vegetation and reached his cave in no time. It was untouched. The fire from earlier had died out and small swirls of smoke rose a few inches from it but made it no further than that. The wood that was used for the fire was charred and burnt, but not bad enough where he wouldn't be able to use it again. He kept a mental note of this as he padded into his cave and sitting in the entrance, staring ahead and straining all of his senses for any sign of life. The sound of the helicopter had disappeared a while ago, but in a way that sounded as if it had stopped, not left.

It was when a new heartbeat echoed against his skull did he perk his head up and stood to all four, ready for anything that might be thrown at him. These people were cold and ruthless. The chance of them going easy on him was slim, and the thought of them even trying to take him back to that hell made him fill with rage fueled by fear. He wasn't going back there. They'd have to kill him before he went there.

"Hello, Bambi," a voice sang and he let out a snarl, baring sharp fangs. With a good aim of will, he felt the uncomfortable and painful feeling of the shift as he turned. "Ah, impressive." she spoke and Xander rolled his shoulders, nostrils flared, but he noticed something - though he had shifted, the wolfish teeth were still there, his face still having some features of those as a wolf. He didn't have time to think about how to change it yet.

"Leave now, or I will kill you." Xander warned.

Raina laughed, shaking her head as she brought out a foot long black contraption of some sort. "I don't think so." she clicked a button and it zapped with electricity. "You are coming back with me, Bambi. If you don't come with me without a fight, I will have to force you." she pointed the unnamed object at him threateningly. He unconsciously took a step back. Even if he didn't want to admit it, he was still terrified of her. But he still managed trash talk.

"You can try." Xander launched himself at Raina, noticing for the first time curved claws which replaced his fingernails. He aimed to dig his teeth into he neck when he was stopped by the stick she held, collapsing to the ground when hundreds of volts of electricity attacked at every cell of his being. She left it planted on his chest, and the pain grew to the point where he couldn't stop an inhuman yowl tear form his vocal cords. She pulled it back, leaving him panting, dazed, and weak, twitching when stray wisps of electricity would strike him.

"Still think you have a chance, Bambi?" she paused. "Maybe I should call you Fido now. It fits better, doesn't it?" He growls at her.

"You betrayed me!" he roared as he struggled to push himself to his hands and knees. She shoved him back down by placing her foot on his back and pushing down.

"I did no such thing," she said innocently. "Because for me to have betrayed you, I would've had to have been on your side at some point, and I never was. I tricked you, sure, but betrayed you? No, I pride myself in being quite a loyal person. I'd never betray anyone." Xander would've lied if he said her words didn't sting a little bit. "Now, don't make me have to use force again. I don't want to." She took her foot away. "Get up." she ordered and he glared at her from his place on the ground. "I said.. get up -"

"I know what you said, I'm just choosing not to do it." he snappily replied.

Raina had her mouth open, ready to speak, when she was tackled to the ground. Xander, surprised at first on how such a thing could happen, scrambled back as quick as his weakened state could take him. He found a blur of white on top of he and recognized said blur as Freya. He couldn't measure how glad he was to see her. He took this chance to gather himself and get to his feet, kicking the stick away from Raina. "Now, get up." Xander said darkly. Raina started to do so, but Xander tugged her roughly and pressed up again a wall. He placed a clawed hand around her throat.

"Bambi, please - you don't wanna do this." she stammered out. Xander said nothing as he guided her over and grabbed up the object she previously had in her hand. He held it by the handle and inspected it for the button. When he found it, he placed his thumb on it. "Bambi -"

"Shut up." he said, eyes flashing red as he put it against her stomach. "Any last words?"

"Bambi, please -"

"Those are horrible last words." And then he pressed down from the button and removed his hand from her, watched as she screamed out and writhed and he didn't take it away until he was sure her heart had stopped beating and then he dropped it near her body. Freya quietly sat beside him. He stared at her for a second and then at the motionless body of Raina and took a deep breath.

It was over.

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Hello! Emery here. I just wanna say that this is the end. I grew uninspired with this story pretty close to the beginning, so if you see its quality decrease, that's why. It's also why it ended so suddenly and I made the months long time gap from when he first tried to shift until he did. I hope you guys liked it. Please leave feedback and tell me how I can improve in future writing. Thank you for reading!