Crimson and Furs

Chapter Twenty Six: The Alpha

"Ouch!"

"My chest hurts..."

Daniel cracked his eyes open slowly, the full moon coming into his view although it was far away in the sky. He reached out his right hand to touch his chest where there was an injury. It wasn't that deep and was shallow as if it had long healed, leaving a scar there.

It was a dream? he thought as he closed his eyes, trying to shut away the pain he was feeling all over his body. It took him several moments to open his eyes and when he did he saw that he was not in his room.

Fuck! he cussed. And it's still full moon! He was about to panic when he saw a boar-like creature calmly standing before him. It had a grey fur and brown glowing eyes. It was so ugly that Daniel felt that the cop, James was just a minor specimen used in the ugliness experiment before they got the end product—an ugly beast like this.

"Who are you?" Daniel was afraid and tried moving backwards but he couldn't. His arms and legs failed him as they were too weak to even move.

"I saved your life," the boar-like creature said as it sized Daniel up with its glowing eyes.

"What are you?" Daniel asked as he gradually calmed down. If the boar-like creature meant him any harm it wouldn't have bothered saving him. At least for now it bore no I'll intentions.

"You refer to me as if I'm some animal," the boar-like creature was offended. "I'm a Lycanthrope like you."

A Lycanthrope like me, Daniel muttered inwardly. He didn't know whether to be happy or not but this was the first time he was conversing with a Lycanthrope like himself and it felt really relieving.

"You're male or female?" Daniel asked. He found it inappropriate to ask if the Lycanthrope was a man or woman. What if it was a boy or girl?

"I'm a man," the Lycanthrope said.

"A man," Daniel said. He then turned to look at his chest. There was a round bloody hole there. "I got shot?"

"By an AK," the Lycanthrope said. "You got shot by a silver bullet. You're lucky you weren't hit in a vital organ. You would have been dead by now."

Hearing the word dead, Daniel couldn't help but cringe inwards. The memory began coming into his head. At first it seemed like a dream but as time went by it felt more and more like what really happened.

"Those Lycanthrope hunters," Daniel touched his throbbing head. "They tried to kill me."

It was as if he was complaining to his father about some kids bullying him at school. He didn't know why but he felt so calm with this Lycanthrope. Maybe it was because they were of the same Cursed.

"It's not entirely their fault," the Lycanthrope said. "They're misinformed. Plus they're working for the Lycanthrope Guild which isn't an evil organization."

"It isn't evil?" Daniel asked. "But they were tryna kill me!"

"Hehe," the Lycanthrope chuckled. Daniel could swear that he would definitely win an award as the world's ugliest creature at this moment. "The organization is beneficial to humanity. It is set to protect humans from evil Lycanthropes that are roaming about."

The organization is beneficial to humanity, Daniel couldn't help but stare thoughtfully at the Lycanthrope. Why was he supporting those Lycanthrope hunters that tried to kill him? Shouldn't he stand by his side and support the point he was making? What was the use of saving humanity if they were killing innocent Lycanthropes like him?

"You didn't kill them, did you?" Daniel asked as his eyes began having the looks of disappoinment. If this Lycanthrope said no he would be highly disappointed. They almost killed him with the AK-47. He had even passed out due to the powder stuff and silver bullet which hit his right chest back then. What if he had actually died?! Would this Lycanthrope be supporting those Lycanthrope hunters or what?