Black Blood

Chapter 5 - Zayn

Zayn

Sometimes, I wish I was going out as a salesman.  I wish I could bring back money for Scar so that we can live happy like a normal family.  I wish every time I went out I wasn’t in fear of never returning to her. 

I wish I could tell her.

But then she would be in more danger than I am.  Wolves run Lopus, heck, Lopus is Wolves in Latin.  Sometimes I wonder if it was better we never met, or she never came here to tempt me in the first place.  I guess Father was right, wolves and humans are not meant to be together; but he believes it for a different reason.  He wouldn’t care if she got hurt, or died.  In fact, he would be happy.

That’s why no one knows about me and Scar.  And that’s why no one will ever find out.  Ever.

We go out to feed.  When I’m human, I can eat normal food but it’s not enough, that’s why these ‘business meetings’ exist.  So I can go out and get real food, raw food to fuel me for the next month or few weeks until the pack gets hungry again.   

Transforming feels like your skin is ripping apart but you don’t feel any pain because you’re on morphine or something.  You get hot and sweaty and tense up, your muscles hold onto each other for dear life, some of your organs like your heart feels pressure against it, until it all drowns away with long, thick fur.

I leap away from my human form and start my powerful sprint.  I jolt in quick, swerving movements, avoiding dangerous tree trunks that lay in my path.  My speed quickens and wind pulses through my fur, sliding through the fibres and toughing the skin underneath like icy, silk fingers.  I make a jump over a giant log in my path and cascade through the thin, forest air as my paws leave the ground.  I land with a swift thud and continue my journey.  My heart pumps very hard within me; it has enlarged at least twice its human size and needs to deliver oxygen to a bigger, musclier body. 

It takes at least half an hour to settle into the wolf.

The woods are tainted with almost blackened barked trees and a harsh, dead floor that snaps when I come into contact with my paws.  Ahead, I see light leaking into the spaces in between the trees, and I come to the clearing.  The beautiful lake sits half frozen and glistening in light aqua colours.  Around it, Nero Morsus.  My pack.

Here are some of the meanest wolves you will come across in any town.  We are one of the packs not to be crossed.  Yea, we’ve killed humans.  We don’t eat them unless we’re starving.  Some packs, in other towns, close and far are ruthless.  Death is their game, Nero Morsus doesn’t fall far behind them either.

“Zayn” I turn to see Ash, his golden fur catching the little sun the leaked through the tree tops.

“We found anything yet?” I snarl, gritting my teeth.  It’s not that I don’t like Ash, when I’m in my pack, things get complicated.

“Yea, two miles north there’s some of the usual dears.  A nice pack too, we got Brick and Sandra up there keeping the eye out”.  I look up north, a scatter of trees and shadows resting between them.

“Then what are we waiting for?”  I gnarl baring my teeth, taking slick strides forward.

“Aye, easy tiger.  We’re waiting for your dad” I stop in my tracks, a twig snapping under my paw.

“He’s late” I grumble and turn to walk back towards the group.  “And watch what you call me, Ash”.  The group turns to look at me, different ranges of colours, blacks, browns, gold’s, all clean and shiny, pulsating muscles under the blanket of fur, scattered in the clearing by the edge of the frosty lake.

“Hey Zayn!” calls out a female voice.  Ilene walks out of the herd, golden yellow fur swaying by her sides.  “We’re hungry, where’s Leo?”

“Be patient” I call out.  “He won’t be long”.  I keep my distance from the hungry herd, as they mutter things and bare their teeth.  Even my tongue is salivating for the raw taste of animal blood.

There’s a rustle in the bushes.  Wolf heads turn to look, and only a few second later, a giant wolf penetrates out of the shadows and trees, through the thin air and lands, paws steady with a heavy thud, fractures slipping through the ground by his enormous paws.

“Hey!”  I call out, striding towards him, shoulders forward.  “Just because you’re alpha doesn’t mean you can show up late whenever you want, especially when you’ve got a hungry group and a meal waiting two miles away.”

His yellow eyes glare intensely at me, it isn’t often someone talks like that to the alpha wolf.  And his look, made my back paw pace back a step against the leaves and twigs.

“And just because you’re my son doesn’t mean you can talk to your leader like that, ever.” He growls, the words gritting through the gaps between his teeth.  The pack stands strong and awaits his call to move on.  He slowly walks towards them, leaving me behind.  Ash, moves a few paces to be at my side.

“Aye, don’t worry about him.  You know when they get old the transforming thing doesn’t happen on cue no more.  You’re gettin’ closer to bein’ alpha aye, Zayn” his shoulder bumps mine as I watch my father lurk towards the herd.

“Wouldn’t count on it, Ash.  That man wouldn’t step down until he’s dead.”

“Yea, he acts all tough but he got half a brain too you know.  If he’s holding us back he’s gonna put you up front.  And you’re going well too, thinking of the pack and all, he ain’t gonna say but I reckon he’s proud of what ya did before”.

Maybe.  But we’ll never know.  My father was strong, and smart.  Most of what he did and said was for the pack.  Anything else he considers a waste of breath.  That’s what a good alpha is, isn’t it?  That’s what I’m going to turn to, when I take over.  That’s why I’m harsh with the pack; they rely on a machine to lead them.

“Sandra and Brick are ready for us” yelled out my father, his voice booming, bouncing off the trees, swirling around the clearing.  “We move quickly, we stop at their signal when we’re close, we attack smart, like a team, and we move TOGETHER!”  The herd pumps up, muscles tensing, ready to extract and let go, teeth bearing, lips pulled back, and small sounds of growls wrestled through the air quietly.

“Time to roll” I growl, and Ash and I move together and join with the pack, pulling our shoulder back, in starting position.  When the alpha moves, the rest move.  I stay at the back; there should be a leader out from and a leader at the back.

The hunt begins.