Seven Devils

02 | Monsters

"Monsters live in those woods," The bartender warned, steady hands pouring another shot and sliding it his way, "I wouldn't go in there if I was you, mister."

He smirked, tipping the whiskey back, swallowing it in one go. "I'm not too worried about monsters, never been scared of things that go bump in the night," He snickered, tongue darting out to lick away the last bit of liquor that clung to his lips.

"Do you have a death wish, Jason? I'm telling you, don't go in there unless you're ready to die," He warned again, eyes narrowed almost accusingly at the man who dared not listen to what he was saying.

The youthful adult dug some bills from his wallet, sliding them onto the bar top with a shrug, "Guess we'll find out just how scary those woods are, huh?" He chuckled, bidding the bartender goodnight.

―

The moon was bright, a silver beacon in the night sky. Jason could feel its tug on his limbs, begging him to shift. But he was stronger than that. His younger brother beside him, however, was not. He fell to his knees, curling into himself, whimpering like a hurt puppy. Slowly, fur sprouted from his hands, his ears became pointed as his skull morphed, his jaw elongating, his teeth sharpening. His arms and legs repositioned themselves to his sides as he howled in pain.

"It's alright, Julius. It'll be over in a bit," Jason said in a low, husky voice. He petted his brother's side, the fur growing thick and grey between his fingers.

Transformation hurt, especially when it first happened. Julius was fifteen, but his siblings still called him a pup because he had recently joined the pack as a wolf. Age didn't matter. A pup was a pup the second they began to shift. Bones had to reposition and stretch, tendons and muscles had to accommodate, organs had to shift, follicles and pores had to change. The whole process was agony.

Julius was fully shifted then, pawing at his ears and whimpering. He pulled himself up on all fours and shook himself, turning his head to Jason. In wolf form, Julius reached his shoulders. He was a mix of colors, soft silver along his body, black near his paws. Although, he still kept the same eyes. Him and his ash colored eyes that always became sprinkled with red. It always looked like someone was trying to set fire to ashes and refused to give up, resulting in a pulsing red on grey.

"Stay close," Jason commanded. "If you go too far from me this early, animal instincts can take over and you can hurt someone." His brother made a low growling sound, dipping his head in understanding. "Madelyn!" he called. A white and grey wolf trotted up to him, morphing into a girl, her skin glinting against the moonlight. "Take him to hunt. Make sure he doesn't stray." His sister remained still, pointedly disdaining the order. "Just take him," he growled. "I need to go see why the trackers keep mind-linking me."

She rolled her eyes, those indigo darts - sharp yet still full of emotion. "Didn't you hear?" she grinned. "He's back- Well, they're back. At least that's what I've heard; I haven't seen them yet."

"What?" Jason's eyes snapped open. Relief was his first emotion, but it was soon poisoned by a creeping, twisting feeling that something was wrong. "I thought a Beta could know when his Alpha is around, his own brother." She snickered. His eyes were still green, but they were no longer the bright, sparkling emerald of two minutes ago. It was like the vivid color had been washed, over and over, until it achieved a paler, much softer shade of green.

"He didn't find her, did he?" The words quietly tumbled from his lips as he watched members of the pack stare at the three siblings as they walked past them, muttering hushed rumors.

A tumble of blonde curl fell as she shaked her head, "I'm afraid not," Then with a barely concealed smirk she turned on her heals and walked away. "I guess he left us all for nothing." She softly growled through the mind-link as she slowly headed towards the clearing, pulling her Beta's arm. The sound of bones crackling could be heard in the background and then a soft voice popped up. "Wait, if Maddy hasn't seen them yet, does that mean there's a chance that Caleb is back home too?" Julius asked, quickly falling into a steady pace next to his siblings.

Caleb.

"So," Madelyn said, taking a moment to pause. "Do you think that we'll be mates when we shift? Even if you won't be here?"

His soft lips stretched into a smile but didn't quite reach his dark eyes. They were lit with sadness, and the forced expression of the contrary on his mouth would have looked comical to her if it didn't make her heart feel heavy. For a few moments she stared at him, almost sure his expression mirrored hers. It broke her heart. She didn't want him to leave. She didn't want to turn into a random image that floated in the pool of his memory. She didn't want to be the smile that squeezed his chest somewhere far away. She didn't want him to go. She wanted his smile to stay.

"I'll see you soon, Mad-"

"-dy." Julius huffed as he connected his hand with Madelyn's cheek. Her gaze slowly fell like an act of violence, a glare to stop his heart.

"Did you just slap me?" She snapped. Madelyn would have probably killed him if he wasn't blood.

"Well it was more of a–an angry encouraging pat . . . To the face . . ." Julius tried to justify. "I–I did not slap you. I encouragingly patted your cheek a little harder than anticipated–to try and snap you out of it."

"Stop. We're here." Jason glanced over, his face cast as dead-pan as he could manage, yet he failed. There at the corner of his lips was a crease of amusement. In the clearing was a colossal pack of werewolves, no natural wolf was so large. 

Rolls of thunder crush the wolves' howls, and forks of lightning demean the moon's glow through the trees. And in the midst of this unnatural chaos, the wolves converge before  running free – well . . . as free as they can, in such foul inclemency.

The Alpha's rules are God, tonight.