Howling at the Moon - [A Werewolf Adventure]

A Plunge Into The Unknown Darkness

As the man ran, he looked back every few steps with eyes wide of terror. There were few shots which meant his men could have succeeded in eliminating the wolf pack. But to counter his theory, there were many more screams and cries of man rather than animal indicating that his men had more than likely died. All of them. His team. He gripped the rubber section of the handle even harder as he ran. The man hopped over every root and ducked under every branch until he was in such a state of fatigue that he gave up on trying to avoid the extra limbs of nature. He allowed his feet to get tangled between vines and his face to ripped open by dangling extensions of wood. He was so tired, so thirsty; but he had to keep moving. He had to get away from the death he was certain to face and who knows, death might actually catch up with him after she finished howling in agony.

The cage swayed left and right in a violent manner. The rhythm of the man running was completely off and uneven. It was bad enough to awaken young Jaxon from his deep sleep. He awoke with heavy eyes, droopy and unaware. It was until he looked up through the thin steel bars that he realized he was away from Tamara and the others. Jaxon immediately began to tremble and move about in his tiny cage. The poacher had noticed and brought the cage up near his face as he ran and stumbled through the woods.

"Your little pack of friends are going to pay for this, you little fur brat." The poacher glared into Jaxon's eyes. "I'm going to skin them to their bare ass and let you watch!" 

Jaxon reeled in fear against the the cage wall furthest from the mans face, though it wasn't very far due to the perimeter of his tiny cell. When he tried to speak back, his voice came out in an indistinct series of growls and barks. Jaxon's ears perked up and his head tilted to a degree. He had also failed to noticed that he was a wolf.

How long had he been a wolf? Why was this man carrying him in a cage? Where were they going? Where was Tamara, Darion, and Auron? All these thoughts and more ran through the mind of little six year old Jaxon.

When he saw the syringe embedded deep inside his body, Jaxon completely snapped. He began fidgeting and slamming his body against not in an attempt to get away from the poacher but to rid himself of the needle. Jaxon absolutely hated needles. It drove him insane. The poacher had noticed Jaxon's activity.

"Jesus Christ! Will you quit?" The poacher kept his eyes north and south of him as he continued his escape. A few more bashes and Jaxon managed to rid himself of the needle and it clanged against the bottom of the cage and alerted the man who peered down at him and gave a look of disgust. But the man should have looked where he was going and just as he looked down at Jaxon a low, shadowy figured slammed itself up against the man causing him to drop Jaxon and spiral down the moist dirt. Jaxon inside the caged was hurled and it crashed to ground with Jaxon unharmed.

"OOF!" The air was knocked straight from his lungs as the hunter landed on his back. He lay there gasping for air and desperately reaching out for the cage which happened to fall just out of reach. With hazy vision, the man saw the figure move closer and tried his hardest to capture the image more clearly so he can make sense of the situation. How did they catch up so early? No, this one is different. He's not one of the others. 

The man laying on the floor grew more and more confused as the moments passed. Though, he wasn't confused for long when the figured stepped over the cage of the wolf pup and to the side of him. He was feeling horrified. The hunter was now in a state of panic and tried his best, and worst, to move. However, his body wouldn't let him. He had been running for so long with barely enough oxygen to keep him going and the fall knocked whatever was left right out and into the the warm air. His body was pleading to the brain it was tired and reached it's ultimate potential. His brain was responding that it was time for a rest.

As much as he tried, the man couldn't keep his eyes from shutting. It was as if someone was using a subconscious pulley to force his upper and lower eyelid to meet. It made it that much easier for a pair of fangs to open up and close around his throat, rip open his warm flesh and bask in his red liquid.

Jaxon turned away immediately, he couldn't bare the sight of watching. At the same time, though, he looked back around to find out who his savior was. Jaxon couldn't tell as it's fury back was turned toward him. Then as if hearing Jaxon's thoughts, the wolf turned around and walked to the cage and stared down at him. Jaxon started to quiver... It was impossible. 

Jaxon couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that they were actually here and saving him. Jaxon admired its shiny grey coat on the midsection of the body. A trail of black hair ran down from the crown of black on the head to the tail where it covered the entire area. The paws were a dingy white from the dirt. Jaxon stood on shaky fours in disbelief. 

You're... alive? Jaxon tilted his head.

Once again as if reading Jax's mind, the wolf simply nodded and proceeded to shift back human.