Treaty Bound

Chapter 5: The Monster

   More memories from the night before came flooding back to me, disjointed at first.

   The world spinning as I flew through the air.

   Dull and distant pain from my shattered shoulder as I twisted to land on four paws more than a dozen paces from where I had been standing.

   Looking up and seeing the massive brown beast standing between me and the white wolf, its head held high and teeth bared in that same menacing snarl.

   The bear was almost twice our size but the wolf didn't care in the slightest. It was standing between us and what my wolf it seemed thought of as his and he could not allow that. I should have been amazed by how much I understood about this primitive mind without the use of a single word but I was too busy screaming in my own mind, run away from that fucking monster, to give it much thought at the time.

   My screams were drowned out by a deep menacing growl, an answer to the bear's challenge. The pain was already starting to fade from our shoulder as we took a step forward hackles raised, head lowered to protect our neck and our own much smaller teeth bared.

   Before the Bear or myself could make another move the black wolf was between us, growling lowing and threatening. Looking first at me and then at the bear I felt his dominance wash over us again and this time the wolf had to fight to keep us from rolling over. We did, however, take a few steps back covering our teeth. The bear, to my surprise, quickly rolled onto his back submissively showing its neck to the black wolf who ignored him as his gaze returned to me.

   The girl stood then blocking my view of the bear with her slim yet toned body, pulling me out of my memories of the night before. She didn't have the curves or large breasts that Krysta did but when she began to stretch all thoughts of last night, the bear, and dark-skinned man were forgotten.

   "Shut up Bear, he wasn't doing anything I didn't want him too," the girl said sounding annoyed.

   "Lily! put something on and stop teasing the pup," the dark-skinned man said ripping my attention away from the display she was making of her morning stretches. Heat flared in my cheeks and spread to my chest when I saw the man was not the only one who had caught me watching the girl, Lily he had called her. At some point, the red and black wolf who I now knew was a female had joined him standing next to the oak. In his human form her head was level with his shoulder and her dark brown eyes were on me making me extremely aware of just how naked I was.

   "You get dressed as well. We have a long way to go today," he said looking at me and strangely showing no interest in the naked woman next to me. His gaze was intense and more than a little bit intimidating, as if daring me to question him. I can't say why but it suddenly made me feel very uncomfortable and I was thankful to be reminded that I was holding my clothes and I began putting them on.

   "Luke, you are always ruining my fun," Lily said in such a sweet pouty tone that it sounded childish to me. At the same time, it made the wolf stir angrily in the back of my mind. I clearly understood that it didn't like her being unhappy in any way and it didn't think I should be ok with it either.

   This seemed to finally push me over the edge and I began to shake with the urge to run away and hide. Thinking back on it now I am amazed it took so long for me to reach my limit. Normally a group of townsfolk I knew was too much for me and I would have been gone long ago. Now here I was standing mostly naked in a clearing in the middle of the forest with a group of strangers. Not just strangers but fucking werewolves. One of which was actually a large wolf and another was what, a werebear? At the time all I knew was that it looked like a huge bear and it seemed to want to fight and maybe even kill me over this girl I didn't even know.

   A beautiful naked girl who was just now starting to pull her dress on over her head as the man, (Luke she had called him), had ordered her too. Still, I didn't even know her name till a few moments ago and now here I was getting angry over another man telling her what to do and making her unhappy.

   That anger, the wolf's anger and its need to protect what was his again kept me from running and hiding from these monsters like I so desperately wanted to do. So instead I used that anger and yelled: "Who the fuck are you people and what do you want with me?!"

   A thin and silky white dress now clinging to her body, Lily walked the short distance to me and looking up into my eyes ran her fingers down my still bare chest. My heart began pounding so loud in my ears that she had to hear it from where she stood so close to me. I looked down, meeting her eyes and I thought I saw a flicker of confusion but it was quickly gone, replaced by a smile that made my racing heart trip over itself. "I guess it was too much to hope for brains as well as looks," she said again in that sweat voice but this time it didn't sound even a bit childish.

   "All you need to know is that you are one of us now and you will be coming back with us. You are too dangerous to leave on your own for now" luke said

   Drawing again on the wolf anger I barked "Fuck that, I have to go home. My mom..."

   "Watch your language," Luke snapped cutting me off and pulling my eyes away from Lily's as I again felt the command in his voice. "I do not allow cursing in front of women or children," he spoke with such authority that he didn't need to give voice to the threat his tone so clearly implied.

   My stomach twisted in knots as for the first time that morning I was truly frightened. Waking up naked in a field far from home had not scared me. A huge beast threatening to tear me apart had not even truly scared me. This man's anger though, even made the wolf back down slightly. Just enough for me to lose my source of anger so that I sounded weak and timid when I spoke.

   "I...I have to go back. My mother and father will be worried. I can't just leave them thinking..."

   "What?! That we hunted you down like a deer for sport and ate you?" Luke finished for me. Anger showed on his face as he straightened from the oak tree he had been leaning on and took a few steps towards me, the red and black wolf following close. "That is what the humans think of us is it not? We are all just monsters that can not help but feast on human flesh"

   He was now standing almost as close to me as Lily, the red and black wolf at his side. Leaving me feeling very crowded all of a sudden. Drops of sweat began to roll down my brow as a war raged inside my mind. The urge to run, stronger than I have ever felt was battling with the wolf's need to stay and protect what was his.

   "What do you think your mother and father would think of you now? Do you really think they would welcome you home? What about the other villagers? Do you think they will let you live among them now?"

   I didn't know what to say, I just stood there silently shaking. Of course, they wouldn't let me live in the village. The villagers wouldn't let a monster live in the same place as their kids. And that is when it finally sank in, I was a monster. I had no village to go back to, no family, no home.

   Luke seemed to understand what I was thinking then and the anger left his face without taking any of the hardness with it. "You are a monster now and you will come live with the other monsters. Now let us get going. Like I said we have a long way to go and I do not like repeating myself," he turned and walked off into the woods.

   Lily took a step back and looked up at me frowning. "You are nothing like your wolf are you," she sounded so disappointed in what I was that all the anger left the wolf inside of me leaving me alone in my own head for the first time that morning.

   I just stood there unable to speak as I watched her walk over to the bear who lowered itself allowing her to climb up onto its back. Then he turned away with her and walked off into the trees following their leader.