The Beast Within

Sniff sniff.

October’s scent was strong on the wind. I could smell her blood, mixed with fear and sweat. A low growl rumbled through my chest. I had to get her back. And soon. I combed my hand swiftly through my tangled silver hair as I thought of the consequences of not finding her quickly.

I smelled the air again. It was ripe with October’s life force, she was holding strong for the moment, but that didn’t mean much. It would only take a swift rip of her head, and she would die.

True, generally it is very difficult to kill a Were of any kind. In fact, the only way to truly kill us is to sever our head from our neck. Then add the fact that we have such a fast regeneration time that if you were to try to cut off our head with a sword, our throat would heal by the time the blade had passed through it.

Did any of that matter in this case? No. Why? Because right now October, the love of my life was in the hands of an Executioner. And not just any Executioner, no. That would make it far too easy. October had been nabbed by Bob. Yea, I know that name cracks me up every time too. The point is Bob is different from other Executioners because he hunts Weres. In particular, Werewolves. And, being a Werewolf Executioner, he has our strength and speed, which would make it fairly easy to simply rip October’s head off.

I tracked her scent easily through the crowded city street. Intent on October and October alone. So intent in fact that I didn’t notice the trap until it was far too late.

The smoke bomb went off mere inches to the left of me, and packed enough force to send me flying sideways a total of ten feet. I would have gone much further if the brick wall hadn’t stopped me. Unfortunately, I felt three ribs crack, and my left femur broke on impact.

Now remember that regeneration I was telling you about? Yea, it comes in real handy at times like these. Still hurts like hell though. It hurt so bad in fact that it took me several seconds to realize that I couldn’t smell anything.

“Uh-oh. That can’t be good.” I sniffed the air again, trying to catch a whiff of something. Anything. Even smelling shit and piss would be better than a loss of smell. You see, Werewolves, being wolves need to be able to smell. And the fact that I couldn’t now, meant I was about to be in a whole lot of trouble, and there was very little chance of finding October before Bob, ‘put her down’ as he so eloquently phrases it.

I looked around, trying to get a feel for my surroundings. I was stuck in an alleyway, the only exit being the one, which I had entered through. The far side was packed with a dumpster, and various pieces of strewn trash. The wall opposite me looked as if it had once been a shantytown for some poor street person, but was now inhabited by several rats, which were scurrying as fast as their little legs could carry them to get away from me. There wasn’t anything even remotely useful to me nearby.

“Shit shit shit!!”

“Having problems there, mutt?”

The hair on my back and neck prickled and I bared my teeth menacingly.

“Oh. Bob never thought I’d see you again. I mean, what with that last time.” I looked in the direction of his voice, but all I could see was garbage.

Bob stepped from the shadows, sauntering casually in my direction. He looked exactly as I remembered him. Tall, muscular, sandy blonde hair cut short in an army style. He was wearing a commando outfit, brown boots, green camouflage pants and a black shirt. And you couldn’t have a slayer without his weapons. And boy was he packing. He was equipped with two handguns that I could see, an army knife attached to his belt, several hand grenades, and a machete. An extremely lethal weapon to a Were of any kind when wielded by an executioner.

“Ah, Augustus. Last time was different. I have a few more notches in my belt now. As well as a few new toys.” He gestured toward his Were death belt.

“And one less partner, I see. Or have you already forgotten Virginia?” I sneered, my skin already bubbling and rippling in anticipation of a fight. I had to keep him talking as long as I could. I needed to buy time, for his potion to wear off. It would be impossible for me to trans into my wolf form without my sense of smell. And that meant that he’d have the upper hand.

“How could I forget my partner Augustus, you murdered her. You sad excuse for a dog.” He was obviously not so at ease any more. I had hit a nerve.

“Only after you butchered my sister. It only made sense, an eye for an eye, you know.” My skin itched and burned. The wolf inside me cried for a release that I couldn’t grant. My breath quickened as torrent after torrent of white-hot pain surged through my body. I needed to change. Now. But the only way for me to do that would be to smell. A sense which Bob had efficiently stripped me of.

A chilling smile spread across Bob’s face. A smile full of such malice and hatred that I’m sure it could have killed a human.

“As you say Augustus. An eye for an eye. And the way I see it, a mangy wolf pup doesn’t come close to an innocent like my daughter, Virginia. However, if you add in the werewolf that killed her, along with his werecat girlfriend, then maybe just maybe it will come close to being equal.”

Fear raced through me and my pulse quickened to an alarming speed at the thought of October dying because of my past. I gasped for breath as the wolf inside me shrieked and howled, clawing at my skin, determined to escape, but without an opening in which to do so. It took all of my strength not to start screaming from the sheer agony of it.

“You know,” Bob started nonchalantly “I’ve heard that if you render a Werewolf incapable of smelling, they are unable to perform their trans from man to beast, or vice versa.”

My legs grew weak and started trembling, my head was spinning, and it was becoming difficult to focus or think straight. Bob stepped up to my side and whispered in my ear.

“I’ve also heard, that while being an extremely uncomfortable situation, it is survivable; unless, of course the wolf inside starts calling for the trans. If this happens, not only will the Werewolf in question be in an excruciating amount of pain, but he or she will die within the hour.”

He looked me up and down and smiled, a smile that said ‘Hi, my name is Bob and I will be reveling in your slow and painful death today. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.’

“You know, I’m surprised that you’re still able to stand. Most of the other Werewolves I’ve tried this out on were on the ground sobbing hysterically within five minutes.”

“There is a reason I was chosen pack Alpha, you filthy slayer. Where’s October. What have you done with her?” I spat the words angrily, growling loudly afterward, as much from the growing intensity of my pain, as from the fury of Bob having October.

“Oh, that pretty little thing? Don’t worry I haven’t hurt her…yet. But have no fear; I intend to torture her thoroughly…for several days in fact. I’m going to make her wish she never looked upon your fair face.” He paused, fixing me with a curiously intent gaze. “You know, you really could do better. I mean, a Werecat. And a regular old lioness by the looks of her. I mean really, I thought all Werewolves wanted children. Especially the Alphas. Heck, aren’t you the only ones in your pack allowed to reproduce? Has it not crossed your mind that the two of you can’t even procreate?”

“I’ll leave all of the procreation to my Beta.”

Slowly, I felt the pain of my wolf self ebb away. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied a golden Abyssinian cat dart lithely into the mouth of the alleyway. October had gotten free. Quickly, October dashed behind Bob and morphed back to her human form, gorgeous as always. Her blonde hair flew around her wildly as the wind caught individual strands and pulled them back and forth. Her blue eyes sparkled, twinkling with that glint of mischief that made my heart thud a little faster. She slowly raised one finger to her mouth in a silent ‘shh’. As I watched, she morphed the hand partially into her cat form, creating a deadly appendage comprised of five razor sharp claws. She nodded once and I made a show of falling to my knees in false agony.

Bob started laughing hysterically. “Oh, this is too good. Augustus, the Alpha of the Arctic Pack is bowing down to me.” He bent down to my level, probably to watch the sparks of pain in my gold eyes. He didn’t get the chance. I might have only had my human teeth, but I still had an incredible bite force, which I used to rip out his meaty throat.

He let out a panicked gurgle as blood sprayed hot and sticky across my face. I made a show of licking my chops as his eyes bulged in shock and horror. I didn’t have too much time to gloat though, since being a Werewolf Executioner had a few perks. Namely regeneration. Not as good as ours of course, for one thing it was slower, and for another Executioners scarred. We didn’t. I smiled at the shiny white flesh, which sealed the gaping hole in his throat. He would always carry that as a token of his fight with me.

He stood quickly, glancing at his ruined shirt and pulled the machete from his belt, and was just about to come at me with it, when October’s claws touched his throat.

“Bob. You may be able to regenerate, but not quickly enough to survive a head on…or off attack from an enraged Werecat.” October purred coolly, resting her chin on his shoulder and snuggling her cheek to his. A shiver ran down my spine, this girl really was a predator all the way. Was there truly any question as to why I fell in love with her?

“Now. How about we act like civilized adults, and you give me the antidote to that smoke bomb you used to destroy Augustus’s sense of smell, hmmm?” She used her free hand, which wasn't partially transformed into her feline counterpart, to rub carefully up the side of Bob’s cheek, resting two centimeters from his left eye. Slowly her index finger grew, stretching into a claw which was getting closer and closer to his eye socket.

“I’d rather die!”

“That can be arranged.” She cooed.

Instantly, Bob sank to his knees screaming, undeniably in a hell of a lot of pain. I chuckled.

“Oh, did I forget to mention Bob?” I said casually, looking down on him. “October’s a Werecat alright, but her counterpart isn’t a lion, it’s a housecat. And you know, darn those housecats, they all have special abilities. You know what October’s is? I bet you can’t guess.” I paused as he shrieked louder. “That’s right. Hers is anything having to do with the mind. And you know, it’s the darndest thing, but it turns out that pain really is all in your head.” I grinned, and tapped a finger to my temple.

October grabbed his brown hair and jerked him up with inhuman strength. He stopped screaming, and simply stood limply in her arms, panting wildly. She leaned into him placing her mouth right beside his ear.

“That, was only a fraction of the pain you just inflicted on my Augustus here.” She hissed. Her eyes slit, and turned more catlike, as she partially morphed her face into a deadly set of feline jaws. “Now, are you going to tell me the cure, or am I going to have to convince you?” She licked his cheek, her rough tongue scraping off the first layer of skin, which quickly healed. Bob stared at her, his grey eyes locked in horror.

Two hours later, I was running through the darkened city, fully transformed into my wolf self.

Thank you for reading, and please comment ;P

-Myself