He wrapped one arm around my chest and arms, the other around my neck, squeezing me like an anaconda. Great, I was going to suffocate and drown at the same time. Bringing my legs up, I kicked the giant in the face, digging my claws into his skin. Pushing off of him, so I could swim up and actually breath, too bad it didn't last long. If Jaws was scary, then a nine foot tall Viking diving at you out of the water like a shark was a friggin nightmare manifested into reality.

In an instant the wind was knocked out of me, as his shoulder drilled into my diaphragm. Leaning over his broad shoulder, I dug my claws into Bison's back, and my feet into his stomach. Damn guy was like a rock with a thin gelatin layer on the outside. I figured at the very least I could annoy him enough to make him let go and stop crushing my bones.

My snarl came out as a gurgle, and I latched my teeth into Bison's skin, blood mixing with the water. I tugged and pulled at Bison's skin, feet kicking and scraping at his chest. While I tried to push him off. After what felt like an eternity, he finally broke the surface, though I might have been better off drowning. Grabbing me by the scruff of my neck, he tore me off, and I made an involuntary yelp. Holding me out in front of him, he punted me like a football. He kicked me square in the ass, sending me flying out of the lake. I landed head first, sliding a few feet on my arms, neck and lower jaw, my back legs arched forward, tail curling to touch my nose.

That was going to hurt in the morning. I blinked looking up to see Tala staring down at me, with a haughty satisfied look on her face. I growled lightly at her. "What?"

"Maybe we should start simpler?" She in a voice so sweet, it made me sick.

"No shit?" As my legs hit the ground I grunted, pushing myself up. Bison had walked out and was wringing his beard dry, by the sound of the water on splashing the ground. I felt Bison pick me up by the scruff of my neck, setting me on his feet. It was quite disconcerting to have a hand big enough to pop your head like a pimple, picking you up. "So, what first Woman?"

"How about manners? Those seem to need major improvements." I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was drinking up my misery, and if I wasn't afraid of Bison I'd probably be strangling her now. To my amazement Bison lightly nudged hers shoulder, and had given her a 'get serious' sort of look. "Fine, fine, how about a run in the forest with us, does that sound better?" Bison gave her a nod, patting her shoulder.

My jaw hit the floor when she turned into a wolf. She was good looking… okay stunning actually as a human. I suppose it was newly formed wolf portion of my brain that made my head turn when she was a wolf. Despite the change that occurred, she managed to do it elegantly, like a woman sliding into a satin dress. Piercing ice blue eyes surrounded by snow white silk fur. She had a pale golden stripe down either side from shoulder to hip. Tala was lean but muscular, and quite frankly gorgeous for a five and a half foot tall wolf.

I stumbled back a bit feeling the ground shake beneath me. Bison looked more like a Wolf-lion than anything. Like Tala he was a quadruped werewolf, unlike her however, he had long saber teeth, and a mane that would make any lion jealous.

With one good leap he jumped over me, Tala following behind him. She couldn't jump over me, but she sure did cut it close when she ran by me. I could feel her fur barely tickle my own. Turning on my toes I didn't wait to run after them, but damn were they fast. I figured Bison was so much faster just because of his sheer size, but I couldn't even keep up to Tala.

Running as a werewolf was much different than a human. It felt like a more calculated series of movements. When Bison was chasing me around I hadn't noticed, I was running on instinct. But now I could actually feel how my movements were different, I was running on my toes, and it caused my legs to spring more when I ran. My tail let me make tighter turns and run lower. In spite of that though, it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

I yelped as a tree branch closed lined me right in the neck sending me flat on my back. Okay so maybe I should keep my eyes ahead of me, instead of pondering over my new wolfish body. My ears twitched as I heard the distinct snickering laugh of Tala.

"Harder than it looks isn't it?" I could hear the smile in her voice, hell I could see it plastered on her face. Tail wagging in satisfaction.

"Fuck off." I growled rolling onto my shoulders, flipping myself up onto my feet. As soon as my toes touched the soft ground, I sprinted after her and Bison. "I can run faster angry than you can scared!" I snapped.

"Oh, really?" She scoffed. "And what makes you think I'm scared?" Her, and Bison both headed off as soon as I started running after them.

I figured I'd never catch Bison, he was too big, but even Tala was out running me. God damn! Seriously couldn't be that hard to catch one five foot tall wolf could it? I was going so fast I ended up tripping over my own two feet…er…paws as it where. So I still was a little baby footed when it came to being a werewolf, but happy accidents did happen. This happened to be one of those times. I managed to catch myself with my hands, stumbling to get back on my paws. Though my instinct and pure chance, I found I could run faster and gain more ground running on all fours.

Oh this made things so much easier. Slowly but surely I started to inch closer to her. I snapped at her tail, only to have her slap me in the face with it. A low steady growl rumbled from my chest, as she sprinted ahead of me. Tala was much lighter on her feet than I was, or would ever be. She was like a spirit, no tracks, no sounds, even with all the woodland debris. It was like chasing a god damn ghost; every time I came close she slipped through my grasp like smoke.

Panting heavily, tongue hung from my mouth, I slowed to a hault. How was it that me, a trained mercenary was already winded while those two looked like they'd barely warmed up. Bison was a few feet past Tala and looked like he'd just went out for a jog…the hell am I saying? He's so much bigger that that's probably exactly what he just did. I grumbled lowly and pushed myself up onto my back paws, as I heard Tala's oh so distinct voice ring in my ear.

"You're just like a puppy, getting tired over a twenty-five mile run." She smiled sweetly at me tail twitching side to side. All the while hiding the pretentious air about her, and one thought came to mind; Devil Woman.

"Run? Are you fucking joking? That was more like a god damn death sprint." My lips curled lightly, only to drop down as Bison pushed his nose to mine.

"You maybe in peak physical conditions as far as humans are concerned, but as a wolf," she smiled at me, looking from me to Bison and back to me. "You have a long way to go."

"Then what?"

"What do you me, then what?"

I pushed Bison's nose away from mine, side stepping the big wolf-lion. "Then what happens when peak as a wolf, better yet, how do I peak as a wolf?"

"Aren't you in a hurry for a someone who is practically a pup." She growled at me, her fangs bared.

"I have a job to do, I can't be stuck here as a werewolf forever."

She countered my snap with one of her own, which I expected somewhere in the back of my mind. "You asked for this! So shut the hell up and learn, or you will be stuck here, unable to turn back, and go back to your precious life ever again!"

I blinked backing up a bit, running into Bison's side. So it wasn't the snap I expected. I expected a sly cunning response from her with snake venom mixed with it. I ended up backing into Bison's side, and rather than test my luck I chose to keep my mouth shut. I didn't need her killing me before my job was done.

She growled and turned her back on me, stalking down the slope of the woods. "So you're my keeper again um?" Bison just stared down at me with those big slate green eyes. I sighed heavily shaking my head, "Right fan-fucking-tastic." I leaned against Bison with one elbow, rubbing my brow with my free hand. "God damn what the hell are we suppose to do now? You know the way back but I bet you aren't going to leave until Tala comes back right? God you and that girl, some kind of vendetta against me don't you?"

As soon as I said it I felt Bison shift from behind me and walk to a spot adjacent to me. I stumbled back, catching myself. It was hard to read him, not just because of his large mane, but even his eyes said little to nothing. Why the hell were wolves so hard to read? Tala was nipping at me every chance she got and Bison, well I could never tell if he was offended or just plain ignoring me.

Bison flopped down under a pine tree, its big umbrella of branches covering him in their shadow. My tongue clicked against the roof of my mouth. Fuck this, I wasn't about to sit on my ass and wait around. I had a pretty good idea where the clan was and I had proven more than once I was an excellent tracker as a human, so being a wolf should just make it that much easier. If I got back to Tala's pack I could get someone to tell me where I needed to go.

Getting back to the lake was easy enough; the three of us had left a very distinct sent. It wasn't like we had tried to hide where we were going anyway. In spite of that I was still amazed at how much my senses had improved. Every shift of the ground beneath the pads of my hands and feet I could feel. The slightest shift in movement was seen, and even the change in the moisture in the air I could smell.

Unfortunately that meant I could still smell the remnants of my scorched skin. Crows flocked around cinders from the fire picking and pulling at what little meal there was left. It was one thing to see yourself burn and another to see your self be a meal for the scavengers. It made my stomach lurch into my throat.

I thought it best to go before my lunch or lack thereof came up on me. The realization of not having eaten anything in a while made my stomach growl. My ears flicked this way and that trying to pick up the sounds of animals moving nearby. Having no real idea where I was I had no idea what kind of game would be around.

My ears picked up the sound of scrapping bark to the east of me. I wasted no time heading in the direction of the sound. As I got closer I became more cautions and silent. A few klicks ago I picked up the smell of what I thought was a boar. My thought was confirmed when I came to the sight of a full grown boar grinding its tusks against a tree. I crouched down low, on all fours, inching closer and closer to its backside.

As soon as it caught my sent it turned its head squealing at me, hoofing the ground. It charged in my direction fully intent on testing out its newly sharpened tusks on my body. Keeping my ground I waited till it was almost on me, before jumping over the boar. Turning around in mid-air I landed on my paws, growling at the beast. It charged again and I rolled out of the way.

With one good leap I landed on the boars back, digging my claws into its shoulders and hips. Before I knew it the boar started bucking like a bull at a rodeo. I latched on tighter so it didn't throw me off. Curling my lips back I sank my fangs into its thick, fleshy neck. There was a satisfying snapping crunch sound, from its spine breaking.

Hey if I was a wolf I might as well act like one right? The first thing I did when the boar fell over was tear open its chest cavity, and toss out its intestines. Like I was going to eat that shit. Warm sticky blood pooled at my feet, as I chewed on its raw organs. It tasted better than I thought it would.

Fuck. Was all I could think though, as I felt something heavy knock me over and force all the air out of my lungs.