Soon he could hear them following close behind. Worse, they sounded huge ! The most he could hope for now was to either find whatever the ghost was trying to show him, or run completely out of the territory and be banned from returning.
He couldn’t just escape though. Whoever had found him had his scent now and could potentially track it back to his aunt. If that happened, she’d be questioned and scrutinized for letting a rogue wander the woods after dark.
Darren screwed this one up.
Suddenly he felt the other wolf lurch behind him, and on instinct, Darren dodged to the left and squeezed under a fallen branch, temporarily giving him back his lead.
Spotting the ghost up ahead, Darren noticed it was now pointing down to a fallen tree in the middle of a heavily overgrown shrub. There were vines, thorns, branches, and five foot tall grass making it the perfect home for small animals.
As he approached, the smell of deer pheromones overwhelmed his senses, nearly making him gag.
Stopping just outside the thick foliage, he turned and stood waiting for his pursuer to catch up. What emerged from the trees behind him was another large wolf, taller than himself with a darker, shaggier grey coat. This new wolf lowered his head and growled menacingly.
Another gust of wind brought the wolf’s scent with it. This time Darren realized he recognized this person, and was tempted to snarl right back. Unfortunately he knew that would be suicide since he was technically in the wrong for wandering around a packs territory unsupervised and without permission. Once again, he regretted his decision not to let Sophie know what he was doing.
Somehow he had to show this guy that he was harmless. Shifting back to his human form was risky though since he’d no longer have claws or fangs to defend himself, but as a wolf he had no voice to explain himself either. He’d have to use body language instead. So, he lowered his tail and head in an act of submission and started pawing at the edge of the thick shrubbery. Whatever the ghost wanted him to see was in there somewhere.
The larger wolf snarled again, which annoyed Darren more than it frightened him. He sneezed indignantly, and pawed at the bushes even more. Seeing that he was not scared, the other wolf took a step closer.
Realizing that the larger wolf was way too into his intimidation act, Darren thought it’d be best to throw him off his game by doing something ridiculous. To make himself appear even more harmless, he started yipping like a pup and wagged his tail as hard as he could.
This seemed to annoy the other wolf as he came closer, snapping at the air as an example of what he planned to do to Darren if he didn’t start acting serious. Instead of cowering, Darren decided he had run out of patience and did something even more foolish.
He dove into the shrub and promptly got stuck.
Immediately his legs and neck were wrapped in thick vines and he found that his paws were no longer touching the ground. The branches of the fallen tree were successfully suspending him midair as he kicked desperately to free himself.
What the fuck do you think you’re doing ? Came the annoyed voice of Jasper, having shifted back to his human self after getting fed up with their inability to communicate.
A pair of strong arms grabbed his hind legs and began pulling, but not before Darren noticed a neon orange vest just in front of his snout. Quickly he chomped down on it so that Jasper had no choice but to drag both him and his prize out.
Unfortunately that wasn’t all that he found. As soon as Jasper had him completely freed from the thorns, out came the vest, along with a heavily decayed severed arm that stank of deer pheromones.
This time Darren really did gag, realizing he almost bit down on rotten flesh. The ghost above stopped pointing and vanished. Darren then turned and upchucked his pizza rolls onto a tree as Jasper took in the sight of what they found. A hand covered his nose as he stared in shock at the gruesome discovery.
Suddenly, his head snapped towards Darren and he stomped over, putting a forceful hand on his neck and slamming him down onto his belly, forcing the small wolf into a submissive position. Shift ! Now ! He growled.
The power in Darren’s collar tingled slightly, but remained astute. This bastard had tried to use an Alpha Command.
At first he considered resisting, but quickly realized that was a bad idea as Jasper put more pressure on his neck. Quickly he shifted back, and he was left pinned and naked in the cold night air.
Now talk ! Who is that ? Jasper ordered, once again trying to use an Alpha Command but unable to break the collars protection.
Darren struggled a bit, then huffed into the dirt. I don’t fucking know, alright ?
Was this one of your victims ? Are you the one kidnapping the kids ?
If I was killing people, do you really think I’d be LEADING YOU TO THE BODY ! Darren snapped back, too angry to be scared.
That seemed to strike a chord with Jasper and he paused for a moment to consider. Then he released his hold on Darren’s neck, allowing the smaller man to finally stand.
Darren shakily got to his feet, both tired from the chase and sore from Jasper’s rough handling. Boy was he having a massive case of de’ja’vu’ tonight.
What are you doing out here then ? Jasper asked.
Despite the darkness that enveloped them, werewolves had excellent night vision and Darren could see every naked muscle on the bastard before him. He quickly averted his gaze, then just as quickly turned back to stare directly into Jaspers eyes. He didn’t want this guy to think he was backing down like when they were kids.
I was looking for the body. He explained through grit teeth. I saw it from the road when I arrived earlier, but wasn’t sure at the time so I came to check it out.
In the dark ? Jasper asked speculatively.
Darren glared briefly up where the hunters ghost used to be. Yes, in the dark.
Jasper shook his head, unconvinced. You’re coming with me.
I know, I know. He threw his hands up, already prepared for this. It wasn’t his first rodeo. Quite a few ghosts had a habit of leading him to dead bodies and he’d had run ins with police on several occasions.
In order to make their way through the brush they had to shift back to their wolf forms. As they traveled, Jasper would snarl whenever Darren pulled too far away from his side, making it clear that he was completely willing to snap his leg if the rogue tried to escape.
Soon they were greeted by two more wolves. Beta’s from the size of them. They were also grey and larger than Darren, but not quite Jaspers size. They snarled at Darren’s direction, then lowered their tails for their future Alpha. Jasper nodded towards them and the four all began heading further into town with both Beta’s on either side of Darren. Eventually they arrived at a large house on the edge of town. Here, there were no fences blocking out the forest beyond.
Walking up to the front entry, the door opened and a woman stepped out with both arms full of folded clothes. She started laying them out as the wolves shifted back to their human forms and began dressing right in the front yard. Modesty was not part of a werewolves nature.
Darren on the other hand just stood there still in his wolf form with no clothes to change into. The woman at the door gave him an odd look, then stared questioningly at Jasper.
There’s a body in the woods. Jasper explained in a much softer tone towards the woman, and her eyes widened.
I’ll go get Liam. She replied quickly and ducked inside the house.
One of the Beta’s, now in human form, stepped up and kicked Darren who snapped immediately at the foot. Shift ! She ordered.
This Beta was a burly girl with half her head shaved. The other half had various braids hanging down over her shoulder and had piercings along her ears, lip and nose.
Darren really didn’t like her and refused to obey.
Shift ! The second Beta stood beside her. This one was taller and just as burly, but the guy had short blond hair and a square chin.
Darren absolutely hated these guys attitudes and snorted in response.
Why is everyone still out here ? Liam emerged from the house at that moment. What’s this about a body ? This is not something we should be talking about in the open. Then he noticed Darren standing between the three of them. Once again his eyes flicked to the collar in recognition.
The rogue was the one who found it. Jasper explained. I followed him.