“Run!” Robin snarled. She was all in his face, her hand grabbing his collar “Run and don’t look back. Forget you ever saw any of this.”
Eric stared at her with widened eyes, his mouth dry and his heart thudding like a tribal drum. Her canines were elongated and her eyes, although still grey, were glowing unnaturally. Reddish hair was beginning to sprout on her face, and the other people were crouched, a combined low growl emanating from them, as though waiting for a cue to attack.
Before he could do anything, Elias and another man who looked a lot like him had moved forward and grabbed Robin, pulling her backwards. “Go!” Elias yelled at him but Eric was rooted to the spot in fear.
“Go?” The little girl Emma asked, turning to Jacob “Go where? We should kill him. He could tell other people about us, he could endanger our lives!”
“Kill? No.” Jacob answered, placing a calming hand on Emma’s shoulder “We might be monsters, Emma. But we do not kill innocent people.”
Eric heard the girl Emma utter a string of profanities under her breath and shoot him a death stare. Jacob walked over to him and grabbed his shoulder, turning him towards the forest around. “Go, boy.” He whispered in his ear “There, beyond those bushes is a shortcut to Perkins. Go your way and forget all of this ever happened. And if,” He continued, a hint of threat in his voice now “Anyone ever comes snooping around, trying to find out what we’re all about, I will know you told them something about us, and I will personally find you, catch you and feed you to Emma over there for lunch.”
Eric didn’t know how to react to any of this. He was still standing immobile as several thoughts flashed through his mind, wondering who these people were. They weren’t normal beings, he knew that much.
Jacob gave him a little push between his shoulders and life came into his legs. He moved into the bushes, leaving a few metres between himself and what he just witnessed, then broke into a quick trot, his heart still beating with fear.
Eric kept running into the darkness of the woods, his sneakers crunching through the forest floor. He stopped after running almost two kilometers and bent over, his hands on his knees. Only then did he realise he was still wearing the pale green parka. In frustration he took off the plastic clothing that was now streaked with dirt and threw it on the ground, closing his eyes and sliding to the floor.
He’d never felt this scared in his entire life, not even when he was ten and had twisted his ankle, hearing the bone snap like a dry branch. Nothing could be compared to this ashy taste of fear in his mouth. His heart was still throbbing painfully in his chest, and he clutched at it, willing it to calm down.
Lauren and Beth were still out there somewhere, and for a moment a scary thought passed through his mind: he was utterly lost in this large forest, and was no closer to finding his friend than when he was still in Beacontown. As this thought went through his mind he opened his eyes suddenly and crawled to where his parka lay, fishing around its pockets for his cellphone. He clicked it open and went straight to Google Maps, zoning in on Beth’s exact location. It was a few distance short of a sort of laboratory building about a mile from the forest.
Eric nodded to himself resolutely, and although his bones were screaming with exhaustion, he stood up slowly, stretching his limbs. After taking stock of his location with Google Maps, he realised that the only way he could get to the laboratory building was to turn back and follow the route back to the road he just left.
The fear came back, quick and searing, and he shook his head, almost considering staying in this deep dark forest. He couldn’t possibly go back and face the group of monsters he’d just left. Something told him that if they saw him again Emma and Robin would gladly share his bones among themselves, and their leader would be powerless to stop them.
He placed his phone securely in his Jeans pocket, wondering if those people he’d left were also going to the laboratory. After all, that man had mentioned Lauren. They might be talking about his friend. So ignoring the feeling of dread in his stomach he turned his back to Perkins and towards the people he had left behind, hoping against hope that they’d left the road. He knew they wouldn’t be so forgiving if he showed up this time.
☆
Minutes after the boy had ran into the woods, Jacob kept staring at the spot where he’d stood, feeling another wave of exhaustion hit his bones. Damn! His inner wolf chided. You get tired so fast. Some Alpha you are!
He shook his head, trying to clear the thoughts flying around. It had been two weeks since the last full moon, when his son had appeared in his life like a cancer: an imminent, deadly growth lurking in his subconscious and reminding him of all his mistakes. His inner wolf knew it was time for battle. As it was right now, he felt a sharpening in his vision and sense of smell, even though he was still in human form. Now, for instance, he could smell the tang of anxiety among the wolves, and the underlying sharp aroma of adrenaline, almost like a taste on his tongue.
His ears could pick up the restless worry of his pack of wolves behind him as they contemplated the battle and possible death before them. He knew they were agitated and worried about their fellow pack member, Lim who’d left.
“Alpha Jacob.” Robin’s voice in his ear was low but insistent. “Alpha Jacob!”
He looked behind him. Everyone was staring at him, their eyes glowing in the darkness. It was a mishmash little pack, barely more than fifteen wolves. How they were to fight the dozens that Beth had claimed the doctor had he didn’t know, and he wasn’t about to let his fears known to his pack members. They already doubted him enough as it is, only respecting his office as Alpha. But Lauren was one of his. To abandon her was to betray the bond they had as wolves.
“You brought us here.” Robin said “The least you could do is tell us your plan.”
“No plan.” Jacob replied “The most we have is the element of surprise. We attack now, under the cover of darkness, when the doctor least expects us. We should morph here, then run the rest of the way.”
Robin scoffed “What?”
The other pack members had obeyed their Alpha and morphed, ready for battle: where people once stood they were replaced by ferocious snarling beasts in all colours of pelt, from woody shades of brown to silvery white and glossy black. All were in wolf form except Robin, Jacob, and Elias, who hovered behind Robin, to make her see sense if she refused to follow them.
“No plan? That’s it?” Robin asked “We just run head first into our deaths?”
“If we have to die to save a fellow pack member, so be it. We’re a pack. We fight as one united group. And if you have a problem with that, Robin, you might as well haul your red ass home.” Elias added, facing her.
“Thoughts off my ass.” Robin muttered, but she too began to change. Her curly scarlet hair changed to fur, and her human features receded, till the feisty redhead was a handsome werewolf with reddish pelt. Alpha Jacob and Elias, on seeing that Robin had succumbed, also morphed into their respective wolf forms.
Robin pawed the ground reluctantly and followed the rest of the pack that were walking towards the edge of the forest. There was a snap of a twig from inside the forest, and the maroon-coloured wolf looked up suddenly, sniffing the air. Her nose had caught a scent, albeit a stray one, and it tugged at her senses. However, she shook her red head, trying to displace the scent, and followed her pack members to the edge of the forest.