It was getting dark as Harpy carried Allenby on the top deck. They could hear a ship and planes coming their way. Harpy left Allenby on the floor as she looked over the ocean. It was the enemy coming their way. She looked up to the sky and saw the full moon was almost completely visible.
She walked over to Allenby who was awake but out of it. "What's going on?" she managed to ask. "I feel weird."
"You're transforming," said Harpy.
"Into what?"
"A werewolf." Harpy felt her pulse increase with a loud beat from her heart. "I am too." Her bones started to crack as her hand got larger.
The enemy began to board the ship as Harpy slowly walked below deck, leaving Allenby behind. Allenby was also transforming and sounded like she was in a lot of pain.
The enemy boarded as they heard Allenby's screams. The screams didn't seem to deter them at all as they searched for where it came from. They found the source of the scream just in time to see it become a howl from a wolf. They aimed their guns at the animal which seemed to be confused as it stared at the moon. They were about to fire when a scream came from behind.
The enemy turned around and saw one of their comrades getting ripped apart by a large humanoid wolf creature. They fired upon the werewolf but it was too quick as it jumped out of the way. The werewolf ran between the destruction as it picked off the enemies. The enemy shot at it but the werewolf was always able to jump away.
The enemy were so concentrated on taking out the humanoid werewolf they forgot the regular looking wolf who jumped and attacked one of them. The enemy all looked in horror as the wolf ate one of them. They turned their guns on the wolf but the humanoid werewolf jumped in the middle of them and slashed, bit, snapped and mauled every single one of them until there was no human standing.
The large werewolf looked at the wolf as it ate one of the enemies. She turned to look at the moon and howled. The wolf turned to the werewolf and looked at the full moon and howled as well.
The large werewolf could hear the enemy on their own ship which was alongside them. She couldn't tell what they were saying but she could tell there were a lot of them. She went to one side of the ship then ran full speed to the other side and jumped onto the enemy's ship.
The wolf could hear the screams of the enemy but she was too afraid to jump to the other side. She laid on the floor and whined as she continued to hear the gunfire mixed with screams of agony.
****
It was the next morning and Allenby woke with a terrible headache. There was a blanket covering her body. She leaned up and the blanket fell to her lap revealing her naked breast. She quickly pulled it back up to cover herself.
"Why am I naked?" she asked herself.
"Because I didn't feel comfortable dressing you," said Harpy who stood by the door that led below deck. She held a jumpsuit and tossed it to Allenby. "Here you go."
The jumpsuit fell on Allenby's lap. Harpy turned around while Allenby got dressed. "What happened?"
"Do you remember anything from last night?" asked Harpy who had her back to Allenby.
"The last thing I remember was… We were attacked. We didn't have a chance. Were there any survivors?"
Harpy took a peek to see if Allenby was done getting dressed and when she was, she turned to face her. "You're the only survivor from the ship. The pilots, us, we succeeded with the mission but by the time we got back, the ship was already destroyed."
"Hummingbird, Griffin and Crow are still alive?"
"They are, but they had to leave us behind."
"Why?"
"Okay, here's the part you're going to find difficult to believe." Harpy took a step closer to Allenby. "You were dying and the only way to save you was to turn you."
"Turn me? Turn me to what?"
"To what I am. A werewolf."
Allenby let out a slight laugh. "You're kidding, right. Funny joke."
"It's not a joke. Look around at all the dead bodies."
For some reason Allenby hadn't noticed the bodies around them. More like she chose not to notice them. But now that she actually looked, she realized it wasn't just the bodies of her crewmates. There were enemy soldiers among them and they weren't killed by gunfire. Allenby went to the side of the ship and vomited.
Harpy went over to her and patted her on the back.
After she was done throwing up, she noticed the enemy ship was across from them. "The enemy," she said as she backed away and pointed towards their ship.
"Don't worry about them," said Harpy. "They're all dead."
Allenby went back to the side of the ship and looked towards the enemy's, seeing bodies scattered throughout their deck. "How?"
"I killed them," said Harpy. "When I was a werewolf."
Allenby took a step away from Harpy. "You're not joking."
"I am not."
"And you're saying I'm one too?"
"Yes," said Harpy. "It was the only way I could save your life. You had a nasty wound on your stomach and it was going to kill you." She pointed at her stomach and Allenby touched it.
"I remember. I remember being hurt but now it feels like there's nothing."
"Part of being a werewolf. We heal faster."
"This is so crazy," said Allenby as she sat down cross legged.
"The way the curse works." Harpy hesitated to continue. "I hate calling it a curse. I don't think it's a curse but others do. But the way it works, if a person with werewolf blood is about to die on a full moon, instead of dying, they transform into a werewolf."
"Werewolf blood? I had werewolf blood?"
"I gave you my blood so you would turn."
"Why did you do that?"
Harpy was disappointed to hear her ask that. "Because I didn't want you to die. And Hummingbird begged me."
"Hummingbird knows too? Is she also a werewolf?"
"She is but her werewolf hasn't been triggered," answered Harpy. "She's never almost died on a full moon."
"But you have?"
"Yes. I did it on purpose during boot camp. My family are all werewolves and we usually join the military to trigger it."
"That's insane. Why hasn't Hummingbird triggered her werewolf powers?"
"Ha," said Harpy. "She wants it to happen naturally. Odds aren't in her favor."
"How have you hidden this from everyone for so long?"
"Hummingbird is always around to cover for me. I transform during a full moon and I leave far away from camp. It's actually a good thing Humminbird hasn't triggered her werewolf."
"So you have control of your werewolf?"
"Yes, but there's a reason for that." Harpy sat across from Allenby. "Another reason we join the military. When we first transform, we have no control of our werewolf. We're just wild animals. That's what your werewolf is. You look like a regular wolf. But the more people you kill, the more human your werewolf becomes. You start to look like the werewolves from the movie Underworld. Have you seen that movie?"
"Yes, I know what you're talking about. You've killed a lot of people?"
"Yes, all in the line of duty. I've never murdered anyone."
Allenby looked at the bodies that were mauled.
"Remember, this was war," said Harpy. "These were the enemies."
Allenby turned her attention to Harpy. "Did I kill anyone when I was transformed?"
"Yes, one person. The next time you transform, your wolf will be a little bigger and you'll have a little more control, but not a lot."
"How many werewolves are there?"
"Not many. My family and a few others are the only ones I know about." Harpy watched Allenby as she processed everything silently. "Are you okay?"
"This shit is insane, but also a bit awesome."
This caused Harpy to smile. "I'm happy to hear that. I want you to join my pack back home."
"You have a pack," said Allenby, excited.
"I do. It's small but they'll protect you. Teach you how to be a responsible werewolf. It's in a small town in Massachusetts called Pietrofalls."
"Never heard of it."
"That's the point. Since the town is so small, it makes it easier to hide what we are."
"That makes sense."
"The town is next to a large forest as well so when we transform, we just go into the woods and spend our time there until the morning."
"Does everyone in town know what you are?"
"Absolutely not. Only the werewolves know about the werewolves. Not all the werewolves have triggered it yet, but they know about the others."
"So I'll have a home when I return," said Allenby as she thought about it. "I've never had a real home before." She looked at Harpy. "I grew up in the foster system and the families I was placed with were more concerned with the money they'd receive for supposedly taking care of me. It was never a real home."
Harpy grabbed her hands. "That's something I can promise you. You will have a home in Pietrofalls. The pack will look after you and be your family. Being a werewolf won't be easy but you will have a family looking after you."
"Thank you," said Allenby, embracing Harpy in a hug.
Harpy hugged her back. After almost a minute, Harpy pulled away. "Now let's get out of here before the enemy returns and we have no way of protecting ourselves." Harpy walked over to a plank she had set up that connected the two ships.
"How are we going to get out of here?" asked Allenby as she followed Harpy to the enemy's ship.
"We're going to fly one of their planes," said Harpy as she went over to one of the planes on the enemy's deck.
****
Harpy flew the enemy plane as Allenby sat in the copilot's seat. They were on their way to the US as they flew over some islands. A beep went off in the plane, startling Allenby.
"What is that?"
"We're not alone," said Harpy as she flew around and spotted two familiar planes. Harpy turned the radio on. "Don't shoot. It's Harpy."
"Harpy!" exclaimed Griffin.
"Thank God you're alive," said Griffin.
"Why are you guys still around?" asked Harpy. "You should have been back home by now."
"Hummingbird said there was a chance you might still be alive so we spent the night hidden on one of the islands."
"And you thought that was a good idea?"
"No, but I needed to refuel and it wouldn't have been smart to fly with the enemy nearby. How did you even get an enemy plane to escape?"
"You know me," said Harpy. "Biggest badass you know."
"No doubt."
"And I had a little help," said Harpy as she looked back at Allenby.
"Hey guys," said Allenby. "I made it."
"Now that's just the great news I needed to hear," said Crow, his voice cracking a bit.
"Let's get home," said Hummingbird as she and Griffin flew their planes next to Harpy. "We've all had a long night."
"Race you back home," said Harpy. "Loser pays for everyone's drinks."
"You're on," said Griffin.