TobyI stared at the moon as the rest of my pack ran off in other directions, howling and chasing each other. My inner wolf clawed to get out, but I was fighting it—not that I could hold out much longer.
The curse of the moon. I narrowed my eyes and cursed it for cursing me and my kind. Pain ran through my spine as my bones shifted and prepared to change shape. I clenched my teeth and removed my clothes, adding them to the pile.
My body threw me to the ground and I landed on all fours as my wolf escaped. Fur popped out, slicing through my skin. I gritted my teeth. Fighting the process only made it worse. I closed my eyes and waited until I could feel paws on the ground. When I opened my eyes, everything seemed brighter. I did love the night vision and heightened senses.
My wolf urged me to join the pack.
Not tonight. Our nose sniffed out Jet, Brick, and the others. I shook our head.
A low growl rumbled from our throat.
Typically, we werewolves were one with our inner wolves, but the exception was when we had differing motives. The wolf longed to run with the pack—our family. I needed to find Victoria—our other half.
I parked our hindquarters on the ground.
Our pack queen is nearby. We have to find her. She needs us. My wolf stared at the moon and howled, calling out to the others. You'd leave her to fend for herself?
Another growl escaped our mouth.
He wasn't going to win tonight. Not when Victoria was probably frightened somewhere not far away. What if she had shifted around others? My wolf lowered our nose, submitting to my leadership. Finally. He missed Victoria's wolf form as much as I missed her in her human form.
I raised our nose and sniffed the air, weeding out the unimportant smells.
A slight breeze brought a familiar aroma.
Victoria. She had to be several miles away, given how faint the scent was. I put our nose to work to make sure it was coming from the direction I thought.
It was. A howl sounded in the distance. The pack was looking for us.
I returned the call, letting them know we would join them later. A call of protest sounded.
I howled a final time to let them know my mind was made up. Jet would be happy to be the temporary alpha, anyway.
My wolf rose and took a step toward Victoria's scent. We melded together and then burst into a run, going past the house and eventually down a dirt road which led us through more trees.
We came to a large, dark structure with a bright sign. I couldn't make out what it read from my angle. I did, however, recognize that all of the cars in the parking lot were extremely expensive, many imported.
A heavy feline scent hung in the air, and it wasn't from house cats. Shifters.
I slowed down to a near-crawl and walked around the immense building. A wide variety of odors assaulted our nose, everything from food to perfumes. I could even smell strange plant life—they had to have been imported like the cars.
Around the back of the building, I finally saw windows. People danced inside, appearing to have the time of their lives. Music sounded from inside, loud enough that I could feel the beat on the ground.
I paced, keeping my focus on the party. Victoria's scent lingered, and it was stronger here. It seemed to be coming from inside, but that didn't make any sense. Why would a wolf be in there? Especially among feline shifters?
Rumors abounded of jaguars and cougars, but this was the first real proof I had of any of it. Though I couldn't tell if what I smelled was jaguar or cougar, I had a feeling I'd soon know the difference. My wolf and I sat, focusing all the more on the dancers. I could sense that he wanted to leave, not that I could blame him. We were in dangerous territory, and if any of the other shifters caught wind of us it might get ugly. No way we could take on an entire pack—or herd, or whatever cats traveled in.
Then I saw her. Not only was Victoria in human form— during the full moon—but she was dancing with a tall, muscular man.
A low growl escaped our throat. I wasn't sure if that was from me or my wolf. I didn't care. What was she doing with that guy? I growled, exposing our teeth. I would tear him apart. My wolf urged me to back down. Have you lost your mind?
An annoying feeling of calmness washed over me. Stop it He didn't. Another few minutes of this, and I would curl up and go to sleep.
A thought crossed my mind—I knew nothing of what had happened to her during our time apart. Running inside to fight wouldn't solve anything.
Back before her death, we had been in rival packs. Both of our fathers were alphas, and had expressly forbidden us from seeing each other. We had both been chosen to marry others from our respective packs.
Not that any of that had kept me from falling head over paws for her.
My wolf finally relented with his force to calm me. I brought my focus back to Victoria. I let out a yelp. She was wearing a white lacy dress. I jumped up and paced. This couldn't be a wedding, could it? She hadn't somehow been turned into a cat shifter?
No. It wasn't possible.
Victoria was a wolf. Yet she was human during the full moon. What had they done to her? I growled and inched toward the building. A twig snapped nearby.
It was only someone taking a bag of trash to the dumpster. He didn't even look my way. I snapped my neck back toward Victoria. That pompous jerk held her close and spoke into her ear. She threw her head back and laughed. My wolf urged me to return to the pack. Never.
A wave of calm pulsated through me.
Sometimes I hated him. It was my turn to give in to his leadership. Later, I would probably agree that he was right. But right then, staring at Victoria in the arms of another man—a feline shifter—nothing other than an attack made sense. Why was she wearing what looked like a wedding dress? Could that just be the style of formal wear this year?
My wolf stepped away from the building. He'd calmed the fight out of me. When he burst into a run, I merely went along for the ride. I would need to find out as much as I could the next day when she showed up to class. That was it. Tomorrow was the first day of classes. She wouldn't be getting married right now. My own relief washed through me. I'd overreacted, and my wolf had been right. We traveled through the woods, again passing my home. The air pressed our fur back like a heavy wind blows down blades of grass. Our pack's scents grew stronger.
My wolf called out to them. Joyful howls sounded in return. All except Jet's.
He would get over it. Our pace slowed as we neared the others. We were near
the Faeble, a lively bar open to all supernatural creatures. Often, after shifting back to human form, we would stop in for something to drink to relax after the grueling changes of shifting. The owner let us keep spare clothing around back. I, for one, was ready for both shifting back and a strong drink.
One quick glance at the moon told me it would be a while. My wolf urged me to go on a hunt.
Wouldn't you rather curl up and sleep? Busy day tomorrow.
He growled. I would have, too, if I could only be in my preferred form one day a month.
I lowered our nose to our chest.
My wolf burst into a run, sniffing for something to chase. Our mouth watered and our stomach growled at the thought. He wanted to go after a deer, always preferring the thrill of getting a larger animal. I couldn't stop thinking about Victoria in the arms of that feline. None of it made any sense. Obviously, she didn't remember me, but what else had changed? One didn't just stop being a werewolf. Sure, we could fall in love with other species, but not become one.
As my wolf ran through the woods, I blocked him out and tried to make sense of everything. The more I thought about it, the more it made my brain hurt. Or wait...
No, that was the familiar ache of the impending shift. My wolf's disappointment ran through us. It was so strong, it nearly felt like my own, except that I was all too aware of how badly I wanted back into my human form.
I had to find out what was going on with Victoria.
Pain shot through our spine. I gave into it, eager to be human for the next month. My wolf fought it. Next time, we need to get on the same page. His resistance ran through me. In this form, our uniting was on me. When I gave into the monthly change and went with the flow, it was as though we were one and the same. Times like this reminded me that we were two forming one. Our front legs ached. It was about to happen. I looked around. We weren't as near the Faeble as I would have liked. Sure, I was comfortable in my own skin, and my pack was plenty used to seeing each other in the nude given the nature of our changes, but I avoided running through the woods without any clothes if I could. I'd run into people more often than I preferred—and they weren't nearly so forgiving about guys running around naked. Clumps of fur dropped to the ground. I fought the bone pain and ran toward the bar.
I could smell the others nearby. Some were already in human form while others were still changing. The younger ones tended to have less control over the changes and often turned first.
Being over a century myself, it was unusual for my wolf and me to be at such odds. We were old friends and had been through a lot together, including loving and losing Victoria. My wolf stopped us and put our nose to the dirt. Pain ran from the tip of our tail upwards through our spine, spread out to all four extremities and finally crashed into our neck and skull. The crunching was so loud, I couldn't tell where the shift began. It was easy to know when it had ended, though. Rocks and twigs dug into my sensitive human flesh.
I stood and pulled some leaves from my side. Stinging nettle. Great. I pulled some more off and thanked my wolf for his choice of where to stop.
The sounds of conversation reached me from nearby. The Faeble was only a hundred yards away. I ran for the back, where the spare clothes were stashed in some old lockers.
Jet was already getting dressed. He stared at my side. "Run into trouble?"
"Stinging nettle. I'll be fine."
He punched me in the arm. "What doesn't kill you, right?"
"Yeah, I'm sure this'll make me plenty stronger." I opened the locker where I'd stored some of my clothes and got dressed. "I could sure use a drink."
"You and your wolf were at odds tonight. What was up?" I pulled on my jeans. "That obvious?"
"Dude." He arched a brow. "Totally not like you."
"It happens to everyone." I shrugged like it was no big deal.
"Yeah, but not you."
"I'm made of flesh, blood, and fur just like the rest of you." I pulled my shirt on and found some socks and shoes. Only a couple more outfits remained. I'd have to restock soon.
"If you say so."
A few more guys came over and threw their clothes on. We all headed inside. Music greeted us from the nightly live band as soon as the door opened. Lively conversation buzzed around from all directions and I could smell a wide variety of creatures, as usual.
Some of our pack were already seated, so we joined them. Jet grabbed a seat from another table. A siren in a fedora glared at him, but didn't say anything.
The waitress came over and took our orders. Each of us ordered strong drinks they tended to help us ease back into being human. I laughed and joked with everyone, but my mind was back at the large building Victoria had been dancing in with the cat. I needed to find out everything I could about both the shifters and their club. There had never been a jaguar here at the Faeble as far as I knew, so if I couldn't find anything out from Victoria, I was going to have to get creative.
Either way, I would get to the bottom of all this no matter the cost. Nothing else mattered.