Slaves of the Night

Chapter 5: Servant To My Wolf

    “Do you want to come inside, I’m sure we’ve got some chocolate somewhere?” Nick offered after the last fleeting glimpses of Quinn’s taillights disappeared from even my visibility. No doubt there would be chocolate in the house—it was Nick’s sole source of survival and stocked in surplus at all times—but as tempting at that sounded, I could sense my time running thin. The sun was falling down the west side of its ride rapidly, and I doubted I had an hour before darkness started to settle on the land, never less being able to make out the outline of the full moon in the fading light.

  Clenching my fists to keep from panicking I smiled tiredly, “I think I’m going to head home, I’ve got a ride here waiting for me anyway,”  I could practically feel Rayne staring at me from the car only a little bit down the driveway. I felt awful having left in there for the past half hour at least, and made a pact with myself that I wouldn’t hassle him for so many favors anytime soon.

  “Are you sure?” Nick asked, the casual sway of his brown hair curling just above one of his eyes, the eyes that I used to swoon over in my bedroom during my whole junior year of high school. Now he was still good looking, but there was no comparison to the feeling I got just getting a glance into Tristan’s eyes. I nodded and received a sigh from my best friend’s older brother, getting a look over as he glanced back to Rayne’s car and back to me. “Can I at least meet whoever is driving you home, I don’t want to send you home if you’re not in safe hands,”

  I smirked a little at the cute over-protectiveness, but came to Rayne’s rescue, “Believe me, I can trust this guy with my life, he’s cool,”

  Nick’s resolved hardened in his eyes, “I still want to meet him,”

  I sighed, muttering under my breath, “He did drive me here,” but lead him over to the black car that was sitting idle. The window rolled down on cue, and Rayne’s carefree smile shone out at both of us, even though I could see the tension that was well hidden in his features.

  “Hey man,” he said reaching a hand out the window to Nick, who took the offer slightly surprised, “Nice to meet you, I’m just Sam’s soon to be brother in law,”

  It was obvious that Quinn had filled in her brother about the details that had been spilled at the diner, but that didn’t stop him from looking a little uncomfortable at the words. I just shrugged it off though; he’d be acting the same way if it was his own sister engaged right out of high school.

  There was the awkward man handshake, and a sort of small talk between the two guys but I zoned out as I gazed out at the forest behind the house. My breathing was steady as a light rustle ran through the leaves with an evening breeze causing fresh scents to stir up from the ground to be reincarnated with the air.  I could hear the woods go from a quiet chatter to eerily silent as the sun crept, inch by inch, down into its residing place until the next morning. Before I knew about Tristan I would have thought something was out in the woods, that there was some sort of beast that scared all the animals away, running for their lives. But now as bone-chilling as it felt, I knew that they weren’t running from something else, they were running from me.

  It had gotten so quiet that I could hear the pulse of my heartbeat as my own blood sloshed through my veins, picking up pace as my jaw clenched. It rushed like a waterfall until the view of the trees vibrated along with it, pulsing and thriving with itself, begging to be free.

  “Sam!” someone shouted, dragging me out of my reverie, but I hardly heard them, I was still transfixed. A harsh tug pulled down on my arm and the pain snapped me out of it all, with a sharp hiss between my teeth. Rayne stood beside me, out of the car and clutching onto my arm, while Nick was on my other side, his eyes looking panicked.

  “Is she having a seizure or something?” he asked towards Rayne, who looked just as worried except with more determination. I could feel my own head cock to the side in confusion, until the own movement had my head swimming and I could feel the cool swoosh as my legs swept out from under me. Another person cried out, most likely Nick, because it surely wasn’t me, my mouth was clamped shut; I couldn’t say anything even if I wanted to.

  My whole body was shaking, like shivering combined with being shook like a ragdoll, a newer symptom that I only remembered much from the last month’s change. But having already seen what I probably looked like I just shut my eyes so I didn’t have to view my own nails digging into my palms hard enough to draw blood.

  “No, she just hasn’t been feeling well since her fight with Quinn,” Rayne lied smoothly, the undetected Alpha voice edging in to his speech, “hasn’t been eating properly and all that, I’m not surprised she is feeling faint.”

  Now Nick was certainly not a pack member, and even though I could tell his decision was still swaying he was buying it for now, “Want to take her inside, I’m sure we have something for her?”

  “No, I think rest will do her well right now. I’ll make sure she calls you when she’s alright again,” Rayne affirmed and the next thing I knew, I was being compacted into the passenger’s side and belted in limply. A hand brushed my arm gently, a touch surely meant to comfort me, but I couldn’t do anything because the only movement my body wanted to do was snarl at the attacker and fight back. Survival mode, Tristan had called it, when the wolf wanted to be free and was pulling all the strings it could think of to get itself that way.

  Keep your eyes closed, keep them closed I willed myself as I heard muffled goodbyes through the closed doors, my senses falling in and out of abnormal clarity. I didn’t want to open them for the sake of seeing myself, but also the probable look Nick would be giving me, like I was a freak of nature thrashing around in the car. God, if I hadn’t been so focused about keeping control of my body I would have been thoroughly embarrassed.

  The hum of the car increased and I knew we were driving away, and the trembling in my nerves stilled for a while, giving me an opening to crack open my eyes again. Rayne had a lead foot and a fierce expression as we sped back down the deserted back roads of our town. With his jaw clenched, he kept his steely eyes peeled on the road for anything that might get in his way. If he hadn’t been there I would’ve been a goner. “Thank you,” I croaked softly, ignoring the burning in my muscles as I tried to straighten up in my chair.

   “I shouldn’t have been so stupid to bring you here,” he growled, his voice dropping a register and sounding so shockingly like Tristan that I would have believed it was him had I not been looking head on at Rayne. “I promised Tristan I wouldn’t put you in danger, and look the first day here I go again.” His hand slammed into the steering wheel, nearly denting the thing.

   I wanted to tell him that it was all my fault, and that I was sorry to have dragged him into this. But like the pull you get in your stomach when you know you’re going to throw up, the way pain sliced up my back told me I was losing control. Already the last glimpses of red in the sky were fading, the sun had set and now I was totally under a different power of my other self. I wasn’t going to make it back to the pack house. “Stop the car!” I screamed, and with my sudden outburst Rayne did, slamming the brakes and causing my seat belt to start to tear at my skin. But I didn’t give it enough time to cut off my breath, because it was already undone and the door open as the car completed its stop.

   I was running, trying to get as far away from the road as I could, into the woods at night. I couldn’t stop the growing familiar sensations as they rippled through my body until I was unrecognizable as a person anymore and fell to the ground to run on four as the painful transformation completed itself. Everything about a full moon was painful, the giving of my body, the relinquish of my control, and even the surrender of my soul as a hole was punctured into it, leaking animalistic tendencies into my psyche.

   And all I could do was sit back and watch it all happen.

  There was no clear cut sign as to when I realized I was out of control of my own body, but I knew that I always spaced out now whether I wanted to or not. It’s like I was being so forced out of my head that I had been trapped on the outside, floating around like a ghost. But instead of being with my wolf every step of the way, this was different. One moment I had blinked my eyes as a beast and the next I opened them as a girl.

   A laughter had recently been teased out of my mouth, the tingling sensation left over from it leaving a smile on my lips. There was music everywhere and a crowd of people were clustered around us, and I was in the center of it all.

  A name was being called over and over again, but I hardly realized it was to me until someone tugged on my arm. A girl I didn’t know who was giggling at my surprise, “Clara, I’ve been calling you like forever, here,” she thrust a drink into my hands, that I knew well enough to recall just by its aroma, beer. For some reason I felt so relaxed as this girl kept calling me a name that wasn’t mine and referring to other people that I had no recollection of. But my body reacted, appropriately smiling at the correct times and piping in with sentences that probably held inside jokes that I knew nothing about.

   “I swear, that hottie over there has been staring at you all night,” the girl—who I found out was named Veronica—pointed over to a place near the keg. My body was shorter than I remembered, having to stand on my tippy toes to see around other people’s heads, but sure enough there was a tall dark haired guy leaning against the table, giving glances our way every thirty seconds. “It’d help to get over Greg, he was a low life anyway. I doubt Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome over there would refuse to help you out with that problem,” she giggled, her hand clumsily trying to cover up her smile, but she was buzzed and slightly tipsy.

   “I don’t think so, I’m fine here,” I responded, the guy wasn’t Tristan, so therefore I wasn’t the least bit interested. In fact I couldn’t come up with an answer to why I was even here at all, when I should’ve been close to my other body to wait for a chance to reclaim it. Instead of pondering the thought more, I just took another swig of my drink. Maybe I was just highly confused, but I’m pretty sure my name wasn’t Clara. And I wasn’t friends with anyone named Veronica.

   Veronica sighed, and tugged on my hand, pulling me along to the outdoor dance floor that everyone was ‘dancing’ in. More appropriately I should call it grinding, because what I considered dancing was far from whatever anyone else was attempting. But I recognized the song, and allowed myself to be tugged along until we had been pushed back into the middle of the pulsing crowd.

   Trying my hardest to just breathe and enjoy myself, I closed my eyes, letting the beat of the music match my heart as people jostled all around me. Slowly, all thoughts faded of the fact that tonight was a full moon, or that I was a monster, or that I wasn’t even who I thought I was; I just let the music take me away and swayed.

   “Still staring,” Veronica said in my ear, her words slurred before a squeak came out of her mouth, which I assumed was her dropping her drink. Ice scattered everywhere on the dancefloor and I leaned down quickly to help her gather up the pieces before they made the cement more soaked than her drink had done. Sighing I squeezed my way out of the personal bubble I had created for myself in the middle of all the dancing, forgoing the peaceful atmosphere. Another girl joined Veronica in helping her off the dancefloor, and judging by the position in the sky, the moon had moved enough for a half hour since I had been pulled out there.

   I felt eyes staring at the back of my neck, and twirling around I was greeted by the long distanced gaze of Veronica's Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome. One blink and the breath was knocked out of me, as I had the sensation of running on all fours, a feral snarl ripping from my throat with a raw passion of the hunt. Another blink and I was back in the body of the girl I didn't know, back from the split second of reuniting with my inner beast. The headache was instant after that and I became more confused, this was the weirdest thing that had happened in my whole life built by fantasy and werewolves. The guy still looked at me, a small smirk gracing his lips as he moved his gaze away cooly.

   I had to get out of here, I noted as my body already took action, stumbling away from the party altogether. I just needed to get out of here... The throbbing in my head was only comparable to the change I experienced before the arc of the full moon over the east horizon.

   Like all parties that were held around the tree infested area that we lived in, the house that hosted it was surrounded by forest. I beelined my way towards that first, afraid I was going to be put through the change again and go wolf in front of everybody. The moon was high above me as I thought again how messed up this all was. As soon as I was sheltered by the low hanging branches, I breathed easier, looking back to see no one was after me. Whoever Clara was she seemed popular by all the greetings and jostlings she got on the dance floor and offers for drinks, so everybody must have been severely buzzed to not notice she was gone. Or I was gone. Whoever it was.

   My hands held onto the bark of a tree for support, feeling the loud music through vibrations; right before another wave hit me. I was back in the wolf body, thrust from flesh to fur and the ground matched the beat of the music as my feet pounded away while running. I was running from something, yet running toward something greater. I could hear growling and it only took a moment before I realized it was me; I had been wild before during nights like these, but nothing like I was thinking right now. My mind was full of lust for blood and a thrill of a kill, something big enough that it'd be a challenge for my powerful jaws to yield to the ground. But despite however strong my wolf thought she was the powerful lunges whatever was behind her diminished her confidence to nothing. Get away and get the kill. 

   A shuddering breath ached in my lungs as I was leaning against the tree more so than when I had left the human, Clara. But I could still hear the growls as they approached closer. Fear closed in on my veins as I scrambled to straighten up, but the ridiculous heels I was placed in held no purchase on the forest floor besides stabbing themselves into the soft dirt. There was only seconds for my scream to catch to the air before the piercing hazel eyes of a killer lunged for my throat. 

  This time when I came to, it was like the whole world had collapsed inward on me. My scream that had shattered my own ears only seconds earlier was nothing more than a raspy cough as I tried to get up, but strong arms tightened around me as I met silver eyes.

   Rayne.

   Blinking, I realized I was still in the woods, but I was moving without walking. Rayne must've been carrying me, but not running because the sky barely bounced by as he carried my extra weight. I was myself again; tall, lean and a brunette again. Samantha, not Clara. Daylight streamed through my hair in front of my eyes, and I brushed it aside as I let my heart calm down. 

    "Where's Clara?" I asked urgently, remembering the last moments before the murderous wolf leaped for her. I could still feel the brush as the teeth in the jaw brushed the soft flesh above the top of the spine, sending shivers through my body. I was suddenly happy that the only mark on my neck was Tristan's claiming bite; never to heal but faded with time. 

   "Clara...? There is no Clara, Sam," Rayne said, his voice tired, as he suppressed a low yawn from escaping. I blinked, no Clara...? But she had been so real, so there...

   It must've been a dream, that was the only explanation for it. I had had many dreams that had so vivid that I had remained stuck on them for weeks, but this one took the cake. Not even myself and it still felt more real than right now, safe and sound. Rayne shifted his hold on me, and I became increasingly aware that his arms weren't as full of strength as they usually were; that was until I reminded myself that it was day. He had been keeping watch over me all night as I had run rampid and disobeyed everything I had told him and myself. Made his job harder. And now I was relaxing in his arms as he made the trek back to the house, still surviving on no sleep. 

   "Set me down," I demanded, shifting so it'd be easier to do so, but Rayne tightened his arms to prevent that. 

   "You can't," he said shakily, his eyes kept well away from mine as I glared at him.

   "Why not? You've cared for me this whole time, you need the rest," I growled.

   "No... you can't walk." he said dryly, before taking a gulp, "at all."

   I blinked again, confused. Of course I could walk... "And why not?" 

   He was silent, the only sound was his soft footfall in the underbrush as I started to recognize scents from the pack. We were close, and I was about to protest because of that very reason when he finally spoke up, "Last night, you left the territory and I couldn't stop you..."

   Now he was making no sense, and I was getting frustrated with it, releasing my breath with a low growl. But he spoke again, "You were heading towards a neighborhood near the edge of the woods, and I couldn't stop you with an Alpha command because we weren't in territory and you're not officially apart of the pack. So I did my last resort, and I lunged for your leg." His hand brushed against my left leg, which I hadn't felt until now as I looked down at it. A long gash of a bite mark ran down the calve, the print throbbed the longer I looked at it so I just averted my gaze from it. "You can't walk, I have to take you to the pack doctor to get you fixed up." he sounded so ashamed, and my anger got worse.

   "Rayne, look at me." I said sternly, but he didn't dare. Swiftly I used my hand that wasn't pressed against his chest and grasped his chin firmly so I could look him in the eye. "Whatever happened, it's not your fault. At all. I know you wouldn't hurt me unless it was a dire circumstance, I..." I stuttered out, the memories of the dream vivid and harsh, "I know what was going through my head at the time, just barely, but I know. I wasn't going to do anything good, my thoughts were locking in on a kill," my voice fell quiet near the end until it was just a whisper. 

   The girl Clara, I had been out to kill her. For no reason at all, just for the sake to take down something with a pulse and warm flesh. The thought had my stomach turning in on itself, but it was empty, so all I could do was choke as I heaved. Rayne quickly lowered me to the ground, his hand brushing away my hair as he looked down on me worriedly. 

   I had been right, my wolf was getting stronger. It wasn't settling for control anymore, it wanted dominance. It wanted death to rest on it's tongue. 

   It wanted to kill.