Twin Moon - Chapter 278 - The Prisoner
Whiskey.
Night fell quickly, once the sun was gone from the sky, the air turned. It was getting cold, winter was fast approaching. With any luck these beasts won't live long enough to see the first snow hit the ground. In the few hours I've been out here, no one has come. I don’t even know if I'm still on pack land. I caught sight of some patrol wolves through the trees, but they were up wind from my tree and didn’t catch my scent. These guys either have some serious security concerns, or they were looking for something. Maybe they were looking for me. I did lash out and expose my power, a dumb move on my part. But why would they care if I left, they’ve clearly never cared about me before, why start now.
I’m such a fool. All the lies and all the bullshit. Everything I thought I knew. It was all a lie. And I fell for it, hook line and sinker. I’m so dumb. I'm not fucking special, I'm just like every other mangy mutt out there. The annoyance crawled over my skin, making me itch with need. I know what I need, and I know nothing else will make this feeling go away. It's the only thing that makes it better. But unfortunately, I left my bag in Gunner’s car, and I can’t risk going back there yet. I'll have to come up with something else. I turned myself around on the branch and looked up into the tree. I spotted what I needed and climbed up a few branches to reach it. I snapped the fresh branch sprout from the trunk and climbed back down to my hiding spot. I peeled the top layer of bark off the stem, until I was left with a long thin and flexible piece of wood. I shook off my thin jacket and pulled my shirt over my head. After I unclipped my bra, my naked back was exposed to the evening air. I held one end of the branch and lifted my arm up to my shoulder, laying the other end of the branch against my back. I flicked my wrist as hard as I could, the branch flew out and quickly whipped back against my bare skin. The sting was nice, but it wasn’t enough. I flicked my wrist again, and another whip slapped against my back. And another, and another, and another. My back was throbbing as I took a deep breath, but the itch didn’t go away. This isn’t working. I held my forearm out on my lap and snapped the branch across the softest part of the skin. That felt better, but I still need more. I whipped the branch across my skin countless more times. Hitting harder and harder each time. The skin on my forearm had split open and blood was seeping down my arm and onto my jeans. The pain coursed through my veins, my breathing slowed and the thumping of my heart in my chest was all I could hear. The itch dissipated and a cold relaxed feeling swept over me. Keeping my legs wrapped around the branch I was sitting on, I laid back and rested my head down. The sting of the open cuts throbbed through me, I could already feel the skin stitching itself back together again. The sting, the pain, it reminded me I was still here, I was still alive, I could still feel. I took a deep breath and my body relaxed into the branch. That's better. I can always find calmness in the throbbing feeling of the aching pain. It's my happy place.
I was stirred awake by the sound of a twig snapping. It was close, very close. I carefully rolled onto my belly and scanned my eyes through the trees. My eyesight was perfect, even in the dark. That was something I always attributed to how the hunters made me, but that isn’t the case anymore is it. No, it’s just how I am. Perhaps how all normal Werewolves are. Normal. That's not something I ever considered myself before. It makes me sick to my stomach to think of myself that way now. I'll make sure that I'm no ordinary dog, I'll be the wors fucking beast they ever encountered.
Back on the ground, not one hundred metres from me, was the largest wolf I have ever seen. It had long scruffy fur as black as the night. Its tail was almost as long as it’s body. It stood taller than any human and was as built as a small brick house. It was beyond huge. I've killed plenty of big scary looking beasts, but this one was on a whole other calibre. I watched in silence as it sniffed at the ground, pushing the brush around with its snout. Was this one of Gunner’s? Surely it couldn’t be. Any wolf of that size would be an Alpha of its own pack. Size and strength are all that matters to these big dumb creatures. And this beast was definitely top of both those categories. It lifted its head and sniffed into the air. I pressed my body into the tree branch, trying to make myself become part of the tree. I can’t take on this giant bare knuckled, I need weapons, I need my blades. If it catches me, I'm toast. The wolf turned its head and seemed to be looking right at me. Something felt different with this wolf, familiar even. I got a sense of danger wash through me, followed quickly by an odd calmness. I watched on as it stood perfectly still, staring in my direction.
The wolf snapped his head to the left and shifted its feet. Something else has captured its attention now. It lowered its body and tapped its front paws as its ears pulled back. I could hear the rumble of its growl from all the way over here. It was mad. I pity whoever crosses this dog. Without warning, it dashed forward and was gone through the trees before I could comprehend what happened. One thing I did understand though, it was fucking fast for its size. A few seconds later and the sounds of heavy footsteps against the earth filtered through the forest. That must be what the big wolf heard. I lifted my head and strained my eyes to catch a glimpse of where the noise was coming from, but I got nothing.
After a minute, the sounds of snapping twigs and rustling through the brush, along with the stomping of feet on the ground got louder. There are others out here in the forest. I listened closely and tried to count the footsteps. There’s a few of them, ten or so, maybe more. But I can’t pinpoint if they are the heavy strides of wolf's feet, or the smaller thumps of human feet. Perhaps a mixture of both, maybe that’s why it sounds different. My eyes trailed across the earth, looking out into the darkness for any kind of movement. But I still couldn’t see them. I pushed myself up and stood on the branch, still holding onto the trunk for support. I can still hear them, and I can tell they’re getting closer, I should be able to see them now too. As I looked out through the forest, I noticed the trees were all reasonably close to each other. Most of the lower branches were thick and spread out quite far, connecting most of the trees to the ones around them. I could easily hop from branch to branch and not have to climb back down to the ground at all. I looked round for the next closest branch. I picked one a little higher up than the one I was on, but it looked strong and sturdy. I walked along the branch slowly, eyeing off the next one over. I readied myself and pushed off with my legs. I tried my hardest to land gently on the next tree's branch, as to not break or crack it. The leaves on the branch rustled, shaking a few loose with the impact. The branch shook and bounced slightly with the disturbance to its otherwise peaceful state, but thankfully remained intact. I smiled to myself, feeling rather proud of the idea. I didn’t even hesitate before scampering across the branch and jumping out onto the next one, and the one after that.
I kept going, stopping every third or fourth leap to pause and listen for the sounds of the visitors. Their footsteps slowed and eventually came to a stop. I could now see them, not too far ahead of me. It was a large group, I count twenty-two, six of which are human. I continued my approach, moving much slower and with far more caution. I made sure not to make a sound as I tiptoed across the branch through the treetops. The wolves were standing in a tight circle, growling and huffing at each other. As I made my way to the tree a few feet to their right, I was able to see the scene more clearly. One of the humans was tied to the back of one of the wolves. From a distance, I thought he was injured and just catching a ride. Now that I was on top of them and could see them all clearly, it was obvious that he was a captive. Ropes were tied to his ankles, with the length of it going under the wolfs belly and connecting to his other ankle. More ropes were around his hands, with them then looped around the wolfs neck. Whoever this man is, they did not want him to escape. Which of course increased my interest in his identity. There must be a reason they haven’t just killed him, he is important somehow.
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