Life With A Werewolf

Coda Part 4 - Blowback

         Hey everyone, it's Crash. You may be wondering what I had been up to while Jason was getting himself blown up. Well, my night can be summed up in one word: sucked. After Alexandre made his introductions, I shifted faster than normal and slipped into the tree line next to our home. Normally, I try to wait until nightfall before I go into the woods to do my work. But with Alexandre's introduction, the supposed claim on my house, and the threat of the Nobility infiltrating my county, I didn't have much of a choice.
         My "replacements" weren't exactly being quiet about the job they were doing. They started with "requests for move" which is technically what they say they're supposed to do. For "peace and tranquility of the human herd, blah, blah, blah." Those "requests for move" quickly became threats, which started turning violent.
         I wasn't fast enough to stop two deaths. Head's left piked in front lawns of wolves who told the Nobility to get fucked. The pikes when I came by them were dripping with blood, sometimes with people half transformed before their heads were violently removed from their bodies. The only thing left in their wake is widows and loved ones holding a headless corpse and crying.
         There was nothing I wanted more than to stop by, comfort those threatened and assure them that everything was being done to protect them. To help and reassure those who had lost someone. But if I'd done that, I would have never caught up to the bastards wreaking havoc. And the best thing I could have done for those who had been threatened, those who had been killed, was to give them the pint of blood they were due.
         Those bastards were smart, I'll give them that. One guy had followed a creek, the other a forgotten highway that is little used with anything faster than a tractor. A third was cutting through the woods itself. The plan was to zigzag through most of the major communities, it seemed, and spread as much terror and horror through the towns as possible. They were going to meet in the center, a place where, if you didn't know the Nobility all that well, you'd assume was the perfect spot to attack them.
         But my time with the Rodriguez clan had taught me a few things. Namely that the Nobility doesn't have a problem with having someone at their meeting spot in human form spraying silver bullets down on anyone who wasn't Nobility. No, the smart play for them is to catch up to them before they met up. Or at least I figured it would be. Pick them off before they met up, then maybe help the police deal with the mystery fourth person whoever they may be.
         I had been tracking the one moving through the creek since he was the closest to me. It hadn't taken much. Like I said before, they weren't being subtle, and the trail of destruction was like they had wanted to be found. But, I was far too angry to notice such obvious clues at that point. All I had known was I was pissed, and he was within eye sight.
         The wolf was mostly gray. He had black fur flecks in his ears. He definitely smelled Nobility as well. One thing the Nobility does, is they scent mark themselves with expensive flowers, whatever flowers might happen to be in season for the time. It is like a uniform of sorts for them. Stands out to us werewolves, but your kind would never notice it.
         Since he was more or less following the creek, I figured I'd be smart. I cut through the woods, and rounded to a lamp post that I knew was on the edge of the creek near the edge of a town. It was going to be easy. I leap out from the shadows, and drag him back into them. Then the Nobility is down one werewolf and I only have two left. Or so I thought. Shows how little even I know at times. I'll give the Nobility one thing. They certainly played me for a fool.
         I waited in the shadows. When he came close, I leapt out at him. The wolf didn't see me coming. But, I was so concentrated on the wolf that was killing and harassing our citizens, I wasn't paying attention to the one stalking me.
         With fury and vengeance I leapt, fire in my eyes, drool dripping off my fangs. I'd love to say I gave some bad ass line when I did. Growled a threat that was equivalent to Bruce Campbell smirking "come get some" in Army of Darkness. But, in truth, all I did was growl. As low and vicious as I could make it.
         There was a brief touch of my claws against fur. Then I caught a glimpse of movement in my peripheral. I looked up and saw a silvery brownish wall of fur coming straight at me. All I could do was twist into it. The form hit me hard, knocking the wind out of me and slamming me into the ground. I lifted my knee into him, but was rewarded with the first werewolf slashing at my face.
         It definitely was a pup. Any old wolf knows you don't play around like you're a monster in a cheesy scary movie. Go for the throat as quick as you can. Otherwise, you could end up regretting it.
         I slashed quickly, taking out the Achilles heel on the young pup's left foot. What can I say, some lessons are painful. It yelped and stumbled backwards, almost falling over. This was while dodging the one on top. He was snarling and snapping at my throat as quick as it could. I dodged and snapped back, getting nowhere. It wouldn't be long before the young pup would be back in the fight. Werewolves heal quick, after all.
         He snapped, I dodged to the left. He snapped, I dodged to the right. He tried to follow with his muzzle, and I grabbed his ear with my claws and began tearing. The ripping flesh made the wolf yelp then whine in pain, rearing back enough for me to kick him off. He climbed to his feet as quick as he could. It was a stare off with two werewolves, one at my right and one at my left.
         The sun had just started setting. We weren't exactly in the middle of nowhere. A few houses were scattered along the stretch of road we were on, with mostly green grass and trees to witness our particular corner. But we weren't completely obscure. If I had the ability to stop and observe the homes, one a nice cottage, another a double-wide trailer, I'd be able to see the glint of dying sunlight coming off their windows. I had to get this fight in private, and fast.
         One came in with his claws, another with teeth. I slashed and dodged, then kicked off one and spun in mid-air only to be tackled by the young werewolf and bitten on the shoulder. I cried out and slashed into his pelt. He jumped to his feet before I could do any real damage.
         I was panting. The bastard was grinning and wagging his tail. Damned arrogant young werewolves and their speed. The larger one slashed at me, I ducked and was struck by the younger werewolf again. He was on my back, holding me, claws digging into my flesh as I tried to dodge. It was looking grim.
         His claws dug into my chest and shoulder on one side, my hip on the other. He was grabbing on with his teeth and holding my other shoulder, trying to work towards my jugular. The other werewolf slashed, and snarled, hitting my gut, my legs. It cut through my natural pain tolerance and was beginning to hurt.
         Soon, it became too much. I fell to my knees. Looking up at the werewolf standing above me, he smirked in that way we werewolves do, in our ears and not with our mouths. "Not as tough as they claimed."
         He reared back. I glared up at him. Then a brown blur slammed into him, knocking him off his feet. The young pup looked up at the wrong time. While the other werewolf was getting up, my boss grabbed the younger werewolf and ended him quickly, tossing his body onto the street.
         The other werewolf looked at us both and dove for the woods. I gasped and nodded my thanks to my boss, then prepared to go after him. I was still bleeding, but most of my wounds were healing and before I caught up to him, I'd have been as close to one hundred percent as a werewolf could get.
         The explosion didn't sound like a loud boom where we were standing. It was a duller thump. Like someone two houses away hit the bass drum as hard as they could once. Me and boss both looked at each other, panic in our ears and on our muzzles. "Office" was all we said to each other.
         We raced towards the building that we both had jokingly called 'home' at one point or another. We had been there so much. There was so many friends who worked there. Many who had never taken another life. Just because they were a werewolf, didn't automatically make them a killer. There was one in our office who was a strict vegetarian cause they didn't like the thought of eating something that lived and breathed. Now that person may have been dead. As well as Jason.
         I ran harder. It was all I could do. I was not prepared for the carnage that would await me or for the rest of the horror, but I knew one thing, Alexandre was going to pay.