A Wolf's Tail Ch. 03

Hi everyone!

My goodness everything has been hectic lately!!! This Chapter has taken a long time coming and I thank you all for your patience with me. This isn't a long chapter and no sexy fun time yet, but I promise it is coming- and it will be good. Until then, enjoy this new chapter!

<3 Shadowsung

CHAPTER 3

The moon was full and she was in wolf form, like a cloud through the forest she seemed to float at amazing speeds. She let up a howl, greeting Luna in happiness. Far in the distance a faint reply from another Were could be heard. Elated, her loneliness seemed to strip away.

Suddenly she stopped; her nose to the air. She smelt something that made her mouth water. She stood there, nose to the wind, pinpointing the location. Abruptly she turned and ran to the east, leaping over fallen trees and weaving through the dense undergrowth like a ghost. She came up to a crest and peered over. There, in the clearing was a doe. Her wolf in control, Anna was able to suppress her human feeling of remorse at killing such a beautiful and graceful creature. She stalked around the clearing, getting downwind of the creature.

To Anna's right, she heard a twig snap, caused by something else watching the clearing. The doe reared its head from the grass; whites showing around its eyes. Anna's human half was contemplating the sound, when the doe panicked and ran. Doing so, however, resulted in catching her wolf's complete attention. The sound utterly forgotten, the Anna leapt up and pursued the fleeing animal. Caught up in the thrill of the hunt, her wolf howled its happiness and sped up.

She chased the deer to a rocky ravine, where she knew there was a dead end. She raced up the side, watching the doe. Timing it perfectly, she launched herself off of the cliff and straight onto the deer's back. Quick as a snake she grabbed its neck in her jaws and swiftly exerted deadly pressure. She felt the neck snap as the deer collapsed to the ground. She was thrown over its shoulder with its speed. She gracefully landed and turned to her kill.

Nose deep into its meaty parts, her wolf was thrilled. She was happily munching on her prize when something made her wolf stop; there was a foreign, yet somehow familiar scent that was not part of her forest.

Her eyes darted like golden dragonflies. She quickly pin- pointed the source. It was human, and very close by. She ran up and around, knowing the terrain like she knew her own skins. She crouched behind a bush, seeing the back of her follower, who was behind a tree, peering out in front.

She crept up behind the girl and growled as fiercely as she knew how. The girl spun around and screamed at the huge wolf that reached her shoulder in height. It advanced on her, snarling, showing blood-stained teeth.

The human tried to back away. The movement caught her wolf, and Anna pounced on the girl, knocking her down as she stood over the human. The cloud disappeared, throwing the clearing into sharp relief. Shock made Anna loose her form, as she shifted back into her human naked self, "Emma?" she cried out.

"ANNA?" her best friend underneath her shrieked "What...but.... You..." and she fainted.

Anna smelt blood and grabbed her friend. Cradling her prone form, Anna checked her thoroughly. She had made a small cut in the back of her head where she had fallen on a rock, but it wasn't bad.

Slowly, Anna slung the girl on her back, phased to her four-legged form and ran back to where she had stashed her clothes. On the way she stopped at a stream to wash off the blood that coated her snout.

At the tree, Anna gently leant up and grabbed her clothes in her mouth. Nursing the precious burden on her back, she trotted through the forest to her secret cave where she always had supplies.

~

Reaching her familiar haunt, Anna unrolled her sleeping bag and placed her unconscious friend on it. Wasting no time, she dressed and loaded up the fire pit with some of the wood stacked near the rear wall. Soon the flickering light of the flames illuminated the shelter, filling it with warmth.

Sparing a wistful thought of her barely touched kill, Anna sighed and cleared the leaves and debris from near the fire pit. She kept looking at her friend, trying to figure out what to say to her.

It was over an hour before Emma showed any sign of life. By the time she started stirring, Anna had caught herself wishing more than once she would wake up and they could get this over with. Being human during the full moon was putting strain on Anna emotionally. To her it felt like multiple PMS days rolled into one little ball of angst in her stomach.

Sitting on the opposite side of the fire to her friend, Anna watched as Emma woke up slowly. She blinked her eyes in the glare of the flames as her memories come flooding back.

"It's about time," Anna said grumpily, "You've been out for bloody hours... Princess."

"Don't you call me princess," Emma snarled grimacing as she held her hand to her head. "You clearly have some explaining to do, missy."

"Missy!? Since when do you call me Missy? You sound like Ms. Claxton in one of her moods."

"I call you Missy since clearly I missed something, because the dream I just had was nuts."

"Well, Alice. I hate to tell you there is no rabbit hole," Anna said grinning, "There was no dreaming- what you saw was pure truth. What the hell are you doing out here anyways?"

Emma blinked slowly, staring into the flames, "I was following you. You've been weird all night- and I had a feeling something was up."

Anna's mind whirled. "It was you in the corridor! You set Mrs. Claxton off."

"Yeah," Emma said smiling, "Nearly got caught too- ducked out of sight just at the last second. I didn't see where you went; you just seemed to disappear. I didn't know where you had gone until I heard the front door and saw you running across the lawn... Where did you learn to run like that and why the hell haven't you joined the track team?"

"I hate the elitist jerks on the track team, and we are getting off the main topic here. This isn't how I had planned on this conversation going."

"You're a werewolf; I've seen the movies...Duh." Emma rolled her eyes.

"Really? That's it? Just 'hey would you look at that'. No, 'oh my god screaming fit' or flat denial?"

Emma looked exasperated, "What crawled up your ass and died? Look I've known something was odd about you since you turned up here. I also remember your reactions to watching all those sci-fi movies."

Anna blinked at her friend, "That is why you're my best friend, Emma. If you had been anyone else I would have had to kill you. As to the bitchy part- it's a full moon and my human form feels... itchy I guess is the best way to describe it."

Emma went pale at her first comment, "You wouldn't kill anyone, would you Anna?"

"I'd have to. I would die if I released the Secret and whoever knew would be taken down along with me." Anna said bluntly, "How do you think we have kept the Secret for as long as we have?"

"Well, clearly someone let loose or there wouldn't be any in movies and crap." Emma said, with a smile.

"Alright, so a couple have gotten wind of it, but that was many centuries ago. So much that it fell into myth and turned into Hollywood film food. It's not like there are people who know we exist outside the packs and other Supes."

"Supes?" Emma asked, curiosity getting the better of her. Anna hesitated, she wasn't sure how much she should say, to protect her friend.

"C'mon, Anna. I know a little I may as well know it all."

"Well, Werewolves are called Weres for short. We are the most social and predominant of Were breeds-"

"Breeds?"

"Well, Werewolves turn into wolves-"

"Duh"

"Shut up and let me finish. Well, other kinds turn into other animals too. We are called two natured, for obvious reasons. Supes is the term for everything non-mortal; you being mortal. You are a plain old human and therefore not a Supe. You wouldn't know about any of this if you hadn't snooped. But now that you do, we must take measures to protect you." Anna got up and went to her backpack. Something silver glittered in her hand as she sat next to Emma.

As hard as she tried, Emma couldn't help but flinch at her friend's closeness. The hurt showed in Anna's eyes. Putting her hand on Anna's arm, Emma said, "Sorry, Anna, I just can't stop picturing the horse-sized wolf covered in blood, snarling at me."

Anna shrugged her shoulders, "I didn't realise who you were. I stopped when I did."

Pulling out the knife Anna showed her friend, "Now that you know the Secret, our lives are in mortal danger. The bond of friendship is not enough for us to be safe. Tonight I will take you as my blood sister, to ensure that you keep and protect the Secret that has become yours to keep in your heart."

"Erm, blood sister? That sounds a little creepy. Is wolf catchy?"

Anna rolled her eyes, "Our blood is not enough to release your second nature completely. You may just like your steaks a little more rare, your senses will be slightly heightened and you may feel the pull of the moon, but you will not become a wolf, nor will you feel your second nature's presence...I'm pretty sure."

"Uh, you're pretty sure!? You haven't done this before?"

Anna shifted uncomfortably, 'Well, No. Not exactly, but the ritual was part of our learning from childhood. All Weres know how to do it."

"You said something about my second nature? I'm not anything special."

"All humans have a second nature, but most aren't in tune enough to feel it. The Native Americans called it their spirit guide; others have called it the gods within them... My people are just more in tune with them and are able to let the second side choose our form."

"...No crap"

"It's also the number one leading cause of schizophrenia... not that that will happen here."

The silence that filled the cave was deep with thought.

"Ok," said Emma, taking a deep breath, "how does this voodoo work?"

"It's not voodoo," said Anna indignantly, "it's an ancient rite passed down by-"

"Yeah, yeah I get it! No need to read the whole thing out, just explain it to me."

"I cut your forearm, you cut mine, we press them together and recite the Promise."

"sure... easy enough." Emma said slowly, "I don't think I can cut your arm though, nor do I like the idea of you cutting open mine."

"Well, it's that or face the Trial and die."

Emma went pale, "on second thoughts, the cut sounds good."

Moving to the mouth of the cave, Anna basked in the moonlight, silently apologising to Luna for her primary form. She took up her best friend hands and held them firm. She could feel her shaking from nerves. Giving her a smile for reassurance, Anna raised the hand with the knife and slowly drew it up Emma's arm, the tip welling with crimson blood.

Emma muttered a string of choice words that would have landed her in a terms worth of detentions.

"Oooow!" Emma said loudly when Anna finally drew up the blade.

Anna rolled her eyes and handed over the knife handle first. With a deep breath Emma closed her eyes and ran the tip through her friend's flesh and down her arm. Once she hit the wrist, she dropped the knife on the ground as though she was burnt. "Doing well. Em. Just repeat after me," Anna said, looking up at the shining face of Luna, "Dearest Luna, who art our mother."

"Seriously? Ok, sorry. Dearest Luna, who art our mother."

"Be with us this night, as we join each other."

"Be with us this night, as we join each other."

"In friends, in life, in family, in blood..."

"In friends, in life, in family, in blood..."

"We ask you bless our new found bond."

"We ask you bless our new found bond."

"In your pure light, we have become one."

"In your pure light, we have become one."

Anna gabbed her friends bleeding arm and pressed her cut along it. Pure heat surged along their arms, binding them together. Emma's scream pierced the silent night, scaring the nesting birds from the trees. Anna closed her eyes, fighting the pain in her own way. As suddenly as the heat had surged, a cold sharp relief swept after it, soothing in its wake. Emma pulled her arm away as soon as she could.

"Mother FUCKER! That hurt!!!!" Emma yelled at Anna. She held her arm up to the bright moonlight that bathed the clearing. Her wound had closed and left a thin scar that could only be seen if she looked at it really hard.

"I'm sorry Emma, but it really was the only way. My blood healed the wound at least." Anna went inside to the cave, itching her body as she went.

Emma sat down on the other side of the fire, gingerly. "Can I ask you for a favour?" Emma asked timidly.

Anna looked up from the flames startled, "What?"

Emma shifted uncomfortably, "Could I see you change please?"

Anna stared at Emma in shock. "I have to strip down," Anna warned, making a decision fast.

Emma glared at her, "There is nothing you have that I haven't seen. Communal showers, remember?"

Anna rolled her eyes at her friend's brashness. She turned away as she stripped. Closing her eyes, Anna called forth her second nature, who was more than happy to take the reins. Go easy on her, she is still frightened, her human side reminded herself in passing.

Emma watched in disbelief; not wanting to blink for fear of missing anything. Slowly the air surrounding her friend shimmered and became hazy. Her friend's naked back rippled and shifted. White hair sprouted all over her and the bones cracked and reformed. Anna dropped down on all fours as the process slowly completed.

Anna, a pure white wolf, turned around and sat on her haunches, panting. Emma could almost swear her friend was almost smiling. She found herself smiling in return. Though she was scared, she inched closer to the beast until she was sitting next to her. She could feel a huge amount of heat emanating from her friend; it was like sitting next to a second fire.

Slowly, Emma put her hand up and offered her hand to smell. Without further ado, Anna licked her friend's hand, leaving it dripping in saliva. "EEEEEEWWWWWWW" screamed Emma, rubbing her hand on a rag in disgust. Anna rumbled in her chest almost like a laugh. Just like that, they were comfortable and Emma was no longer afraid of her friend's second nature.

Emma rubbed her arm, unconsciously touching along the new scar that ran all the way down her forearm.

Anna phased back into her human form and got dressed. Emma watched her friend carefully, a look of mischief crossed her face.

"what?" asked Anna hesitantly

"What else can you do?" asked Emma, her smile growing

"You have no idea" grinned Anna evilly.

Emma's grin matched, "we are going to have some fun, Sis!"