Moonlit Fur Chronicles: Torn Fur

Buzz Buzz! I growled softly and rolled over to pick up my phone. It had been buzzing seemingly nonstop. The bright light blinded me as I unlocked the screen.

Sloan was calling me, “Do you know what time it is?” I muttered angrily, hoping to not wake my roommate.

“Do you want to see something cool?” Sloan’s voice was giddy. He was always getting into trouble, often dragging his friends down with him. “Come on, Reese! Come on!”

I rolled my eyes, “What is it?”

“You should see it, not hear about it! Let’s Go!”

I groaned and swung my legs off the bed, “This better be good Sloan, I have a test first thing in the morning.” I pulled on my shorts and tee shirt while Sloan was rambling on about this was the coolest thing he had ever seen; which in fact was possible.

He had grown up in this little town of Gladsdale, enrolled in the small high school and even smaller college. That’s why I picked this little college in The middle of nowhere, nice and quiet.

I quietly shut my dorm room door and snuck down The hall. Sloan was waiting for me in his jeep just outside. He was practically bouncing up and down in his seat as I opened the car door.

“Let’s go then,” I muttered as Sloan pushed the accelerator to the floor. I tried to force myself awake as Sloan chattered away. He was one of my only friends here and one of the very few people who knew my secret. He knew my secret and still treated me like a human being, which is why I put up with his 2am adventures and over the top weirdness.

The trip to the woods was short but it seemed longer than normal because it was so dark. I could smell it before I could see it. It smelled like a campfire but it smelled wrong, my half asleep brain couldn’t figure it out. As we got closer Sloan seemed to get even more excited, he was bouncing in his seat like he was about to explode.

My brain finally snapped awake, I recognized the weird smell, “Sloan, we need to leave now!”

It was too late, we rounded the last turn and saw something that burned into our memories forever. There were two massive wolves hunkered over what appeared to be dead bodies.

“Turn around! Turn around now,” I hissed.

The biggest wolf had dark fur and the other had light colored fur. The dark fur perked up its ears and swung its huge head in our direction. I shot a quick glance at Sloan, he was frozen by fear. I smacked Sloan hard on his arm but it was like slapping a statue. I rolled my eyes, wrenched open the car door, and kicked off my shoes.

I could feel my bones as they shifted and broke, the pain was intense. Sloan had to be protected. He knew my secret but he had never seen it in action before. I managed to rip my shorts from my legs before my body convulsed into a fur explosion. My last human thought was, ‘Damn, that was my favorite shirt.’

Wicked fangs instantly grew from my gums, razor sharp talons replaced my fingers. A deep growl rumbled from my chest. The two wolves looked at me, the blood glistened on their muzzles. There was maybe three seconds of silence before fangs and fur flew.

My enemies were gigantic but I was faster. I raced in tight circles and somehow kept one of them between me and the other wolf. The light fur wolf slowed down just enough for me to bite down hard on its foreleg. Blood splurged and bone shattered; one down one to go. There was almost a smile in the dark fur wolf’s eye. It surged forward with incredible speed, its teeth clamped down on my ear.

Blood poured as I yanked my head away and jumped back. The wolf’s eyes flickered savagely in the rippling fire light. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the light fur wolf as it hobbled away with its ruined paw raised off the ground. The dark fur wolf noticed the light fur wolf’s retreat. It cocked its head to one side, as if in deep thought.

Every muscle in my body was tense, I waited for the inevitable attack. The dark fur wolf studied me for a moment; I growled softly and circled slowly until I was between Sloan and the wolf. It turned around and followed the light fur wolf into the woods. I crawled toward Sloan completely exhausted. I collapsed in front of his jeep and willed myself to change back, to shed my fur and rejoin Sloan as a human.

Sloan stared in disbelief as I pulled myself to my feet and used his jeep for support.

“Sloan! Wake up and hand me my shorts!” Sloan somehow collected himself enough to scramble out of the jeep and find my shorts and the shreds of my shirt.

“I... I found... your shorts, but your shirt...your favorite shirt....” I leaned heavily on the jeep, ” I know, Sloan. Trust me, I know. Shoes and shorts please.” He awkwardly thrashed around the grass and leaves as he searched for my shoes. “Under the jeep Sloan.” I spied the toe of my shoes poke out from behind a front tire. He finally retrieved my shoes and shorts. He slid them over the hood of the jeep sheepishly. “Seriously dude? This can not be your first time,” I scoffed. I pulled my shorts up around my waist. “This can not be your first time seeing a topless girl before....” The way he forced eye contact with me told me I was wrong, “Great... just great.”

I tied my shoelaces and glared at him, “Are you driving or am I?” I felt his gaze shift from my ear to my chest and back to my ear. “I’ll drive,” I pushed him into the passenger side door, he was grinning like an idiot. I rolled my eyes and started driving. The cold wind tickled my torn ear, it was painful in an oddly nice way. I glanced sideways at Sloan, he was staring straight ahead and his eyes were wide. He was trying to process what had happened; that was a conversion for another time. We finally got back to campus, “Reese...” Sloan started softly. I looked him dead in the eye, “We will talk in the daylight.” Sloan looked straight ahead and replied, “In the daylight.”

I stumbled out of the jeep and up to my dorm room. I didn’t bother trying to be super quiet, I was too tired to care. My torn ear itched ceaselessly; it would be fully healed by morning and leave a small silver scar. I stepped into the bathroom and took inventory of my battle wounds. In addition to my torn ear, I had a dozen scratches, claw marks and dirt all over my body. They would be quite serious if not for my super healing afforded me by my werewolf blood. I turned the hot water in the shower to the highest temperature possible and waited till the steam filled the room. I stood under the water, growling softly as the water painfully explored my many deep gashes. I stared at the wall, trying to process the events of the morning. Sloan was going to be an absolute wreck and probably never talk to me again. It happened before, people being mean and just disappearing from my life….but this was worse. He had seen my other side, who knows how he was going to react… I mentally prepared myself to lose him as a friend. I knew life was going to be lonely but life as a wolf was definitely worse. I felt completely and utterly alone in the world.

Morning came way too quickly, I had gotten maybe one or two hours of sleep after I crawled out of the shower. I knew I had to get up for a test in class, I seriously felt like ditching class to sleep more. I psyched myself up and got dressed, I was spending good money to be a student here and needed to stay focused. I shouldered my book bag and left the dorm toward my classes. I sensed someone walk up behind him and caught a scent, it was Sloan. He bounced around me, walking backwards so he could face me. “Oh my god!” Sloan beamed, “last night was so epic! I can’t believe it!” Feeling completely exhausted and irritable, I retorted, “Do you even know what happened last night?”

“Yeah I know what happened last night! Incredible wolf battle! Dude! I wish I could’ve recorded it! You were so badass!” I had to calm him down somehow. “Sloan! Shut up, for a minute! Listen” His mouth closed but his eyes gleamed with excitement. “Now, what did you wake me up to see, before the…wolf stuff.” The word ‘wolf’ stuck in my throat. “Dude, I was going to show you those dead bodies! So sick!” I swallowed hard, “You mean they were dead ‘before’ the wolves got there?” My question didn’t phase Sloan at all, “Of course! Why would I take you to see a live body?” I had to make him understand how serious this was.

“Sloan, you dumbass, that means there’s been a murder! And we were there! And my blood is everywhere!” Sloans jaw dropped, comprehension filled his eyes, “What are we going to do?” Thunder boomed, punctuating his concern. Heavy rain started to fall and we raced to find shelter. We were nearly drenched even though the nearest shelter was only a hundred yards away. “I guess that answers that question,” Sloan panted. I nodded and shook the water from my hair, “We got seriously lucky, Sloan. If this rain keeps up, it’ll wash away my blood and your tire tracks. Now let’s get to class! Don’t want to be more late than we already are.”

Sloan opened the door, “Are you coming Reese?” I nodded, “Yeah, I’m gonna catch my breath first. I’ll catch up.” He shrugged and walked into the building. I waited a minute to make sure Sloan wouldn’t come back. I plunged myself back into the rain and thunder. I had to get back to the clearing and search for clues; it looked like I’d be ditching class anyhow. If the wolves were involved, the local authorities wouldn’t be able to do much. Federal crimes such as murder and the like was typically unheard of in such a small close knit community. This was definitely a huge deal and going to be an even bigger pain in my ass. I tried to shift into my wolf body, I could run faster for longer and my sense of smell was much better. The wolf inside me seemed to be sleepy, the sounds of rain seemed to quell its rage.

I was completely soaked, I knew I had a limited window of time before the pelting rain washed away the unfamiliar wolves scents. My clothes stuck to my body as I ran hard, dodged trees and sidestepped bushes. My heart pounded, adrenaline spiked, and my inner wolf seemed to perk up at the thrill of the hunt. Leaves smacked me in the face and tree branches scratched at my arms but I couldn’t slow down. I was almost at the spot, just a little further. When I arrived, I tripped over something and fell hard. I laid in the mud, gasping for air. I looked up and saw nothing; no bodies, no blood, no bones, nothing. Was I in the right place? Had I run far enough? My anxiety was sky high. No! I recognized the campfire ring, the logs were burnt but they were there. I inhaled deeply, tasting the air. The faintest scent of blood and fire tickled my nose. I couldn’t get a direction; the same rain that covered my blood had washed away any hint of the two wolves. I pulled myself up and sat against a nearby tree, some of the brush had been beaten down in last night’s fight. There were no other signs that anything happened there last night. The bones were gone too, someone was covering for the wolves. This was bad, very bad.