Tanner and Remy were now both in their wolf forms and ready to fight. Tension rippled through the crowd that was witnessing the event. They didn’t really know who to cheer on. The instinct was of course to support their alpha but almost everyone knew Remy and even those who didn’t were impressed by his devotion and determination. A boy defending his girl by risking his own life was winning over some hearts from the crowd. Em clenched her fists as she watched the two wolves start circling each other, growling and baring their teeth, looking for an opening.
Tanner attacked first. He jumped towards Remy who managed to dodge the attack and stumble away. Tanner landed on the ground, quickly turned around and jumped again. This time he crashed against Remy who was quickly pinned on the ground. Remy growled furiously. He was in a bad spot already. He tried to dodge the bites that were aimed to his throat while trying to sink his own teeth in Tanner. From his position, Tanner had the upper hand and he easily bit Remy in the neck. The grey wolf whimpered and kicked furiously trying to get free.
Em’s heart was in her throat as she watched the two wolves clash together. She also felt Erik’s hands gripping on her shoulders, fingers almost trembling. Remy managed to slip away when Tanner loosened his grip for a few seconds. He wasn’t in good condition though. His dark grey fur was now dyed with dark red from the neck. But he refused to give up and turned to face Tanner again. He growled and ran towards the alpha who just stood still, confident and fearless. The wolves clashed together and tried to get a hold of the other one. Teeth snapped together and they growled and barked furiously at each other. Em wanted to cover her eyes but she also wanted to see what would happen. The whole crowd was quiet.
Then a heart wrenching whimper cut the fight. Tanner had sunk his teeth on the side of Remy’s neck. There were drops of blood on the ground and Tanner’s snout was red. He chomped one more time and then let go. Remy slumped to the ground and didn’t move.
“Noooo!” Em screamed. This wasn’t possible. This couldn’t happen. No, no way. She felt a turmoil of emotions inside of her. She didn’t think what she was going to do when she darted towards Tanner. No one tried to stop her. Everyone was in shock. Em charged towards Tanner gritting her teeth and fighting back tears, then she exploded. Pieces of clothing and rope scattered around when a light brown wolf burst out and attacked Tanner in blind rage. Growling furiously, she sunk her teeth deep in his shoulder. Tanner was too stunned to even realise what had happened before Em had let go and aimed for his neck.
Everyone watched the scene without knowing what to do. Their alpha was being attacked and should be defended but no one dared to go between the fighting parties. If angry women were scary, angry she-wolves were worse. They would’ve had the strength of numbers, but no one wanted to get a share of that rage. With adrenaline and her strong emotions driving her forward, she might easily take down several of the pack members. Relentlessly and without giving Tanner a chance to retaliate, Em kept attacking him. Before this she hadn’t really even punched anyone properly, she wasn’t one to fight. But now… This wolf had hurt her dear Remy, and he’d pay for that. She would shred Tanner to pieces if she had to.
While Carter was just as shocked as the others (but actually very happy), he didn’t just stand still. He gestured Mikey to follow him as they ran to Remy. The grey wolf didn’t move but closer inspection revealed that he was still breathing. That was a good sign but there was no time to waste.
“Call Robert, quickly. And give me your shirt,” Carter instructed. They dragged Remy away from the two wolves and Carter tried to press the shirt against the biggest wounds to stop bleeding. Every now and then he glanced towards the fighting wolves. He couldn’t help but admire Em’s courage. Sure, all that was most likely around 98% pure instinct but there was still that tiny part of her that wanted to protect Remy and was clearly ready to do anything to do so. She was a very natural fighter too. She dodged quickly and attacked at every opening. She didn’t seem to even flinch when Tanner managed to bite her back a few times. She just continued her relentless attacks. There were tufts of fur on the ground and both wolves had their face covered in blood.
“Robert will come as fast as he can,” Mikey said then putting down his phone. “He was already heading home from work.”
“Yeah, I thought so,” Carter said and looked down at Remy who was breathing heavily. “You better not give up now, you hear,” he said. “Your girl’s there fighting for you, so you better hang on. I won’t be happy if you die either.”
“Should we go help Em?” Mikey asked. Carter shook his head.
“She seems to be doing just fine,” he said and nodded towards the battle. Em had pushed Tanner to the edges of their battlefield and close to the crowd which quickly gave space to the fighting pair. Tanner looked tattered with hair missing from his shoulders and neck and with most fur red and soaked. While Em had clearly took a few good hits, she looked like she could still go on for hours. Tanner on the other hand didn’t seem very enthusiastic to fight anymore.
“Also, I don’t want to take the risk of getting from those teeth,” Carter said. There was a chance that the wolf would attack anyone who’d try to get in between the fight.
Em bared her teeth one more time and growled at Tanner who had now pressing himself against the ground, tail between his legs. The pack looked at the scene astounded. The light brown wolf snapped her teeth only a few centimetres away from Tanner’s snout, and he backed off hastily, turning then around and running to the woods. Even the alpha couldn’t take the furious attacks of a wolf who thought she has lost her mate.
In the same second when Tanner disappeared from her sight, Em turned around and trotted towards Carter and Mikey. They backed off slightly, cautious of the wolf. But she didn’t seem aggressive anymore. She walked to Remy and sniffed him carefully, licking his wounds and cheek, whimpering softly.
“Hey, don’t worry,” Carter said. The wolf looked at him with her blue eyes. Carter touched the wolf’s head softly, giving her a little pat. “He’ll be alright. You did well.”
With a deep and heavy sigh, Em lied down next to Remy. She was tired and wanted to rest.
Meanwhile the pack was full of confusion and was starting to panic. It seemed like their alpha had been driven out by this young wolf, stranger to the pack. Some told that Tanner had even accused her of scheming with Tanner and Remy. Had the plan been to overthrow Tanner and take control of the pack? But Tanner didn’t seem like he was as clean as a whistle either. Many were questioning why he had taken this girl captive and why he couldn’t have given him to Remy. Seemed odd to just force the boy here after he had been away for a long time without causing any trouble. No one seemed to know what to think but no one seemed to be too upset about this situation. They didn’t really mind that Tanner was gone.
Blake had disappeared once it had become clear that Tanner wouldn’t win the fight. He didn’t want to get caught in the aftermath of this whole episode, so it was better to leave. And if the alpha got beat by a girl like this, he had no reason to stay in such a pack. He had had high expectations of Tanner, but he had been a disappointment. So, Blake had gone to his room, gathered all the stuff he really needed and left before the fight had even ended.
Robert saw Blake walking down the road as he speeded towards the manor, raising a cloud of dust behind him and car wheels shooting small pebbles to the woods like they were bullets. Mikey had given him a very heart-wrenching call. He’d never forgive himself if Remy died now.
When he parked his car and ran to the yard where most people were still gathered, he was shocked by the sight. There really had been a battle. Ground was spotted with red, there were paw prints and claw marks in the sand and tufts of hair were floating around in the wind.
He quickly spotted Carter and Mikey who were sitting next to two wolves. Robert recognized Remy immediately but the light brown one he couldn’t name. As he walked closer, the brown one raised her head to see who was coming. She growled as a warning, but Carter touched her again.
“It’s just Robert. You know him already. He’s going to help Remy. And you too.”
Em huffed and laid her head down, resting it on her paws.
“Is that Em?” Robert asked, pointing at the wolf. Carter nodded and smiled.
“You bet. You should’ve seen the show she put on. She totally kicked Tanner’s ass. I hope someone took a video.”
“Oh really?” Robert said and looked at Em who huffed and wagged her tail. “Why is she still in her wolf form?” he asked then. Carter shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know really. She might not know how to change back. It was an impulse transformation.”
“Oh.” It wasn’t a new phenomenon to Robert or anyone else in the pack either. Very strong emotions could trigger the change even outside the full moon or the powers that pack life gave.
“But she doesn’t seem too fussed. I think she just wants to protect Remy. Who is still a wolf, too by the way. I think he’s too weak to turn back.”
“Yeah, that’s probably it. Let’s take care of him first and then focus on you, young lady. Looks like you’ve managed to stop the worst bleeding, good job. Can you help me carry him to the house?”
“Yeah, of course.” Carter and Mikey stood up and help Robert to pick up Remy. Em stood up as well and followed them inside. The pack members also slowly came inside after them, but no one followed them downstairs to Robert’s operation room, apart from Em.
They entered a clean well-lit room with single table in the middle of the room and many cabins covering the walls. Remy was laid down on the table. Robert took off his jacket and rolled his shirt sleeves.
“Mikey, if you could help me with Remy? We need to clean the wounds and give him some liquids and nutrients. The fool clearly hasn’t eaten anything in a while. Oh, the drawbacks of being in love. You need to keep a closer eye on him from now on Em,” Robert said. Em snorted and wagged her tail again. Robert smiled. What a sweet girl. “Carter, could you help her turn back to human?”
Mikey went to help Robert. He held an IV bag while Robert started cleaning the wounds. They were quite deep and it’d probably best to fix them properly when Remy was human again. But some kind of temporary solution was needed until then. He had his little own doctor’s office here since fights and injuries weren’t unusual with this kind of lifestyle. Fights with other wolves or other animals happened more or less regularly and even if wolves healed quickly, some wounds did appreciate human help. Robert worked effectively and in silence with the confidence brought by years of experience, so Carter turned his attention to Em.
“Alright, let’s get you back to a less hairy form,” he said smiling. Carter really hoped he could explain this properly. Would be a shame if Em stayed as a wolf. Although that hadn’t happened before, not this his knowledge at least. “Okay, so just try to relax. Take deep breaths and try to visualize yourself as a human, okay?”
The wolf nodded and closed her eyes, but nothing happened. Carter sighed. Of course, this wouldn’t be easy… “Just keep trying. You can do it.”
After ten more minutes Em was still a wolf, a slightly stressed one, and Carter was getting stressed too. It didn’t work. Why didn’t it work?
“Okay, uhh, how about you try to imagine yourself changing? Like, your hair recedes back, tail disappears and all that. Try that.” Em tried and it didn’t work. Carter rubbed his temples.
“Remy can’t turn into wolf and you can’t turn back to human. Some couple you are,” he muttered. “Maybe we just have to wait until you just turn back normally. It usually happens at some point,” he said. Em whimpered quietly but a noise from the table drew their attention.
“Woah, Remy do you hear me?” Robert said sounding surprised and worried. Remy had suddenly turned back. He had probably gained enough energy to return to his human form on purpose or just naturally. Whatever was the reason, it had made most of the wounds open and bleed again.
Em’s ears perked up when she heard the name of Remy. She spun around and dashed towards the table. Halfway through the journey she turned back to human, stumbled a little bit from suddenly loosing two legs. Robert and Mikey quickly grabbed her arms and helped her stand up. She had bruises and bite marks around her body but most of them had started to heal already. Her legs felt weak and she leaned heavily against the table while looking at Remy who still was unconscious.
“Remy? Remy can you hear me?” she said softly and touched gently Remy’s face. His skin felt cold and clammy, but he was breathing steadily. “Remy, please.”
Comments (2)
See all