Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The river that ran through the town was way colder than the one by my house. I guess since this one was coming in from the mountains in the east it makes sense, with snow run-off and stuff. It was a strange feeling because even though the water felt cold to my skin, it didn't give me goosebumps or anything. I guess my new blood isn't easily cooled. Can only my emotion alter my temperature now? All the other guys jumped into the river after me. I guess they didn't want to make me feel awkward, which was nice since it was about to start getting that way. We relaxed a bit about chest deep in the center of the river. It looked like we still have a couple hours of daylight, so we took our time. It didn't look like Rowan was worried about it so I wasn't either. Brayden didn't seem like he was a very uptight guy, just caring. As the cool water trickled down my throat, it made me curious. "What it's like to drink water in wolf form?"
A couple guys laughed out loud. "Your funny kid," Nick started, he had just finished dunking Rowan who was unexpectedly drinking water too. "Depends how much wolf. If your half wolf or less, it's just about the same as human, just a little harder since your mouth or snout is a little longer-Whoaa!!" He shouted as Rowan came up from underneath him throwing him through the air behind him. The splash sounded with a slap, sounded like he back-flopped. I winced.
"Yeah, but if your any more than half wolf, you might as well lap the water," Rowan so kindly finished his thought, since Nick was currently underwater. "it's a little slower, but it won't make you sick, and it won't give you cramps either if you're running a lot. It's funny how animals are made with survival skills build into their bodies, and humans just have to learn everything. Luckily for us, we're both!" I tried not to look at the guys that were slowly creeping up to Rowan's backside, which I'm glad I didn't. Nick and Ben double teamed Rowan and caught him completely off-guard. Laughing really felt good after a day like today, and a day like yesterday. In fact I laughed more than I ever remember doing. I hope this never changes.

Once we finally made it back to the inn, the waitress from earlier was behind the counter. As soon as we entered into the room, she looked up with slight surprise. "Oh!" She said, "Your friend has already gotten you fellows a couple rooms, 12 and 13. There's a couple beds in each one, so some of you will have to sleep in the floor. Sweet dreams gentlemen." She was obviously staring at Rowen during that last part. He smiled at her, thanked her, then we all went down the hallway. It surprised me how long the hallway was the building didn't look that big from the outside. There were several lanterns throughout the hallway, and a couple of pictures. There was a mirror at the end of the hallway, security reasons I guess. When I looked into it as we passed, I stopped dead in my tracks. Looking back at me, where a scrawny 10 year old had been; what looked like a dangerous teenager, still a little short, but way too muscular, stood looking back at me.
"Where did those come from?" I asked a little too exuberantly.
"This the first time looking at yourself since you transformed?" Brayden asked from down a hall a little, I looked at him for a second, then looked right back at the mirror. "Yeah the muscles just appear after the first time you transform, and never go away. Cool huh? Check this out." He grabbed a wooden chair that was against the wall and threw it at me.
"Whoa, what are you-" I started saying as I caught the chair. Did I catch the chair? I could barely feel it's weight, and it probably weighed about 25 pounds.
"Your new muscles are probably a little different than your old ones felt. You have to remember, you have the same muscles in this form as you do in wolf form, just not the right blood flowing through them to get them anywhere near your potential. But you'll still find yourself stonger than any normal human. Here, come to the room and put these on." He tossed me a brand new pair of pants and a shirt. I guess shoes were too expensive for me to just rip through in case I got a little too emotional. Can't blame him, I have a lot to learn.
I must have been dreaming, because I found myself surrounded by the bounty hunters again. But there were 3 or 4 times as many this time, and I was alone. They were all shouting at me, mocking me, and throwing trash at me. I was crying and I couldn't transform. One of them walked up and smashed me in the face with his elbow. I heard a loud crack as he broke my nose. Another walked up to me and shot me in the chest with his crossbow, then kicked me to the ground. I cried more and I could feel the pain but I still couldn't transform. Where was my pack? Where were my friends to protect me? Brayden? Rowan? Where are you guys? Please help me.. The men around me were laughing, still shouting, still mocking. I wanted them to stop, it hurt so badly. Please stop! Please! "GET OFF ME!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and I was finally able to transform, and I felt the familiar fire in my veins and the killing began. Louder than any of the bones I was breaking I heard a loud "LYRIC!" echo inside me head and I woke up with a snarling roar so loud it probably shook the whole building. Brayden and Rowan were holding me down on the floor as my body was shifting back and forth from wolf form to human. My confusion coming from dreamworld to reality really played a number on my emotions, and I couldn't get a hold of myself.
"Quiet!" Brayden whispered, he began humming trying to soothe me and then told Rowan, "I got him, you run to the front desk and ask what the heck that snarling was." And Rowan was off. "Hey Lyric, you okay? Looks like you had quite the nightmare." Brayden's casual tone helped calm me down.
"Okay, I think I'm okay," I was pretty sure I had control, the room felt like it was getting cooler. "That's never happened before." I beseeched. "I'm okay!" I pleaded again resonated with confidence and he finally let me go. "I think I'm going to go for a walk."
"Ha, it's a good thing you decided to sleep in your old tunic, you annihilated it in your sleep." He was right, it was in shreds on the floor. Bummer. At least I have my new clothes, I guess I'll just have to sleep nude for a while. "Take it easy, don't cause any trouble out there, but go ahead and cool off."
"Thanks." I said. I grabbed my clothes and threw them haphazardly, and jumped out the window. I didn't want to be there if anyone came in the room looking for a snarling wolf, I just might give them a show. I walked to the edge of town, where the crappy wood wall was, and made an easy jump to the top, and descended down just as easily. This new strength was quite convenient. I took off my clothes and hid them in a cavity in the wall where it looked like no one would find. It began raining. It felt so good, running down my too warm skin. It was a strange sensation as it went from water hitting and rolling down my skin, to hitting my fur and soaking in. I could barely feel it anymore, but the cold rain sure felt good on my panting tongue. And I ran. Familiar, like I was born to run this way. It was the first time I've run in my full wolf form since the first time I transformed. Only time time I knew what was going on, I could feel my legs bend in ways I wasn't use to. I could turn sharper since my shoulders were no longer my focal turning point. Weaving in and out of trees was a breeze, I even found myself jumping off the sides of tress to prevent speed loss. It felt strange as my claws dug into the tree bark and into the grassy dirt as I darted around the forest. I even felt the occasional rocks shatter beneath my mighty paws. I didn't weigh all that much, nor were my paws anything special, but with the ferocity of my feet hitting the ground and the fact my claws felt like they were as hard as steel, they didn't stand a chance. I wasn't getting tired. I must have been running kilometers in moments, but I didn't feel like I was straining myself. But I felt so fast, how could I go any faster? Time for overdrive. I felt that even though my run was like a sprint, it wasn't the extent my muscles could handle. I lowered my eyes, dropped my tail, and pushing my muscles to their limit, my eyes seemed to adjust to the speed. Trees were passing by like flashes of light, yet I could still see them as clear as if I were walking by them. My paws were no longer getting full traction due to the wet ground due to the split second I allowed my paws to connect to the ground. It just wasn't long enough to get full traction. I pushed harder. It was a mistake. A giant oak stood straight in my path and I didn't even see it since I was watching my feet move. I hit it hard, I heard a loud thunderous crack, and the tree began to tip over. My yaulp I let out wasn't as loud as Brayden's, but it was probably still heard by plenty of forest wildlife. As crazy as this whole mess is, it seems just as crazy that I didn't break a bone, not even a cracked rib. Man the constitution of a werewolf is incredible. I was walking around the tree when I smelled a peculiar smell. It smelled like a mixture of nuts and berries, accompanied with fur, water, and blood. Though I had never smelled a squirrel before, I somehow knew that is what it was. I could smell it's scent so vividly I could almost see it. Like a breeze of taunting smell pulling me in that direction. I guessed it was about time to test my tracking ability, so I went for it. Keeping my nose in the scent trail of the little beast wasn't difficult at all. I found that if I took short rapid breaths through my nose, I could detect a decrease in the smell and I would mildly adjust my snout accordingly to keep in the center of the trail. It didn't take long to catch up with the little guy, he was up the side of a large hill about half way. It was connected to a mountain, but almost completely juxtaposed into it's own small mountain. I could hear the waterfall at the bottom of the hill from here since it was so quiet in this little glade. Like a small valley with large rocks surrounding a pond. The water was barely moving, and only from the slow current and small ripples caused by the squirrel. My first track was a success, easy as pie. I slowly walked up to and past the small creature, so quietly it didn't notice me until I was about 4 or 5 meters from it. I guessed that he smelled me, since he ran so fast up the nearest tree it might have almost been a challenge to catch him, but probably not. I thought I would give what Rowan said a try, I was thirsty anyway from the long run. When I got to the clear water, I noticed that the surface was almost as reflective as the mirror in the hallway of the inn. The waxing half covered crescent moon provided an immense amount of light to the little hideaway. Plenty enough for me to see as if the sun was out anyway. I stared at myself in the water. I don't know why I was surprised to see myself, I guess I was expecting to see a ferocious and rabid beast, but for the second time tonight I was completely taken off guard to what I saw staring back at me. Like the most beautiful husky I'd ever seen, light brown fur, with dark low-lights and a white chest. My eyes were still green, I'd never seen a dog with green eyes before. They looked so innocent, yet full, as if they could tell entire compilations of chronicles surpassing lifetimes of emotion. The blackness of my pupils looked like they were hiding insurmountable sums of desire to see what the future holds. Just as I blinked, I saw the sparkle of the moon reflecting off my eye from the water's surface. My thirst got the better of me and I drank away my moon-lit visage off of the water's surface. Lapping water was a lot slower than gulping, but it did feel nice not to have any discomfort in my stomach. I hunkered down on the biggest rock that I found closest to the shallowest part of the pond's mouth, and laid on my back and stared into the sky. I saw a bird flying across my view of the moon, and wondered what it would be like to fly, and realized moving as fast as I was minutes ago was probably the closest I'd ever get. That didn't drag my mood down too much seeing as how no bird on the planet could more as swiftly as I could. Still, the freedom must be nice. The freedom to fly through the endless sky, to soar with the one you love. Then I began remembering what my parents told me about love. How I was lucky and fortunate that I wasn't like them and would be able to one day have a wife and family and love them and watch them grow up. Some dream. Oh well, the friendships I'm going to build with my pack are going to be plenty of companionship. It's not like I'd ever need any girl in my life anyways. As I listened to the hooting of an owl, wondering what it was thinking or portraying through it's howling, it made me wonder if all animals have their own form of resonance, being able to communicate with their brethren. It gave me the idea to try and howl with an image of the moon and the feeling of desire, so see if I could get a normal wolf to howl back. So I filled my small lungs with as much air as I could fit, and let loose. It was a chilling sound, so pristine and clear. It wasn't any longer than 5 seconds until what sounded like 20 wolves responded with the exact same resonation. It looks like I have more in common with common animals than I expected. All wolves desire the moon. But one day, I'll have it. I'll have that sky.
It was easier than I anticipated to follow my own scent back to town. It was incredible familiar, and even if I didn't have the scent, it seemed that I knew the landscape like the back of my paw. Which I guess I didn't know that well, seeing as how I'd only had the option of a paw for less than a week. I headed back to my storage spot in the wall and found Brayden there waiting for me. Expecting him to be angry, I began to explain myself, but he wouldn't have it. "You needed some air, I had no need to worry about you. Besides, I heard that moon cry of yours, and yes, we all desire it, it didn't take you long to realize how badly you wanted it. You seem a thinker for a young kid Lyric, I like you." He tossed me my clothes and began walking, "Follow me, we have a real job this time."