CHPT 267: After Acceptance..

Chilling. A perfect word to describe the emotions invoked within someone witnessing the gleam of sentience radiating from the eyes of a beast. To see them calculating and considering more than the simple chase of one's primal urges. It was off-putting to say the least.

The sheltered humans of the outside world knew little of such a fact. All they knew was that the Monsters killed them-- the weak and fearful humans. They often knew so little and meant about the same.

They didn't know of the languages, the inner workings, the changes, the connections "Monsters" sewed into existence away from the eyes of man.

The awakened Humans knew. Very little on average, but they still knew. And right after them came the one's that were once human. The changed.

The changed. Beings that knew life from the inside and were forcibly thrown into the world occupying the outside. You had two options in the world of the outside. A simple set of options that everyone has heard and very little have practiced.

Kill or be killed.

People faced with these options were few and far between. But the numbers were growing.

People like the Were's. Men and Women that answered to the call of the Moon, and were as much of a Monster in mind as they were in body.

People like the Vampires. Beings bound to insanity and power by the life-blood of the living, forced to be in an eternal battle between their own urges and balance.

There were more. Some more common, some weaker, some stronger. And some coming back to earth after being gone for years.

They all had to practice the Mantra of "Kill or be Killed.". There were no exceptions. Even the alone and unfortunate-- like Claude. Or the pampered and powerful, like Dolion. Two extremes bound by the same saying.

This is something the changed had to learn quickly.

But, sometimes. In rare cases, it wasn't something that had to be learned. Some beings-- as humans, had minds molded by cruelty and strengthened by their own self importance. Beings like this shift from man to Monster as seamlessly one going from inhaling to exhaling. No matter the consequences or scenarios. They fit the mold of Monster well.

Samuel, fits the mold well.

After facing their Sleeping King, Remus, that fact was set in stone and Samuel's life within their ever-changing Deviant home had changed.

With his mind honed to believe the reason his life had become a living hell was because of Claude, and that his Father had never truly cared for him, he immersed himself into the pack and what it meant to be a Lupine of Remus.

His ego and sense of self-importance, being stoked to a bright purple flame by Jack kept him from having friends-- but gave him easy alliances with some and resulted in a rocky clashing of claw and fang with others. Not Jack's initial plan, but after a while, the Lupine realized there were some things too deeply ingrained within Samuel.

Dolion-- their emotional trainwreck of an Alpha, and his Hitmen still shook him to his core, but for the first time-- he could sleep every now and then before being beaten back into shape or made to eat another rotting corpse. Nothing he wasn't used to. And nothing he wouldn't do if it meant getting his claws on one person...

***

"Cllllaude...." The name roused him from his sleep, rumbling from Dolion's deep velvety smooth voice within his mind.

He opened his eyes in a flash and got to his feet just as fast, scanning the area with both his eyes and ears in a rush to figure out if he was alone....or in danger.

All around him trees stood in the dark, erupting from a ground covered in dense tall grass that tickled his ankles. Further ahead, the sound of rushing water splashing against rocks hit his ears as one of the few sounds active around him. The river had moved in his sleep.

Meaning Dolion was already inside with his hitmen, or they were near.

VWOOMP!

Looks like it was the latter...

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he felt himself partially begin to change in response to his rising pulse that hammered rhythmically in his ears. The light buzzing to start the change morphed into a steady burn as steam rose from his skin followed by thin blonde fur and muscles that pumped with primal power.

He hung close to the trees, watching as they all entered.

The bulk of the pack was the first inside. Large beasts with ears like horns and fangs like knives. They came trotting in, tongues lolling and reddened by blood while shimmering beads of water glowed on their varying colors of fur. Wherever they'd been, it was raining. Last time they'd returned, sand cluttered their paws. It seemed most of the world was at the Lupines disposal.

After the dozens of Lupines came trotting into the Deviant, Dolion's Hitmen entered soon after, pushing out their dominating aura's simply by existing.

The first to enter was Dier. His massive bulk cast a shadow in the grass that threatened to swallow the field as a whole. A gust of wind fell on the lands, brushing his thick dreadlocks out of his face and revealing the stoic blue-eyed zealot of Remus beneath. The only thing that scared Samuel more than his overwhelming bulk was his undying respect for Remus and Dolion-- who he was learning was a royal of sorts.

Behind his back that seemed as wide as a vultures wingspan, Aiko sauntered into their shared dark forest, wearing nothing but a black cloak that hugged her lithe frame as the wind blew against her-- showing both her thin yet deadly muscle and electrifying feminine beauty. It was enough to make Samuel want to do more than simply watch from the distance-- he was never one to creep in the face of beauty. But it's just that. Her face-- it was the opposite of beauty. He was always abruptly reminded of that when his eyes finally lifted from the cream-colored skin around her toned calves and exposed neck that led down to revealing places less than.....modest.

Her face. It was beautiful on the outside. Perfect smooth skin, a slim round nose, full pink lips and cold slim eyes with lashes so thick it almost looked like she wore makeup.

All undeniably beautiful at face value. Then she came closer. The blankness of her expression almost enough to make you wonder if she was real, or if she was a hollow husk of a woman. It was a question he always had until he found himself looking into her pale green eyes that reminded him of a viper. Her eyes screamed with the undying intensity her face lacked-- or abandoned. And as always, when he found himself locked into her gaze, the only thing to take him out was the sudden change in her face that went from blank to the beginnings of a predatory smile.

She stopped looking at him in that way a while ago, but she still chilled his bones to the core. Aiko really was the boogeyman of the Lupines.

As if a heater was suddenly within him, he felt himself warm as his eyes fell on the next entrant, Jack as adrenaline filled his body.

Not much to say. He was the epitome of a slimeball. Balding, oily hair hung in rivulets over his deceptively massive shoulders and down his well defined back while he smiled brightly through rotted teeth and a long bird-like nose that looked broken one time too many.

He didn't look as physically imposing as the rest, but the Lupines fought endlessly. And as a byproduct, he was learning a ranking of sorts. Jack carelessly sat at the top in all his banterous fear-mongering glory. Only bested by one.

Dolion.

The Lupine Alpha came in, carrying two fresh humans that smelled well enough to make Samuel want to charge the man. Something deep inside him halted the thought as the man's disdainful yellow eyes flicked straight to him, freezing him even colder than Aiko could.

The power of an Alpha, he assumed. But also, the power of a....prince of sorts in relation to something above a simple pack leader. He'd learned not long ago. In the absence of their God, Remus, divisions of packs rose and fell to make decisions and oversee the rest. Dolion was closely connected to that somehow, nobody told Samuel the details other than that he was connected to power in a real way.

He seemed to flaunt it in every way he could-- just as Samuel once had around his human classmates.

He looked the part as well-- at least somewhat. With shining bronze skin pulled tightly over robust muscle, he had the build of something between a martial artist and a simple body-builder. Lean and smooth, yet muscled enough to make you think twice about getting in a grappling match with the man. It was all made more impressive in combination with his walk. He moved with the fluidity of a dancer, making his walk seem regal, practiced and performative.

To top it all off, he didn't do bad in the looks department. A rare case since Shape-Shifters tended to look like they washed their bodies with knives.

His features were symmetrical. Model-esque, with skin to match. His deep black hair was pulled up into a high pony-tail that hung down his back like an oily serpent, allowing the partial unhappy scowling expression to permeate clearly from his thick eyebrows and partially scrunched aquiline nose. The constant trembling snarl of his even lips didn't do anything to brighten his expression.

Despite all this, his unhappiness was warranted. With all this devilish beauty of his human form and the royal connections held strongly enough for him to be regarded as a sort of Lupine Prince, Dolion's true form was the ugliest thing Samuel had ever seen.

He knew the Alpha knew this as well, because of all the instances of violence that took place within the Deviant, Dolion only ever shifted fully three times. Every-time after, nobody slept for days.

The scents of fear combined with the screams of a human male knocked him out of his watch-fest. After a few seconds, he realized there was someone else yelling.

"Oi!.....Blondy! I got you the good-stuff!" Jack yelled towards the forest, seeming to know exactly where Samuel was.

Samuel's eyes flicked over to the slimy enigma, Jack.

One of the two people Dolion once held was soaring through the air in Jack's direction only to be caught as if he were made of feathers.

Jack caught the man in a flash with one hand and brought him close. The human gagged in-between horrified sobs only made louder as Jack transformed in response to the growing scent of fear.

"Hurry uuuUPPP, SAMMY BOY! If you don't take your meal, then someone else will--"

Fwoo!

He threw the human without a care in the world into the sea of Lupines.

The man hit the ground, landing flat on his face before rising in a flash and taking off at full speed. Bad move.

Something grabbed hold of Samuel in mind and body in a flash. He exploded from the forest, fully transformed and on all fours with his eyes focused intently on the human's sweat covered neck.

He cut through the long grass of the field just in time to notice almost all of the Lupines were giving chase to the human as well. All trying to steal his meal.

Samuel sped up, snarling and barking territoriality at the ones trying to take his meal.

As soon as he got close enough, his instincts led him down the road of violence.

He opened his jaws and spit a tuft of Dark Flames at the flank of a grey-furred Lupine.

FSHH!

"AARP!" The beast yelped and began rolling in the grass.

Samuel leapt over the creature and landed flat on the one closest to his meal, biting and clawing at it's back until it fell and attempted to fight back, only he was already gone.

The human pleaded and cried as the stampede of Lupines closed in, spearheaded by a gold furred one covered in purple flames.

"NO!...Please!....Don--"

SHCK!

The man's words were cut off as a golden furred hand tipped by black claws ripped through his chest, holding his heart in an iron tight grip.

There were no moments of silence or sappy theatrics to take place after. Samuel immediately began eating. The heart entered his maw before the man even hit the floor, then he ripped into the rest of him, fishing for the organs and intestines in all their nutritious glory.

After a few seconds, he drowned in the sea of red that washed over his vision after a successful hunt.

***

He didn't know when, but sometime ago his mind began to mold around Jack and the Lupines ideology as a whole.

Humans were weak. Their spot at the top made no sense, and fear smelled amazing...