Chapter 2 Cean

"Whoa… He's… Not as big as I thought he would be," she sounded disappointed as she peered into the cage at the wolf that lay on the floor of it, a pained expression on the creatures furry face.

"What? Expecting the hulk or something? Or maybe you were expecting Jacob or some crap like that," I let the jab fall from my lips as I leaned against a tree with one foot on the trunk as a brace while I reloaded my gun.

She scoffed at me, tossing her dark brown locks over her shoulder while flashing me a frown as she glanced up over the cage, green eyes narrowed at me, "Whatever. Team Jacob all the way. If I could have a hundred degree warm, furry puppy to cuddle with all the time, oh hell yes. Not to mention that human form… Yum."

I shuddered, "Oh jesus, just stop talking about it. Fucking disgusting…"

"Yeah, okay, whatever mister never had a girlfriend in his life."

I scoffed, turning away from her while I closed the cylinder to the handgun and put it back in it's holster on my hip.

"Speaking of which, I wonder what kind of a hunk of a man this one will look like when he turns back," she continued, hunkering down on the balls of her feet while she used one bar to keep herself upright, the other hand snaking into the cage to touch his furry head.

Sure he looked soft and cuddly, but I was certain he was anything but that. Especially with the blood on his fur, especially all over his muzzle. Let's not include the way he snarled at me and scared the shit out of me when he came hurling out of the underbrush. I was out there looking for him to draw him into the trap, not shoot him. Yet, there he was nice and wounded like I hadn't intended.

At least I had enough control not to kill him point blank. Which I most definitely could have done with how he'd startled the hell out of me. Then there was the tiny fact that even after I shot his paw, he had quite a bit of energy enough to keep coming. The second shot to his thigh seemed to slow him down, yet he had looked as if he were going to pounce yet again, or maybe he was trying to get away. Yes, as I thought about it more after the panic and chaos that had erupted, he had looked like he'd been going for the opposite direction away from me.

The third shot was probably unnecessary and when he woke up after having the bullets taken out by my partner who was currently cooing over him, he was most definitely not going to be in a good mood. With a heavy sigh, I rolled my eyes as I watched her.

"Des, you really shouldn't do that. He'll be waking up soon and if you like getting your nails done so much, I suggest you take your hand out before you lose it."

Frowning again at me from over the top of the cage, she sighed and stopped playing with one of his ears. As cute as it was to watch, it might have been funnier if he was awake- though he was less likely to take fingers off while he was asleep.

"Speaking of, you dumbass, why'd you shoot him so much? What happened to needing him alive?"

I ground my teeth feeling heat rise, "Look, if a hundred plus pound wolf is coming at you gunning for your throat, anyone would shoot. At least I didn't kill him, ‘kay?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"He's feral, Des. What the hell else do you expect him to be doing out here? He's not out for a jog. You of all people should know that."

She flinched a little and gave me a hard look. I regretted my words, but I didn't take them back either. We stared at each other for a long while before she finally relented and went back to peering into the cage with a sulky kind of silence. Shaking my head I looked off into the forest, keeping an eye out for any other encounters that we really didn't need to have.

"Why don't you shift. Maybe seeing another wolf will make him less likely to tear us to pieces. Convince him to turn human or something. And make him promise not to tear my heart out when my back is turned. I don't want to be in these woods any longer than we have to be. It's his territory… I'd really rather not get into a full on fight," I said, scowling as I spoke the last few words, gaze drifting through the trees as if I expected something pop up at us at any moment.

"Yeah, sure thing," Des responded and with little to no effort -at least as I could see- she was a human one second and in the next, a beautiful brown wolf.

If I swung that way, she'd definitely be something I'd like to take home. Unfortunately for her -and she'd tried many times before- women just weren't for me. In actuality, not a whole lot of people were for me it seemed. Not that I was actively looking. I had far more important things to attend to then who I was going to fuck for the night.

A low, vibrating growl from the cage drew my attention back. The wolf was awake, shifting slowly as his eyes flicked around to take us in. His upper lip curled into a snarl that bared deadly sharp teeth which were still stained red when he found me. It was nothing compared to when he saw Des. His growl got deeper, louder- and then he threw himself at the bars, snarling and lunging as he tried to reach her.

He looked even more intent to kill than he'd been when he lunged at me. Even the pain of the silver barely seemed to deter him as he tried to reach Des, his barking growls sending wildlife around us scurrying away.

Only when the silver had burned him badly enough to make him unsteady again did the lunging stop. The growl stayed as he sat back. Teeth still bared at us, tiny wisps of smoke curled up from where the silver had burned him. He was probably going to take a lot of pleasure in killing us as soon as we let him out.

Des shifted back and gave me a slightly terrified look, "Yeah. He's pissed. Like… Really pissed. A lot pissed."

"Yeah I got that," I snapped at her and clicked my tongue in frustration. All of the loud barking and ruckus he'd created was bound to draw some unwanted attention from things I really didn't want to fight off, let alone was equipped to deal with. I'd only entered the forest to look for Alyx, the Alpha of the pack we were currently having a whole mess of trouble with.

Unfortunately, I hadn't thought he'd be that feral. Damn. Taking the gun from my holster I moved to the front of the cage and knelt down, my arm hanging over one knee with the weapon dangling from my fingers as I put on a rather cold expression matched with an equally dark smile, "Well, well. The big bad wolf all caught up in a trap. You know if you hadn't come at me like you were going to kill me, you wouldn't be in this predicament. Bad for a wolf to go feral. So we're gonna be taking you somewhere to cool that head of yours, mister wolf. Sound like an idea?"

"I really hope you know what you're doing there, Cean."

"All good, Destiny. Since when have I screwed anything up?"

"Point taken… This plan of yours better freaking work," she said, her arms crossing as her voice lowered and she flicked her eyes over to the wolf in the cage who was definitely none too happy about his situation.

I grinned at the bloodied dog in the cage, "Oh yeah. It'll work out. It always does."

The growl died slowly, until it was a soft vibration that was barely audible. There was far too much intelligence in his eyes as he cocked his head to the side slightly; feral wolves were mindless, deadly, generally less intelligent than those that were purely animal. They didn't actually put consideration into what they were told.

The wolf put out a low whine, dropping down in the cage and tucking his muzzle under his paws. With his ears down and his tail pulled in close, it was about as submissive as he could get without rolling over to show his stomach. His eyes didn't move from me as he let out a short bark, hunching down lower to the floor. It was the best way he could give me permission without the vocal cords to say it.

Arching an eyebrow at him, I tilted my head back, lips twitching in an amused smile as I looked down at him, "Interesting."

"What?"

"Well, for all of the reports and rumors… Hmm."

Des gave an exasperated sigh and I could imagine her hands on her hips without even looking over to see it, "What, Cean?"

"Nothing," I answered, knowing it was going to drive her nuts.

"Why you little-"

Ignoring her, I reached over to the bars of the cage and simply took hold of the front of it, testing the wolf inside, "You're submitting to me, but I really must wonder how much of an act that is. The moment I let this down, you're just going to want to tear my throat out aren't you? Just like the photographer girl. I heard her screaming by the way. Oh and how about the other missing people from the town nearby? Were they your kills too?"

I leaned in closer to the bars, a small smile on my lips, "Maybe you should have kept up the feral act, because now I'm just thinking that you're a murderous killer with no honor or charisma at all. What kind of wolf clear-headedly kills a whole ton of humans? Oh, but that would make you a powerful wolf, wouldn't it? Need a little of the human touch, don't you?"

Des made a strangled sound as I stuck my hand through, a wild grin filling my lips, "Well? What do you think? Want a taste?"

The wolf flinched hard, bright eyes wider in his face. His growl picked up again even as he stayed put. Eyes fixed on me, his ears perking up again, it was obvious when that intelligence started to fade from his eyes. The growl got louder the fainter the intelligence was; a chilling howl rose from him as he picked himself up, paws planted firmly against the floor of his cage as he gave me a warning.

There was nothing but an animal to him the next time his eyes found me. With a sharper, shorter sound, he lunged at the bars again, his teeth not even an inch from my hand before I pulled back. He kept snarling and smashing against the bars, just like when he'd been focused on Des. Like before, he ignored the silver until it burned him enough to make him weak- but he was too intent on me to back away that time, even as whimpers filled the spaces between his nasty growls.

"You idiot! He's going to kill you! Wait… What the hell are you doing now!" Des was shrieking at me, but I was ignoring her.

"Can't have him killing himself on the silver. Maybe you should go get Zeke. I'll need him in a few minutes. Well… Maybe, pretty sure I can pin this little ruffian myself," I said as I stood and put the gun back once more. My fingers were already prying loose the hooks that held the front of the cage.

"You should probably hurry, Des. I doubt he likes you the least between the two of us."

She made a couple of sounds, some of them I wasn't entirely sure were a language as she tried to say something to me. In the end, she simply turned on her heel and ran through the forest, most likely turning into her wolf form to go faster. Zeke was a rather large man, and though the two of us rarely ever saw eye to eye, he was the best partner I could depend on, aside from Des.

I waited for a while before I pried loose the other hook and stepped away from the front of the cage. Ready for him that time, he wasn't going to take me by surprise. If anything, I was a little excited to tangle around with a wolf of his caliber. That intelligence… I wanted to see it again, but I was far more curious as to how he retained it if his animalistic side was growing so strong. So purely feral.

Yet, Alyx was still there. I wondered what brought it out. I was pretty sure what made it fade was the offer of blood, or perhaps I had just taunted him a little too much. Whatever it was though, he was going to kill himself against those silver bars. Calming him seemed less of an option than it had before. I was just going to have to hold out till Zeke got there.

Reaching back I pulled at the red hood of my cloak, dragging it up over my face with a wild grin, "Come here, big bad wolf. Riding hood wants to play."