My Best Friend's Werewolf

40 Animal

With screams, the couple runs into the open door of their camper, slamming it behind them. I jump on the door, scratching at it. Jasper barks, his claws tearing the metal. It curls at our paws in strings.

Their scent drives me wild, making my mouth water. I growl, their screaming driving each of my slashes.

A window slides open on the camper, and my head snaps to where it came from. Jasper jumps for it. A popping noise cuts through my skull, and Jasper releases a strangled whine, falling back. I sniff his body, smelling blood. I trace it to a hole in his abdomen. Another pop and dirt bounces next to me.

I nudge Jasper, and whining he pulls himself to his feet, limping toward the grass. I growl at the humans and slink behind him. Once we're out of their shot, he collapses. Whining myself I lick at his wound. He can't die on me. If he could only shift back, he would be healed. I look up at the moon that's falling in the sky slowly. I howl. Help.

Jasper, what do I do? Kill the humans who did this to him. I turn my head toward the camper, growling, my teeth snapping.

I inch toward their shelter. Jasper whines. A shiver rolling through my back I walk back to him. He reaches his head up to me. To get him to lie back down, I rest my head on top of his. He licks my neck and I settle down against him, adjusting my head so it's pressing onto his wound. He growls and I growl back. His blood soaks the fur on my jaw.

Eventually I get a whiff of a familiar wolf. The scent reminds me of Travis but I'm not sure—I sniffed a lot of wolves tonight. The grass rustles and a brown wolf appears—Travis. He acknowledges Jasper and tilts his head back, sniffing the air. He brings his head down, facing the humans shelter.

With a whine I plead with him to help me. Reluctantly he faces us and licks Jasper's wound.

He walks away.

Is Jasper going to be okay, or is Travis trying to tell me Jasper's going to die before he can shift?

I follow him when Travis turns his head and growls, flooring me momentarily. He continues on his way and again I follow only for him to look back at me with a pointed glare. His message is clear—stay. But what does his walking away mean?

I bark after him. Snapping at me, Travis lands on top of me, pinning me beneath him. He snarls.

So I snarl back.

He pulls his ears forward.

He bites at me and when his teeth scrape over a section of my mark he jumps back. I hurriedly pick myself up and watch him run off.

I return to Jasper's side. He nuzzles my paw. You aren't going to die. The world around us is shifting to a gray rather than a black. Hold on a little bit longer.

Jasper struggles to his feet, and I lick his side, trying to get him to lay back down. He ignores me, limping forward. Shortly, I realize he's headed to the clearing. Letting out a half agonized bark, half tortured yelp he collapses, his leg bleeding more. I lick it, willing it to stop but it doesn't. The world has shifted to a bluish gray.

Jasper's eyes close and when I push my head against him he doesn't open them. I whine at first, before resorting to barking. None of it wakes him. The world grows lighter. I tilt my head back and howl at the sinking moon one last time before I myself collapse, landing with an arm outstretched, my fingers tense.

I'm human.

I sit up, feeling my arms and legs.

I'm human.

Jasper.

I shift, turning my body to him to find him still lying on the ground but with his eyes open and on me. "You're alive." My voice is hoarse. I grab my throat, it aching and dry.

"Of course."

Images of last night fill my head. Running, hunting, tearing into flesh. I heave, twisting to the side and throwing up chunks of meat and hair. Jasper places his warm hand on my back and rubs it in circles. I tried killing humans. I wanted to kill them.

"I'm a monster, Jasper."

"You are a werewolf and you are you, not a monster."

"I was going to kill those humans."

"It was the pull of the moon. Not you."

Some part of the back of my mind is aware that we're both completely naked, but somewhere in the front is saying I'm too animal to care.

A/N
Here is a surprise update for you all for getting this story to the highest it's been on the Werewolf Hot List! If any of you have made any art for this story, I would love to see it so I can post it into the chapters before the story is done.