The Original Demi Wolf

Chapter 29: Under the Moon

"Yes, brother?" Nik asked as he pulled me close to his chest.

"I'm sorry, for dragging you into this," I whispered into his chest, flinching at the sound of one of the wolves clawing at a nearby tree, trying to grip it to climb it.

My magic flicked to the mental command and snapped toward that wolf, he yelped like he had been whipped and moved away from the tree, his eyes filled with furious wild rage and hunger.

"It's okay," Nik murmured his mouth gently against the crown of hair, "I know and it'll be okay. Morning will come soon, and then we can handle our parents afterward."

The reminder of our parents made tears escape from the corner of our eyes. "He's going to be mad, isn't he?" I whimpered out.

"Not at you, I won't allow it," Nik promised as he tried to draw me closer.

"I'm not worried about me," I cried as I buried my eyes in his shoulder, guilt gnawing at me at the idea I was going to be the one to cause my brother pain.

The night went slow, and just as the sun was about to come over the horizon of trees, I made the mistake of trying to stand, to get a better look at the savior of the sun that would rescue us.

I lost my balance.

I feel.

I could hear my brother screaming my name and for help.

But all I remember was pain, and then nothing.

I woke up with tears going down my cheeks. It's been months since I last was in Mystic Falls, my brother having taken me and Stefan around America, trying to find a werewolf pack.

Not knowing fully the reason why he needed the pack, and I would've loved to help him but I didn't know any packs. My mother wasn't that much of a fan of those that lived in isolation, mostly because the ones that embraced that side of them, that leaves their humanity away, were often the ones she had to hunt and kill.

So I didn't associate myself with them. Witches and Vampires were somehow the group that I didn't mind talking with, even the occasional demigod that I run across and help point them toward Camp Half-Blood, but there was something about werewolves that always made my heart beat faster and sweat gather near the nape of my neck.

The nightmare, or was it just a memory, that I've been having for the past month making it harder to like them like I used to. Not that Nik would notice, he and Stefan have been leaving me alone most nights to do, whatever they were doing.

If I had known most of our trip was going to be stuffed in the backseat of a car, forgotten either there or in the hotel, occasional motel too, from Nik, I would've just stayed in Mystic Falls in my air-conditioned spacious house where I didn't feel stifled and forgotten.

I missed my pack too, Tyler was...well last I knew he was about ready to head back to Mystic Falls with Caroline, but I knew from talking to them, they might not be there too much longer. Apparently, Caroline and Tyler were complaining about some Elena and Damon problems that they really didn't feel like dealing with lately.

Enough so that I knew they were restless in Mystic Falls, which was why I had taken the time to visit some of the parts of the state we drove in to look around, see what Tyler and Caroline might like to live. A place that wasn't too hot, or too cold. Werewolves were natural heaters, so they didn't really like to live in heated places, swamps were a bit different because werewolves were also nocturnal if they could help it, and swamps were often cooler at night.

Vampires were on a similar spectrum, though, mostly it's because, without a daylight ring, they were forcibly nocturnal and didn't want to be too heated, too cold during the day where they had to spend indoors waiting for the sun to go down.