Under the Skin

Chapter 2

"Bring me to it." The alpha finally sighed and gestured to the door. 

When they stepped outside, the wolves were still waiting for them. The rogue was still strung tight and on high alert, his ears sitting dressed on his head and his fur puffed up. A couple of people had gathered around to observe the strange group. 

The alpha came to stand in front of the rogue, and the latter immediately recognized his status and couldn't help but lower his head. 

"Shift!" The wolf let out a whine at the command and lowered completely to the ground, but didn't obey. The alpha was confused and frustrated. Commands made by pack alphas were extremely hard to resist for most wolves, and those who could were usually other alphas or pack alphas. 

"I said shift!" The wolf whined again, and sound almost painful this time. He turned belly up in the snow and continued to whimper with his eyes slightly closed. Alec couldn't help but clench his fists when he saw his mate writhing on the ground.

"He should've shifted already..." Alec heard a woman in the crowd utter. Thomas was about to try again but the beta grasped his wrist to stop him. 

"I don't know how it's possible, but I don't think he's able to shift." This was unheard of. The connection between wolf and human made it easy to shift between forms, albeit it was more difficult on the first tries. The rogue could not be a regular wolf just based upon his bigger form. Besides, werewolves could recognize one of their own quite easily.

"Michael, Benjamin. You can go chain him to the metal post. We will wait to see if he changes on his own." The kept it behind the house specifically for cases like this. They put a metal collar around the wolf's neck, and a heavy chain linked it to the post. As much as Alec felt uneasy, his instincts urging him to keep his mate safe, he knew this was for the best. Even if the rogue was his mate, they didn't know his intentions and he could attack another one of their packmates. 

With one last look to the wolf, who was being led away by the two warriors, Alec followed his alpha back into the house. 

During the first few hours of its first night tied to the post, the wolf struggled against the chain. It relentlessly tugged at it, until it almost pass out because the metal collar was cutting off his air flow. It also tried to ripped the chain off, but bitting the chain hurt its teeth and the wolf stopped tugging at it soon enough. 

The next day, the alpha came to see him with his beta to convince him to shift, to no avail. 

The second night, the wolf simply laid with its eyes closed. The collar was starting to make its neck itch. 

The fourth night, the wolf's cries pierced the silence of the night.

The alpha continued to see him, along with the beta. The latter began to stay longer. He usually sat down in front of the wolf, simply staring at him with an expression the wolf couldn't understand, though he felt a deep ache in his chest. 

The days continued like this, until a whole week had passed. The alpha looked from his window to the tied wolf, and began to wonder if his beta was not mistaken. No werewolf could stay in their wolf form for so long without communicating or changing back. 

Thomas's frustration had long turned into to pity. Every day he watched his beta carry on with his tasks with his shoulders hunched, like he carried a heavy weight on his shoulders. He had grown up with him, and he had rarely seen his best friend like this. So defeated.

With a deep sigh he turned away from the window and went back to his work, silently planning to speak to his beta tomorrow.

All Jonah could feel was pain. 

He could feel the familiar movement of his bones shifting and rearranging themselves underneath his skin. It felt like hours had passed when it finally ceased, and he was left gasping on the ground. His nude body was covered in sweat, which was a contrast to the biting cold he felt underneath him

When he finally opened his eyes, he felt completely disoriented. He expected to be in the basement. Instead, he was outdoor, laying in the snow while stars blinked at him from the night sky. 

He quickly became aware of the irritating stinging around his neck, and once he prodded at it, his hand soon came to grasp at the metal collar which had been fastened around his neck. 

Jonah whimpered and hugged his arms around himself to try to get some warmth. Was this a cruel joke from the hunters? Had he made a mistake during the hunt? No, he thought, if I did, they would've beaten me.

He tried to dig into his memories for any clue, but like he expected, the last thing he remembered was the hunters entering the basement. 

Knowing he would probably be beaten if he cried for help, Jonah simply shut his eyes closed, begging for sleep to come over him soon. 

At least when he was asleep, the real monsters couldn't hurt him. 

Hey there people! If you're wondering why I sometimes shift between the pronouns 'it' and 'he' when referring to Jonah's wolf form, its because the wolf itself his disconnected from the human and so is essentially only an animal. However, when people speak of the wolf, they know he's a werewolf so they think of him as a sentient being. 

I hope you enjoyed the few parts I put up!