Blood Debt

Chapter One

Lucien lifted his long, dark muzzle into the air and sniffed, testing the air for the scent of the rabbit whose trail he was following. His pack shifted behind him, looking like one combined, dark mass in the dimming light. His pack was but a small percentage of the whole community of his kind, known only as the Tribe. Lucien looked back onto his followers, he saw nine pairs of eyes gleaming at him in the darkness and he bared his teeth at them, ending their restlessness and causing them to be completely silent. The forest seemed drained of all noise, as though the creatures of the wood knew that they were in the presence of beings who should not be alive. They were all famished from their journey and their search for food had remained fruitless for a week and, with the full moon closing in, they needed their bellies full in order to lessen their murderous tendencies when the forced-change happened.

Lucien was the largest of the wolves around him, with large paws and gray fur with patches of black and dark brown. This was his second skin. His first skin was that of a tall, well-built human, about the age of twenty, which was old for his kind considering many died around twenty-five. His entire pack was capable of changing from their first to their second skins freely, their second skins being that of larger than average wolves and their first being of men and boys between the ages of fourteen and twenty-two. But, the forced-change was different, it could not be reached freely and was painful and hated by all of the Tribe. It happened at the raising of the full-moon and ended when the sun rose the next morning. During those hours, each Tribe member became a monster driven by its need for blood and flesh. That was why they needed to eat. If they stuffed their bellies to the point of sickness, then the monster's need to kill would be lessened enough that a small amount of control could be regained.

Lucien, sensing his pack again becoming restless and agitated, sped up until they were loping along through the trees and vegetation that was moist from the occasional rain that had fallen throughout the day. He relished the form he was in for it was the only time he was every truly free. His pack had been traveling throught the land for about two weeks, searching and searching for Her. It was a journey that seemed to never end, a Tribe elder would have a vision and there would be a mad dash for every Tribe member to go and bring back the Witch. This time it had been Tibero, who was the oldest Tribe-member because he had managed to reach the age of thirty, who had called a Tribe meeting and told everyone of his vision. Tibero had shared it with the Tribe, using his mind to send out the scents, sounds, and feelings he had gotten during it throught the Tribe's mind link. Lucien remembered the smell of greenery and wet forestation as well as the sounds of birds and babbling brookes. Like all of the Tribe, he had taken his pack and set off to find the One who had doomed them all. And he would be the one to find her, and he would be the one to end her life.

He suddenly broke from his ponderings and paused as he caught the scent of warmth and blood, radiating from an area off to his right. He recongnized the scent of deer and could tell by the excited whimpers from the others in his brood that they scented it too. He dropped the shield that he had been holding up to keep his thoughts private and it was flooded with the thoughts and feelings of his followers. He could read the excitement mixed with the hunger and fatigue in their minds and formulated a single word into his thoughts, *Go*.

With that, his wolves leaped into the underbrush and were gone, leaving him alone in the dark, a single shadow between the trees. He sifted through their minds reading each thought and feeling as they floated through and knew they had killed two fawns even before the howls broke the silence, alerting him of their deed and of their position. He lifted his nose once more to the air as a rogue breeze flitted through, rustling the leaves. His hackles raised as he caught a faint scent that he recognized in the back of his mind, but what the smell was, he didn't know. Then, as quickly as it came, it vanished. His wondered about it for a fleeting moment until the aching in his stomach reminded him of his need for food. He sent an answering call back to alert them that he was coming. They were a good pack, they dare not quench the emptiness in their stomachs until after their Alpha had the first bite. He bounded after them, replacing his mental shield so they would not read his anxiety about the full moon that was quickly closing in on them.