The Wolves in the Willows

“Dead?” This new voice is deeper, carrying more authority; this must be the Beta.

“No, just...exhausted from the looks of things. I couldn’t contact Alpha Bailey...”

“Ye... Cole’s in his human form right now, his dad’s making him work in the shop again...says it’s about maintaining human appearances... I reckon it’s to keep his ego in check.” I hear the Beta chuckle.

“Be careful where you say that, Ozz.”

“He’s in his human form, Benji.”

“Still.”

“Fine, well, I better give him a call; find out what to do with this one.” I hear a pause then one of the men walks round to take a look at me, I just about have the energy to lift my head and growl, wishing he would just kill me already; by the look of him and the way he carries himself, I’d guess he was nothing more than a foot soldier; the one called Benji. He’s pale and freckly with mousy brown hair with very bright amber eyes, unusually so; his nakedness doesn’t bother me, I’m well used to it having been brought up in a pack.

“Hey, it’s Ozz...oh, sorry Mrs Bailey, could I speak to Cole quickly, we’ve found a rogue.” I maintain eye-contact with Benji, determined not to show any wilful submission, whilst the Beta talks on the phone. “Hi, Cole, sorry to pull you away, it’s just that we’ve found a rogue on the eastern border...” I can faintly hear a deep voice humming away on the other end of the phone. “It’s a female, average size and by the looks of her she hasn’t eaten in a while. She smells faintly of pups, I’d say she’s a wet nurse or perhaps a new mother...” Pain shoots through my limbs from the memory that rips my soul apart, an agonizing whine bursts from within me, causing Benji to jump back a pace. “Ye...she’s not happy...I don’t think she’s any threat to be honest, she was alone and almost dead anyway ... okay...I’ll do that...” I hear the phone being flipped shut; Benji breaks eye-contact with me to look up at his Beta. “Cole wants to know who she is and what she’s doing here, so we need to get her back to the eastern outpost; Cole and his mum will meet us there.”

“Right, ok. How do you suppose we get her there if she won’t shift?”

“Simple enough.” I hear the snapping of twigs as the Beta strides over to stand next to Benji in my line of vision; he’s got bright blonde hair and green eyes that pop against his olive skin. “Right, I’ve been ordered to take you back to meet the Alpha but if you don’t shift then I will have to kill you. Don’t worry, he’ll understand; you don’t mean anything to us.” Finally, someone who will release me from my misery, I gaze up at him, trying to contain my relief. “Okay...not the reaction I was expecting...”

“Ozz... I think she wants to die...”

“Geez...that’s just great, so I’d be doing her a fucking favour by killing her and she’s not about to do me any favours, are you sweetheart?” Pleaaase, just let it end, just kill me, I haven’t the strength to pretend to put up a fight. “Alright, tell you what... if you shift for us, we will end your life, it’ll be a lot easier to make a clean kill if you’re human anyways...” I consider his proposition, he’s right; I would die quicker as a human even if he went back on his word. I nod as convincingly as my depleting adrenaline reserves will allow, then use my remaining supply to shift into my human form. Once I’ve turned, my fatigue gets the better of me and I find that I simply don’t care about the two men staring at my naked form. I am faintly aware of a soft fabric being pulled around me and some part of my mind wonders where it had come from.

       Consciousness returns to me in stages and I find that I’m able to pick out some voices in the room around me without much difficulty.