Jack stayed very still, his eyes looked between Darcy and Mark. It was hard to breathe with Geralf's arm around his neck and the feeling of the sharp ax nestled against his ribs. Geralf's arm tightened around his neck a bit, when he snapped out angrily to Darcy. "You don't know what you want! This THING you have become. It isn't you! I can save you!" Darcy snorted blood over his already bloody chest, before growling out. "Save me? From what? You? How badly does it bother you that I got free? How much does it burn that you stupidly told me your plan and I got here first!" Geralf pressed the ax to Jack's ribs more, snapping out bitterly. "Well, you failed. I have him! So, what is your plan now, Darcy?" Darcy's eyes expanded and glinted in the dim candlelight, upon sneering out. "You've lost, Geralf. I'm going to kill you both... because he's tainted now." Geralf blinked, stammering out in confusion. "W-what?" Darcy took a deep sniff of the air, then looked to Mark and chuckled out. "You bit him under a Hunter's Moon, didn't you? And he loves you too much to allow his blood to cure you..." Jack tensed, watching Mark process that with shock on his face.
Darcy's lips curled into a bloodstained grin as he uttered out in a menacing purr. "You've tainted his blood. He's useless to the Hunters now." Geralf loosened his grip to rip the collar of Jack's shirt to expose his shoulders. The second he saw the fresh bite on his shoulder, Geralf shoved him into the snow and snapped out. "NO! What have you done?!" Jack shivered as he scooted back from Geralf, fixing his red cloak over himself to cover what his shirt couldn't now. Geralf removed his pistol, clicking back the hammer as he aimed it at Jack. Jack raised a hand, pleading out. "No! Don't!" Mark growled, bolting toward Geralf but Darcy slammed into him to knock him off course. Rolling across the floor, stuff in the house smashed apart as they wrestled with each other. Geralf glanced at them, before turning his attention back to Jack. Shaking his head, he stated out flatly. "You made him an Alpha... and destroyed any chance of me saving Darcy. You ruined EVERYTHING!" Jack tried to run as Geralf pulled the trigger. The silver bullet tore across Jack's arm, searing his flesh as it grazed him. Screaming, Jack grabbed his arm and staggered but kept running for the woods.
Geralf raised the ax and threw it toward Jack's back. As the ax flipped through the air, Jack felt a sudden pain pulse through him. Falling limply into the snow, the ax missed him and impaled a tree in front of him. Jack tried to get up on all fours, but the pain in his shoulder flared up and weakened his limbs. Strange growls and whines came from the house, causing Geralf to snap out. "Damn it! Not now!" Jack looked up at the sky to see the golden moon rising over the treetops. The Hunter's Moon was reaching its high point now. Allowing its strongest rays of moonlight to touch more area. Jack stared at the Hunter's Moon, feeling his body start to tremble as he felt his muscles strain. It felt like someone was pulling his muscles apart. Resulting in a bloodcurdling scream escaping his throat. Arching his back, he heard his joints popping to release the pressure that his body was under. As he ran out of breath to scream, he started panting but he didn't sound well. His pants came out deep and sounded gravelly. Staggering up on his feet, he looked down at his hands and let out a shaken whine that was anything except human. His hands had gotten bigger and were covered in thick white fur.
His clothes had torn and were scattered around his anthropomorphic wolf feet. The only thing left on him was his red cloak that billowed in the soft breeze to reveal his long bushy white tail. Turning to look back at the house, he stood completely frozen in fear. Had he become a... werewolf? His hands rose to touch his face. Only to find that he had a set of wolf jaws now and as his fingers slid up through his thick fur, he found silky ears on his head. Holding his ears, his whole body trembled. Geralf reloaded his gun, aiming his gun at Jack in his stunned state. Jack closed his eyes, unsure how this had happened. He heard muffled barking from the house, but as he listened to it, the barking cleared up enough that he heard Mark's deep voice yelling out. "JACK! JACK! RUN!" Jack lowered his hands, letting out a timid puppy whine as he replied. "Mark...?" Looking back, he locked eyes with Geralf as he cocked the hammer back on his gun. Jack could only gasp as he snapped from his shock. Geralf gripped the trigger to pull it, when a white form dashed through the snow toward Geralf. Jack's eyes widened as he saw another white werewolf leap at Geralf's back with its teeth bared!
The gun went off as Geralf cried out in pain from the white werewolf sinking its teeth into his shoulder. Geralf was tackled into the snow and before Geralf could recover, the white werewolf acted quickly to keep his silver armor from burning it for too long. Slashing at his throat with its nails and risking a few lethal bites at the cost of being burned. This white werewolf was angry. The freshly fallen snow turned red, before it lifted its bloodstained face toward the house. Jack tensed, trying to take a step toward the house. However, his legs didn't move, but his hand did, causing him to drop to all fours. This body didn't seem to work the same. All he could do was try to figure it out as the white werewolf crept to the house with a loud growl. From inside, the werewolf he recognized as Darcy crept out with his own teeth bared. The white werewolf rose onto its hind legs, letting out a deep aggressive snarl. Darcy's ears fell back and then he lunged toward the white werewolf. While they rolled and their jaws snapped at each other, Jack tried to figure out his limbs. His walk was all over the place. It was hard to make all four legs move, when he kept making his tail wag instead of the leg that he needed. Which often caused him to stagger and stumble on his way toward the house.
Upon reaching the house, he saw Mark in werewolf form laying weakly on the floor. Whining loudly, he stopped thinking about how to walk and just found himself doing it. Trotting in, Jack dropped beside him and nudged his wolfish cheek with his nose. Mark let out a weak whine but moved enough that Jack felt better. He was breathing but Jack's nose could only smell the powerful scent of fresh blood. Putting a padded hand on Mark's shoulder, he licked his nose and hoped he wasn't hurt too badly. Looking outside, he saw the white werewolf still struggling to get ahold of Darcy. Glancing at the state Mark was in, Jack felt his lip curl into a soft growl that grew in volume. Walking out onto the porch, Jack glared at Darcy. Darcy grabbed the white werewolf by the throat, flipping it to the ground. The white werewolf yelped and thrashed its legs to try clawing Darcy off in a panic. In that moment, a spark flared in Jack, and he leapt off the porch and dashed across the snow as fast as he could run. His padded hands and feet practically flying over the snow. Leaping onto Darcy, Jack snapped his jaws on a mouthful of skin around Darcy's furry neck and rolled over him to flip him away. Darcy yelped, his body puffing into the snow.
Darcy rose onto all fours, turning a murderous look on him. Puffing his chest up, Jack growled loudly in a challenge. Darcy took up a stance to fight him, only to flinch as the white werewolf moved up on Jack's right and Mark limped out to stand on Jack's left. Snorting, Darcy jumped forward, spewing spit in his wild snarl. Jack raised a foot to walk forward, until a soft howl came from the woods behind them. Risking a look back, Jack saw the female werewolf and her large Pack step out into the clearing. The female werewolf rose onto her hindlegs, signaling the others to rise and growl. Jack's ears fell back as he wondered who they were here for. The white werewolf looked back and barked out in a sudden familiar voice. "Arlynn! You leave my grandson out of this!" Jack froze to the spot, staring at the white werewolf with fragile eyes as he uttered out in a small whine. "Granny...?" The white werewolf turned to lock gentle eyes with his that looked so familiar to him now. Her face then turned to one of panic as Mark barked out sharply. "JACK!" Jack yelped as he was shoved into the snow. Rolling over quickly, Jack watched Darcy slam into Mark. Darcy bit Mark's throat, flipping with him into the snow.
Rising to his feet, Jack cried out in distress. "MARK!" They rose up to their feet with their hands gripping the others. Darcy's teeth sank deep into Mark's neck fur, while Mark's jaws snapped wildly to try biting him in return. Jack rose up to his feet, but when he tried to run toward them, the white werewolf snapped her jaws on his cloak to hold him back. Darcy pushed Mark across the snow toward the lake. At the edge of the lake, Mark dropped onto his side to bring Darcy down in order to roll on top of him. Getting on top of him, Mark forced on putting all his weight on Darcy's throat. Yelps and cries of pain left Mark, but Darcy wasn't letting go. Darcy's nails pierced into Mark's sides, clawing at his already bleeding sides to make the wounds worse. Jack tugged against his cloak, tried to break the clasp. When his eyes noticed the blood trail in the snow. Hesitating in his struggle, he saw Geralf pry his ax from the tree and while holding his gushing shoulder he threw the ax toward Mark's back! With his last effort to save his lover in place, Geralf fell lifeless to the ground. Leaving Jack to helplessly watch the ax fly toward Mark.
Neither Darcy nor Mark noticed the ax. They continued to fight, until Darcy tore a patch of fur from Mark's neck and brutally shoved him off of himself and into the lake. Sitting up with a loud snarl, Darcy looked like he was going to go in after Mark... until the ax impaled his torso. Gripping the ax handle, Darcy tried to pull it out, but the silver laced down the blade burned a clean line down his torso. Spilling his guts into the snow. With one last low growl, Darcy slumped to the ground. Jerking forward so suddenly, Jack's cloak tore as he rushed forward toward the lake. Splashing through the icy cold water, Jack looked for Mark. The second Mark's nose surfaced; Jack dived his head into the water to snatch Mark's arm in his jaws until he pulled him up to the surface enough to hold him in his arms. Pulling him from the deep water, Jack dragged him toward the shore with as much strength as he had. Laying him on the frozen shore, Jack panted heavily and whined as he ran his hands over him. Mark coughed but didn't get up. He looked so exhausted. The snow under him turned a soft red from his bleeding wounds, prompting Jack to put his hand to one of the wounds on Mark's side. He didn't know what to do. If he was in human form, he'd know generally how to save him.
Desperately trying to think of how to stop his bleeding, he gasped as his padded palm started to glow. Mark inhaled deeply as his wounds slowly closed. His fur was still missing in places and the healed wounds still looked red and a little raw... but they were no longer bleeding. Feeling lightheaded, Jack slumped down on the ground to pant softly. He was just thinking about relaxing for a bit, when the white werewolf came around the corner holding a shotgun. Lifting the gun, she blasted a silver shell into Darcy's head, then turned the gun to aim at Mark's temple. Gripped with fear, Jack dropped over Mark's body and yelped out to the white werewolf desperately. "DON'T!" Behind the white werewolf, Arlynn inched closer to them with a look of concern on her face. The white werewolf glanced from Arlynn to Mark, refusing to aim the gun anywhere else. Jack wrapped his arms around Mark's head, then laid his own carefully over him to put his own head more in the line of scattered shotgun fire. Arlynn looked to her Pack that stood around awaiting orders. Swallowing, Arlynn barked out to the white werewolf. "Don't kill him... I'll... I give. I'll leave your grandson alone. Just... don't kill, Mark."
The white werewolf glared at Arlynn, growling out in a low defensive tone. "The Pack goes to my grandson?" Arlynn looked away from everyone, her shoulders falling when she reluctantly announced aloud for the Pack to hear. "Yes. I'll step down. Mark won't inherit the Pack. Your grandson will. Just like you want. Please... Let my nephew go." Granny moved the shotgun away from Mark, her eyes locked on Arlynn. Arlynn bowed her head, then stepped back to almost vanish into the Pack of werewolves. Granny then turned to the other werewolves, barking out seriously. "You lot. Help me load these bodies into a cart. In the morning, I'll take them to Lupine. Time to send those Hunters packing." The werewolves nodded, breaking off into groups to collect the cart, Geralf, and Darcy. Granny then turned her attention to him, before sweetly telling him. "You two are soaked... Come. Let's go inside." Granny helped him carry Mark inside. Clearing a spot before the fireplace, she worked quickly to get a fire going. Calling Arlynn in, they then worked to clean up the place a bit and covered the broken window up as best they could for now.
Shivering by the fireplace, Jack curled up with Mark to keep him warm and to protect him. He didn't know what to ask first. So much had happened that he just wanted to take a moment to breathe. Mark shivered under him, until Granny brought over towels and told him coolly. "Here. Dry yourselves. I'll bring in the rabbits I caught and get a nice stew going." A few Pack members by the porch licked their lips, causing Granny to add with a soft chuckle. "You're hungry too?" The Pack members nodded timidly, slinking away from the door as she walked out. Jack rubbed a towel over Mark's wet fur, but his eyes were on Arlynn. He hadn't expected her to care so much for Mark. He had thought that she had been trying to trick him to cure him... but she said he was going to inherit the Pack? He was confused. Sighing, Arlynn asked him a bit heatedly. "Why are you staring at me like that? You wanna fight?!" Shaking his head, he asked her simply. "I just don't understand. I thought you hated Mark?" Arlynn snorted, cleaning up a few broken bits of furniture, while she informed him. "I'm not happy that he's a half-breed. That doesn't mean I hate him. That means I hate my sister for being so reckless. I didn't want him in the Pack at first. I wanted him to play human... but I'm not blind. He's a strong werewolf. He just... lacked conviction. He wanted to be both. I wanted him to pick a side."
Dropping into a chair, she exhaled grimly. Looking at him, she added in a calmer and nicer voice. "I was trying to fix my own mistake. Your Granny tried to give him to me. To raise him. I refused. Forcing her to take him to Lupine. Where humans could raise him. I didn't think he would survive in the woods. Half-breeds rarely do. But he kept showing up. So, when he came of age, I bit him to see what kind of wolf he'd become. He was soft. Rolled over to every fight. Let other pups chase him around. He wasn't worthy..." Gesturing to Jack, she finished off a little impressed. "I told him to kill you. Your Granny wanted you to take over her Pack... but she's getting old. It's harder for her to make long trips in this cold weather. Her one chance to take you and turn you failed. Forcing her to wait until the next Hunter's Moon. My hope was that Mark would kill you and FINALLY become the Alpha we needed. Turns out that... he just needed you." Stopping his hand from drying Mark's fur for a moment, he looked down at him and smiled a wolfish grin. Mark's eyes were open and looking back at him with a loving smirk of his own.
Raising his padded hand, Mark rubbed the fur on the top of Jack's head between his silky ears, asking in a strained whisper. "Look at you. I guess, you found your white wolf, huh?" Blushing, Jack laid down and buried his face against Mark's chest with a little happy whine. In return, Mark licked one of his silky white ears. He was so glad that Mark was ok. To Be Continued...