Page 119 of Untamed

I bark once more at Mactiir and see his dark eyes find me. I snicker to myself. He couldn't find me in the trees, could he? I bet I could sneak up on him if I climbed into the trees.

The forest shudders a heaving gasp of horror. My feet stumble, surefootedness abandoning me as the ripple of something bad washes over me. I freeze, scenting the air. The other wolves are running further into the forest, towards the pack. The forest heaves, then settles again, watchful, waiting.

"Kitty-cat?" I hear Pup walking steadily towards us, the branches of the trees brushing his shoulders, his back. Closer and closer.

"Hey, Kitty-cat. Wow, you're a pretty wolf, K. Just, ah, you're not running away, right?" Pup emerges from the trees.

I yip at him, tail wagging. I want to play with him, confident that I can outrun Pup. He can't shift, so I would win. Not that I care about the unfairness. I just want to race.

I prance over to him, my coat rippling as we toss our head, coy when Pup reaches a hand out to me.

"Hey!" he protests as I dance just out of reach. I bark at him, encouraging him to try again, slow little male.

"Not funny, Kitty-cat," he says, but he's smiling at me a slash of white in the dark.

Then he steps into the dappled light, and my stomach drops to my feet.Sweat beads his forehead. Dark eyes swim in pain. His hand shakes as he pets my head.

"Don't feel too good, kitty-cat," he confirms my suspicions. "Everything hurts."

The crack of bone sends him to his knees. I scream, but it comes from my throat as a strangled howl. Casting my head back, I howl for real, long and loud, and panicked.

Answering howls and barks make me feel better. I fix my eyes back on Pup, watching him writhe and cry as his body starts to twist and break.

Other wolves emerge from the trees. I see Mactiir, his wolf crashing through the trees with purpose. He shifts back to feet and gather's Pup into his arms. "You're alright, Sarj. Let your body do its thing, right? Easy, easy. That's it," he encourages.

I watch as Pup hurts. Laying down, nose on my paws, I whimper in sympathy as he goes through the torment of his first shift. I wish I could help him more, wish that the forest wasn't watching him with trepidation; dread, unease, disquiet.

Hands become paws, the bones shattering and reforming. Fur sprouts, recedes, sprouts again. Teeth break and fall away in a pool of blood as he spits and hacks. Mactiir puts his fingers in Pup's mouth, gently depressing his tongue until Pup stops trying to bite with new canines that cut his lips. Large hands run over Pup's body, ripping away the restricting clothing, straightening out limbs, bending them back when they need to be.

With one final convulsion, Pup shifts into a warm brown wolf. Chocolate, like Mactiir's walnut-eyes but a shade lighter.

I prance to my feet as Mactiir lays his beaten brother down in relief. "Good job, Sarj. You can run now, yea?"

The forest holds its breath. The red moon shines down through the trees, arrogance, and malice watching us. I back away from Pup a step, confused at the feeling.

The speed that Pup explodes upward is astonishing. Eyes, feral and crazed from pain, fix onto me.

I run. The chase isn't fun anymore. I hear Pup's paws on the earth, hear his growls and fury. Further behind him, Mactiir sounds like a true beast, rage, and anger bubbling up in snarls and growls. I knew better than to run in the forest under the red moon. I knew it.

On and on, I race until my breath is stolen from my chest, and my paws are hurting and raw. Pup is just behind me, the others farther back. I don't know what I am racing for, but I know that I can't let Pup catch me.

Pup's breath heaves just behind me when I see a slight crack between two rocks. I can hide there, make it into the trees. Mactiir will catch Pup, and we can fix what is hurting him.

I shift back to feet as I enter the rock, my body scraping as I slide along. I reach up and catch the first branch of the oak tree that shudders on top of us. Grasping it in my fingertips, I heave my exhausted body upward.

Pup has my ankle in his grasp a moment later. Teeth bite, hard. Fury beats its wings at the edge of my vision. I am yanked down, my knees and elbows banging into the rock as I fall.

Pup snarls.

I scream and reach out a shaking hand to Mactiir. He reaches us just a moment too late.

Hot breathe washes over my neck. I hear a howl of pure fury and anguish. Walnut-eyes filled with horror meet mine just before the worst pain I've ever felt rips through my shoulder.

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Inuit

I ignore the gut-wrenching pain that scorches my heart. My claws rip my brother away from my mate, his teeth still sunk into her.

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