Free Story #5 - Guided (Chapter 5)

Hey there everyone.

I've just downloaded the audio book of Race The Sun by Gabrielle Evans. This book is a great example of male pairing fiction at its absolute best. :)

There will be another review posted in the next few days along with an all new short story.

Without further adieu, here is Chapter 5 of Guided.

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Even without knowing the ins and outs of werewolf laws and etiquette, I knew she was right. I knew that exile meant fair game to be taken out. And that was something none of us wanted to happen. We needed to find him a new pack and that we should live like nothing had happened for the moment.

The next night, we went on our first real date. It was only a movie but it was better than nothing. Afterward, we left and had amazing sex in the back of his car. It truly was the perfect first date. Or at least it would have been if we hadn't come across some of Campbell's friends. They were slumped against the wall, blocking our way out of the car park. Doug got out of the car.

"What you doing here?" one of the taller ones asked Doug.

"Just having fun with my boyfriend, is that illegal?" Doug replied.

"No, but being in a relationship with a runt is" the shorter one said.

Feeling that I wanted to set the record straight, I got out of the car and stood by Doug.

"For your information, I'm not a runt. I'm human"

The group looked incredulously at me and sniffed the air. They could tell I was telling the truth because their expressions changed. It was no longer a matter of simple betrayal, it was pure ecstasy.

"A human? Are you kidding me? You imprinted on a human?"

The two werewolves began to laugh and fell to the floor. Doug growled and they instantly stopped.

"Do you have a problem with humans?" I asked.

"No, it's just they are nothing but scum" The taller one said.

"Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment"

He snarled and launched himself toward me. He shifted in mid-air so instead of a man coming toward me, it was a giant werewolf. Thankfully I had the sense to duck. He went flying into the skip on the other side of the car park. It slammed shut on him as he landed inside it. The other werewolf had also shifted, but instead of going for me or Doug, he went to help out his friend.

Looking at Doug, I motioned toward the car. Realising that vengeance wasn't smart, he nodded and we got into the car as fast as we could.

The ignition fired the car into life and we left the car park just seconds after the two cronies were reunited. A loud angry howl echoed through the area but I kept driving. Next to me, Doug started to breathe heavily to try and keep himself from shifting.

But his hands were already paws and it was going to take a miracle to get him to calm down. I knew I had to think fast so I did the only thing I could think of.

I parked on the side of the road and kissed him full on the lips. He returned the gesture and slowly he transformed back to being pure human once more.

I pulled away from him and he looked at me with intense gratitude.

"Thanks for that Taylor; it's pretty hard to keep my changes under wraps when I'm stressed"

"My pleasure" I replied. The kiss had lasted so long I had to take several deep breaths in order to gain full use of my lungs once more.

"Were they some of Campbell's betas?" I asked.

"Yeah, their names are Drake and Hax. Right pricks but they are loyal to Campbell as long as they get to pick off random exiled werewolves"

"But why did the taller one attack me?"

"Humans are pretty much considered to be easy prey among some of our kind. Nothing more than chew toys. If you'll excuse my language"

"But you don't think that?"

"No, never have and never will. I was always the most liberal minded of the family. And indeed the pack come to that"

It was a relief that Doug wasn't that prejudiced. There was only so much I could take. Just then, our conversation was interrupted by three men.

Campbell, Drake and Hax. And they didn't look happy.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"That's none of your business you stupid runt" He spat.

"I'm making it my business" I replied.

Getting out of the car, I stood and faced him with a determined gaze fixed on my features.

Campbell smiled.

"You're not as pathetic as you look" he said.

Doug got out of the car and growled. Campbell ignored him and looked at the smaller of his two flunkeys.

"Hax, take care of him. I'll take care of this clown"

"Not if I can help it" I said.

"And what are you going to do?" Campbell laughed.

I reached my hand into my pocket and drew out a small plastic object with speaker holes and a pull cord.

Smiling a smug smile, I motioned to Doug who noticed what I was going to do and nodded. In a moment, I pulled the cord and the loudest noise I had ever heard rang out of it.

Campbell, Hax and Drake fell to the floor, they were howling in agony because of the ultrasonic sound waves. Doug had his hands over his ears so he was safe. We got back in the car and I drove back to the flat in almost record time.

"Well that was fun" I admitted.

When I looked over at Doug, he looked distant.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"I can't put you in danger like that again" he said.

Before I could move, Doug shifted into wolf form and ran out of sight.

Leaving me alone with feelings of sadness, betrayal and confusion. Just then, a familiar voice echoed behind me.

"Told you he'd run off"

It was Zoe. And she had a look that suggested I told you so.

"Don't Zoe, just don't" I replied.

I ran to my bedroom and cried myself sore. Eventually, I finally drifted into sleep. I wasn't sure if I woke during the night but what I did know was it was the longest night of my life. But when I wake the next day, I realised why.

He had done it to protect me. He knew that Campbell would try and get to him again now that he was exiled and he wouldn't stop until he had taken his life.

I was far from an expert on the matter so I decided not to question it.

With that realisation, all my anger at him dissipated. Concern quickly returned to me. I hoped that it blow over soon and that we could be together again.

My wish came true that same afternoon. I was walking home from work and passed the place where me and Doug had first reconciled.

The place was empty as usual bar a few empty chip packets left under the seat. Except, there was a familiar person stood next to it. Or should I say werewolf.

He was looking down at the floor; his face was covered in his dried tears. Filled with relief, I walked over to him.

"Why did you run away?" I asked. I already knew the answer but he needed to move through this in the right way, else he would be trapped forever in his own negativity.

He slowly looked at me.

"Isn't it obvious? I couldn't drag you into the mess I'm in"

"What mess? Being exiled doesn't exile you from your friends or family"

"It does in their minds. And my family except Jenna refuse to talk to me or return my howls. You saw what happened when Campbell discovered me and you together that day"

"Are there any alphas in the area that could help you out?" I asked.

"There's only two alphas within reasonable distance, Campbell and my sister"

I did a double take.

"Jenna's an alpha? When did that happen?"

"It's a long story" came a familiar voice. I spun around to see Jenna was standing there in a pink trimmed leather top and jeans. Doug smiled faintly at his sister but returned to looking down at the floor.

"Couldn't you be Doug's alpha? You seem to be the responsible type" I asked.

She didn't speak for a few seconds, but then she breathed a sigh of resignation and spoke her words carefully.

"I suppose I could, but it would mean that I would have to take charge of certain events. I don't know if I'm ready for the responsibility"

I could see why that would have been difficult to divulge.

"Were you born with an alpha gene or is it an inherited title?" I asked.

"Title, but it carries great significance" she replied.

"How did you get it?" I asked her. I hoped I wasn't crossing any boundaries but I couldn't shy away from the question.

"Our great uncle was an alpha. I was a part of his pack because he had always seemed responsible and treated his betas with respect. But one day, he was attacked by a stray beta when he was off guard. Before he passed away, he conceded his alpha status to me"

By the way she was talking about him; it was obvious she had loved him in the paternal sense.

"After it happened, all of the other betas went to Campbell's pack because they felt a female alpha was an insult"

She looked away from us slightly. Doug was clearly in no mood to start begging to an alpha that treated him badly. Especially one like Campbell, if that was his real name.

"But you can still form a pack with Doug. Then those pricks can't attack him because he won't be in exile anymore"

Doug stood up from the bench and looked at me with a carefully constructed expression. It was halfway between understanding my ignorance and protecting his sister.

"It's not as simple as that Taylor, she doesn't feel ready. And just one person to convince her isn't going to make much difference"

"What about two?" a voice echoed from behind us.

We all turned to face the person who had spoken. It was Stephen. He looked slightly nervous but resolute.

"You need someone else to help, I'm in. I can't stand to be in the same pack as my dad anymore. Not after the way he treated you"

"How did you know?" Jenna asked.

"I forced Drake to spill the beans on what happened last night when Dad wouldn't tell me what he'd been doing. So after leaving the pack, I came to find you"

Doug slowly smiled. His former confidence seemed to be returning. He walked over and hugged me. I accepted gladly and gave him a slap for leaving then a kiss to welcome him back.

"I'm sorry for leaving Tay, I won't do it again"

"You'd better not. You may not get me back so easily next time"

Jenna looked at her fellow werewolves.

"Do you really think I could do it?" she asked.

They both nodded after a moment. She considered all the options and eventually, she smiled.

"Ok, I'll do it"

It turned out that she needed to do a kind of ceremony in order for the pack bond to be formed. I offered to let Jenna use my flat as the location and after some discussion, the invitation was accepted.

Before it began, I got to know Stephen a bit more. He was a little bit shy but had the impression of being dependable.

Campbell wouldn't be happy about him leaving I thought, but it wasn't exactly in his jurisdiction to tell his son how to live his life.

Zoe and Arc were out so we wouldn't be disturbed. I hadn't asked but they were anyway. When we got back to the flat, we had a couple of drinks. Then, about half an hour after we had arrived, Jenna decided to start the ceremony.

The three participants sat on the carpet and I sat on the sofa with both slight apprehension and fascination filling my body. Jenna cleared her throat and began to explain the ceremony.

"First, I need the two of you to bite my hand then I need to bite your neck. To infuse the blood bond between us"

The two men transformed their teeth into fangs and she did the same. Stephen bit her left hand and Doug her right. They licked up a little of her blood before the wound healed. Jenna then bit into Stephen's neck and drank for a second. Then as he was healing, she took a bite of Doug's neck and drank again.

"Now, we transform into our forms and you scratch each other on the left arm. Then I scratch both of you on the right. The only thing left to do after that, is to howl together until we shine like the moon"

I didn't have much time to wonder what it looked like as the three werewolves stood up.

"Hold on, will anyone hear your howling?" I asked.

"We can hide it from human ears" Jenna replied.

Now we were safe, I sat down to watch. They transformed slowly this time, not the flash change that Doug and Campbell had done a few days before.

Jenna became a mahogany red wolf whilst Stephen became grey with white patches on his tail. The two male wolves scratched each other on their left arm then on Jenna's left and right. Jenna then scratched into Stephen and Doug's outreached right arm.

They whined in pain slightly with each scratch but Jenna had been gentle and the wounds healed leaving only slight scars. Now came the most interesting part. The three wolves stood facing each other in a circle and joined their paws together.

They all took a deep breath and howled. It wasn't a howl of anger or sadness like I had heard the other night; it was the most beautiful howl I had ever heard.

It seemed to embody the beginning of a whole new life, a family that would look after each other, friends who would cherish each other and the wisdom they had long ago thought to be only wistful wondering was the code by which they would now lead their lives.

The air around the howling wolves seemed to shine with radiance and vibrate with anticipation.

After a minute later, Doug and Stephen began to glow with the energy of the moon and Jenna soon followed, though being the alpha her aura was stronger. A second later, the anticipation exploded into the air.

The only thing that was left was the glowing howling wolves still in their ancient circle.

They stopped howling, turned their faces down and faced each other. Still shining with the energy, they were undoubtedly happier than they had been in years. They all starting licking, playfully biting and playing with each other in the kind of way you would see a child playing with a favourite toy.

At first, I was slightly taken aback but then as I watched, I realised that this was how it was meant to be. A pack wasn't just a fighting machine, it was a family and this one was a very happy one.

A few minutes later, they stopped and transformed slowly back into human form. They got dressed and hugged each other. The new pack turned to face me and smiled.

"I've never felt happier" Jenna said and the others nodded in agreement.

Doug took a moment to choose his words, for a moment I thought he was angry but he grinned wider than a Cheshire cat and gave me a mind-blowing kiss.

"Taylor, Jenna, Stephen. Thank you" Doug said with small tears of joy running down his face.

In fact, we were all weeping to some degree because of the sheer beauty of the transformation. I smiled broadly as we embraced each other. It was not only the biggest but the strongest hug I had ever had. I may not have been part of this new pack, but I felt like I had given them the greatest gift of all. The choice to live as they wanted.

And if they decided to consider me part of the pack, that was good enough for me. 

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