Chapter 11- The Primal Unveiling

Danny watched in horror as Peter transformed before his eyes. A dark, fibrous mass quickly enveloped his skin; the sound of the bones breaking, reforming, and fusing together filled the air and assaulted Danny's ears. Danny could not comprehend what he was seeing and hearing. One moment a normal human was running towards him, now a primal fear filled Danny's body.

A primal instinct, inbuilt and shouting very loudly at Danny to either run away as fast as he could or to just completely deny what his eyes were telling him was happening. Alex watched Danny closely, ready to step in and grab Danny if he did fall, but instead, he could only see the horror and fright in Danny's eyes, suddenly wondering if he had maybe taken everything too far too soon.

The sight of Danny trembling in fear wracked Alex's nerves, making him have an internal battle with himself. He knew that he needed Danny to believe what he said and to come to terms with the truth fast, but maybe, just maybe, he had taken it too far. After all, when this happened two years ago, Alex thought he was going insane, and it took him a few weeks to come to terms that the voice in his head was not a hallucination, but was in fact the presence of a powerful spirit granted to him to protect his mate and the one he loved.

Alex sighed, "I am sorry Danny, I thought...!" Alex started.

"YOU THOUGHT WHAT?! THAT I WOULD BE OKAY? THAT THIS IS FUCKING NORMAL?! A HUMAN HAS TURNED INTO A CREATURE! WHAT THE FUCK?!" Danny shouted at Alex, making everyone and everything on the field fall silent.

The silence dragged on for a few seconds, but to everyone, it felt like a few hours. Peter, now in his large, altered form, came to a stop in front of Danny and crouched down in an attempt to calm him. The wind blowing through his dark, thick hide gave him a rather disheveled and unsettling look, but right then Danny was not finding anything funny about the sight in front of him.

"I did tell you that I have changed and that there was something inside of me that was different," Alex tried to explain.

"And? Am I supposed to know what the fuck that means? Huh? Most people change over time, and I spent two years mourning you. You return and tell me you are different, yet all I feel is joy and luck that the man I love has returned to me and is still alive. Mad that you stayed away for two years, but more delighted that the man I loved was not killed but rather still alive," Danny ranted, everything finally reaching boiling point.

"I..." Alex tried to interject, but Danny didn't care and didn't stop.

"BUT, then you tell me I am in danger, that I have to come with you and I still don't question you. Instead, I agree to go with you, followed by nutters who attack and chase us. Yet I still stay with you. And now... now you force me to see this! To see someone change into a fucking wolf as if it is nothing! This may be nothing to you, but to me? To me, this is fucking huge!"

"I..." Alex tried again, but was unsuccessful a second time.

"You know what? Fuck you and fuck this!" Danny turned on his heel and walked away, not caring if it was safe to do so or not.

Right now Danny was struggling to comprehend fully what was going on, and instead of trying to understand Danny, Alex was trying to justify what he had done to him. "Why? Just why?" Danny asks himself out loud as he walks away.

Danny walked away from the field, not knowing or caring where he was going but just letting his feet take him away from what just happened.

The scene of the field slowly changed into a beautiful scene of the forest. Greens, browns, and yellows mixing together and making a lovely color palette before Danny's eyes. The colors merging together as he delved deeper into the forest, his feet finding a well-trodden path which prevented him from slipping and instead enabled him to fully take in the sights before him.

Danny walked deeper and deeper into the forest, not knowing how long he had been walking but lost in his thoughts and the sights before him. His legs did not ache, but rather wanted to carry on walking of their own accord; Danny felt like he was in another world and body, giving him a bit of time to disconnect from what just happened and instead just enjoy the sights and feels of the moment as he traveled.

Little did Danny know that he was being watched from afar. Some of the pack warriors had heard the commotion and been told over the mind link that Danny had walked off and needed space, so some had stayed behind and kept Alex at bay as he was creating a scene about wanting to go and see Danny. Others had followed Danny at a distance to make sure he was safe, as well as to keep Alex updated with Danny and how he was reacting.

They watched on as Danny ranted and raved about everything that had happened, about why things couldn't go back to how they were two years ago and about why he was always being treated like a child.

"Should we tell him everything?" One of the warriors asked through the link.

"No! Look at how he reacted just now. If we push him too far too fast, we might just break him. For now, we will keep him safe from a distance, even if it means keeping the rest from him for now." The head warrior replied, his heart feeling heavy with the thought of how Danny might react once he learns the truth about himself and his past.

Danny continued to walk deeper into the forest, his anger slowly subsiding as he took in the beauty of the surroundings. His breathing started to match the wind in the trees, helping to calm him. He sat down on a log and watched the surrounding wildlife, listening to the birds chirp and the insects move around. The sound of nature calmed him to the point he was finally able to get his thoughts sorted out.

Sigh. "I just majorly over-reacted, didn't I?" Danny asked no one in particular, letting out a deep breath as embarrassment started to fill his body. Danny put his head into his hands. "I am happy that Alex is back, but what the hell is going on? Why did a human turn into a creature?" Danny wondered aloud.

His thoughts continued to whirl but settle until a rustling caught his attention. Danny looked up, and let out one ear-splitting scream as he caught sight of a large, dark and scruffy wolf standing in front of him in an attack stance. Its jaw was pulled back over its teeth as it let out a constant, deep growl. The hunger was clear in the wolf's eyes as he spotted Danny and was getting ready to attack him.

The wolf leaned back, its front paws dug into the ground below him, a silent stalemate occurring between the wolf and Danny, neither one moving but both taking in the sight of the other. Danny watched as the wolf flattened its ears to its head and licked its lips, before pulling its jaw back into a frightening growl again.

Danny looked for a way out but there was none. All he could do was stay seated on the log out of fear, his mind going completely blank as he realized that he was about to die at the hands of a wolf and he would not see Alex again. An indescribable pain filled him at this thought; he would never find out why Alex left him instead of facing whatever happened together like they had always promised each other. Not finding out what was going on, or why he was being fingered for crimes when the killer or killers were always one step ahead, or why he had suddenly been attacked at home where he had been safe for the past few years. All of this flashed through Danny's mind in that moment, his fear reflected as he looked into the eyes of the creature that was getting ready to pounce and end his short existence.

However, Danny was unaware of this hidden protection as he came face to face with a rogue just inside the territory.