4

In one ruthless move, I locked my jaw around his neck and tore. I felt blood trickle down my muzzle, gushing from his neck. The night sky echoed with Trevor’s whimpers as I bit down harder.

He jumped and recoiled, still whimpering, still bleeding everywhere. I ran my gaze through the crowd of wolves standing around us. Creed of the Wolf dictated that when two wolves fought on behalf of their packs, no third could interfere. Either one of the wolves died or gave up. But since giving up meant conceding your title, it was almost always a fight to the death. I wasn’t an alpha. At least not yet. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. It was the other way around for Trevor.

I approached him as he retreated. The things he had said about Alice, the actions that he had taken in the town, they were all unforgivable. I slashed at his muzzle, tearing a sizeable chunk of skin and fur as my claws met his snout. Maroon blood splattered all over the green hilltop.

Trevor snarled and parried my next attack. As I slashed again, he bit down on my claw and tossed me effortlessly across. I was ready this time. I didn’t crash as I’d done before. I landed on my feet and rebounded at him. He wasn’t expecting me to retaliate this quickly.

In one swift movement, I tackled his side and threw him off his legs. This time, I put my paw on his neck, my claws digging into his already ruptured skin. One move from him, and I’d dig my claws inside his jugular, ending it once and for all.

As we locked eyes, I saw defeat surfacing behind his red glare. Perhaps it was my naivete, but at that moment, I did the honorable thing. I backed off, putting an end to this fight. I turned around and walked over to where the elders of my pack stood.

But Trevor did not mean to end the fight. I could see from the reaction of my elders that he had gotten up behind me. If this was how he wanted to go, then so be it. The moment I turned around, I saw him leaping at me in the air, blood dripping from his many injuries, his claws out, his mouth open in a display of teeth and drool.

I had given him courtesy enough. If he didn’t want to tap out and concede, then I had no choice.

Right as he landed on me, I thrust my claws upward, impaling his neck, way past his arteries, into the meat and muscles.

Terror Trevor unleashed an unearthly shriek as his life force faded in the wake of my counter-attack. He fell on me and collapsed, unmoving.

I threw his body off of me, emerging from underneath him, drenched in his blood, victorious. I could see that he was still breathing, but by now he was so injured that he wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon. Or at all, one could hope.

I howled at the moon and was joined by my pack. Together, our howls became a symphony that tore through the night sky.

In the wake of their defeat, the Howls had all shifted back into their human forms and were dragging away Trevor’s unconscious body.

Father Thomas walked up to the retreating Howls and said, “We of the Creed live by it and die by it. If you cannot respect our customs, then do not get in the way. As you have lost this battle, you shall now pay recompense to the woman you murdered. Blood for blood, eye for an eye. Naught shall you tread upon our land, nor shall we parlay with you on mutual matters. Begone and never shall ye return.”

With their alpha lost in battle, the Howls didn’t have much of a leg to stand on. They nodded silently and went away down the hill slope.

I, on the other hand, was concerned about Alice. Alice, whom I had thrown off the hill into the river. The river tracked its course through the reservation. Before I could confer with any of the elders or with my family, I had to check and see if she was okay.

I raced down the slope, jumped over the reservation’s fence, and ran along the riverbank, looking for signs of Alice. The longer I ran, the more my heart sank. What if she didn’t know how to swim? What if she’d hit her head while falling? What if I’d pushed her too hard?

Relief swept over me when I saw her body by the pier. She was leaning against a boat, coughing water. When she saw me approaching, she yanked an oar free from the boat and swung at me.

“Jesus Christ, man!” Alice yelled. “You threw me off the hill! You pushed me into the river. How am I not dead yet? Did I just see you morph into a wolf? Have I already died and this is the afterlife? Am I in purgatory? What. The. Hell.”

I gently took the oar from her hands and tossed it back into the boat.

“Hey, Alice Hawkins. Brandon Caufield,” I said, extending my hand.

“Dude, we’re way past shaking hands, don’t you think? I mean, somewhere between you stalking me in the diner and you throwing me in the freaking river, I’d say we’re beyond shaking hands,” Alice said.

“Well, in my defense, I did save your life,” I said, grinning.

“Some way you saved my life,” she said, shivering.

I took off my jacket and wrapped it around her.

“Don’t change the topic, mister!” she said.

“I didn’t even say anything!”

“Did you or did you not turn into a wolf on top of the hill?”

“Well, about that, Alice,” I said slowly as I sat her down on the bench outside the pier. “I’m what you would call a werewolf.”

“What? Yep. That’s it. I skipped my Lexapro and I’m already hallucinating. This isn’t happening,” she said.

I pinched her forearm gently.

“Ouch, what the hell was that for?”

“Well, it counts for dreams. Doesn’t it count for hallucinations?” I said.

“So, you’re really a werewolf?” Alice asked.

“Yes. I don’t know how else to say it, but so are you,” I said.

I could see from the bewilderment in her eyes that this was, in fact, news to her. As I figured out what to say next, I heard my pack entering the reservation. By law, it was not allowed for an outsider to be on these sacred grounds.

“We have to hide you, quick. I’ll explain later,” I said, helping her climb into the boat.

“What…” she began, but before she could get a chance to speak any more, I covered her with a tarp and pushed the boat away from the bank. The boat found its rhythm on the gentle waves and floated away from the reservation.

“Brandon!” Father Thomas called from behind. “We have to talk, my son.”

I raced back to the reservation’s town square, my heart racing, anxious to see what the elders of the pack had to say. At the same time, I was concerned about Alice, whom I had once chucked off the hill and then tucked into a boat.

As far as meet-cutes went, it wasn’t my worst one.