The killer in me{open}

[Nathaniel Loup Garou]

It had been, over ten years since I last placed foot or paw in the clan perimeter, leaving shortly after Lyra had disappeared, I couldn't stay and watch the others suffer, like when they suffered when my mother was killed. Cole's sister. And okay sure, she wasn't my mother by blood, but I still looked at her like one. When my parents died, Sophie took me in as her own son, and Ophelia ended up becoming my sister, as well as my best friend. When she died, Ophelia went off the rails, and I couldn't help her no matter how hard I tried. Cole even tried, but she rebuked and left the clan, doing her own thing. While I'd been upset and heart broken, I knew she had not truly left us, being in the munin and all. It may sound cold, but I got over it. As much as I could anyway. Still, the dead never truly leaves us, whether they are part of the munin or in our hearts. I guess because I lost my biological parents at a young age, I'd already been through it once, so the second time around was less, painful? I don't know.

The reason I had left was to find out all I could, who had taken Lyra, and helping my sister when I could. When she was pregnant, my sister not Lyra, I managed to get her to come back to the clan to be checked out, before once again she returned to her own world. My niece was born, I the proud uncle. I kept watch until Ophelia told me to keep an eye on the one who was our most sworn enemy, Zane, after running into Angel. It was all too much, confusion, fear, Angel had spoken to me for a few days while she woke up because of Ziva calling. And my niece was murdered. Once again my sister had gone down that path, pushing everyone away without care. And I returned to give the clan a hand, especially now that Ophelia was unstable again, Zane had attacked again, and the Fenrir was dead. Bringing a cigarette to my lips, I inhaled deeply, expelling the smoke in the crisp, cool air with parted lips. "Home, is certainly where the heart is." My vocals came out deep, my cool, clear eyes scanned the area in front of me.

Lyra, I knew, was back, having been at the initiation. Though she was known by all as Stryker now, I still called her Lyra, it was who I knew her as. She didn't mind, even smiling faintly at the better memories that name gave her. Raising up my free hand, I clicked my fingers twice, snapping in rapid succession before moving through the forest area, well okay, it was a meadow, but still. A faint crack of a twig made my head spin about, trying to locate the noise, when scents overrode my thoughts. Hunters! And they were all surrounding me. Peering through the growing darkness, I knew the insignia on ones shoulder. The same hunters that had hunted down Sarah Raven, and killed her mate. "I've hears stories about you." My voice carried on the wind, bringing a cruel snarl to my lips, again taking a puff on the cigarette before it burned between my fingertips. "I know all about you. Pity, its only you left is it not?" I tilted my head. "You want to go out with a bang, so people know you for that, and not your blundering mistakes."

Hearing a shotgun being cocked, I smirked sideways, eyes staring at the one who aimed the same shotgun upwards until it was aimed at my chest. "Attack, your lives will be forfeit." Calling the munin, feeling the familiar swept of wind around my frame, sending on a message to the clan, to alert them of impending danger. "We want the werelynx. And we will get hurt." I snarled, dropping the cigarette and stamping with a booted foot to put it out so it didn't spread fire through the meadow. "You will not take her. She is part of the family. I'll die before you land a filthy hand upon her." I heard a sound before pain hit my nerves, looking down as blood shed from the bullet would, an easy 9mm bullet that had hit. Grunting, eyes blazed as I tore my jacket, not bothering about my jeans as I began to shift.

White and black fur sprouted, almost like a skunk, oversized paws with crystal golden eyes, a howl coursing from my throat. "Hunters! Protect Sarah, she is in danger." Okay, so I liked the werelynx, she had helped us and was a surrogate daughter to Syren. She may not be a werewolf, but she was part of the clan, I was not going to let her get hurt or killed because some assholes couldn't let things go. I began to run, my paw steps hitting the ground roughly, the sound getting louder when I realized that others were coming to the scene. Launching at the guy with the shotgun, biting savagely through his wrist, tearing muscle and tendon and snapping bone, he dropped the gun like it was a bomb, screaming in pain. Xander had plowed through one, ripping into his neck, I heard Mick through the lines, organizing his line though I was not sure where Cole was. Blood spilled into the earth, as hunters all around us fell by our fang and paw, shots rang through the air but reports from each gave me relief as none had hit us. That was good, that was all that mattered. We survived, these hunters, after tonight, they would be wiped out.

[Syren Loup Garou]

It had been quiet in the Luna since the battle with the Fenrir, a quiet that was unsettling, much like the calm before the storm. But life went on, as it usually did, and if trouble would come, we would meet it head on, without fear. Sarah, the werelynx I'd come to call my daughter, and I were lounging in our animal forms along the perimeter of the Luna in a shady grove, dappled with sunlight. She was much smaller as a lynx than I was as a wolf, and she lay on her side, curled against my belly. One white paw draped over her as we dozed. We'd hunted earlier, nabbing a brace of rabbits with ease. Poor dears, fearful at best, scared witless when confronted with both a wolf and a lynx. Though we'd said the proper prayers of thanks, I still felt for them. No being should feel such fear. Perhaps I'd work on a spell to ease their fear before we brought them death to nourish ourselves.

Sarah rolled over in her sleep, wiggling as she cuddled back against my belly. I licked her head, soft, careful strokes. Her lips curled in a sleepy smile as she dreamed. In this blissful moment, a call of alarm set me alert. In seconds I was on my feet, or rather, paws. "Cole!" He was at my side no sooner had I thought his name. Standing gaurd, he paced around Sarah, allowing me to go after the hunters that converged on Nate. These were the same hunters who'd come after Sarah and her lover, the night I found her. I had a personal score to settle with them. And I would trust none other than Cole to watch over her. He would protect her with his life. Sarah woke, hearing the call herself and literally vibrated with worry. "Be still, my darling. Cole is here with you, and no harm shall come to you by our Alpha's side."

In a blur of white, I sped to aid the others already running to battle the hunters that dared to approach our lands. A savage growl ripped from my throat and tore from my jaws as I sprung and dove through the fray. My paws collided with a hunter carrying a rifle, slamming into his chest, the rifle went off, a stray shot that sung up through the trees as he fell. I fell with him, my momentum carrying us both down. I snarled in his face, and broadcast my thoughts for all of them to hear. "You have violated our lands, for this is the territory of the Loup Garou, and hunters shall be punished by death. YOU WILL NOT HAVE HER!" There is no fury like that of a mother scorned, and to threaten any of my children, whether they are born from my body, blood of the clan, or otherwise, meant to risk my wrath.

The Munin swirled around us, envigorating every Loup Garou in the fight, as well as instilling fear and confusion in the hunters. They cannot shoot what they cannot see. But they could feel the Munin, and they could feel them well. My jaws clamped over the man's neck, breaking his spine instantly and releasing a spray of blood. I tore a bloody swath through the next 4 hunters that I came into contact with. "Leave none alive!" Xander, Mick, and the others were ripping into any hunter that still breathed, their numbers now considerably decreased. I rushed to Nate's side, whimpering as I licked at his wound. "Are you well?" None of the others had been hit, and Nate's wound wasn't life threatening, but I hated to see any of my kin injured, most of all by the likes of hunters.

[Nathaniel Loup Garou]

As my fangs clamped down of flesh and bone, snapping bits that spiked through my jaw leaving my own blood to spill, a dull ache resounding through my jawbone. It was worth it. The hunter feebly moved his hand, bringing a knife forward to slice through my belly, jumping back on paws and emitting a low, dangerous bark. Seeing nothing but a blur of white from the corner of my eyes, I knew Syren had joined the fight. Cole, would probably be here or keeping Sarah protected, especially if Syren was intense in the fray. There was no sign of Cole's wolf form, so that made my suspicions correct, and you know what, I knew that with Syren in the battle, she could easily hold her own. As a Lupa, she was not one to shy away if needed in such violence like this. Not that we enjoyed or liked it, but the hunters crossed a line. Attack us, go after one of our kin, and you die. It was as simple as that, no escape, no pleading. Think before you act, and take heed with warnings.

More shots were fired, making me lurch forward, placing both paws on the hunters chest, rising and falling raggedly while he tried breathing. "Your life ends." Without hesitation, nor pity, I bit down, killing him instantly. Shaking my head, my body followed in its shake through, bits of blood and dirt trundled from my fur, opening and shutting my mouth several times, making sure nothing in my jaw was damaged. One hunter managed to pounce on me, wrapping his arms around my throat, pulling at my ears. The Munin, called by Syren, was more than enough to spark my limbs with furious fire, keeping me going as I was kicked again and again in the ribs, my airway closing. With a roar of snarls, I bucked, feeling the hunter lose his grip, and so I did it again, before chasing my tail in a circle to make him dizzy. I heard him moan, slipping forwards enough that I could bite his ear, pulling him the rest of the way from my back, letting him fall to the ground in a heap. Standing strong and tall, I narrowed my eyes as he whimpered in fear.

Stamping down on his stomach, making him squirm, I lowered my furred head towards his, breathing coldly on his face as he blinked a couple of times in rapid succession. He tried to get away, with my paw still on him and pinning him down meant he was unable to. Drawing a claw over his throat, I bit, shaking my head side to side and snapping his neck with ease. "They will all die Lady Syren. That I can promise." I called back through the link, licking the rest of the blood from my maw when Syren was by my side, a furry white wolf. I heard her whimper, the adrenaline in my blood had wiped away most of the pain, nodding my head in response to the question. Feeling the tickle from her tongue licking over my gunshot wound, cleaning it, I raised my paw, trying hard not to squirm like a young pup at bath time again. "I'm fine. You? Are you hurt?" A quick look showed me that she was okay, no wounds from guns nor knives, which was a relief. "I couldn't let them leave this area." I knew Syren would understand.

Sounds of screams echoed in the night as Mick finished off his branch of hunters, Xander took on two at a time and ripped them into shreds. Nicholai was dancing around his hunter, avoiding the steel glint that I knew was a knife, before lunging and killing. It seemed we had way too much practice with this, but the hunters, most, were ignorant. I had met a few that tried stopping shifters, evil shifters, and they were quite nice people. They knew that not all shifters had to be destroyed, and while some heard of Zane, I had to stop them from going after the immortal fuck. They would definitely be killed then, and it was nice to know we had some on our side. More than half I knew often didn't even call themselves hunters, unless the shifter attacked them first without provocation. "The hunters, are they all dead?" I asked, getting a yes reply from each clan member, I think my body sagged slightly in relief.

[Syren Loup Garou]

I stopped licking at Nate's wounds, as more hunters trampled into the clearing. "You are brave Nathaniel, a true Loup Garou. Guard yourself well, and heal before the injury worsens. Do not worry about me." I flashed him a wink and tore off, bounding between Xander and Mick, fangs bared as we all snarled at the men. Xander and Mick each shot off in either direction once the hunters began shooting, but I stayed my ground, using the magick of the Munin as a sheild against their weapons. Once more broadcasting my thoughts to them, I warned them away, before they would pay with their lives. We did not like to kill, but would do what we must to protect ourselves and the others in the Luna. "You've been warned, foolish men! Persist and you will all perish." The man in the lead glared at me, pistol aimed between my eyes. "The bitch is in my head! Kill her!"

I howled then, even as he fired at near point blank range, the Munin still protecting me. When his pistol clicked empty, I used the Munin to facilitate another change, the change into the wolf/human hybrid, the werewolf of popular movies that exists within us when we call the Munin as power and take that power into ourselves. I rose up on my hind legs, growing taller and bulkier as my body morphed. Thick muscles, lined with veins errupted beneath my furred skin. The howl I'd sent up changes as my vocal deepened, becoming a roar. The men screamed, some scattering in different directions.

I reached out one massive clawed hand and grapsed the man who'd attempted to shot me in the head by the neck. A simple twist of my wrist broke his neck cleanly in two with a resounding crack. Dropping his corpse, I growled menacingly as I turned to the hunter creeping up behind Xander as he took on another. The one he faced was trying to reload his gun as Xander pounced on him. The other was coming up behind him with a large knife in his upraised hand, gleeming in the moonlight. I swatted him away as one would a pest, and sent him flying into a tree, snapping the trunk with the impact. Xander finished off the fiend he'd pinned to the ground, and I stole a look around to see that both Nate and Mick had finished off the others as well.

Slipping back into my wolf form, I did not notice that the man I'd thrown into the tree was still alive until his gun fired a report. The bullet stuck my lower flank, and I whimpered loudly, staggering. He perished after he fired his gun, but he'd failed to take me with him. I limped, keeping my right hind leg off the ground as much as I could, still whimpering as I lurched for Mick. "Get the bullet out...before I shift." I panted, laying near him. After channelling the Munin so much, I did not wish to use their magick to extract the bullet myself. Nor did I wish to change forms with it stuck inside me, for chances are it would stay there. It needed to be removed, so that I could shift and heal without worrying about embedding a foreign piece of metal forever in my skin.

[Nathaniel Loup Garou]

"Thank you Lady Syren. I will guard myself well, and you too." As soon as Syren was out of my sight, I focused my energy and will upon my leg, bringing forth the Munin and asked for a hand in the whole healing progress so then I may join the battle again. Almost at once, my leg began to itch and tickle like mad, healing rapidly while kicking my back leg outwards to test, feeling muscles tight beneath fur and skin, other than that, nothing else. Thanking the Munin, my eyes flashed coldly as more hunters surrounded us. Xander and Mick were already striking more hunters as I doubled back, lowering my nose to the ground and sniffing, following their scents like a blood hound, around the edges and peeking through underbrush, twigs snapped and bit at my sides but now I was behind them, snarling easily as I pushed the rest of my bulk through, nearly ripping the bush clean. With paws outstretched, I tackled one, rolled with the momentum and flew off, landing with a dull thud, injuring my front left paw.

Syren had called to the hunters, one calling out to kill her as I snickered in my own response. They were foolish for not listening. As I turned to face my own hunter, a greedy look upon his face as I glared, moving forward slower, hobbling as if my injury was worse than it was. He fell for it, grinning as if he would be the winner, he jumped, aiming a kick to the side of my face. Turning and biting his ankle through his boot, I clamped down hard, tearing his Achilles's and thus, rendering him unable to walk. There was no healing from that wound, and savagely I tore through his leg, his screams echoing through the air along with my growls and snarls. The hunter fell to the ground, twitching as I advanced, showing bloodied teeth and fangs. "You were warned. We do not take kindly to your kind. You came upon our lands, trespassed, and now, you will never leave. Your body will rot and no one will come for you." I spoke harshly.

The Munin rushed forward, surrounding Syren as she became, not wolf, not human, but the beast of legends. Humanity based werewolves from this, and seeing Syren with such power made my jaw drop. Killing the hunter before me, I sought out those that had escaped being killed by the others, ripping through and leaving limbs, blood and cries behind. In tandem with Mick, we both pounced on one, tearing him from both sides, before he was off on another. Syren was busy with her own, and from my eyes I saw her finish and slip back into her pure white wolf form. It seemed all was clear, everyone was dead, when the gunshot rang in the air, ears flattened and a snarl tore from my throat, yet the hunter had already gone into the void. "Mick, you know what to do right? I've never been in something like this before, tell me what to do." Mick made sure we were actually safe, Xander guarding as the Duke shifted to his human form, already by Syren and checking out the wound.

"Looks bad, hold still." Watching Mick, he called upon his strength, hands turning into wicked claws, the tips digging into Syren's flesh. Lending my own strength, whimpering myself as Syren was in pain, Mick clutched the bullet with bloody claws and tore it from her body. "Some of the flesh is torn a bit, but I doubt we would have gotten back to the clan in time." He showed us the bullet that was serrated around the edges in points. "These babies are illegal. Lucky you were far away enough and that the Munin was still about or you'd be needing a very long downtime." I sniffed the bullet, shaking my head. "How did they get hold of that? Illegal yea, but its not like every illegal trader has them. Imports sounds like the deal, still, if every hunter has these in their guns, we don't stand a chance. Come on Lady Syren, lets get back to the clan and get you properly healed. I'm starving myself." That got a few chuckles from the others, relief heard in their vocals.

[Syren Loup Garou]

I lay panting and whimpering at Mick's feet, the others gathering around, worry plain on their faces. "Mick has done this before. I...I will be fine." I struggled to hold still while Mick probed the wound, my tail the only thing that twitched in response to the pain. "By the Moon this hurts!" I'd been shot before, but never had it hurt so badly. At first I thought it must be the location of the wound, but all thought left me as Mick's claw rooted around for the bullet. My teeth ground together and I growled as he pulled free the devilish hunk of metal. Panting harder, I tilted my head up to see what he held. It was damn near barbed, it's edges serrated at points along the small bit of metal. I growled again. "Those bastards."

Standing back up, I kept that leg off the ground and leaned into Mick as I shifted. A fresh, pink scar developed above my hip, right where the bullet had been. I stretched my leg, making sure I was fit to run, and shifted with ease back into the white wolf. Licking my blood from Mick's hand, I thanked him. "Thank you Mick. It's lucky you were here. I must get back to Sarah." I knew she'd be worried, as would Cole no doubt.

Running quickly back to camp, I slowed to a lope as I neared Sarah and Cole. He stood errect and alert, eyes scanning the horizon for any more danger or threat to the clan. Padding to Sarah, I nudged her with my nose and began licking her face. "All is well. The hunters have been destroyed." Cole knelt, stroking my fur. "You were shot, I felt it. Nate too." His hand passed lightly over where my wound had been. "Yes. The hunters have a strange, new bullet. Mick extracted it from me, he will no doubt come to show you. Don't worry so much my love, I am fine." I nuzzled into him and licked his face until he grinned at me.

The others returned right behind me, each moving in their own directions. Xander to find Timber, surely, as she would be worried for him as well as pissed that she was unable to join the fight because of her pregnancy. Mick strode toward us with Nate, presumably to show the bullet to Cole. But it was Nyta my eyes turned to, as she came to us with a huge steaming bowl of stew. She deposited the bowl on the ground between Nate and I. I looked at him and smiled wolfishly, licked my lips, and ducked my head into the bowl, lapping up meaty bits of broth and vegetables. The bowl was large enough for Nate and I both to stick our heads in and eat our fill. Nyta patted us both before returning to her hut. I watched her with one eye as she caem back out with another large pot of stew and some bowls for the others. I kept my snout buried in the stew, lapping up the delicious mixture with gusto, feeling my strength return with each bite.