The Beast Within

Written by AndiCullen104

Lesharo is pronounced as LehSHAARow, that is what Jake's wolf name is.

The boy stood in his backyard as his dark eyes gazed unseeingly into the thick forest. Wind whipped his long ebony hair around him, but he did not even try to put it back into place. He could feel the numbness that he had felt all day start to crack.

Today they buried his Mom.

She was gone.

Jacob didn't know how he would survive this. The pain that he had fought so hard to keep under wraps began to prickle at his skin leaving him with an uncomfortable sensation crawling over him. He shuddered and gritted his teeth trying in vain to put up the wall so he wouldn't have to feel like this anymore.

No matter how hard he tried to push it back, it pushed him back harder. Now Jacob was getting angry, because he was losing control. He needed to be strong for his family, but this ache in his chest would not go away. It spread to every part of him like an infection. It burned through his veins like molten lava.

He bit his lip as his little body began to tremble and he could taste blood in his mouth. The intensity of his pain skyrocketed no longer was it just emotional it was now physical. His body convulsed and his eyesight began to blur as big fat tears rolled down his russet cheeks. Jacob's body bowed under the weight of the agony he felt, and he tore up the grass with his bare hands as if trying to find an outlet for his rage.

His scream punctuated the night air.

Jacob's bones were breaking and his cries of pain echoed around the backyard drawing his father's attention. It was too late by the time Billy came racing out of the house. He saw his only son shimmer and in the next second become a reddish brown wolf. Billy's eyes widen in shock and he stood frozen staring at the majestic animal in front of him. It was as if time stood still and it almost felt as if it were all a dream. He couldn't believe his eyes, yet he could not move towards the wolf.

The wolf turned its muzzle to the sky and let out a low mournful howl that made Billy's heart stutter in his fear, but before he could move the animal charged into the dark depths of the forest.

~~~~~TBW~~~~~

After hours of searching through the woods, Billy and Harry walked back to Old Quil's house where the other council members had already gathered. The moment they arrived the hissing of conversations stopped and all had become quiet. The chief's tired eyes took in all the emotions playing across the members faces. Anger and fear were the most prominent. Harry went to put his arm around his tearful wife while Billy was offered a chair from the kitchen.

"How in the hell did this happen?" Mark thundered as his hard gaze focused on Jacob's father.

"I'm not sure." Billy's hand scrubbed at his face as he tried to remain calm. The death of his Sarah and now his missing son was becoming too much for him. On top of all that his son is most likely afraid and out of his wits at this point. Of course Jacob knew the legends, but Billy would imagine that they would mean very little to him at this point. He could be anywhere, and he was alone. That was what was killing Billy. That he couldn't help his own child.

"That thing is dangerous!" Mark continued and two other council members nodded their heads in agreement.

"That is my son you are talking about," Billy snarled.

"I think what my husband means to say is that none of us were around when the last pack was here. We don't know what they were like, and even you know that could be very dangerous. From what we do know the previous packs were all grown men, but Jacob is just a child. I'd imagine that he will have the strength and speed of a shape shifter, that makes him very hard to deal with." Annette explained quietly.

"He is of Alpha blood, that may help him with coping with his new situation." Old Quil interjected when the silence had gone on too long.

"Maybe we should review the old journals again to bring us up to speed to what we are dealing with," Sue suggested.

"Good idea, Suzy." Harry murmured in his bass voice.

"We'll need to keep up our searches for him, that means I'm going to need all of you to help look for him." Billy said sweeping his gaze around the people in the room. They all fidgeted uncomfortably and Billy knew that his request would be fought in the morning.

"Meeting adjourned," the chief mumbled hopelessly.

~~~~~TBW~~~~~

Jacob ran blindly through the forest as his wolf body slammed its way through the woods. Branches cut into his wolf flesh, but the adrenaline that pumped through his veins kept him from feeling any pain. By that time the wounds were already healed, however more cuts and scrapes wrecked havoc on his body from whatever branch had hit him.

There was no conscious thought in his mind other than to run and so he did. He instinctively knew where to go so he let whatever was pushing him have control. The panting of his breath and the pitter patter of the rain were the only sounds Jacob could really hear. Everything else was drowned out in his fear.

It went on like this for days with no avail.

There was no guidance to how to get back to his human body.

After the fifth day, he began to wonder if he had ever been a human. He wondered if that was all a dream that he had hallucinated. It was like he had always been a wolf. Jacob liked this much better because he didn't feel anything. The dream he had had about the boy well that was painful and he was glad that it wasn't real.

Everything seemed to blur and the energy that he had previously thought was endless was not turning out to be so. The growling of his stomach cut through the deafening silence his head had become. His eyelids felt heavy as if he could no longer hold them up.

For the first time Jacob gave everything over to the wolf.

Jacob Black was no more.

Lesharo the wolf turned a sharp left and used his keen sense of smell to track a suitable meal to nourish him. He fought against the exhaustion as he continued his hunt. The scent of a herd of deer left a clear trail for him to follow. He slowed down and began to stalk his prey. Lesharo's yellow eyes ran over the buck who was drinking from the stream. It was the biggest of them all and with that he attacked his prey.

It was a quick death as Lesharo was never one to let his meal suffer. The herd ran away as fast as they could, however he didn't care. This would be enough for him. He ripped into its thick warm flesh with his canines and began to devour it with all the energy he had left. The meat gave him strength and he could feel his bloody and torn up paws healing themselves. All the running the boy did had done a number on his body, he would need to teach him how to be a wolf. The human needs to learn how to survive and be the chief he was meant to be.

After the fullness of his belly became too much he moved to the stream and lapped up some of the cool water. He shook out his long fur before running to find shelter. Lesharo ran for another couple miles before he found a suitable place to rest. It was a small cave that would give him reprieve from the snow and hide him from any humans.

He pawed at the ground for a bit trying to get comfortable before lowering himself down and settling in for the night. Lesharo knew that the only way for the boy to survive was to give himself over to the wolf. That boy would have to make many sacrifices for the good of his tribe, and the first to go will be his childlike innocence.

All great warriors have to be broken in order to grow into their strength.

It's either survive or die when it comes to wolves.

A/N- Let me know if you'd like me to continue.