Author's Note: HELLO! To those old and new! I welcome you! This is the official rewritten first chapter of: Taming The Beast Within!
1) To everyone who has waited patiently for years or even just found it, I thank you so much. My writing has definitely changed, I hope for the better. To the people who added my story to communities, you brought tears to my eyes. I cannot thank you enough. I have over 70,000 views on this story. My mind honestly boggles at that thought. To those who left me reviews, I took the time to read over every single one and from every single inch of my heart, thank you. A few honestly made me laugh in joy and some brought tears of happiness to my eyes. To see how my work, from so long ago made people happy, makes me happy. I hope I make everyone proud with this chapter.
2) This is un-beta'd so please please, don't hate me for any grammar mistakes and the one spelling mistake that I honestly couldn't figure out how to spell right. Also, looking for a beta! So pm me!
3) There have been quite a few changes, for one, I didn't like the age gap, with getting older, seeing such a large gap honestly creeped me out so instead, there is now Fenrir Greyback, the fearsome werewolf we know about, and his teenage son, who is slightly adorkable. I have big plans for this! I've prewritten up the next four chapters, all within the same word length. So no, this story won't be chucked off to the side again. Two, Remus Lupin will be having his werewolf-daddy-issues appearing in the story. I want actual depth to the characters and that also includes hatred and fear towards the man who turned him, even if things didn't happen the way he thinks (spoilers ;) )
4) To answer a few questions before they are asked: I will only rewrite the other stories once I have a good grasp on this one. I don't want to start rewriting another and then lose interest in this one. Nope. Romance isn't going to automatically happen, it's going to develop overtime but the endgame is Fenrir/Harry. Harry will be the submissive, why? Because I said so. I feel with every part of my essence that he is, don't like it, too bad. My story.
5) This will also be posted on AAO3, under the penname, DarkLadyEris. So check it out!
This Story Contains: Swearing, Adult Situations, People being Prejudiced, Assholes, and other stuff I can't remember right now.
Summary: Fenrir Greyback knew hit lot in life, train under his father to be the next Alpha, however the sudden addition of one Harry Potter has thrown him for a loop. Can he learn how to juggle his pack responsibilities and his desire to study the strange human? Rewritten 7/25/2016.
Without further ado!
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A howl sounded the chilly night air, causing many a creature to scurry into holes and hideaways, all in an attempt to escape the notice of the hunting, hungry predators. The wind whistled through the trees, eliciting shivers down the body of a man as he stomped through the forest, dragging a bundle behind him. "Useless freak," he muttered under his breath, using his pudgy right hand to pull his winter jacket in closer to his overweight body. "Can't do nothing right, can't even clean my car right, making a dent then blaming poor Dudley." Deep, gasping breaths from an overworked, obese body had him stopping a moment later in an attempt to catch his breath, his face a bright red from the exertion of the walk. Mr. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, was proud to say that he was perfectly normal, thank you very much, except for the boy. Mr. Dursley turned around, dropping the rope that was tied to the ankles of a young boy, who remained unconscious on the forest floor.
The older males blonde eyebrows furrowed as he looked around himself before giving a nod, "Good a place as any, I suppose." He finished zipping up his brown winter coat, in an attempt to fight the creeping cold. Dursley sniffed once, and sent a lazy kick to the boy before waddling back the way he came. He never noticed the shadows following him until it was too late and his screams of terror and pain echoed through the suddenly quiet forest. An answering howl of a triumphant hunt sounded the air, eliciting the other wolves on the hunt farther away to answer.
The soft creeping of a wolf's paws on the soft ground had the large predator, a dull salt and pepper color, move closer to the child left behind by the prey. With a shimmer, the fur began to disappear as bones snapped into different places and a man crawled in place of where the wolf once was. With the creaking of his worn bones, the man, scraggly and old with age and experience in life, walked to the boy, naked save for a pair of deerskin pants. His head titled to the side, letting greying black long hair fall with it as he looked over the child. There was a large cut on the side of the head, and the man took in a deep inhale, scenting the air, blood and bruises, old ones too. Poison as well, seemed to be mixed in his very blood. Another inhale had him scenting an underlying smell of dark, soul magic. A deep frown crossed his face, sending the boy a look, there was no way one so young had performed it, therefore, someone had performed it on him. Interesting, definitely interesting.
He tipped his head back and released a quick howl, hearing two answering howls immediately to his summons. A minute later had a russet wolf and a grey one jumping over the underbrush to his side. With shimmers of their own, they transformed from beast to man. The previously russet wolf bared his neck in quick submission before asking, "What can we do for you, Alpha?"
The older man spared them a slow glance before his eyes were drawn back to the boy who still remained unconscious. His frown furrowed even harder as the two other men turned to look at the boy as well. Being unconscious for so long with a head injury couldn't be good. "The child, we shall take him to the pack. Yven, carry him and bring him to your sister to be checked over immediately." With the order, the grey wolf-turned-man gave a sharp nod, walking forward before bending down to scoop the child up and running off to the north. "Todd, tell the others to bring the prey home to feast," A toothy, sharp grin transformed his mouth, "all of it."
A nod was the answer he received before the man shimmered into a wolf and disappeared the way he came. Alpha turned to look back at the spot the boy had laid, feeling curious on why he felt something change on the winds, as if telling him that things were about to get interesting. His silver eyes turned to look up at the new moon, shining brightly in the night sky. Oh yes, he could definitely see new things arriving with the appearance of the boy. Hearing the sounds of his pack beginning to move in the distance, Alpha followed the path Yven had taken, this time in human form.
It took another hour for the hunters to bring back the four deer and one human carcasses back to the hungry pack. It took all of Alpha's patience not to snap at the heels of a few of the pack members who tried to snatch a bite before their turn. He understood the hunger, they had traveled for three days non stop to the new location and it had taken another day of setting up perimeters and settling in, which by then, they had already been low on food. The fifteen or so pups played with each other in a never ending tag around the food and the hunters who had their fill first. A few delegated watchers kept a careful eye on them, least one wander off too far, though with the scent of blood and meat in the air, the Alpha highly doubted it at the moment.
He held back his own urge for food, knowing that his pack needed to eat, to fill their empty stomachs and he had other things to do first. Alpha walked away from the growing number of wolves and humans who waited to be fed. A tent in the middle of the camp was his destination and he could already see the outline of Serena in the firelight as she bustled around the tent. He stepped through the open doorway, taking a look around the room, noting the pelts on one side of the tent held an occupant, one who was curled up under a bear pelt. He gave a soft grunt, letting his medicine woman know he was there, finding a small amount of amusement as her subsequent jump in surprise. "How is he?" his voice rumbled in his throat, reminding him that he needed to go drink some water from the river when he had a chance.
The woman sent him a small glare at his scaring her, at fifty something years old, an Elder for his pack, he let her get away with small amounts of disrespect. She gave a small sniff in annoyance before walking over to the boy and hovering, "Better now but the bump was a nasty thing. What worries me most is his arm," she gestured to his right arm, where the scent of sickness and poison originated from, "badly infected and poisoned, I can't even tell what from but it's bad, something deadly did that and he has received no adequate care for it. It's magical, that's for sure, it stinks like magic. Poor boy is skin and bones, has been for a long time too." she paused to give him a small look, waiting for him to nod with permission to continue, once he did, she spoke, "Soul Magic, there is a scar, on his forehead, someone preformed dark soul magic on him. Can't tell what exactly but the boy is famous." She took a deep breath, "The wizards call him the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter."
"That revelation made his eyebrows rise in surprise as he sent another long look at the boy. "Potential?" he asked.
"Yes, once he is healed up and fed. He certainly wouldn't survive the bite now, or even in a month. A year or two maybe. Fenrir," the Alpha turned to give her his attention. "The boy will be scared out of his mind when he wakes up, terrified even. Whoever he was living with, they were intending for him to die. I suggest you have your son talk to him, he won't be as intimidating."
Fenrir Greyback, the Alpha of the Greyback family gave a short nod, having heard what she said before retreating into his thoughts. The only issue with having Fenrir Jr speak to the boy first was that Jr was impulsive and didn't know when not to say something. Despite being a man of sixteen, he still had a lot of growing up to do and a lot to learn about being a leader. He gave a soft sigh, rubbing a hand over his beard. He better go talk to his son now before the kid disappeared to eat.
Fenrir walked out of the medical tent, trusting the older woman to let him know should the boy awaken early. He walked back to the meat, passing by families sitting down together to eat, watching a little pup of three distract its sibling before stealing some of the others food. He let out a small chuckle, shaking his head with a soft smile on his lips. Alpha turned to where some of the young males had gathered to eat, easily noticing his own son, with a shiny head of silver hair who was tearing into his meat. "Fenrir," his voice rumbled in his throat, catching the attention of all the males who quickly tilted their heads in submission, baring their throats. "Come with me."
He didn't wait for his reply, instead, turning to walk to the river that flowed by the west side of their camp. His ears picked up the sounds of his son rushing after him, eager to obey. Once he ran up beside him, Fenrir glanced over him, noting the sharpness of his face and the intimidating set of his eyes, all that he inherited from him. The softness of his mouth and the thin nose, he got from his beautiful mother, a fierce woman who had died defending her pack, an honorable death. "Serena is taking care of a boy, one that I wish for you to mentor when he awakens. He has good potential to be a wolf. I want you to erase any false ideas he has and let him know the truth. Win over his trust and do not roughhouse with him," he sent a sharp look in his sheepish sons direction, "he will be fragile for a while. If he has questions, answer them. He will be your responsibility, understand?"
His son, his flesh and blood, gave an eager nod, "Yes Alpha." When he received a wave in dismissal, he turned around and ran back to the boys, eager to tell them the situation. Alpha Fenrir, licked his dry lips and continued on his way to the river for a drink of water.
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Fenrir Jr, a young man at sixteen, was excited. It wasn't often that his father picked up strays, but when he did, there was always something interesting about them. The last one, Jorah, had been a Warding Master before he was turned by a wandering loner, an omega who had been cast from his previous pack and had no control over his wolf. Jorah had taught them new warding to go around camp and had been vital to protecting them.
The boys, Richard, Samuel, Horus and Bartholomew, all turned toward him as he walked back to the group, eager for information. Two fallen logs were their chairs, with Richard and Samuel sharing one and Horus, Bartholomew and himself having the other. He flopped down into the spot he had vacated before leaning forward, eager to share the news. "Alpha found a stray, wants me to mentor him. He says that he has a lot of potential to be a wolf, but that I have to be super gentle," he said the word with distaste, humans were so fragile in comparison to wolves, "no roughing him up."
Samuel, a boy with a mean streak, gave a soft snort, "We can mess with him though," he gave a cruel smile, "play tag with him."
Fenrir gave him a stern glare in return, "I plan on obeying my Alpha, unless you would like to face his wrath." Tag for wolves was chasing each other down with one wolf delegated prey. They had to run until they literally couldn't run anymore, the whole point of the game was building endurance but often times, the smaller, weaker wolves were mocked and bitten at by the meaner ones.
Samuel averted his eyes, not willing to say anything else lest he get into trouble. Bartholomew slapped a hand on Fenrir's back, "Hey, at least you will get to something other than chores."
Richard groaned, "why did you have to remind us? Horus and I are on cleanup duty tonight after everyone finishes eating." Horus, ever the drama queen, threw himself onto Bartholomew, bemoaning his fate.
"You couldn't just let me live another twenty minutes in peaceful ignorance, could you?" Horus rested his hand dramatically on his forehead before Bartholomew pushed him off of his lap, sending the other to the ground. "How could you!" he faked gasped in outrage, sending the others minus Samuel who was still sulking, into loud laughs.
Fenrir stood back up, stretching his arms above his head before nodding towards the medicine tent. "If you need me, I'll be with Elder Serena." Waving his goodbyes, he walked the long way around the carcasses from dinner, not wanting to deal with a hungry wolf snapping at him if he came too close while they picked out what they wanted to it. It thankfully only took him a minute to walk around different living tents to reach the medicine tent, stationed exactly in the middle of the pack. Upon entering, his nose immediately crinkled in disgust, the smell of poison was overpowering, he could almost feel the nose hairs curling up and dying. "Elder," he greeted her, not able to hide the way his nose reacted to the smell.
She tutted at him, grinding some herbs together in a small wooden bowl as she sat on a pelt near a young boy. Fenrir crept closer, curious on who the boy was, while strays happened, it was rare and usually they were already wolves, not humans. He knelt down next to the Elder, taking note of how skinny he was, how his ribs stuck out even with a pelt on him. He frowned, "Elder, why is he so skinny?"
Serena turned her head slightly to look at him, pursing her lips in thought before deciding how to phrase it. "Do you remember the Galloway Pack?" At his blank expression, she huffed, "The pack with the alpha who wouldn't feed his people? Do you remember how skinny they were when we passed by while migrating? Their bones stuck out because of lack of food. Their alpha, their protector abused his right as leader and allowed everyone else to go hungry while his favorites and himself gorged themselves on food. Thankfully for the poor souls, someone managed to defeat him in battle and became the new Alpha." She paused, taking a moment in reconciliation before continuing, "The boy here, I'm guessing, wasn't fed or taken care of by his guardian. I would hazard a guess that the different meat brought," she jerked her head over by where the carcasses of deer and human remained, though not for much longer, "happened to be that guardian."
Fenrir's upper lip rose in disgust, glad that the Greyback wolves, a pack of actual wolves that had long since followed the Greyback werewolf pack, would be happily feasting on the human carcass. "Well at least we don't have to worry about taking care of him later on." The werewolf leaned forward, taking note of the boy's tan skin, the dark, fluffy and disorganized hair, and the softness of his face. Other than his cheekbones being refined, he had no masculine features to his face, probably hadn't even hit puberty yet he looked young. "When is he supposed to wake up?" he asked, reached out to not-so-gently poke at his arm, as if that would wake him.
He'll wake up when he is ready, of that I have no doubt." Serena gave a stern nod, before sending him a knowing look, "And don't even think about waking him up before he is ready." The young man grinned sheepishly before pulling his arm back, looking properly chastised.
"I guess now we play the waiting game?" He asked while watching her begin to lather a strong smelling concoction onto the pulsing, infection stab wound on the mystery boy's forearm. He certainly hoped for the boy's sake that he stayed unconscious until the medicine dried otherwise he was going to wake up from the awful smell alone.
(Line Break, won't me do one, Line Break)
The End of the First Chapter!
So my beautiful people, what do you think? I would love constructive criticism or even just letters of love (those always make me feel good, haha). I'm eagerly awaiting to hear your thoughts!
On that note, I'm going to bed. I'll start getting the second chapter prepared tomorrow, though no promises.