THE NIGHT OF WEREWOLF

By Andamogirl

Author's note: Season 2. Episode-tag. This story takes place directly after "The Night of the Wolf". Reference to the following episodes: "The Night of the Wolf"; "The Night That Terror Stalked the Town", "The Night of the Big Blast" and "The Night of the Brain".

Artie: (posing as a king) Kneel, peasant.

Jim: As a decoy, you're a sitting duck.

Artie: I know. Perfectly willing to abdicate, but nobody wants the job.

Jim: Long live the king.

Artie: Thank you.

TNOT Wolf

Many thanks to my beta readers Old Toad & Tripidydoodah.

WWW

PART ONE

The Wanderer,

Artemus's sleeping compartment

His wig and false mustache gone, Artemus Gordon removed his bi-colored sash, and slowly, very slowly, took off the jacket of the red and gold uniform he was wearing.

He looked at his injured shoulder where the bullet had made a hole, and felt the warmth of his blood soaking into his white shirt, spreading quickly.

Grimacing in pain he gently unbuttoned it, removed it, and bare-chested he turned around and looked at his back reflected in the mirror hanging next to the door.

He sighed with relief to see an exit wound in his back. "Good… no surgery is needed to remove the bullet." Sudden heat came over him, followed by the sensation of vertigo. His legs gave out from under him, and he slid to the carpeted floor of the sleeping compartment. "Jim…" he called in a whisper. "Jim… Jim help me!" Lying on his side, his whole body numb, his vision grayed and blackness finally engulfed him.

Artie woke up a minute later grimacing in pain, and realized that his partner was kneeling beside him, shaking his good arm. "Jim… forget what I said… I was wrong, I'm not… alright, after all," he whispered. He squeezed his eyes as the pain become impossible to bear. "Ow!"

Frowning in deep concern, Jim said, "No, you're not. There's an exit wound. The bullet's not inside Artie, I checked. You won't need surgery. But you're running a fever and your wound needs to be treated as soon as possible. I hope there's a doctor in town." He pulled his best friend upright as gently as possible, eliciting moans and groans from the other man. Seeing that Artemus had closed his eyes tight shut, he asked, "Are you still with me, Artie?"

Reopening his eyes, Artie nodded and groaned. "Yes, yes, barely."

Gently, slowly, Jim sat his partner of the edge of his bunk and then laid him on his side. "Alright, I'm going to get the doctor, buddy. I won't be long."

Burying his head in the pillow, through gritted teeth, Artemus replied, "Okay…not going anywhere." Then he closed his eyes and passed out again.

When Jim reopened the door of The Wanderer thirty minutes later, Dr. Prescott at his heels, he froze on the threshold and said, "Go back to your office, Doctor. Now."

Puzzled, Prescott frowned. "What? But what about your injured friend?" He caught a glimpse of the scene inside the parlor car and opened his eyes wide in surprise – surprise rapidly replaced by fear. He took a step back and said, "I'm going to…"

Still looking straight ahead at the scene before him, Jim interrupted the physician, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, I did not know I had guests. Don't tell anything to the sheriff. It would make things worse, just go. Goodnight, Doctor."

Prescott nodded. "Alright." He left in a hurry.

As soon as the other man had departed, Jim entered the train and closed the door behind him. He looked down in concern at Artemus, who was kneeling on the floor, hand clutching his bleeding shoulder. Miguelito Loveless, framed by four armed, bulky men, was holding a gun to his best friend's temple.

He nodded. "Dr. Loveless, it's always a pleasure to see you."

Loveless smiled broadly, "Likewise, Mr. West. Don't do anything foolish, or your partner here will be the first to die. On your knees and hands behind your head!"

Jim complied without hesitation.

Still smiling, the diminutive man gestured to broken furniture, the disemboweled sofa cushion and the feathers covering the floor. "Redecorating?"

Jim shook his head. "No, we just had some indelicate visitors half an hour ago or so. I didn't have time to do any cleaning, you will excuse me."

Loveless nodded. "You are excused." He looked at Artemus who was fighting to stay conscious. "I suppose they injured your partner too?"

Jim nodded. "Let me take care of him."

Miguelito shook his head. "I will take care of him later. It's not serious." Using his free hand he pulled out a box from the inner pocket of his jacket. He placed it on the sofa and took out the syringe inside. He pierced Artie's neck and injected half of the dose. "It's a powerful sedative," he explained to Jim, noticing the other man's worried look. "I just want you to be unconscious when carried to my new hideout. I have to take some precautions, you understand. I don't want to lose it, like I lost the others – because of you."

Suddenly Artemus face-planted to the floor. Loveless gave the syringe to one of his henchmen. "It's Mr. West's turn," he said before smiling.

WWW

Much later, in Loveless's hideout

Jim woke up tied to a chair, confused. He looked dazedly up at the series of five cages lined up along a wall in front of him. He had no recollection as to how he'd gotten here. Then everything came back to his mind: Loveless had kidnapped Artie and him.

He suddenly gulped and recoiled as he came to the realization that a monstrous black wolf was in each of the cages, at least five times bigger than a normal sized wolf. They were growling and looking at him, bearing their abnormally long teeth.

Then he noticed another cage, further to the left… and saw Artemus lying in it. "Artie! Artie!"

But the other man didn't react. He was still unconscious.

He tried to free himself from the ropes restraining him – but in vain. Loveless had taken all his clothes off him except his underwear, depriving him of his gadgets.

At that moment, he saw his nemesis heading towards him, flanked by two armed goons.

"I didn't know you had started a menagerie," Jim called.

Loveless smiled and gestured to the cages containing the very big wolves. "Ah! But these wolves are not ordinary wolves." He snapped his fingers and the two bulky men lifted the chair Jim was tied to and put it close to Artemus's cage.

Jim frowned in deep worry as he saw that his best friend was shaking with tiny spasms, and that his pale body was covered in sweat. Infection had propagated in his untreated wound, and his fever had worsened. Blood was still seeping from the bullet hole in his shoulder.

The enormous wolf in the cage placed next to Artie's suddenly hurled its bulk against the bars of the cage and stopped, looking down at his partner with glowing yellow eyes, growling, salivating hungrily, driven mad by the smell of blood. It wanted to eat Artie! He realized with horror.

Still smiling Loveless continued, "I was saying that those wolves aren't ordinary wolves, Mr. West – they're werewolves."

Blinking in surprise, Jim said, "What? Werewolves?" He glanced at the wild and dangerous beasts; then looked again at Loveless.

Loveless nodded. "What do you know about lycanthropy, Mr. West?"

Jim sighed. "Not a great deal. I know it's the study of werewolves." Then he remembered the book Artie had found in a stagecoach called The Legends of Lycanthropy and what he had read in it. He added, "'Whereupon the fifth night, with the full moon, the body of the beast will be inhabited by the mind and soul of a man and he shall track as the beast tracks, pursuing his prey to the most unholy places…' I read that in a book recently. Coincidences, coincidences…"

Loveless chuckled. "Very good. But it's not full moon anymore, Mr. West, and yet these werewolves are still in full-beast mode…"

Frowning, intrigued, Jim asked, "How is it possible?"

Miguelito Loveless turned and gestured to a very well-equipped lab on the other side of the vast underground room. "Based on my experiments on a werewolf – a man who had been bitten by another werewolf, and that I finally killed with a silver bullet because I didn't need him anymore - I managed to create a drug that triggers the transformation of a human being into a werewolf without the use of any curses, magic spells, or talismans. I created artificial werewolves." He looked again at the beasts in the cages. "These creatures were humans a couple of hours ago, formerly some inoffensive farmers. Look at them now! They are killers! My drug works! They will stay in that state for 24 hours before the effects wear off. Then, when they are once again in human form, they won't remember anything." He moved towards the cage Artie was in and added, "The next step in my great plan is to train a werewolf to attack and kill a designated person. I choose President Ulysses S. Grant as my target, and my assassin will be a werewolf called Artemus Gordon."

Jim blanched and shook his head. "No!"

Loveless nodded and grinned. "Oh yes! Then, after Grant is dead, it will be chaos – and I like chaos! – at first in San Francisco and then in the entire country! And I could sell my drug to anyone who can pay for it – for a fortune, of course. Because I need money, a lot of money to pursue my experiments and create all my wonderful machines – my machines that you and your partner destroy each time! But I'll take care of that part of my plan later. I have to focus on the first part of it."

Jim nodded. "It's our job to stop you, and your new plan will fail, like all the others."

Loveless shook his head. "Not this time. I'll see to that." He glanced at the prone figure of Artemus who was still unconscious. "Don't worry, Mr. West, he's going to be alright. Once a werewolf, his wound will vanish like magic and he'll be fine."

Jim nodded. "That's why you didn't treat his wound."

Miguelito nodded. "Yes, and it gives me the pleasure of seeing Mr. Gordon suffer too." He ignored Jim's venomous look and added, "The President is scheduled to make a speech in San Francisco in two weeks at the Governor's residence, and as usual, he'll have his two best agents at his side: Mr. Gordon – and you too of course, Mr. West. Mr. Gordon and you won't remember anything of your stay here, thanks to a 'memory loss' drug I will inject you with before you go back to your train. I won't kill you this time – not directly I mean - but you will die eventually. The werewolf will kill you, Mr. West, after he has killed Grant, and then he'll be shot dead by one of my men – with silver bullets because a werewolf is immune to damage caused by ordinary weapons, being vulnerable only to silver objects – like silver bullets."

Suddenly Artemus blinked his eyes open and breathed helplessly, "Jim… Jim… help me." Before passing out again.

Jim looked at his partner through the bars of the cage. "Artie! I'm here, buddy."

Loveless snapped his fingers. "Remove the ropes!" he commanded and one of the goons immediately complied. Then he pulled out a key from the pocket of his jacket and used it to open the door of the cage. "Go! Join your partner, Mr. West."

James knelt beside his best friend and placed his head on his lap. Artie's face was flushed with fever and his body was trembling. He was burning up!

Miguelito smiled. "Administrating my drug to Mr. Gordon during the President's speech will be easy. I'll use a dart containing it – and the effect will be immediate. But as a wild beast he would attack, maim and kill all the people around him – and not specifically Grant. He could escape and I want him dead. I want the werewolf to target him and no one else. That's what I'm going to train the beast to do. But first I want to test my method with you, Mr. West."

Paling a little more, Jim looked at Artie who was slowly regaining consciousness again. "He won't do it! Artemus won't kill me."

Loveless shook his head. "Once he is a werewolf, the beast commands. Your partner's mind and soul will be dominated by the beast desire to maul, kill and eat - you." He clapped his hands, beaming with pure joy. "That's brilliant, don't you think?"

Jim shook his head. "You're demented Loveless. Your place isn't behind the bars of a prison but behind those of a cell in a mental asylum."

The diminutive man shrieked, upset. "I'm not demented! I'm a genius! But your tiny mind can't comprehend the grandeur of my plan." He looked at Artie who tried to move into a sitting position. "I'll start the training tonight. In the meantime, enjoy your partner's company while he's still a man." He turned around and headed towards the door, followed by his two henchmen.

WWW

Slowly, Artemus opened his eyes again and through a blur, saw Jim smiling down at him. "Hiya Jim… are you alright?"

Jim nodded. "I am, yes. Hi Artie." He put his hand on the other man's forehead. His wavy hair was damp and curled into cowlicks with sweat, and his skin was burning hot against his palm. His eyes were sunken and his lips bloodless.

Artie glanced around him, noticing for the first time the monstrous beast in a cage next to the one Jim and he were locked into. The big, big wolf was looking at him hungrily. His brown eyes big and scared, his body tensed up and he recoiled. "Great Scot! What's that-that thing? Some kind of wolf?"

James nodded again. "Some kind, yes. It's a werewolf, Artie, long story. In short: Dr. Loveless captured us and brought us into his new hideout, somewhere. He has created a drug able to turn a man into a werewolf. It wears off after twenty-four hours. That creature was a farmer a few hours ago. Loveless wants to turn you into a werewolf so that you will kill President Grant and me during a speech in San Francisco in two weeks. Then one of his men will shoot you with silver bullets. Once a werewolf, your wound will heal and you'll be fine. Loveless will train the beast-you to attack only the President and me."

Artemus smiled weakly looking up at his surrogate brother through half-closed lids, wincing as his shoulder was on fire, the pain increasing. "That's… a very creative way to kill the both of us. Loveless will never cease to amaze me with his extraordinary schemes… I didn't know that the President would be coming to San Francisco in two weeks? How did Loveless learn that?"

Jim sighed. "He probably has informants in the high spheres of Washington."

Artie nodded. "But we'll stop him, right? We can't let him do that."

Jim smiled. "Yes, we always make his elaborated plans fail – this one won't be an exception. Everything is going to be okay."

The older man grimaced and gritted his teeth. "Hurts… it hurts so much Jim," he breathed. Then his vision grayed and he lost consciousness again.

WWW

Much later

Loveless injected his drug in Artie's bloodstream and hurriedly moved back before leaving the cage, locking the door behind him.

Standing beside Jim West, he glanced at Jim, now again restrained in the chair with strong ropes and said, "The transformation is fascinating." Then he looked at Artemus, who had moved onto all fours as thick black hair and nails sprouted. With a cracking of bones, his body began to twist out of human shape. Skeletal structure changed, bones breaking, realigning into another form, that of a canis lupus. Limbs lengthened, as he morphed into something else, becoming a wolf.

Hoarse screams of pain filled the air.

More than stunned, Jim couldn't help but gape, wide-eyed, at the scene before him: Artie's face was changing, lengthening and narrowing, contorting into a snout. His ears became pointy and black fur spread out from the back of his neck and over his now lupine face. The werewolf, its body now full and heavy, suddenly threw back its head and howled as he finally came into the world, complete. Then, the beast turned toward the two men, snarling with slobbering fangs and savage, glowing, yellow eyes.

The hair on the back of Jim's neck instantly prickled and he looked at the werewolf with a shocked expression on his face, "That's impossible."

The man he loved like a brother was now a wild and dangerous beast.

Loveless beamed. Werewolf-Artemus was now prowling his cage, growling, suddenly sharp teeth snapped at him menacingly, twice. "Au contraire," he said, "it's very possible. Isn't it beautiful?"

Jim nodded. The massive wolf was beautiful, yes, but he was a terribly frightening creature too. "Is Artemus conscious of the fact that he's a werewolf?"

Miguelito shook his head. "I don't honestly know, but I do know that your partner's mind and soul are trapped inside the beast, and that Artemus can't control it. So, it's possible – and if it's the case, Mr. Gordon is probably utterly terrified right now, and I do like that idea." He noticed that Jim wasn't convinced and frowned. "Forget it, Mr. West; your precious Mr. Gordon will never control the beast. Never. It's impossible. Now let's see if my method of training is working." He took a cattle prod and a leather thong from the table next to the first cage and joining West, he showed it to him. "I made a high-voltage cattle prod. It's connected by a long cable to an electric generator set in the back of the room." He placed the object in Jim's hand and wrapped a leather thong around his wrist, immobilizing it in his hand. "When the werewolf receives a painful electric shock it will associate its pain with you, holding that cattle prod. The next time it sees you – it will remember it and it will kill you to make you pay." He nodded and one of the bulky men pushed the chair close to the cage. "Let's see if our furry friend here loves to be electrocuted."

Loveless moved behind Jim and hid behind him so that the wolf couldn't see him. He pushed Jim's arm. The tip of the cattle prod touched one of the bars and electrified the cage, shocking the beast inside and sending it to the floor writhing in pain, paws curled against its chest.

Loveless pulled Jim's arm backward and the black-coated werewolf growled and hurled itself at the bars close to the agent, snapping its jaw at the man hurting him, drooling, his big eyes wild. "Obviously, our furry friend doesn't like electricity, and it hates you, Mr. West. Good!"

Loveless repeated the action twice, maddening the beast even more, making the werewolf barrel at the bars toward Jim, until it collapsed onto the metal floor, barely conscious.

Miguelito Loveless smiled broadly. "Electric shock training works. Good! Now I just need to do the same thing but with a doppelganger of President Grant in your place. I already have one of my men ready for surgery. The werewolf will hate you both so violently that the next time it sees the real President and you, during the presidential speech, it will kill you both, tearing your throats open and eating your entrails... What a charming picture!" he chuckled and left, followed by his goons.

Imagining the whole scene, horrified, Jim stayed alone with the werewolves.

WWW

Later

Two men came into the vast laboratory-menagerie a couple of hours later, holding two buckets each. Each was filled with large pieces of raw and bloody meat.

The werewolves immediately started to growl hungrily. As the pieces of beef were too large to be slid through the bars, one of the men used the electric cattle prod to force them to move back.

Everything went okay until one of Loveless's henchmen forgot to lock the door to werewolf-Artemus's cage. The beast dropped the piece of bloody meat it had in its mouth, blood splattering its chest, as it noticed this and it immediately hurled itself at the barred door. It pushed it open with its front paws and in two jumps it was outside, growling.

The two men hurried to flee before being eaten alive.

Still tied to his chair, Jim watched helplessly as the creature stalked toward him, its glowing unnatural-yellow eyes locked on him. He tried desperately to shed the ropes restraining him. He felt his hair stand on end as a feeling of dread came over him.

He stopped breathing, paralyzed in terror. "No, no, no!" he rasped.

The werewolf circled the human slowly, growling as it swiped its razor-like claws at Jim's right leg and arm, cutting into his flesh, deep enough for blood to well up from his torn skin.

The smell of blood instantly excited the furred beast. It began to circle again around Jim, trotting rapidly, growling deep and loud.

Ignoring the sharp pain, and panicking totally, Jim babbled, "Artie-buddy, listen to me, you're not going to eat me are you? ... You know me; I'm your best friend. You don't want to eat your best friend, right?"

Still growling, louder, the werewolf suddenly sprang like the predator it was. Jim rocked back under the shock and found himself with the black beast perched on top of him, pinning him to the floor, looming over him with bared fangs, snarling.

Jim gulped audibly, shifting restlessly on the ground. "Don't kill me! Don't!" he said, his voice tense, fighting to control himself as relentless terror still paralyzed his body. "It's me, Artie! It's me!" But the beast moved closer to his throat, its fangs dripping with slobber. The werewolf came so close to his face that he could smell its foul-smelling breath. It smelt of death, he thought. He blanched and closed his eyes. He was going to die. He knew it. "Please, Artie! It's me, Jim!" he whimpered, hoping that there was still a part of Artemus, however small, that would listen to him. "Artie! I know that you're here, somewhere. Listen to me! You have, no, you need, no, you must control the beast. You can do it! You are the strongest-willed man I know! Do it, do it! I know you can. Fight the beast! Take control!"

The werewolf bared its teeth…

Jim re-opened his eyes as he felt the beast's cold, wet nose touch his cheek – sniffing. He suddenly saw something in the beast's glowing yellow eyes, a slight twitch, something almost human. "Artie? Are you in there?" he asked as the beast backed off, whining, waving its tail. "My god!" Jim smiled broadly. "It's you! It's you! Yes!" He exclaimed.

The werewolf crouched beside Jim and using its long, sharp teeth cut the ropes in a matter of seconds. Jim rolled onto his side then moved into a sitting position.

He heaved a long sigh of relief and ran a shaky hand through his hair. Artemus had managed to gain control of the beast, he reflected. "That was close, Artie." He smiled broadly, very proud of his companion. "Antermus Gordon and his fantastic, indomitable iron will… Loveless doesn't know you the way I do. I hoped that you would control the beast Artie… and you did. Never say 'never', Dr. Loveless."

Lowering his head, Artie-werewolf sat on his haunches, waving his tail again. Jim reached out hesitantly then brushed the werewolf between his pointy and hairy ears, scratching at them, eliciting a series of contented noises from the beast that was now more a like dog. "It's kind of strange… one minute before you almost slashed my throat… and now you're like a very big, scary dog." He frowned, still a little worried and needing to be sure, he asked, "You really control the beast, right? The werewolf licked Jim's neck and face playfully, then it rolled on its back, offering its furry belly to Jim so he could pet him there – which Jim did. "Weird. Okay, I have my answer. Loveless thought that it was impossible that you could take control of the beast, but you managed to, somehow. You're the best, buddy."

The giant black wolf barked twice happily and nuzzled his hand with a cold, wet nose then licked it with a raspy tongue.

Jim chuckled. "I should have remembered that nothing resists you, Artie – and that you have the strongest will-power I know. That beast was no match for you." He let the wolf nudge its nose into his neck then stood up and, winced. He let his fingers distractedly trail through the thick, soft and gleaming fur on the giant wolf's neck as he looked around him. "Okay, wolf-buddy, let's get out of here."

In an instant the wolf was on its feet, put its paws on Jim's shoulders and started nipping at the human's throat happily, and then it sniffed the tender and vulnerable flesh before licking the human's Adam's apple, leaving tiny bite marks here.

Jim shook a stern finger. "No biting! Artie, down!" The wolf complied, tongue lolling on the side happily. It barked again. "Good wolf!"

Jim and Artemus-werewolf were on their way to the door when it opened suddenly. They both froze on the spot watching Loveless enter the room, flanked by two other of his henchmen. They both held rifles which they immediately pointed at the beast.

Miguelito Loveless nodded. "So it is possible, you were right, Mr. West. The man trapped inside the werewolf can control the beast – if of course he has a very strong will, like Artemus Gordon has. Your partner is now in control of the beast. But it won't last. I'll see to it. I have some drugs that can annihilate the strongest will, making a vegetable of any man."

Growling the werewolf span round and headed toward the three men, threateningly baring his fangs. There was a soft noise, like a hiss.

One dart shot from the tranquilizer rifle that the shorter of the two goons held, and hit the werewolf. The beast growled in rage, collapsed, and slowly fell unconscious.

Dr. Loveless smiled. "I told you, you won't win the game this time, Mr. West." He nodded and there was a second hiss.

Jim was hit in the shoulder. He was unconscious before he hit the floor.

WWW

Much later

His eyes fluttering open, Jim woke up lying flat on his back on a cot in a dimly-lit cell. He blinked dazedly up at the ceiling of his room – his cell, he corrected. He glanced around him. He was alone. He looked at the cuts plowed in the flesh of his right leg and arm and winced.

The bleeding had stopped.

He moved to the door and took a step back when it suddenly opened. Two goons armed with tranquilizer rifles appeared in the corridor. "The doctor wants to see you, move!" the taller said.

Five minutes later Jim and his escort entered the vast laboratory-menagerie. The agent immediately noticed that all the cages were empty except one – with werewolf-Artemus inside. The werewolf was pacing its cage, growling, snarling, and baring its teeth.

Loveless left the stool he was sitting on, behind a long table occupied with extensive chemical equipment and said, "Did you have a nice nap, Mr. West?"

Jim nodded. "Yes, thank you."

Seeing that Jim was just glaring at him, he smiled and added, "What do you think about my tranquilizer guns? Using compressed air, they shoot ballistic darts loaded with a tranquillizer that, when injected, temporarily sedates an animal, so that it may be handled or captured safely." He grinned. "It works on humans too. The tranquillizer can be a sedative or a paralytic drug. I used a powerful sedative on the werewolf and you, for example." Pointing at the beast, he continued, "Speaking of the beast, Mr. Gordon is no longer controlling it. I took the opportunity, when he regained human form a few minutes ago, to administer a powerful will-suppressor drug that short-circuited his brain. Then I transformed him into a werewolf again." He headed towards the cage and continued, "Let's see if it's going to recognize you now, Mr. West. I doubt it."

Framed by the two bulky men holding a revolver each, Jim and his escort followed Loveless and joined him next to the cage.

Loveless tapped one of the bars of the cage. "Here!" he said.

Suddenly, fangs bared, the beast lunged forward and hurled itself against the bars close to Jim, saliva flying as its jaws snapped.

Everyone moved back hurriedly.

Miguelito smiled broadly and said, "The werewolf has recognized you – you're the one who used the cattle prod to torture it. As the cage next to it is now empty – I released the farmers, human-shaped again, as they weren't useful anymore - you are going to keep him company."

Once in the cage, Jim prudently moved as far as he could from the massive black beast, whose wild glowing yellow eyes were locked on him.

Suddenly the werewolf leaped up and darted forward, charging toward James and snarling before stopping a few inches from the bars. It snapped at Jim; it growled at him, its ears folded back angrily. Then the beast moved back and growled at Loveless.

Miguelito chuckled. "As I thought, Artemus Gordon is not in control of the beast anymore – and the werewolf remembers you perfectly." He pointed at the various things placed in the cage that Jim occupied: a couple of blankets, a pillow, a bucket, an earthenware pitcher with water and a tin cup. "I know it's a little Spartan, but you won't stay here long, only until my doppelganger of President Grant is ready and I can train the beast to attack him. Then I will release you and your partner with a drug-induced memory loss. It's not as comfortable as the cell you were in, but I thought you would like to be close to your partner… though he won't be a human being again for 24 hours, so be patient. Have a nice day, Mr. West."

Loveless left, his two ever-present henchmen following him.

Grabbing a blanket, Jim wrapped his almost naked body in it and winced at the sudden flare of pain in his injured arm and leg. He sat in a corner of the cage, as far as possible from the beast now sitting close to the door, which it was trying in vain to push open with its front paws. It was locked this time.

Jim nodded in appreciation. The werewolf was intelligent.

The beast tried two more times to push the door of the cage open before finally realizing it accomplished nothing. It was useless.

The werewolf crouched in the middle of the cage, its yellow feral eyes riveted on Jim.

Jim sighed. "See you in 24 hours, Artie."

To be continued