Grif's eyes opened slightly as the rumble of an approaching diesel truck echoed down the nearby dirt road. The sky had lightened from when he'd settled down to take a nap while he waited for Tex to show up.
Rising up to his feet, Grif yawned and gave himself a shake, shedding the leaves and stray twigs clinging to his chocolate colored fur. After a brief stretch, he strolled to another tree sitting a bit further back from the road where he'd hidden a duffle bag with his and Kai's clothes. And under the fading light of the moon, he shifted.
The transformation was easy thanks to the lingering moonlight. Without the silver light, every moment of the change was agony, tolerable only because of the sheer joy of being in wolf form. Thankfully, he wouldn't have to deal with a moonless shift for a while, not with how quiet everything had been of late.
Kai came bounding up to the tree just as he was opening the duffle, blood still clinging to her muzzle.
"Grabbed a snack?" he asked as he dragged on a pair of cargo pants.
"Just some wood mice," Kai cheerfully confirmed as she shifted back to human form. "I've got a study group in, like, two hours at the campus coffee shop."
"Then what the fuck are you doing out here right now?" Grif demanded in an incredulous voice. "Go home!"
"Screw you, bitch," Kai snorted, flashing him a rude gesture. Reaching into the bag, she pulled out the package of baby wipes and started to clean off the blood still clinging to her skin. "Like I would ever leave you alone to deal with Tex. After last time, I'm basically expecting her to just flat out punch you in the face."
"I can take her," Grif scoffed as he pulled a worn t-shirt on.
"Uh, yeah, no, she'd, like, totally kick your ass. Tex is awesome like that."
Grumbling, Grif glared at his sister. "I could definitely take her."
"Whatever," Kai replied as she rolled her eyes. Shoving the now bloody wipe into the plastic bag they kept in the duffle for trash, she found her short sundress and held it up for a moment, admiring the bold, angular patterns stretching across the skirt and bodice. Then, tugging it down over her head, she wormed her way into the lightweight dress. The soft fabric fluttered around her and, when the light was at her back, her lack of underwear was crystal clear. Not that Kai cared - she'd go to class naked if she could.
Shaking his head, Grif pushed his usual irritation with his sister's lax attitudes towards human social customs aside and pulled out two pairs of flip flops. Then, shoving the remaining clothes deeper into the bag, he zipped it shut and swung it onto his shoulder.
"What's the extras?" Kai asked as she pushed her feet into the flip flops. "Did Tex find another loner who needs to learn some manners?"
"Maybe," Grif grunted. Once he had his own shoes on, he started towards the road. "She said she might have one werewolf with her, or several. And maybe none at all. That it depended on how shit went down."
"What shit?"
"Something to do with the old military base a few towns over, I think."
"Weird."
"That's Tex for you."
The siblings were still struggling to understand the deadly woman who went by the name Tex. Despite not being a werewolf herself, Tex made a living as a professional werewolf tracker. She took down rabid werewolves and rescued the lost souls who'd been attacked, turned, and abandoned. Half the packs within a hundred miles had recruited her for some task or another and she always delivered.
The rumble of a diesel engine grew louder and finally, a white truck came into view down the dirt road. Grif clamped a hand on Kai's shoulder, holding her firmly in place behind the shelter of the trees. And despite her irritated huff, she stayed.
"Jesus fuck," Grif breathed as the truck drew closer. That was Tex behind the wheel, driving a truck littered with bullet holes.
"That's so fucking hot," Kai breathed, twisting under Grif's hand until she could better peer around the tree. Her scent shifted, adding a hint of arousal that made Grif instinctively recoil.
"Morning, assholes," Tex called out as she rolled down the driver's side window. Bringing the vehicle to a stop, she leaned out and stared directly towards them.
Suppressing a flash of irritation, Grif let go of Kai and stepped out from behind the tree, hands shoved into his pockets with a bored air. "Couldn't this have waited until lunch time?" he shouted back.
"Where's the fun in that?" Tex replied. With a confident smirk, she turned off the truck and stepped out. "Did you bring the stuff?"
"You mean clothes? Yeah, I grabbed some of the extra stuff from the ranch. Why?" Grif demanded as he drew closer.
"Just hand them over."
Rolling his eyes, Grif pulled the bag off his shoulder and tossed it at her. Snatching the bag out of the air, Tex immediately circled around to the back of the truck, vanishing from direct line of sight.
Fuck, she had found a loner. Grif let out an aggravated sigh. Someday he'd find out exactly why it was he'd become her favorite person to dump the battered souls she found as she traveled around on. He'd only just managed to get rid of the last stray werewolf she'd delivered on his doorstep.
Well, the last one was only mostly gone. Caboose still insisted on coming around Sarge's ranch to visit far too often.
The sound of snapping bones and a liquid sloshing like someone shaking a half-empty bottle of ketchup suddenly floated out from the back of the truck, followed by pained gasps. The woods around them had taken on a faint glow as the sun approached the horizon. No more moonlight. Bad day to be a lost and lonely werewolf.
"Oo, he's hot," Kai breathed behind him when Tex finally reappeared with her latest werewolf rescue following behind her.
Jabbing her in the ribs with her elbow, Grif determinedly fixed a bored expression on his face while he studied the new werewolf.
The man was slightly taller than Grif but significantly thinner. The clothes Grif had borrowed from the overflowing closets at the ranch hung loosely on the man's frame, and it wasn't just because they were the wrong size. A mix of faintly silvery scars and still healing wounds cross-crossed the man's exposed skin and vanished under the sleeves of the button-down shirt.
Grif knew enough about werewolf healing that the silvery scars sent a pitying shiver down his spine. Those wounds had been inflicted by another werewolf - or himself. It wasn't unusual for recently turned werewolves to start attacking themselves if they were abandoned by the Alpha who'd given them the Bite.
Discomfort and fear radiated off Tex's latest find. He trudged along behind her with his arms clamped against his chest and his shoulders hunched. His dull and tired gray eyes darted to and fro, and he twitched with nervous energy.
As Tex strolled past the battered white truck, duffle bag slung over her shoulder, the man followed, tugged along as though he was being pulled by an invisible leash. Once they'd come to a stoop in front of Grif and Kai, a faint gurgle floated out of the man's stomach. Scarred skin flushed in embarrassment.
Rolling his eyes, Grif dug into one of the over-large pockets of his pants and pulled out an energy bar. "Let me guess, she didn't feed you?" Grif asked in a dry voice. Snorting at the blank look he received, Grif lobbed it at him with an easy underhand throw.
The man fumbled to grab the energy bar, but it ended up bouncing off his fingers and falling to the ground. Visible frustration crossed his face as he stooped to pick it back up. Then, he tore through the wrapper and took a huge bite, chewing ferociously.
Tex laid a hand on the man's shoulder, getting his attention. "Wash, this is Grif and his sister Kai. They're going to look after you for a while." Then, directing her intense gaze at Grif, Tex threw the duffel bag at him and continued. "Keep an eye on him for me. I want him back in one piece."
The man- Wash- froze mid-bite, then hurriedly chewed and swallowed. "You said you'd explain everything," he accused her. "But now you're what, just going to drop me off at daycare?" The pitch of his voice rose steadily as his aggregation increased.
"We're not babysitters, Tex," Grif added in a pointed voice, deliberately ignoring the bag that had landed near his feet.
"Could have fooled me," Tex countered. "You've done pretty well with all the others I've found over the last few years."
"Yeah, well, this guy's the first one you've ever actually sounded like you cared about what happened to him."
"I have my reasons." Growling faintly under her breath, she planted her hands on her hips and glared at Wash. "In short, the Director was trying to create super soldiers out of werewolves. My job was to put an end to his little science project, but it all went to hell. There are too many loose threads out there, and most of them could get a lot of people killed if they aren't dealt with."
"So you're just leaving?" Wash got screechy when he was upset, it turned out.
"I have to. I know that wasn't the deal, Wash, and I'm sorry about that. But that's just the way things are right now." Letting her arms drop to her sides, Tex pushed past Wash and headed for the driver's side door of the truck. Pausing next to the door, she turned back to look at him. "Grif and Kai are werewolves, Wash, so you're not alone. They'll help you figure this out and make sure you don't hurt anyone in the process. You can trust them for that, at least."
"Gee, thanks," Grif muttered darkly.
Tex pulled open the truck door and climbed inside. After starting it up, she cranked down the window. "Keep your head down, Wash, and listen to Grif. I know he's an idiot, but he and his sister have been werewolves a long time. They know what they're doing."
With a final look, Tex put the truck into reverse and pulled away, carefully turning the truck until she was headed back in the direction she'd come from. And then, she was gone, leave a cluster of confused and annoyed werewolves behind.
Wash's hand clutched tight on his energy bar as the flickering lights of Tex's stolen truck vanished around the bend. She was leaving him behind, he realized with panic. The wolf whimpered in his head, feeling lost and abandoned.
"So, hot stuff, want to head back to my place?" a feminine voice asked in a sly tone. A warm body suddenly pressed up against his side while an arm wrapped around his waist.
Startled, Wash looked down and found the woman, Kai, staring up at him with amber colored eyes. She wore a confident smile as her hand squeezed his hip. A spicy scent flooded his nose, layers of different smells that combined to be unique to her. Without thinking, Wash ducked his head, sniffing intently at her hair. A faint, artificial fruity musk clung to her hair and skin beneath the smell of trees.
"Aw, you are new at this, aren't you, sweetie?" Sounding disappointed, Kai unwound her arm and shifted around until she was standing directly in front of him. Reaching out, she cupped his jaw with her hands, then threaded her fingers up through his hair, lightly scratching and rubbing at his scalp. "We'll play another time."
The friendly gesture triggered a flood of warmth in his stomach and Wash couldn't help but press his head into the touch as his eyes partially closed. The horrible fear that Tex's departure had triggered eased off slightly. New pack? the wolf wondered hopefully.
Wait, what was he doing? Embarrassment flooding through him, Wash's eyes snapped open and he jerked away, shaking his head to dislodge the woman's hands.
"Kai, get going," Grif immediately snapped. "You have a study group, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah," Kai agreed. "See you around, hottie." With a wink, stepped back and gathered up the hem of her skirt, tying the excess fabric into a bulky knot at the small of her back. Then, with a sudden cracking sound, her body blurred as she transformed. When the blur faded away, a a brown wolf with a darker face stood in her place. In the growing daylight, her fur took on a faintly reddish hue, glowing along the tips like highlights. Kai gave herself a shake, sending her fur and the sundress whipping around her. After flashing them a toothy grin, she loped away, long legs stretching forward and sturdy paws digging into the ground. Within moments, she was gone.
"She's just… going to run into town like that?" Wash demanded in an incredulous voice. "As a giant wolf wearing a dress?"
"Basically." Grif shrugged, looking unconcerned. "At a glance, people will think she's a dog. And she just needs to get back to her apartment so she can grab her stuff."
"And no one is going to care? She'll just parade around like that until she decides to do something else?
"It's worked so far," Grif replied.
"A study group," Wash repeated. "You said she had a study group." He started down the dirt path that had taken Tex and Kai away, unsettled. The energy bar crinkled in his hand, and he forced himself to take another bite. The flavor of preservatives and artificial sweeteners was disgusting, but he was too hungry to stop eating.
Once he'd finished the bar, he stared uncertainty at the wrapper, eventually balling it up and shoving it into the pockets of his borrowed pants. "She's in school? College?" he asked, glancing over at the other man. "She goes out and- and just lives like a regular human?"
"Yeah, basically." Grif leaned back against a tree and shoved his hands in his pockets, a curious look on his face. "It's what most of us do. There are some weirdos who stick to the woods and the occasional nutcase who runs around attacking people. But in the end, the weirdos keep to themselves and trackers like Tex take down the nutcases."
Wash raised his hands in front of himself, staring down at the scarred flesh. "So where do I fit in?" He wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"You tell me," was all Grif replied. The asshole was completely inscrutable. Wash could smell him, even several feet away. All his senses felt overloaded, but he didn't know how to process the information. It was like standing in the middle of a library that had all the books chained to the shelves. Answers were just out of reach and he didn't know how to get to them.
"I don't-" Breaking off, Wash balled his hands into fists, his arms trembling with frustration. "I didn't ask for this! I didn't sign up to become a- a werewolf, or a test subject. Or take part in whatever the fuck the Director was trying to do. I just... wanted to help people. And now I'm… I don't even know," he concluded as a wave of bitterness swept over him.
Groaning, Grif rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You're not just some random dude who got the Bite while walking in the woods one night, are you?"
"... No, I never got bitten by… by anything." The Bite. Wash could hear the capital letters in that phrase.
Wash forced himself to take a deep breath. Then another. Squeezing his eyes closed, he did his best to shove away the panic and the wolf pacing restlessly through his brain. Focus. Compartmentalize. Gather intel. Stop thinking about a hundred different problems. Worry about the big picture later.
"The Bite, huh? Sounds like something right out of Hollywood," he finally said once he'd gotten his frantic thoughts somewhat under control.
"Eh, sort of," Grif replied with a small shrug. "Like most of the crap Hollywood puts out, it's only loosely based in reality. Supernatural movies are mostly anti-werewolf propaganda, really. It's why we try to stay under the radar." Grif pushed away from the tree and grabbed the duffel bag off the ground, slinging it on his shoulder. "Come on. There's no reason to keep standing around here when there's a perfectly good couch less than a mile away."
"A couch-" New fear shot through him and a shudder ran down his spine. "I can't- I shouldn't be around people," Wash hurried to point out. "Everyone I've been around that- that isn't you, Kai, or Tex- I- Grif, I hurt people. I'm dangerous. If anything, I should stay out here. I'll figure out how to- to hunt and-"
A vision started to unfold in his mind of a solitary life in the woods: scavenging for food, desperately avoiding people while being so lonely…
Grif snorted and suddenly he was right next to him- when had he moved? "Dude, chill." Without any hesitation, he bumped his shoulder into Wash, sending him staggering to the side, arms windmilling as he struggled not to fall. "You're not a monster or an insane beast. That's Hollywood talking. Now come on."
Without another word, Grif plunged deeper into the woods. After staring at the other man's retreating back for a few moments, Wash sighed and hurried to follow him. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go.
"Tell me about the Bite," Wash insisted once he'd caught up to Grif.
"Not much to tell," Grif replied, easily weaving his way through the trees in the growing light. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. "Some werewolves have the ability to turn humans into werewolves. The process itself is actually kind of complicated and it doesn't work on all humans. I've never met anyone who could explain why."
"I didn't get bit by anything, though." Wash gnawed at his lower lip as he followed along behind Grif, thinking back to the hours before the cell. "The Program's scientists injected me with something. They said it was just the flu shot, but once it was done, they threw me in a medical observation room and locked the door. A few hours later, there was moonlight pouring through a small window and I- I changed."
Grif froze mid step, a strange look on his face. "They did what?" he demanded, wheeling around to stare at Wash.
Cringing, Wash halted and replied, "I'm guessing that's not how it's supposed to work?"
"Fuck no, it isn't," Grif responded. The look on his face shifted into something Wash was far too familiar with for his own comfort: horror. "You're either either born a werewolf or turned by the Bite. There's no drugs or shots or bullshit like that!" Letting out a few muttered swear words, he turned away and started walking again. "Goddamned bullshit. I hope Tex tears everyone involved apart like fucking tissue paper. That is messed up."
"What are you talking about?" Wash demanded. When Grif didn't reply, Wash snarled and grabbed him by the shoulder, anger suddenly erupting inside him as he shoved the other man against a tree. "I asked you a fucking question!"
Immediately, Grif lashed out, knocking his arm aside with his own, and then he was on him, pinning him to the ground with a blur of motion. Wash gasped as he collided with the ground, dirt and ground up leaves flying up into his face.
Grif leaned down, effortlessly holding him down with bodyweight alone. A hand seized his head, rotating it sideways. "Don't fucking try to fight me," he snarled directly into Wash's ear. "You may have been some would-be military project wonderkid, but I've been a werewolf my whole life. Until you've managed to settle down in your own skin and you aren't fighting yourself, you're nothing more than a goddamned puppy. You don't get to push me around."
A tremor ran through Wash's body. The wolf whimper in his head, and they were both shaking, inwards and out. Grif's hand shifted down to his neck, fingernails biting briefly into his skin like the nip of sharp teeth.
"Tex told me to look after you and I'm going to do just that," Grif continued in deep rumble that Wash could feel as much as hear. "Until you're ready to be on your own, you're mine, Wash. Even if she comes back, you're not going anywhere unless I think it's the best thing for you. Got it?"
Wash wanted to say no, to argue that he didn't belong to anyone but himself…
But there was no denying the peace that fell over him like a weighted blanket at Grif's dramatic pronouncement. It was like the night before when Tex had stormed into his cell, but better. He didn't understand Tex, he never had. And even during the turmoil of the night before, she'd only promised him answers, nothing more.
Pack, the wolf rumbled happily in his head. Not alone. Safe.
Grif's scent filled his nose, and suddenly some of the pieces fell into place in his head.
Sincerity. Determination. Possessiveness. Affection. Irritation.
He couldn't have told somehow what those emotions smelled like, the words simply didn't exist. But suddenly, he knew them and recognized them. Grif was going to take care of him and teach him. He was offering him a home. And in the face of this realization, the fight and anger melted right out of him and his chaotic thoughts slipped away, leaving him feeling soft and floaty. Listening to Grif suddenly seemed like the best possible idea ever. Of all time.
A heavy sigh vibrated against his back. "You're going to be a melodramatic piece of shit aren't you?" Grif asked in a weary voice. Then, he rolled off, leaving Wash lying alone limp on the ground. "Come on, it's not much further."