This story is currently under revision and being revamped. I am also going to add a few more chapters.
Enjoy!
Track One
Bark at the Moon
Screams break the silence
Waking from the dead of night.
Vengeance is boiling.
He's returned to kill the light.
Then when he's found who he's looking for,
Listen in awe and you'll hear him
Bark at the moon.
He raced through the night, shadows playing over his pelt. The medium-brown, green-eyed wolf cast a glance back at his pursuers. They were yards behind him; in this form, he could move faster than the average human. Even so, their furious screams split the silence of the night.
In human form, the wolf was NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, often called Tony by his friends and co-workers. Now, the reason he was in this position was because one of his kind had revealed their existence to humans. Apparently, a few of them weren't ready to accept that Shifters existed. To them, he was like a werewolf in those old horror movies.
The wolf currently was running for his life in the backstreets of his neighborhood. Somehow word had leaked out that he was a Shifter, although he hadn't spilled the beans.
His pursuers were growing closer, yet becoming ever louder as they grew frustrated since, due to his smaller size, he could slip through gaps that they could not.
Tony's fear for his life soon gave way to a new emotion: vengeance. All he'd wanted to do was go for a run, maybe find Ziva David—his partner, fellow 'wolf, and mate—so she could come with him. Sadly, his plan had been foiled by the small group of teenagers and freshmen in college who had just come out from watching a horror movie at the local theater and seen him shift. Mentally, Tony cursed himself for not being more cautious. Yet it was the dead of night; he hadn't expected anyone to be out, much less across the street from the dark alley where he'd stripped and transformed. It being the full moon tonight didn't help his cause.
He growled low in his throat, snapping his jaws together in frustration. If he could only give them the slip . . .
Out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw a narrow side street, so narrow that he'd almost missed it. Swiftly he turned, squeezing into the crevice.
The group of boys thundered past his hiding place. Tony waited a few more seconds before racing down the path, wondering where it led. His fur seemed to crackle with energy, especially when he imagined what would happen when he found the one he was searching for.
Years spent in torment
Buried in a nameless grave.
Now he has risen.
Miracles would have to save
Those that the beast is looking for.
Listen in awe and you'll hear him
Bark at the moon.
Hey, yeah.
Bark at the moon.
Finally he slowed to a stop once he was sure he was relatively safe from the mob. Panting, sides heaving, Tony reached out with his mind for Ziva. He made the connection and thought, «Ziva, I'm in a bit of a situation.»
«What other situation would you be in when you go for a run at night, DiNozzo?»
«I didn't ask to be chased by a bunch of teens!»
Concern radiated from her. «Where are you now?»
He glanced around and shook his head. Then he remembered that she couldn't see him and he replied, I«'m in my neighborhood, but I have no idea where.»
«Oh, great. Tony, only something like this would happen to you.»
«Save it,» he snapped. He softened the thought as he added, «Where are you?»
«Stay where you are. I'll come to you.»
«But Ziva—»
She severed the connection. Tony huffed and sat down, raising a forepaw to paw at his muzzle, trying to rid himself of an itch. It worked, much to his satisfaction. Then his ears pricked up and he shot to a standing position as he heard the shouts starting up again, perhaps a quarter mile to the east. This predicament was reminding him of the stories he'd heard as a boy, of how some humans had hunted down Shifters and . . . well, he didn't like to think about what happened after they'd been captured. There was a reason Shifters kept their existence secret, so something like this didn't happen. After years of torment, why wouldn't they withdraw?
DiNozzo jumped as the yells sounded closer to his current position. He had to keep moving. And if he ever did find his mate, well, howling at the moon seemed to sound just fine, under the circumstances. Plus, it would strike fear and—quite possibly—awe into the teens' hearts.
They cursed and buried him
Along with shame.
And thought his timeless soul had gone (gone).
In empty burning hell—unholy one.
But he's returned to prove them wrong.
So wrong.
Oh yeah, baby!
Before he had taken so much as a few strides, the way he'd come through the passageway was blocked as was his escape route. The boys—a group of ten—stepped closer, crowding him. Tony was trapped.
His fur bristled and, not sure what else to do, DiNozzo drew his lips back to show his teeth and snarled.
One or two faltered, but it wasn't enough. The eighteen-year-old who appeared to be the leader slipped a gun out from the waistband of his jeans—Tony wondered briefly for a moment how the hell he'd gotten it past security at the movie theater—and, aiming it at the brown wolf's side, fired.
A low yelp of pain escaped Tony before he could clamp his jaws shut. The wound wasn't fatal—thank God the bullet wasn't made of silver; it was the one thing that could kill a Shifter—but it did hurt. However, since Tony was a federal agent, he'd been shot plenty of times before. He'd just never been shot in wolf form. As far as he could tell, no vital organs had been hit, but he did flop to his belly, pretending that he was seriously wounded.
Quite a few of the teens uttered nasty laughs and one or two landed a kick in his already smarting side. One spat on the ground and another cursed the wolf harshly. Then they left, leaving him for dead. Or so they thought.
Tony waited a few moments as the gunshot wound finished healing and then, moving as silently as a shadow, struck hard and fast at one of the boys bringing up the rear. They'd thought his soul had left, being an unholy creature—in their eyes. He was determined to prove them wrong.
Howling in shadows,
Living in a lunar spell,
He finds his heaven
Spewing from the mouth of hell.
Terrified screams issuing from their throats, most of the group scattered. Three of them remained but not for long as DiNozzo curled his upper lip to show bloodstained teeth. Shaking, they fled after their fellows.
The wolf huffed and, reaching out once again for his mate with his mind, asked, «Hey, Ziva, where are you?»
«I'm on my way, Tony.»
«Okay. I'll meet you on the corner of Court and Eleven.» Without waiting for her response, he set off at a run, already salivating as he pictured Ziva.
The fact that they could shift at will never really bothered him; he certainly preferred it to the myth that Shifters could only transform when the moon was full. That was only partly accurate: the first transformation did happen on the first full moon after the girl's seventeenth birthday and the guy's eighteenth. After that, a Shifter could morph at will.
Ziva was waiting for him at the street corner, hidden in shadows of course. Although it was well past midnight, they couldn't take the chance that someone might be prowling the streets who wasn't one of them.
His tail wagging, DiNozzo nuzzled her. «What took you so long?»
«I'd rather not answer that.»
«Well, come on then,» Tony said, shrugging it off. «Let's play.» He pounced on her lightly, teasingly, and then took off, racing away.
Ziva chased after him, quickly catching up. The two of them ran side by side until they reached a little wooded park.
Tony slowed down first and looked up at the moon. Pointing his snout at the white orb, he let out a mournful howl. It wasn't long before Ziva joined in, their voices harmonizing in wild song.
The eerily beautiful, haunting cry had those that were awake stop what they were doing and listen in awe.