Hello everyone! I'm glad to say that this story is alive again! I'm on vacation and I suddenly got a strike of inspiration today to the next chapter of this story so I just had to go in and write it! I hope you will like it and I'm so sorry that you have been forced to wait such a long time for this chapter to happen! So sorry for that! I promise you won't have to wait so long time again. c: (I doubt I have any readers left on this though xD;) Introducing some more of my OC's in this chapter, sorry if you don't like it. And I promise Merlin won't be together with one of my OC's!
Please read and review! xoxo
edit: I can't edit chapter 1 2 or 3 so I will tell you here. English is not my native language so I'm sorry if there is some grammar or spelling mistakes! I try my best though! xoxo
When Merlin and the wolf called Aren had walked for a long time, the other wolf stopped and nodded with it's head to a moss covered stone.
"Here it is." Aren said and put his right paw on a moss covered stone. Suddenly a loud crack could be heard and the stonewall before them opened itself. Stairs started to shape from the sudden visible stone floor and Aren gave Merlin an impatient look.
"Come on." he said and together they walked down the weird stone stairs. After walking through darkness for about ten minutes the werewolves finally saw some light from a couple of torches.
"Where are we?" Merlin asked Aren through his mind and the other werewolf looked at him with his golden eyes.
"At our den. You will meet the Leader soon and you will have everything explained to you." the sand coloured wolf said and Merlin nodded for an answer. The two wolves walked for a bit and after a while they came to a big hall with torches sitting on the sides of the walls, all alight. In the back of the hall, a big, golden crested throne was standing proudly. A black silhouette was sitting on the throne. Red orbs suddenly glowed in the dim light and they made Merlin shudder a little. Merlin suddenly felt himself drawn to the silhouette, wanting to be close to it. He walked up to the silhouette and stared at it.
"Hello? I'm... Merlin..." he said nervously with his mind to the silhouette, suddenly, large white teeth glinted in front of him.
"Hello Merlin." a thick voice said inside the servants head and Merlin stared at the large wolf in front of him. The wolf was much larger than an average horse and it's paws was as big as Merlin's head.
"Uhm... Hello." said Merlin nervously and he heard Aren coming up from behind, feeling his gaze looking at him with golden gleaming eyes.
"I am your leader, I am the one that transformed you.", the gigantic wolf said with its deep voice filled with authority. Merlin sank down to the ground by the heavy authority the other wolf wear in its whole being.
"Good, that is very good my dear pup. I am your leader and it is only right of you to kneel in front of me." the wolf said and Merlin pushed himself even more to the hard and cold stone floor, it was almost as the leader wanted him to sink through it.
"Give him some freedom.", Aren suddenly snapped to the bigger wolf and Merlin could suddenly feel the overwhelming authority that lingered over his whole being easing up a little. Still, he didn't dare to move yet.
/How did Aren dare to even speak to this creature?/ - Merlin thought worriedly, staring down at the floor.
"Raise my pup. We have many things to talk about." the Leader said and Merlin could finally get up on his paws. The servant raised himself from the ground and looked right into the Leader's eyes, which wasn't a very good idea. The leader bared it teeth while a low growl emerging from his throat could be heard.
"Never look a wolf into its eyes!", Aren discreetly thought to Merlin and Merlin quickly looked at the Leader's throat instead, which could be perceived as an invite to a challenge. The leader growled furiously and attacked Merlin, forcing him down to the ground with his fangs hard closed around Merlin's throat. Merlin let out a loud whimper when the leader's teeth sank through his soft meat.
"Stop it Leader! He doesn't know any better! He is still a human at heart!", Aren shouted to the Leader with whimpers and growls. Merlin could feel how the other wolf's bite eased up and finally let him go, he took a deep breath of air before sinking down to the ground again, exhausted by the sudden turn of events. The leader just snorted and whipped with his tail before he forced Merlin up to stand again.
"Never do that again, if you do, I will kill you." the leader said with a chilling voice to Merlin and Merlin nodded in response.
"I promise.", he said.
"Good my pup. Now, Merlin, I want you to go on a hunt with me and Aren before I will introduce you to the rest of our family and tell you why I transformed you into one of us.", the Leader said, still with ice in his voice, but still a bit warmer than ice, it was more of a slow, melting ice.
"O-okay.", Merlin replied, unsure of what to say. His throat stung by pain and he could smell the thick, metallic-like smell of blood.
"Very well." the Leader said, walking a lap round Merlin before making his way to the exit with his large paws making loud thuds while he walked gracefully. It was a little funny that he was able to walk so gracefully with such large paws, Merlin thought.
"Aren, get Zoë here to help my pup's throat heal up a bit.", the Leader added before he was gone, out in the moonlit forest. The sand coloured wolf nodded before quickly disappearing as well, leaving Merlin alone. A couple of minutes later, Aren returned with a snow-white wolf following him. Her snow-white fur almost seemed to glow in the dark hall and her blue eyes were like fireflies, only blue to their colour. Merlin found himself thinking she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.
"Hello there, new blood.", a voice, soft as honey sung inside Merlin's head. The warlock felt a bit exposed and embarrassed under his fur when the white wolf's eyes surveyed his whole body.
"Uhm... Hi...", Merlin replied with his thoughts, afraid she would hear his other more secret thoughts. Zoë licked her lips and sat down in front of him, staring at his wounds.
"I find it funny that our Leader wound the new bloods only to make me come over and heal them up again.", she said more to herself than to the other werewolves. She leaned in to Merlin's profusely bleeding throat, the servant could feel warmth spreading through his whole body as her tongue carefully licked the blood from his wound. The warmth almost took over his system, he found it hard not to let out a loud whine.
"What is happening? What is she doing?", Merlin asked Aren with a scared voice, these weird feelings and warmth was new to him.
"It is just her way to heal others. I can't explain it thoroughly, it is hard to explain. Just relax, the things you are feeling will disappear as soon as she is finished with you.", Aren replied softly, preventing any other than Merlin to hear his reply. Merlin closed his eyes, trying with his whole being not to give in to these rare feelings that swirled around in him. And just like that, Zoë was finished with her healing and Merlin's tense body relaxed.
"You're something special, new blood. The other new blood's I have healed in the past always overthrew me with their dirty thoughts, but you managed to stay still. Good job.", Zoë said to the confused warlock with a soft voice before she went back to the way she had come from.
Merlin stared at the place where she had sat before he got disturbed by Aren's laughter, somehow he was able to laugh, or at least it sounded like laughter. Puffs and snorts. Quick breaths.
"Come now Merlin, the Leader is waiting.", Aren said to the even more confused warlock which nodded as an answer. He had to obey the Leader's subordinate after all. He had actually started to like being with Aren.
"Arthur, did you hear that?", Morgana asked to her brother as she heard a branch crack somewhere near them. Her horse clipped with its ears and gave off a soft whinny. It had heard it as well. The prince looked at Morgana and shook his head.
"No, I didn't hear anything.", he said with a wrinkled forehead.
"I am sure I heard a branch break somewhere.", she said determined and Arthur nodded though a branch breaking could be anything from a rabbit to a bear.
"I will go and look over there.", Morgana said and pointed where the sound had come from before she spurred her horse. Arthur sighed before spurring his horse and following after her.
"Do you think we will find him?", Arthur asked her while they were riding toward the 'branch cracking' direction which Morgana so nice called it.
"I do. We just need some time to track him.", she replied.
"I hope we will find him, I don't want any other manservant.", Arthur started to say before he got interrupted by a loud howl somewhere close to them.
"Is it a wolf?", Morgana asked scared, her horse snorting nervously as the cold howl got even louder.
"I think so. I have got my crossbow ready.", Arthur said as they steered their horses to the direction to what they thought were wolves. The howling got even louder as they galloped through the thick forest and Arthur thought he saw a silhouette of Merlin running in front of him. "Merlin?", he called out in the moonlit forest, but his manservant didn't recall his shout.
"Over there! A wolf! A gigantic wolf!", Morgana hissed between her teeth, pointing to where she saw the biggest wolf she had even seen to her brother, Arthur saw the pitch-black wolf as well and he felt a knife of fear and fascination stab his stomach. Uther would be so proud of him if he could bring this gigantic wolf back to the castle, though it was the biggest wolf he had ever seen in his whole life, it was bigger than his horse.
"Shoot it! Shoot it! Before it sees us!", Morgana hissed to him and he readied his crossbow, aimed on a vulnerable spot on the wolf and shot off an poisoned arrow.