Got another chapter done!
I promise I will update Do you Believe in Angels as soon as I finish the chapter for it.
It's been a little complex to write, but I'm trying!
Hope ya'll enjoy this in the mean time!
The plan was simple.
Alaric and George were going to stay at the Boarding house, just in case the wolf we were after was waiting for an opportunity like this to attack there.
Tyler, Mason, and Enzo would scour the west side of the town, working inland.
Damon, Stefan, and myself would follow southeast, working up until we met back on Pack territory.
I walked with the Salvatore's to the property edge.
"This should be close enough," Stefan noted, and began removing his shirt.
Damon did the same, and I sighed.
Of course they would want to Change immediately.
I excused myself, and walked a couple feet away to do my own Change.
Like I've said, it is a private thing that one would rather not have witnessed.
The rest of the Pack felt the same, excluding Damon, of course.
He didn't give a shit about anything that the rest of us would consider personal.
Hell, most of the locks at the Manor, bathrooms included, had been broken for years because they'd hindered him.
He just didn't understand why completely natural things should be hidden.
None of us really contested the fact.
Some things just weren't worth fighting Damon's nature for.
We did, however, draw the line at Changing.
Some pained cries and a little agony later, the three of us emerged at the edge of the trees.
The golden furred wolf that was Stefan, let out an excited bark.
Damon growled at him, reminding him that we were instructed to keep a low profile.
The town's people were looking for a dog to blame the deaths on.
Heaven forbid they spot one of us.
I took off toward the east, knowing that the guys would find their own route.
Separating would cover more ground.
I kept my nose in the air, picking up on everything that Mystic Falls had to offer in this late hour.
But no Mutt smell, at least not yet.
The air was also cleared of the scent of gunpowder, which could only be good for us.
I sped up, cutting more inland.
A few miles into town, I caught a whiff of something suspicious.
Not human, but faint.
I followed it another mile in, keeping to the shadows, even with the night to cloak me, until I reached an alleyway.
The scent was strong here, but not fresh.
I ran it through my internal data base.
It didn't match any of the Mutts I knew.
I sniffed again.
Strange, but the smell was almost...new.
As if the Mutt had recently turned.
I let my nose lead me, aware that I was entering the crappy part of town.
The scent seemed to lead to a shabby little apartment.
The Mutt had an apartment?
I wondered if he was even in at the moment.
His trail wasn't recent, but it wasn't old either. I stayed hidden, surveying my options.
Caught up in the idea of the Mutt, I didn't realize someone had come up next to me.
A hand stroked my head, and I bared my teeth, releasing a snarl.
Damon stood there, naked in human form, smirking.
I growled again for good measure.
His smile faltered and he pulled his hand away.
"I'll be inside," he told me, leaving me to my privacy.
I Changed quickly, and followed him to the apartment.
He'd already scoped the place when I walked in.
The Mutt wasn't there.
Which gave me nothing else to worry about as I marched over to the source of my endless mood swings.
"Don't ever pet me like that again!" I snarled at him.
Damon rose a brow, but didn't comment.
I took a breath, "How did you even find me so fast?"
"I followed you," he admitted.
Just as I was about to lash into his overprotective ass, he held his hands up.
"For my own sake, kitten. You have a better sense of smell. You'd know if the hunters were heading this way before I could."
It sounded like an excuse, but I let it slide.
Instead, I did my own survey of the space.
"It smells like death in here," I muttered, as Stefan walked in.
"Either of you recognize the scent?" He asked.
Damon and I both shook our heads.
"I'm thinking he's newly turned," I offered, "Or still young."
"Tyler's theory could be correct," Stefan reasoned, "A young born wolf. Knows enough about us to start trouble, but obviously daddy didn't tell him the bedtime stories about Damon."
I considered it, "Maybe. Look for anything that might identify his lineage. And we need to be sure that this wolf is the killer."
The three of us set to work, coming up with mostly nothing.
Though, after a moment, Damon called our attention.
"This is definitely the murderer," he noted, having reached under the bed, and drug something out.
As he handed it to me, I steeled.
It was hair, still attached to a piece of scalp.
I swallowed, as Stefan walked over.
"A trophy," he guessed.
Damon nodded, "Explains why it smells like death in here. There's two more down there. Three victims."
He dismissed this, and continued his search.
Stefan took the hair from my hand, which was now trembling.
Damon was better at this.
He could disconnect himself from the human's life.
A dead woman's scalp meant as much to him as a dead rodent on the side of the road would.
I however, felt like vomiting.
Those poor women.
"There's nothing else here," Damon concluded, "And the Mutt won't come back if he catches our scent. We should head out."
Stefan and I nodded.
Damon's eyes raked over my naked torso,"We'll Change outside," he offered.
I froze, "Change?"
"You don't expect us to walk back, do you?" He teased, "Come on."
"Right," I swallowed.
"What's wrong, kitten?" Damon asked, noting my hesitance.
"Nothing," I assured them, "I'm fine. I'll meet you outside."
They nodded at me, and left.
I took another settling breath.
I could do this.
I did Change.
And it only took me twenty minutes to do so.
I whined as I pushed myself up, and exited the apartment.
Stefan was gone, but Damon's large, black form was lying on the ground, waiting for me.
When I came closer, he nudged me with his muzzle, licking my snout.
I shook out my fur, and motioned with my head, letting him know that I was fine, and we should leave.
We started off, running back through the alley.
Damon jumped ahead, and I let him, but after a moment, he turned, tackling me.
I nipped at him.
Now was not the time to be playing!
Coming around the corner of the alley, I lunged him, but he ducked, and I landed on the other side of him, in the alley over.
My fall was broken by some garbage cans, and Damon barked his laughter as I stood, shaking off.
I growled in his direction, but suddenly, he stiffened.
I realized, too late, that I wasn't alone in the alley.
My path was blocked, as two boys had stepped around the building.
I froze, so did they.
Damnit. They'd spotted me.
Damon slunk back in the shadows, out of sight, but watched them steadily.
For a moment, they didn't move, and I prayed their natural fear of me would send them running.
They were young, after all, late teens.
"Holy shit!" One gasped.
"That's the dog!" The other one pointed, "Those women, on the news!"
"What do we do?!"
I whined, lowering my ears in a way I hoped was nonthreatening.
One of them reached toward the trash I'd knocked over, and lifted something.
A bottle.
He shattered the end of it on the ground, by his feet, and held it out toward me.
Idiots.
"There's a bounty for its head!" The one with the bottle exclaimed, "Nearly two thousand dollars!"
"I don't know, man," his partner backed slightly.
I growled lowly.
They couldn't see Damon, but I could.
He was on his haunches, ready to pounce.
To kill the "worthless human" for my safety.
I couldn't let that happen.
I let out a snarl, and the boy did hesitate.
But with new determination, he shot toward me.
Damon lunged forward, and so did I, to stop him.
Our bodies collided, missing the boy by inches.
A sharp pain ran down my front leg, from the collision.
Damon was a much bigger wolf than I was.
The boys seemed to realize how little a chance they stood against the two of us together, and took off running.
I nudged Damon toward the woods, and we sprinted off, soon too deep in the thicket to be seen by humans.
My leg protested, but I pushed on.
We didn't stop until we reached Pack territory.
I think ya'll will really like the next chapter! ;)
It's a lot longer, and more M rated lol
