Phase Seven
Il Lupo's Cambiando
Gray
"Damn it."
Really, there wasn't a hell of a lot more I could say after six days with that bastard still missing. When Mary had told me that he was the one to give my hat to her, I had a good idea of just how he managed to find it. After all, he disappeared the day after I chased him into the woods, and even if I wasn't angry at him at the time, I sure as hell was now. So much so that I just about knocked the damn door down when I finally caught up with him at the Snack Shack.
Luckily for him, he kept the place unlocked.
"What the hell are you thinking?" The man jumped, the spatula in his hand hitting one of the pots hanging over the stove, but when he looked back over his shoulder and saw me standing there, he just grinned. "Don't give me any of that shit. What were you-"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied. I was just about to tell him off again before he glanced towards the counter behind him. "Why don't you come and sit down by these lovely ladies, and then we can talk about it? I'm sure they won't mind if you learn to keep your voice down."
To be honest, I didn't even see them when I first stormed inside, but as soon as I saw the two women he was referring to, I felt my whole damn face start to warm. Popuri just stared for a while with her mouth hanging open like a fish before she shut it again. The other one, Claire if I remembered right, didn't even look at me, but I could tell she was shaking while she white-knuckled her stool. Not that I was surprised when she had hid behind Rick the only time I ever saw the woman.
Still, even though I was just about to kick myself for not noticing them before, I wasn't leaving without getting some answers out of the idiot. Or whatever the hell that bastard really was. I could deal with a couple women until he was willing to tell me what was what. Either that or I had to make him talk.
Whichever one I thought would get the job done better.
"So... Gray... How are you doing?" It was Popuri who spoke up first, that shrill voice of hers driving right through my skull, but even after I glared at her, she kept on talking. "Rick said you weren't doing all that well at the shop, so..."
"Just shut up." She did what I said, but even after she shut up, I could still feel her staring at me as I sat down at the counter near the door. The whole time I sat there, she just kept staring. Almost like she was trying to look right through my head and out the other side. "What?"
"Come on, Gray," Kai scolded me, trying his best not to laugh. "Play nice with the girls until I finish cooking this, will you?" He was messing with me. He had to be... but just as I was about to tell him off, I felt a tug on my sleeve.
"U-um... I'm glad you found your hat..." I just looked at her, and even though the little blonde's bangs were hanging over her eyes, I could still see just how damn wide they were to try and talk to me. Just like a little kid. She was shaking the same as always, but unlike the last time, she had no one to hide behind which only made her even more nervous. "T-that's all I wanted to say..."
"Well, if you aren't the big, bad wolf over here." Kai was grinning as he said it, but she only froze to have him standing there next to her. It was the first time I'd ever seen a girl who was so scared of him, but when he winked at her, she started to shake all over again and her cheeks started to turn bright red. "Don't worry about him too much, Claire. He just doesn't get a lot of sleep these days is all."
"You would know, wouldn't you?" I muttered. "You son of a-"
"Maybe she is, but I don't think now's the time to be talking about my mother," he chuckled. I knew he was just trying to rile me up, and as much as I hated to admit it, he was doing a damn good job of it. If it wasn't for the girls being there, I probably would've picked the bastard right off the floor then and there just to teach him a lesson. "Here you are, Claire. It's hot and ready for you... but you know, you could always stay here and eat it instead of going all the way home."
"No, that's fine," she whispered, taking the styrofoam box from him with her small, trembling hands. "I have some more work to do... so I really can't stay. I'm sorry." By the sound of her voice, she was anything but, and if she wasn't so twitchy all the time, I might've thought she even glared at him. "Popuri... are you coming?"
"Hmm?" The other one looked surprised when she heard her name coming from the small woman, but soon enough she was smiling again. "Oh! Sure thing!" Then her face went dark just as she slipped off her stool and came to the door. "I don't really want to, but I guess I should. I don't want Rick coming out here again..."
"Should I come and get you later then, doll?" Popuri just giggled before giving the man a kiss, but her friend and I looked away just in time to keep from seeing it. Even if I couldn't say much for her, I knew I sure as hell didn't want anything to do with it. "Give your brother my best, will you, dear?"
"Oh, I'm sure he'll be happy to hear it," she giggled before grinning over at me and giving me a little wave. "See you later, Gray."
With that, Popuri pulled the other out the door along with her, but it was only after the door closed behind them that I looked back at Kai. He was smug as always, wearing that lazy smile of his as he watched them make their way back up the sandy beach, but when he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, it widened into a grin. "Cute little thing, isn't she?"
"Annoying as hell if you ask me," I grumbled. To be honest, I didn't know how he could deal with a girl like that day after day, especially when he had to put so much work into dating her in the first place. Even if the two hadn't come to blows just yet, even the kids in town knew just how much Rick hated him. Not that I could really blame him after all the trouble he'd put me through. "How can you put up with all that?"
"I meant Claire," Kai chuckled as he leaned on the counter next to me. "Have you ever seen a girl that skittish before? She's like a rabbit...."
"Stop bull shitting me," I snapped back. "You know damn well why I'm here, so quit changing the subject."
He looked surprised at first, just staring at me for a minute, but soon enough he was smiling again. Almost like it was still some kind of sick joke of his. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Gray."
"My hat," I snarled before throwing it on the counter in front of him. The damn thing was chewed up, no doubt by those pups of his, and even after having Ann wash it for me, there were still grass stains on the brim. Something I wasn't willing to forgive him for any time soon. "You gave it to Mary, didn't you?"
"I did," he agreed, "but like I told her, I found it at the hot springs when I was there the other-"
"Quit lying to me!" Before I even got myself off my stool, I had him by the collar, but he didn't try to get away. He stared at me right in the face, and although I never noticed before, I realized his eyes were a strange yellow, almost gold color. "Just what the hell are you?"
"Let go of me." Kai's voice was deep, deeper than I'd ever heard him speak before, and for whatever reason, I hesitated. When I didn't back off, though, he took a firm hold of my arm. "I said... let go." I wasn't ready for it, especially not from him, but with just one squeeze of his hand, there was a sharp pain that ran all the way up my arm. His grip on me was tighter than I expected, but he didn't even seem to be trying. Not that he needed to apparently since my hand was starting to go numb, and finally, I had no choice but to put him back down again. "Now... that's a good boy."
"So you really are one of them, aren't you?" I asked, gritting my teeth as I backed away from him. "You weren't shitting me, were you?"
"Why would I?" As much as I hated to admit it, I knew he had a point. After all, even if he liked making trouble, Kai wasn't one to make up a story like that. It was too much- even for someone like him. "I told you the truth because I figured you'd want to know. You don't always do this kind of thing... You know, like following people around after dark when you have work the next day."
"If you told me about this sooner, I wouldn't have to!" I snapped back. He didn't say anything more to me, but that smile of his was still enough to push me even further. "How long has this shit been going on? How are you-"
"Born into it," he explained with a shrug. "Maybe five... six hundred years ago? Sorry, I really don't keep track any more, you know? Kind of hard after the first few centuries or so... especially when you're a wolf half the time." Then he laughed. "Not easy to believe, but so is everything else, I guess."
"Show me." He just blinked. "I want to see you change. "Prove it to me."
"Are you sure you want to see it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow while grinning even wider than before. When I gave him a nod, though, he started to laugh. "Alright, alright... Just let me get out of these clothes. It's bad enough I don't have my bandanna any more without ripping these too or anything."
By the time Kai had stripped himself down, I was starting to get more than a little skeptical. As far as I knew, it had to be a full moon or at least after dark for him to be able to change. That was if the legends were to be believed... which seemed just about as reasonable as anything else that had happened so far. None of that mattered to him, though.
"Better watch carefully," he teased, snapping his fingers in front of my eyes. "Cause I'm only gonna do this once."
"Then get going, will ya?" I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest. "We don't have all damn day." He laughed again, but this time, he threw his head back as well. It was also then that his body began to change, and it was all I could do not to look away. A feeling that annoyed me to no end. "You sick son of a..."
It was at that moment that his back snapped, thrusting his chest forward as his arms were sent flying behind him. He knelt on the tile floor as his shoulders popped back just before his arms were suddenly thrown out to catch him from falling face first on the floor. All the while his face was broadening and stretching out to form a muzzle. What made me cringe, though, was the snap that came when his knees were pulled back to become the hind legs of an animal.
All the while, there was thick, brown fur that sprouted all over his body. The same exact dark color of the man's hair which told me it really was who- and what- I thought it was. A werewolf...
Kai was a werewolf.
Author's Note: Wow, Kai sure is naked in a lot of this... not that I'm really complaining, of course. X3
