Full Moon High
Chapter 7: Are You Still Peter; With great Power…
Talbot Hall
Peter had come back from school with homework halfway done in his backpack, and exhaustion on his face. Once Singh greeted him, looked around, hoping to see his grandpa again. But confusion struck him, as he asked his family's manservant, "Where's Grandpa?"
"He had some errands to attend to, before this evening's 'prowl', Master Peter," Singh answered, as he put Peter's jacket away. "But he'll make it back in time by tonight." As Peter was making his way to the stairwell, Singh did have one thing else to say, "Before your return home, I had received calls from Miss Argent."
Peter stopped at the stairs, as he turned around, slightly surprised, as he asked, "Christie called?"
Singh nodded, "She was a bit concerned about your behavior at school." He gave Peter a puzzled look to him, as he asked, "Did anything happen?"
Peter felt a bit embarrassed, as he confessed, "Well… I guess you might say… I stood up for not just myself. But also my friends… and Ashley Norwest." But he innocently defended, "But I didn't change! Not one bit. I mean, I wanted to change, but I controlled the urge to do that."
Singh smiled at that, as he nodded, "Congratulations, Master Peter. You were able to master the beast's rage. At such a short time."
Peter smiled a little, scratching the back of his head, "Well… I had a lot of practice controlling my anger."
KNOCK! KNOCK!
The two heard the knock coming from the front door, getting both of their attention. Singh walked towards the door to answer, it and opened the door. He was greeted by a chauffeur, dressed in a fancy black chauffer attire, and hat; the man was in his fifties or forties, with gray hair, and a British frown to him. He wasn't frowning out of distaste, it was more of serious behavior. "Excuse me, sir. Is there a Mister Talbot present in the Hall," the chauffer asked. "Mr. Peter Talbot?"
"Master Peter," Singh asked.
Peter walked up, as he confirmed his identity, "I'm Peter Talbot. Is something wrong?"
"No, not at all, sir," the chauffer answered, as he explained. "But I have brought someone over here, who insisted to see you after their studies were done, and that they had free time."
Peter looked confused by the speech part, as he asked, "They? Their? Who's they?"
"Well, actually…" a new voice spoke up, as the chauffer stepped aside… to reveal Ashley Norwest. "They is a 'she'. And that she is me."
Peter blinked and looked rather surprised, as he asked, "Ashley?"
Ashley smiled a little, rather sympathetic and embarrassed, as she nodded, "Yeah, me. Hi, Peter."
Peter's Room
Ashley walked around the room, looking around while Peter was nervously standing at the closed door of the room. They hadn't said much since Ashley had arrived, but she asked if they could go to his room to talk. So far, no words had been spoke to the two, but just a faint and awkward silence between the two. At the moment, once they got there, Ashley asked if he could close the door, so they could talk in private. However, she had started wondering around, looking at Peter's room, while he stood, blushing in embarrassment, as he realized that this was the first time a girl, aside from Christie, was in his room.
'There's a girl… in my bedroom,' He thought, sweating up a storm, as his face flushed red all over. 'And it's Ashley Norwest! YEEEESSS!' But then he blinked at all this, as he thought in caution and suspicion, 'Wait, something's not right about all this. Why's Ashley here anyway? And why aren't the other girls with her? Maria and Sarah? They're usually like some kind of flock triple Siamese twins sort of deal, not like the Brisket Twins that hand around Mad Dog Andy's group; always together at the mall, games, social events. Heck, they even have triple dates, or so everyone rumors.' He arched an eyebrow, as he looked to Ashley, who was looking at his entertainment portion of the room. 'So why is she here all alone? Is she plotting some kind of revenge? I mean, I did kind of humiliate her boyfriend in more ways than one. But I was only trying to warn him about the mayo. And to be fair, the guy's an asshole, especially when he was grabbing her wrist. She was just trying to calm him down. If anything, if I was in his shoes, I'd treat her better.'
However, his train of thought was interrupted, as Ashley spoke up, "You know, I always wondered what your room looked like. Even after kindergarten, you never talked as much about what you did at home." She turned towards him, and smirked, "Glad to see you're just a normal guy, and not one of those… well, stalking loser maniacs."
Peter grimaced at that assumption of his life, as he grumbled, "Gee, thanks. I feel so much better. And less insulted."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to say…" Ashley self-berated her on saying that, but changed the subject quickly, as she saw a photo on the table, "Hey. I didn't know you had a copy of this."
Peter blinked, as he walked over, as he picked up the picture for both of them to be. It was a photograph of a five-year-old Peter, Christie… and surprisingly Ashely, all three in the same kindergarten class. She smiled a little, as she reminisced, "I can't believe I was that little, not to mention in the same class with you and Argent."
Peter shrugged, as he walked towards his bed, contemplating aloud, "I can't believe that back then, you were actually nice to me. You even talked to me and played with me during recess." Realizing what he had just said, sounding like an insult, he quickly turned around and apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…!"
"No, it's alright," she replied, though her back was still to him. But then she turned around, almost seemingly ashamed of her recent behavior to him. She smiled sadly, as she talked to him, "I'm sorry if things between us ended when we entered high school. Social status, popularity… those hardly seem like excuses for how I treated you all this time." She then looked to Peter, as she tried to clarify, "Don't get me wrong, though! Sarah and Maria are really good friends, it's just…"
Peter brushed it aside, as he stated, "It's alright, Ashley. I'm not judging you or holding any grudges." But then he stated, "Though I think your choice in boyfriends might need readjusting, considering you're going out with somebody like Roland."
Ashley sighed, wondering when she would have to tell that part about her life story. She looked Peter in the eyes, and explained, "I guess you might say I like construction cases that need to be remodeled." That earned a confused look on Peter's face, as she explained, "I guess you might say, I um… I find the one guy who treats me the worst, and I try to… you know…"
"Make them into decent folk again," Peter guessed. Ashley nodded, as Peter guessed, but then said, "But I don't think you can change a guy like Roland. Because, well… he's an asshole, through and through."
Ashely crossed her arms, as she shrugged, turning away as she didn't wish to show Peter any signs of weakness. "Yeah, at the cafeteria today, and the days before," she went on, as her voice sounded rather shaky, almost like she wanted to cry, as she continued, "At the theater a month ago, when he took the part-time theater worker, who got five broken ribs, a fractured arm, just for talking to me… "
Sensing that she couldn't take it anymore, Peter led her to his chair, as she calmly sat down. But then broke down crying, as she covered her face in her hands, "God, why do I even date guys like my old father?"
"Your father? The billionaire," Peter asked, as he knelt down, placing a hand on her shoulder, as he asked, "Your dad mistreats you?"
Ashley shook her head, "No. No, he's my stepdad; he actually treats me and my sister like princesses." She sighed heavily, as she answered, "My real dad ditched us before my sister was born." She looked at Peter, and realized she was saying too much about herself, as she stood up, "I'm sorry, I-I… I don't know why I'm here, I just thought…" she shook her head, and walked out towards the door, "I shouldn't be here."
And with that, she left the room, but not before a confused Peter took off after her.
Ashley raced towards the door, but Peter got to her in time, as he stopped her. "Ashley, wait a minute," he pleaded to her. He gently grabbed her hand, as she turned to see him, "Ashely, I…"
Ashley smiled at him, and just simply said, "It's okay, I'll tell you about it another time." And then, surprising him further, she planted a small kiss on his cheek, as she pulled back and smiled, "I'll see you at school tomorrow." And with that, she left the house, just as Sir John stepped in. Seeing him, she bowed in politeness, "Good evening, Sir Talbot."
"Um, good evening," Sir John nodded, as Ashley left for her limo. Once Ashley was out of sight, Sir John looked to his grandson, and smirked, "So… blondes are your type? I thought Miss Argent's Strawberry blondeness was your taste?"
Feeling embarrassed, Peter half-smirked, "Grandpa…"
That Night
Forest Reserves
In the darkness of the forest, where the crescent moon shined, two figures were racing in the forest at that moment. They ran and jumped, on all fours at cheetah speed of sorts. The leaves brushed after their windy trail that they left, with the patter of their feet racing on the forest floor. They hopped from rock to rock and tree to tree, just to keep them both at high speed. Although it was clear that the younger one was running faster, the bigger one was faring better at making sure he was keeping first place. But once they made it to a cliff clearing, the two were finally shown in the light, as they stopped and raced to the top on two feet now.
It was Peter, now in his Lycan form, fully aware of how to change without the use of the Full Moon. The fellow who raced with him and stopped right next to him, was clearly Sir John Talbot. His body was that of a forty year old, lead with medium muscle, with his feet stretched out a bit, giving him digitigrade legs like his grandson, wolf ears, nose and teeth, and a tail to boot. His body was covered in dark gray fur, with a white underbelly that stretched down to his inner thighs and ended above his knees, and had it under his biceps and armpits. His gray hair was slicked back, and his muzzle had a spikey fuzzy exterior resembling his beard, and his eyes were black and yellow, like his grandson's.
The two stopped, as they looked at the view to where they were. They were in the forest, overlooking at the ocean river that connected to the Pacific Ocean. The river led from the Everett Navy Base, and led to the ammunition island on Tiger Island. The look of the water, mountainous hills lit up by the quarter moon was a spectacular sight. And to both grandparent and grandchild, it was one of those moments that you treasured.
Peter smirked, as he leaned on his knee, "You know, Mikey, Christie, and I go here every day after school, once in a while to check out the view. After about thirty minutes, we head to the mall to check out the video game store, see if there's anything new in stock. Afterwards, we go to a movie or just hang out at the food court." He looked at the area at night time, and smiled, "If the others could be here now."
"I only wished I could have shown you this view so long ago," Sir John mused.
"Well, we're seeing it now," Peter smiled. But then turned to look at his Grandpa, and was impressed at seeing him in his werewolf form. "And speaking of sights, I never pictured you looking this buff at your old age," Peter examined his grandfather's fit figure. "What happened when you transform? Did you de-age?"
"Well, it's been a while since I transformed," Sir John confessed. "Around that time, I let myself age like a normal human again/ my metabolism slowed a bit, and that in turn caused my gut to expand. When I changed, my metabolism went back into drive again, my muscles have strengthened again, and I feel physically much better than I did before." He noticed his grandson's look of wonder on his face, and asked, "Something wrong with that?"
"Oh no, it's not that," Peter answered, as he asked out of the blue, "But am I gonna get like that when I get older?"
"Oh, we're all different went we get older. I don't doubt you'll be better looking than me when you get to my age," Sir John confessed. He then walked away from the sight, as Peter followed. "Tonight's view and scenery was only a relaxant. Notice you don't hear anything around you, right?"
Peter nodded, "This place is as quiet as a tomb. Not even crickets are chirping. Though this is Everett, it's too cold to be even insect-inhabited."
"Well, where we're going, you'll hear plenty," Sir John said, as he ran on two, and then hopped to run on all fours.
Peter arched an eyebrow at that, but followed after him, running on all fours to catch up to wherever his grandfather was leading him to only he knew.
Everett
The two werewolves raced out of the forest, keeping with the darkness of what limited trees and forest they could come across. Their path was leading straight to the city of Everett, which Peter figured they were headed to. Once they were close, they went into dark alleys, avoiding the lights and only racing across the streets, once they were made sure the streets and sidewalks were empty. It was still early in the night, and there were still people walking about, but luckily both Peter and his grandfather were fast and agile enough to keep from behind avoided. They had made it to another dark alley, and the two started climbing up, either by jumping from wall to wall, using the fire escapes, or by digging their claws into the wall, which Peter didn't know they could do that.
But that's not what was causing Peter to suddenly get discomforted, as they hopped from roof to roof. All around him, he started hearing car horns blazing, the train whistles going off, and any other vehicle or machine noise that was going off. He even heard people talking, babies crying, or kids screaming their heads off. All those voices and noises were clashing iwthin his head as he hopped to the next roof. However, it caused him to lose his footing, as he stumbled, almost close to falling off the next roof. However, his Grandfather caught his wrist in time, as Peter lightly crashed onto the side of the wall, with his grandpa holding on to him.
"Easy, Peter. I've got you," he reassured him, but then noticed his grandson's agony. "Hold on, Peter. I'll help you up."
He pulled him up, as Peter, now safely on the roof of the building they were on, collapsed on his knees, clutching his ears. He was barely able to hear anything, much less focus on anything at all. "Peter, what's wrong," Sir John asked, him, as he crouched next to his grandson.
"I… I can hear… EVERYTHING!" he howled out, as he crashed to the ground, his legs kicking at the ground, as he tried to curl up, in a failed attempt to drown out the sounds. "I can't… it's…."
"Peter, listen," he reassured him, as he held his grandson's shoulder. "I can help you master this."
"Yeah, but at school it was easy: not that much to hear," Peter whined, whimpering like a real dog. "But this is the whole world. It's too big."
"It's easy, Peter," Sir John consoled him, rubbing his shoulder. "Just focus on the sound of one object: my voice, a heartbeat, anything. Pretend it's an island out far in the ocean." Peter seemed to struggle, but then seemed to slow down in his struggle. "Can you see it?"
Peter's ears began to focus on one thing, and one thing from afar. Christie's heartbeat and her voice. He had picked her voice from afar, probably at a coffee shop, since he heard a brewing machine going off. He then focused on her heartbeat, hearing the warm rhythm of it, as if by hearing it, everything was calm and serene of this moment. Finally, he said, "I see it. I see the island."
"Good," he reassured him. "Now swim towards it, Peter."
As he focused more on Christie's voice, everything else seemed to silence or quiet down for him. He pulled his hands away from his ears, and sat up, realizing that it was all gone, as he looked around. Sir John looked to him and asked, "You okay, Peter? Peter?"
Peter then took off, hopping from roof to roof, as Sir John blinked at his grandson's actions. "Where is that boy going off to?"
Not Far
It wasn't long, but Peter found to where the heartbeat was leading him to all this time. He leapt atop a roof entrance, remaining in the shadows all the time, as he spotted his target, or rather… the sound of his island. Sitting at an open table coffee shop, Christie was sipping a cup of mocha Choco latte, which was pleasing to Peter's nose. But he stopped for a moment, as he took another scent, and whispered to be sure of what he thought was true, "Desert Roses…?"
"A perfume, I take it," Sir John showed up out of nowhere below Peter. The elder werewolf walked up, and asked, "So, I take it this was your island you focused on?"
Peter nodded, "Out of all the voices and heartbeats I heard out all around us… hers seemed to speak the loudest." He chuckled, "Kind of weird, isn't it? She helps me out, even when she doesn't know it. My first friend since kindergarten; her and Ashley. Then Mikey in the first grade, and I had my first male friend ever. But then that was also the time Ashley made friends with Maria and Sarah, and I was minus one friend there." He smiled, as he saw Christie, and sighed, "And for some odd reason, she manages to stay with me and a walking perv like Mikey this whole time."
"She sounds like a good friend that you've made," Sir John commented, touched that his grandson had such good and devoted friends, as they were lucky that he was the same as them. But then he noticed the sad look on his grandson's face, and asked, "Something wrong?"
Peter sighed, "She's talking to Mikey; her voice seems pretty distressed, but she's calm about it." His voice sounded rather depressed, as he finished, "It's about me." Sir John blinked at that, as he listened on, "She's worried that something's wrong with me. My attitude with Roland today; what with me standing up to him. she's even worried that my sudden strengthening in P.E.'s some sort of cancer or rabies. Thinks that I may feel better, but it could be an early stage before things get worse."
Sir John arched an eyebrow at that, and sweat dropped, as he chuckled, "Sounds like she cares about you… rather deeply, I would think."
Peter blinked at that, and then suddenly, the thought of him and Christie… on a date… caused him to blush and stutter at that thought. He looked to his grandfather, as he nearly stuttered, but then cleared his thoughts and throat. He shook it off, as he replied, "W-Well, anyway… seeing as how they're pretty good friends, I mean… well, don't you….?"
"Tell them your secret," Sir John asked, earning a nod from him. the elder werewolf sighed, as he looked down at the humans, and then to Christie, "I'm not so certain that's such a good idea. It's admirable that you don't want them to worry about you. But… "
"I knew a But was coming on," Peter pointed out. And then tried to guess it, "Lemme guess, they wouldn't understand?"
"No, i've seen you with them for as long as you've befriended them. I believe they would understand you," Sir John admitted, but then grew serious, "However, Peter… there are those out there that fear and hate our kind. Don't forget: in the movies, we're depicted as the bad guys."
"Yeah, I wonder how that happened," Peter asked rhetorically.
"If they discover you about what you are, those who hunt us down will stop to do nothing in short to exterminate us," the Elder Wolf replied, and then looked to his grandson saddened, "They would even go so far as to threaten normal people to lure you out. Even farther, they'll threaten those who are dearest to you."
Peter signed, as he knew the depths of that kind of evil. He had seen that kind of trick played on TV and in the movies; sure it was all fake, but if it were done in real life… He shook his head, not wanting to think about it even more. But then all he could think about was a girl's cry in pain. He closed his ears, as he groaned, "Okay, I get it. Now somebody please stop that female cry in pain?"
His grandpa looked confused on that, as he stated, "I'm not making any sound."
Peter blinked at that, and asked, "Well, if it's not Christie, or you making that, and I know I'm not imagining things, so…?"
He then heard it again, as he sharply turned to his right, facing the direction, "It came from over there…" he then listened carefully, and once he heard the cry again, he blinked, "Ashley?"
Not Too Far
Elsewhere
On top of a roof not far from where Peter or Sir John were at, a little squabble was being thrown down. The rooftop was made into a makeshift bar/camping spot, usually for those who love jumping from roof to roof. Real adrenaline junkies, who just love to hop around like monkeys in a zoo. Unfortunately, this spot was reserved for Roland and his little gang. Well, actually, it was a really big gang; these guys just didn't go to school, either because they couldn't afford it, or that they were expelled for obvious reasons. And right now, that gang had cornered a slightly startled Ashely Norwest.
She slammed into a wall, back first, as she cradled her left bruised wrist, as she glared at Roland, who walked up toward her, getting into her face. His face didn't show it, but he was severely pissed off, "When we started dating, was I not clear that I did not want you near any other men, except my own," Roland interrogated her, not even giving her a chance to talk back. As he slammed his fist into the wall next to her face, as he silently interrogated, "You agreed to that. So why… were you found talking to that Talbot boy? Let alone go into his house?"
Ashely was shocked at that, as she shot out, "What the…? You were spying on me?"
"I have to make sure my woman is kept an eye on, don't I," Roland asked, not caring that she was offended.
"That's an invasion of privacy! Are you that twisted," she asked, now seemingly angry.
Roland was quiet for a moment, and looked away as he stepped back a little. Ashely felt like she had won the verbal fight, but she was dead wrong. As for that moment, Roland quickly slapped her across her left cheek, rather harshly, as it sent her slamming into the wall. She cried, as she slumped down on the gravel ground, cradling her cheek, feeling like he smashed her jaw.
She turned to look at him, with her eyes tearing up from the pain. "Don't look at me like that, you little slut," Roland shot out, rahter calm about it, as he shot at her, "This was all brought up on you, once you started seeing Talbot behind my back."
Her eyes then grew angry, as she spoke back, "Peter and I are just friends. In fact, I thought about getting back together as friends. Because quite frankly, I'd rather die than be in this little social circle with an asshole like you."
Roland snatched her right wrist, pulling her up, as he lifted her up. She was about to kick him, in a kung fu manner, but he squeezed her wrist pretty hard, so hard it was actually causing extreme pain. She grabbed her right wrist, hoping ot wrench herself free from Roland's grasp, but it was obvious he was too strong. He squeezed harder, causing her to cry out in pain, as he lifted her off the ground, bringing more pain in the process.
Roland finally spoke up, "You want to die that badly? Fine then. First your wrist, and then the rest of you. And no one's here to save your sorry sexy ass this time today."
Most of the gang members were smirking at this, loving to see Roland go postal on the snooty rich girl that was with them. But a few were a bit more sympathetic, and didn't like the idea of going to jail for murder. One of them decided to walk up to him, as he continued to put pressure on her wrist, causing her to cry out in pain. He placed a hand on his shoulder, as he stated, "C'mon, man. That's enough. She's the daughter of one of the richest family's around this place. Killing her's not gonna do us any good."
Roland elbowed the guy, breaking his nose, as he fell down flat on his butt, and went back to Ashley. However, they were unaware of a shadowed figure jumping not too far from them. It was Peter as he hid from sight, and saw what Roland was hurting Ashley, not wanting to argue about whatever it was they were talking about. Peter had to do something, but not get seen in the process, so he looked for something to hide himself in. it was then that he spotted a black bed sheet, and grabbed it.
Ashley whimpered out, managing to talk to Roland, "They're right… killing me… will only make things worse… AHHH!"
The foreign punk grunted, as he squeezed harder, making Ashley cry out more, as he chuckled, "I'll sure feel better once you're six feet under."
But then suddenly, two of the gang members were tossed inot the air, and sent crashing into a bunch of nearby crates used as a sort of couch. They splintered the whole thing, as the scene caused Roland to let her go, as they all now saw who had thrown the two. But all they saw was a seven foot teenager, standing on the balls of his feet, and wearing a makeshift cloak hiding face.
The boy replied, answering Roland's reply, "But it'll make me really cranky!"
The goons didn't seem to be fazed by this, and neither was Roland, as he shooed him away, "Halloween is over. Why don't you hop off the roof, before you get into trouble."
Peter, in disguise, crossed his arms, exposing his fur-covered arms, as he warned them, squinting his yellow eyes in anger, "Maybe you should hop off, or you'll be the ones in trouble."
The punks started grabbing chains, lead pipes, even going as far as drawing out knives, as one of them shouted, "Screw you, pal!"
"Say yer prayers," another shouted.
And with that, they all charged right at him, as he charged at them in retaliation. The teen werewolf boy charged right at the gang of thugs. However, they weren't prepared to fight a werewolf, as Peter mercilessly jumped at them, punching and kicking at them. However, he made certain that he didn't scratch or bite any of them, as he would risk turning them into werewolves as well. The armed thugs were easily thrown or beaten away, as they didn't count on him being so fast, or strong.
Ashely looked stunned at the gang's assailant, almost amazed at this. It was like something you would read out of a romance novel or a superhero movie. A mysterious figure pops up and defeats an army of thugs to protect a girl. It may have seemed a bit overused, and she was more than capable of defending herself in a fight, but to her… it was like living in a fantasy at this moment.
For Roland right now, it was like living in a nightmare. His entire gang was being brought down by one guy, and by the looks of things, the guy wasn't breaking a sweat. Roland's face was getting angry at this punk, as he slowly reached from behind his back.
Peter was winning this fight, as he swatted away a few of the members, or tripped them up, sweep kicking them. One of them was about to get lucky at him, but Peter leapt-punched the guy out. Donnie lent the end of his staff to his brother, as he graciously grabbed it. The thugs all charged at him in unison, but Peter threw himself at the two, kicking them at the side. Peter skidded to the side, crouched to the ground like a dog on all fours.
It was then that he blinked, seeing them all down and groaning. Peter stood up, as he shrugged, "Aww, no more?"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Four shots were made on him, as he staggered from the shots. He looked at the cloak he was wearing, and saw four bullet holes were made in it, as well as tiny streams of blood. Peter blinked, as it only felt like a bee sting, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt him at all. He looked to see where they had come from, thinking it was a cop of sorts. But instead, he saw Roland, holding a 9mm Desert Eagle pistol in his hand.
Peter blinked at this, 'Seriously? He had a gun this whole time? What an asshole!'
Roland shouted, "Why don't you just die, already!" and strode forward, shooting at Peter, until the clip was empty. Peter fell to the ground, finally giving in to the shots. Roland walked up to him, his face still hidden by the cloak. He emptied the clip, and reloaded a new one; once it was in place, he pointed the gun's barrel at the head, as he chuckled, "See ya."
"HAAAA!" Ashley cried out, as he ran up to him, and delivering a powerful round house kick, knocking the gun out of his hand.
Stunned by that, Roland looked at her, as she delivered a forward kick to his stomach, another round house kick to his face, and then a downward chop kick to his head. He fell to the ground, as Ashley shouted, "Are you insane, as well as an asshole? You just killed that guy! You monster!"
He suddenly grabbed her ankle sending her falling on her back, as he pulled her in, as he huffed, "Maybe! But at least you won't be alive long enough to rat me out!"
Ashley tried to fight him off, but due to her bruised wrist and her bruised cheek, she was in too much pain to try and fight back. But she stopped, as she saw something pop up behind him. Her face grew in surprise, as Roland figured, "Oh, too scared to even scream? All good for me then." He then sat atop her, his legs pinning her down at the sides, as he prepared to beat her to death with his fists.
However, he was suddenly pulled off her, and was turned around… to face a gray and black werewolf boy. Roland nearly wet himself as he was face to face with this thing, and noticed the bullet holes in the beast's chest and abdomen. The bullets began popping out of his body, and the wounds healed instantly, much to Roland and Ashley's surprise.
Peter looked at Roland straight in the eye, as he growled, "Don't. Hurt her. You asshole." And then threw him to the side, sending him skidding on the ground.
Roland slowly got up on his butt, as he saw the werewolf walking towards him. He was on the verge of panicking, but then stopped as he spotted the gun Ashley kicked away from him. He immediately grabbed it, and starting shooting at him. But Peter blocked the shots with his arms, to which he easily took the shots in them, slightly wincing from the shots, but not getting hurt. With all the shots in his arms, the bullets began popping out, and the wounds started healing up.
Roland was gonna grab another clip from his pocket, until Peter reached out, and grabbed the gun without yanking it out of his hand. He then began to slowly crush the barrel, until it was so far dented, that it could fire anything else, let along even eject the clip. He let go, as he and Roland were now face-to-face again, as Roland now was close to peeing his pants. Ashley was on all fours, too weak to do anything or to run away, as all she could do now was stare at what she would assume what werewolves would do: kill.
But it didn't happen, as the werewolf growled, "You tried to kill someone tonight. Live with that." And with that said, he stood back up, and turned away, slowly making his way to Ashley.
Roland managed to compose himself a little, as he looked to his side, and saw one of the pipes. Summing up enough courage, he grabbed it, shot up, and ran towards the werewolf, yelling out loud, catching Peter's attention. And with all his might, he rammed the pipe through Peter's abdomen, and tried to pierce it through his back. But it was to no purpose, as Peter slowly fought back against Roland's strength, easily overpowering him, taking the pipe out full, as it healed up like it was nothing. He then grabbed Roland by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off the ground.
Roland tried to fight back, but wasn't working, as he managed to ask, "What kind of monster are you?"
"Not your kind, thankfully," Peter growled, and then tossed him hard into a wall. It created an impact crater, knocking Roland out completely, as he fell down to the ground, unconscious.
Ashley just stared in awe at the stranger; he had beaten all of the gang members, Roland as well, took bullets and healed within seconds, and it was all done without even breaking a sweat. Not ignoring the fact that there was a real werewolf among her, she wondered if he was friend, or a foe, just beating them all up, and wanting to finish her off himself.
He then turned around to face her, and she backed away, not sure of what to make of him. He walked towards her, but Ashley shouted, "Don't come any closer!"
He ignored the threat as he continued to walk towards her. Ashley scooted away, still not having any strength left in her legs, as she shouted, "I said stop!" He still didn't listen as he was getting closer to her; he reached a clawed hand out to her. He stepped back a little but he got close enough to gently hold her shoulders and touched her neck.
She closed her eyes thinking he was going to strangle her or rip her throat open, until he asked in a concerned tone, "Are you alright?"
She opened her eyes as he heard the question and looked at him; he was still touching her cheek lightly tracing the bruising on it, "Are you alright? I mean, he did hit you pretty hard."
She nodded blushing at him touching her like this, "N-no, I'm alright. Thank you."
He let go of her shoulder and stepped back a bit, "Oh, that's good. I thought he might have gone too far."
Feeling a little relieved, she sighed, but then curiosity got to her, as she asked, "Just who are you?"
Peter thought about it, until he answered, "Um, I guess you could call me Alpha." He looked around and asked, "So… what was going on around here?"
Ashley huffed, as she rubbed her bruised wrist, "I got a call from my now former boyfriend, saying he had to talk to me about something. Little did I realize that he was acting like this and…" she felt so stupid as she looked the other way, not wanting to see this wolf face-to-face now, as she whimpered, "God, why am I this stupid? Going out with a monster like him?" She blinked as she insinuated the wrong thing, and looked to 'Alpha' apologetically, as she stammered, "Ah, no! No, that's not what I meant! I'm not applying that you're a monster in any way!"
Peter shook his head, "Not at all. No offence taken." He then blinked, "Do you need a lift back to your home?"
Ashley blinked at this, and suddenly darted to her phone, "Oh, my god! I need to get home soon! I have a curfew, and it's almost ten PM. If they find I'm not in my room, my parents will panic; they don't even know I've been out this long! I can't call my chauffer, he'll suspect something, and then they'll find out about you, and…"
But then suddenly, she was scooped up off the ground, and was held in Peter's arms. She was stunned to say the least, as he asked, "Where do you live? I can take you there."
Ashley shook her head, as she was hesitant, "Ah! No, no, I-I think I can manage somehow! I just… I don't want anyone to see you, or they might panic…"
Peter shook his head, as he let a small smirk appear on his muzzle, "Oh, don't worry. I've not nothing planned tonight; just doing a little run out here, and I heard you in trouble. So taking you home's not such a big deal."
Ashley looked at this werewolf rather confused now. She had watched horror movies with her friends, and even saw that new werewolf film, the Howling Moon, and they were always depicted as monsters that slashed and ate people. But this one, which she had a hard time believing he was real but accepting that he was now, was nothing like the movies. In a strange way, he wasn't monstrous or anything; he was actually kind of handsome and nice. And the way she held him in his arms, his arms strength was like iron, and yet as he held her, he was so gentle. She blushed a little, looking at him, 'There's no way he's a monster. Not like this…'
"Uh, you okay? You look a little reddish," 'Alpha' asked, getting a strange vibe from her.
Snapping out of it, Ashley spoke up, "Um, sorry about that. I live near the reserve. My family has an estate near that location."
"I know where that is," 'Alpha' said, as he smirked. He walked over to the ledge, as he stepped on it. Ashley looked down, and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, digging her face into his shoulder. He smirked, secretly thinking that he had never seen a side of her like this, but reassured her, "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you. You're in good hands. Or paws… um… just hang on."
"Okay," she answered in a muffled tone.
And with all the might he had, he jumped off the roof, as Ashley muffled a scream, but he landed on the other roof top. He began to raced atop it, building up speed, and leapt to another roof. Once she didn't feel so scared, Ashley peeked a little, and saw that they were jumping from roof to roof, almost like they were flying. She managed to steal a peek at Alpha's face, as he looked concentrated, going from roof to roof.
She managed to blush a little, as thoughts raced in her head, 'He's so… cool…' and just relaxed her grip on him, as they continued their way.
However, on a rooftop not too far, Sir John had watched the whole thing, not wanting to interfere with his grandson's growth. Although a human had spotted him, he had the feeling that she wouldn't tell, and that the others would be believed to be crazy. Sir John crossed his arms, as he smirked, "I think I'll scold him another time." And with that, he took off back towards home.
However, a shadowed figure peered at Peter's disappearing form, and in a flash, followed after him, keeping to the shadows.
Forty Minutes Later…
Norwest Estate
As they had trenched through the forest, avoiding anyone or any vehicles, they reached their destination, Peter was stunned out loud silly. "Whoa…" was all that he could say as he saw the Norwest household for the first time.
It was a vast estate that stretched out for what seemed like a mile or so to anybody that saw it. It was well designed and looked to be of a rustic mansion of the Meiji Era. A huge brick wall was in front of the estate to ward off intruders with an iron gate for the entrance.
Peter just gaped and could only say one thing out of amazement, "This isn't a house, it's Windsor Castle."
Ashley blushed from embarrassment, as she nodded, "My dad's a pretty traditional fellow. One eye in the past, but one to the future." She pointed to the side, "My room's over there. It has a two-window door with a balcony on it."
He hopped on over, speeding up to the wall, and hid in the shadows as the two made their way to her room window balcony.
Once there, he hopped up, climbing the walls, and avoiding the dog that was nearby. He hopped on there, and gently set Ashley down on to her feet. She blushed a little, seeing that he was a lot taller than Roland was. The two were a bit awkward at that moment, as she spoke up first, "I wanted to thank you again, for saving me."
Peter shrugged, "Um, it's no big deal." He then walked back to the balcony's edge, and hopped on it, crouched, as he looked back to her. "You gonna be alright?"
"Yes, I'll be fine, thanks to you," she smiled to him, as he was about to get on out of there. But she stopped him, as she racd to him and gently grabbed his arm, getting his attention, as she asked, "Wait. Will I ever see you again?"
Peter thought about it, not sure if he should tell her who he was, but then shrugged, "You might. You might say I'll keep an eye on you, just to make sure Roland doesn't try anything like this again."
Ashley smiled… and then surprising him deeply, kissed him on the nose, as she pulled back and whispered, "I look forward to it."
A bit stunned by that action, Peter nodded, "Um, yeah. I see you then… or maybe, you'll see me and not know it." And then leapt on out of there.
But Ashley blinked at that, as she ran towards the edge, and asked, "Wait! What did you mean by I'll see you but not know it?! Alpha, wait!" But it was too late, as he ran on all fours, and took off into the darkened forest.
Ashley blinked a little, as she smiled, "That guy…" She then walked towards her door, as she would get ready for the night.
Once she had showered off, and dressed in a white night gown, she was going to hop into bed. Until she heard a tapping on the window door, as she turned towards it. She couldn't see who it was due to the curtains covering the door, but she had made out a silhouette of someone standing on their tippy toes… and had a tail and wolf ears. She smiled, as she figured it was Alpha, 'He came back…' she raced towards the door, and immediately opened it, smiling, "Alpha!"
But then her smile disappeared, and was replaced with one of shocked surprise, as suddenly the figure lunged at her. A few moments later, Ashley was lying on her bed, her eyes wide open, and she was breathing rather heavily, as if she had gone through jogging hard for about thirty minutes. The left side of her gown had been torn.. and a bite was shown there, with as little blood as there should have been. She had been bitten at that moment, and didn't even realize it, as she was too much in a daze, and it had happened so fast.
"A gift for one as accepting as you, my dear," a low growled voice spoke to her, as a dark brown and black furred claw traced down her cheek to her stomach and pulled back, as the figure walked away, as it spoke out, "Welcome to the World of Darkness… Norwest…" And just like before with Peter, Ashley spiraled into oblivion.
Next Chapter: Wolf on the Prowl; More than Just Wolves…
