Chapter Ten:
Seto walked alongside Joey, his arm around the blond's shoulders just as Joey had his arm around his own waist. Ahead of them, Yami and Yugi walked in a similar manner as they crossed the street towards where the limo had been crashed.
Seto raised an eyebrow as he saw Tristan sitting on the concrete, one arm over his head, attached to the iron mesh covering a storefront. He looked up as they approached, jumping to his feet. His free hand waved the butcher's knife.
"Stay back, demons!" he cried. "You're not my friends anymore. Come any closer and I'll split you lengthwise!" He cackled insanely, still waving the knife through the air.
"Hmm. I'd say you could eat him, Seto," Joey said. "But even though he's a pathetic human, I kind of like him. Tristan chose a great thing to become--a serial killer. Hey, Tristan, stop waving that thing around and we'll let you go."
Tristan paused, eyeing them. "Really?"
"Yeah," Yugi said sweetly, letting go of Yami and slinking forward.
Seto's gaze was drawn to him, admiring of Yugi's manifest sensuality despite the fact that Joey was his lover now. Yugi's small size didn't matter. In fact, it even enhanced his new appeal; Yugi had always been attractive, just too shy when he was a human to really let it show. Now that all his inhibitions were gone, his petite sex appeal was obvious. And Yami, his more exotic almost-copy, looked equally striking, though he'd always been less reserved than his littler lover about letting it show.
That allure worked on Tristan, straight or not. He lowered the knife, though he watched Yugi mistrustfully as the smaller came closer. Yugi reached up towards the chain binding Tristan's wrist. He tugged on it, making the metal groan and bend. Yami smirked and walked over to help, and between the two of them, the thick metal chain broke.
Tristan lowered his arm. The chain had had no cuff, just wrapped around Tristan's wrist and attached to itself by Ryou's magick. Now it uncoiled and fell to the sidewalk. Tristan rubbed his arm after switching the knife from hand to hand, studying them.
"Why do that?"
"Even though you're a weak human," Yami said, ignoring Tristan's growl, "you're still a bringer of chaos and a spiller of blood."
"Like us," Yugi said. "So, Tristan, go play. And don't forget to feed Duke."
Laughing, Tristan turned and went back the way they had come, swinging the butcher's knife like a toy. Joey turned to Seto, the two of them just watching until now.
"Think you can change now?"
Seto considered that as the two vampires turned to them with interest. He smirked, drawing back from Joey and taking a few paces backwards to give himself room. "If you can do it, mutt, so can I."
Joey only smirked at the insult, folding his arms and waiting. Seto concentrated, simply willing himself to turn into a wolf. A small part of him still rebelled at this, but that was a tiny voice hardly worth noticing. He was a werewolf now, there was no getting around that. He could feel it inside him, feel the animal taking him over, yearning to break through and run free. And with Joey to run at his side, why deny it?
He heard Yami and Yugi make faint noises of surprise. He ignored them, closing his eyes, concentrating harder. A truly weird sensation spread through him, as if his skin were itching all over, while an ache spread through his body that had nothing to do with Joey's earlier attentions. The ache grew deeper, but despite the fact that it hurt, he enjoyed it somehow. The pain seemed natural, something to embrace, and so he did.
He fell onto all fours, and opened his eyes. In front of him was the glass front of the store that he could see through the links of the mesh. In that glass was reflected a wolf, an enormous one. He stood at least four feet high at the shoulder, and stretched a good ten from nose tip to tail tip. His fur was silver, with a sprinkling of salt-and-pepper black and white mixed in, turning pure white on his belly, the insides of his legs, and underneath his muzzle, while it was pure black at the very tips of his ears and tail. On the top of his head, between the triangular ears, was a brown patch the exact shade of his human hair, though it only covered the very top of his head. His muzzle was filled with ripping teeth and his black nose picked up scents all over, telling him an entire story in one inhale. His four paws stood solidly on the sidewalk, the non-retractable black claws lightly touched the concrete. He noticed that his eyes remained the same deep blue as always.
In the mirror at his side was Joey, looking down with a pleased smile, while on the other side was blankness. Yami and Yugi didn't cast reflections.
"Good," Joey murmured, his voice low and warm in Seto's ears.
Joey went through his change right then. Seto watched with interest as his shape melted and reformed into the gold wolf, much faster than Seto thought he had turned himself. The other wolf was only slightly smaller than he was, his fur the same shade as Joey's human hair, while his eyes were a brighter gold. The smaller wolf stepped closer, burying his muzzle into the thick fur around Seto's neck, nipping. Seto growled, but tilted his head to expose his neck to Joey's affectionate bite.
"All right, guys," Yugi said, sounding amused. "Enough of that. We've got a mission, remember?"
Joey turned his head towards Yugi. He nodded it up and down. Yami looked lazily around, his arms folded. "Let's get going. They've had, what, an hour's head start?"
"Who cares about that, lover?" Yugi asked, smiling. "The four of us can run like the wind, and we're not restricted to streets. In fact, the wolves might just be faster." He looked down at Seto and Joey. "Mind if we hitch a ride?"
Seto turned his muzzle towards Joey. He didn't like it himself, being ridden like a horse, but the two vampires made interesting companions. He liked Yugi and even Yami a great deal more now that he was a wolf. Joey nodded his head again, stepping closer to Yugi. The smaller vampire swung his leg over Joey's back and settled on him, curling his fingers through the thick gold fur in a caress.
"Nice and soft."
Yami chuckled as he got on Seto's back. The slight weight of the vampire meant nothing to Seto. Even as a human, he would have been strong enough to support the much smaller teen easily, and now that he was a wolf, it was laughable. He turned his head to look at Yami over his shoulder, telling him with a look it was his duty to hold on.
Joey started forward, trotting before breaking into a full sprint. Seto followed him, feeling Yami dig his knees into his ribs and his hands into his shoulders to hold on. Yugi clung to Joey in the same way, laughing in delight as the night air whipped his hair and clothes. Joey ducked into the street, Seto following him and pulling alongside to run evenly with his mate.
He had to admit, there was something primal and thrilling about running like this, moving so quickly that the surroundings became blurred, and the generated wind tore at their fur and the vampires' hair and clothes, the steady thump, thump of their paws on the asphalt as steady a rhythm as their heartbeats.
Seto had heard before that the true wolf had incredible endurance, so he was sure the were-wolf would be almost tireless. That seemed true, as they ran all the way to the corp. limits of Domino and Seto didn't feel a bit tired. They ignored the roads and merely ran in the general direction that Yami, who had the keenest sixth sense, could perceive them.
"Where do you think they're going?" Yugi asked after a couple hours straight running.
"Anyone's guess," Yami replied.
Joey turned his head towards Seto. He started to slow down, so Seto did as well. They slowed to a trot, then a walk before Joey suddenly turned towards the right, Seto following. The two vampires said nothing until Joey approached a large chainlink fence topped with barbed wire well outside the city limits. There they stopped and the vampires dismounted.
"What's up?" Yugi asked.
Joey lifted his muzzle and sniffed pointedly. Yami and Yugi turned towards the fence. Seto smelled it as well, the odor of cows. His stomach suddenly rumbled with hunger. Fresh meat sounded really good right then.
"Ah," Yami said. "Well, enjoy. We'll wait."
Joey leapt the fence easily. Seto followed him, the two of them prowling through the tall grass. The cows came into view over a rise, a few dozen head, spread out below them. Seto could see them perfectly easily by the light of the moon, as easily as if it were daylight.
Joey turned his muzzle towards Seto again, giving him a wolf-grin. Now that he was a wolf as well, Seto could easily discern the 'expressions' of his mate. Joey led the way towards the cows, slinking low to the ground. Seto followed, his eyes on the cows.
Joey looked at Seto again, then pointed his muzzle towards an enormous bull, a little away from his herd, stupid brown eyes looking around through the darkness. They were already downwind, and Seto doubted the cows had good night vision. Joey stepped a few more paces forward, tail swaying slowly, before flicking his left ear back at Seto. The silver wolf understood and slunk off to the left, sliding easily through the tall grass, circling the bull to approach it from the side. Joey took the front. He suddenly shot through the grass like a golden bullet.
The cows heard the noise of his paws and the rustling of the grass. They sent up a din of noises, some breaking and running, others trying to form a protective bunch. The bull faced Joey head on, lowering his horns. Seto watched, tensed and worried. But Joey moved fluidly, completely dodging the horns as the bull lunged, pivoting twice in the grass and coming back around to land on the bull's back, sinking his fangs into the tough hide. The bull reared a bit, snorting, trying to pin Joey on his horns by throwing his head back.
That was Seto's cue. He rushed forward, leaping up under the bull's chin, and sunk his fangs into the throat. Blood gushed over his fur and down his throat, and he swallowed it without releasing his hold. The bull screamed, twisting its head back and forth, trying to throw Seto off. The silver wolf hung on, digging in deeper. Joey jumped off the bull's back and went for one of the front hooves. His jaws crushed the leg with unnatural strength, and the bull staggered. Joey ran around to the other side, then crashed against the bull like a wolfish linebacker. The bull went down on its side, Seto still holding onto the neck.
The bull tried to get up, but now that Seto had better leverage, he dug his paws into the ground and jerked backwards, ripping out the throat. Hot blood gushed all over his front and he spat out the unsavory chunk in his mouth. The bull gurgled, still trying to get up, but it was dying quickly and in seconds stopped moving.
Joey came over, nuzzling his muzzle into Seto's fur, nosing along his side. Seto turned his own head, nipping lightly at Joey's neck, telling him he was okay. They turned back to the corpse, then tore into it, feeding quickly, while the meat was still warm and bloody. Once the meat was gone, they left the bones and organs, moving away back towards the fence. Before they got there, Joey turned to Seto, nudging him to stop. He reared up, pressing his forepaws on Seto's back, looking down at him.
Seto understood and laid down. Joey stood next to him, bending his head and began cleaning the blood from the silver fur. Seto closed his eyes, enjoying the grooming. When Joey was done, he laid down, and Seto did the same for him, licking all traces of blood from the gleaming gold fur. He buried his muzzle in Joey's fur, nudging his head against Joey's side. Joey nuzzled him back, leaning heavily against him as they waited for their meal to settle.
"Can't you guys stop that long enough to stop Ryou from turning us back?" Yami asked as he and Yugi came through the grass towards them.
"Oh, come on, Mou Hitori no Boku," Yugi purred, wrapping his arm around Yami's waist and kissing his shoulder. "We're no better."
Yami growled, grabbing Yugi and kissing him roughly. Yugi grinned against his lips before returning it. Joey nuzzled Seto once more and stood. Seto got up as well as the vampires broke apart.
"Sure, you're ready to go just when we get into it," Yugi pouted, smiling.
The two followed the wolves back to the fence. Seto watched as they leapt over the fence just as without difficulty as Joey and Seto could. The others followed them, then Yami and Yugi got back on their backs and they were running again, following Yami's directions.
Seto heard the noise well before he saw the car. It came into view ahead of them in a few more minutes, speeding along a winding road, heading for a forest still a few miles in the distance. Joey made a short barking noise, and Yugi grinned. Seto felt Yami pet his shoulder.
"We found them."