Chapter 11
Wolf's P.O.V
I was called to the cockpit once we were about an hour away from the estate. The co-captain handed me the head set "Sir Integra is on the line for you" he stated. "Wolf speaking" I said, giving her the indication I was on the line. "Were you able to get assistance from the Americans?" she asked. I rolled my eyes briefly, of course that would be the first thing she wanted to hear. "Yes, a team of ten that I'm in command of until such a time is they are no longer needed. Half can stay in the barracks with the Wild Geese, the other half will need to be in rooms near mine. I'll explain further once we arrive". She didn't respond before the line went dead, so I handed the set back to the co-captain. I walked back to my seat and looked over the group. Once more, the humans were separate from the cryptids. Not that they could be blamed really. These cryptids were known for killing humans. I watched the approaching landscape out the window when I felt someone sit next to me. I turned to find the male skin walker. "The others are wondering how they are going to eat if they cannot feed from humans" he stated, speaking for the five of them. "Sir Integra will arrange to collect the bodies of those that commit suicide in the area. Food will be brought to you". The skin walker nodded and returned to his seat next to his female companion. The seatbelt light above my seat came on as we began to descend. We landed in the open fields of the estate, the sun already beginning to set.
I lead the team to the mansion, hoping that they would behave until the meeting with Integra is over. Many eyes turned from the mercenaries as we walked up to her office. I knocked before entering to give her at least some warning "Sir Integra, this is the team we discussed. As you can see half are human. The others however are not. They're from my division of special forces, very much like you have Alucard and now Seras, we have various monsters that serve against rogue cryptids". She nodded and called Bernadotte up to the office. As we waited for him, Alucard popped in, seemingly testing the new arrivals. When he faded through the walls, not one of my team, humans included reacted. Integra raised an eyebrow "Interesting. When Alucard barged in when I debriefed the Wild Geese, they all screamed like children". I scoffed, "Our humans are trained to deal with all things supernatural. It's no surprise that your mercenaries didn't know anything about the secondary world around them. Our humans also don't work with our special division very often". I turned to the five humans in my team "Go wait outside the door for Bernadotte, he'll bring you to where you'll be staying until this is done". They nodded and left the room. "You likely haven't dealt with any creature that are here" I stated once they were gone. Integra looked to the team of five behind me and shook her head. "No, can't say that I have" she responded, lighting a cigar. "I don't bother with names when I lead teams. They can always be learned later. First, we have two skin walkers, they're the ones with gold eyes. In short, they're shape shifters. They can change into any basic animal. The small one is Teihiihan. Overall, very vicious warriors that are faster than any man. The older woman is a loogaroo, a powerful witch. Lastly, we have the wendigo, very tall, very hungry, very strong. All of them feed from humans. Which you will need to arrange to collect some suicide victims to accommodate them. Unless of course you wish me to unleash them into the city. Very bad idea by the way". Integra nodded, "If possible, I would like a demonstration of their skills". Alucard grinned, easily eager to see how these creatures fought. "Best to do thing outside, and privately as to not scare the mercenaries" I suggested. She made a sound of agreement and sent us to a courtyard out back. Alucard was quick to follow "Don't even think about it" I growled. "Don't think about what" he asked with his signature grin. "You want to fight the wendigo. You're not going to. If you can't leave this alone, maybe Integra will let the us Americans borrow you for a week and I'll take you wendigo hunting". If it was even possible, his grin widened further.
At Integra's word, I let the team take their true forms if they had them. The skin walkers shifted into a pair of wolves and began sparring with each other. The Teihiihan began to fight with the loogaroo, his speed outmatching hers, but her spells kept her safe for the most part. Lastly the wendigo shed the bandana that covered his mouth as he grew significantly taller. I myself began sparring with him. I was sure to avoid his teeth as well as his arms as he could easily crush me in his grip. I had just leapt onto his back when I heard a very familiar scream. Seras had found her way out here for only the great creator knows why. The wendigo began to shrink back down to his more human looking form, picking up his bandana to place over his mouth before he spoke "I don't look that scary do I". I shook my head at the nonsense and went back to the safety of the ground "Yes you do, you look like a victim of the holocaust with sharp pointy teeth" I responded and turned to Seras, who had stop screaming at the scolding of Alucard. The wendigo stuck his hand out for her to shake, "I'm Gabriel. Nice to meet you". His eyes reflected a smile beneath the bandana, which without it would no doubt look horrifying. She nervously shook his hand "Seras, what are you if you don't mind me asking". The newly named Gabriel laughed at her forwardness "I'm a wendigo, turned sometime twenty years ago". Seras only gave him a confused look. I rolled my eyes and shoved the beast away from the baby vampire. "In short, he's a cannibal. Feeds from the flesh of humans and he's never satisfied, hence his physical state" I explained. Integra gave the group one last glance over before speaking "They'll do, Walter should have the rooms prepared for them by now". I nodded before motioning the group to head back to the mansion.
Once the more interesting half of the team was settled, I returned to my own rooms for a much needed nap. Just as I had gotten comfortable, Alucard faded into the room. "I noticed the true intent to kill you had for the wendigo" he stated bluntly. I rolled over and curled up in a ball, unwilling to speak with how tired I was. "Go away, M'tired" I mumbled. He chuckled, clearly amused "Don't you want to know what happened at the meeting with the Queen". I growled "No, I did my job, and now I'm going to take a nap". With that I crawled under the pile of furs, nestling myself into the makeshift cave. What happened next only served to make me angrier. I was yanked from the comfort of my furs by my leg and dangled a few inches off the floor. "You were right about Millennium having a freak for infiltration. There was this cat thing that said it could go anywhere and nowhere. He was called Schrödinger. What I want to know is how you knew they would have a spy" he growled. I thought hard about this. No doubt he could be used for more, perhaps a secret weapon against Alucard. "I didn't know per say, I just had a hunch. Considering how they created the majority of their members with special abilities, it's not unthinkable to say that they had one for infiltration. Besides, I just wanted to get out of going to that meeting. I would have said many unsavory things to the queen and whoever else you Englishman associate with." With my final words, I kicked myself free of his grip and landed softly on my feet. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed" I grumbled, curling back into my furs. Alucard said nothing and faded away.
My sleep was interrupted by the distinct feeling of being in danger. Carefully, I feigned sleep as I expanded my senses. The scent nearly sent me into a rage. The wendigo was in my room. A mantra began to form in my head 'Don't kill him yet, don't kill him yet. Fuck it I'm killing him.' He didn't even have time to block me as I dragged him into a tight hold. I was careful to bring him out to the courtyard silently. He struggled, of that there was no doubt, but pain was a wonderful motivator for moving. Once outside I shoved him loose. "You've just made my day I hope you know that" I growled. He shifted to his true form and in a very raspy voice he responded, "I only wished to know why you hated us so much". I snarled "If by us you mean wendigoag (1) then its rather simple. Your kind have killed me once before. You're all the same". His muscles shifted with movement, "You wish to fight me then?" I gave no response and bared my teeth at him. "So be it" he said in a voice almost like a whisper. He lunged at me and the fight to the death had begun. With each attack dodged and returned, my skin melted further away. jumped onto his back and locked my arms around its neck. With a snarl, I drove my teeth into his neck. He screeched in pain and yanked me off, only to throw me away. I panted, his blood dripping from my mouth as I tried not to swallow it. This method would not kill him, the only way to destroy a wendigo was to destroy their heart, where the human they once were dwells. I had no weapons, I would have to drive my arm through his chest. With one arm in his chest, I would have to block his arms and teeth with my remaining hand. With a plan formed I leapt back toward the beast. I held back his jaw as I drove my hand through his heart. That's when the worst possible thing happened, the hand holding his jaw slipped. In his last moments, the wendigo drove his teeth into my arm. His last breath, a deep chuckle at his small victory. I roared in rage as my vision began to blur with the hunt. I devoured my kill till nothing but bones remained. My skin reformed, though the bite from the wendigo did not heal. The flesh around it blackened with infection. The only thought I had was to get my medicines from my room and leave. That is exactly what I did.
After swimming from England to the mainland I was exhausted, but I had to keep moving. An hour or so later I was deep in the forests of France. To my luck, I found what appeared to be an abandoned wolf den. I crawled in on my belly, so I wouldn't make the opening any bigger than it was. After I was in the deepest part of the den, I began to tend to my wound. I put the dried tobacco into the wound in hopes of bringing down the swelling. Getting the herb into the wound was a pain, but soon the wound went numb. Sleep came all too quickly, almost against my will.
(1)- plural form of wendigo