A half hour later, barely upright, despite a large dose of Pepper-up Potion, I lead four Aurors, Dumbledore, and McGonagall to the spot. As they approached, a light breeze shifted the hair, and made me freeze, holding my hand up in the Auror sign for 'halt'. Blood was on the breeze, and the fading scent of another werewolf. I pulled out her wand, and instantly, the others followed suit. Aurors Alastor Moody, and Edgar Bones had no prejudice against werewolves, and were willing to trust my superior senses, something their trainees Kingsley Shacklebolt and Hestia Jones copied.
The breeze came again, to me, my energy restored by Gealach's eagerness for the hunt, and we knew who the werewolf that had left the smell was. Growls ripping from my throat, we suddenly sped off, knowing my eyes were glowing as rage roared its flames in our heart. Entering the clearing, all six adults hot on my heels, I found what I'd been expecting from the moment I'd scented the blood.
Sprawled limply on the ground was a bloody lump, one that had once been notorious werewolf Daveth Wells. Now it was so much dismembered meat, head sitting on top of gutted torso and removed limbs. There was a pause, and then the two Auror Trainees and McGonagall hurried to the bushes to lose their dinners. Dumbledore and the senior Aurors looked pale. I felt annoyed, slightly sickened, but that was warring with the bloodlust and hunger of the wolf.
"Girl, was this how you left him?" Moody demanded, already knowing the answer.
"Hardly. I might be a werewolf but I'm no butcher. It'd take me at least forty minutes to do this, despite my strength. Werewolf physiology is much tougher, and harder to damage, than human. Besides, Auror, you know as well as I do how Greyback treats his followers whom he deems no longer useful." I said coolly, before my human side lost the battle with nausea. Retching helplessly into the bushes, I felt someone- McGonagall by the scent- hold me up, and pull my hair back out of my face. I'd just straightened, when my ears heard the cracking of sticks, and I flung myself back, taking Shacklebolt and McGonagall to the ground, as she rolled back to her feet.
"Down!" I called even as we fell back, Gealach rising in response to danger, at the same instant Moody did so as well. In front of us was the most wanted werewolf in Europe, Fenrir Greyback. Must've stayed downwind… I noted absently, as I put myself between him and the more fragile humans. A rumbling growl tore its way from our chest and up our throat. I fought down the red haze as we laid eyes on the man who'd cursed me, and so many others to live as outcasts, pariahs in their own worlds.
"Girl, get down!" Moody barked, reacting instinctively to the tone of authority, we ducked under the spell, which only bounced off the werewolf. The delay let Greyback leap onto us, carrying me to the ground, where he pinned us, then held me in front of him, as combined hostage and shield, before human reflexes could respond. The adults froze, not wanting to hurt me. I rolled my eyes; if the magic bounced off him, it would bounce off me as well; magic resistance was inherent in werewolves.
"Let her go." Moody growled, trying to glare down Greyback, a foe he was far too familiar with, although this was one of the few times there were no innocent corpses on the ground, because the Aurors had come too late, as always.
"I've been looking for a mate. I Changed her, by Pack Law she is mine, and by the Treaty."
"One, the treaty only applies to urk-" I choked as he tightened the arm around my neck, bruisingly tight. Growling, I reacted with my sister-in-skin, twisting, and bit down on his radial nerve, the adrenaline of battle sharpening our teeth. Swearing, his arm going numb, he was forced to switch which limb he used to hold us, wrapping his left arm tightly to pin our own clawed digits.
"As I was saying the Treaty only applies to the wolves Packs that honor it. One of the largest provisions is a ban on Turning the unwilling." Greyback tried to pick me up, and drag us off, his arm tightening. Snarling, I tangled my leg behind his knee, making him stumble.
"I'm no helpless human like you normally use, Dog." A stomp and the cracking of the small bones in his foot were heard.
"Too bad for you, I like fighters."To our disgust, we felt evidence of that pressing against our back. I squirmed, and worked an elbow free, which we drove back and into his side, forcing out a grunt.
"Two," I added in a conversational tone, as we wrestled, the humans too scared to take a effective shot, lest they hit the wrong writhing werewolf, "By Pack Law, to claim me as one of your own Pups, you had three full moons to find me, after the one you bit me under, and induct me. This is after the fourth." He had dragged both of us back to our feet, and had both our arms under control again. I showed no sign that I had noticed the tabby cat slinking around to their back, on the downwind side. Cats, or cat Animagi, were good at ambush, and McGonagall was smarter that the four Aurors, to use Dumbledore's barrage of distraction charms to work her way to a better position. Namely, behind the evil wolf. It was good Pack tactics; she was used to working, even fighting alongside the old man, while it was obvious the Aurors were only used to fighting in pairs, with their trainees. Still, more aggravation and distraction never hurt…
"Three, you'd have to mate me, which you haven't, to have any claim on me. Outcaste Dog." With that, I'd worked one hand behind me, and grabbed Greyback where no adult male should be grabbed, and twisted, as I pulled. With a roar, he let us go, clutching his abused parts, and staggering back into the cover of some bushes.
Gealach whirled us gracefully, on one heel, and I flicked our left hand back, out, then forward. A silver dagger thunked into his chest, just to one side of a heart-shot. With a howl, the Alpha tore it out, throwing it to the ground, as his hands blistered, and charged off at a speed no human could hope to match. McGonagall caught the exhausted me as I collapsed, Gealach subsiding in exhaustion at the battle in addition to her normal monthly romp.
"How come she's collapsed, and he can run off like a scalded kneazle?" Auror Shacklebolt asked conversationally, as he sat, shaking. Moody and Bone shook their heads, clearly wanting to know as well. I let out a weary chuckle, which drew sympathetic looks, even from the hardened second in command of Britain's Auror corps.
"He has no balance to maintain with the wolf side, which uses up energy, and endurance at a furious rate. His wolf is in control, in both forms, and has been for more than two decades. I had to keep my wolf from taking full control and using the fight to Change us back to our fur-form. His wolf recognized that the human form had advantages in this fight and kept it. Gealach* would have gotten distracted by the tempting two-legs reeking of fear all around, and lost concentration, even if I could keep her from attacking if she took over. Also, each wolf's reaction to the Change is different." I was giving a familiar lecture to the six adults, from between my supporting teacher-crutches. The only difference to this one, from ones I'd given so many times over the years, was the personal experience behind it.
"The more harmonious a were's co-existence with the wolf within, is, the less pain, and energy the Change takes out of them. That partially depends on the respective willpower, and intelligence of the two entities that share the mind and body. Also, some of us are invigorated by the approaching moon, while others are wearied. Some are tired and sore for several days, others are completely wiped out, but only for twelve or so hours. I happen to fall in the latter category, and only first a dose of Pepper-Up Potion, twice the normal size, then Gealach, my wolf waking up in response to danger kept me up this long. Danger gone, she's taking a nap. And…" I felt my yawn stretch my jaws as my eye fell shut of their own accord, "I'm about to join her…"
* Gealach means 'Moon' in Celtic according to the online translator I used. If I'm wrong please let me know.
A/N: The confused pronouns in the fight are on purpose, please don't message me about it. I was trying to convey that Anni and her wolf mingle more when in high-stress situations.