Chapter 13. Breathe Again

"Rescue me, show me who I am. 'Cause I can't believe, this is how the story ends. Fight for me! If it's not too late, help me breathe again. No this can't be how the story ends".
-Kerrie Roberts, "Rescue me"

The pain seared on through the day. The wolf was stirring, and Canis felt her power growing over her will. Bane did what he could to keep her calm, but it was proving difficult. The wolf would randomly take over, snarling and snapping at him in small fits of anger. He knew it wasn't her fault and so he didn't blame her, even though Canis continually blamed herself. So she did him a favor, staying as far away from her beloved as possible.

Bane watched her painful transformation. Often times she'd fidget uncomfortably, gripping the collar around her neck tightly, even making her hands bleed. She didn't seem to care though as she paced, turning more and more animalistic. Her transformation was a slow and painful process, taking as long as twelve hours to fully complete. In the end, she was a giant wolf, about the size of a large horse. Bane stood back, giving the large lycanthrope room. This was to be his opponent.

Her fur was midnight black, making her almost like a shadow. Her claws were especially long, and gunmetal like the color of her nails as a human. Her teeth were pearly white against the black of her lips, foaming with venomous saliva. Her eyes were a deep scarlet color; her pupils were slits, reminding him somewhat of a reptile. When those red eyes gazed over at him, there was no trace of the one he loved, just a creature he didn't know and, dare he admit it, even feared.

The wolf snarled at him, speaking to him with her mind. It was a voice he didn't know, something dark, demonic.

You wished to challenge me, mortal?
"I won't fight you unless you attack me first".
The wolf let out a bark of laughter. You've gone soft, human. You can't possibly stop me now…
"Where's Sarantha?"
In here…with me!
"Let her go".
I can't now, mortal. She and I are one, just as you said. And you told us you wouldn't take one over the other…
"And I didn't lie. I know she's with you".
The wolf grinned maliciously. I'm going for a run, try to keep up, human!

The wolf was gone before he could say anything else. Cursing, Bane followed after her as she literally broke her way out of the sewers and on to the crowded street, attacking anyone in sight. She bit not to mark, but to kill. People screaming everywhere, Bane was a little surprised he wasn't noticed. Then again, it's not every day the people of Gotham came in contact with a fully grown, fully fledged and shifted werewolf on the night of the most catastrophic moon. It made sense. Bane lost sight of her amongst the crowd, and was hell-bent on finding her again…

Following the screams of the people, Conn and David were hot on the trail of the demon. He'd shot a few times, but never did he hit. The wolf was evasive, but Conn had at least one advantage: Her demon partner was nowhere to be seen. But he knew she was nowhere near defenseless.

But he wasn't the only one hunting her. Batman himself was hot on her trail as well. Gordon had given him a heads up and he was determine to find her before Conn or Bane did. She needed to be confined until the moon waned. But he knew wherever she was, Bane would be close behind.

Speaking of which, Bane was frantic. He'd lost track of the wolf and now she could've been anywhere. If Conn found her before he did, Bane knew he'd lose Canis for sure. He couldn't afford to lose her, not after he'd already lost, or hell never even had, much. More dead and half eaten bodies indicated her survival, but how long was in question.

"Canis…" he looked around, worried, "Please, please be alright for what's left of me…"

Conn found her in the middle of a bloodied, car wrecked street, feeding on the humans she'd hunted. He aimed the shotgun at her and the wolf turned to face him. She snarled as David barked and rushed after her.

Oh please…The wolf jumped up and dragged the dog down mid air and pinned him to the ground.

Conn shot then, nicking her shoulder, but hardly doing anything. Still, it was enough to piss her off. Snarling savagely, the wolf got off of David and ran after Conn. He fired at her again, this time hitting her in one of her legs. She yelped in pain as the silver bullet surged through her leg. She was stopped right in her tracks.

"You end tonight, demon!"
If I go to hell, I'm dragging you in with me! The wolf snarled, managing to stand, but was weakened.

Conn shot again, this time hitting another leg. She yelped again, but the hunter stayed emotionless. The wolf could do nothing if she couldn't move and that's what he was aiming for. But she was a strong one, still managing to pull through the pain enough to rush at him, snapping her jaws. He shielded himself with the shot gun and she had a good hold on it, nearly snapping it in half. So distracted she was by the gun, she did see Conn pull out the dagger, but only felt its sharp sting. The wolf let out a painful howl and struggled to get the blade out of her thick shoulder. David took advantage of the wolf's plight and bit deep into her thick neck. The wolf tried shaking him off, but with her shoulder bleeding profusely, it was difficult and her energy was draining fast. She couldn't face this enemy alone. She needed help. As a last resort, the wolf howled to the only one she knew would come to her aid.

BANE! She howled his name, not knowing nor caring if he understood or not.

They both heard and followed the sound, both having nearly the same intention. Bane could feel she was in trouble. Just something in him knew that if he didn't find her quickly, he was going to lose her. He didn't care if he was being followed by his enemy, he just needed to find Canis. He needed to save her.

"Hold on, amada, I'm coming!"

The wolf could feel the energy draining out of her. She couldn't get the knife out, and the damn dog only seemed to feel heavier and he was digging in deeper with his fangs. If it weren't for the thick skin around her neck, she'd already be dead. One last time she tried to shake the dog off, and again she failed. Not knowing what else to do, all she could do was lay down and wait for death…or for her rescue. Her vision blurred and senses dulled.

She felt them come before anything else. She heard the dog's sudden yelp as he was beaten off of her neck and heard Conn's cry of surprise. He hadn't been expecting two more allies to come to her aid and neither did she. Still, relief poured over the wolf as her wounds began to heal. She felt Bane's large hand on her muzzle and cheek.

"Forgive me, Lupinotuum" he pulled the dagger out of her and she let out a cry of shock and pain and she bolted upward and away from him, growling.

He gave her a soft look before reaching out his hand to touch her. The wolf didn't budge.

I only needed your assistance, human, nothing else.
"You turned to me for help, Lupinotuum. I won't leave you now".
Like I said, I only needed your assistance, don't stand in my way!
"No! If you keep going he won't hesitate to kill you!"
The wolf snarled. You won't stop me!
"I won't let you get killed".
What do you care, human? Huh? You're no different than anyone else! You don't understand us, you never have.
"Then make me understand!" Bane removed his coat partially, revealing his left shoulder, "Bite me! I know you want to!"
She growled. No…
"So you do follow her ways, even though you're two separate entities".
I don't have time for this. I'm not marking you. I don't need another Alpha wolf in my way…The wolf jumped over Bane and snarled past Batman to get to Conn.

Bane would have none of it. He wanted to do whatever it took to be with her. He wanted to understand her, to understand the wolf, and the only way to do so was to become one. And if he couldn't convince her to do so, if he couldn't fight her to do so, then he'd make her do so. He watched Conn aim again for her, but she showed no sign of stopping and he knew what had to be done…even if it killed him.

He beat down the dog again and heard the shot, followed by a loud sound of metal breaking. The bullet had missed its target. Bane crashed down from the pain, hearing someone scream his name as if concerned. Not Canis, but, to his surprise, Batman. He only heard the wolf's snarls over his own cries of pain…

Within the wolf, Canis knew what had happened. The scene had played out like a nightmare. Conn had shot Bane's mask, breaking several of the valves that carried the anesthetic to his system. She heard his screams of pain and she and the wolf fought for control. An intense fight it was, and hard to win, as the wolf had a mind and agenda of her own, but they agreed on one thing: both loved Bane. Because of that intense love, they were now truly one mind. Canis looked over to find that the Batman was still fighting off Conn. He looked over at her for a brief moment.

"Save him! Without the anesthetic he could die! Save him! I know you can!"

But she hardly heard him, so wrapped up was she in her beloved's terrible pained cries. He sounded like a wounded animal. She could save him, Batman was right, but at what cost? What would she win? What would he lose? What all was really at stake, and what all would they gain? Was saving him worth forcing him into a harsh, violent life of living for two as she had all these years? She closed her eyes intensely, knowing the choice had to be made and made quickly. She could either put him out of his misery, or give him a new life. As hard as it was, Canis knew she couldn't live in a world without him. He couldn't die, he just couldn't. Not until she did. And even then…

She stood above her writhing love, knowing the decision before she really even thought. Claws out, Canis put a single large paw on his neck and closed her eyes.

Forgive me!

And the pain stopped. It was like the whole world stopped for him. For that one, painless moment, everything was still. His breathing was somewhat labored and there was a burning sensation in his shoulder. Also something deep, deep seated in his mind was stirring, as if waking up after a long, unwanted sleep. He felt it move, get up, stand and try to walk. It paced, growling and struggling as if chained. Bane felt another burning sensation in his left side, like fire enveloping his heart and all surrounding it. The thing in his mind got up and started pacing, caged. Pain filled him again, and it felt like just a moment his heart stopped and from then on out he knew nothing else…

Oh god…what have I done?

A/N: This isn't the ending per se, there's gonna be an epilogue guys. So I have to say this chapter was one of my favorites to make personally and it's actually the longest. Well the epilogue's the ending and I'm not sure if you guys will like how I end it. Some of you may be a little mad at me, but if you've looked on my profile, I'm sure you already forgive me. Anyway, review, comment, whatever. I hope you guys liked it. I'll see you next chapter