Chapter Five
Pack Hunt

How long had it been? Logan looked up at the wall of the tower room. He had been keeping track by etching the days into the wall with his sword. Eighteen days had past, eighteen cursed days and still he was no closer to figuring out what had happened.

The only thing he was able to figure out was that he shifted into a wolf. Ever since that first day it had been the same every day for the past eighteen days. When the sun broke through the horizon line he would find himself standing on all fours. But once the last sliver of that same sun set he returned to the form of a man.

The odd thing, besides the obvious, was that when he was a wolf he thought like a man. Still there were no hints of his once feral side. As the white wolf, though, he did have his keen senses back, but that was it. It was something at least. However, that didn't help in puzzling out what the hell was happening to him and why, let alone how to stop it.

He had searched day after day for civilization, but he could never stray too far from the castle. Once in human form again he was libel to freeze in the winter's cold. No matter where he went or how hard he sniffed at the air nothing was familiar. God, what he wouldn't give to see even the Cajun, walk through the room's door right about then.

The constant unwilling shifting each day was getting very irritating. More because he would rather not shift back to a man if he had to shift at all. The wolf was comforting far more familiar than his body had become through all of this. At least then he was one with nature like he enjoyed being.

As the wolf he was able to hunt and therefore eat. With every kill he made there was no rush of bloodlust, no sense of lost control. Plus the fur, or feathers, from the kills had provided a nice bed for him.

He was also able to gather wood now. Even after eighteen days he was still learning the terrain, as a human. As wolf he knew it well. But he had food, the warmth of a fire, and even water collected from melted snow. It wasn't so bad actually if he was suppose to be here to begin with.

He had searched the castle thoroughly and gathered small dishes or old weapons that had been left behind. There were even some old tattered fabrics that he collected.

The solitude of the place didn't bother him either. Although, he would have liked to meet somebody who could at least shed some light on where he was and when.

The sword that he had begun to call his own was held in his right hand. Its tip resting against the stone floor. Logan turned his head to the narrow window as the first glimpses of daylight began to creep their orange fingers through the indigo night sky.

"Day nineteen," he said raising the sword up to the wall to etch another mark. "An' counting."

He replaced the sword to its sheath and stripped of his clothes to stand naked waiting for the inevitable. Sure enough just as with the past eighteen mornings the changed acquired. Within a few minutes Logan was peering through the colorblind eyes of a white wolf.

The wolf, admittedly, matched Logan's bodily form. Strong with muscles outlined defiantly along its body. Even the fur was a little wayward compared to the other wolves Wolvie had spotted in the woods outside. Those wolves that he had met as a wolf seemed to sense that he wasn't normal and kept their distance.

Shaking vigorously Wolvie trotted out of he castle on four paws. The sunlight glinted along the snow through gray heavy clouds.

"Snow clouds," he thought. "A storm's on its way."

Wolvie tilted his nose to the wind almost instantly he caught a scent. His lips seemed to spread into a smile over his slender muzzle baring the white fangs beneath.

In a flash of white fur that was almost invisible against the woods snow covered back drop, Wolvie was off. Jumping over fallen trees and scurrying through brush he raced along at top speed. Then suddenly he stopped.

Ahead was the slightest movement and to any human a movement that was impossible to see, but to Wolvie it was blatantly obvious. It was a white hare that was digging at the ground for buried grass. Wolvie edged silently forward positioning himself about ten feet away from the rabbit. Then like lightning he bolted forward and gave chase.

The hunt lasted for about an hour Wolvie though, but it had yielded nothing. The rabbit had evaded him long enough to reach the safety of its burrow again.

"That's all right," Wolvie thought, panting hard as he sat back on his haunches. "I can wait for a meal."

Meals around here weren't easy to come by and even if he did find something it wasn't always a sure thing that he would catch it. More often than not Wolvie would spend most of the day catching enough meat to eat.

This day was going to prove no different, as the sun crept slowly through the sky. By the time Wolvie caught a rabbit the sun was well on its way to delving back into the depths of the earth's western horizon. The storm that he had seen that morning was starting to show up as large flakes fell, but were still thin.

The limp furry rabbit hung in Wolvie's jaws as he started back towards the ruined castle. He was tired, hungry, and sore. The thought of going back to the warm room with his kill was a pleasant one. He could already taste the sweet flavor of the meat.

As Wolvie hopped over a large fallen tree limb something made him pause and perk his ears. Suddenly his entire body stiffened as he stood perfectly still. He didn't even breathe.

The sound came again confirming what Wolvie had thought it was to begin with. Other wolves. They were howling to one another giving their position, but the pitch of their calls was what Wolvie was listening too. In this form he had the instincts of the animal and knew what that pitch meant. They were on a hunt.

Wolvie raised his head, the rabbit still in his mouth; to look at the red burned sky. The sun would be setting soon in little less than an hour. The wolf pack was out a little early. They usually didn't hunt until after dark. Why were they out now?

Then another sound bounded through the forest to Wolvie's ears. This sound was unmistakably the sound of hooves, heavy and fast through the snow. It was a horse, no wait, two horses. By the sound of their run they both carried something. With a sinking feeling Wolvie realized the wolf pack was hunting humans.

The castle was plain in the distance but he didn't even pause to think of what to do. Dropping the hare to the ground Wolvie turned around and headed for the sound of the horses. With all the noise the beasts were making it wasn't hard to find them and catch up to them.

Running several lengths away in the woods beside the horses Wolvie could plainly see a rider braised low against the steed's neck. The second horse had no rider and Wolvie could see it was merely being used as a packhorse.

The rider was a woman her dark chestnut hair whipped about her shoulders as she rode hard. A black cape with dark blue trim flapped out behind her. Underneath he could see she wore a cobalt blue dress but she was straddling the horse.

The pack was closer than Wolvie was and were nipping at the packhorses' heels. There were four of them and Wolvie knew there weren't any more because he only picked up on four scents.

Carefully Wolvie edged closer to the path the woman was leading her horses. Once able to get a closer look he saw she held tightly to the reins with one hand while in her other a rather long dagger red with blood was braised so hard that her knuckles were white. The look on her face was not one of fear but of determination but it was obvious that she was incredibly tired.

The stallion she rode had a large gash on its rear flank and Wolvie realized that one of the wolves must have jumped up on the hindquarters. The blood on the dagger could have only been that of one of the wolves but the four there weren't bleeding. So a fifth wolf must have fallen to badly wounded by the woman to continue with the pack.

Wolvie picked up his pace as they all raced for the frozen lake just past this patch of forest. Letting out a haunting howl the other wolves looked his way barking and growling fiercely giving him warning to stay back. But Wolvie paid them no mind as he drew closer still to the woman and horses.

He noticed out of the corner of his eye that the woman was staring at him. She must not have realized he was there and had thought there were only the four wolves at her heels.

"The packhorse is slowing her down," Wolvie thought, and the woman seemed to echo his unspoken words as she reached back and sliced the rope tying the two horses together.

He watched as tears started to collect in the woman's eyes as she briefly watched the packhorse being separated from her by two of the wolves. Free of the second horse however, her steed was able to fully run unhindered. It took full advantage of the chance and bolted with a new speed and pushed Wolvie to keep up.

The other two wolves were having trouble too but were also keeping up. They would make the horse run until it literally fell from sheer exhaustion. Wolvie however, wasn't going to let them have the woman. He was going to stay with her just like the other wolves.

When the clearing to the lake came into view the woman called out kicking the horse in the flanks. The steed bolted with its last reserves out into the clearing and straight onto the ice. Almost instantly the horse began to loose its footing. It stumbled helplessly before finally starting to fall. Wolvie was on the ice so fast he found he had trouble stopping before colliding with the horse himself.

Wolvie's concern for the woman was instant as he watched the horse, but to his surprise the woman didn't stay on like most would. Instead she leapt as best she could off the horse before it landed on its side. The woman landed on her back sliding on the ice away from the fallen steed.

The two wolves were on top of the horse within seconds but the woman didn't bother to stick around. Not that Wolvie could blame her. Getting to her feet she began to run, sort of, along the ice. Then she froze. So did he. They both heard the dull creaking of the ice beneath them.

"Oh god." Wolvie heard the woman whisper.

By now the other wolves were struggling with the large horse. The weight of the beast was the source of the cracking. Soon there was a loud sudden ear scraping sound as the ice split. The woman peered over her shoulder to watch with Wolvie as the horse, along with the wolves, fell through the ice.

Even before Wolvie looked back to the woman she had fallen to her stomach distributing her weight to try and prevent herself from falling through too.

There were yips and barks from the pack as they fought to get back on top of the ice. It took them a few minutes but finally they had regained their footing and were glaring towards the woman.

Wolvie had already put himself between the pack and the woman. In a growl that sounded so familiar now he gave them his warning. But with two against one the odds were in their favor. He lowered his head bearing his teeth as the white fur along his back bristled.

The first to advance from the pack was the largest. Probably the leader and the best at what he did. Wolvie lunged forward toward the leader even as the other dug its fangs into his flesh. If he took out the leader the other would fall back. He knew that, it was instinct.

Wolvie couldn't prevent the yelps of pain from his throat with each bite he received. But for each lick they got in, he got in two still concentrating on the leader. Finally after what seemed like an endless minute there was an opening. Wolvie lunged and sank his teeth into the leader's neck clapping down hard.

The wolf fought hard and the other member was relentless in its efforts to free the leader but Wolvie had the determination of an animal and the will of a man. With every blow and bite he held tight to that neck. Then the leader stopped struggling and fell still against the ice. As if on cue the second wolf pulled back to look at the now dead wolf.

Wolvie stood up bleeding in a couple of places and in pain but he stood and managed to snarl out another warning. The other wolf backed off and scurried towards the woods again.

He hated doing that to them. They were just trying to survive but if it was a choice between them and the woman Wolvie would fight to the death for her life. Once he knew the other wolf had really left he turned around to find that the woman had crawled away.

She hadn't gotten far. Even in the cool of the nearly gone sun it was apparent that she wasn't moving anymore.