Wolves of the Death

by Dantegrey

[AU] Since a childhood incident, Takashi Komuro has been dealing with a maddenning extra baggage. The average teenager is not capable of punching trought concrete, recognize a person by the smell at a mille away or overun a motorbike. With a recently broken heart, Takashi is trying to make the best of it, and then Them make their appearance...and the shit just got real.

6. Baring souls

Saya was a genius.

That was the understatement of the century, no doubt she had her mother brains; brains that made Wall Street fear her like a bloody plague, each time she started a move on the business or in the Value market, from overnight, she turned her modest business into one of the most prosperous business ever. And she did it with nothing but her brains and a lot of carefully invested money in things that no one noticed until it was too late to do nothing about it.

Saya had inherited such mind, unfortunately, she had inherited a bloody temper that made her quite bitchy when she was distressed or worried and right now, looking at the window of Takagi manor, everybody with two brain cells was running the hell out of her surroundings, just in case she bites your head off; perhaps literally. The very few that knew the girl from even her childhood, knew better and just left her to her own devices, hoping that some point her temper will go down and be back to her usual proud but manageable personality.

She may not appear like it, but Saya hated deeply all this situation, usually, she was driven by logic and the knowledge that she knows best, that she had the knowledge and the brains to make a way into the life, even if she had to drag the blasted Takagi surname with her, don't misunderstood her, she did love the financial commodities that came with the surname, but she hated how she was automatically labeled as someone who shared her father views. And she hated all that crap with a passion, her father was stuck in the samurai era, and she was a modern girl thank you very much, all her right-wing ideology was almost like a Yakuza group, in fact, all her wealth possible came from her mothers business sense and acute instincts on where to invest and when took your profits and leave before the ship sinks.

When all this zombie apocalypse shit hit her like a truck, she almost lost it, only her friends; even if she had a lot of problems calling them that, mostly because her own dammed pride; keep her safe and relatively sane, what was worst that was he almost lost Takashi twice; much to her own torture, she still had nightmares about the warehouse incident, she saw how Takashi kill several men and that female monster that almost cut Sayas breasts just for the heck of it and then sent them to her mother as a Birthday present. But what terrifies her the most of that night was Takashi; the one that appeared that night in the warehouse was not a human being, but a beast in human skin that killed anything in his path to get his belongings back.

It may not have been clear at the beginning, after all, it was bloody impossible, but when Takashi killed all those mercenaries and survived enough wounds and bullet shots to kill a dozen of persons, Saya knew that her brother in all but blood was not a human being, that he was something else, something dangerous and predatory that had taken the city as his turf and was lazing around, trapped in the teenager body of Takashi. Saya loved Takashi, not as a man would love a woman, although she had to admit that when puberty hit her and started to take an interest in the male gender, her first wet dreams were of the only male apart from his father; that would have been fucking gross; that she knew beyond his name, Takashi starred some very naughty dreams, Saya couldn't look at him in the eye the next morning and lashed at him even if the boy had done nothing wrong. It was a female privilege, so he had to deal with it.

Anyhow, Saya loved Takashi, he was one of the few that can keep up with her mercurial temper and listened to her, instead of just seeing the Takagi heiress or a sex trophy of giant knockers; like practically all the rest of the male population of Fujimi Academy saw her,

Well, she was proud of her figure, she always considered herself quite the beauty, although when she learned about the Five hottest girls in Fujimi, she somehow feel disappointed about her position on the list, she ranked only forth on that list, of course, she could admit that Busujima-Senpai could be number one, she couldn't be coolest even if she tried, and that Miku girl, that exudes eroticism as she struts around the manor; all the men of the manor look at her almost drooling; and it was unfair to her that she had to compete with the fake twins, although those were already death if she was not mistaken.

Such thoughts, derailed her for her grumpy mood, Saya was suspecting that even if Takashi didn't act like it, the boy was building himself a harem, unconsciously perhaps, but he was doing it, by simply being him. Saya knew how educated and kind, Takashi could be, always controlling his instincts, fearing that he would hurt anyone close to him if he was not careful enough.

Speaking of control, even if Takashi was doing a remarkable job on the matter, never hurt any of them but any of Them that got in the way of the pack, with the pair of controlling freaks that were Sayas parents, the girl was pretty much sure that Takashi and her dad were going to butt heads; most probably literally; as soon as Takashi and Saeko get back into the manor. And speaking of that, Saya was starting to get worried, they should have got into the manor quite faster than this, it was nightfall and none of them has been seen by the watchers at the barricades, one or two blocks off the manor. Even if Saeko was dragging Takashi down, forcing the boy to go at a human pace, together they were unstoppable and unless something drastic has happened when the rest of the pack was not there, reaching the manor should have nothing but a quick strode for them.

The uncertainty of the situation made Saya uncomfortable and annoyed, and that results in her humor being bitchy as hell, trying to vent some of her frustration with anything she could find in her surroundings. Frankly, the personnel of the manor was already more than accustom to the mood swings of Saya, each time there was something that bothered the young lady, in that sense, it was not far from her mother, whose wrath was a lot colder and subdued but far more dangerous. The cold silence and a scowl of a woman with the mind and the power of Yuriko Takagi was something you don't want to be in front of, it was colder than hell and twice as dangerous, especially if her husband was in the room and had his bloody, and very sharp, Katana on his waist; something that happens 24/7 by the way.

Anyhow, Saya was worried, this was not how thing should have happened; not to mention the appearance of Them and how practically all the city was a bloody nightmare of epic proportions by now, but Saya preferred to deal with the present, not with the future, uncertain and full of it as it was, or the past, that was probably stumbling around out there, moaning and looking for some more flesh to bite and infect. This plague was beyond belief, it had not any bloody sense, it was impossible, still, Saya had to admit that her definition of impossible has been broadened a lot in the last day, especially after seeing the real strength that Takashi possessed and how he was partially immune to whatever the fuck Them were. Even with the explanation of Marikawa-sensei, an explanation that had a lot of sense but it was comprehensible how full of holes it was, Saya still couldn't believe half of the things that she saw, both in the travel between the school and in the past, where she remembered how Takashi butchered a group of mercenaries just to save her for a destiny worse than death.

Saya would never admit it in loud voice, but she still had nightmares and night terrors from her memories of that bitch of Mikoto and that bloody knife of her that almost cut her breasts like they were steaks and send them to her parents with a Christmas card. That has been the straw that broke the camels back, until then she was more or less annoyed with her fathers rumblings in politics; Saya was pretty much sure that if it wasn't for her moms brains and economical acumen, her dad would not have been capable of doing half of the things that he has been doing with his right wing group; never paying any attention of the rumors that her father was almost like a Yakuza group, however when she was the one kidnapped and her brother in all but blood was run over by a van, shot to the death like a gazillion times, had to kill five professionals with his bared hands and rescue her from a crazy psycho before he fainted in the spot from the trauma of her wounds, she snapped very badly at her parents.

The shouting contest in the manor was of legendary proportions, and even now, Saya had never really forgiven her parents for all the things they had done; still, she was not a foolish teenager that believed to be always right, she was cleverer than that, and knew that her parents had their own agenda for Tokonosu and the rest of the country, however, when she almost paid the price for those ambitions and what's worst, Takashi paid that price with humongous interest, in blood, she hated all those cloak and dagger bullshit that her parents were doing.

If it wasn't for those Therianthrope powers of Takashi; in Saya's mind it was like some kind of werewolf bullshit of a bad movie but she had to admit that it was very real and amazing to behold when you are not in front of those claws; he would have been nothing but a smear on the road, another victim for her parents ambition. Honestly, she recognized that growing up in such a luxurious environment and the education that she received was worthy of some headaches, was worthy of some annoyances and she knew that there is always a paid to price for everything, but it was Hers to pay, no one else, one thing was to carry with the legacy of her parents, and she would do it, if the necessity arises, and other is to see the people you loved suffer and be hurt by that legacy, something that has nothing to do with any of them.

Grumbling under her breath, and with a scowl that was in its was to be almost permanently etched into her cute features, Saya continued to look into the window, hoping that she would see her friends walk through the doors at some point; she may have to meet Saeko for nothing more than a day, but the horrors of that single and eternal day had already joined together the pack; as that idiot of Morita and Kohta liked to call the group; like they were close friends, and being honest with herself, she liked the cool sword woman a lot more that Rei, the orangette teenager was on her shit list since the stupidity she did by ditching Takashi and run to the arms of Igou. Saya couldn't understand why the hell the girl was so bloody shallow and superficial, she didn't understand why the hell did she ditch Takashi, a boy that has been nothing but good to her, for Igou, especially considering that the latter was the former best friend.

Not a wonder, after what Rei did, that Takashi took distance from them, and now that Saya knew how dangerous Takashi was, she could see the wisdom behind the move, it was not that he was the one dumped like yesterday garbage, it was Takashi Not wanting to kill two of the only people he has ever cared about. Even, if they were a couple of betrayers that deserved to be kicked by a horse and die; as the old saying went; and deserved all the back luck the world could throw at them, for what Saya knew, they owned their fucking lives to Takashi, at last, a couple of times; and please, do not make her start in the bullshit that, that stupid bimbo of Rei did in the bus, as soon as they got out of the school.

Leaning her forehead against the cold glass, Saya sighed and thought about what happened in the bus, some time after Takashi saved Reis ass again, this time from being rammed by a car in flames and another from the explosion of the tunnel that separated the pack, at least the foolish girl had the decency of establishing a meeting point with the rest of pack, something that resulted in all them reunited in one of the bridges that the city had, another nightmare on were they almost lost their lives to a hungry horde of Them.

So far, the entire situation was so FUBAR that it was not even funny, even in a bad flick of zombies there is some sliver of hope, and so far, Saya was not seeing it, especially when the situation started to get worst and the survivors that her parents had sheltered started to realize the nightmare all of this was; it was something that Saya has to admit, she hasn't done either, perhaps logically, but she had not...digested it yet, she needed to realize that everything that she took for granted was nothing but ashes now, or soon it will be, especially when the basic commodities of the civilization would start to falter.

Few people realize how truly expensive and in constant need of manpower and maintenance, were the basic commodities that their houses had. Technicians, laborers, experts, a veritable army of people whose objective was to proportionate light, heat, and water to all the houses of the city, and right now, that same army was in shambles or death at the hands of Them, that surely would be roaming the same facilities that were needed for the necessities of a large population. It has been only a day; and Saya knew that the Japanese government liked to have redundancies in case of catastrophe or sudden loss of energy in one of the many facilities that were around, from the nuclear plant to the electric station near the coast; but in the long run, the facilities will fall, and in case of the nuclear facilities, she didn't even want to think about it, a nuclear plant going boom was never a good notice, even if you are miles and miles away from the explosions point zero; radiation would be as lethal as the shock wave or the sun like heat that the explosion will produce.

Grunting in annoyance, Saya was starting to nurse a planet sized migraine, just of thinking of all the things that the pack would need to make a somehow decent living in this twisted parody of a horror movie that was their lives now; much as it infuriated her, she needed her parents for a starting point, she needed to found a place were her pack could be safe and with relatively good chances of prospering, perhaps humanity, as they know, was doomed, but that was not an excuse to try to raise again from the ashes, and for that, they need to survive at any cost. Something that made Saya tremble and scowl deeper, trying to see if anyone has seen her moment of vulnerability, happy that no one has seen her moment of weakness, she turned her attention back to the window and the thoughts she was having about what they could do from now on.

At the time Saya was scowling like it was her favorite thing in the world, Morita and Kohta were having a moment of peace and beer in the garage of the manor. The mechanic that worked there, an old and good friend of Saya, was busy with the machine of one of the groups that were going to get out and pick up some extra supplies for everyone in the manor, with the incoming of new survivors, they need extra food and other products; part of the men of the father of Saya, were about to move out and into one of the multiple malls that were inside the city, armed to the teeth, just in case they found extra survivors or crazy assholes that had made themselves strong inside the mall and would shoot anything that came close.

Morita has been able to find the secret beer stash that the mechanic had, hidden behind a toolbox that weighted a ton, when they discovered the beer, they immediately took them to a corner of the garage, near the impromptu gun workshop that Kohta has settled to work on the guns that they got in the house of Marika-senseis roommate, both took one of the fresh ones and proceed to drink them; personally, they blame Magnus, he was the one that hooked them into beer, and now they really wanted to have one or two cans at the end of the work. Whatever work the adults of the manor allow them to do. Both teenagers were starting to see that they are not precisely welcome in any serious issue that could arise, dealing with the day to day of the manor and the survivors that had come to cover under the big shadow of the Takagi group.

None of the two teenagers were precisely experts in political science, neither of them cared two fucks about left or right wings or the propaganda than any of the groups of the city had, in any case, they didn't understand half what they were trying to sell them and as teenagers, even in the middle of this zombie invasion, they did care little for those kinds of things; they had more enough with all the troubles that came with trying to survive another day in zombiland; Them were always ready to give you an amorous bite in the balls if you were not cautious enough and they had a pack to care for, even if that pack has been together since less than a day.

Kohta put another bullet into the clip of his assault rifle and took a sip from his beer, the chubby boy was one of those that has changed the most with the apparition of Them, much as Saeko, he was secretly glad that he had known a very cool excuse to put bullets in the heads of any assholes that tried to annoy him, what he would have given for such a privilege when he was bullied by any of those cretins of the school, always smiling outside and really want to bathe in their blood on the inside. But those thoughts were a thing of the past now; right now, he had a very nice weapon, practically green light to use it in any of Them and a pack that need his help, he was really happy now, even if the apocalypse was practically under their noses and biting to rip those same noses off their faces.

"Man, this beer is nice" sighed in content Morita, polishing his baseball bat, now that they have time and some tools, he was nailing some nails to the hardwood, converting the weapon in a very nasty mace that he was more or less competent on its use.

Morita tried to be part of the baseball team, he had the strength to bat the ball to the moon, but he was not that good at hitting the ball when the thrower toss him some curve balls; using that same experience, he was capable of bating the heads of Them with brutal efficiency, and he was glad to be of use; although he needed some Them-smashing skills before he could learn how to properly shot with the shotgun he found in the flat of Minami-san, the squeeze of Magnus and a total chocolate skinned babe that could kick ass and take names like the best of the special forces of Japan.

"You can say" chuckled Kohta, finishing the clip and picking up another one, he liked to be as prepared as he could, and contrary to Morita's shotgun, he couldn't just carry the ammo in the pockets and just pump it up inside the gun when he needed it "it tastes different from the one that Magnus give us in the house of Minami-san".

"That was national, this is American," said Morita pointing to the side of the can, were the letters Made in USA could be seen.

"Uh, didn't see that," said Kohta "still, what do you think was going to happen when Matsudo-san found that he had no more beer in his stash?".

"Sucks to be him then" shrugged Morita "if he fell upon us like the hammer of the gods or he would just shout to the heavens for the lost of his beer, I am going to drink this fresh one and enjoy it for what it lasts".

"You know, that is a very good point" laughed Kohta who rose his can to toast with Morita.

"Any thoughts about what are going to do know?" asked Kohta to the mohawk-haired teenager "I would prefer to left this place but Takagi-san would skin me alive if I even suggest it".

"You thought of that too, eh?" nodded Morita "this place is bad medicine, not that I did not appreciate the commodities, I swear to god that I am going to miss them, fuck, I have dinned better here, than in my own house, the chefs are awesome here".

"As the apocalypse goes, we can say goodbye to wonderful things like hot water and hot meals" grumbled Kohta that was already foreseeing how hard is going to be for a chubby boy like him to endure the hunger that is to come.

"Kobe beef, dude" simply whined Morita "I can pass without hot water, heck, I can wrap myself into a blanket and told winter to bugger off, but dude, Kobe beef, never, in my entire life did I suspect that I was going to indulge myself in a delicious and juicy Kobe beef steak, I am drooling just with the memory".

Kohta laughed at the views of his friend, Morita was one of those rare people in Fujimi academy whose education was paid off, because he was a ward of the state, practically all her monthly incomes went into the school, and he had to take great pains for getting some extra cash in the form of partial times jobs; if the school discovered it, he would have been expelled and put into another, lesser, school. Perfectly knowing, how difficult truly is to reach the end of the month, despite his antics, Morita had a down to the ground point of view that clicked very well with Takashi and the rest of the pack, even if all the girls slapped him in the head each time they caught him ogling them. Kohta was very much like Morita in that sense, all the women of his pack were freaking hot, from the confident and sultry Yuuki to the naive but dependable Marikawa-sensei, but Kohta was way more discrete than his friend at his appreciation of the female anatomy.

Not to mention how both boys knew that practically all the female side of the pack was taken, be it by Takashi or by Magnus, all the women were already with someone or they would like to be with that someone. Takashi was a dense bastard that could not or prefer not to see how he had four women ready to jump his bones in less than a second; but after what they saw when Takashi was pissed off, they could understand his reluctance to get physical with the women in his life; so far, only Saeko-san has the gall to actually ambush him in his bath and ride him for hours, Kohta knew that well, he was the one on guard duty and had to listen to the muffled screams of Saeko-san; the most awkward moment of his entire life, but he took vengeance later when he teased Takashi about his harem of sorts.

"Canned food is not the same, bloody ramen packs are not the same" mumbled Morita, who has been living in that conditions for a long time and now he was seeing that the apocalypse is not that different from his everyday life, but with more blood and bullets.

"We will do, what the pack needs to do" nodded Kohta.

"Dude, we are high on this pack thing" realized Morita suddenly "don't get me wrong, I love this pack thing we had, but when the hell did we decide to call our group like that?, its cool as hell, but I feel something amiss".

"Not really, you are just accepting what you are," said Magnus, walking inside the garage.

"Bloody hell, Magnus!" screamed Morita at the top of his lungs "don't do us that, man!, I almost had a heart attack".

"You were saying," said Kohta not missing a beat and giving a cold beer to Magnus that smiled in thanks at Kohta.

"Thanks, lad, I really need a beer" opened the can Magnus and took a long swing before sitting in the floor, he was dressed in jeans and a shirt that stretched around his size barrel-like torso "it's simple; you knew that you are part of Takashi's pack".

"Well, I had to admit that pack is a cool name and all that," said Morita sitting more comfortably in his corner "but I am not entirely sure if we all are in the same wave, you catch my drift?".

"Yeah, Takagi's" nodded Kohta who flinched for a second, it was not precisely a secret that he had a crush on the pinkette, but her father scared the shit outta him, not to mention, Saya has never shown any hints about liking Kohta as nothing more than an acquittance of Takashi's. It hurts a little, to be honest.

"Right-wing ideology and all that jazz" snorted Morita "can really say I see any difference between them and a Yakuza group sometimes, but I do respect what they have done here, if it wasn't for them, a lot of this people would have been stumbling around and moaning about brains at this point".

"Soichiro is a hard-headed man, honorable and straight as an iron bar" chuckled Magnus "but I am afraid that all this situation is dragging him and his party into something they aren't, not to mention how having two Therianthropes in his manor is going to put him into the worst of moods, good thing Yuriko is around to drag him by the ear when is needed".

"Sayas mom" raise his beer Morita "another of the hottest older women I have seen in my life, how come almost every lady we know is a wet dream made flesh and capable of ass kicking like there is no tomorrow?".

"No idea, I just count my lucky stars and roll with it" answered Magnus without missing a beat, making the trio laugh.

"One quick question, why are you in human form?" asked Kohta to Magnus.

"I have been speaking with Yuriko about Takashi," said Magnus "she needed to know that Takashi is a young Therianthrope of an exceptional breed and he has already claimed his Alpha female".

"Oh, yeah, that" laughed Morita "man, were they loud, Saeko-san is a screamer, didn't see that one coming".

The laughs of the trio echoed in the garage, as they had a break from the craziness that was their everyday lives, especially the teenagers, who, until now, his biggest worry was to survive the exams and now had to think long and hard in how to maintain their pack alive; one single bite, in any part of the body and it's a Game Over, no continues, just an eternity of shuffling around groaning for brains and waiting for the mercy of death at the hands of the next survivor or just by a happy accident like set yourself on fire or fall from such a height that you explode in a shower of gore, destroying your brain in the process.

For what all the pack has seen, the only way to permanently put down for good, one of Them, was to destroy his head, more concretely, destroy his brain; they could endure a shit ton of damage, but a single, good hit to the head and they fall like puppets with their strings cut, one hundred percent effective and tested in the field a hundred of times at this point, by bullets, baseball bats, bokkens, crowbars, and claws. Go for the head, it is one of the few chances you will have if you are facing one of those fuckers, fortunately, they are not the sharpest of the minds, what made them so impervious to most damages, made them dumb as a doorknob too. Good thing, in any case, the last thing they need was a clever zombie with plans, that would be a nightmare on its own, and recently, the pack had more than enough with the idea of Therianthropes to have to think about possible Zombie Lords or something along those lines.

Even separated, the pack still thought about what would be best for all of them, not individually but as part of a bigger whole, that was one of the reasons why the Therianthrope packs had survived to the blackest days of their species when they were hunted and killed by jealousy, petty humans full of delirious of grandeur or grandiloquent speeches about divine rights, beasts of Satan, blah, blah, blah; the usual excuses. Magnus, for example, saw more than one of those, especially during the colonization of the Americas, the Spanish Inquisition and so went the list on. Point is, the pack greed and selfishness was focus in what's best for the pack, not what's best for the individual, deeply root in the brain the idea that protecting and nurturing the pack was number one priority and not the other way around, like it happens in a lot of human families that they leech all they could and then go on their merry way.

For example, if a member of the pack becomes a CEO, all the company will be at the service of the pack, and the pack will be at the service of the CEO, a symbiosis relationship that allowed the Therianthropes to survive in history and from time to time, prosper and grow in the noses of the humanity, that believed so much in science and their own brilliance, that they were blind to anything else.

The pack of Takashi was divided right now into the two groups, Takashi and Saeko, ironically the Alpha male and female of the pack were the ones missing, and that put the pack on edge; and the rest of the pack, namely Morita, Kohta, Yuuki, Hayashi-sensei, Alice, Zeke; the puppy that Takashi rescued with Alice, Kohta named it after some obscure piece of trivia about wars of the past; and if one was in good mood, Igou and Rei could be considered part of the pack too, although, none of the previously named were entirely comfortable with any of them. Their actions in the past, the fact that she almost kills Takashi with her stupidity and the lack of support of Igou, previously the best friend of Takashi, was something that did not click well with the rest of the pack.

Marikawa-sensei was and was not part of the pack of Takashi, it was part of the pack of Magnus, even if she was not in the loop about who really Magnus was, but the giant of a Therianthrope had not put any obstacles to the nurse and her evident attachment to the pack of the young Therianthrope. Kohta and Morita, the only ones apart from Takashi who knew who Magnus/Plushy truly was, swore silence on the matter, letting Magnus do as he saw fit with his own pack; pack formed by Rika Minami, his Alpha female, and Marikawa Shizuka, she may not be an Alpha female per se, but it was clear for the boys that Magnus loved deeply the nurse bombshell. Anyhow, all the pack of Takashi cared about the blonde nurse, if not for the fact that she has been nothing but good on them before and after the Z-day.

Unfortunately, both packs would face a really dangerous threat in the future, a danger that ironically, come from both pasts of Magnus and Takashi, in a form that none of them expected, nor could have foreseen, as it was something new and tremendously dangerous.

Said young teenager was right now, experimenting a very painful awakening after he has been fainting intermittently, for the last couple of hours, after he and Saeko had to kill an abomination that ambushed them in the little island in the middle of the river that cut the city in half, when they were enjoying a bit of peace and tranquility, snuggling into each other arms and barely holding back the need to make sweet and frenzied love to each other.

That sweet moment when out of the window when something that should not exist, erupted from the waters of the rivers and almost chewed off half of the chest of Takashi, along a good portion of his left shoulder and arm, tearing muscles and ligaments like mincemeat, before Takashi could dig his own claws into the side of its head and squeeze until half of the skull of the thing cracked under the pressure and was forced to let his body go.

Saeko reacted with a snarl that would have fitted more a beast than a human, breaking her bokken in one of the sides of the thing, possible bruising or breaking one of the ribs; however, the bokken shattered, as the powerful impact surpassed the durability of the practice weapon, that has been used for something that was not made for, tumbling back a little for the sudden wounds, the thing step into the waters and shook its head, gaining some sense back, after that it growled back at the wounded Takashi and the furious Saeko, allowing the teenagers to see what has ambushed them.

It was quite the shocking and horrid image.

It was like Frankenstein would have created a werewolf, instead of the monster of the Frankstein, there was something very wrong with the thing, his fur was patched and black, not only for all the dirt and grim it has over it, but for the putrid state that all of it had, falling down like dead hair, allowing any witness to see the pale or directly rotten black flesh under the open spots, when Takashi crunched part of its face, the bone creaked but it was already brittle, like it was slowly degenerating and under the cracks of the bare bone, green puddles of pus was slowly forming, the healing of this thing was a messed up thing that works in favor and against his body at the same time. Its teeth were mostly a collection of broken fangs that grew, fall and regrew in all the wrongs ways, leaving his mouth like a twisted parody of a meat mincer, idem with the claws, that hooked in odd directions. It was a visage of madness and putrefaction.

Especially for Takashi, although his mind was way more concerned about the possible loss of a limb and the torn chest that he had right now, forcing his Therianthrope healing factor to work overtime to prevent his death by blood loss, trauma or organ failure. Takashi shut down that part of his mind, leaving the Beast to take more control over the process, by giving it a single command, not precisely a command, but a series of ideas that both shared completely.

Protect Saeko, kill this bloody thing, make it suffer from threatening Saeko.

Said and done, the Beast roared in his mind and his flesh started to knit together at accelerated rate, feeding his powers with his emotions like Magnus told him it would happen; healing as fast as he could Takashi unsheathed his claws from his fingers and starting to feel more and more feral, he charged at the thing, soon followed by Saeko, who even with a broken bokken was more than ready to kill this monster that almost killed the man that she loved with all her heart.

Claw meet claw in a ripping sound that sent flesh flying over the three fighters, Saeko moved like a dancer and dodging a swipe of the thing claws, buried the broken tip of the bokken into the Achilles tendon of the monster, forcing it to kneel and giving Takashi an opening for a devastating uppercut with both claws, shredding the chest of the monster and leaving deep gashes into his throat and under jaw.

That kind of wounds would have sufficed to kill anything on this earth, but the thing was not a common animal, all the instincts of Takashi were telling him that he was facing another of his kind, that he was facing a Theriantrope but infected with whatever the hell carried Them and turned by that same blight into the horrible abomination that both were seeing, something that perturbed Takashi deeply, as it was clear that the Theriantropes were not immune to the plague, resistant yes, immune no, at last, that what this experience was telling him.

The thing counterattack, swatting Saeko into the vehicle and making her gasp for the impact against the hard plastic surface of the amphibian vehicle, and clawing violently the already damaged arm of Takashi that roared in pain from the sudden loss of the elbow, the cartilage was broken and ripped out of his place by one of the nails of the claws of the thing. Even so, Takashi still had his other claw and with a savage swipe, he tore out the remaining eye of the thing, effectively blinding him and almost severing the muzzle of the thing.

Saeko needed a second to recover from the slap, even if she had taken it partially, the strength of the hit was more than enough to send her flying against the side of the car and made her flinch and gasp from the loss of breath when all the hair in her lungs went out; Saeko was not stranger to pain, not only for her practice of Kendo, as a bokken can break bones and skulls quite easily, but for her personal demons, that forced her to train like a madwoman in the private Dojo of her house; but this was in another league entirely and a pang of worry sparked in her eyes when she saw the mangled left side of Takashis body that was taking the hits of those things in stride, answering to them with his own steel rending swings of his remaining claws.

Taking a crowbar from the car, as her bokken was in the back of the knee of the thing, she waited for a chance to bury the sharp end of the metallic weapon into a vital point, she was aiming to bury it, as much as she could, into the brain of the abomination, perhaps that would suffice to put that thing down, them she could worry about the mangled and broken state of Takashi, even with his healing powers, it was clear that Takashi could not follow the pace of the beast in the department of soaking damage like it was nothing.

Don't ask how or why, but Takashi understood the intentions of Saeko as soon as she picked up the crowbar as she recovered from the hit; the Beast was already in control of the body but Takashi could think relatively clearly in the back seat and quickly deducted the idea, with a brutal uppercut that send the head of the thing backwards, if it wasn't for its inhumane resilience, any human would have seen his own head fly several meters in the air and land into the waters of the river, but this thing only groaned and protested and trashed, however, Takashi dig his remaining hand into the throat of the thing, practically grabbing the spinal column and keep with his head raised, ignoring the gashes and wounds that the thrashing of the thing has done on his body.

"Saeko, now!" roared Takashi and Saeko moved as fast as she could.

She ran in a straight charge, dodging the flailing arms of the thing; that even if they were focused on Takashi they were big and dangerous enough to cause her enough blunt damage to broke her bones or shatter her inside by pure blunt trauma; slipping under his guard and setting the crowbar for a straight thrust, she put all her weight behind the attack, using the sharp and slightly twisted sharp end of the impromptu weapon into the hole of the throat of the thing, hole opened by the claw of Takashi and with an effort and a grunt, pushing the crowbar up and directly at the brain of the abomination.

Her efforts were rewarded by a nasty squelch like sound, followed by the crunching sound of some brittle bones shattering and the sudden gush of blood and other putrid and sickening body fluids that made her gag and left the crowbar buried into the body of the abomination, along with the claws of Takashi. The abomination relaxed immediately, falling to its knees like a dead weight, dragging Takashi with him who was in an equally bad shape, blood flowing down his torso, mixing in a disgusting red, green and black color with the body fluids of the abomination they just kill.

The last thing Takashi hear was the voice of Saeko calling for him, and from then on, it was a constant awakening and back to unconsciousness cycle that he vaguely remembered pieces and sounds, his body was already overloaded with the crippling wounds he suffered and to add some salt to the wound, the infection of Them was already doing numbers on him. Between flashes he remembered Saeko cleaning his wounds as best as he could, showing Saeko the basics of driving so she could take them both out of the sandbar island in the middle of the river and being carried around like a dead weight; the worst of it was to see the worried face of Saeko, the fear, the pain in her eyes hurt him more than any wound in his body, although, perhaps it was a good thing, because seen her like that angered him, make the Beast growl and trash, empowering his healing factor up another notch and making him heal faster, something that he desperately needed. He will not be a dead weight, he was the bloody alpha, he protected the pack not the other way around; unfortunately, he was clever enough to recognize that the abomination that had ambushed them in the river had beat the crap out of him, if he hadn't push Saeko out of the way of its jaw, that abhorrent fangs would have cleaved her in two.

Between flashes and blurs; specially when his worst wounds started to mend themselves, sending horrible pangs of pain to his brain; he remembered Saeko to carry him with an arm over her shoulder, moving deeper into the streets, leaving behind little groups of them or Saeko letting him rest over a wall and quickly dispatched them with the broken pieces of her bokken, the last weapons they had from the car. Slowly and painfully, Saeko moved them into an open plaza, letting him rest against the edge of a fountain before she checked that the fountain was not tainted with any of Them and using the water of the fountain to refresh his fever and clean his wounds. His healing factor was working overtime but as it has done before, whatever the hell Them carried in their veins and infected through its bites, his body was rejecting it, sweating it or directly suppurating it like it was pus from an open wound, it smelled awfully but it was a good sign, it means that he was not going to transform into an abomination like the one he has fought on the little island.

With his body cleaned and Saeko nursing him to health, Takashi started to feel more and more like a person and not as a crash dummy with an extra bad day, however, as soon as he recovered enough to walk by himself, a bunch of Them swarmed the place, perhaps attracted by the splashing sound of the water when Saeko was cleaning his wounds or his own grunts when his body reacted like it has been stung at the expulsion of some more of pus or whatever the hell was that thing that was making him weak as hell. Anyhow, Saeko grip the handle of his bokken and charge ahead, moving like a breeze, before the storm hit you without mercy; she moved between them, in a perfect mixture of beauty and efficient killing, smashing their heads with his half bokken or stabbing them between the eyes with the broken but spiked tip of her weapon; Takashi had to admit that he had hit the jackpot of the love lottery with Saeko, and incapable of take his eyes out of her body, just stood there smiling like an idiot, mesmerized by the body and grace of Saeko as she killed the group of Them that had dared to interrupt her treating of his wounds.

But something went wrong and Takashi feel it like a bucket of cold water in his brain, Saeko had just killed one of Them when she turned around to face another group, her broken bokken raised and ready to strike, and suddenly she froze in the spot, her shock and horror was like a beacon to Takashi, those feelings echoed in worry and surprise, forcing his recently healed legs, Takashi snarled and covered the distance between him and Saeko, switching positions with her and decapitating with one brutal uppercut slash with his claws, the tiny body of a little child, no bigger than nine years old. Ripping his yellow raincoat, the hooded head flight in the distance, leaving a trail of gore and ripping vertebrae, as the claw of Takashi carried enough strength to eviscerate a bull.

As shocked as Saeko, Takashi let the Beast took over again, he had just beheaded a bloody child!, but the gray and blood spots on his claws and hands spoke about how it was nothing but another of Them. The Beast did not have such qualms about killing anything in his path, however, he was conscious that his body was not in top shape and adding another layer of damages could be the straw that broke the camels back; opting for a strategic retreat, Takashi took the shocked Saeko bridal style, pick up the backpack that the woman has been carrying to so far from the spot where he has been laying as she treated him and run the hell out of there, jumping over the fence of the plaza and quickly covering as much distance as he could between him and Them.

Gritting his teeth, Takashi made an effort to ignore the pangs of the recently regrown muscles, forced to move at inhumane speed, just seconds after the muscles had just grown, it was like having a cramp and run at the same time, not letting yourself stop and relax; painful, but it was the only thing he could do given the situation, Saeko was frozen, didn't know why, perhaps because they were children; and that made Takashi thought about what the hell was wrong with him that didn't even thing twice about dispatching them like the rest of Them, but the Beast was the one that was in charge and young or adult, it matters not to him.

Call him ruthless if you want, but the Beast know better, and having some kind of moral dilemma was lethal for him and for his pack, something that the Beast would never allow. Morality was something that humanity invented to put a leash on the beast that all of them had inside, it could be tighter, it could be lax, but for the Beast, it was not something of importance, only something that the human embraced to put a very annoying reign on his emotions and desires. Frankly, the Beast wanted it eradicated as soon as possible, but the human part was enamored with all that proper and moralistic reasoning that it was mid blogging. Case in point, how he almost lost his mate at the hands of one of those putrid and nasty things, even if they try to hide their decadence under the appearance of children, the Beast could recognize them for what they were; a menace, and act accordingly to the situation.

Takashi ignored the pain that his entire body was tossing at the doors of his brain, he had important things to do, like run like madman and get as much distance as possible between him and the last horde of Them, the one with the kids that have made Saeko froze; Takashi was sure that there must be a history behind the sudden shock of Saeko, the woman has been nothing but a goddess of war during all this shit, and for her to freeze like that was something that was not normal.

Ok, one can argue that Takashi has only begun to really meet Saeko; even if they have already shared a night of passions that will fuel Takashi's fantasies for years to come; and despite their overwhelming attraction to each other, they only had begun to scratch the surface of what who really the other one was. However, Takashi was sure that Saeko was not one to shiver and cower at the apocalypse; for fuck sakes, she had killed more of Them that any other of the Pack, except Takashi, and along Kohta and Morita, she was the main battle support that Takashi had. Even if each time that she fights, Takashi heart suffer at the mere idea of she being bitten.

It didn't take long for him; sending the pain to the deepest corners of his mind, helped by the Beast as he wanted Saeko safe and out of whatever the hell has frozen her like that; Takashi run and jumped over all the city like it was his own playground, ignoring the presence of small bunches of Them, more worry about the woman in his arms, but alas, even with all his incredible physical might, it finally reached the exhausting point, even the Beast has huffing in the back of Takashis mind, it was too much for them, especially after they partly recovered from the battle with that abomination of the river.

Luck was on their side, at last, this time, and when Takashi finally collapsed, almost letting Saeko fall; but the woman quickly gained foot and rush to his side, worry clearly written on her face; they did in the outer yard of a shrine; neither of them remembered the name of the temple but it was bloody perfect for hiding for the night, it was spacious, had a solid wooden door with a beam of wood to block the entrance and they could ear any of Them that could come close from the other temple entrances.

Takashi was drag by Saeko to the insides of the shrine as she took care of fortifying the place as much as she could; namely blocking doors and doing all she could to make any possible intrusions as difficult as she could; she was still shaken from the experiences in less than a couple of hours, first the attack in the river and how she froze like that when she saw the two children, turn into Them and smiling at her like they usually did…

It was not a secret that she was part of a family of distinguishing samurais and sword masters, in fact, the Busujima Dojo was one of the most respect Dojos of Japan, his father was a famous master that is constantly invited all over the country and beyond to martial tournaments and exhibitions. Her house had an annex that was the Dojo of the family where she and her father taught the Busujima Style to anyone who wanted to learn, and among those were the two children that she saw in the plaza of the Fountain.

If all of this nightmare did even happen, she should have seen the two of them, Reitaro and Kazuma, during the usual afternoon practice, Reitaro was strong but his swings were too wide, leaving him open for counterattacks, and Kazuma was too rigid, always doing the katas by the book. Now, both of them were part of Them, well, except for Reitaro, that had his head rip off his shoulders when Takashi move her out of the way before they bit her and cleaved Reitaros head off. For a second, Saeko felt rage and sadness, Takashi has killed a bloody child, but soon, the part of her that she did all she could to hide from the rest of the world, only felt arousal and happiness for the intervention of the boy that she had offered her virginity to; the dark part of her was delighted, he was bloody perfect, a Beast that complimented her. And Saeko couldn't but feel conflicted, leaving apart how bloody badass the woman was, she was a teenager, with her mind and body tugging in a thousand different directions, still unsure about who and what she was.

In resume, your everyday teenager; sure she was an absolute master of the sword and capable of make supermodels go green of envy, but still, a teenager, with all the doubts and insecurities that it carries.

Saeko carried Takashi to the center of the shrine, lighten and candle to have some light in the darkness of the inside that had no electrical appliances, there was no need for them when it only opened during the day, carrying the candle, she undressed Takashi, grimacing at the wounds that were closing themselves, constantly suppurating a black pus of some kind that smelled as nasty as it looked, with the help of a wet towel, she cleaned the body of her lover, noticing the damages and how red and swollen his legs and arms were; possible for the sudden run that he had to pull out of his hat when she froze in the fountain plaza.

For a long while, she just keep cleaning and treating her lover with all the care in the world, it was a very good thing that the backpack was already filled to the brim with all the things that Takagi and Marikawa-sensei asked him to recover from Pharmacies and 7/11 shops, thanks to her experience treating wounds that are usual in kendo training, she could see that Takashi had all the muscles of his body strained, a lot of them had just regrown after the attack and like a cramped muscle, force them was foolish and stupid; but beggars can be choosers and he did it to save her.

Now that she had a moment, she did ponder a couple of silly things and the consequences of what she was about to do, the easier way to cope with all the madness was to look out for scapegoats, things that distract the mind for the harsh truth, and in this case, Saeko had the advantage of a darker side of her personality that allowed her to deal with the blood on her blade easier than the rest, that allowed her to let her mind wander a little about her lover and what was going to happen from now on.

First of all, Saeko did take her time admiring the body of her lover; Takashi was always hiding his body under baggy clothes or jackets; it had sense, after all, he had an inhumanly perfect constitution; Adonis and Hercules together in one golden eyed package that made her drool. However, his inhuman skills and gifts did come at a great price, she could understand that better than anyone else, she had her own dark side to deal with; she was a prodigy at kenjutsu, a sword mistress that Japan has not seen since Nakano Takeko, although the revered onna-bugeisha was better with the Naginata than with the sword; but such a skill in these times of peace was sometimes a burden. She had always to be careful, an incorrect swing of her arms and she could cause severe harm or if she had a real sword in the hand, kill her opponent.

Second, and following the idea of how bloody hot her lover was, Saeko did though about how it was such a pity that his clothes were already destroyed, even if it was by sheer chance, Takashi was capable of suiting up in a very nice Bad boy style that made her tingle inside; the biker clothes helped him to survive a little, preventing the twisted fangs of the thing at the river to bite deeper, enough damage did already cause, but the sturdy clothes were devastated in the process and once again; Takashi was practically in rags.

Saeko believed it was time to confess to him, he must know that he was not the only monster out there, that she was already a cold blood killer, that she was happy that Them were out there so she could unleash all her bloodlust against Them and do not be worried about the last about the consequences, that she was eager to get her hands on a real blood and feel how the sharp edge would cut and tear those moaning, walking pieces of meat; knowing that she could be as savage and ruthless as she wanted and nothing bad would ever come her way. The Apocalypse was exactly what Saeko's, her deepest desires, cherished, the excuse to use her skills to the limit; and twice the blessing if she had a companion and lover as Takashi as her side.

The creams and balsam did wonders of Takashi, whose body only needed and extra push to be back in business, that and it would be nice some grub, healing needs fuel, meaning, Takashi awoken from his healing slumber, tired, hungry and thirsty at hell, but all of that could wait, ignoring it and the cold sensation of being naked except for his comfortable boxers, Takashi looked out for Saeko, instantaneously relaxing when he found her at his side, drinking from one of the canteens that he had on the backpack.

"Oh, good" he laid back again, nursing the horrendous headache he was sensing in his head, between the thing in the river bank and the run after that, he was beaten, he hadn't felt this down since a lot of time ago, with his powers it was unusual for him to feel tired or drained, but right now, he just wanted to lay down and sleep for the next millennia.

"Hello, Takashi-kun" she smiled at him, massaging his scalp, worry present in her words "how do you feel?".

"Honestly, my love?, like I have been put through the wringer a dozen of times" snorted Takashi "please pass me the water, I am thirsty as hell".

She took the canteen near his lips so he could drink all he wanted, there was no shortage of running water for the moment and they could replenish the canteens in the faucets of the inner rooms of the shrine; Takashi drink from the canteen until he emptied it, his body needed water and soon he will recover enough forces to make a move for the eating rations he had in the backpack; now that he knew that his pack was safe and sound in the Takagi manor, meaning he could be a little egoist and feast on the supplies that he was carrying around; they could resupply as much as they wanted in the Manor and with a dark thought, the Beast commented that he would love to see who was the aspirant to corpse that would want to stop them from doing that.

Leaning a little on Saeko, thanking her for being such a wonderful nurse; making her smile and blush a little; he moved to the backpack and look the insides of it, taking a lot of the food that he had stored inside and feasting on the treats like a hungry beast, something that was not entirely wrong after all; Theriantropes do have a Beast inside of them, the part of them that makes them so unique and different from the rest of the world and that allow them to perform feats that no human would ever do; sometimes not even with all the tech of the world behind them.

Meanwhile, he engorged himself in the feast, Saeko was pondering how to channel the conversation, frankly this was something that she has never experimented, there was a time in the past were there was a boy she fancied but after the incident on when she almost killed a pitiful joke of a man that tried to take advantage of her in the streets, she never found the moment to make heads or tails about her feelings and conveyed them to the boy. Right now, it was something similar, yet different from that occasion. Takashi was different in so many ways from the boy she fancied; he was feral, strong, yet he carried a vulnerability that made Saeko wanting to hug him and never let it go. It was like her own plushy but with dark hair and beautiful golden eyes.

"Something on your mind?" asked Takashi eying her the corner of his eyes, munching on a very bland tasting ration bar that he found somewhere this morning, it tasted like cardboard but supposedly it had a lot of healthy nutrients and vitamins and all that, food was food and Takashi was hungry as hell.

Saeko shook her head and smiled at him, taking a seat near him, Takashi raise an eyebrow and the Beast inside of him, slowly tensed, this was odd, surely she had a lot on her mind; who wouldn't in this madness?, but the bound that they share was more than enough to let Takashi know that something was not right with Saeko.

"Just enjoying the moment of peace," she said, "it has been a very intense evening".

"You can say that" smiled Takashi,

"I...thank you, Takashi-kun," she said moving a little, so she could rest her head on his back, not sure of wanting to face him, right now "you saved my life twice today".

Takashi moved, grabbed Saeko by the chin, kiss softly on her lips and told her.

"And a thousand more times, if its what´s needed to keep you safe and at my side" smiled at her.

Saeko smiled back, blushing and grabbing the boy by the head, she kissed him back with a lot of passion, trying to convey or secure her feelings in one single moment, they kissed like that for what both desired it would be forever, enjoying the presence and the taste of their lover.

Saeko was the first one to broke the kiss, she needed to breathe and her stamina, as good as she was, was not as big as the young Theriantrope; in fact that line of thought brought her doubts back, not only about if she deserved such unconditional and loyal love like the one that Takashi was offering, but if she would be able to stand at his side when the tide comes; she did not delude herself, this were dark times, and the shit has not stopped raining over all the pack. There will be a lot of things to do in the future, but Saeko was not sure, she had nothing to go on, only Takashi, only the young Therianthrope that has shown her that a monster could be an angel. But he needed to know the truth, that she was a dangerous woman that enjoyed the violence too much and could spell doom for him and the pack with her blood-lust.

"Takashi-kun..." she started, separating herself a little for him, something that put the man and the Beast in an alert, this did not bode well.

"I must confess something to you" she said and hugging herself but preventing the worried boy to come closer, if he embraced her now, all her valor would melt in his arms, desiring nothing but the comfort and warm his powerful body offered her last night and she needed to say this out loud; no more beating around the bush.

Takashi sat in front of the woman, knowing that she wanted to say something and he will listen, even if its something along the lines of we must break, you are a monster, you are a permanent threat and a long, long list of things that his teenager mind was conjuring out of fear and insecurity. Must be said that the Beast was laughing his ass off the man, the Beast know better, once, a bond like the one that they shared with the swordsmistress, was created, only death could tear it apart.

"I am not who you believe I am; the Saeko Busujima you know is a facade, a pretty picture that I set to face the everyday business" she smiled without any humor and a bit of bitterness in each single world "the girl that the entire school look up, is nothing but a mask, the mask of the perfect Yamato Nadeshiko, a strong, beautiful and smart woman that walk around the school with a smile and a kind word for everybody".

"I am nothing like that" she hissed, a lone tear menacing to fall from her eyes and Takashi doing the impossible to do not hug her like he wanted.

This was Saeko's confession and he will listen to the end of it; frankly, so far it was way better than he expected, he was internally freaking out about the idea of Saeko abandoning him; her having a mask was something that he could understand very well, he has been doing pretty much the same for years, swallowing his headaches and pains under tons of meds and clenched teeth.

"The Busujima is a family of warriors, samurais that could trace their roots at the beginning of the country, and I had inherited that talent for the sword, I always enjoyed kendo, it was something that I loved and that provided me with a way of letting a lot of my frustration go, but even then, shinais and bokkens were a pale substitute for a blade".

"I liked to have a real sword on my hands, the steel weight and balance is something that I can not but find relaxing and securing, but to be able to use a sword properly, I knew that I needed a lot of practice and discipline, that where my mask as Saeko Busujima was born".

"The smart girl that could defeat anyone at kendo, frankly, I liked the sensations that the duels and tournaments awaken on me, the rush of adrenaline, the emotions of the strikes, the moment of truth were you found an opening in the defenses of your enemy and went for the killing strike, that was the place where I felt more alive".

Smiling with sorrow in her eyes, she looked at Takashi that looked back at her, trying to put as much love and care in her eyes as he could, the sadness and inner pain of the woman was like a knife in his heart too; but he could do nothing at the moment, she needed to let it go, she needed to get it out of her heart and when that happened, Takashi will be there, for what the boy cared, she could be the next anti-Christ and he would love her the same.

"Did I tell you about my first crush?, he was another kendoka, a boy that shared the same likes and who loved kendo too, for a time, I did believe that I was in love with him, but before my heart could settle and I could found a way to convey my feelings for him, something happened, something that made me realize that I was nothing but a monster, how could I confess that I loved him when I was a murderer".

"It happened when I lost track of time in the schools Dojo, I was training along the rest of the team, we had an important tournament in a week and, well, I can see why you were not part of any club; it would be unfair and dangerous; anyhow, Fujimi Academy was always all for the results more than any other thing; that's why Tsunoda and the rest of those buffoons from the football club had such a wide berth, they were actually a solid football team that always managed to achieve good places in all tournaments and events; I am digressing a little, forgive me".

"With the pressure of the tournament, we trained longer and harder than usual, and as Captain of the Kendo team, I had to set an example; before I could realize it, it was late, so I picked up my things and make my way into the train station; that was like, four years ago, in a night near the train station that is nearby the school; a man suddenly grabbed me and pushed me into the backstreet".

"It was clear that he was going to abuse me, but I feel different, I...faked that I was scared, that I feared him, I put him in a place where I could use my shinai in the most effective way; thanks to the teaching I have been receiving all my life, I knew when and where I should hit to cause the maximum damage, swift and easy; I broke his shoulder and arm and I wanted more".

"I wanted more, I swung my shinai once more and broke his jaw; I hit him until he was nothing but a quivering and whimpering piece of bloodied meat in the floor, I would have killed him, if it wasn't from the sudden appearance of a police car; one of the personnel of the train saw the man pushing me into the backstreet and called, the police; they appeared just in time, if not, I would have broken his head with my shinai or would have broken her Adams apple with a single thrust".

"They drive me home, but I only felt elated, I feel alive, I felt great, I wanted more of that sensation, I wanted more, I wanted to go back and this time cut him into pieces with my sword, I wanted him dead at my feet and his blood dripping from my blade. How?, how can I be allowed to love anyone?, when I meet you, I saw something akin to me, but there are differences, you are kind, you are our wolfish angel protector, but me?, I am a monster that took pleasure in the killing, Them are nothing but pieces of meat that I would have gladly cut down...but when I saw the children I trained in my houses Dojo, well, I froze".

"With Them, people are killing each other, but I knew since the beginning that I was still the same, a sword that could only spill blood, that´s the only thing I am worth off".

"Saeko" interrupted the rant of the woman Takashi with a tone that demanded attention "my love, is that all? that is what has been bugging you all this time?".

"All!?" she couldn't but shout the woman at the dismissal "I would have killed a person, I wanted to kill a person, Them are just excuses, convenient excuses so I can swing my sword all I want without worrying about consequences, that's Saeko Busujima true self".

"You would have killed him" stretched the phrase Takashi "I have already killed eight persons and I am not speaking of Them, I killed eight persons before any of Them even show up in Tokonusu".

Saeko shut up, this time she was the one listening to the tale.

"Its no secret that I was involved in some kind of kidnapping attempt that a group of mercenaries made on Saya to hurt her father" shrugged Takashi, that at this point, and in no little part thanks to the Beast, was way beyond any regret of what he did; somebody hurt Saya, somebody ended in the morgue; simply as that.

"And because of that, I ended in the hospital for a couple of days, you have already seen what I can do, how fast do I heal and how strong I am, not to mention my claws; so what do you think it really happened?" snorted Takashi, moving so he could hug the astonished girl, it was mostly for him than for her, he needed his war goddess at his side.

"They ram a van over my, shot a zillion of bullets on me, and when I got up, I run for miles until I found them and butchered them like cattle; in front of the eyes of Saya, that's the only think I believe I regret; my claws can tear steel, human flesh was no rival for them, I rip their head off their bodies, disemboweled them, rip their hearts out of their chests, twist their necks until their necks look like loosen screws and when I put my hands over the asshole that was threatening Saya, I rip her arms off her body".

"You are feeling guilty because you almost commit a murder; that you almost killed the waste of space that almost raped you; I, on the other hand, I am a murderer already, and you know what? if I could have put my hands on that living stain that ambushed you, I would have shoved his own head up his ass".

"I love you Saeko, the Beast inside of me can only drool when we see you fight, when you dance in the middle of the battlefield, smiling and daring any of Them to come and fell under your weapon, I fell in love with you each time you stand at my side, weapon ready and eyes shining in battle lust..."

The next words of Takashi died in his tongue, when Saeko kissed her, putting her tongue inside of his mouth, hugging him, her hands roamed his muscular body, her hips stranding him, rubbing against the growing tent in his boxers that threatens to rip the piece of cloth, as Takashi's manhood was raising in response at the ministrations of Saeko. Mentally sweat dropping, Takashi send it all to hell, and put his hands in the perfect ass of Saeko, guiding the rubbings of the lustful woman and positively making both of them feel really good.

Before they can even think about what the hell has happened, their clothes had disappeared and their grunts and moans echoed in the closed halls of the shrine, like it happened in Rikas house, the passion has taken the control of both teenagers and let them only feel pleasure and their bodies joined together, exploring each other sensitive points and dishing even more pleasure to their partner, until only the pleasure and the lust was the only thing that had place in their brains.

They forgot about their worries, nothing mattered right now, but the person in their arms. For Takashi, the beauty of Saeko went beyond the pale and delicious flesh that squirmed under his fingers and lips, his tongue explored each nook and cranny of her breast and velvet folds, founding that spot that made her moan louder and smile with clenched teeth, unable to focus on anything that it was not the waves of pleasure that came from her groin. For Saeko, it was steel and velvet all in one, like a scabbard of the sword she was, Takashi was strong enough to hold her and at the same time keep her warm, comfortable and protected; each time he thrust in, his manhood filled her to the brim, provoking lewd noises of all kind from her.

Like an addiction, they couldn't get enough from each other, the taste of their lips, the taste of their flesh, the taste of the fluids that the throes of passion provoked when lovers reach the peak of the pleasure; there was something primal in their coupling, something frenzied that force them to go and beyond in the task of pleasuring their partner, although, and once again something unfortunate, as the pleasures of the flesh occupied the night, it was Saeko the one that again and again, had to muffle her screams with the lips of her lover, each time an orgasm hit her brain like the hammer of the gods. She knew that Takashi was experimenting pleasure too, the grunts and how he kept repeating her name like a mantra full of love was an absolute proof, but he has only filled one of the condoms, and even if she was already feeling like fainting by sheer pleasure, there was nothing that indicated that he was going to cum soon.

The lovers keep pleasuring each other, long ago forgotten all worries and thoughts that have been plaguing them during all the long and tiring day; the echoes of flesh against flesh, the wet sound of meat entering in a lubricated space, eager and tight for the entrance of her favorite piece of meat in the entire world; but it has to end at some point, when the passions were sated and the lovers embrace each other for a well-deserved rest.

Sitting on the floor, with his bare back leaning against the altar, Takashi softly caressed the purple locks of Saeko, as the woman sleep, completely exhausted for the long day and the frenzied mating; honestly, considering what they have done; fucking like rabbits would be putting it mildly; that put an end to the events of the day. She was smiling like an angel, happy to actually found a man that could, not only understand her but actually love her with all his heart.

Absently, Takashi looks out for his cigars, there must be somewhere in the backpack, and after trashing a little the contents of the backpack, he finally took a box of it and with the teeth, took one and lighten it with the new candle that he set on the altar of the shrine, after the previous one melted during the time he was making sweet, sweet, love with his lover. He has gotten laid, again, twice in two days, well, it does seem that Karma was actually coming for good in his way; about bloody time. Being with a woman you love was way better than he could imagine, not that he had much to compare in that department, as the only other time that he got laid was so high that he could not remember a thing for his dear life, and even if he found a copy of the video, he would possibly burn it out of embarrassment. Somethings are better cremated and buried, even if the bloody Beast inside of him was patting his back in approval, furry bastard.

Anyhow, it was a good thing Saeko and him have cleaned the air between them, it was clear to Takashi's senses that the woman was worried about something, and he couldn't do a thing until she openly tells him, apart from being there for her and do all he could to keep her safe and happy; pretty much like any person would do for its loved ones. In this zombie nightmare it was even more obvious that he was going to work his ass off to keep his pack safe; even if he knew that they could and will support him, for Takashi it was not a matter of logic, but a matter of heart, much like he almost had a heart attack when Saeko told him about the other guy she loved in the past. That was the moment that really made his heart falter in all the tale; that and the mere idea that a waste of space tried to take advantage of her when she was a fourteen years old, for fucks sake, that was disgusting; he was glad that Saeko defended herself so well, and for what he cared, she should have dispatched that little shit.

Still, the absence of worry about the bloodthirsty personality of Saeko did surprise him a little, in less than a couple of days his personality was doing a one-eighty; he could barely recognize himself sometimes, but the Beast was there, telling him that it was totally normal, the world has gone to hell in a basket and he was adapting, not only to this new ruthless world but to his own, unique, circumstances that made him, truly a one in a million. Being honest, Takashi would have preferred to be a normal teenager, but that line of thought died quickly when Saeko grumbled in her sleep and snuggled into his abs, hugging him like a big plushy.

Yeah, if he was a normal teenager, he would have never survived the bite, neither found his own personal goddess of war; he really should talk with Magnus about the overwhelming emotions that they were experimenting for each other; this was way off the charts, people don't feel in love like this, that's something that only happens in romance novels and the sort, not something that happens in the real world. Zombies or Therianthropes either, but that was a completely different can of worms that Takashi didn't even want to open right now; he had more than enough with his actual problems and responsibilities to ponder about the absurdity of what's happening in the world right now.

A bio-weapon that gone south? fucking magic? he didn't care, he will do all he could to keep his pack safe and in the moving to a safe place.

Perhaps one of the castles in the mountains, those were emptied this time of the year; with luck, there will be some friendly survivors, if there was no luck and were just a bunch of ravagers, he and Magnus would dispatch them quickly and made a living from the fortified place. He was pretty much sure that unless Marikawa-sensei would abandon the pack, Magnus would accompany them whenever they could go.

Takashi feared the older Theriantrope, it was clear that he was a monster in all sense of the world, even if his rantings about being a thousand years old viking were nothing but ramblings, the physical power of the man, the pure, raw, force of his Beast was something that Takashis Beast could recognize and respect; that being told, it was actually a good thing to have someone like him around; he could be an extra pair of hands and could help him to understand his powers better, although the lazy bastard has not done a good job in that department so far.

Perhaps because he could not move freely around Marikawa-sensei, trying to keep his cover until they are reunited with Magnus alpha female, Rika Minami, the roommate of Marikawa-sensei for years and possibly her best friend since the university. Anyhow, it was unfairly convenient for the man, to just lazy around in his furry form, just keeping Marikawa-sensei safe and accompanied; not that the older Therianthrope did not trust in Takashi's pack, otherwise he would not have allowed Marikawa-sensei to move with them, but it was clear what his priorities are, and now that Takashi had his own pack and Alpha female, he could understand it perfectly well. He would burn the world thrice times to keep any member of his pack safe; it was a feral, animal-like instinct that erupted from his very soul, both man and Beast united in that sentiment.

Speaking of the devil, lately, the Beast and him had started to become more and more united in their purpose, the first time, they were at odds, cooperating but with different points of view; now they were slow but steady acting like in unison and seeing the results, it was clear that it was a good thing; another thing that he had to run with Magnus as soon as he could have a chat with the tall man; even if his human form, Magnus was a monster of a man of eight feet, and a body that could leave a bodybuilder like a slender ballerina; Takashi hoped he would not become like that, he was perfect as he was right now.

He let a cloud of smoke float in the air of the room, taking good care of do not bother Saeko as she slept, last thing she need was to breath the smoke and awake in a coughing fit; but Takashi felt like he needed a cigar, and thanks to his awesome healing factor or whatever the hell made him heal from everything at astonishing speeds, he would never have to worry about any lung problems for his little smoking habits. It started as way to dull his senses enough for him to act like any other person and do not have a massive migraine for the rush of information, but at the time passed it became more than just an excuse and became a habit; thanks to his powers stabilizing themselves finally, he kept smoking in a lot lesser quantities, more for habit and taste than for real need. And these cigars were actually pretty good, who knew, Rika and he shared the same tobacco brand.

He eyed the two used condoms that were tossed to the sides, he had only cum twice during all the love making, not that he did not put all on his part, but he had to be careful or he could hurt Saeko if he grabbed her to strongly or thrust too hard into her, broking her pelvis or wounding the insides of her vagina with his brutal penetrations; good thing the condoms were extra forte and thick; Rika knew what she did when she bought that brand, after all, Takashi has picked up an entire box of condoms from one of the pharmacies, the same brand that he used in Rikas house; if the woman had those around was because it was perfect for rutting with a Theriantrope.

However, it was clear that at this rate, Saeko is going to kill herself by trying to keep her pace in the bed; for once, his physical enhancements were not as cool as they sound, with a stamina like his he could be at it for hours and Saeko, despite her eagerness, could not; perhaps if she was enhanced too, or she was another Theriantrope, that would be an entirely different story, however, Theriantropes are born not done; anyhow, there could be a way to enhance her so she could be safer in the field and keep up with him in the bed.

That or adding more women to the bed…and there go all the ideas of Takashi of actually starting to be eye to eye with his Beast.

He had not a harem, and then he remembered the conversation with Kohta the previous night and almost choked with his cigar; why on earth was his life that complicated?, he was happy with Saeko, he was going to be loyal to her, no matter what. Still, Takashi would admit that Yuuki open flirtatiousness with him and her boldness was something that enticed him, not to mention how Kyoko-sensei has been one of his oldest crushes; the redhead woman, even in his thirties was an absolute bombshell that starred a lot of wet dreams of Takashi, when his Beast and him were practically at war every night. Thing is that he would recognize that, as any normal, hormonal, teenager, he had a lot of crushes and felt, indeed, attracted to the female form; but one thing was that and other completely different was to cheat on Saeko, he will neuter himself with his own claws before that.

The Beast concurred with Takashi, that shocked him, but added that perhaps it would not be a problem, if the ladies simply shared him; after all, he was the Alpha of the pack, and Magnus has already explained to him that the libido of a Therianthrope was always off the charts, add that to his own teenager status and it was a bloody miracle that he has been enduring it for so long; of course, founding a soul mate like Saeko was worth of it, a thousand times.

Snorting inside his mind at the thoughts of the Beast, even if he was starting to get problems to differentiate one from the other, but from time to time, the damned furry had to open his mouth and drop a pearl, like these; well, not exactly, the Beast did not spoke, just imagine or send thoughts into the mans mind...it was fucking complicate and truth to be told, Takashi didn't give two craps about how did the system works, it was like that, period. There were better things to do, like cuddling with his amazingly beautiful mate.

And he proceeded to do exactly that.

Even if they were in a safe place and still high in post coital happiness, at the night passed, Takashi, whose senses were way over the human limits, couldn't but pick up subtle sounds here and there; his nose was still a little clogged with the smell of sex that practically permeated the room, but his ears and eyes were more than enough to keep him in alert, just in case some of Them wanted to play and managed to enter into the inner shrine and screw up their night, for the boy was a tense night; going in and off of sleep at the sounds that the night carried.

From the whisper of the wind over the leafs, the sudden and far away groans and shuffle of feet, the occasional sound of metal or plastic cracking; the fence of the nearby house clacking against his lock after Them entered in it, fires in the distance, still burning from the madness of this last two days. At some point he was convinced that he eared gunfire; possibly another survivor trying to live another day.

When they were on Rikas house, he saw a lot of deaths from the balcony, some of them were armed people that were surrounded and bitten to shreds, it was more than probable that his ears were picking up that kind of sounds; he could always pinpoint Saeko with his senses, her smell was something that he could not block; nor that he wanted to do it; and right now, his nose was practically drowning itself in her post coital smell, her sweet sweat and spicy release was; despite how strange and disgusting that it could sound; something that boggled Takashis mind, fortunately, his eyes could wander from her gorgeous sleeping from to the upper windows of the shrine and his ears were more than capable that listen to her deep and relaxed respiration and at the same time, pick up all the aforementioned signals from his surroundings.

Who would have thought that at some point he would be glad of having such sharp senses? when he has been all his infant and teenager years suffering constant pains from those same enhanced senses that right now were the perfect blessing to keep his pack safe and sound.

His body was still a little sore and tired, in part from the beating and damages he got from that abomination at the river little island where it attacked them, and in part for the aftermath and the savage rutting with Saeko; he could be a stamina freak but he has painfully discovered his limits and how he was notable more resilient to the infection that he thought he was. Still, he was not deluding himself, when he battled that abomination, it was clear for his Beast and him, that it was another Therianthrope, and that means that he could transform into one of Them, it was only needed more bites than usual. Takashi didn't want to know how on earth did that Therianthrope transformed, but his Beast was sure that he was after him and Saeko, he was after Theriantrope blood and female flesh; who knows why or for what, but the thing was after their throats with all he had.

Fortunately they killed the abomination together, ideally, Takashi would have love to torch that thing apart, just in case his healing factor managed to save his...well, un-life or whatever the hell the thing that transforms people into Them did, the last thing they needed was a hungry thing like that after his packs ass; it has been hard enough to deal with one, a pack of those things would be material for enough nightmares. That lead to the question of why has he been able to fight the infection?, why did the other Theriantrope turn and why Takashi did not?; for the moment, and at risk of sound bigoted, it was a matter of lineage; Magnus has already told Takashi of his exceptional breeding, something that surprised him a lot, consider that his family was fairly average; relatively well connected and wealthy; otherwise he would not have been attending Fujimi Academy, but nothing that out of the ordinary; if his parents knew anything about Theriantropes they would have helped him during all the years he passed suffering, not understanding what the heck was wrong with him.

Not his brightest moment but there was nothing he could about it, or would have been, if there was another friendly Theriantrope in the surroundings; key word, friendly, the only other Theriantropes Takashi has ever met in his life were the bastard that almost ripped him a new one when he was nothing but a child, and Magnus, that so far has been tremendously helpful, even if he was a lazy and cocky bastard half of the time the other a lazy and cocky big dog that swag his tail after Marikawa-sensei. On a side note, and as a fellow hot-blooded male, Marikawa-sensei, truly was an angel on earth.

As the night passed, and Takashi put off the last bit of the cigar, joining Saeko for a tense sleep; at last for him, she was sleeping with a satisfied expression that made Takashi really proud; and keep resting as much as he could, he knew that the horrors have not even begun to get hardcore, if the encounter with the abomination was an indicator; following and old saying, what happened once, could happen twice; so Takashi rested as much as he could, waiting for the morning sun and ready for anything the would could throw at him this time.

Still, he believed the Abomination was a little too much, he should have known better, to never, ever mess with Karma, god or whoever was the Joker that was running this show, as usual, everybody was so fucking scared, that everyone has forgotten how does one laugh.

Inevitably, morning came, the sun filtered through the open spots in the shrine, something that helped to clear the air from the inside; it would be logical after all the incense and all things that were usually used during all kind of ceremonies; Takashi was not precisely the most faithful of the persons, so he had not much an idea of how did it work apart from what he saw on TV. The day started with a slightly chilling breeze, not really a surprise considering the season of the years, but it would soon change into a sunny day; or at last that was what the Forecast said in the TV; soon it would be harder to get some nice digs from the incoming winter, Tokonusu was a city that had blizzards from time to time and without a proper heating system, it could be dangerous for the pack.

The sun started to filter into the inner temple, bathing the sleeping naked teenager with their rays and making Takashi open an eye, to observe the soft yellow rays of sunshine slip inside and over their bodies; at some point during the tense sleep that he took, he moved and snuggled closely to Saeko, that hugged his waist and adorably drooled a little over his abs; swallowing a laugh with a choked snort, she was bloody adorable when she was like this, resting in his lap, sharing her warmth with him; in any other circumstances, Takashi would be more than happy that stay like this forever, but they had to reunite with the rest of the pack, that was waiting for them at Takagi State.

If Takashi was right, it was not a long walk from here, the shrine was relatively close to Sayas house, but the real problem was the hordes of Them that would be in their way, Takashi was not in the mood for losing hours by cleaving a path in the middle of Them, that would be only a drag and would call the attention of even more of those bastards into the nearby state. If what Takashi suspected, judging from the team that helped his pack in the metal fence, the state would be filled to the brim with survivors, all under the big shadow of Sayas father; and that was the problem in Takashi's mind, Soichiro Takagi was practically a bloody modern shogun, he was not one to care three fucks about people under him, unless they were his valuable retainers, namely, those that serve under his banner.

Okay, Takashi could be a little hypocritical here, specially considering that he would torch the world in kerosene with a smile, if any of his pack was harmed, however, he was not entirely a monster, if he could give a hand and means no harm to his pack, then he would have no problems in doing it, but, he had the nagging suspicion in the back of his mind, that was going to butt heads with Shoichiro Takagi. There can not be two alphas in the same pack, Magnus did not count and he was not part of Takashi's pack and was only there because he was following Marikawa-sensei; Takashi was happy to have the older Therianthrope around?, yes, would the older Therianthrope do shit for his pack?, tricky question, he would defend the pack if that means Marikawa-sensei would be safer.

Theriantrope mentality in all its glory, but, for Takashi it was not a bad thing, practically the entire world would be slowly turning into that mindset, getting back to a more primal and savage mindset, specially when the commodities that the entire modern world give for granted started to fail miserably; running water, electricity, heating, those kinds needs a lot of maintenance, and the workers that keep that things running and well, have families and would prefer to be with their families than risk their necks for nothing, in the factories that it would be more than probable that would be plagued with Them. It was a problem for a later date, but Takashi would enjoy the commodities as long as they last.

"Waky, Waky, sleepyhead" whispered Takashi to Saeko as he rubbed her chin, it was morning and they should be on the move, there was a lot of terrains to cover and the advantage of sunlight was too good to waste it, Takashi had enhanced senses, Saeko did not.

"Uh, morning my love" she yawned cutely and stretched, allowing Takashi to have forever engraved in his mind, one of the most beautiful sights he has seen in his entire life, good thing his morning wood was already deflated or it would be at full mast with the image.

"Morning, Saeko" smiled Takashi as inside his mind, he and his Beast were drooling a river "come on love, we have to reunite with the rest of the pack".

Quickly dressing and repacking all the things they used during their stay at the shrine, Saeko and Takashi discovered a couple of things that did miss during the night; there was an inner room, with a bed that they could have used, and there was a real blade resting in the main shrine; when Takashi saw the sword, he immediately picked it up, Saeko did need a new weapon after her bokken was broken against the abomination of the river, and this blade, seriously hoping it was not some kind of ceremonial blade with no real use, would do it nicely.

Reuniting with his lover in the wooden entrance, Takashi offered the blade to Saeko who eyed it with surprise, not expecting to find a real sword anywhere close and practically resigning herself to the crowbar she found among the things that Takashi picked up in his backpack.

"Use it, Saeko," said Takashi offering the blade to her that extended her hand but doubted "you need a real blade, you need a weapon to defend yourself against Them".

With a sad and warm smile, Saeko picked up the blade and examined the edge, much to her surprise it was a perfectly functional weapon with a blade more than capable to cut flesh and bones; that was incredible unusual here, weapons like this are not abandoned like this, much less in a place like Japan with severe anti-weapons laws, but perhaps it was a ceremonial blade or the blade of the family that took care of the shrine; she felt conflicted as she knew that what she was doing was not the most honorable thing, but alas, survival comes at a great cost and she hoped the real owners of the blade would ever forgive them for stealing the beautiful sword.

With a push, Takashi opened the wooden doors of the temple, letting both of them exit from the inside to the clean and fresh air of the morning, smiling at the sun, Takashi stretched and soon frowned with the smells and sounds of a dozen of Them filled his nose and ears; they were in the stairs and sides of the shrine, how on earth had they managed to get so close that something that worried and annoyed Takashi a lot. He was about to claw them to Kingdom come but then he noticed that Saeko was eying the shrine priest girl, obviously one of Them; it was surely the one that lived in the dojo and now, Saeko was carrying her weapon.

Embracing Saeko, much to her surprise and no little arousal, Takashi grabbed her by the breast and the waist, fangs in the open and his breath softly whispering in her ears.

"Saeko, I fell in love with both of you, the woman I meet at Fujimi and the goddess of war that fight at my side" he said "I will love you the same, now, I want to see and feel in love, again, with the woman that dances in the battlefield, whose blade is so mesmerizing that I can not get my eyes out of her; you are my Alpha woman Saeko, nothing would ever change that, no matter how much blood do you have in your hands, I will be at your side".

Letting her go, Saeko turned around and kissed Takashi, this time with a determined and warm smile, the smiled of a lover.

"Thank you, my love," she said, before stepping into the open yard of the temple and put her hands on the handle of the katana at her waist.

Takashi knew that Saeko was good with a sword, he has already seen her as she trained and despite not having a lot of knowledge in martial arts, his Beast was more than enough to tell him that she knew her work around a blade; her posture, her breathing, the tensing of her muscles, everything was coordinating to perform flawlessly; but one thing was to see her swinging around a piece of wood or bamboo; like the bookens and shinais are made off; and another thing entirely was to see her unleashing all her repressed desires to battle with a real, sharp blade in hand.

It was not mesmerizing, it was like seeing a force of nature at work; taking a step back, as the few of Them that has escalated the stairs were converging around Saeko, Takashi observer his Alpha woman deal with those nuisances, she was exactly what he expected he was; comparing her with a goddess of battle was not entirely out of the table, not to mention that for Takashi, Saeko was Aphrodite and Athena all in one; her body was made of temptation and her blade was made of war; each swing was a casualty, never losing the wide smile in her mouth, with her eyes, slightly glassed from the release of her darkest instincts of cut and slash at these things.

But for Saeko, there was a bonus that was better than any other thing in the world, and it was the presence of her lover behind her; not scared, not disgusted, loving her as much as he did before he need her thirst for blood and battle, now that was high that she was drowning herself in, her katana beheaded another one of Them, sending the head spiraling down the stairs, she kicked the body out the way before slicing the head of another one of Them into two parts, recovering her blade, she dodged and stabbed the back of the head of the third one of her victims.

It was clear that she was toying with all of Them, the dozen or so of those things that had stumbled upon the stairs were unable to surround her, she moved; or danced in the eyes of Takashi; out of their reach, only her blade meeting their attacks and they were chopped into pieces with each counterattack of Saeko, losing pieces of their bodies as she dealt with Them in an efficient and quick manner.

Takashi, on the other hand, was gladly enjoying the spectacle, both him and the Beast were ogling the gorgeous woman as she cut and cleave a path among Them, both human and the Beast shared the same thought, that they were indeed lucky in the love department, being able to fall in love with such an exceptional woman like Saeko; she was all their prayers made flesh; a worthy Alpha woman indeed, not to mention her supposed dark side or some among those lines was something that neither the Beast, nor the man gives a fuck about; he had his own demons to deal with but it was good to know that his Alpha woman understood how sometimes, blood must be spilled for the safety of the pack.

Sitting on his haunches, with the tongue out of his mouth and panting like a dog in heat, Takashi wagged his tail, enraptured by the sight of her Alpha woman battle lust.

"Wait a bloody second….what?" thought Takashi, when he repaired that he was now, a seven feet tall wolf of black fur, sitting on the stone of the open yard, with his fluffy tail waggling in content.

"Oh, well, this is unexpected..." thought the boy in his mind.