Chapter Five- The Pack Attack

"Adam, how could you have done all this?" Teela demanded as Adam approached the cell all four were in. She was human again, seeing as she was talking.

He looked at all of them to see they all had looks of anger or betrayal on their faces. "You think I had control over any of this?" he snapped, which was unlike him. "I had no idea what I was doing and I learned about each attack after the fact!"

"But, you've sided with Skeletor! Surely, you're aware of that!?"

"Of course I am! I regret killing Mother. You would think Father would forgive me since I didn't know what I was doing! Instead, he wanted to imprison me and was willing to have the guards kill me if I fought back! What would you have done?"

"I would have told somebody before all this happened," Teela said quietly.

"I tried to." Adam shifted his gaze to Man-At-Arms. "I was about to tell you, Duncan, but then Skeletor used telepathy to order me to tell no one."

Duncan's eyes widened slightly, Adam's strange actions from that day suddenly making sense. He had no idea the depth of Skeletor's control over the prince. And us too, now, he realized. It's possible that Skeletor ordered Adam the other night and he attacked on a subconscious level. It's not luck that we survived; we were mean to be left alive.

"Adam, you don't need to keep serving Skeletor. Let us out and we can go hide somewhere," Man-At-Arms said. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Perhaps the Sorceress can lift the spell."

He whispered back, "It's not a spell, it's a curse that only grows stronger. There's nowhere to hide. Skeletor would find us and order us to return." He then turned and headed upstairs, ignoring Teela and Duncan's calls. He was convinced of what he had just said. The curse had started off weak, but as Skeletor issued more orders, particularly ones that had him transform, the curse grew in strength. After the first full moon, the curse was unbreakable and caused the seeds of evil within him to grow. He couldn't go back to what he was; Skeletor was king and he would continue to rule even if Adam sat on the throne; he would rule through the new king.

But, right now, I wonder when Skeletor will have a mission for me and the others. I'm interested to see how the other look as wolves, except for Teela, not to mention how destructive they'll be. I feel it would be in their best interest to embrace their wolf side and the fact that evil is in control.

Teela paced the cell near the door, Man-At-Arms leaning against one wall and the guards sitting in the back against the wall. The guards looked despondent and Teela wanted to tell them that everything wasn't hopeless, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. Her own thoughts were whirling. She remembered being in the Throne Room, prepared to fight Skeletor and then the next thing she knew, she was waking up on the floor of a cell with her father and the guards. It was her father who told her that she had become a wolf and led everyone to the dungeon because Skeletor had ordered her to do so.

"And I obeyed?" she had asked in horror.

"You did."

"But, how did I become a wolf?"

"Because Adam bit us. I'm sure Skeletor had ordered him to and Adam remembered those orders on some subconscious level."

Her hand drifted to her arm as she recalled the conversation. The bite mark had faded twenty-four hours after the attack, but it was clear that the curse had already taken hold. They were werewolves who would obey Skeletor whether they wanted to or not. The only questions were when was Skeletor going to call on them, where they were going to go and what would they do, even though they wouldn't remember it.

A few hours later, Adam descended to the dungeon, Skeletor's latest plan still ringing in his mind. He was to take his group to Moragore where his master would order them via telepathy to transform and attack. While Teel and the others ravaged the kingdom, Adam was to go to the palace and bite the prince. Evil-Lyn had just put a temporary spell on Adam that would allow him to curse someone outside the full moon. It would wear off at dawn the next day so Adam couldn't delay.

He reached the cell to find its occupants all standing still and staring at him blankly. It was clear that Skeletor had just ordered them to follow him. He opened the door and started back upstairs. He glanced back to see them following him; just as Skeletor had commanded. He got all of them into a Wind Raider and took off for Moragore. He parked the Raider at the edge of the kingdom as the sun was setting. He watched the sunset and once the sky had grown dark, he heard Skeletor's voice. "Transform and attack!"

Adam promptly changed forms and watched as his pack changed. Teela was once again a coal-black werewolf. Man-At-Arms was becoming a dark red werewolf, and the guards were both gray werewolves. Adam howled and the others responded in turn before running into the kingdom, growling and snarling. Adam took a moment to savor the screams he heard before setting out for the palace.

He burst through the front doors and was confronted by four guards. He wasted no time in clawing them to death before ramming open the Throne Room doors. Another pair of guards were present and behind them was the prince. He snarled loudly before leaping to land in front of the guards and slashing open their throats in just a few seconds. He bounded toward the prince, grabbed him by the arms, shoved him up against the wall, and then lanced forward and bit the shoulder, piercing through the cloth and hitting flesh. The prince cried out and Adam knew he succeeded. The prince had broken a different kind of curse that Skeletor had put on him before, but this time there would be no breaking it. On the next full moon, the prince would transform and run wild. Skeletor would not control the prince, but let him live his life as a ruler who becomes a vicious monster every full moon.

Adam pulled back, the prince sinking to his knees and clutching his wound. He dropped to his hands and paws and sprinted away at high speed. He returned to the Raider, straightened up, and let out a loud howl to call his pack back to him. A few minutes later, they came running up to him. He led them to a well-concealed cave nearby where they all fell asleep. Adam hoped they wouldn't wake before he did and take off in the Raider, leaving him abandoned. It was his last thought before sleep overtook him.

Teela awoke to filtered sunlight on her face. She opened her eyes and blinked at the light. She looked around in confusion. She was in a cave with her father and the guards asleep on the floor. She looked at the cave opening to see Adam awake and sitting sideways. He glanced over at her and said softly, "Good morning."

She got to her feet, went over to him, and sat down. "Adam, where are we? What happened? Last thing I remember, I was in the palace dungeon."

"Yeah, well. Skeletor ordered you to follow me. I brought us to Moragore. You and the others transformed as did I and while you attacked the kingdom, I bit the prince."

"You what!?" she exclaimed. "You bit the prince!?"

Adam grinned with pleasure. "I did. Normally, I could only infect someone during the full moon, but Evil-Lyn put a temporary spell on me to curse the prince outside the full moon. The spell's worn off now, but I've already done my job. The prince will live as a ruler who will become a wild, vicious monster every full moon and Skeletor will not control him."

"How can you remember what you did last night?" came Man-At-Arms' voice.

"Because I've accepted my wolf's destructive nature. I still won't remember what I do on the full moon though. That will never change."