Of Humans and Wolves

By: Dog-Demon-Emiko

Chapter 2: Stray

Stealth missions usually are not my strong point. Being a wolf, I was a predator. But being a wolf sniper was special talents I didn't have, so I let Clay lead. The scent he was following was barely noticeable to me, which was odd, since I have the best nose out of the entire pack. But he was following the scent of female, something I've never smelled before, therefore, I had no idea what I was looking for. I didn't say all of that to him though. A girl needs her pride.

Clay had taken the time to Change, just in case the female wasn't friendly. In human form, I was far more vulnerable if my enemy was in wolf form. I wasn't really in the mood to get mauled tonight. I was the better negotiator anyway. Clay lacked the people skills needed to pass that test.

We tracked for almost three miles when Clay slowed to a stop. His entire body posture fixed dead ahead. I crouched next to him, a bit clumsy, and looked. There, about twenty yards away, was what we had been tracking. I held my breath at the site of her face. She was young, very young, maybe 15 or 16 years old. She had long deep red hair and light eyes. From the distance I couldn't tell what color they were. Her skin was pale and her clothes were dirty and torn.

Clay flicked me with his tail, making me glance at him. He was walking away, his tail low. That was sort of his way of saying 'stay here, I'm going to go hide somewhere'. In human form, I wasn't sure how good I'd be at finding him later, but I'd try. I waited a good five minutes, plenty of time for him to get opposite me of the mutt. All the while, I watched her.

She was odd. She simply sat there, against a tree, slightly falling asleep. And she was indeed a mutt too. It was survival 101 never to fall asleep in an open space. She obviously hasn't been turned for very long, which would lead to another question- Who turned her?

About two more minutes passed. I backed away a good twenty feet and stood, beginning to walk over to her. I tried to make as much noise as would make sense. Her head jerked up to the sound and her eyes darted my way. I pretended to be surprised to see her. I gave a small smile and made my way slowly over to her.

"Hello. I'm-" In a flash of dirt, she was gone, bounding off to where Clay was waiting. I bounded off after her, driving her towards the ambush I knew was up ahead. Suddenly, she darted left about twenty feet from Clay's position. With the agility of a Thompson's Gazelle, she was off; bounding through brush and undergrowth. Clay sprang up from his position and gave her a wide berth. Even with it, she sensed him, and ended up taking another left, going back towards our original site. Her turns were so sharp that I nearly slid into a tree trying to keep up. She wasn't running like prey, she was running like another predator. At this rate, it would end up being who ever tired out first. We needed to get her scared.

"Clay!" I called. I didn't need to look at him to know he heard me. As usual when hunting, he seemed to know what I was saying. Over our foot falls and breathing, I could hear the traffic of the street by the diner. We were getting too close to the edge.

Clay caught up to about ten feet from the mutt before leaping, sailing through the air to land with his front paws on her shoulders. He veered off to the side with the jump so he didn't crush her while still sending her down. As soon as she hit the ground I leapt on her, covering her mouth with my hand and digging my fingers into the pressure points on the back of her neck. She gave a high whimper before she went limp. After I checked her pulse rate, I looked up to find Clay. He was still pulling on his shirt as he came over to us.

"She can't even be any older then eighteen," he observed. He leaned in close to her and inhaled delicately.

"What the hell was she doing out there though?" I asked as I pulled out my cell phone. I dialed one of the very few numbers in the phone book.

"Elena?" His voice sounded a tad concerned. Jeremy was never concerned.

"Yea Jer," I greeted. "You'll never guess what I have here."

"Look Elena I told him that he couldn't go. I tried taking the house keys but-"

"I'm not talking about Clay, he's been with me all day!" I growled. There was a pause.

"So what did you find?" Wow, that was a quick recovery.

"A mutt." I guess waiting for him to ask me would make it seem more dramatic.

"You're there to find a mutt so I'm guessing this is another?" He was trying to understand. I'd give him an A for effort.

"Yes, and David Tyrinson is dead. He was...uncooperative."

"Understandable." I looked down at the girl laying in my lap. She had a pink scar over her left eye. From the looks of the scar, the wound had been deep when she had gotten it. Could she still use that eye?

"The mutt is a female," I said. I waited.

"Tame?" This caught me off guard, and it took a moment for me to realize what he was asking. The only time Jeremy had ever used the word "tame" was when he was describing Clay's childhood.

"More like intelligent," and it was true. She didn't seem feral, just predatory.

"Sedate her, and bring her here." Jeremy was just full of surprises today.

"To Stonehaven? For what exactly?"

"Elena, someone bit that girl, and whoever did it will be doing it again. We need to know who and stop it now." I could see what he was saying. It took some other kind of strength to survive the transformation. Only about three out of every ten people bitten will turn. We have no idea why, but because of the risk of human science finding the bodies, we didn't want to find out.

"What if she stayed out here?" My independent woman nature was kicking in. Apart of me only saw that Jeremy wanted to protect her because she was a girl. I was still in the process of teaching him that having a penis doesn't make you stronger.

"No Elena, bring her here." And he hung up. I stared at the phone before hanging it up as well.

"He seems to be on a short fuse," I commented, as I helped Clay put the girl on his back. I tried to position her so that it looked as though she was simply sleeping on his back. His nose wrinkled.

"Her breath stinks of old blood," he remarked. For her sake, I hoped it wasn't human blood. The killing of a human is a death sentence among us.

We tromped back to the car without much of a hassle. We put her into the back of the truck under the visor. Clay started to pick up rope from the box I kept in the back.

"Do you really think that's necessary?" I asked.

"What if she wakes and shifts?" He asked, his voice patient. Clay's voice being patient is a sign that I was being stupid. So what if I was?

"Put her in the back seat with a seat belt on and tie her hands together. But lay her down over her hands so if we get pulled over she doesn't look like a hostage." He looked at me for a moment and then did as I asked. I secured her in as he tied her hands. We laid her across the seat, laying on head on a sweatshirt found on the floor and put her hands underneath the makeshift pillow. I got into the drivers seat and Clay into the passenger. I waited my turn to get back into traffic and took the highway back to New York.