Chapter 4. What I Promise
"This is what I brought you. This you can keep. This is what I brought. You may forget me. I promise you my heart just promise to sing kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep"
-A Fire Inside, "Prelude 12/21"
The wolf felt the shot before she had. The bullet grazed her shoulder and the wound that resulted stung and itched. Silver! Instinctively, Canis turned, leaping away as she did so. She snarled toward her enemy. It wasn't Bane, she already knew. No, this enemy was one that'd been trailing her for quite some time now.
He was a hunter she knew only by the name of Conn. He wore a long coat similar to Bane's only it was black. His dark hair was graying with age and lack of sleep. In his hands was a double barreled shotgun and at his side a large black Labrador-pit bull mix. Snarling, the dog ran at her.
Canis was at a double disadvantage. Her shoulder was gravely injured and she couldn't shift. Still, she'd strive to defeat this enemy. She snarled back and readied herself to attack. When the dog was close enough, the She Wolf took over. Her fangs and claws sprung and Canis attacked back like the wolf she was. The dog tumbled into her, causing them to roll. The dog had her pinned to the ground, trying for her throat. If it hadn't been for Bane's coat, it would've succeeded. Taking advantage, Canis held the dog's jaw, threatening to split its head that way. Another shot rang out, distracting her, and the dog released itself from her hold, dived in and latched on to the coat, trying to tear it off. Furious now, Canis balled her fists, claws and all, up and gave the dog a knock off blow to the side. No one was going to take this coat from her! With the dog off its feet, Canis dived down on it, biting its thick neck.
Another shot hit her in the back and Canis was forced to let go, whimpering in terrible pain. The silver was taking effect. She was weakening by the minute, her energy fading fast. Breathing became hard and her vision faded in and out of focus. She was going to die; she could feel it. But her only thought was to protect the coat, to protect the only piece she had of her nemesis. Canis wasn't sure why she felt a need to defend it. She didn't understand it, but still she did it. Canis removed the coat, stained red in some places with her blood, held it close and gave it one last sniff. Mixed with a part of her, it was sweet and no longer in a sickly way…
Conn had run off while Bane took care of the dog. With some effort, he'd broken its neck and now it was just a heap of flesh and bone. He'd get Conn another day. If anyone was going to destroy the wolf, it was him. But now, she was severely injured. Lupinotuum were highly allergic to silver and if the bullets weren't extracted in time, she would be dead and what fun would that be? But one gesture caught his eye: His coat, wrapped in her arms protectively and her face practically hidden in it. She'd been protecting it, but why?
"You are a strange one, Pequeña Lupa. You truly are. But I'm not gonna let you die…not yet at least. At the full moon and at you're strongest, then we shall fight" Bane carefully scooped her up and carried back to the sewers where hopefully he could save her life and keep her safe until she was strong again…
He'd done his research on werewolves. He found them fascinating. Gordon closed the webpage he was reading from and leaned back in his chair, exhausted and mind overloaded with new information. He knew the basics, like the repulsion to silver and changing during the full moon. But he hadn't known about the repulsion to wolf's bane, which actually had several effects on werewolves from paralysis to poison. Werewolves also hated fire and couldn't stay in bright light very long. They could survive a few weeks without hunting on nights when a moon was present, so at the new moon they were weak and needed to hunt. But one grisly detail caught his attention.
When a werewolf is first turned by a bite, they had to eat a human or madness would ensue and they'd become man eaters anyway. Gordon had been right in his assumption about the venom. If a werewolf put enough of their saliva into a person, the venom would overload the person's bodily systems, making it shut down like a poison would. But to turn a person, the werewolf had to bite, but not kill. In that case all they'd have to do is coat their fangs in saliva and bite down, their fangs acting as a sort of syringe. The left shoulder was the most common place to bite, since it was an easy target and close to the heart, where the venom could be pumped faster into the bloodstream. The transformation is almost immediate, but it could take hours before the venom fully overtakes one's system.
The werewolf had bitten those men to kill…But hadn't eaten them. Obviously it wasn't a man eater. But then why was it here if not for prey or hunting ground? What could it possibly want? Gordon read that they often hid in the city to avoid hunters in certain areas, while others just pass through looking for more hunting ground. While still more they go in search of other pack members or mates. Still a cause for worry. Whoever this was, they needed to be hunted down and fast.
But still…there hadn't been another attack in almost a week. Maybe the wolf had already gone…Still, Gordon wasn't gonna take a chance. He'd keep an eye and ear out for suspicious activity and soon enough he'd advise Batman to do the same…
Author's note: Wow, my first note since starting this. And let me tell you guys, I am overwhelmed by the amount of support I got. 17 followers! Wow! That may not seem like a lot, but it's 17 reasons for me to keep at this. For all those who are following, reviewing, and favoring this, I appreciate it soooooo much! When I opened my email this morning I couldn't believe I had 17 people following this story, which I didn't expect people to like at all. So thank you guys. And I know someone doesn't like it, saying it's unoriginal, but really I don't care what you think. I work hard on this story, posting a new chapter, sometimes two, every night. So hate if you're gonna hate. Don't like don't read simple as that. Anyway, like said, to those of you who are backing this story 110% thank you. Thank you so much and I'll try my hardest to make this one awesome story . Stay cool
-the Hellhound