Wolf Moon

AhmoseInarus

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, nor do I make any profit off of writing this.

SLASH WARNING! Hotch / Reid

Written for the Chit Chat on Author's Corner Halloween Horrors Challenge. The moderators supplied a number of titles of the novels of the Master of Horror himself, Stephen King. We were to pick any title and write a fic using that as the prompt. I chose, "Cycle of the Werewolf"

Chapter 30

The silvery crescent moon sent a gentle, ethereal glow over the forest. The trees seemed to shiver in delight as the cool wind caressed their branches. Crickets sang, and an owl silently glided overhead. But suddenly, a small herd of deer charged through the trees, long elegant leaps carrying them yards with every bound, their tails up and ears erect. There was danger behind them, and while it was not pursuing them, they didn't plan to tempt fate.

Behind them, in a meadow where they would have ventured to eat, the peace of the forest was lost. The tension hung thick on the air as wolves prowled about, staring at two, monstrous figures circling one another in the middle of the clearing. They were covered in fur, with paws and tails, claws and sharp teeth, but they moved erect on their hind legs. Half man, half beast, the werewolves were preparing for battle. The taller of the pair was male, and had chestnut brown fur that faded to cream on his belly. The smaller, obviously female, was jet black.

For a moment all was still, the wind ruffling their fur. But then, the female let out a furious shriek and launched herself at the taller male. The wolves howled their excited encouragement, all wanting to see the brown Timber Wolf go down under the jaws of the black alpha female. But they all got a shock. As Noriko came at Reid, teeth ready, he balled up his fist and—

CRACK!

"AI!" Noriko yelped as she hit the ground and rolled, stumbling to her feet and putting her hand to her jaw, staring at Reid with wide eyes.

"Now THAT'S what I'm talkin about!" Morgan blurted. "Just how I taught him!"

"What was THAT?!" Noriko blurted, looking stunned and confused. Reid just gave a dark grin, raising his fists.

"We are both man, and wolf." He stated, his voice still rough with the ever present growl that had not stopped since he had bayed his challenge to the moon. "And so we will fight as such."

Noriko was looking aggravated now, but she could not refuse the terms. "… FINE." She snapped, and lunged. Reid danced aside, nimble as could be, clearly more familiar with his halfway form than Noriko, and Hotch was glad that he had made Reid run through the woods like that. Reid spun, lifting his knee and—

WHAM!

"HUKK!" Noriko gasped as his knee went straight into her stomach, but then came the roar and she felt the burning sensation of teeth slashing open her shoulder.

"Oh my God…" Emily gasped, watching as the pair suddenly became a flurry of snapping teeth and vicious claws.

"ARP!" Reid yelped as her fist came up under his chin, bringing his jaws together with a teeth rattling clip. He fell back and she pursued, but he seized her wrists and buried his knee into her gut again, rolling back and flinging her. And as she sailed through the air, he twisted over onto his belly and launched himself after her with a roar of anger and hate…

"I'll kill you, you bitch!" His wrathful voice filled the clearing. "You're PATHETIC! NOTHING!"

And then the other wolves began to speak the words with shock…

"Alpha Swing!" Cried one of them, and Noriko froze, eyes wide. She saw the male wolf come at her, with speed beyond that he should have possessed, and she realized with a sinking feeling that the other wolves were right. Her opponent was no omega, now that she really looked. He was indeed acting, and moving, like an alpha.

"Oh no…" She barked. "You may be in an Alpha Swing, but you're STILL AN OMEGA! AND YOU'LL STILL DIE!"

"Not if I kill you first!" Reid shot back, raising his fists and sending Noriko stumbling back with one, two, three punches to the head, and Reid pursued with teeth. The pair became a whirlwind of teeth and claws again, trying to land the most damaging blows as they could. Both were fast and agile. Noriko was smaller, and so she was slightly more maneuverable than Reid, but he was clearly more comfortable in the body between man and wolf, and that left the pair very much evenly matched. Reid snarled loudly as Noriko's claws opened his chest to allow blood to flow, and he matched the blow by slashing open her side. She managed to dance around behind him, leaping onto his back and sinking her teeth into his shoulder. He roared and stumbled backwards, clawing at her furiously, thwarting her attempts to get his throat into her jaws, and eventually he threw himself backwards, landing upon her with a crash. The blow dislodged her and he stabbed an elbow down into her gut, making her jerk and clutch her stomach.

Reid got to his feet and stumbled away, winded by the fall to the ground, but he quickly turned and was ready for Noriko when she got back to her feet and moved to attack again. Now, her eyes were looking wide and she was starting to look worried. But Reid was not patient, and when she didn't attack immediately he went after her himself.

He threw punches right and left, obviously using tactics that had been taught at the Academy, and tossing in a few moves that Morgan had taught him. Every now and then he threw a kick, and Noriko was obviously becoming irate, feeling that Reid was NOT fighting fair, but she was unable to attack and defend at the same time as she faced his onslaught, no matter how fast she was. Eventually she stumbled and fell back, and Reid pounced. Gasping, Noriko rolled and Reid landed lightly, springing after her. Noriko let out a furious scream and lashed out, and Reid let out a yelp as she kicked him in the head. He toppled over and she lunged at him, but he whirled and brought the back of his fist crashing across her jaw, sending her spinning to the ground.

Reid stumbled to his feet then, glaring. "Not so tough now, are you?!" He spat.

"You... you filthy DOG!" Noriko shrieked, absolutely beside herself.

"What's wrong?" Reid taunted. "If I'm just a dog, why can't the ALPHA BITCH take me down?!"

"I'll kill you!" She screamed.

"TRY!" Reid roared. "Because so far, you're not even a CHALLENGE! And I'm sick and tired of your games! This ends NOW!" And he flew at her, teeth bared and eyes blazing.

Noriko stumbled back with a gasp and threw her arm up in defense, only to find it in his mouth. She saw the glint in his eyes and her stomach dropped… and then his jaws snapped closed like a steel trap, and he jerked his head.

C-RACK!

"AAIIIEEEE!" Noriko screamed, and Reid allowed her snapped arm to fall from his jaws. Then he all out tackled her to the ground, knocking the wind out of her. He landed straddling her hips on his knees, and he raised his fist.

"YOU!" He thundered, slamming his fist into her jaw, "WILL NEVER!" Another punch. "COME NEAR!" Another strike. "US AGAIN!" He brought his fist down onto her solar plexus. "AARON IS MINE!" Then he seized her neck in his hand and cocked his fist, ready to throw another punch. "AGREED?!"

She winced and groaned, her head pounding as the world spun. His fingers tightened around her neck and she was shaken roughly.

"ANSWER ME, BITCH!" And he grabbed her broken arm and twisted it.

Noriko let out a high pitched scream. "YOU MISERABLE WHELP!" She shrieked. Reid punched her again.

"ADMIT DEFEAT AND I'LL LET YOU LIVE!" Reid roared.

Now, she was staring at him. "You… would spare me?" She gasped, wheezing in pain.

"I'm not like you…" Reid growled in a low tone. "Do you concede defeat…?"

"… I do." Noriko finally gasped.

"You will not come near us again…" Reid snarled, slowly standing and dragging her to her feet, his hand still around her neck. "You will leave town. Transfer to another university as of the beginning of the next semester. Do you understand?!"

"… Yes." She hissed, narrowing her eyes as tears welled within them.

"AARON IS MINE!"

"YES!" She shouted, tears flooding down her face.

"… Good." Reid snarled, and shoved her back. She stumbled, and her brother was quickly in his halfway form, catching her before she could fall.

"Noriko?" He gasped. She just shook her head, cradling her broken arm close. He narrowed his eyes and slowly turned growling at the timber wolf before him. "… YOU!" He screamed, and leapt at Reid.

But suddenly there was a blur of darkness, and the wolf yelped as something gripped him tight and lifted him into the air.

The massive, black beast let out a deafening roar, and hurled the other wolf away. Noriko's brother hit the ground hard and rolled several times. A moment later, he stumbled to his feet, and then laid his ears back as Aaron Hotchner glared.

"Touch him…" He rumbled ominously, "And I'll kill you. You will leave town with your sister, and NEVER show your face here again... And as for the rest of you…" The other wolves who had followed Noriko all tucked their tails and backed away as the massive black alpha male and the victorious timber wolf in an Alpha Swing both glared and growled at them. "This is your ONLY warning…" Aaron said in a deadly tone. "If you so much as LOOK at him in a way I don't like, you will feel my teeth!"

The wolves bowed their heads and backed away, fading into the darkness of the tree line. Now the two males remained, with the three human FBI Agents behind them; Rossi, Morgan and Prentiss.

Slowly, Hotch turned and faced Reid. The timber wolf's teeth were still bared and his hackles were still up. His eyes flashed as he locked gazes with the large black male and growled loudly. Hotch tilted his ears back, snarling and lifting his own lips, teeth gleaming in the light of the moon. And then, to the team's horror, the pair slowly crouched and faced each other, raising their claws.

"Wait… they're not gonna…" Emily gasped, eyes wide. Her answer was a vicious roar as Reid charged, and Hotch met his attack fearlessly. The pair lunged and ducked, spun and leaped, jaws snapping and claws catching one another's skin.

"Do we stop them?!" Emily asked, alarmed.

"No… if we get between them, we'll get hurt…" Rossi said, putting out an arm to stop Emily from moving closer to the beasts. "Let Hotch handle this."

"Uh…" was the only thing Morgan could say as he watched the pair attacking one another.

Hotch shouldered Reid to the ground, where he rolled and leapt to his feet, immediately charging and tackling Hotch. Hotch stumbled back but did not fall. The pair were gripping one another's upper arms, and then, roaring, both lunged.

"Oh my God…" Emily gasped.

The pair stood perfectly still, gripping tightly to one another, bodies pressed up against each other, and teeth buried into the other's shoulder…

The forest was silent, save for the wind in the trees. Even Reid had gone quiet, his perpetual growl gone. The team could see his face, and a moment later his pupils dilated and his eyes rolled back and fluttered closed, a groan vibrating through his chest and throat as he relaxed his jaws and buried his nose into his mate's thick, black mane, taking in his scent.

Hotch let go of Reid's biceps and slid his hands around to rest on his shoulder blades, lightly dragging his claws down Reid's back. Reid shivered and then growled again, baring his teeth as Hotch gently licked his ears.

"Aaron…" Reid breathed, as though only just now recognizing him.

"Shhh…" Hotch soothed. "It's over, Spencer. You did it. It's over…"

Reid arched against him. "Need you…" He whined, tossing his head back. "Take me… Aaron, please…"

Rossi, Morgan and Prentiss froze, eyes wide, and began to back away.

"Take me… lock me… now… Now Aaron… NOW!" And he shoved Hotch back to the ground and moved to sit upon his hips.

"Back to the car." Rossi said quickly. "NOW." And the humans retreated quickly as the fur faded, leaving the two men naked in the meadow.

The rest of this chapter has been removed to keep in compliance with the restrictions on explicit content on this site. You may read the chapter in its entirety on "adultfanfiction . org"

Hope you enjoyed, please review! The story will be ending soon, it will probably be 35 chapters in all! Thanks for reading!