Danny Williams' life turned upside down with a major bang.
And not in a good way.
It all started when he got bit by some wild animal while he was at Branch Brook Park. His precinct was alerted of some disturbance in the area and they were called in when it was reported that there was multiple gunshots being fired. When they got there, there was a group of armed men that was the cause of the disturbance and those thugs were not giving in.
It was chaos trying to rein them in.
To make a very long story short, he got bitten somewhere when he was chasing one of the thugs trying to get away in the darker parts of the woods.
Danny didn't know how he got bit. All he knew was that there was a scuffle. It was pitch black dark. The armed thugs came at him, shooting at something off to the side and swinging at him. Even when he told the idiot to Freeze and surrender, the perpetrators was not stopping. Then, he was wrestling with the perp, trying to wrestle away the loaded gun. There was punches thrown, bodily slammed here and there. A few kicks or two. He was even sent flying at one point. Somewhere during all that struggle, his arm hurts something fierce. The pain was so bad that he thought he had broken his arm.
It was once the perpetrators and his cohorts was detained that he finally saw the bite mark and his arm was bleeding profusely.
The next thing Danny knew, he woke up at the hospital.
But he didn't woke up alone. There was two people in the room with him. Strangers that he doesn't know. A tall, muscled man that has sharp features and a petite woman with bright eyes and a cheeky smile.
"Who are you?" Danny asked groggily. Damn, his head felt like cotton. And his body felt heavy as a lead.
They introduced themselves. And the reason why they were there. What comes next was the most ridiculous, crazy, insane, unbelievable story in his life.
He thought they were insane, or pulling a prank on him, or even a con-artist. "You've got to be kidding me." Danny stated with a growl.
He was not happy with the fairy tale bullshit they tried to fed him. In fact, he tried to call security . Odd that no one came, but he wasn't about to give in to this crazy people's fable.
Since it's obvious that Danny doesn't believe them, they decided to prove it to him – by attacking him.
The man suddenly was before him. His face contorted to something weird. He was producing fangs and his eyes were gleaming red. When grab for Danny, Danny saw that the man fingers were claws! The man growled threateningly. And Danny vaguely remember that it was the same kind of growl of whatever that attack him yesterday.
Alarmed and was not about to go down without a fight, Danny wanted to retaliate. But before he could do so, the man bodily turned Danny towards the bathroom and shove him in front of the mirror.
What he saw cause him to gasped loudly. "What the hell?!" Danny squeaked, unable to believe his own eyes.
Danny had the same look as the man now standing calmly behind him. He had the same distorted face, got fangs, he has claws and he was slightly hairy. The only difference was, while the man eyes glow red, Danny's glow bright yellow.
"Werewolves, Mr Williams," the man answered him firmly. "You were bitten by one of our kind while they were hiding from a great threat. It was unintentional, mind you. But you were thrown and landed on top of him, causing his teeth to puncture you." The man eyed his female companion. A Faerie, he said. Before refocusing back his attention to Danny. "We came here to inform you of what you are now and to enlighten you, as well as establish you within our mythical society. Despite your denial, Mr Williams, what's done is done. You're one of us now. Welcome to your new world."
So, yeah. Danny is now a werewolf – and that's how the secret 'supernatural' world was introduced to him…. Okay, the actual term for their super duper secret society is Other-Worldly. More commonly coined as the Netherworld. Apparently, the whole mythical race do not like to be referred as 'supernatural' – as that term is more closely associated with ghost and other paranormal activity. They're not a ghostly being and would very much like not to be mistaken as one. It was an overused term and frankly, they were just done with it, so he was told.
Now, If only that was the major changes in his life. If only….
Unfortunately for Danny, that was the only beginning of his troubles.
See, the secret society was just that – a secret. It operates in the shadows. They have intricate connections and rules that they have to abide by. And apparently with a very good reason.
Turned out that Hunters were a thing. A group of "purely" human people that hunted anything and everything related to the other-worldly. And their war with the hunters dated back into ancient history he won't even bother memorising.
It was in Danny's best interest to remain incognito. Because if the hunters found him, he'll the dead. Pure and simple.
But look at the bright side. Perks for being a werewolf. The senses are a bitch to handle but they were better, sharper. His inhuman strength and speed were awesome. The healing factor were very sweet too.
What was not so sweet were his sense of smell. That particular sense of his were the most difficult to control. It keeps going on and off on him in the most inopportune time. They were going haywire, particularly around his wife.
When Danny told his guide his troubles – yes, Danny were assigned a guide. Someone to help him navigate his new reality and to confide in – he was advised to listen to his inner wolf. Listen to his instinct. His wolf is a part of him after all and it might try to tell him something. "Listen to your wolf. Feel what it is trying to say. Trust it's instinct. You and your wolf are one and the same. There are no one, no being, the wolf holds more important than you. It protects you, guide you, above all else," his guide explained.
Danny, being Danny, was sceptical of this, of course. Rachel might just being wearing too many perfumes. And if he breathed a word about it, he might be in the dog house!
But it does bother him. He knew his wife's natural scent by that point, and he definitely familiar his baby girl's scent. And he most definitely acquainted with all the perfumes Rachel loves to wear on daily basis.
So the foreign smell that stuck to her perturbed him. Distracted him. Drove him nuts. His wolf growled at the back of his head and they growled every time Rachel was near.
And then, one day, Rachel came home from work; smelled densely of another man's musk – Strongly to him, that is, thanks to his sensitive sense of smell – with a hint of cologne mix with her excessive amount of perfume.
And that is where everything went downhill.
Danny didn't waste time employing a private P.I who was also a member of the Netherworld. It was encouraged for them to use any and all connections, influence and resources from the Other-Worldly. It was a way to protect themselves and their families by contributing their services in whatever capacity. Maintaining that connection was also a way to keep an eye out for each other. It was paramount for them to use the resources especially if it's involving children.
And a divorce is always an ugly affair.
So Danny, who was set on divorcing his cheating wife, and wanted to secure Grace's full custody to him, employed a P.I that was recommended to him to tailed his soon to be ex-wife.
The numerous proofs that his fellow Netherworlder had gathered was mind-blowing.
It was especially damning when it was evident that Rachel has been cheating on him for a couple of years already. Since Grace was three years old!
So Danny slapped her with a divorce first. And used all the Netherworld's resources to win against his ex-wife and her rich boyfriend. The victory was gratifying.
Once the divorce affair was settled, you would think that that's the end of Danny's problem.
If only.
Danny found out, a year and a half after he was turned into a werewolf and his subsequent divorce, that he might have been discovered by the Hunters.
And like how he was greatly warned, it wasn't a pretty encounter.
Danny was with Grace when he was ambushed. Five men surrounded him and they taunted him, tried to goaded him to reveal his true nature to them. They had weapons and they immediately attacked him and Danny had to defend himself and Grace.
It was the most terrifying moment in his life. Grace clung to him in terror and Danny held her fiercely just as he desperately duck and evade the Hunters' shots and knife slashes. He was scared. Very, very scared. All he could think about was protecting Grace. Protecting his monkey. His raison d'etre.
His first and only priority was Grace.
Danny would forever thank the gods or cosmos or whatever higher power the Other-Worldly believed in for saving him and his baby girl. When he thought he and Grace was going to die, help came from the nearby local pack, who came to the rescue en masse when he roared for help for his daughter. And the large group of Netherworlders descended upon the Hunters like a wrath of God.
That was a nasty wake-up call. It highlighted to Danny how despite the gift of being a werewolf, it also brought danger into his life. It seared into Danny how important their ties to the Netherworld society was and how imperative they maintained their arcanary presence.
Danny and Grace could have died that day. And even if Danny managed to concealed his status, the Hunters would still be a problem. They do have the tendency to be fanatical.
The result was very messy. Law enforcement were involved since the mundane seen it as an attacked to a cop. The Netherworld was up in arms because the Hunters were attacking their kind and doesn't mind slaughtering their young so openly. And in the middle of it was Danny, whose only wish was to shelter Grace.
Because despite Danny's best effort, try as he might while defending them both – Danny accidentally, unintentionally, clawed and grazed Grace. And with magic being a thing – especially wish magic coupled with desperation for Grace's survival; magic did the rest.
Grace was deeply asleep as her transformation took place.
Danny felt his bond with his Gracie deepened. He sensed when Grace's wolf came into being. And he noted when Grace's physical took an ethereal glow.
Grace is too young to fully manifested into a werewolf. She won't be able to shift until she hits puberty. And for that Danny was very glad.
It took a while for the attack on Danny to died down. The LEO decided to rule it as a random attack. While there are some concerns, there was no one to prosecute as all five of the Hunters died when the Netherworld came to his rescue. Therefore, there was no proof, no further leads that Danny could still be in danger.
On the side of the Other-Worldly however, was another matter.
The Netherworld was furious. They were mightily, extremely upset. And their dark, ferocious intent did not abetted one bit. Any form of attack involving innocent child, always has consequences. The bloodthirsty kind…
Danny decided that it was too dangerous for him and Grace to remained in New Jersey. If the Hunters have ambushed him once, there's a high chance they might attack him again. Danny might have already been compromised. So it's safer if he relocated elsewhere.
Danny was very sad that he had to move. Moved away from the place he grew up. Moved away from his family as they weren't aware and weren't in-the-know. Moved away from all that was familiar to him. Granted, he could remain in New Jersey if he was so inclined. But with Grace, he wasn't about to take any chances.
After a long contemplation, and sent out fillers, and pulled strings, cashing in a favour or two, and consulted their High Oracle – yes, they have a high oracle. Seers are huge amongst the Other-Worldly. And they are quite the interfering and meddling busybodies. Who do you think counselled him to move? How was this his life? –; Danny finally made up his mind on the location.
So here they were – at the airport; with Grace clutching his hand as they said their goodbyes to the Williams' clan and their rolled suitcases at the ready, they make their way to a new life.
In Hawaii.
Unknown to Danny Williams, it was in Hawaii where he will meet an aggravating, exasperating, heart-attack inducing, pain in his butt, fated and destined mate-to-end-all-romantic-soulmate….
Steve McGarrett.
. . .
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- Elvina P.
