Author's Note: And here's Chapter 2! Thanks so much for the follows, favorites, and reviews! I really appreciate it :)
To too addicted to fiction: Hehe yeah, poor Lu XD Weird stuff happens at gas stations. I'm so glad you liked the first chapter! This story should be a lot of fun and have an interesting world with lots of pack dynamics ;) I hope you enjoy the update!
To Guest: Thank you so much for the compliments! Writing AUs is one of my favorite pastimes lol XD My imagination is kind of out of control.
To AnsiTT: I'm so glad you're enjoying it so far! Lu is the cutest little thing and I also love writing him short ;) He's not like Goku from Dragon Ball, ya know? He's a slight little fella. We'll see Dragon's reaction in this chapter as well as more hunting for Luffy. Thanks so much for the sweet review!
To UnicornsThatGamble: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the update :)
WARNINGS:
- Attempted kidnapping
- Luffy is very confused
- Protective Dragon
Dragon was sitting down in the kitchen enjoying a nice of coffee when he heard it: a frightened screech from Luffy's room. He immediately left the mug behind and sprinted up the stairs, knife in hand. The boy's door was unlocked so he all but kicked it down, pupils dilated as he searched for threats.
When none were found, he moved on to the bathroom but was surprised to find the door locked.
"Luffy, what's wrong!?" He exclaimed, banging hard on the wood. Dragon could hear movement inside and quiet sounds he recognized as Luffy. "Are you all right?"
"U-Uh…yeah! Sure…" The kid replied, his voice shaky. Dragon huffed, quickly recognizing that the boy was lying before he even finished his statement. "I just, er…stubbed my toe! Yep. That's what I did."
"Open the door, Luffy." Dragon ordered, becoming more and more concerned as the seconds went by. His gut clenched when a whimper came through the door, indicating his son was scared.
"I-I think…you'll be mad at me."
"Whatever is going on, we can deal with it together, okay?" Dragon attempted to soothe as he pocketed his knife, "Just open the door…please, son."
A few seconds later, he heard footsteps approach the door and the lock click, allowing him access to the small bathroom. Dragon took a deep breath before entering, wanting to prepare himself for what he might see. When he entered the space, his eyes were immediately drawn to Luffy who'd tucked himself into a tiny ball with his back to the tub. He'd completely swaddled himself in a towel, obscuring everything but his face.
"Luffy…" He started, kneeling before the trembling boy, "What happened?" The boy's bottom lip trembled and held the towel tighter around his body.
"I-I…I went to a gas station!" He suddenly exclaimed, making Dragon's blood go cold, "I'm sorry, I-I just wanted to do fun stuff with my friends but then-"
"Did anyone approach you!?" Dragon interrupted, grabbing his son by the shoulders, "I need you think, Luffy." The kid sniffled and looked down.
"It was all going fine until I ran into this guy who was kinda weird and then at the aquarium-"
"You went to an aquarium!?" Dragon hissed, making Luffy flinch away from him, "What the hell were you thinking!?"
"I…I just wanted to have an adventure." Luffy whispered, voice barely audible, "My friends always do stuff that's not very fun to follow your rules, and I wanted to do something with them for a change. But then…" Dragon felt bad when his son's eyes started to get moist with tears, but he needed to know if the worst possible scenario had occurred.
Luffy met his gaze and sniffed before continuing.
"…a-a scary guy grabbed me when I was lookin' at the jellyfish. He knew my name and called me something weird."
"What?"
"Pup…he called me a pup."
Dragon grit his teeth at the information. That could only mean one thing…
"Luffy, gather whatever you can and put it in your backpack. We're leaving."
The boy's eyes widened.
"N-No please, I don't wanna leave!"
"This is not negotiable!" Dragon yelled, standing to his feet, "That man is dangerous and will probably try again. We need to be gone before he tries to-" Suddenly, Luffy stood up in front of him with an angry look, causing the towel to flutter to the floor. Dragon's jaw dropped at the sight of wolf ears, a tail, and fur that now covered on Luffy's arms and lower legs.
The boy looked surprised at his own actions and immediately put hands over the ears in an attempt to hide them.
"Um…uh…" His son started, searching for words. Dragon's throat went completely dry.
"Your medicine, did you take it last night?"
"I was tired and sort of, erm, fell asleep?" Luffy answered, looking ashamed, "T-Then I woke up and-and…" Dragon's thoughts were racing as he took in the teen's form. He'd been so careful…for years he'd been able to keep Luffy human…maybe there was still time to reverse the transformation.
He grabbed Luffy by the arm without saying a word and dragged him downstairs. The boy seemed confused and scared, but there was no time to explain. Dragon needed to get him to the lab as soon as possible…before it was too late.
"Put this on." He ordered, tossing one of his old sweatshirts to Luffy. The teen clutched it to his chest for a second before pulling it on. It was huge on him and would help hide his non-human features.
While the kid fumbled with the sleeves and tugged his tail under the engulfing fabric, Dragon pressed '2' on his speed dial and paced anxiously as it rang.
"Yes, Sir." A girl answered, all business.
"Code Red." Dragon stated firmly while snatching his keys from the kitchen counter, "I'm taking Luffy to the lab and I need all Shikari on high-alert. Send two cars to the emergency rendezvous point and tell the Doctor to have the serum ready."
He hung up before the girl could even reply. Luffy shuffled nervously a few feet from him, looking up at him with those big, brown eyes of his.
"Dad, what's going on?"
Dragon huffed and flipped the hood up over his head.
"It's a long story, but right now, we need to go."
Across the street from what they'd determined to be Luffy's residence, two men sat in a car watching the house. The wild-haired one had a pair of binoculars and was carefully examining the building.
"I see movement inside…" He reported before popping a chip into his mouth. Snacks were an important part of any stakeout after all.
"Anything suspicious?" Benn Beckman questioned while holding a frozen pack of peas to his cheek. Luffy had apparently fought back rather violently when their pack's Beta had tried to talk to him. The wolf now had a nasty bruise on his face from the punch.
"Not sure, but…oh wait." Rockstar said, straightening up when two people suddenly rushed out the front door like the devil himself was on their heels. "Sir, are you seeing this?" Benn immediately stared out the window with him, watching the two move.
"Dragon…" He growled, recognizing the Shikari immediately. The human had a smaller figure, no doubt Luffy, by the wrist and was dragging him to the car. Benn frowned at the large jacket that covered the pup's body, wondering if that was an attempt to hide his identity. "I think it's safe to say he knows."
"What should we do?" Rockstar asked as the SUV started up and pulled out of the driveway. Benn put his seatbelt on.
"We follow them. I'll update the Boss and see what he wants to do."
Luffy curled up in the front seat, unsure what to say to his Dad. Dragon was in 'business mode' and almost seemed…worried about something. What was even stranger was his reaction to his new appearance. He seemed surprised but not in the way Luffy had expected.
"Um, where are we going?" He asked, prompting Dragon's eyes to flick over to him briefly.
"To my work. There are people there who can help you."
"B-But I thought you guys sold dishwasher parts, " Luffy stuttered, confused how a bunch of salesman could help him. Dragon exhaled sharply and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"I need you to listen very closely to me, Luffy. I know you're scared…but I think it's time you know the truth." The boy swallowed and nodded, prompting Dragon to continue, "I'm not a salesman, never have been. I'm what's known as a Shikari, I hunt monsters."
"You…what?" Luffy managed, not sure if Dragon was joking or not.
"A Shikari, son. The company is just a cover to make sure normal citizens don't find out what we do. I've been training you to be a Shikari since you could walk."
All of a sudden, Dragon's ridiculous training made a little more sense.
"Wait, wait…monsters? Like what?"
"Vampires, ghosts, ghouls, sirens…you name it." His Dad answered while turning onto a side road, "Your Grandfather and I specialize in hunting lycans. Werewolves." Luffy's eyes widened and he looked down at himself, suddenly very self-conscious of his new features. "All those places I warned you not to go were locations where lycanthropes gather regularly."
Luffy blinked in confusion.
"Even natural food stores?"
"Believe it or not, most wolves are vegan nowadays." Dragon said with a shrug, "Don't ask me why, we've been trying to understand them for years. Now, I want you to describe the lycan you met in the aquarium."
"That was a werewolf?" Luffy questioned, leaning forward a bit in his seat. The other man nodded.
"Definitely. Their kind are the only ones who would call you a 'pup'."
Luffy hummed, picturing the stranger in his mind. He'd looked…completely human.
"Um, he had gray hair and an x-shaped scar on his face." Dragon cursed under his breath and laid his foot on the gas, making them accelerate quickly. "W-What's wrong? Is he bad?"
"That particular pack has been a pain in our side for years." His Dad explained, eyes darting to the rear-view mirror, "We managed to hide you from them…until now."
"T-They're after me?" Luffy whispered, ears flattening against his hair, "Why?"
"Well-" His Dad went silent and his eyes narrowed, "Damn it. We're being followed." Luffy quickly turned around to look at the car behind him. It was an older model with chipped red paint that made it look more brown.
"Who is it?"
Dragon grit his teeth and gave Luffy a look that made him deflate.
"Oh."
"Don't worry, son. I won't let anything happen to you. Just sit tight, we have reinforcements on the way."
Luffy wrapped his fury arms around his knees and buried his face in the jacket that smelled so much like his Dad. Why was all of this happening? Had he ruined everything by going to that gas station? When his tail twitched against the seat, another question came to his mind.
"Dad? W-What am I?"
"You're human." He quickly replied as he swerved in and out of traffic, "Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."
"But I have a tail!" Luffy shot back, voice breaking.
"I know, but you won't for long. Listen, those pills were keeping your transformation at bay. We just need to get you a stronger dose…and that should turn you back. It will turn you back." Luffy was taken aback by Dragon's hissed response.
Who knew those pills were so important?
'At least now I know gas stations don't turn people into dogs.' He mused, yelping when Dragon took another sharp turn in an attempt to lose their pursuers. Luffy re-settled as yet another momentous realization hit him.
"Wait, does that mean I'm a were-"
"You. Are. Human." Dragon shot back, "No matter what that damn alpha says…you're human, understand?" Luffy nodded vigorously in response, honestly really freaked out. Though his Dad had revealed a lot of information to him, he still felt like he was in the dark.
But he knew better than to ask his Dad too much, especially when he was in a mood like he was now.
It was then that the car that was chasing them pulled up alongside them and rammed into the back end of their car, almost sending Luffy flying into the dashboard.
"Hold on!" Dragon exclaimed as their car was forced off the road and into a creek that flowed next to the road. He was thrown forward again when it hit a tree, causing the airbags to deploy. Though his ears rang and his head hurt, Luffy managed to sit up straight. He groaned, holding his head in pain.
He could see that his Dad was moving his mouth and seemed concerned about him, but he couldn't hear a word that he said for a few seconds.
"-uffy, Luffy! Are you okay?"
"Erm…yeah?" He replied, blinking in an attempt to clear his vision.
"Good, now stay here. Don't get out of the car no matter what."
Luffy's eyes widened when Dragon reached under his seat and pulled out a rifle. Before he could protest, his Dad had forced the driver's side door open, leapt out, and started shooting. He immediately threw his hands over his head, flinching with each loud boom from the gun.
His ears picked up growls and barking but he couldn't tell where it was coming from. Dragon yelled something to their attackers and left his field of vision, pulling a long knife out of nowhere. Luffy could hear his heartbeat in his ears and he was too scared to move. Was his Dad going to be okay?
Abruptly, a crunching sound came from his right and the door was torn off. Luffy gazed up at the guy from the gas-station with big eyes, his sharp teeth in full view as he smiled at him.
"Hey again, pup. You okay?"
He immediately tried to crawl over to the driver's side to escape, but the man snatched him up like he weighed nothing and threw him over his shoulder.
"No, let me go! Let go!"
"Sorry, pup, no can do." His captor explained while adjusting him like a sack of flour, "Just relax, we don't mean ya any harm."
Luffy struggled with all his might even as the red-haired man (or wolf, apparently) jogged around the car back to where he assumed their vehicle was.
"Put him down, now." Dragon warned darkly, making Luffy's captor stop in his tracks. He peeked out from under the too-big hood to see his Father looking more furious than he'd ever seen him. The gray-haired man from the aquarium stood not far away, eyeing Luffy with interest.
"You know we can't do that." Jellyfish man said, motioning for the other wolf to keep going. Luffy immediately started up his squirming again, desperate to escape. Unfortunately, the oversized hoodie wasn't working in his favor and tangled him up in his own limbs.
'Calm down, calm down.' Luffy thought, trying to remember everything his Dad taught him. He could get out of this, he just needed to fight smart.
"Your 'alpha' has no claim on him!" Dragon shot back, raising his gun again.
When the red-haired gas station guy made to drop him on (or into) something, Luffy grabbed hold of the man's belt and threw his heels up, throwing him off balance. His captor cursed when Luffy successfully flipped over him and landed on his feet, sending the wolf to the ground. However, when he completed the maneuver, it caused his hood to fall back, revealing his ears to their attackers.
The wolves seemed shocked at the furry appendages and just stared at him while he struggled to pull the hood back up.
"What have you done, Dragon!?" Jellyfish man demanded, surprising Luffy. Why was he so mad?
"What I had to. Luffy run!" Dragon ordered before opening fire again. He glanced at the open passenger door where he could've been shoved a few seconds ago before taking off back towards their ruined car, too-long sleeves flopping in the wind. His eyes widened when the jellyfish man started to transform, growing larger and taller.
Turning back towards his destination, Luffy decided not to watch and just focus on his goal. However, he didn't get very far. Something coiled itself around his feet, sending him flying face-first into the grass. He spit out a clump of mud that got into his mouth and whirled around to try and detangle the rope thing.
Luffy gasped when he saw the wild-haired one sprinting towards him, much too fast. He was going to get caught again!
"Stay the hell away from my grandson!" Someone roared before landing directly between Luffy and his pursuer. It took a few seconds for him to recognize the massive man, but when he did, his bottom lip trembled.
"G-Gramps!"
Dragon had never been so happy to see his Father, which was a strange feeling because he was never happy to see Monkey D. Garp. Luffy's Grandfather was a lot of things: loud, obnoxious, and ridiculously strong. He also had somewhat questionable ideas of parenting, which Dragon did his best to avoid using on Luffy.
No kid deserved to be thrown into a frozen yogurt shop with nothing but a pocketknife and a half grown wolfsbane plant to defend yourself with.
But now that he was here, Luffy would be protected and reinforcements couldn't be far behind. Dragon quickly fired off a few more shots at Benn Beckman before rushing to join Garp. The old ex-military man wasted no time knocking the lycan on his back and scooping Luffy up into his arms. The poor boy was trembling but he wasn't sure if that was fear of almost being kidnapped, or fear of his Grandfather.
"Dragon…" Garp hissed, lifting Luffy's hood slightly to get a look at the ears, "How did this happen?"
"Kid didn't take his meds." He explained as they slowly retreated, "He also went to the top two places on my list and got himself noticed. We need to get him to the lab, ASAP."
"Agreed." His Father whispered, "Your subordinates are on their way and should be here any second."
Thankfully, with the addition of Garp, the two lycans backed down but didn't leave the area. They just stared at each other, daring their enemy to attack. Benn Beckman was smart and knew that he'd need more than just him and a no-name newcomer to beat Garp 'the Fist'. The old man put Luffy down with an uncharacteristically soft look on his face.
"Are you okay, brat?"
Luffy shrugged and his ears drooped under the hood.
"I'm sorry…this is all my fault."
"Don't worry about it, Luffy." Dragon put in, eyes never leaving their enemies, "What's done is done. We'll be out of this mess soon."
Benn watched the Shikari leave in a dark SUV escorted by two others only minutes after Garp showed up. They loaded Luffy into the back of the middle vehicle and took off down the highway. He clicked his tongue in frustration and dialed their Alpha's number while Rockstar nursed his wounds.
"How'd it go? Do you have him?"
"Afraid not. Garp showed up."
"Damn."
"Do you want us to continue tailing them?"
"No…we need to re-group. The full moon is tonight so they'll want Luffy secure before then. Retreat for now-"
"Shanks." Benn interrupted, making the Alpha go silent, "Luffy…they've done something to him. He's got all these wolf features but they're fully visible. It's...unnatural. If people see him…" The powerful wolf hummed in thought.
"Hmmm…tell me more when you get home. If that's the case, we may need to recruit some help."
As the day drug on, Luffy did his best to sleep, but found that he couldn't. Dragon and Garp whispered almost continuously in the front seats, leaving him alone in the back. Wherever they were going, it was far away. The car in front of them and behind them were also full of 'Shikari' who were there to escort them, but no one wanted to be in the same car as him, apparently.
Thankfully, they did stop to get him something to eat, which helped him feel a little better, but as the sun went down, Luffy started to feel…weird. His mark, which had felt better than it had in years that morning, started to throb again, and his heartbeat increased.
"D-Dad…" He managed, barely noticing that they were on a rural road now, right next to a dense forest, "I don't feel good."
"I know, it's the moon." Dragon replied, looking back at him in concern, "Just hold on for a few more minutes, okay? We're almost there."
Luffy did his best but the pain only got worse as time went by. He felt an unfamiliar need to bound and run and howl that was getting really hard to ignore. When the pain got to his eyes, he whimpered and crawled over to the door, staring desperately up at the moon.
It was calling to him.
"Luffy, no!"
He recognized that Dragon was saying something to him, but he ignored it, choosing instead to unlock the door and jump out of the moving vehicle. Luffy rolled a few times but landed on his hands and feet, unharmed. The sound of brakes squeaking registered but all he wanted to do was bask in the moon's rays.
It was only when hands grabbed him and held him back that he started to fight. Luffy growled and bit at the offending appendages that dared hold him back from his desire.
"Restrain him! He won't last like this."
The boy felt metal cuffs on his wrist that pulled his arms behind his back but he refused to stop fighting. When he bit into someone's arm, they fastened a gag between his teeth that stopped him from biting.
"Easy Luffy…easy." The boy released a muffled yelp when something sharp pricked his neck on the opposite side of the scar. He swiftly lost all muscle coordination and collapsed to the ground, barely able to keep himself awake. "It's okay, son, I've got you."
Luffy felt his head loll to the side even as they fastened his ankles together and plucked him off the ground. He felt a bit like a trussed-up hog, and it scared him. His recognition that he was being held by family deteriorated quickly. All he knew was that he was in trouble needed to get away. Squirming around in his captors' arms, he felt a desperate cry for help bubble up inside him.
When he released it, a loud, broken howl erupted from his throat, its call reverberating through the air. The gag muffled it slightly, but not enough. Dragon swiftly clamped a hand over his mouth, stifling it completely.
"Please tell me there are no packs out here."
"Not that we know of Sir."
"Good. Let's go…Luffy needs treatment, and fast."
Deep in the forest, two wolves reclined in the canopy enjoying the moon's rays. They'd long since mastered their Moon Cycles and were no longer slaves to its pull. The forest was always peaceful at this time of night…and it was the perfect time to just unwind and relax.
"You want some rabbit?" The dark-haired one asked, making the blonde shake his head.
"No thanks, I'll stick to my tofu."
"Suit yourself." The first wolf muttered before tearing into the cooked meat he'd brought with him. They lounged in silence for a few more minutes, enjoying their snacks, until something cut through the peaceful atmosphere like a knife.
Almost immediately the wolves sat up and listened to the painful howl, clearly a call for help, that was quickly silenced.
"Did you hear that? It sounded like a…"
"A wolf in distress." The dark-haired wolf growled, standing to his feet and sniffing the air, "I smell humans, probably Shikari."
The blonde wolf huffed and swiftly swallowed his meal.
"Well, are we going to help them, oh fearless leader?"
The Alpha wolf hummed and inhaled deeply, trying to get a better idea of what wolf they were dealing with. It smelled…sick or something, and definitely young.
"Yeah, I guess we are. Come on, 'Bo, let's see what we're dealing with."
