Chapter 11 Mindless Monster

Any semblance of rational, human thought was gone as the monster lay on the floor. It took deep, chuffy breaths, focusing on its surroundings. The newborn beast saw that it was dark, that it was cold. Its hairs stood on end as it laid its gigantic paw down on the ground. Its breathing grew deeper, more frequent, and substantial. Wagging its fluffy tail, it stood up and howled. The sound was loud enough to shake the entire cavern, and that howl inspired other monsters to respond to it. The beast's ears perked up when it heard that sound. It didn't feel joy or happiness, at least not in the human sense. It just had a desire to be with its kind, a desire to mingle and take in the scent of its brethren.

So, it ran out of the little alcove and through the hallway. It had no trouble seeing in the dark; if anything, the torches lining the walls impaired its vision more than the darkness. It sniffed the air, catching the unmistakable scent of wolf. With each time its feet pounded against the ground, the more determined the beast became to find the others. It was an all-consuming desire, only rivaled by the desire for food, for meat, for blood.

It finally got to the open part of the cavern. It recognized this place in a vague sense. While its mind wasn't taken up by the thoughts and memories the beast had in its human form, there were remnants left of both. Small, almost inconsequential remnants, but remnants nonetheless. Twenty different wolves stood at various parts of the cavern. Some scratched behind their ear, some panted, and some looked prepared to howl again. The beast ran over to them, sniffing them. They simply looked upon it without any emotion whatsoever. Did simple things like emotions even serve a purpose for ferocious, feral beasts such as these?

"ATTENTION!"

Those words the beast recognized as English words. One of the remnants of its human self wondered where those words were even coming from, as the likelihood of the beasts speaking this language was close to nonexistent. It turned around with its brethren, seeing a larger wolf towering above them. This wolf was the largest of the wolves in the pack, and it also had the most unique appearance. Its red fur looked like fire that could scorch and kill each and every single wolf in here. Black markings decorated said fur, blacker than the night itself. And the silver-blue eyes, situated above its gritted and hungry teeth, looked like they belonged to the devil himself.

"My pack!" Mostly on instinct, each one of the wolves surrounded this particular wolf. The original wolf's internal human remnants caused it to feel the vaguest feelings of confusion and terror; in fact, if the human part of the beast was in control, it would probably be screaming in agony. But it wasn't in control; the wolf was. The wolf called the shots, and most of the shots it called it did for the sake of its bloodlust, its ravenous appetite, and the desire to follow the words of its alpha. This fiery red wolf was its alpha.

"The hunt tonight will be glorious!" The alpha exclaimed. "With a new member of our pack, we will consume anyone and everyone who so foolishly stands in our way." The alpha locked eyes on the beast, smiling the most wicked smile ever seen on a wolf. "We are hungry, my pack. We have always been hungry, and yet, we've had no real way to satisfy the hunger within us. But we will do so tonight. We will eat. Nay, we will FEAST!"

The alpha hollowed, turning its head up toward the cave ceiling. The howls inspired the other, less intelligent wolves to howl, almost like the alpha had ignited a fire that was spreading to her omegas. The beast joined in, of course. Its mind was consumed by its hunger, to the point where it became its single, laser-focused purpose. It was going to feast tonight. It wouldn't let anyone or anything prevent it from feasting tonight.

"Now let's go, my pack!" The alpha gestured toward the door. "We will not ignore our hunger any longer!"

The wolves, snarling and snufflling, all ran toward the door. The beast was the last one out before the alpha.

…

"Oh my God…" Tears streamed from Luigi's eyes as he ran. "Oh my dear sweet Lord…" He didn't stop. He couldn't stop running, as doing so would force his mind to focus on his guilt. Said guilt was like a vine that had grown over his heart, curling around it with its thorny limbs and leaving very little room left for the organ to beat. Luigi knew that if he dipped his toe in that pool, he would never come back up for air. Thus, he had no choice but to run. He didn't know where he would inevitably end up, but wherever it was was bound to be more forgiving and safer than this…

"AHH!" Before he even realized what was happening, Luigi tripped over his own feet. The sudden stop made his adrenaline wear off a little bit, which now meant he was aware of just how much pain he was in. He was caked in blood, although he wasn't one hundred percent sure whose it was. It could be his or his brothers, with each possibility being sickening in its own special way. His limbs ached and his breathing rate was fast and uncontrollable. That wasn't even getting into the little things, like how the warmth of summer felt on his sweaty naked body.

"What is happening?" Luigi curled up in a little ball, hugging his legs to his chest. He shook, his teeth chattering despite the aforementioned warmth. This… he couldn't believe this. This was the stuff of nightmares, this was the stuff of horror stories. He could remember his time as the wolf. On some level, it was like his human soul and consciousness had been locked in a cage within his own mind, forced to be subjected to the murderous, animalistic monster that Luigi had been forced to become. "What is happening to me?"

"Exactly what is supposed to happen."

Luigi gasped, recognizing the voice he heard both in his human form and in his wolf form. His heart pounded as he bolted to his feet, and icy sweat covered his body. There was Ashina, equally naked but not looking ashamed in the slightest. If anything, she looked amused, like the curse that she had inflicted upon the poor man in front of her was the most amazing thing in the world.

"You!" Luigi stared at her, feeling no form of arousal staring at her naked form. All he felt was anger and fear. The fear was closer to trauma than anything else, and the anger was the only feasible emotions he could feel toward this demon. "What have you done to me?"

"I thought that'd be obvious." Ashina took a step forward, a morning breeze ruffling her fiery hair. Luigi backed up and clenched his fists, two action that portrayed almost contradictory emotions. "I have made you part of my pack. You're one of us now."

Tears started to stream from Luigi's eyes as he shook his head. "You have no right to do this! Do you realize how awful this is? You ruined my life! You turned me into a monster!"

Ashina just casually laughed. "I have reunited you with the instincts that lay deep within your DNA." Luigi gawked at her, now fully realizing that he was talking to a mad woman. "The were-mushroom that you consumed was made by the greatest of scientists who simply desired for animal urges to be expressed freely. And if what I've seen from you tonight was any indication, it worked for its intended purpose." She licked her lips. "And it did so beautifully."

Luigi whimpered despite himself. He didn't want to appear weak before Ashina. Even though she was no longer in her wolf form, he still felt as though she would devour him whole if he accidentally gave her the right signal. Regardless, his body shook, and his sweat was growing icier and icier by the minute.

"You need to fix this," Luigi said. He glared at her, or at least tried to. "You need to remove my curse! You need to do it NOW!"

Ashina laughed maniacally. "My dear, sweet Luigi. You can't remove the transformation. That wolf is a part of you, born from your own animalistic desires. Removing it would be fruitless." A wicked glimmer shined in her eyes. "Not to mention ridiculous."

Luigi gritted his teeth. "You're lying! There is a way to remove the curse! All power-ups can be removed one way or another!"

Ashina smirked. "And you think the were-mushroom classifies as just a silly, simple power-up." She giggled. "You're adorable."

Anger and hate filled Luigi. The fear was gone, even though it probably wouldn't be under normal circumstances. Ashina was still depraved and demented, but those words made Luigi want to prove her wrong. He wanted to prove that there was a way to remove the curse, for him to resume with living his normal life.

"I'll get back to normal." He gripped his hands into fists. "I'll do it or die trying."

Ashina blinked before gritting her own teeth, which still looked just as wolf-like as they did before. "You can't. I won't allow it."

"You won't allow it?" Luigi laughed. "What makes you think you have the authority to order me around like that? You don't have any power over me!"

"I am your alpha! I have all the power over you!"

Luigi felt sick as he glared at her. "You are not my alpha. You aren't anything to me except an enemy. And I always come out on top when I faced off against my enemies."

Ashina growled. "Well, prepare to be disappointed." She let out a yell and lunged at him, but he swerved out of the way before she could get to him. He kicked her in the shin, causing her to gasp. When she lay on the ground, he stomped his foot into her back. If he had shoes, the impact would've been much harder, but he was still pretty strong without them. He stomped once, twice, three times, and each time, Ashina let out a little cry. When he did it a fourth time, she gasped an exasperating gasp, and her head collapsed to the ground. He got off of her, keeping his eyes on her for about half a minute. She didn't get up. She didn't even twitch.

He let out a breath. "I will prove you wrong, Ashina. I'll find a way to remove this curse." He looked down at his hands, wiggling his fingers as uncertainty overcame him. Was Ashina right; was the curse irremovable? Was he doomed to turn into a werewolf once a month every month for the rest of his life? Would his sense of normalcy forever be out of his reach?

Luigi gripped his hands into fists. No, he couldn't ask those questions. This curse WAS removable. He would find a way to do it, and he wouldn't stop at anything to do so. He would get his life back, he would get his regular self back. He wouldn't stop at anything to do; he wouldn't let anything get in the way. He had a goal now, and despise his fears and worries, he would achieve it.

So, he took in a big, shaky breath. He walked away from Ashina's unconscious form. He had a lot of work to do.