Forbidden Pursuit

The Wolf in the Way

Wolf POV

I shouldn't have lost my temper. I really should have kept my cool. I just have such a strong sense of justice that I can't help but intervene when I see injustice being done. I am a supernatural creature, too, and we get blamed by humans for all their misfortunes. Whether or not that blame is justified is dependent on an individual, not their race as a whole. We werewolves stayed out of the way of humans as much as a we could. Vampires tried to blend with humans and were largely successful. Both of our existences were merely lore to most humans. That's why I was surprised to see the vampire trapped in the silver cage when I stumbled out of the woods fresh off the heels of disillusionment. 

I was the go-between for the nearby pack (who the humans didn't know was a werewolf pack) and this human village, so luckily I wasn't a complete stranger to these people, though I know they're suspicious of me. The nearby pack was struggling with some rogues on the edge of their territory, and I was in charge of warning the village of a 'convicted criminal' on the loose and also keeping an eye on the human/werewolf border at the edge of the woods. I had lived in the town long enough to build casual relationships with some of the business owners. However, the small strand of trust we did build just flew out the window since I lost my temper and let my wolf take over. Whatever. At the moment I had one thought: save the innocent vampire.

A snarl ripped from me as I used the moment of shock from these weaklings to my advantage. I raced to the small stone statue of their founding father that stood proudly in front of my favorite little restaurant, picked it up in my large muzzle, and threw it with all my strength at the silver cage. I knew the stone statue wouldn't hurt the vampire, but maybe the throw would hurt the statue. Serves them right.

With a crash and a thud the cage rocketed back several feet with the vampire still trapped inside before tipping backward off of him. I should have angled that statue better. Oh, well. I'm in a hurry, and mission accomplished. Stupid, overconfident humans. They built it to fall over the top of him with no bottom. They never imagined he'd have someone come save him. I'm certain he never imagined that, either, based on his shocked face as he emerged. Heck, I surprised myself that I felt the need to save him. I had spent the last several years living for myself only, and I hadn't allowed any emotional attachments with anyone. Why I felt the compulsion to save this stranger was a mystery to me. I need to finish what I started, though. 

I charged toward him and stood between him and the sun as he hovered near his prison in a sliver of shade. He looked so...vulnerable. Vampires were the werewolf's most dangerous enemy, and yet this one was completely at my mercy just due to the sunlight and the silver. Not that the silver didn't affect me as well. It did. But I wasn't the one trapped near it.

I thrust my head toward the woods and began to move to indicate to him that we needed to run, keeping my body positioned so he could move with me and stay in the shade my large body provided. Everything was happening quickly, but the shock from the humans was already wearing off.

"Get the silver bullets!"

"Werewolf!"

"Shoot them!"

"You're letting them escape!"

Numerous voices and screams rang out as the vampire and I moved in sync and picked up speed. I heard a gun fire and roared in pain as it hit its mark and ripped through my left thigh, though I was also briefly impressed by the accuracy of the shooter. The vampire and I weren't running slowly. I continued to move toward the woods, knowing it was my only escape now that I had revealed my identity. The vampire was picking up speed, and we entered the woods smoothly together and kept running. I pushed through the pain as a I heard another gunshot ring out. No new pain hit me, so I knew we were out of range for now. I kept running, willing myself deeper into the woods. I had already crossed into pack territory, but they were used to me, so no one approached me. For some reason they were not aware of the vampire running with me. Maybe they couldn't smell him.

The pain in my thigh was nearly unbearable, and I could feel the blood coursing down my leg from the gaping wound. I like my legs. I really hope it doesn't leave a scar. There isn't much I like about myself, but I do have pretty legs. Correction: I had pretty legs.

The pain and loss of blood was overtaking me, and I slowed down, panting heavily. My eyes swam and my head spun as I teetered a bit. The vampire slowed down with me and looked at me cautiously as I swayed and panted. I glanced at him right before I shifted, hitting the ground totally naked and totally vulnerable.

Don't leave me. Don't hurt me. I locked eyes with him as darkness engulfed me, and I remembered no more.

Vampire POV

I rushed into the shade of the closest tree and hid there as I turned and watched the beautiful she-wolf change back into her human form and make eye contact with me before falling unconscious. Her eyes locked with mine for only a second, but a myriad of her thoughts swirled there. Mainly I could see that she looked at me with mixed despair and forced trust.

I could kill her in an instant, and no one would know. I could kill her and leave her and blame the humans. One less werewolf to terrify the world. Except I would never do that.

I couldn't approach her right now as she lay in the direct sunlight of the setting afternoon sun. She had collapsed onto her right side, obviously favoring her bleeding left thigh even in her subconscious mind. I hated leaving here there naked and vulnerable, but I couldn't go help her until the sun set. Otherwise we would both be dead, and that would make her sacrifice pointless. I could see the blood pouring out of her thigh and over her leg. I could certainly smell it, and I knew she was losing a lot of it quickly. Why wasn't she healing? Didn't wolves have advanced healing abilities like vampires?

I glanced around to see if i could find a source of shade so I could go help her. The limbs over my head were nice and thick, but one ray of sun getting through those leaves would burn my exposed skin to ash.

I looked back toward the werewolf. Her hair was obsidian black, the thick ringlet curls fanned around her head. Her skin was creamy pale, almost as deathly pale as my own skin, but hers looked healthy and vibrant compared to my flat, deathlike skin. She had a slim, petite body with long legs that were right now covered in drying blood and new blood coating the dried blood.

Without being a pervert, I had to admit that she had a luscious to-die-for body. I hadn't gotten much of a glimpse of her most personal areas, but from what I had seen , she was very well-endowed in the chest and desirably slim and petite down lower. Her eyes had only met mine for a second, but they appeared gold in the setting sun, even appearing a bit orange in the light. She looked like she was carved by the Moon Goddess, and I couldn't help but wonder why in the world she was in a human village instead of being the most protected treasure of her pack. I had never met a she-wolf before. Maybe they were all this beautiful, but as far as I could see, she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I guess when I get to talk to her, I'll ask her why she isn't with her pack. It was without question in my mind that I would be taking her home to oversee her healing.

Just to make sure she's okay, I lie to myself. I chuckled darkly to myself as I thought of my second, Jeffrey's, response to her.

"Look, Jeffrey, I brought home a dog. Can we keep her?" I couldn't help but smirk when I pictured his shocked face.

If I was being honest with my thoughts, I would admit to myself that I was also curious about her. I sighed and sat against my tree in the shade and anxiously ticked down the minutes as the sky turned purple and the sun set. Why did 15 minutes seem like such an eternity? I thought about that village and how I got captured. How had they even figured out I was a vampire? I always wore sunglasses when I went there, and my eye color was the only dead giveaway. The mayor had been quick to yank off my sunglasses once I got caged to check my eyes. I had always been very cautious in that village. I even went during the day to throw them off. I just made sure to go at a time when the places I needed to go provided shade.

They must have had an informant, but who? As the sun slowly set, I ticked off the people in my head who knew I was a vampire and also knew about the town. My list consisted of two people: Jeffrey and my lawyer. Both of whom were also vampires and had no reason to inform the village of my true identity.

I stared at the crumpled, bleeding werewolf on the ground and mulled over the possibility that I could have been sniffed out and reported by a werewolf who was up to no good. The more I considered that possibility, the more probable it seemed. I know it wasn't this she-wolf. Otherwise she wouldn't have bothered trying to save me.

The sun was much lower now. As soon as the shade touched her, I was instantly by her side, pulling her fully into the shade so I could tend her wounds. I removed my shirt and wrapped it around her thigh tightly. Since her wound was caused by a silver bullet that I could see was still lodged in her leg, it wasn't healing. That made sense. No wonder she wasn't healing. I reached my hand into the wound, grasped the bullet, and pulled it out, ignoring the scorching feeling it left on my skin. She was bleeding out for me. The least I could do was pull out the bullet. Her breathing was shallow, and her face was frighteningly pale. She needed medical attention. I rolled her onto her back and sucked in my breath, keeping my eyes decidedly on her face. I wasn't going to ogle her while she was passed out. I'm not a monster. Well, not that kind of monster.

She was truly breathtaking. I gently lifted her, favoring her injury as I gazed at her face, and then I was speeding toward the nearest big city. My manor was too far away. I needed to get her to a hospital fast. Any hospital. Even a human hospital. She moaned and mumbled in my arms.

"How could you?" She whispered. Her voice sounded incredibly broken, and my dead heart broke for here even as my curiosity raged at what her words could mean. I ran at full speed. I owed her my life, and I wasn't about to let her lose hers out here.