The Wild Within

Chapter 1 - Luke

Luke

"Let’s go!” Julius shouted at me. “Run faster! Push harder!”

“I am!” I shouted back at him as I pushed my legs to the max; they were burning like fire was in my veins.

“Faster!” He growled at me.

I dug deep inside and pushed myself a little faster, pulling me ahead of Julius, who was pretty quick for an older guy. My brothers were several yards back, but Julius only seemed to care about making my life hell.

My brothers and I aren’t biologically related; at least, we weren’t at first. But all of us were created by the same man, turning us into more than just humans. We are werewolves. We were the Wild Ones. I was the newest addition to Julius’s pack, so he’s training me extra hard, I guess. The others have been around for varying lengths of time. It seems when Julius meets someone he feels would make an excellent addition to his park, he’ll offer them a new life. Often, especially with me, it’s life-saving. I was addicted to drugs, spiraling out of control, and would’ve ended up dead. Julius met me on the worst night of my life.

I was overdosing in an alleyway. This deep British voice rang out of nowhere and told me to hold on, that he would help me, but it would hurt. I couldn’t respond, then he bit me, and he was right about the pain.

I don’t remember much after that, but I was bandaged up and laying in a bed in Julius’s house when I came too. Julius was sitting in the chair beside my bed, watching me. He introduced himself, explained what happened, what he was, what he had done, and why.

It didn’t even freak me out. Julius said he chose me because I had been a good man before I destroyed myself with drugs. I was intelligent, strong, and I had valuable skills. Spending almost your whole life in the military as special ops does that for you, I guess. But after I was injured in battle and discharged back home. Nobody wanted me anymore, and I got hooked on drugs and alcohol.

It’s been about six months since that night, and I was in even better shape than my military days. I hadn’t touched the junk once and never even thought about it. I used to dream about that s**t for years, tortured myself with it. But waking up here, as something new, it’s like I never touched the stuff.

“Faster!” Julius shouted at me, but he was already six paces behind.

A growl ripped from my chest as I pushed myself even harder, and then it was like I was flying. I took off, leaving Julius in my wake, and I was running free as if I were in my wolf form. I’ve never run this fast as a human, and I didn’t think it was possible. But I’m not exactly human anymore, am I? Even though my human form is the same as before, there’s something else inside me now.

I snuck a look behind me and couldn’t even see Julius anymore. I laughed as I ran, reveling in my victory until something big came flying out of the trees beside me. It slammed into me hard and knocked me into the tree. The air went entirely out of my body, then ‘the something big’ dropped me on the ground; a loud booming laugh told me exactly who it was.

“Doug!” I wheezed. “You’re an asshole!”

“Aw, sorry about that, baby brother,” he laughed and scooped me up from the ground. “I thought you were a frightened deer. I was going to eat you.”

“Right,” I said and bent over my knees, trying to suck the air back in my lungs. Doug continued to laugh, so I quickly punched him in the nuts while he was enjoying my misery.

“Oh, my balls, you fucker!” He shouted as he keeled over himself.

“Paybacks a b***h, Doug,” Julius said in his deep voice. “Good run Luke, let’s get some food.”

“You’re getting faster,” Nick said as we all headed back to the house. “How’d it feel?”

“Like I was flying,” I said with a smile.

“Yeah, I remember feeling like that the first time too,” he sighed, then grinned at me. “Race ya!”

He didn’t wait for my reply as he took off and started hauling ass back to the house. I ran after him, as did my other brothers and Julius. Nick had the advantage, though, since he’s over 6’5, with that being mostly leg. I could hear him laughing the whole way like the goofball he indeed was at heart.

Nick was probably one of my favorite brothers, even though we all get along pretty well. But he and I just had a connection. Maybe it’s because he was closer to my age or we had similar life experiences, but he was one of the first to help me through my transition to a wolf. I think we had formed a bond then, and it’s gotten stronger as time went on.

He reached the front porch of our cabin and did jumping jacks while the rest of us slowly walked up. He smiled again and let out a victory howl before going inside. When we entered, I could smell bacon, eggs, and pancakes. Two of my brothers had stayed behind to cook while we went for a run. We all took turns between training and chores. We may be animals be won’t don’t have to live like them.

Doug let out a growl as he grabbed a plate and loaded it up with food. I grabbed my plate and sat down next to Nick. As we ate, I looked around at my new family and silently thanked Julius for bringing me home to them.

Doug was one of Julius’s first creations. He was a big beast of a man and was more wolf than man most of the time. Doug loved to growl and rough house, but he was protective and loyal. Nathan was also one of Julius’s first creations. He had a slight build; half his head shaved while the other was long as past his chin. Nathan was a unique, quiet kind of guy. He was the other one who had helped me through the transition.

“Ry, you’re getting better at the cooking, man,” I called out to the youngest of our pack. “Doesn’t have shells in it this time.”

“f**k you, man,” he growled at me.

Ryan was technically a year older than me in wolf years, but he was the most immature of us. He was barely in his twenties and still had a fresh babyface. We loved to tease him about it, but he was a good kid. Julius was the oldest of us and our creator. He made us who we are because he had a job to protect the sleepy town just outside our woods. They don’t know what we are, but they know us as we all work in town.

Julius says that he had promised to keep the town safe many years ago from the other supernatural’s existence. I guess A lot of sleepy little towns have wolf protectors, and none were never the wiser. At first, it was just him as the protector, but he found he needed more help as the town grew. Then there was an influx in supernaturals around the area, so he needed to make a few more to train and keep them away from our town.

“You working today, Luke?” Julius asked me as he sipped his coffee.

“Yeah,” I said. “I got put on nights for a couple of weeks, so I won't be able to run patrols. The first one is tomorrow night.”

“That’s alright,” he said. “We can handle it.”

“It’s been boring,” Ryan complained. “Not even one filthy vampire has come into our woods in like three months.”

“Shut up, Ryan,” Doug growled. “Seems like every time you complain about it, we get something attacking the town.”

“Well, that’s what we are here for, isn’t it?” he replied.

“You weren’t here for the witch attacks,” Nathan said. “It was chaos, all day, every day for weeks. It was exhausting. So I enjoy these quiet times, and I’d really hate to have to kick your ass because you keep opening your puppy trap and whining about it.”

Ryan growled, and his eyes turned black, teeth elongating. Julius sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. I wondered if he sometimes regretted turning Ryan or if he was tired of waiting for him to mature. Nathan ignored Ryan’s glower and continued to eat his breakfast and sip his orange juice.

“Just so you know, Luke, I made the eggs. That’s why there are no shells in it,” Nathan said as he stood up from his chair. “Ryan did make the pancakes, though; light and fluffy.”

“Just like him!” roared Doug with a laugh and clapped Ryan’s shoulder.

“f**k you guys!” he sneered and got up from the table. “I’m done cooking for you ungrateful d***s. Next time it's my turn, all of you are just getting raw squirrel on a plate.”

“Aw, come on, Ry, we’re just playing,” laughed Nick. “You really are getting better, I swear.”