The old grey took the lead once more and approached the shadow cautiously. The rest of the pack followed. The thing that William noticed was that none of his former pack mates were growling at all. This struck him as odd. The only reason that they would not be issuing a challenge of some kind would be if they knew or were familiar with whom this newcomer was. William tried to penetrate the shadow that was the werewolf standing in the moonlight, but he could not. He moved in closer behind his pack.
As his eyes adjusted to the light and dark of the silhouette, he could make out the colors of its fur. The coloring was very like his when he was in werewolf form, tan fur with sharp defined narrow lines of black fur running over his arms and legs. He couldn’t tell what color the eyes were, but he had a growing feeling that the eyes would be gold, just like his.
He watched as the werewolf jumped down among the other wolves. The werewolf and his eyes met, and a cruel ugly smile formed on the mouth of the werewolf. William’s eyes grew wide as he realized what was going to happen. He started forward but his body was sluggish, and it felt like he was trying to wade through several feet of mud. He tried to call out to warn his former pack about what was going to happen but when he opened his mouth no sound came out.
He watched as the old grey bowed his head and William tried to stop what was about to happen. Even if William could have moved with the speed that he possessed as a werewolf it wouldn’t have been fast enough. The grey bolted forward in a zigzag attack pattern. He launched himself into the air. His snout was pointing directly at the monstrous werewolf’s neck. Then in movement that William’s human eyes couldn’t follow, the werewolf slashed upwards with his claws. For a moment it looked like nothing had happened. Then a hideous spray of blood sprang forth from the old grey’s neck. His body relaxed and William knew that he was dead. The old grey hung in the air for long moments. His head swung underneath his body at a disgusting angle. The head wasn’t completely severed, but close enough. William saw that the head was held suspended by just some shreds of skin and sinew. The old grey’s body seemed to just hang in the air as his head lulled under him. Then the lifeless body crashed down to the earth splashing into the expanding pool of its own blood that had collected beneath him.
William’s voice rang out in a scream of pain and rage. The other wolves were just as fast to react to the attack. They threw themselves at the werewolf. William wanted nothing more than to warn them, tell them to run. This is a fight that not even the pack can win. Even if he could have communicated this thought to them, it wouldn’t have mattered. The pack was in a blood fury. They threw themselves at the attacker in waves. The werewolf was ripping wolves apart while they were in mid air. Blood was everywhere and the gore that covered the werewolf was evidence of the carnage.
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William was frozen to his spot on the mountain as he watched the last wolf dodge under the werewolf and attack its soft hind legs. William recognized this tactic because the old grey had used it on him in that first fight they had. And similarly to that first fight, the wolf’s teeth could not puncture the almost impenetrable skin of the werewolf. The werewolf reached down behind him and held the struggling wolf up by its neck. The wolf squirmed and kicked trying to break the hold of the werewolf. The werewolf looked over at William and smiled at him. The smile was one of pure joy and William felt like he wanted to throw up. As the werewolf was smiling at William its arm muscles tensed and the wolf stopped struggling. The werewolf dropped the lifeless body on the ground.
The werewolf never took his eyes off William and now that the pack was destroyed the werewolf started walking toward him. William would have loved to have been able to move at that point, but his legs were frozen in place and even though he wanted to get away his legs would not respond to his pleading.
The werewolf came within an inch of Williams face. Even in his human form the smell of blood was thick on the animal in front of him and he couldn’t smell anything else. The werewolf bent down till he was at eye level with William. William wanted to do something to this werewolf but he knew that he was miserably inadequate to fight this monster. William held his ground and looked the werewolf dead in the eye. At this proximity, he knew that he was in fact facing a clone of himself as a werewolf. This monster that had just killed his former pack looked exactly like him when he was in werewolf form. His eyes were gold and William met that stare with as much courage as he could muster.
“Who are you?”
The werewolf barked a laugh in William’s face. The sudden movement sprayed William with blood and William flinched. William took a deep breath and held his ground. The werewolf didn’t move either, but William took the opportunity to move and flex his muscles. His legs were unfrozen and his body responded to every command that he gave it. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do but knowing that he could, in fact, do something was a great comfort.
The werewolf stepped back from William and raised himself back up to his full height. “Don’t you know me, pup?”
William had a feeling he had known who this werewolf was but hearing its voice made every suspicion he had a concrete fact. William took a good look at the werewolf standing in front of him. He studied the coloring of its fur, the color of its eyes, and the gore that dripped from its claws. The nightmare that William had always been afraid of was standing in front of him. The evidence of the evil that it was capable of was written all over its fur and claws in the blood from his pack. William looked at the wicked curve of its mouth as it twisted in a grotesque smile. William felt very alone, and his heart stopped in fear. He did know who the werewolf was and that thought robbed him of all logic and reason. The only thing he felt at that moment was a need to get away from this thing, now.
William turned and before his mind had a chance to catch up with him, he was running back down the mountainside. The only thing he knew was that he had to get away. The only thing he heard was the vicious laughter of the werewolf.