FSE

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When we woke, none spoke a single word about last night's happenings. Not even Kevin, although even in his human form he had a smug grin on his face when speaking with me. He looked like an average hacker like this; slightly out of shape but not fat, but it was clear to me that his wereside had been bleeding over into his human form for a while now, given his canid manners. I had found myself developing them too, such as trying to perk my ears to listen to sounds, or catching myself walking on my toes, simulating a digitigrade posture.

Regardless of our silence, it was a scene. It was obvious from the sights and smells that more pairs than just us had mated, perhaps due to anxiety over the coming night. We cleaned ourselves up best we could, ate breakfast that Emily brought upon her return, and largely, we merely waited. Emily was, as expected, the one to break the silence. I'm glad she didn't have my acute sense of smell or there'd definitely have been some embarrassing comments.

"So, wolfies. And coyote," she addressed us all where we sat. "Today you will be infiltrating the Ambicorp headquarters slash production facility. As I'm sure you've noticed, we got a blizzard going, so that will make it much easier for us. It should, really, be an easy job..." she paused to take a bite of her own sandwich.

"And, mmh, I will monitor social media basically. Sorry, I can't do much else, but the second the break-in is reported I'm going to try to sway opinions. I might meet with the chief of police to perhaps have any investigations bungled," she paused again. "By fucking him. God, I despise that pig of a man, but it's still a better job than yours," she grinned.

"I can't do much beyond that; Ambicorp and their overlords are, well, immune to my charms. We don't know why, but probably some sort of implanted slow-release chemicals. Kills their sex drive and makes them immune to our curse..."

She said our as if she was a werewolf herself. I suppose she was, in a way. An honorary one, at the very least.

"You brutes will take down guards, break open the facility, and Kevin will tap into their network. He'll dump as much data as he can before responders come in, and you'll be out before that or they'll make pelts of you, at best..." she spoke. "One more thing; when you're done, you burn as much of the building as you can. Douse it in gas, especially the servers and production lines, and torch it. It won't kill the company, but it'll slow them down."

We nodded collectively. Even Stephen was listening.

Kevin spoke up next. "Yeah, and while I'm working my magic, you guys have to keep me safe. I'm not as tough as you are, although I do have some tricks of my own-" he winked at me. The bastard. "-that might help".

It wasn't Kevin that I was angry at; if anything, that was playful anger. I wanted to pin him down and fuck him in a very playful way. Who I was angry at was, ultimately, Emily. For all her words, I had yet to see her do anything for us beyond throwing me into a meatgrinder and stealing my spouse away. It was possible that she did good behind the scenes, but I just didn't know. With her attitude, it could've been either or. She talked a lot, but did little. Still, I bottled up my anger, as Stephen would certainly not approve of it.

Instead, Jackson opened his mouth, as if speaking for me. "So why don't you just become one of us and fuckin' help instead of fucking old fat white guys?" he growled. Lycanthropic bleed-over.

She didn't dignify him with a response. Instead, before we parted ways, she went over the final details. "So, go in under the cover of the blizzard, take out the guards, dump their data and torch the place. Simple enough, yes? Stephen will go with you, of course."

With that and no further questions, she left the room. We watched the outside world through the dirty windows. The blizzard showed no signs of easing up; if anything, it was picking up. Snow was whipping down, covering the city's filth in its white purity. Soon enough, the snow would be dirty too, just like everyone else that came into this place. But for now, for just a moment, it was something pure and good. I took it as an omen; if not from nature, then merely as one of luck.

My next shift was barely noticeable. I fell, an arose as a wolf. I watched the same happen to the others, some more affected than others. Kevin seemed to shift while standing, as did Stephen. The rest of my pack seemed to still suffer from differing degrees of that nausea and spasmodic cramping that'd been a constant for my first few weeks. This was the first time I saw this many people shift at once, and everyone seemed to be struck by that same primal arousal as I was; I saw cocks hanging from their sheaths and could smell the females. It was not the time for that, however, and we all understood that. It was time to go to war.

There was not a soul outside at night, not during a storm like this. We walked openly through the streets, the snow so thick that we probably couldn't even be seen from any of the surrounding buildings. It was cold, but I hardly felt it, thick fur protecting and comforting me. The Ambicorp headquarters were about a mile away, near the docks, and it was an easy enough trek. My large paws acted much like snowshoes, stopping me from sinking too deep into the snow, and raw werewolf strength and endurance kept me bounding through the night.

Despite all that, we were all panting heavily by the time we reached the outer fences of the Ambicorp compound. It was heavily secured, but that was natural for any pharmaceutical company. The fences were topped with nasty-looking barbed wire, and there were cameras, but from Jo's scouting mission we knew where the blind spots were. The wire was just the normal steel wire, and it was easily sliced apart with out claws. Then, we were inside. The blizzard had a downside, too: the guards could not see us, but couldn't see them well either. We could smell them, however, as they were upwind from us. I say "them", but really only one smell was recent and lingering, and I communicated that to the pack.

With snow whipping in our faces, we advanced. As expected, only one guard was outside. There was a breakroom somewhere, probably indoors, where the rest were. I looked at Stephen and he nodded. I did the final approach alone while the rest of the pack waited behind for me to clear the entrance. I took a chance on approaching the guard; I didn't know which way they were facing, but I assumed it was towards the main road and entrance, rather than towards the side from where we came. It was correct. I studied for the briefest of moments before doing anything; he seemed to wear only a uniform, perhaps a Kevlar vest, and on his back, along with arms was the Wolfsbane logo. He had what seemed like a taser and a gun on his belt, as well as a baton; nothing that could hurt me unless that gun was loaded with silver bullets, and I doubted it.

The problem was that he was under a camera which could probably see him. If that camera was being monitored right now, they would see everything regardless of what I did. However, if it was not monitored constantly, I could make him disappear and they might assume he was merely patrolling. It ruled out taking him down right there, but I had no time to consider this further, we were on a timer.

I crept up as close as I could. He heard the snow shuffle when I was close enough to bite his neck, and was about to turn around when I took a hold of his neck and yanked him backwards. He let out a yell, hopefully drowned out by the blizzard, and those would be his last words. I put one hand over his mouth as he flailed, my grip strong enough to prevent his jaw from even opening. He flailed, trying to reach for his gun, but it was far too late for that. After dragging him behind a corner where I didn't think there were any cameras, I tightened my grip, slowly crushing his windpipe and then his neck. With a quiet gurgle, he was no more, with minimal blood on the snow.

I returned to my pack and let them know. We had heard no alarms, but we had to breach the doors, and when we did, they were guaranteed to notice. What was it Jo had said? Fifteen minute response time, probably at least twenty-five in this weather. Of course, that had been a small alert; the doors being breached would be a clear sign of a malicious attack, and they'd scramble to send their strongest force. Of course, if we avoided cameras, they might not know what they were facing, but we had to prepare for the worst. I had a sense of dread, buried somewhere in the back of my skull, that things would go sour very quickly.

When the whole pack was at the front gate, we sprung to action. There was a main gate that was automatically operated, and a side door. We went for the front; it would be lighter, having to be lifted often and repeatedly throughout the day. Together Stephen, Jackson and I sliced out claws into the very bottom, and forced the gate up. There was a snap, and little resistance to our combined might. The gate rose, and at that moment sirens started blaring, lights flashing red along the building. They knew we were here now, and we had to be fast.

We didn't get the chance. As we forced the door open, we were faced with a small squad of Wolfsbane, running towards us. Two in the normal uniforms, one looking heavy and with an assault rifle instead of the guns. Stephen rushed towards him, but even with unnatural speed, the guard was faster. I heard a series of loud bangs, and Stephen stumbled, falling to the floor with a heavy thud. With the gun pointed towards us, we had nowhere to go, and it had to be silver bullets to take one of us down that quickly.

I felt nothing. A cold, emotionless clarity enveloped me. This was the end.

But then, behind the guards, the side door slammed open and a mass of shapes poured in. The guards panicked. The heavy guard kept his gun aimed at us, but that proved to be a bad choice. The others - I counted at least five, beasts like us, not human - descended on them in a flurry of teeth and claws. I watched two grab the heavy guard. They tore his arms out of their sockets, and he screamed as he fell. The rest ripped apart the others.

My mind was blank, but I still recognized these things as otters. Otters, but monstrous. They were smaller than us, but unnaturally stretched, pure muscle and sinew on every inch of their bodies. "Go", one snarled at us. "We know. We will hold them back. Leave him. We will save him. If he can be saved".

We did not hesitate. I know I should've felt horror at seeing my Alpha fall, but I felt nothing but that icy clarity, with a furious rage bubbling just under it. We pierced into the facility, meeting no more resistance. It was a sterile place, as one would expect, and the twisting corridors were clearly marked. We crushed the door to the server room, and Kevin got to work. He said nothing as he pulled out a device he had been holding - a smartphone, but heavily modified - and a cable. He plugged it into one of the servers, seemingly at random, but I knew from his look that he knew exactly what he was doing. I smelled the fishy odour of the otters and swung around, finding myself face to face with one. Despite being bigger than him, I would never willingly face one of these in battle. He had a look on his bestial face that suggested an absolute berserker rage, and he struggled to form words. "I stay. You work. Silver doesn't work on us. I help," he growled. I nodded. I didn't know how they knew, but I welcomed any assistance. I wondered, however briefly, if this was Emily's doing; she might have alerted other weres of our plan. The otters must've come from the water, as his fur was wet and frozen in places, although that ice was already melting, and his brown fur was splattered with blood.

For what felt like hours, Kevin plugged his device into different servers while the rest of us poured gasoline over everything we could find. The otter and I guarded Kevin; the rest of the pack went elsewhere to find more things to set aflame, and soon enough, we could smell smoke. The otter was struggling to contain himself, smashing monitors and clenching his jaws, visibly trembling to contain a clear desire to destroy everything he saw in here.

The smoke made me feel, for the first time in this facility, something. It made me feel fear. A deep-seated, primal and animalistic feeling. The fear of fire, inherent in all of us. Finally, Kevin said the single word we'd been waiting for: "Done".

We left the room, tense and awaiting resistance but finding none. The blizzard must've been a disaster for their response crew. No matter the vehicle, this much snow was not an easy task to get through. Kevin lit the gasoline on the servers, and the flames roared to life, consuming and devouring. That fear I had felt was threatening to grow into panic, but we had to temper our beasts with human logic. The pack wouldn't have set fire to our escape route. We were right. One by one they all rejoined us as we navigated the corridors back through the facility. The smoke was getting thick, and each of us was hunched over to be able to breathe at all.

The otter broke things along the way. He sliced through cables. He kicked open doors. He tore cameras off the walls and when we reached the entrance, he was shaking to kill something. I could recognize that feeling, but it seemed a hundredfold stronger in him than any of us.

At the door, the blizzard was blowing snow in now, covering even the insides of the factory. It might hinder the fire, stop a total conflagration, but we could see the flames licking along the walls behind us; the damage was already enormous, and our mission was complete.

However, a sight that made my heart sink greeted us there. Stephen still laid where he had fallen, with the other otters around him. "Dead," one growled. "We will take him away," the other continued. "So they can't defile him," a third added. They were all looking absolutely furious. I was heartbroken - or rather, I knew I should be, even though it wasn't tangible - but I had no time to do anything. No time to protest. We heard the roar of an engine and two Wolfsbane vans came from behind the curve, through the outer gates and slid towards us in the snow.

The otters, including the one that had been with us, did not hesitate. With screeches and even roars, they launched themselves towards the vans, and before anyone had exited, they were already smashing windshield and savaging the drivers inside.

We all knew what they were doing. They were buying us time. We didn't know if they were a match for the troopers, but they were clearly willing - or perhaps unable not to - die trying to take as many of them down as they could. We left Stephen, my alpha, behind, his cooling body slowly being covered by the heavy snowfall. There was simply no choice, and I will defend it to this day; whatever Kevin had extracted from their servers, we had to get to a safe place, or all of this would be for nothing. My alpha would've died for nothing.

As we ran, we heard gunshots and screams in a cacophony of death. Whatever was happening, if the otters were losing, Wolfsbane would be paying for their blood in their own. Soon enough, the howling of the wind drowned out all sounds, and we were far away from Ambicorp once again. No words were spoken. Not even Kevin, who seemed like the type to make off-color remarks, said anything; he looked grim, almost wolflike. The rest of the pack followed me. As we trekked through the snow it dawned on me; I was the leader, now. I would have to lead this pack, but I was relatively new and inexperienced. Emily would be there to help me, but I didn't like her. Did not like her methods, or her willingness to sacrifice. That said, even she couldn't have foreseen Stephen dying like that. Me, perhaps, but Stephen - the mightiest werewolf any of us knew - fallen to a few silver bullets, leaving me as his heir apparent.

Jackson might protest, but I knew he would fall in line. He respected me more than he respected Stephen, I knew that. I had beaten him fairly, whereas Stephen had only converted his weak human form into that of a wolf.

But as we journeyed through the ever-growing snow almost waist-high, I began to have other thoughts. Thoughts that had been previous suppressed by submissive instincts. I had never consented to what Stephen had done to me. Had my adoration to him been a part of the curse that bonded us? I wondered, icy wind in my face. It was so cold now that the howling wind was freezing my face and causing frost to form on my thick black pelt, giving it a coating of powdery white, making me look almost grey, rather than the black that my alpha had given me.

I felt as if nature personified was giving me a sign, as my feelings slowly returned despite the numbing of my body. The werewolves' cause was just, yes, but the way Stephen and Emily had ran this pack was not. I would have to be my own being now, not an obedient pack member, and I would have to lead them on a better path. Blood would still be shed, but not mindlessly. Plans formed in my mind, as I thought of all the homeless and drifters that called the city streets their home. They might welcome our gift, a chance to fight back against the system that drove them to where they were, rather than it having to be forced upon the unwilling as a curse. My thoughts felt clearer. The primordial lycanthropic feelings were still there, but it was as if chains had been broken, a mist cleared, or ice shattered; I could hear my own thoughts clearer than I had in weeks, or months; I had lost track of time under Stephen's influence.

When we reached out lair again, I could still smell Stephen in the air. I did feel sorrow, yes, but not overwhelming sorrow. We had never had a real connection beyond that of a werewolf and his sire. Regardless, even a run-down, condemned apartment like this was comforting compared to the blizzard raging outside, or silver bullets raining down at us. Emily was there to greet us, and it was not evident if she had done anything at all while we were gone.

"Nicely done," she said as we entered one by one. "Did you get the data? I saw that the Ambicorp compound was in flames and the fire department has issues getting there thanks to this weather," she grinned.

Her grin faded as he noticed that Stephen wasn't with us. She asked us where he was, showing no emotion.

We told her what had happened, including the appearance of the wereotters, and she seemed angry. Not sad, not distraught, but angry. "You useless mutts couldn't handle one guard? God, even with the otters that I called in helping, you're wor-"

I stopped her. "There was nothing we could do. They caught us by surprise."

She shrugged. Seemingly, her emotions changed on a whim. "Oh well, he was a good alpha, but I suppose I'll have to lead the pack now, as you clearly aren't capa-"

"I am the alpha now," I growled at her.

"In your dreams. No, you're not, pup. Don't forget your place, you're still new. I am the senior member here," she replied.

To my surprise, Jackson spoke up. "He is my alpha. For now," he snarled. Jo nodded, as did the others.

"I'd certainly much rather follow Mr. Big Bad Wolf here than you, Em," Kevin spoke, grinning - or perhaps grimacing - in in his usual way now.

For all her faults, Emily wasn't dumb, seeing the support I had. "Very well then, but we'll do things my way regardless, you'd only lead the pack to-"

"Fuck you," Jackson growled, seconds away from jumping on her. "Our alpha leads and we follow. You are not one of us."

"There will be some changes. We will continue our war, but in a different way," I spoke, letting out those thoughts that had been incubating within me on our way back.

"No longer will we force our curse on the unwilling. Instead, we shall offer it as a blessing to the downtrodden, the victims, the castaways and the drifters, those with the most motivation to fight the system that fucked them," I addressed my pack.

My pack agreed. Emily, once again, showed nothing, but I could sense that she was furious. She had considered this to be her operation. Now, it wasn't.

"Emily stays as an advisor, if she so desires," I continued. "But not as a leader."

Jackson threw his head back and let out a howl. Instinctively, I joined, and the rest of the pack did as well, in our lupine moonlight song.

I realized now that this was where I belonged, and it was what I had to do; the were-curse wasn't a curse but a blessing. Any blessing, however, can be turned into a curse in the wrong hands, as ours had been. We would continue the fight, but we would do it right; good means to good ends, rather that Emily's way. Whatever corporation Kevin pulled from the data we would go after next, and then the one after that, and the one after that, until Ambicorp's overlords could no longer keep the country on their leash. This sense of meaning, this clarity of thought, felt as if Luna itself was howling with me.

I resolved to do two things that night. We would help the helpless, and tear the wicked limb from limb. The second thing was more personal; I would find my spouse again. Even as I cuddled up to Kevin for the night, with my rapidly swelling sheath pushing against his fuzzy back, I thought of him. Perhaps there would no longer be anything between us anymore, perhaps there would. Either way, I wound find him, and at the very least, we would make the world a better place together. Perhaps it was simply destiny that had torn us apart rather that Emily and Stephen in particular, maybe it was fate that had led me to this point.

None of that mattered now. I felt a sense of purpose. Something I had never felt for the first thirty years of my life. I felt free, unleashed, and unbound. I felt like an alpha.