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1. Claude

I watched in disappointment as he was immediately at a disadvantage. The other two wolves quickly surrounded him and quickly dashed my hopes of Sean's acceptance of his beatial side would go as quickly as I hoped. Already the others were tearing into his weak human flesh. It may seem cruel but this had to be done. No werewolf survives being divided by the two natures. Accept what you are or reject, that was the choice every werewolf had to make in their lives. I had welcomed his blind rage as it was seldom that anyone challenged me but that same rage would hopefully help him in the end.

As the fierce fighting continued I realized that was only fighting by instinct and not using his human intelligence. He hadn't shifted physically but right now Sean was every bit a wolf as he lashed out as his assailants. The connection had not yet been made. There was no sense in watching the blood letting as whatever was going to be decided would take time. The bloody fighting did not concern me as much as Sean not embracing the power of the beast. His body could heal itself enough from the fighting to go on for hours more but he needed to decide what to do with his natures. Eric had waited too long and the damage to Sean might already be done. Better to get a result one way or the other right now rather than keep waiting.

The Chastel's knew these lessons well. My infamous relative had taught us that much. The Beast of Gevaudan had in those last years become an instrument of rage and blood. The French countryside I called home paid in that currency often washing the lad in death. It was said in the end my great grandfather never spoke a single word just a creature of madness and instinct just as Sean was now in the cage.

Since those dark days my family understood the dangers of ignoring the two sides of our natures or simply embracing one over the other. Those mindless rogue werewolves who became killing machines became the poster children of our kind. The very same French countryside where the Chastels called home became a hunting ground for wolves and werewolves alike. I knew that to embrace just the wolf and becoming a killing machine was a symptom of a larger problem. The problem of detection.

That was why I was recruiting. Liz and Jacob were the two newest but there were many others waiting, eager for the gift the bite could bring them. The two love birds seemed like average candidates when they entered the bar. They had noticed the wolf motif and started asking questions. Jacob had come from the southwest,a Native American at least in part, but first and foremost he was a biker. He loved travelling the open road and seeing something of the world. Liz was just a girl he had picked up somewhere on his travels. Jacob seemed more curious about wolves and werewolves while Liz simply seemed to be that teenager in rebellion and liking Jacob for his tanned muscular looks. It was that rebellious streak in them that would make them good allies. Rejecting human ideas of law and order for the more primal and natural made sense. They seemed a good start to my plans.

Jacob would prove valuable as a travelling member of the pack, possible recruiter, and messenger on the road. I hoped Liz would become more dominant if she did I would send her out west but time would tell. If they accepted their new natures then I could move forward on my plans. I had to be patience.

The night had brought the usual crowd of red neck and shoppers to the bar. Cattle and sheep for the most part. You could always see it in their body language; the blank stares, the way they herded themselves in tight knit groups, and the fearful glances. It always amazed me how humans could think themselves superior when time and time again they would show these weaknesses. There were no new candidates just the same riff raff I'd come to expect. I did practically jump to my feet when a man with long black hair walked in. Fortunately he was as pale as could be. I was anxious. Between the experiment in the back room I also expected Eric's pack to start circling. I was ready for that confrontation, even eager for it.

"Did you see all that blood?" whispered Derek to Aaron as they came out of the back groom.

In a flash I darted by them intentionally bumping into Derek to get his attention.

"Don't let me ever hear even a whisper from you about us, not yet," I growled in a low tone.

It was all I had to to do as the blonde man practically pissed himself. I wasted no time heading out back. Sam was guarding the door as always and seemed to enjoy seeing the younger wolf skirt over in fear. I gave him an unapproving glare before entering the room just to put him in his place as well. The room had a few candidates discussing varying issues and drinking a few beers. I made sure no one saw me enter the hallway, no sense in drawing attention to myself as I locked the door behind me. The coppery smell of blood filled the air growing stronger as I walked down the hallway. Had Sean failed to shift? Did the other two kill him? A sadness came over me at the thought that someone with so much potential was lost due to another Alpha's sheer incompetence. He had been naturally submissive to me. It had surprised me, most were submissive due to fear but Sean had been different.

The blood was not fresh though as I discovered when I entered the room. The scent of stale blood was quite clear, though there were fresh traces. The majority had been spilt around a half an hour earlier and Derek had been right the room was bathed in it. There was a frantic scratching of claws on the floor of the cage as I saw a dark shadow move into the light. The limping body of Jacob moved away from the bar, his lupine body moving in pain as he whimpered. He avoided the darkness towards the back as if there was something awful there.

Darkness surrounded me. Was I awake? Was I asleep? Was this a dream? Did I die at the claws of the other werewolves? I didn't smell anything in the darkness, nor was there any sound other than my breathing and heartbeat. I must be alive at the very least. I shouted into the void. Nothing answered back. I was alone and that feeling of loneliness started eating away at me. It had been a long time since I had become a werewolf since I had been alone like this. I wondered if this was hell and being a werewolf had damned me to this fate.

"No you are not damned, not yet," came forth a guttural growling voice from the emptiness.

"Who is there?" I demanded whirling around to try and locate the origin.

Out of the darkness appeared a giant brown wolf. A halo of dim light similar to the faint light of the moon surrounded the wolf. The mirage before me made questioning my sanity a lot easier. This had to be a dream. The wolf was huge easily the size of a horse or larger. It was held in place by silvery chains wrapped around its body. The chains even extended to its muzzle which had a gap for it to pant and to be able to slightly open its maw, but not by much. The brilliant amber eyes cut through the darkness illuminating the surrounding area.

"I am wold, free, natural, a beast to some, and a guide to others. I am you," growled the wolf in a deep masculine voice that boomed through the darkness.

"No you aren't me. I am me!" I protested.

The wolf was swiftly in my face, those lantern eyes glared brightly into me their gaze taking stock. It let out a defiant roar. The foul stench of blood, flesh, and white hot anger washed over me. The hot air from its lungs blew pack my hair with its force. If I had been a lesser man I might have wet my pants but I had seen the chains that held this beast. There was nothing to fear.

"How dare you deny me again boy!" it bellowed. "Every time I come you shackle me. Every time blood cries out to be consumed you shut me out! Not this time!"

In a fluid motion the wolf whirled around and some of the chains whipped up and circles around me. The chains hold me in a vice like grip to the side of the wolf. It tried to snap at me with its restrained jaws but I was just out of reach. The wolf was undeterred by that fact as it kept trying to snap at me fueled by its rage. I tried to get free but my arms were pinned to the side of the wolf.

"Now we are both bond," it sneered. "How does it feel?"

With a twist of its body it pulled me along like a puppet. All that filled my ears was the clanking of chains, the wolf's heavy breathing, and the drumming heart beat. Where was I? Why was this wolf trapping me? Questioned continued to flood my mind as my vision began to blur.

"You're really stupid," replied the wolf coldly.

I looked up at the wolf who was sneering back at me, showing its maw of fangs as best as could be done. The brown fur had flecks of golden brown and black throughout the sienna brown coat. The underside of the jaw had a creme colored tone to it. There was something eerily familiar about the monstrous beast.

"You're..."

"Yes."

"Me," I replied hesitantly as I pieced everything together. "Am I insane?"

"You tell me. What kind of werewolf keeps their wolf chained up like this?"

"Someone recently told me about that," I replied thinking about what Claude had told me before I blacked out.

Out of the darkness came a ghostly image of Claude wearing the same biker gear that I had last seen him in.

"The Alpha, I like him," replied the wolf. "He is a good leader. and pushes us."

"Why am I having a conversation with myself?" I asked aloud.

Blood, blood was everywhere suddenly. Panic filled my mind. Wolves were afraid of me but some were attacking. I must defend myself. There was more blood, more rage. Flashes of red, snaps of wolf faces, and a cage flooded through my mind.

My vision cleared from the whirlwind of violent images. I was still bound up in chains along with my wolf side. I noticed that the wolf was now scarred up and bleeding from several deep gashes in its fur. The chains seemed to have multiplied and I found it harder to free myself from the wolf. The wolf floundered and struggled against the restraints uncontrollably.

"You'll kill me if you don't undo these chains!" the wolf snarled. I was too busy trying to free myself from the mess of a snare the wolf had gotten us into.

We seemed to be just pulling against one another accomplishing nothing. The wolf would try to snap at the chains undoing any progress I had made. The wolf's random movements made it nearly impossible to accomplish any kind of freedom. It was beyond frustrating. I noticed the blood then. I had thought it was from the wolf but as I fumbled frantically with the chains I noticed my arms were clawed up. Sharp pains started to spring from nowhere. It was as if invisible claws were racking against my flesh.

Again there was blood, blood everywhere, our blood. That thought broke through the fear that was building in my mind. The other though was the sheer will to keep fighting to survive. I realized what was going on. I stopped fighting against the wolf and instead reached out and touched the bloodied fur. The initial coat was prickly to the touch but underneath it was warm and soft. I had felt fur like this long aog when I tried to pull away from Kevin year ago in that confrontation. I tried to fight against the beast but it had always been there. Then I had been afraid of the wolf, terrified when the animal took over. In time that had lessened but I always had feared it.

Unknowingly I had chained the wolf up in my mind. Restraining it with logic and reason, purpose and planning, instead of listening to its primal cries of instinct and natural desires. I fooled myself into thinking I better for it it but now I was a bleeding mess as much as my wolf side was. We were dying and it was my fault. As I touched the wolf there was no more fear, no panic, just serenity and apology. The chains dissolved into the darkness. The wolf sniffed at my face towering over me. A long wide wet tongue licked my face.

"I am sorry for not realizing sooner," I confessed.

"Remember Sean no matter what, you are a werewolf, a beast hidden amongst humanity."

The wolf snarled and bit the same shoulder Kevin had years ago. The world faded into darkness.

From out of the dark corner of the cage Sean appeared. The werewolf stood almost to the ceiling of the cage roaring out his rage from its fanged black lipped muzzle. I stood there silently admiring the beast that stood before me. I knew what had defeated Jacob and Liz now and I knew that it had existed in Sean all along. It was glorious to see. The ears that laid flat against a lupine head started to recede. The brown fur tinged with flecks of golden brown and black started to shrink back into the pale skin. Oversized fangs reduced into normal looking human teeth in a less lupine looking head. Within moments Sean stood there naked and human at least in form. His once slightly frail build was now toned and muscular. A slight dusting of brown hair covered his chest and trailed down his smooth stomach to his bushy scrotum where it had once been bare skin. His pale skin glistened with sweat. His breathing matched the thundering engine of his beating heart. His eyes sparkled with an amber light as they reflected the dim light of the room. He swiftly looked over at Jacob and Liz before giving me his undivided attention.

"Claude," he growled low and rumbling rising his shoulders up. "We need to talk."