{"sf1_id":754789,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Where Oh Where Has My Little Were Gone?","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":1942,"posted_at":"2014-09-09T15:06:00.000Z","tags":["Feral","Human","Plot Development","Story Progression","Werewolf","tracking"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/754789-where-oh-where-has-my-little-were-gone","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/754789","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=754789\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#25 of The Moonrise Chronicles","content":"                Maggie\nwas pacing the floor in her feral form. Her fur was standing on end and she\nwouldn't eat a bite. Verona was a mess, dealing with her emotions now that she\ncouldn't hold them back. The elder Hardwicks were trying to hold the group\ntogether while they waited for Edward to return.                \"Maggie\ndear, did you remember to tell him that you took the antidote before coating\nyour claws in poison?\"                 \"Dammit!\nI don't know! Everything happened so fast.\"                \"What\nwould he do if he thought you were dead?\"                \"Godammit!\nI don't know,\" she bellowed out as she started crying.                \"Calm\ndown. I think we need to start at the wolf sanctuary. It sounds rather suspiciously\nlike the work of a well-meaning soul. Your father is definitely that.\"                \"He's a\nhell of a lot more than you'll ever know!\"                \"Yes\ndear. What I mean is, he probably feels a kinship to those animals. All anyone\nwants to be is free. We'll just have to wait and see if he returns to us. We\ncan't go about the state of New York looking for him. Yes, we could probably\nfind him if we did, but it isn't our responsibility right now.\"                \"Oh no?\nWho was it who said that we may have to kill him? If you're willing to try and\ndo that, then why not help me look for him?\"                Silence\nfell over the room. \"You're right dear. I suppose we can go look for him. But\nlet's wait a little while longer.                Reynaud\nflipped the television on and the news was still covering the aftermath of the\nbattle.                  ...as\ncity crews continue to clean up after what has been called the most bizarre\nincident in the city's history. Engineers are assessing the damage to Central\nPark's historic Belvedere Castle. One man we talked to said it looked like a\nwrecking ball had hit it. Since there wasn't any heavy machinery in the area,\nthe cause of the damage is as mysterious as the rest of this incident.                Several people remain\nhospitalized today in serious but stable condition.  Some of them are still suffering from shock\nand have been unable to give police any details of what they saw. Examination\nof the city's cameras continues to support the evidence of two large animals,\nbut the quality of the images coupled with the speed the creatures were moving\nhas made identifying what they are impossible. We spoke with crypto-biologist\nJoe Manganiello and he said that if it weren't for the damage, he would have\ndismissed the whole thing as a prank. His review of some of the footage has\nleft him speechless, and he has gathered his gear to investigate further. We'll\nfollow him as he searches for clues.                On a brighter note, the wolf sanctuary\nat South Salem has all their inmates back today. According to police officials,\nthe animals returned in single file, lead by a wolf that one officer described\nas being \"a little slice of hell.\" All the animals were unharmed, and all were\naccounted for except for the leader, which seemed to vanish into thin air. Speculation\nhas it that the searchers were suffering from some sort of mass hysteria. A\nsearch is still out for anyone who may have taken a photograph of this animal\nto ascertain whether or not it has any connection with the creatures seen\ndowntown. We'll keep you updates as this story continues to break.\"                Maggie\njumped up. \"Father! It just had to be father!\"                Verona\njumped up too. \"It has to be!\" Let's go find him!\"                Reynaud\nheld up his hand. \"Fine. We'll go up there and see what we can do. One can only\nhope that he has had the sense to stick around. But with him assuming his feral\nform, I feel that he may be getting mixed up inside. We all know the strength\nof the feral side. If he sticks with it too much he'll likely get pulled in to\nthe pleasures of being a hunter.\"                            \"Then\nshut up old man. We have to go now!\"                \"How?\"                Maggie\nstopped. \"What?\"                \"Do you\nintend to take the bus? Or a taxi?\" This chase may last a while.\"                \"You\nmean none of you own a car?\"                \"We do\ndear,' said Lupenia quietly. \"Back home. And Verona uses the city transit\nsystem. It's rather hard to find good parking here.\"                Maggie\ngrabbed her laptop. She clicked away furiously for a few minutes. She grabbed\nVerona's arm. \"Sit down!\"                \"Here;\nI want to go here.\"                \"Maggie,\nwe can't possibly go...\"                \"Shut\nup. We go, we get one and we come back here and stock it up. Then we go looking\nfor my father. I'd do it myself, but stupid human rules get in the way.\"                \"But!\"                \"But\nnothing sister. I've got the cash. We buy it and we go.\"                An hour\nlater they were getting into a cab. \"Whereto ladies?\"                \"Seven\neighty seven Eleventh Avenue please.\"                The cab\nsped off. When the girls return, Verona was driving a brand new Range Rover.\nThey had gotten quite the deal on it, for they paid for it in cash. And in New\nYork City, no one asked too many questions. If someone came in to buy something\nand they had the money, you sold it to them. They packed some \"snacks\" and some clothing,\nbut little else. Things like compasses and GPS were stupid toys to a werewolf.\nThey followed their noses and their instincts. Verona locked up the apartment\nand they headed off. Getting to the wolf sanctuary would\nhave been faster in werewolf form, since things like traffic meant very little\nto them. But since they were keeping a low profile, they remained as humans.\nThe new vehicle made its way for miles, taking back roads and cutting through\nburgs and boroughs until they reached the sanctuary. The place was still\ncrawling with police and animal control officers. There was a road block\nkeeping traffic out of the area.Verona wound down the window as an\nofficer approached their car. \"I'm sorry ma'am, but this area is sealed off\nright now. I'll have to ask you to turn around and head back where you came\nfrom.\"\"Sure officer. Can I ask what the\nproblem is?\"\"Didn't you hear on the news? We\nhad a pack of wolves escape from the sanctuary over there.\"\"Wolves! Oh my. I hope you catch\nthem!\" She put on a show of sounding suitably frightened. 'Well ma'am, we do seem to have\nthem all.\"\"Then what seems to be the\nproblem?\"\"Nothing ma'am. Just being\nthorough.\"Outside of transforming, Verona had\nnothing she could do without provoking an incident. She backed the vehicle up\nand tuned around. \"I'm sorry Maggie, but we'll have to find another way in.\"Lupenia tapped her on the shoulder.\n\"Verona dear, Maggie's not here. She got out the moment you stopped. I told her\nwe'd look for her to the north. I'd suggest we find a spot for some coffee and\nfood. I have the potion with me, so it should keep your stomach settled on eating\nregular food. I think we may need to keep the other supplies until we find\nEdward.\"They found a little place and sat\ndown. Before going in, Reynaud slipped into the tree line in the back and came\nout a moment later.\"What were you doing?\"\"Spraying the trees with urine.\nThat'll make it easier for her to find us. I don't feel like dallying all day\nwaiting on her to get back.\"It was several ours late that she\nwalked into the restaurant. Her clothing was in disarray and her face was\ndirty. She sat down and leaned against the table.\"He was there. There is no doubt of\nthat. He led the wolves back to the enclosure and he transformed into a human.\nHe climbed the fence and escaped.\"\"Who told you this?\"\"I can follow my nose Reynaud! But\nit's deeper than that.\"\"Deeper? Don't talk in riddles my\ndear,\" chided Lupenia.\"Talk?\" Maggie sat upright. \"Oh\nyes, talk. Did you know we can talk to wolves?\"Everyone went quiet.\"Yes, we can talk to wolves. Who\nknew? I didn't. But then I never tried before. Why would I? Where would I? We\nhad no zoo around. But I talked with the wolves. \"Reynaud cleared his throat.\n\"Maggie, this is very serious indeed. Do you know what this means?\"\"Yeah. Either I'm stone cold\ninsane, or there is something really weird going on with me.\"\"Not how I would have put it, but\nyes. Not every werewolf can talk to animals. What did the wolves say?\" Verona was\nasking the question but wasn't sure she was believing her ears.\"They said that their chosen one\ncame to them last night. He led them out and then back again. But they hope to\nbe free soon.\"\"Uh, ok. But what of Edward?\"\"They say that he turned into a\nhuman and climbed the fence. I followed his trail for a while until it came to\na house. I was carrying my clothes with me, obviously, so I dressed and knocked\non the door. I asked the nice lady if anything weird had happened. She looked\nat me a bit oddly, but confided that someone had broken in and stolen some old\nwork clothes. Since they weren't worth anything, she hadn't called the police.\nShe did wonder why I was asking. I told her my half witted brother was running\naround and I was trying to find him before he got hurt. I guess maybe she believed\nme. Anyway, I followed his trail to the road, but then it vanished.\"    \"Hitchhiking. He's decided to\nhitchhike. This makes this suddenly more difficult.\"\"You're telling me old man. I should\nhave stayed with him the entire time. I should have gone after him the moment I\nfelt he wasn't coming back!\"\"We'll find him dear,\" said Lupenia\nsoothingly. He is probably out there trying to work things out. Being a\nwerewolf is not all fun and games. Your bed may have to be cold for a while\nbefore you can resume your fun.\"Maggie turned red. \"You know?\"\"It grows clearer by the day. I try\nnot to judge. There is too much of that in the world as it is. Mind you I don't\napprove, but I understand. When you find someone you latch on to them. Humans\ncall it love. It's deeper than that for us. Your dedication to him is more than\nyou realize. At the same time, I think we need to look into your background. Speaking\nwith wolves is not a common trait.\"\"You mean you can't?\"\"No dear.\"\"Why can I?\"\"I can't say for certain. Did the\nwolves say if Edward spoke to them?\"\"Yes and yes. They said he seemed\nsurprised.\"\"I can imagine. But not nearly as\nsurprised as I am.\" Then Lupenia turned gray. \"Oh dear. Did they say anything\nabout...mating?\"\"I didn't ask. What difference\nwould it make?\"\"Nothing. Never mind.\"\"What. Difference. Would. It. Make?\"Reynaud spoke for her. \"If he is of\nthe ancestry of the Beast, then his seed, as we mentioned before, might very\nwell be viable inside a regular wolf.\"\"His seed? Oh, you mean his sperm.\nSo if he was out here all night shagging wolf bitches, then there might be a\nbig pack of cubs coming up that won't look anything like their mothers?\"\"Worse than that dear. They'll be\nbigger, stronger, smarter, and wilder than anything any human can handle.\"\"What are we going to do?\"\"About the wolves? Nothing. What is\ndone is done. We move on and hope to stop him before he does something even\nmore damaging.\"\"Like what?\"            \"You don't want to know. You really don' want to\nknow.\""}