# Looking to the Future

Author: StGeorgesHorse
Tags: Human, Plot Development, Story Progression, Transformation, Werewolf, recovery, russia

#66 of The Moonrise Chronicles

I predict two more chapters before I will leave it on a cliff hanger. For how long? I have no idea.

            It was a week later and the woods
were still filled with the cries and roars of mating werewolves. Maggie was
wondering if he would ever run down. He had eaten well on their way here, and
it was apparently enough to fuel him for the duration. She remembered, not so
long ago, how long of an interval she could survive without eating. She had
never burned through calories like he was, but she could go for weeks if
necessary.
Mortalia was still resting, happily
feeling the changes that came with pregnancy. Maggie had to wonder how he would
feel once he was back in his proper mindset. Having one child was already a
strain on him, so having more, illegitimate ones could set him on edge. She was
going to have to do her best to make sure everyone kept their mouth shut. Out
here in the middle of Russia, things were a little different and the group here
was centered on the pack and the feral side more than things like marriage and
settling down.
That was too bad for them. On the
other hand, who knew how many males there were available anymore? All that were
here were females, except for the young male they had followed to find the
pack.  Maggie wasn't going to judge them
any more than she wanted them judging her. After all, they were getting good
use out of a man that by all rights was hers.
The tsarina came out and stood by
her. "My god, how much has he got in him?"
"Probably more than any of the
available females have in them. Of course, by the time he's done, they'll all
be full of him. Are you sure you're prepared to have so many expectant
werewolves together at once?"
"You make a good point. I wasn't
expecting him to fertilize every one of them."
Maggie grinned. "That's going to be
your problem, not mine. So do we wait a little while longer? Or do we just
sneak up on him and give him a whack?"
"I don't know. That does seem rude.
I guess we'll just wait a while longer."
The wait ended that day. After finishing
the fourteenth female to undergo his special treatment, the days of expending
energy in a wasteful manner finally caught up with him. Sadly, Maggie missed
the only opportunity she really had of carrying out her task.
Cutting into the head of a werewolf
was one thing, but cutting into the head of a familiar human; that she could not
do. When he had collapsed back against the ground, his body had morphed back
into being human again. He looked so tired and helpless that she couldn't find
it in her to strike him. 
Instead she snuggled up against him,
ignoring the dirty looks from the older females. They could go to hell for all
she cared, even if a lot of them were technically her cousins. They only wanted
him for his sperm; they didn't love him like she did.
The old woman heard the news and
came to investigate. "My dear, what did we agree upon? If you don't act now,
you may never have another chance."
"I don't care! I can't harm him,
not even a little."
That sparked an argument that
lasted for an hour. It was interrupted by a weak voice. 
                "Will
you keep it down? My head is killing me!"
                Maggie
whipped around. "What did you say?"
                Edward
was rubbing his forehead. "I said you guys are giving me a headache!"
                The
older woman looked at him carefully. "And who are you to complain about me?"
                He
blinked a few times. "My name's Edward Peterson ma'am, and if it's all the same
to you, I'd like it very much if you'd keep it down. I think I've been on a
marathon for the past week and I feel like shit." He failed to notice he was
speaking in Russian.
                Maggie
squealed with joy. He shoved her away. "God Mags, didn't you hear what I just
said? I feel like..."
                She
dumped him onto his back, grabbing his hand and slipping her ring on a finger.
She turned to the old woman. "Give me yours; quickly! Hurry!"
                She
slipped it off and handed it over while she searched for the last female to
have his ring. This too was placed upon his fingers. He stretched, cracking
nearly every joint in his body. After a few moments he stood, staring at his
surroundings. "Where the hell are we?"
                Maggie
was dancing around howling to beat the band. "Oh my god, you're back!"
                He held
out a hand and grabbed her. "Where the hell are we?"
                "Somewhere
deep in the heart of Mother Russia."
                "I
thought we were in St Petersburg." He scratched his head and looked around. He
noticed the pack of werewolves around 
him and the blatant fact that they were female didn't escape his notice.

                "Do I
want to know why I have no memory of this place?"
                Maggie
took him by the hand. "Remember the wolf sanctuary in New York?"
                "Barely."
                "Well,
try not to dwell too hard on this either. Let's just say that these fine ladies
wore you down to the bone. If they hadn't, we might have had to have taken
drastic measures to get you back." She swung the ax around in her hand.
                "You're
kidding... right?"
                "No
actually. We were going to try and get it out of your head."
                He was
rubbing the scar on his forehead. "Get what out? Did something crawl into my
brain?"
                "Crawl.
No. Someone put a bullet in your head. A silver bullet."
                He
grasped the importance of that last bit. "Silver? Who the hell was trying to
kill me, the Lone Ranger?"
                Maggie
chuckled."You really don't remember, do you? We were at the bar in St
Petersburg..." She trailed off to see if he would recall the incident.
                He
winced for a moment, still thinking about the bullet. "If it's silver, then I
have to be dead, don't I?"
                Maggie
kicked him. "No. Well, yes. To be honest, we have no idea why you're still
alive. If I believed in a god I'd say it was divine providence."
                "I seem
to remember sitting in some place...Da Vinci maybe...eating and drinking vodka and
having fun. Then..." His face went dark. "Then the gunfire. I don't get it. Why
is everyone trying to kill us?"
                Maggie
put her hand on his as the fur began to sprout. "FATHER!"
                He
jumped. "What?"
                "Relax.
It's over. If you go turning back into a werewolf again, right now, there's no
guarantee we'll get you back. Then I will have to use this ax."
                He was
rubbing his head. "I don't understand. How long was I out?"
                "I
don't know, but you've been a raging feral for weeks."
                "Weeks?
Seriously? Did I do anything bad?"
                Here
was the moment of truth. But the old woman made sure it remained the truth. "You
have been kept busy breeding my family. You're blood comes from good stock,
though I was apt to follow my own opinion of you rather than that of your,
uhm...partner.
                He
groaned. It seemed that the cat was out of the bag. "Uhhhh.   How much does she know Mags."
                "More
than you do."
                He held
out his hand to the woman. "Hello ma'am. I'm sorry for any trouble I may have
caused you."
                She
extended hers daintily. But when he held it there was an electric shock that
ran through her body. She stiffened, as did he.
                They
were locked for the better part of two minutes, unspeaking and unmoving. Then,
with a mutual sigh, they relaxed and fell apart. 
                "Oh
my..." That was the tsarina.
                Edward
was patting himself down. "Why do I feel a body full of bullet holes all of the
sudden?"
                The old
woman looked at him. "Those are mine. I still remember that day like it was
yesterday, yet it was in nineteen eighteen. Why do I remember battling a
monster? And getting stabbed through the chest?"
                He
smiled weakly. "That would be me."
                Maggie
was totally confused. "What just happened?"
                "I'm
not sure dear. Obviously some sort of memory exchange."
                Edward
grabbed Maggie. The same thing happened. When she came away she was in tears.
She could even say it. He could. "I love you more than you know Mags."
                "Even
after everything that's happened?"
                "You
bet! Oh, and since you brought me some clothing, do you think maybe I can get
dressed?"
                "Now
how did you know that? Oh,rightttttt..."
                But he
was looking around him. Then he eyed the females again, the ones he had been
mating with. "Mortalia, Natasha, Maria, Naryana, Anna, Dominika, Elena, Zhanna,
..." He was naming them all in line.
                Then he
turned, suddenly realizing something. "Your Maggie's great aunt, aren't you?"
                "Yes."
                "And
these are your progeny. How did you have so many?"
                "I've
had a lot of time on my hands young man."
                "Hmmm.
I bet you did." Then he stopped. "Why do I suddenly remember a bear?"
                Maggie
guffawed. "You had one as a pet for a short while."
                He
frowned. "Yes I did. The poor thing. And the men..." 
                Maggie
held her tongue. This wasn't going to be pretty. "I killed the men, didn't I?"
                "Yes."
                "Well,
I suppose it's no great loss. I feel worse for the bear than I do the men. The
bear was doing what he does best, but the men, they were out only for their own
sick pleasure. They never stood a chance, did they?"
                "No."
                "I
should have left one alive; to run back and report the monster in the woods."
                "It's a
good thing you didn't. Then there would have been more men and more killing.
Let the matter drop."
                He scratched
his head. "And who is little sister?"
                "Me.
That's what you started calling me."
                "I did?
Yes...I did. Leonardo!"
                "What?"
                Edward
was rubbing his chest. "That son of a bitch is brilliant. I'm so going to kill
him when I find him again."
                Maggie
was now one step behind the conversation."Father, Leonardo is nowhere near
here."
                "He's
on the same planet isn't he? The son of a bitch either got lucky or knew what
he was doing."
                She was
looking at him like he was crazy. "What's going on?"
                He
picked her up. "Nothing! Everything! Can't you see it?"
                "See
what?"
                "Everything!"
He stopped. He sniffed the air. "There are eighty seven weres in the area, and
forty three true wolves. There is only one other male besides myself, and I
seem to remember him from before. Eight of the fourteen females I mated with are
now carrying my cubs. This woman wants to have an army to fight the threat that
lurks back in St Petersburg. That priest at St Catherine's..." 
Here he squinted, concentrating, 
"...is dead. The men from the bar..."
He concentrated again, "... one lives and the other has expired. The living one
is in the hospital under police protection...but they will not succeed in keeping
him alive. His boss will get to him...through a window.  The bar is under reconstruction...and your
grandmother is living in Pittsburgh. My parents...are living in Chicago. What?"
                He
dropped to the grass. "What the hell am I saying?"
                Maggie
had to push her jaw back into place. "I'd like to know too!" She looked to the
tsarina. "Is what he said true?"
                The old
woman looked ill. "Yes. Whoever is trying to kill me has been getting closer. I
don't wish to hide behind my family, but they are all I have on my side. But
how did he know this?"
                Edward
was holding his head. "The pope has closed down the cardinal's league for good
and is wondering how we are getting along. He is sitting down to a simple meal
of fish and bread. I like that man. He's not pretentious."
" My poor little Alpha has been
towed. I can't say I blame them. They towed the Fiat too.  Leonardo's boat has been confiscated. The
master is in bed...with Emile! Why those kinky little bastards! I may have to
show them a thing or two when I get back."
                Maggie
slapped him. "What the hell are you saying?"
                "It's
everything I can see. I can see anything I want to. I can see...ten, forty six,
seventeen, twenty three..."
                "What
the hell are those numbers?"
                "The
winning numbers in the upcoming  New York
state lottery."
                Maggie
was flabbergasted. He had gone from almost a mindless to feral to a psychic in
a single stroke. "Ok smartass, how old am I?"
                "You
were born on May thirteenth..."
                "Well?"
                "I
can't see that! That's strange. Ask me something else!"
                "Who is
trying to kill us?"
                "A
boy."
                "What?
I think you're just still addled."
                "No, I
see a boy, only not a boy.  Yet he's a
boy and he is very angry."
                The old
woman paled. "You can't be correct."
                "I
didn't say I was. I'm telling you what I see. I see a boy. He's sitting in a
basement right now, under the pale illumination of a bare bulb. He is yelling
at someone."
                 Maggie was left wondering about him. He was
either very much a seer or he was totally off his nut. He seemed to have avoided
answering about the year she was born, and she hadn't missed it. And her
grandmother; alive in Pittsburg? What was he babbling about?
                "Father,
whatever are you going on about?"
                "Area
Fifty One doesn't have aliens. But it does have all of the newest technology
when it comes to the aero-flight industry. There is a ring in an egg.  There is a population of Tasmanian
Tigers, though they are in still in danger of extinction. One can find the needed answer on Fangboner Road. The Bermuda Triangle doesn't exist. There are nude
photos of Princess..."
                "Father!"
                "What?"
                "A ring
in an egg?"
                "Yes.
One of Leonardo's rings resides in an egg when it isn't being worn."
                The
tsarina grabbed his arm. "What kind of egg?" Her hand was trembling.
                "A
beautiful egg that opens from the top, and sits on a wire frame. It is made of
gold and enamel, with intricate decoration all around it."
                Maggie cudgeled
her brain for an answer. The old woman beat her to it. "One of the Faberge
eggs. It has to be the one that was made for grandmother. It has been missing
for decades. So who has it?"
                Edward
shrugged like it was common knowledge. "Maggie's grandmother. Your sister,
Anastasia.  It was handed over to her by
Gregori Rasputin when he sent her on her way to America in nineteen twenty
two."
                "Where
is Rasputin?"
                "Dead."
                "Where
is..."
                The old
woman lofted the ax. "Stop. Something is wrong. You cannot have all of this
knowledge."
                Edward
stepped back a little. "What knowledge?"
                Maggie
poked him. "Don't be funny. You've been spouting off like a fortune teller for
the past five minutes."
                "I
have?"
                The
females looked at each other. Maggie spoke first. "Do you have any idea what's
going on here?"
                "Maybe.
It happened to Gregori when he was wearing the family rings. Everyone thought
he was crazy. He told father there would be a revolution, but father didn't believe
him. Look where that got us."
                "Are
you saying the rings can given the kind the ability to see into the future?"
                The old
woman carefully pulled the rings off his fingers."Edward, what do you see now?"
                He
rubbed his head. The scar was gone. "I see that I am still standing here in
the wilds, totally naked, talking to an old woman and a girl while being
surrounded my wolves and werewolves. I getting chilly and I'm hungry. So if you
don't mind I think I'm going to take a nap now." 
                He
dropped to the ground in a dead faint.

Source: https://sofurry.com/view/779229