Fur and Flesh (part 8 of the Afterlife Chronicles) “A werewolf named Kitty. Cute,” he said then grinned a devilish grin at me. “Welcome to my Pack, Kitty. From now on, you follow me.” During the hours after Alistar rescued me from the police, I came to understand more about myself and what I’d become. He explained it all while driving me into the isolated mountains, telling me that he was several hundred years old, but not immortal as I’d once thought I was, and so much more. We only age when we aren’t transformed, and then only very slowly. He explained that we didn’t need food or drink like the other ‘monsters’. Yes, he explained those too, how there were vampires and zombies and demons and how every monster in myth was truly just a being like us… a human who the Voice had brought back to life. Of course history had distorted many of the tales of these beings into ridiculous fantasy, but all of it was based on truth. He explained about the headaches all of us experience from time to time as being the Voice reminding us of what we are and what we have to do to survive… Then he explained the most frightening truth of all. All of us had refused its offer to continue living, but in doing so, bound ourselves to this world through the Voice and an unspeakable act of evil. When he had told me this, I thought back to the night when I’d died and how I’d fought tooth and nail then devoured a wolf. It had been a long drive, and after he’d grown quiet, I’d found myself rethinking everything about myself. I’d once thought this curse of mine to be a gift, to be a wild good time of freedom and strength, but the world has a way of crushing such beliefs. Now I had to transform, not for fun, but to survive… and the places where I could do so freely were growing smaller and smaller. The Wild was shrinking from Man’s influence, growing sparse. In the places where it thrived though, were far more terrible than comprehensible… for humans at least. For us, it was heaven. We could stay in our monstrous forms without fear of retaliation from mankind. Deep in the mountains, he stopped the police cruiser at the end of a road and got out. There waiting for us were two people that were just like us, though only wearing animal hides strategically. They were Lucious and Raina, a mated pair. Lucious, a large and brawny man with short brown hair and golden eyes had a huge, mischievous smile and loved playing pranks. He became a quick friend, accepting me with a huge hug that threatened to crack my ribs to pieces till Raina slapped him on the arm, which made him let go. Raina was everything I had thought I looked like, but after seeing her, I realized just how childish my body still was. She was lean and sexy, with an obvious air about her that she knew how to get what she wanted. With her short cut blonde hair and jade green eyes, I had no doubt she could, but despite that, she was kinder than I expected, greeting me with a gentle smile. “Now that you’ve finished introductions, let’s change and go to the den. I hate being human… I always feel so cramped,” he said, frowning as he tugged off his clothes. I couldn’t help but stare, a blush burning my cheeks. A cough from Raina brought me back to reality and I got to taking off my own clothes, blushing brighter as layer after layer of my gothic styled clothes came off. Soon I stood naked, one arm covering my full breasts and my other hand covering my sex. Lucious and Raina had also removed their animal hides, Lucious laughing at my obvious insecurity. Alistar gave my shoulder a pat, making me jump in surprise. His hearty, rumbling laughter only made my blush deepen. “Relax; we won’t be naked for long. Shame though, the only good thing about being human is how beautiful they are,” he said with a wink at me. He rolled his shoulders, took a deep breath, then threw his head back and roared at the sky. The change happened so fast that before he could even finish expelling his breath, he was already changed. The roar became a howl then when he finished and lowered his head, I saw those golden eyes of his, burning like two bright candles amongst his black and grey fur. He’d grown several feet taller during the change, so now looked down on me even more, making me feel small and insignificant. I turned my gaze away, embarrassed, only to find that both Lucious and Raina had transformed too, into a hulking brown werewolf and a lithe blonde werewolf, respectively. I blinked, surprised. Apparently the change got faster over time. I bit my lip then reached inside myself, finding the wolf in me waiting eagerly. It was excited; bouncing around like it couldn’t wait a second longer to burst out of this cramped body. With a sigh, I let it free. Bones snapped, muscles tore, everything realigned, growing and expanding, till the wolf inside had molded my body into a creature of animalistic beauty and raw power. Without a word, we took off into the woods, Alistar in the lead with Lucious to his left and Raina to his right. I followed them, instantly loving the feel of running with them. It was like running with the wolves back where I’d lived, but yet totally different at the same time. Maybe an hour passed before we arrived at a path leading up the face of a cliff to a large cave opening. I stopped and stared with awe at it. It looked like the rock-face was roaring at the forest. A grunt from Lucious got my attention back and I followed the three of them up the path, all of us just walking now, or what you would call walking. When we arrived at the top of the path and gazed into the cave, nothing prepared me for the sight of the horror inside. Animals have emotions, just like humans, but theirs are a little more primitive, more ingrained in their genes rather than learned. The sickness I felt at the sight of the bodies torn and mutilated inside was something I could not stomach. I was human before my knees hit the stone beneath me and I vomited up the contents of my stomach. The others, more hardened from living so long, didn’t fall prey to such weakness, though their sorrow was palpable. “What is this?” I gasped, “I don’t understand.” Alistar changed back, hands clinched in fists, tears streaming down his face. “Shut up Kitty, I know as much as you do,” he growled then walked into the cave. Raina and Lucious stayed in their werewolf forms, Lucious watching the forest and Raina standing by my side. Neither seemed worried about Alistar being alone and human in the cave, they both believed in him being invincible. I stood shakily and staggered into the cave, my disbelieving eyes gazing at the bodies. Men, women, children… all dead. There were nearly thirty bodies, hidden beneath the stink of blood and death, all of them held the scent of being werewolves like me. This was Alistar’s pack… decimated. I found Alistar in the back of the cave… standing before the only other living being in the cave. I stopped and stared wide eyed. He was a tall man, over six feet tall, wearing dirty clothes with dirty red hair and the coldest blue-gray eyes I had ever seen. He stood above the body of a small girl who’d had her stomach ripped open, but his body didn’t stink of blood. Rather… he smelled of death and cinnamon, a confusing combination. Alistar didn’t attack him; maybe he knew too that the man hadn’t killed them. “What are you doing in my den?” he asked the dirty man, who tilted his head to the side and sighed. It was when he did this that I noticed the sickly pale tint of his skin. It alarmed me a little. “I’ve been running from the police for a while now and came up into this cave thinking I’d find shelter. What I didn’t expect was to find this,” the man said, his voice deep and hard to hear, as he gestured at the bodies. “I couldn’t find any left alive, they’re all dead, but warm,” he added, “They haven’t been dead long. Whoever did this is probably still around.” The man stuffed his long, thin fingered hands into his pockets and sighed. “I’m Derek, by the way. I take it from the looks of those two at the entrance that you’re werewolves. I’m a Zombie,” he told Alistar before letting his cold blue eyes shift over to me. I suddenly felt far more naked than I already was, like he was staring at my very soul, and I covered my breasts and sex, biting my lip as I did. The man laughed to himself and looked back at Alistar, who nodded and changed, right there. Then he spoke, his voice a dark growl, “We must find who did this and bring them to justice. No one murders my pack and survives.” Alistar then turned and ran from the cave. The man just chuckled and shook his head before jogging after, passing me without even glancing in my direction. I changed, as quickly as my body would allow, then quickly followed. We had a murderer to find.