Toy Wolf

Chapter 17: wolf fight

Dr. Bryce was waiting for me, tapping one foot in impatience.

"Frank sent me here," I said.

"His name is Victor," she sighed, but it was a fight she wouldn't win. I preferred the names I had given them. "Come on."

I followed her out of the office and we ended up in the large combat room. I could see a man in the cage and a chill went up my spine. I could smell that he was a werewolf; perhaps one of captured ones Frank was talking about. Surely they wouldn't make me fight him? Candice had a familiar smirk on her face and opened the cage. I balked, taking a step backward.

"Conor," Dr. Bryce warned.

"You've already caught him," I pointed out. "What is the point of this needless fight?"

"It's not about him," Candice replied. "Though he did murder quite a few of our team members. How are we supposed to risk others if you decide to flake in the field?"

"I won't," I promised, scrambling to come up with some excuse. I did not want to fight this man. "I'm just surprised there's a werewolf, and I'm... we're...the same. It's different to fight vampires."

"Candice, would you run and get Stefa?" Dr. Bryce suggested. "She'll fight him."

Candice hurried out of the room. I grimaced at the idea of weakened Stefa fighting anyone and so stepped toward the cage. I had promised to keep the two of us safe.

"I'm sorry," I said, bowing my head. "I can fight. Don't get Stefa."

Dr. Bryce gestured to the open cage and when I stepped through, she locked me in. The man was much larger than I was, both in muscle mass and height. He raised an eyebrow at me and then laughed when his wrists were released from the wall.

"So this is the little werewolf who could," he taunted. "I've heard about you. You don't look impressive."

"You're from Nebraska?" I inquired, changing the subject. "Did you know Marcus and Heather? Or Katie?"

The man's eyes narrowed. Out of the corner of my vision, I could see Dr. Bryce taking notes.

"They went up north and were never heard of again," he said, dropping his fighting stance a little. "Little Katie following her rebellious big brother and his mate. How did you meet them?"

"They tried to move into my pack's territory," I replied. "We fought them."

"Not Little Katie you didn't," the man snickered. "She wasn't much of a fighter. Much more of a..."

"She's the only one who's still alive," I interrupted, catching on to what the werewolf was implying. She was part of my pack and I wouldn't let him say anything of the sort about her.

"What?" he questioned.

"We killed the others," I snapped.

The man roared and charged me, and I had to fling myself to the ground not to be taken out by his strength. I bounced up and landed a hit. It didn't seem to matter; the werewolf only grunted and swung a fist full of claws. I yelped when he clipped my shoulder, noting that Stefa had returned with Candice. She looked worried

"Focus!" she shouted, when she noticed I was looking at her.

I heard a growl behind me and flipped around to see the man morphing into his wolf form. It was odd to see the change; mine happened so quickly. I debated staying human, but decided I was probably better off as a wolf. I shifted and pounced on the now wolf, who barked out his surprise when I cut his shoulder open. He snapped his huge jaws, and I remembered my first fight as a true wolf, fighting who I now knew as Keith. I dropped to my belly and clamped down on his hind leg, rising to off balance him. He flipped but snapped at my forearm, breaking the bone. I released him and stumbled backward, blood spattering as I did so.

I growled, trying to gather my resolve. He took the moment of my hesitation for his advantage and I was left with a long bleeding mark on my side. He was laughing at me, his yellow wolf eyes watching as I limped away from him. He would not get the better of me, I thought angrily. Something else took over as I dodged his next attack, and clamped my jaws on the scruff of his neck. He tried to maneuver to bite me, but I shook his neck again, then shifted to my human form, slamming his wolf head to the ground. He whimpered, and I repeated the motion, hearing with satisfaction when his neck cracked. He shifted back into a prone human form, still alive, but breathing shallowly.

My hands were shaking, spattered with blood. Neither Dr. Bryce nor Candice spoke. Stefa hurried to the cage, which unlocked at a command from Dr. Bryce. Stefa bent down, holding out a hand towards me.

"Come on, Conor," she said. "He's no longer a threat. Calm down."

I couldn't imagine what I looked like if even Stefa sounded frightened of me. Instead of rising, I shifted. Being a wolf felt less horrible, as if I was somehow less of a monster while on four legs. Dr. Bryce frowned at me as I walked with Stefa towards her.

"I don't think I've ever seen you shift after a fight," she remarked. "What's changed?"

"He doesn't have any clothes here and sometimes feels like being modest?" Stefa suggested. "He's a young'un; he's allowed to be a little bit of a prude."

"If you say so," Candice snorted. "I can't unhear what the vampires want to do to that perfect body of his."

"They mainly want to rip it up for kicking their asses into next Tuesday," Stefa replied. "Is there anything else you need him for today? I'm going to go back to the cell and get him clothes."

"No," Dr. Bryce admitted. "Mr. Danube is coming this evening. You and Conor will be leaving with him."

"Thanks for the warning," Stefa said dryly. "Now how will I pack my floral arrangements? Press my dresses? Conor will need to don his finest suit."

"Speaking of, I do have clothes for both of you," Dr. Bryce said. "I'll have them sent by. You may go."

Stefa bobbed her head. I followed her, nearly tripping Stefa with how close I was walking. I couldn't explain it, but I just needed to not be alone right now. Stefa rested a hand on my head and suddenly withdrew it.

"Am I... How's the silver?" she asked, placing her hand back on my head.

I leaned into her touch and sighed, not caring that she still burned me. Stefa rolled her eyes and we made it back to the cell. I jumped into my bed and lay down waiting for Stefa to sit beside me. She did so, smoothing my fur.

"We'll be leaving soon," she told me. "And everything is about to change. Do you want to talk about it now that Dr. Bryce and Candice aren't here?"

I snorted and rested my head on my paws.

"You're not a monster," she remarked. "You've done what you had to. They would have killed him anyway, Conor. This way he got to go out fighting."

But he wasn't dead. I had broken him, but not killed him. That was worse.

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Conor is getting in touch with his were side, I think. Is it his human need to protect or his wolf need to survive? He's an odd duck. Thanks for reading!