Fic: An American Werewolf in Denver [11/11] (Mag7:ATF/An American Werewolf in London/Paris, 14A)
Title: An American Werewolf in Denver [11/11]
Author: Sparrow
Fandom: Magnificent Seven: ATF and An American Werewolf in London/Paris
Characters: JD Dunne, Casey Wells, Maddie Stokes, Kate Stokes, Del Spivak, Garber, Kirkland, Chris Larabee, Nathan Jackson, Ezra Standish, Josiah Sanchez, Buck Wilmington, Vin Tanner and various OC characters
Rating: 14A
Disclaimer: I do not own Magnificent Seven: ATF and An American Werewolf in London/Paris. Any poems or songs used in this fanfic belong to their respective creators.
Warnings: Secondary Character death, mentions of off screen sex (het), minor wolf dominance/submission in human form, captives held in chains, a woman roughed around in an interrogation room, OC Character death, some slight graphic descriptions of gore
Summary: JD Dunne undergoes some changes when attacked by a strange creature on a full moon night. Confused about what’s happening to him, can he trust Team Seven to help him through it all? Or will outside influences turn him against his friends and brothers.
Author’s Note: I just wanna say a huge thanks to bookaddict43 for the last minute step in as my beta and also being my artist! Yay! Written for the first Magnificent Seven Big Bang (mag7bigbang), this was a challenge and a half to get this all written out and I just want to say thank you for the encouragement and support of my friends while I was getting this out - you know who you are. I hope all my warnings are appropriate and if you feel I’ve missed anything, feel free to point it out and I’ll be happy to add it to the list. :) Enjoy!
Wolves are not our brothers; they are not our subordinates, either. They are another nation, caught up just like us in the complex web of time and life. -Henry Beston
The current survallience that Team Seven had of the base camp of Del Spivak’s group was not comforting. It had shown images of the unconscious figures of Ezra and JD being hauled up to the cabin that seemed to act as the headquarters of this crew.
Chris had to physically hold Buck back from going out and rescuing the two.
Nathan was also raging when he could make out the dried blood on Ezra’s head.
Vin pulled Kate aside. “You realize when we go in; we won’t have any mercy for your sister.”
“I’ll take care of her, you just rescue your friends,” Kate responded back.
Josiah looked at the images in concern. “What is that around JD’s neck?”
Kate came up to the picture and sighed. “Looks like a wolfs bane plant chain. In small amounts it acts as a sedative to werewolves, too much and it’s deadly.”
“We’ll need to load up on that and lots of silver then,” Chris ordered.
“I’m sure I can come up with some tranquilizer darts filled with a derivative of the plant,” Nathan said.
“Get to it,” Chris said.
“I have some contacts where I can get some silver bullets,” Kate offered.
Chris looked at Kate and then nodded. “Take Vin with you.”
The underlying of ‘I don’t trust you’ was there, but it didn’t bother Kate. All she needed was her sister and the world would be okay again.
~~~
It took them two days to get all of the supplies ready and rankled Chris to be making the bust on the day of the full moon, a full moon where a camp full of people could turn into monstrous wolves.
Like JD. Came the traitorous thought. Chris shook his head. No, JD hadn’t transformed yet and there was a way to cure him. They just needed to find the wolf that infected JD first.
“Easier said than done,” Chris muttered aloud as he rechecked his ammo clip.
“Easier than what pard?” Buck asked Chris.
“Just thinking, Buck,” Chris replied back.
“Well get your head in the game, big dog, we’re getting JD and Ezra back today.”
The sentence was said with such conviction from Buck, that it reminded Chris of their days when they were in the SEALs and your buddy was the only one watching your back.
Well, he had more buddies now as he surveyed Vin, Josiah and Nathan. They had each other. It felt empty without JD’s chatter and Ezra’s comments about how his wardrobe would never be the same after a bust, but soon, the two would join them and they would be seven once again.
~~~
It took them longer to reach the base camp, longer than they would’ve liked. It was almost approaching twilight and then soon, it would be sunset.
And then they’d have to deal with a whole pack of werewolves.
Including JD.
Kate and Vin easily led them through the woods. They were silent predators as they glided through the forest. Easily ducking low hanging branches and going through the brush with nary a sound being uttered.
Tranquilizer guns filled with darts of liquefied wolfs bane and handguns loaded with silver bullets, they felt prepared.
A fist went up and the group stilled. Signals were given out and team ducked into separate bushes, downwind. A couple of people, one male and one female appeared and quickly dropped to the ground as the silent ‘thwip-thwip’ of tranquilizer darts sounded and hit them in the necks.
The wolfs bane did its job and knocked the two unconscious quickly.
Nathan checked their pulses and confirmed that they were knocked out.
Chris gave Vin a look which the younger man returned and grabbed Kate as they headed towards the campers.
Josiah and Nathan fanned out as Buck came up on Chris’s six and they went en route to the cabin where Ezra and JD were being kept.
“I don’t like the look of this pard,” Buck whispered to Chris through the throat mic. “It’s too quiet.”
“We don’t have any choice,” Chris replied back. “This is our best shot, unless you want JD transforming into a werewolf?”
Muttering under his breath, Buck took the lead as they checked for any visible signs of the werewolf pack. Breathing out, he watched as Chris counted down from three, two, and one and kicked down the door. Guns held out as they surveyed the scene.
JD was laid out on the bed, eyes wide and unseeing, glowing amber, plant chain around his neck. Ezra was unconscious and chained to the wall.
Chris made his way over to Ezra as Buck quickly headed over to JD.
Buck let his eyes roam over JD: the kid was spread eagle with chains keeping him tied to the bed and he looked dirty, like he’d been drag through the mud.
Exhaling slowly, Buck could hear Chris waking Ezra up as he slowly removed the plant chain from JD’s neck.
“JD?” Buck asked, hopeful.
Amber coloured eyes blinked a couple of times, before Buck suddenly found himself with JD’s nose practically pushed into the side of his neck.
“Mm, Buck,” JD moaned and Buck winced as he felt a tongue lick his skin. “You taste really good right now.”
Flopping back into the bed, chains still holding him tight, JD started to whimper and curl up into a ball.
Grimacing, Buck wiped the saliva away. “JD, you in there?”
“Buck, it hurts,” JD whined and the sound wasn’t human.
“What hurts?”
“Everything,” JD moaned and curled in even tighter. The chains strained as JD tried to manipulate his limbs.
“Hang on kid, I’ll get you out of there,” Buck whispered as he pulled a lock pick set from his TAC vest.
JD shook his head. “No! Don’t let me out.” He looked out from his ball, eyes wild. “The wolf will kill you!”
“Buck, everything okay there?” Chris called out.
“Kid doesn’t want out of his chains,” Buck called back.
“I’m a liability right now, Buck,” JD pleaded with Buck to understand.
Buck ran a hand over JD’s head as JD leaned into the touch, he steeled his resolve.
“We need to find the wolf that infected him.”
Ezra chose that moment to come to. “Nnnngh.”
“Standish, you alive?”
“Barely,” Ezra whispered as he blinked a few times and looked up at Chris. “For once, your appearance is a wondrous sight.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Chris chuckled. “Up you get, Standish.”
Ezra moaned as he was hauled to his feet, chains falling to his feet as Chris’s lock picking skills became evident.
Green eyes wandered over to where Buck and JD were. “How is he?”
“In pain,” Buck stated. “I think it’s because he’s a bitten werewolf instead of born, he’s feeling like this.”
“That makes sense,” Ezra nodded and did a double take. “How did you two hear about the werewolves?”
“Kate told us,” Chris said. “That’s the secret she was hiding.”
“That would’ve been useful information to know,” Ezra sniffed as he rubbed his wrists. “I was discovered due to JD’s scent in the flannel.”
“Damn.”
“Nnnngh,” JD groaned as he twisted in the sheets. His breath was coming out in short breaths, almost like he was panting. A sharp scream escaped from JD’s lips as he bucked and tried to escape.
“You need to be quiet, JD!” Buck hissed at his friend as he clamped a hand over JD’s mouth.
“Mmmm!” JD protested.
“As much as it pains me to admit this, but Chris, you need to go over there and assert your dominance over JD and perhaps he’ll quiet down,” Ezra pointed out.
Chris looked bewildered. “What?”
“JD is now a werewolf, it stands to reason he would respond to an alpha presence and Mr. Larabee, you are very much an alpha presence.”
Sighing, Chris wandered over to JD and Buck, Ezra following slowly behind him. Leaning over, he got into JD’s face. “You need to be quiet and quiet now!” Chris growled at JD.
Whimpering, JD nodded and tilted his head upwards, showing his submission.
“Damn,” Chris whispered.
“When JD gets better, we are so teasing him about this,” Buck chuckled.
As Buck went to remove his hand an explosion rocked the cabin. Chris and Ezra hit the floor as Buck covered JD with his body.
“What the hell exploded out there?” Chris demanded as they stood up slowly.
“Sounds like the party started without us,” Ezra grinned.
“Hopefully the werewolf that bit JD didn’t get blown up,” Buck said worried. “We still don’t know who it is.”
“It’s Maddie Stokes,” Ezra supplied.
“Shit,” Chris murmured.
“Kate can go to hell, she’s lied to us this entire operation and we only accepted her lies because JD and Ezra were in danger, well I say fuck her,” Buck growled out.
“Buck.”
“Don’t you ‘Buck’ me, you know I’m right.”
Chris sighed. “I know, just shit, this got more complicated.”
“I don’t see how,” Ezra said dryly.
Buck pulled out a silver knife. “Borrowed this off of Kate, I say we stick Maddie a couple of times, toss her in here and when JD transforms - dinner.”
“Are you even listening to yourself, here, Buck?” Chris asked his oldest friend.
Cold brown eyes met hazel green ones. “I am and I’m willing to live with myself to save JD. How about you?”
Exhaling angrily, Chris hefted up his tranq gun. “You have to ask?”
“Do I get a gun?” Ezra asked. “I’d hate to miss out on the murder going on.”
Handing Ezra one of the smaller tranq guns and a hand gun, they looked at JD who was curled into a ball whimpering, but trying to be quiet. The order that Chris gave him appeared to be understood.
“One of us needs to stay here to guard,” Chris pointed out.
“I’ll do it,” Ezra volunteered. “After two days of barely any water and food, I’m in no shape. Go help the others.”
“See you in a bit, Ez,” Buck said.
“It’s Ez-ra, two syllables, Buck,” Ezra protested lightly and watched as the two men headed out of the cabin and into the fray of fire.
Settling in and making sure he had a clear view of all exits, Ezra waited. “Hold on, JD. Hold on.”
~~~
Chris and Buck walked out of the cabin and into fire. There were bodies all around and they could make out Vin trying to shoot a man that Chris identified as Del Spivak. They couldn’t see Kate or Maddie anywhere and he could only hope that they hadn’t escaped in the confusion.
They needed Maddie after all.
Raising his tranquilizer gun, Chris took aim and fired.
THWIP!!
So absorbed in trying to dodge Vin’s shots, Del barely heard the sound of the dart leaving Chris’s gun. It sunk into his thigh.
Snarling, Del turned around, eyes glowing amber and hands curled into claws. He looked ready to pounce forward.
THWIP! THWIP!
Two more darts buried themselves into Del’s neck.
“This is not the end of my pack! This is not the end of me!” Del snarled, but he slowly sank into unconsciousness as the wolfs bane quickly ran through his veins.
Vin hopped down to the ground as Nathan and Josiah quickly joined up. All five of them looked around.
“Where’s Kate?” Buck demanded of Vin.
“Don’t know, didn’t have time to hold onto her as she took off right away into the brush,” Vin explained.
A couple of campers laid in pieces off to the side, the result of some bullets hitting the gas tank and the fires burned as the others fanned out, looking for Kate and Maddie.
BANG! BANG!
Fives heads turned towards the noise and Team Seven quickly ran towards the gunshots.
It felt likes hours, but it was only a couple of minutes and they came upon Kate holding her sister Maddie, one of the handguns off to the side. She was rocking the body back and forth; blood was also soaking Kate’s clothing.
“I’m sorry, Maddie! I’m sorry!” Kate whispered.
“Kate,” Vin whispered.
Kate looked up and her face looked blank. “Vin...I shot Maddie. We fought and the gun went off.”
“It’s okay, Kate, it’s okay,” Vin soothed. The others stood back as Vin approached the distraught werewolf, letting him lead. He kneeled down and pulled Kate into his arms.
Tears were silently running down her face, but she didn’t acknowledge them as Vin pulled her close and slowly started petting her hair.
“Kate,” Vin said, getting Kate’s attention. “Maddie is the one who infected JD. We need her heart to cure him.”
A couple of slow blinks and Kate looked at Maddie’s body and then back at Vin.
“What?”
Ezra then stepped forward towards the two. “It’s true, Ms. Stokes. Your sister admitted it to me.”
“You’re lying!” Kate snarled, teeth starting to elongate into fangs.
“I assure you, I am not,” Ezra said sternly. “Can you detect any kind of deceit on me?”
Kate got out of Vin’s arms and took a step forward, nostrils flaring as she inhaled Ezra’s scent. She could detect no lies or deceit from the southern man.
While Kate was inhaling Ezra’s scent, Nathan had made his way over to Maddie to confirm her death. Fingers pushed into her throat, Nathan waited a few seconds and then stilled. There was a beat underneath his fingers.
“CHRIS!” Nathan yelled. “Maddie’s alive!”
“What?” Chris growled.
Maddie’s eyes snap opened and she let a fist fly, hitting Nathan in the jaw. He flew several feet and landed on the ground hard and unconscious.
“Nathan!” Chris cried out.
Kate struggled in Vin’s arms as she attempted to break free. She bucked and managed to catch an elbow in Vin’s cheek and was about to run for her sister when she stumbled and fell to the ground unconscious.
Josiah’s hand held the dart that he had plunged into her neck.
“KATE!” Maddie yelled. She flipped up to her feet and growled low in her throat. “What the fuck did you do to my sister?”
“Knocked her out,” Josiah replied. “You on the other hand, have something we need.”
Maddie mocked them as she placed a hand over her left breast. “My heart?”
BANG!
Brown eyes widened in shock and Maddie looked down. A neat hole was in her abdomen. A hand clutched over it as she looked up.
Buck looked deadly with the gun raised and his normal warm brown eyes were hard.
BANG!
Another shot was fired and Maddie spun in half a circle as the bullet entered her shoulder. She heard the footsteps, but the silver was already affecting her as she felt something bite into her lower back.
She looked over and saw the moustached man and chuckled. “This just makes you exactly like me, law man.”
“I know,” Buck replied seriously. “I can live with it.”
Blood dribbled out of Maddie’s lips as she started to laugh and then sag to the ground.
Sheathing the knife and grabbing her shoulders, he looked at Chris who headed over and grabbed Maddie’s legs.
“Ezra, go check on Nathan and Josiah, you and Vin start clean up here,” Chris ordered as he and Buck lifted Maddie up. “We have a delivery to make.”
The two started towards the cabin.
Vin looked at Ezra and then at Kate’s prone form. “You go on and I’ll be there in a minute.”
Nodding at Vin, Ezra went past Josiah and they exchanged looks as they quickly went to work.
BANG!
They ignored the gunshot.
~~~
Buck and Chris with their package made it to the cabin, Maddie was fading fast and she was babbling nonsense about ghosts and wolf gods and how she was better and she didn’t want to die.
They ignored her, but they couldn’t ignore the screams coming from inside the cabin. It was then they finally noticed the sun was setting.
While Vin and Chris had their own rapport and could instantly communicate with a look or glance, Buck had his own with his oldest friend. With a mere look, the two quickened their pace and entered the cabin.
JD was a mess on the bed. He was shaking and moaning and it looked like he managed to get one of his hand cuffs free. Amber eyes glared at them as he growled low in his throat.
“Buuuuuck,” Came a guttural sound. “Chrisssss.”
They saw the mouthful of teeth as JD arched in the bed and screamed.
“You get Maddie ready and I’ll get the door and JD,” Chris ordered Buck.
Nodding, Buck unsheathed the silver knife and cut open the shirt. Steeling himself, he plunged the knife into the left side of the chest, but not too deep and pulled downwards a bit. Pulling the knife out, he ignored the bubbling rasping sounds coming from Maddie’s throat.
The door they had battered down was still in once piece and hung to the side as Chris propped it up. They would need to make a quick getaway if JD wolfed out before they were ready.
Patting down Maddie’s jean pockets, Buck found some keys and he tossed them at Chris who caught them easily. Leaning over JD who was panting, he grabbed the young man’s chin and turned it towards him.
“JD, listen to me,” Chris ordered. He pointed at Maddie. “She’s the one that infected you; you need to eat the heart.”
Nostrils flared as JD’s hand flailed and tried to strike Chris. The blond haired man caught the hand easily.
“Nooo,” JD wailed. “Not...murderer!”
Chris looked at him with sympathetic eyes. “I’m sorry, JD, but when the moon rises, you won’t have a choice.”
Undoing the ankle cuffs and the wrist cuff, Chris and Buck quickly left the cabin, securing the door behind them.
JD was huddled on the bed as the sun slowly set. As soon as the bright light disappeared and the full moon slowly rose, the transformation began.
Howling in agony, JD’s fingers elongated and changed shape, turning into huge wolf paws. Bones painfully rearranged, his entire body shifted in length and hair grew everywhere. Clothes were ripped off with new sharp nails and the young, boyish face started to slowly elongate and push out from its natural structure. Ears grew pointed and up as the hair grew over his face.
Soon, a horse sized, black furred wolf stood on the bed. The springs creaked as the wolf slowly padded forward. The nose sniffing the air.
It could smell three scents, but the freshest one, was the one on the floor and leaking liquid. Lowering its muzzle, it nosed the body. Satisfied the prey wouldn’t escape, but paused in confusion when the prey’s paw started to weakly batter at his chest.
It didn’t care as it lowered its head and bit down.
~~~
Buck and Chris waiting outside of the cabin, the light of the full moon filling the night sky as they listened to the screams. They could hear the bones break. It sounded like sharp cracking noises.
“We did the right thing, right Chris?” Buck asked.
Chris nodded. “We did, don’t ever doubt it.”
“I won’t.”
Then there was silence.
A quiet scuffling sound was heard and then they heard Maddie scream.
It quickly died off and then a long mournful howl.
END PART 11.
Part 10 // Epilogue
Author: Sparrow
Fandom: Magnificent Seven: ATF and An American Werewolf in London/Paris
Characters: JD Dunne, Casey Wells, Maddie Stokes, Kate Stokes, Del Spivak, Garber, Kirkland, Chris Larabee, Nathan Jackson, Ezra Standish, Josiah Sanchez, Buck Wilmington, Vin Tanner and various OC characters
Rating: 14A
Disclaimer: I do not own Magnificent Seven: ATF and An American Werewolf in London/Paris. Any poems or songs used in this fanfic belong to their respective creators.
Warnings: Secondary Character death, mentions of off screen sex (het), minor wolf dominance/submission in human form, captives held in chains, a woman roughed around in an interrogation room, OC Character death, some slight graphic descriptions of gore
Summary: JD Dunne undergoes some changes when attacked by a strange creature on a full moon night. Confused about what’s happening to him, can he trust Team Seven to help him through it all? Or will outside influences turn him against his friends and brothers.
Author’s Note: I just wanna say a huge thanks to bookaddict43 for the last minute step in as my beta and also being my artist! Yay! Written for the first Magnificent Seven Big Bang (mag7bigbang), this was a challenge and a half to get this all written out and I just want to say thank you for the encouragement and support of my friends while I was getting this out - you know who you are. I hope all my warnings are appropriate and if you feel I’ve missed anything, feel free to point it out and I’ll be happy to add it to the list. :) Enjoy!
Wolves are not our brothers; they are not our subordinates, either. They are another nation, caught up just like us in the complex web of time and life. -Henry Beston
The current survallience that Team Seven had of the base camp of Del Spivak’s group was not comforting. It had shown images of the unconscious figures of Ezra and JD being hauled up to the cabin that seemed to act as the headquarters of this crew.
Chris had to physically hold Buck back from going out and rescuing the two.
Nathan was also raging when he could make out the dried blood on Ezra’s head.
Vin pulled Kate aside. “You realize when we go in; we won’t have any mercy for your sister.”
“I’ll take care of her, you just rescue your friends,” Kate responded back.
Josiah looked at the images in concern. “What is that around JD’s neck?”
Kate came up to the picture and sighed. “Looks like a wolfs bane plant chain. In small amounts it acts as a sedative to werewolves, too much and it’s deadly.”
“We’ll need to load up on that and lots of silver then,” Chris ordered.
“I’m sure I can come up with some tranquilizer darts filled with a derivative of the plant,” Nathan said.
“Get to it,” Chris said.
“I have some contacts where I can get some silver bullets,” Kate offered.
Chris looked at Kate and then nodded. “Take Vin with you.”
The underlying of ‘I don’t trust you’ was there, but it didn’t bother Kate. All she needed was her sister and the world would be okay again.
~~~
It took them two days to get all of the supplies ready and rankled Chris to be making the bust on the day of the full moon, a full moon where a camp full of people could turn into monstrous wolves.
Like JD. Came the traitorous thought. Chris shook his head. No, JD hadn’t transformed yet and there was a way to cure him. They just needed to find the wolf that infected JD first.
“Easier said than done,” Chris muttered aloud as he rechecked his ammo clip.
“Easier than what pard?” Buck asked Chris.
“Just thinking, Buck,” Chris replied back.
“Well get your head in the game, big dog, we’re getting JD and Ezra back today.”
The sentence was said with such conviction from Buck, that it reminded Chris of their days when they were in the SEALs and your buddy was the only one watching your back.
Well, he had more buddies now as he surveyed Vin, Josiah and Nathan. They had each other. It felt empty without JD’s chatter and Ezra’s comments about how his wardrobe would never be the same after a bust, but soon, the two would join them and they would be seven once again.
~~~
It took them longer to reach the base camp, longer than they would’ve liked. It was almost approaching twilight and then soon, it would be sunset.
And then they’d have to deal with a whole pack of werewolves.
Including JD.
Kate and Vin easily led them through the woods. They were silent predators as they glided through the forest. Easily ducking low hanging branches and going through the brush with nary a sound being uttered.
Tranquilizer guns filled with darts of liquefied wolfs bane and handguns loaded with silver bullets, they felt prepared.
A fist went up and the group stilled. Signals were given out and team ducked into separate bushes, downwind. A couple of people, one male and one female appeared and quickly dropped to the ground as the silent ‘thwip-thwip’ of tranquilizer darts sounded and hit them in the necks.
The wolfs bane did its job and knocked the two unconscious quickly.
Nathan checked their pulses and confirmed that they were knocked out.
Chris gave Vin a look which the younger man returned and grabbed Kate as they headed towards the campers.
Josiah and Nathan fanned out as Buck came up on Chris’s six and they went en route to the cabin where Ezra and JD were being kept.
“I don’t like the look of this pard,” Buck whispered to Chris through the throat mic. “It’s too quiet.”
“We don’t have any choice,” Chris replied back. “This is our best shot, unless you want JD transforming into a werewolf?”
Muttering under his breath, Buck took the lead as they checked for any visible signs of the werewolf pack. Breathing out, he watched as Chris counted down from three, two, and one and kicked down the door. Guns held out as they surveyed the scene.
JD was laid out on the bed, eyes wide and unseeing, glowing amber, plant chain around his neck. Ezra was unconscious and chained to the wall.
Chris made his way over to Ezra as Buck quickly headed over to JD.
Buck let his eyes roam over JD: the kid was spread eagle with chains keeping him tied to the bed and he looked dirty, like he’d been drag through the mud.
Exhaling slowly, Buck could hear Chris waking Ezra up as he slowly removed the plant chain from JD’s neck.
“JD?” Buck asked, hopeful.
Amber coloured eyes blinked a couple of times, before Buck suddenly found himself with JD’s nose practically pushed into the side of his neck.
“Mm, Buck,” JD moaned and Buck winced as he felt a tongue lick his skin. “You taste really good right now.”
Flopping back into the bed, chains still holding him tight, JD started to whimper and curl up into a ball.
Grimacing, Buck wiped the saliva away. “JD, you in there?”
“Buck, it hurts,” JD whined and the sound wasn’t human.
“What hurts?”
“Everything,” JD moaned and curled in even tighter. The chains strained as JD tried to manipulate his limbs.
“Hang on kid, I’ll get you out of there,” Buck whispered as he pulled a lock pick set from his TAC vest.
JD shook his head. “No! Don’t let me out.” He looked out from his ball, eyes wild. “The wolf will kill you!”
“Buck, everything okay there?” Chris called out.
“Kid doesn’t want out of his chains,” Buck called back.
“I’m a liability right now, Buck,” JD pleaded with Buck to understand.
Buck ran a hand over JD’s head as JD leaned into the touch, he steeled his resolve.
“We need to find the wolf that infected him.”
Ezra chose that moment to come to. “Nnnngh.”
“Standish, you alive?”
“Barely,” Ezra whispered as he blinked a few times and looked up at Chris. “For once, your appearance is a wondrous sight.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Chris chuckled. “Up you get, Standish.”
Ezra moaned as he was hauled to his feet, chains falling to his feet as Chris’s lock picking skills became evident.
Green eyes wandered over to where Buck and JD were. “How is he?”
“In pain,” Buck stated. “I think it’s because he’s a bitten werewolf instead of born, he’s feeling like this.”
“That makes sense,” Ezra nodded and did a double take. “How did you two hear about the werewolves?”
“Kate told us,” Chris said. “That’s the secret she was hiding.”
“That would’ve been useful information to know,” Ezra sniffed as he rubbed his wrists. “I was discovered due to JD’s scent in the flannel.”
“Damn.”
“Nnnngh,” JD groaned as he twisted in the sheets. His breath was coming out in short breaths, almost like he was panting. A sharp scream escaped from JD’s lips as he bucked and tried to escape.
“You need to be quiet, JD!” Buck hissed at his friend as he clamped a hand over JD’s mouth.
“Mmmm!” JD protested.
“As much as it pains me to admit this, but Chris, you need to go over there and assert your dominance over JD and perhaps he’ll quiet down,” Ezra pointed out.
Chris looked bewildered. “What?”
“JD is now a werewolf, it stands to reason he would respond to an alpha presence and Mr. Larabee, you are very much an alpha presence.”
Sighing, Chris wandered over to JD and Buck, Ezra following slowly behind him. Leaning over, he got into JD’s face. “You need to be quiet and quiet now!” Chris growled at JD.
Whimpering, JD nodded and tilted his head upwards, showing his submission.
“Damn,” Chris whispered.
“When JD gets better, we are so teasing him about this,” Buck chuckled.
As Buck went to remove his hand an explosion rocked the cabin. Chris and Ezra hit the floor as Buck covered JD with his body.
“What the hell exploded out there?” Chris demanded as they stood up slowly.
“Sounds like the party started without us,” Ezra grinned.
“Hopefully the werewolf that bit JD didn’t get blown up,” Buck said worried. “We still don’t know who it is.”
“It’s Maddie Stokes,” Ezra supplied.
“Shit,” Chris murmured.
“Kate can go to hell, she’s lied to us this entire operation and we only accepted her lies because JD and Ezra were in danger, well I say fuck her,” Buck growled out.
“Buck.”
“Don’t you ‘Buck’ me, you know I’m right.”
Chris sighed. “I know, just shit, this got more complicated.”
“I don’t see how,” Ezra said dryly.
Buck pulled out a silver knife. “Borrowed this off of Kate, I say we stick Maddie a couple of times, toss her in here and when JD transforms - dinner.”
“Are you even listening to yourself, here, Buck?” Chris asked his oldest friend.
Cold brown eyes met hazel green ones. “I am and I’m willing to live with myself to save JD. How about you?”
Exhaling angrily, Chris hefted up his tranq gun. “You have to ask?”
“Do I get a gun?” Ezra asked. “I’d hate to miss out on the murder going on.”
Handing Ezra one of the smaller tranq guns and a hand gun, they looked at JD who was curled into a ball whimpering, but trying to be quiet. The order that Chris gave him appeared to be understood.
“One of us needs to stay here to guard,” Chris pointed out.
“I’ll do it,” Ezra volunteered. “After two days of barely any water and food, I’m in no shape. Go help the others.”
“See you in a bit, Ez,” Buck said.
“It’s Ez-ra, two syllables, Buck,” Ezra protested lightly and watched as the two men headed out of the cabin and into the fray of fire.
Settling in and making sure he had a clear view of all exits, Ezra waited. “Hold on, JD. Hold on.”
~~~
Chris and Buck walked out of the cabin and into fire. There were bodies all around and they could make out Vin trying to shoot a man that Chris identified as Del Spivak. They couldn’t see Kate or Maddie anywhere and he could only hope that they hadn’t escaped in the confusion.
They needed Maddie after all.
Raising his tranquilizer gun, Chris took aim and fired.
THWIP!!
So absorbed in trying to dodge Vin’s shots, Del barely heard the sound of the dart leaving Chris’s gun. It sunk into his thigh.
Snarling, Del turned around, eyes glowing amber and hands curled into claws. He looked ready to pounce forward.
THWIP! THWIP!
Two more darts buried themselves into Del’s neck.
“This is not the end of my pack! This is not the end of me!” Del snarled, but he slowly sank into unconsciousness as the wolfs bane quickly ran through his veins.
Vin hopped down to the ground as Nathan and Josiah quickly joined up. All five of them looked around.
“Where’s Kate?” Buck demanded of Vin.
“Don’t know, didn’t have time to hold onto her as she took off right away into the brush,” Vin explained.
A couple of campers laid in pieces off to the side, the result of some bullets hitting the gas tank and the fires burned as the others fanned out, looking for Kate and Maddie.
BANG! BANG!
Fives heads turned towards the noise and Team Seven quickly ran towards the gunshots.
It felt likes hours, but it was only a couple of minutes and they came upon Kate holding her sister Maddie, one of the handguns off to the side. She was rocking the body back and forth; blood was also soaking Kate’s clothing.
“I’m sorry, Maddie! I’m sorry!” Kate whispered.
“Kate,” Vin whispered.
Kate looked up and her face looked blank. “Vin...I shot Maddie. We fought and the gun went off.”
“It’s okay, Kate, it’s okay,” Vin soothed. The others stood back as Vin approached the distraught werewolf, letting him lead. He kneeled down and pulled Kate into his arms.
Tears were silently running down her face, but she didn’t acknowledge them as Vin pulled her close and slowly started petting her hair.
“Kate,” Vin said, getting Kate’s attention. “Maddie is the one who infected JD. We need her heart to cure him.”
A couple of slow blinks and Kate looked at Maddie’s body and then back at Vin.
“What?”
Ezra then stepped forward towards the two. “It’s true, Ms. Stokes. Your sister admitted it to me.”
“You’re lying!” Kate snarled, teeth starting to elongate into fangs.
“I assure you, I am not,” Ezra said sternly. “Can you detect any kind of deceit on me?”
Kate got out of Vin’s arms and took a step forward, nostrils flaring as she inhaled Ezra’s scent. She could detect no lies or deceit from the southern man.
While Kate was inhaling Ezra’s scent, Nathan had made his way over to Maddie to confirm her death. Fingers pushed into her throat, Nathan waited a few seconds and then stilled. There was a beat underneath his fingers.
“CHRIS!” Nathan yelled. “Maddie’s alive!”
“What?” Chris growled.
Maddie’s eyes snap opened and she let a fist fly, hitting Nathan in the jaw. He flew several feet and landed on the ground hard and unconscious.
“Nathan!” Chris cried out.
Kate struggled in Vin’s arms as she attempted to break free. She bucked and managed to catch an elbow in Vin’s cheek and was about to run for her sister when she stumbled and fell to the ground unconscious.
Josiah’s hand held the dart that he had plunged into her neck.
“KATE!” Maddie yelled. She flipped up to her feet and growled low in her throat. “What the fuck did you do to my sister?”
“Knocked her out,” Josiah replied. “You on the other hand, have something we need.”
Maddie mocked them as she placed a hand over her left breast. “My heart?”
BANG!
Brown eyes widened in shock and Maddie looked down. A neat hole was in her abdomen. A hand clutched over it as she looked up.
Buck looked deadly with the gun raised and his normal warm brown eyes were hard.
BANG!
Another shot was fired and Maddie spun in half a circle as the bullet entered her shoulder. She heard the footsteps, but the silver was already affecting her as she felt something bite into her lower back.
She looked over and saw the moustached man and chuckled. “This just makes you exactly like me, law man.”
“I know,” Buck replied seriously. “I can live with it.”
Blood dribbled out of Maddie’s lips as she started to laugh and then sag to the ground.
Sheathing the knife and grabbing her shoulders, he looked at Chris who headed over and grabbed Maddie’s legs.
“Ezra, go check on Nathan and Josiah, you and Vin start clean up here,” Chris ordered as he and Buck lifted Maddie up. “We have a delivery to make.”
The two started towards the cabin.
Vin looked at Ezra and then at Kate’s prone form. “You go on and I’ll be there in a minute.”
Nodding at Vin, Ezra went past Josiah and they exchanged looks as they quickly went to work.
BANG!
They ignored the gunshot.
~~~
Buck and Chris with their package made it to the cabin, Maddie was fading fast and she was babbling nonsense about ghosts and wolf gods and how she was better and she didn’t want to die.
They ignored her, but they couldn’t ignore the screams coming from inside the cabin. It was then they finally noticed the sun was setting.
While Vin and Chris had their own rapport and could instantly communicate with a look or glance, Buck had his own with his oldest friend. With a mere look, the two quickened their pace and entered the cabin.
JD was a mess on the bed. He was shaking and moaning and it looked like he managed to get one of his hand cuffs free. Amber eyes glared at them as he growled low in his throat.
“Buuuuuck,” Came a guttural sound. “Chrisssss.”
They saw the mouthful of teeth as JD arched in the bed and screamed.
“You get Maddie ready and I’ll get the door and JD,” Chris ordered Buck.
Nodding, Buck unsheathed the silver knife and cut open the shirt. Steeling himself, he plunged the knife into the left side of the chest, but not too deep and pulled downwards a bit. Pulling the knife out, he ignored the bubbling rasping sounds coming from Maddie’s throat.
The door they had battered down was still in once piece and hung to the side as Chris propped it up. They would need to make a quick getaway if JD wolfed out before they were ready.
Patting down Maddie’s jean pockets, Buck found some keys and he tossed them at Chris who caught them easily. Leaning over JD who was panting, he grabbed the young man’s chin and turned it towards him.
“JD, listen to me,” Chris ordered. He pointed at Maddie. “She’s the one that infected you; you need to eat the heart.”
Nostrils flared as JD’s hand flailed and tried to strike Chris. The blond haired man caught the hand easily.
“Nooo,” JD wailed. “Not...murderer!”
Chris looked at him with sympathetic eyes. “I’m sorry, JD, but when the moon rises, you won’t have a choice.”
Undoing the ankle cuffs and the wrist cuff, Chris and Buck quickly left the cabin, securing the door behind them.
JD was huddled on the bed as the sun slowly set. As soon as the bright light disappeared and the full moon slowly rose, the transformation began.
Howling in agony, JD’s fingers elongated and changed shape, turning into huge wolf paws. Bones painfully rearranged, his entire body shifted in length and hair grew everywhere. Clothes were ripped off with new sharp nails and the young, boyish face started to slowly elongate and push out from its natural structure. Ears grew pointed and up as the hair grew over his face.
Soon, a horse sized, black furred wolf stood on the bed. The springs creaked as the wolf slowly padded forward. The nose sniffing the air.
It could smell three scents, but the freshest one, was the one on the floor and leaking liquid. Lowering its muzzle, it nosed the body. Satisfied the prey wouldn’t escape, but paused in confusion when the prey’s paw started to weakly batter at his chest.
It didn’t care as it lowered its head and bit down.
~~~
Buck and Chris waiting outside of the cabin, the light of the full moon filling the night sky as they listened to the screams. They could hear the bones break. It sounded like sharp cracking noises.
“We did the right thing, right Chris?” Buck asked.
Chris nodded. “We did, don’t ever doubt it.”
“I won’t.”
Then there was silence.
A quiet scuffling sound was heard and then they heard Maddie scream.
It quickly died off and then a long mournful howl.
END PART 11.
Part 10 // Epilogue