Chapter 33-34

[Greyson]

What was going on?

Temporarily, I lost consciousness with the lack of oxygen flowing through my brain. Aimlessly, I looked at the sky and noticed that there were no clouds. I looked at the sun and cringed at the harsh light on my pupils.

My eyes blinked once. Two times. Strong, yet thin fingers wrung my throat with unimaginable force my sight alternate from dark to light.

"Get off him you sadist!"

The pressure around my throat slid away and as soon as it did my lungs gasped for air like it depended on it. I heard pounding in my ears rhythmically  syncing to the beat of my heart.

"Gran! What are you doing here?!" I heard Celeste shout.

Gran? That was one person I hope to never be on the receiving end of her vicious personality.

I lifted my head up and saw the unmistakable woman grab Remington by the ankle of his foot across the dirt. On the back of his chest was evidence of a gunshot wound. Dad moved aside as if Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt herself, had reigned down from her throne to initiate the punishment herself.

Remington's face expressed emotions of surprise and annoyance, then when he was dragged across for another three feet before letting out a roar of rage.

"You will pay for this old woman!" He flailed every time his scrapped across the dirt.

As I came to, I felt awestruck by Gran's fearlessness. Who can a human woman stand up to a old wolf like Remington?

She spat at him. SPAT. At him. "I don't waste good money on dirty cheap things like you." All who were watching the incredible scene unfold, gasped in unison when Gran produced her cane and rammed it like a sword over Remington's stomach.

Of course it didn't go through him, but the force was powerful enough to make him gag.

"Wow." Trent's mouth gaped.

A growl emanated from deep within Remington. "You-

"Shut up!" Gran his him across the face with her cane this time. "Keep." Hit. "Your." Hit. "dirty mouth." Hit--hit. "Shut. Think you can hit my family while I'm still alive? I don't think so." Both ends of his face were red and blue by the time she finished that sentence. It took five seconds to lift her foot and one to stomp it down his nuts.

Remington screamed so loudly by the end of it his voice gave way and cracked.

"I'm sending you to an early grave, you B--

BANG!

Remington dropped back and fell like a statue. His thigh began to bleed. What the...the bullet came out of nowhere.

"Before you fire, you got to let me know!" Gran shouted at no one in particular.

"If I had let you known, I would have given away my location."

I groaned as I tried to get back on my feet. I rubbed my neck trying to soothe the soreness.

"Mom!" Celeste and Trent said at the same time.

Celeste's mother appeared from the shadows with a pistol aiming high.

"It isn't safe for you two to be here." Vincent said.

Celeste's mom glared at him. "Same goes for you kid. Your mother turned pale as a sheet when she saw the condition of your brother." Vincent visibly gulped. "And you..." She narrowed her eyes at me. "Cover yourself up. Do you have any morals? Running around naked in front of my daughter, you pig."

As if Celeste just noticed her face reddened and covered her eyes with  the palm of her hands.

"Boy, I think you're fine..." Gran looked at me and winked.

Oh god. I cringed and forced myself to transform back to my wolf. My body snapped painfully then the usual due to my injuries. Dad walks near me and allows me to lean onto his body.

"Mom, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be here; it's dangerous!" Celeste asked.

Her mother glared at her. "You honestly think I would stay home when two of my children are running around with maniacs?" She says clutching her gun tighter.

She thinks we're crazy. Has she even looked in a mirror? i think she's the most over hysterical person I've come to know.

"I can't believe you have that." Celeste pointed at the gun her mother was holding.

Gran chuckled. "Don't you kids know? Your  mother is a dead-shot. She has impeccable aim. taught from the very best!"

"Mom, what else have you been keeping from us." Trent said.

Remington started moving and when Gran noticed she raised her cane and slammed it down again. However, this time Remington was not unprepared.

He caught Grans cane and grasped it. He held on so tight his knuckles whitened. I heard a snap then suddenly the cane broke in half. Surprised, Gran staggered back.

"I'm done playing." He mumbled.

"How is he still able to get up after two shots!" Celeste's mother pulled the trigger again but nothing came out. It was empty.

Dad jumped and tried to pin Remington down again but was slammed back with one full swing.

"I'm not going to waste my time anymore." Remington mumbled. "Take in your last breaths because it will be your last."

Trent growled, shifted into his wolf and stood defensively between his mother and sister. Vincent too got up and stood defensively next to Gran.

Now we had three people to look after. Great...

"Oh my god." Tracey gasped as she saw her son shift for the first time. Her face was contorted in horror. "If your father wasn't dead I would have killed him for keeping this secret from me."

"I'm not standing here and watching!" Gran complained at Vincent who wasn't letting her move a foot closer. She planted her palm on his face. "Move." But he didn't...thank goodness.

"I hate you." Remington pointed a finger at Tracy.

"The feelings mutual." Tracey responded.

"That's good to hear."

He leaped towards the direction of Celeste's mother.

"Mom get out of the way!" Celeste yelled.

Trent remained infant of his mother. Both directly in Remington's line of fire. I knew that both of them would get badly hurt if Remington were to lay a single hand, or paw,  on them. I moved as fast as I could and placed myself between them.

Celeste's mom gasped as my body completely shadowed hers, stopping the man from pulverizing her and her son. Using my strength, I dug my claws into Remington's front and catapulted him to the right away from Celeste and her family.

"Hit him hard!" Gran Cheered as if watching a tournament.

"This is serious!" Tracey yelled at her.

"I'm just encouraging him." Gran retorted.

"Not helping." Tracey said and I couldn't agree with her more.

Remington slowly got to his feet. "Hit me again. I dare you."

I charged at him. He moved to his left and elbowed me between my shoulder blades. This was the second time I felt my lungs hurt. I grunted at the force but remained conscious. My feet ponded on the dirt as I repeatedly shifted my weight to dodge each of his blows.

" I can't keep up with them." I heard Celeste say. "They are moving so fast!"

When Remington bent backward to avoid my claws, dad took that moment to jump and slam over him. His head bounced as it hit the ground.

At first I thought we had him.

"It takes two alphas to fight me. How amusing." He hissed.

He still had the nerve to taunt us.

He saw an opening. His eyes stared toward Celeste.

No. He was going after her again!

Trent was in front of her so Remington had to get past him first, but it wold be easy for him with Trent's lack of training.

It was then that Remington shifted into his wolf. I it took only half a second and he was in complete wolf form. He was faster in this form, I noticed. Trent jumped to attack him but was easily tossed aside like a rag doll. He howled in pain when he slammed into a bush.

"Tent!" Tracey screamed.

She saw that Remington was heading toward Celeste and moved next to her.

"How dare you touch my children!"

Remington choked as if laughing.

I ran after him. I have to protect her!!

Vincent head-butted into his side. Remington was not fazed at all. He growled and pummeled Vincent to the ground unconscious. His teeth was merely inches from his throat. Gran did the craziest thing and threw a rock at the old wolf.

"Over here you giant mutt!"

Remington swung his giant head at her but didn't bother. His main goal was to get to Celeste, because knowing me, he knew that hurting her was my biggest weakness.

Tracey fumbled with her gun. She reached into her poked and pulled out a spare bullet. It was silver...

Remington caught sight of it and reacted immediately to bit her arm. He missed however and bumped his muzzle into Tracey's wrist. The silver bullet dropped from her grasp and rolled to the ground.

Celeste screamed when Remington's giant wolf form covered her mother's body. She kicked him trying desperately to remove his crushing weight off her.

Tracey started yelling in agony.

I bit into his tail and sang him with all my might. He moved only a few feet but it was enough to get him off her.

"Mom, mom! Are you okay?" Celeste cried.

"Tracey!" Gran tried to run to her daughter's side but she wasn't as fast as she hoped and nearly tripped.

Dad circled behind Remington. I barked at him to not move so close. Remington had many tricks up his sleeve, we had to be careful.

Remington kicked his back feet and rolled to standing position. He bared his teeth at me and I returned the favor. We were eye to eye now. His face was traced with dry blood. there were more scars on the surface of his skin. In fact his whole body was full of scars. He literally looked like a rabid animal.

He took a few steps towards me and I back away.

Dad moved forward and when he did Remington looked over his shoulder to him. I took that chance to run staring at him.

I sunk my teeth into his face. It didn't taste that great. my back legs stepped on top of his stomach and we spiraled down hill. I don't know how we got so far, but we were downgrading. We bounced against trees like ping pong balls.

When we stopped moving we were next to a small stream. Water from that stream was flowing left and particles were flying onto my far making us slightly wet.

Remington thrashed his head making me wobble. But I still had my jaws tightly situated into his skull. His back leg punched me on the side of my rib.

I heard thrashing by the trees and thought it was someone from my group.

Then out of no where a human hunting group consisting of three people were staring staring at us in awe.

"Wolves!" One of them yelled.

This just couldn't get any worse.

--

[Celeste]

"Wolves!" The man with the fishing hat exclaimed.

I don't recall ever seeing them in town before, but it was clear what they were here for. There rifles strapped to their shoulders, but at least none of them had it pointed at Greyson. For now...

"Oh good golly! Them wolves!" The shortest of the three whistled.

"Wolves!" The other man agreed with a nod. He had a thick green wool jacket on and blue jeans.

Either they were so shocked and had a loss of words, or they just couldn't express their thoughts enough. The three weird looking men just stood there as Greyson and Remington were on each other like battling beasts, snarling and ripping each other apart.

"Do you three know other words beside 'wolves'? You sound like idiots." Gran grumbled while struggling to crawl down the steep hill.

"Diana!" Two of the men said in unison. They knew gran.

The man with the fishing hat clasped the the nose of his riffle and I stiffened. Was he going to use it?

"Don't you dare point that gun at me, Ricky! I will tell your mama about you driving your father's truck into my mailbox last June and you'll be sorry." Gran pointed her finger at him.

"It was an accident and I fixed it!!" The grown man whined.

Meanwhile, Greyson was at an advantage as he had Remington slammed against a tree.

The three men looked at the large beasts and quivered at the sight of their strength.

"What are you doing in these dark parts of the woods, Diana?" Ricky asked.

"What do you think?" Was Gran's sassy remark. "I went to find my missing granddaughter." She gestured to me.

"Oh." One of them said.

"She doesn't look lost." The plaided guy mumbled.

Gran rolled her eyes. "Well it looks like I find her." She said with sarcasm. "But along the way we got stuck in the middle of this." She motions to two wolves fighting to the death.

At that moment, Bennett appears in his wolf form and joins the mass of wrestling fur.

"Want us to shoot them?" Ricky eagerly takes out his gun.

"NO!" I shriek.

"Don't worry gurl. We have a hunting permit." He assures me but that isn't what I'm concerned over.

"I told you not to point that gun, Ricky!" Gran scolds him.

"You said not at you!" He complains.

"Same thing!" gran retorts.

To my relief he lowers his gun.

"These animals are on my property and you aren't allowed to hunt on my property without me knowing. I can fine you boys for this."

The men's eyes widened more than they had when they saw Greyson and Remington. Something told me Gran was lying but these guys were stupid enough to believe her.

"Alpha, Greyson!" Looks like Vincent was conscious again, naked like the first day he was born.

"That's my new gardener. He's a nudist. Don't mind him. Go Home." Gran told them. As crazy as this town is, the men nodded and believed her without protest.

Vincent heard and looked at her in disbelief. He then remembered his state of undress and ran back into the bush. That was one image I hoped to erase from my head.

"Isn't that Debbie's boy?"

I swear I hear a curse coming form the bush, but it must have been my imagination.

Gran frowned at them and waved her hands. "You boys better be running along before I call the sherif for your trespassing."

"Yes Ma'am!" They say said turning around.

It was then that Remington used his giant head to toss Greyson off his feet. The three men grew engrossed with the scene and stopped moving.

"I told you to leave!" gran ordered.

"But what are you going to do with theses wolves? We can't leave you with these wild animals."

"Yes you can. I put one foot in front of the other and stop when you reach the side of the road. Simple..."

Bennett slammed Remington on his side, removing him off of Greyson.

"We can each take a shot of these wolves. If You're concerned over the pelt price you can have it. We just ask that you tell the town we shot them. We haven't had a decent shot in months."

"We've only shot poultry, but they don't earn us much."

"No! You will not shoot them!" I screamed angrily. "I will not allow you to hurt them!"

"Are you vegetarian, Gurl?" The short one asks.

What does that have to do with anything?

"Enough from you three. Get out of my property, or I'll make you garden my property for a year." Gran places her hands on her hips.

The three stare at the direction that Vincent disappeared to and audibly gulp.

"We're leaving." Ricky says. "But let us escort you back home. It's a gentalmen-like thing to do...that's what my mama says."

Oh for the love of..."We're fine."

"No you ain't." The short one says. "I recall you being missing. We saw yer face all over town. Sheriff Leo put them up himself. The whole town's been looking for you!"

I recall what was said to me before. The pack that lives in town make it appear as though the officials are working hard to find the missing girls, but they don't actually try because they know where exactly they are being held. As the years pass and the girl isn't found the humans give up the search.

Leo must have put those signs up himself. I can picture him smirking as he did it knowing where I was the whole time.

"You have been missing for months! We found you!" The plaid one says all excitedly.

"Now wait a minute, Weston." Gran steps in between. "I found my granddaughter. So no one is the hero here except me!"

"But you got lost. You got stuck in the middle of this dog pile with your bare butt harder and we found you!" The Weston fellow continues to argue.

"That's right we saved you!" Ricky awes at what they just concluded.

Remington snarls and charges one more at Greyson. I was already starting to get tired of this fight because of the lack of progress. Greyson moves away, but Remington continues at his bulldozing pace. His eyes narrow and too late we notice him charging straight at me.

"Celeste, move out of the way!" Vincent yells the same time Greyson barks and runs to save me.

One of the men next to me, I think Weston, starts screaming and fumbling with his fun.

Ricky was the first to take position, but when he aims and triggers the riffle it doesn't go off. He forgot to turn off the safety.

"Ah shit." He exclaims.

"You useless twerps!" Gran says.

Remington's lips turn up as he smiles. Was it even possible for a wolf to smile? Well apparently it was possible.

It was a knee jerk reaction when I reached into my pocket and dug out the silver bullet that I had picked up from the floor when mom dropped it.

Having no gun, I didn't know what to do with it.

"If you're going to shot something, get that brown one!" I yelled to the three men.

Greyson and his father were black wolves and Remington was a brown wolf with patches of greying fur.

There reaction time was rather slow because all three couldn't hold their guns like their lives depended on it.

I moved just in time Remington almost took a chunk of my arm off.

"Dear god that dog is vicious!" Ricky exclaimed. "I have never seem one that huge before, or ever!"

"That's what he said." Gran muttered under her breath. "Give me that!" She grabbed his riffle.

"Gran do you know how to use that thing?"

"I lived here since my mother pooped me out. Kids here are taught to hunt in order to get food on the table. I think I can use this contraption."

"Diana, that's not safe for--

"You can me an old lady and the next time you blink there will be a hole through you."

Ricky stepped back.

"Let's get your mother's gun. You can't use that silver on this. It won't work. Your wolf's mother said that the only way to kill a werewolf like that behemoth is with that type of bullet."

It was weird that she called Greyson my wolf, but she was right about the bullet. It would only work with the gun my mom brought with her.

"I want you to run Celeste. Run as fast as your little legs can handle. I've over your back." She said. I nodded and started running towards the direction of my mom. Hopefully she still had the gun with her. Behind me I hear Gran shouting orders at the three men to cover her as her shield.

The more I ran, the more I realized how unfit I was. The surface of the forest wasn't smooth and leveled. I had to hike up a few steeps to reach the clearing where mom and Trent were.

"I've got your back too!" I hear Vincent coming up behind me. When I turn my head he shifts at the exact moment and his wolf shadows behind me. The three guys were too preoccupied with Gran yelling at them to notice what just happened behind their back.

When I reach Mom and Trent I see that mom is still barely unconscious thanks to Remington body slamming her to the ground.

Trent was cautiously tending to her.

"Celeste, where is he?" Trent growled.

"Calm down. You can't do anything hasty." I told him.

"I think mom broke a rib." He told me worriedly.

"Don't move her." I told him and he nods. "Where is mom's gun."

I watched his eyes scanning the ground as he searched for it. We both see it two feet away from mom's open hand. She probably dropped it when Remington slammed into her and it skid across the ground.

Trent grabbed it and handed it to me. "What are you going to do?" he asked concerned.

I took the silver bullet from my pocket and showed it to him. When he saw it he cringed.

"Urg." He reacted. "Why the heck is that making me feel sick?" He only had to look at it to feel revolted by it.

I guess silver is a werewolf's kryptonite.

"Silver bullets kills a werewolf,"I explained to him.

"Then get that away from me!"

"I'm going to load this gun with it and use it to kill him."

"You sound sadistic...awesome." He looks at me with admiration.

I punch his shoulder. "This is serious."

"Really? Cause ever sense I grew a tail, i find it hard to take things seriously."

Vincent makes a weird noise which I'm guessing is him telling me to hurry up.

"Stay with mom." I tell him.

"I will."

I head back to Greyson praying that he was still in one piece. The gun is in my grasp with the bullet inside. I have no prior knowledge on how to use a gun but I'm hoping I don't screw up the only chance we had.

"Celeste, drop and roll!" I hear Gran shout. Without hesitating I do exactly just that. Without closing my eyes, I see Remington's huge body leap over me.

Something brushes my side and my fingers run over a thick pelt of warm fur. Greyson shows up next to me using his body to support me up. A sudden feel of relief fluids me and for a few seconds I allow myself to melt into his warmth.

"I'm glad you are okay." I whisper near his ears.

He doesn't respond but I know he is listening.

His body is covered in dirt and small scratches. His body is radiating heat due to the amount of physical movement he has been exerting fighting Remington.

"I have the silver bullet." I tell him. His head tilts side ways to look at him and I stare into his bright yellow eyes.

He has a worried expression in his face.

"I will be careful with it." I tell him.

What's with people thinking I am incompetent to defend my own? That kind of bothers me.

Bang. Bang.

Something fires and fits the ground near Greyson's feet and bounces off the dirt making a small whirl of dust.

"You idiots!" Gran shouts. She hits Weston across the head and does the same to the shorter guy whose name I do not yet know. "You shoot my granddaughter and I will have you hanged by the nuts!"

Greyson growls at them in warning, then turns his attention to Remington.

To our disbelief, Remington starts shifting into his human form. His fur starts to withdraw into his skin.

I look at the three men and notice them still watching.

"Greyson, the humans!" I tell him.

What the heck was Remington thinking?!

Quick on his feet, Greyson pounces at Remington pulls him by the neck to the shadows beneath the trees.

"What was that?" Ricky says confused.

"What was what? I didn't see anything." Gran says rather innocently. But who was going to believe an elderly lady.

"I swear that wolf was changing shape for a moment." Weston says.

"His legs were growing longer." The nameless man says.

"You boys are crazy. I didn't see nothing."

I hear a yelp and I run after Greyson. Vincent a step behind me. When The three men tried to follow Vincent turned around and growled making them pause. Two of the men who still had their guns pointed their riffles at Vincent who didn't shrink back in fear.

"Shoot that dog and I'm not afraid to shoot your rears." Gran told them.

"Diana. What's going on with you? You're threatening us over this wolf?"

"That wolf is domestic and it belongs to Debbie. If you hurt it will face the wrath of her and Chief of Police. Leo has a particular bond with that wolf, almost like a brother.

Leaving Gran and Vincent to deal with the three men, I continue my way to Greyson. When I find him, he is in his human form choke holding Remington to the ground. His arm is wrapped around Remington's neck and pulling it backward to cut off his air.

Greyson is laying on top of him with his back to me. I'm in direct sight with Greyson's backside.

My face flushes with that fact.

"Shot, Celeste!" He instructs me.

"What if I shoot you!"

"You won't! Just aim and fire!"

I hesitate as I turn off the safety. "My hands are shaking! I don't think I can do this!"

"You can do this!" He assures me but I'm sure he is just saying that so I don't doubt myself. too late for that.

Remington grunts and uses his full body strength to roll both of them side ways. The tables are turned when Greyson is pinned to the ground and Remington on top of him.

I sequel when I think I saw something--something--and cover my eyes to prevent seeing that something again. I don't even know where the gun was aimed when my fingers jerked and reacted to the moment my other hand covered my eyes.

BANG!!!

The silver bullet was fired...

But to who?

----