by Harry Nix
“Now run,” she commanded. Alex took off, the little witch squeezing her legs as tight as she could to hold on. Nia streaked along behind him with April on her back and behind them followed Esme and Lydia doing their best to keep up. As they ran, Alex tried to put his thoughts in order, but in the gap there was nothing. He been talking with April and then suddenly being held back from killing Jacob and Jeremiah. His mood, which had already been dark, grew far worse now. He could understand why the thrall was called the curse. He could have easily killed Jacob or Jeremiah.
They weren't far from the village now, and although he couldn’t run at full speed with Juno on his back the pace they cut through the wilderness was breathtaking. Soon the village appeared. He could smell it, meals that had been cooked, the scent of his pack. And with it, the scent of other males. Alex began growling involuntarily as he walked into the village proper. He only stopped when Lydia suddenly transformed in front of him into hybrid form and smacked him directly in the face.
“Cut that out, and just sit here for a moment,” she said, waving a long, pointed claw at him. Alex sat down, more in surprise than anything else, and heard Juno laughing, sitting on his back. Lydia and Esme vanished into the house and then quickly returned carrying three small vials.
“Do you want to have babies?” Esme asked as soon as she came back.
Juno jumped off Alex's back and seemed as shocked as Nia and April were.
“Babies?” Juno squeaked.
“Yes, babies. What do you think the thrall is? You need to decide right now. Drink the vials: no babies. Don't drink them: three babies at least,” Esme said.
Alex felt a surge wash over him like he was out the ocean and the waves were climbing higher and would soon swamp him. Out here in the wilderness, in his wolf form, he was close to his bestial nature and he truly only wanted two things: his mates, and to grow his pack. A small part of him knew that if he was in the city, surrounded by civilization, having come from a hot shower, sitting in a café tapping away on his phone, that perhaps he could make more of a rational decision but that world seemed alien now, so remote.
“I didn't know… I mean… I thought… I mean, not all thralls result in pregnancy, right?” Nia said.
“The only time they don't is when the women involved have drunk this. You need to decide right now,” Esme said.
“Hurry up,” Lydia added.
As they spoke, Alex looked over his three mates. In his current state they were three morsels waiting to be consumed, but with a great force of will he pushed those thoughts aside. The wolf part of him wanted desperately to expand his pack, but there was another part that was cold, hard, and calculating. A pregnant Nia, Juno, and April might be able to help for some time in battling the forces arrayed against them, but there would come a moment when they would be unable to, and if something happened to one of them and the unborn babies, Alex knew he would never be able to forgive himself and he also likely would lose his mind and descend into a wildness from which he may never return.
“Later, children are later,” he carefully said. The three girls immediately snatched the three vials and gulped them down.
“That way. Ten miles. Cave amongst the deep red rock. You can't miss it,” Esme said, waving her arm.
The three girls seemed almost shocked at what they'd done, perhaps a bit regretful that they'd swallowed down the liquid.
“Go now!” Lydia roared. Juno leaped back onto Alex and April onto Nia and then together they took off running out of the village. The ten miles passed in a flash, Alex realizing there must've been a gap because one moment it seemed he was leaving the village, and the next, he was standing in front of a cave.
Juno got off his back and he transformed into hybrid form, walking in to discover the cave been furnished somewhat, similar to the caves on Julius's land. It was strange but it was almost like a home. The entranceway was dirt and dust but inside there were wooden floorboards and beds. The werewolves had apparently installed some civilization. There was a water tank that appeared to be filled from an unknown source. There was space for a campfire, and a large chest of packaged meals and tins of food. There were even small lamps and batteries. Alex watched Nia turn on one of the lamps and set it in the corner of the room. It cast a golden light across his three mates and the bed.
“I’m losing track of things,” Juno murmured, rubbing her eyes. In deference to the warm day, the little witch wasn't wearing much, just a thin dress and she pulled it up and over her body, tossing it to the ground. Nia walked over behind her and unclasped her bra, slipping it off and adding it to the pile. April came from the other direction, standing in front of Juno and then kneeling down, slipping her underwear off and allowing her to step out of them, then she gently placed a kiss right between Juno's legs before turning to Alex, her pupils wide.
“Join us, alpha?” she said. Alex moved across to his mates so fast they jumped in surprise, but then quickly recovered. He grabbed Juno and carried her to the bed. He began kissing down her body, taking a nipple in his mouth then coming down to rest between her legs. April and Nia joined him stroking their hands down Juno's body, occasionally touching Alex. As Alex began licking Juno, she began moaning, her voice echoing through the cave. All he could smell was the scent of his three mates and all he wanted to do was stay here in this bed forever. Alex licked, putting his hands under Juno's butt, and pushing up. He saw that April and Nia had returned to acting in concert as they'd done before, each taking one of Juno's nipples in their mouths.
The little witch was moaning, screwing her face up, sometimes covering her mouth, trying to hold the sounds in. There was a sudden burst of red in the air as Juno came, then Alex couldn't hold himself back. He was up and plunged into her in an instant. Juno moaned and grabbed onto his arms as Alex began jolting back and forth, the bed bouncing beneath them. They were in close quarters with his other two mates by his side, and even as he was deep in Juno, focused on her, he wanted to grab April, to grab Nia, and be doing the same thing simultaneously. At some point, April positioned herself over Juno's mouth, facing towards Alex and desperately kissing him as Juno began licking away. Green added to the red sparks flying in the room, and it wasn't long before there was another burst of red, some tiny part of Alex wondering if the thrall made it easier to orgasm, and if it did, that it was a very useful kind of magic.
Alex came and it was almost a surprise. He hadn't felt the buildup, just the rush of it. There had been something about April's moans and gaps that had suddenly pulled him along. He did feel Juno, pulling at him, wrapping her legs around his body, trying to get him deeper, to take his seed. Then, she suddenly rolled away, April tipping off her and falling on the bed. For a moment April and Nia shoved at each other before Nia suddenly gave April a deep kiss and pulled her hair.
“Next time I'm going next,” Nia said. Soon they replicated the position again. Alex between April's legs licking away, Nia over her face. Juno lay beside them, still gasping for air, seeming somewhat stupefied, her cheeks pink in the golden light. Alex, for his part, felt that red wildness surging. He didn't want to give into it because he wanted to experience all of this, to feel every sensation. Soon he couldn't hold himself back again, and he plunged into April, the nymph letting out a loud moan somewhat muffled by Nia sitting over her mouth. This time it was more frenetic, the bed protesting as Alex pounded into her. Green and red shot around the room. Alex sometimes closed his eyes as the sparks hit him in the face. It wasn't long before April screamed, and Alex felt that rush again, gripping onto his mate. He stayed inside her, holding still, but it was only for a moment before he felt the urge to move again. Somehow April slipped away and then Nia was on her back, Alex looming over her. She grabbed at his arms.
“Now, now, now,” the werewolf chanted. Her pupils were dilated, her eyes deep and black. Alex slipped into her, feeling the connection of their bodies and their blood. There was some kind of deep harmony there, a rightness to what was happening. Nia moaned and
Alex finally let the red wash over him.
22
Alex came to his senses sitting just outside the cave entrance, scratching in the dirt with a stick. He didn't quite know how much time had passed. He’d been delighted to discover, however, that the thrall, the red wave that had swamped over him hadn't been like the other times where he couldn't remember. He’d experienced it all, remembered it all, although he recognized he'd been under the control of something else. Putting it all together, he guessed that it had been maybe a week, and although he had memory of some meals and washing himself, mostly what he could recall were his three mates and the bed.
Alex moved and immediately regretted it as pain shot down his arm and across his back. He had healing cuts down both arms and a vague memory of Nia slashing away at him. Other memories crowded in of Juno and April. It seemed they had every kind of sex you could have: loving, soft, and gentle, sometimes angry, furious, and violent.
Alex remembered April tied to the bed and blindfolded, Juno between her legs while April opened her mouth as Alex came closer. The thought of it caused this faint echo of the surge in Alex's body but he knew it wasn't the thrall. It was gone.
Alex dropped the stick down to the dirt and managed to stand up, feeling like he had run several marathons and then been severely beaten afterward. He opened his spell screen and saw, unsurprisingly, the sex magic was filled to the top. So was nature and also pain. Natural was about half-full, his body using the magic to heal his wounds. The only one almost empty was death. There was a small fragment of it, however. Alex wasn't quite sure, but he had a memory of hunting a boar as well. Perhaps he’d drawn some death from it after he'd killed it before dragging it back to the cave so they could roast it over an open fire. Alex immediately cast healing flame and touched it to his arm, wincing as it jolted through him, first to his back, then down his arms, quickly patching up his wounds.
His stomach growled as the healing started. Looking down, Alex wasn't sure, but it seemed he’d lost a bit of weight, perhaps due to not eating properly and using far too many calories. After a few moments of healing, he experimentally moved his body and although there was a dull ache of the deep healing still to occur, he felt a lot better.
The day was quite warm and it was near midday. Alex stretched a few more times before going back into the cave.
Juno was sitting stark naked in a chair, holding a book in her hand, a lamp behind her illuminating it but she was staring into space, navel-gazing. April and Nia were on the bed in a tangle of sheets. Nia's red hair was tangled and wild, and April's was sticking up in all directions.
“Hey,” Juno said, blinking sleepily at Alex. She had scratches down her arms, too. Alex took a breath and smelled blood, A few droplets of it had been splattered on the sheets.
“You need a healing spell?” he asked Juno. She went to put the book on the arm of the chair, but missed her target and it fell to the ground, but she didn't seem to really notice.
“I got it,” she said and summoned up her own healing spell, touching the wound on her arm. At the sound of them talking, Nia and April had stirred, both sitting up on the bed, completely naked.
“What the hell was that?” Nia finally said. Juno wandered over to her and touched the healing spell to her back and then did the same to April.
April's clothes had been shredded as had Alex's. Nia gave her clothes to April because she could be in hybrid form and when they ran back it would be as a wolf. They didn't talk much as they ate some of the packaged food. Although Alex was hungry, he could tell he was well and truly sick of eating something out of a can and craved fresh food.
The cave itself was in shambles. In their sex-mad state, they hadn't bothered to really do much cleaning. By silent agreement, they decided they would come back, as they were eager to get back to the village to have proper hot showers, and clean clothes. Finally, they emerged from the cave. As soon as they were outside, Nia grabbed Alex’s arm.
“Alex, smoke!” she shouted, pointing in the direction of the village. Alex looked to Juno and April, but Juno just waved her arms at him.
“Run, run, we’ll catch up,” the witch urged. He felt a moment of indecision, but Nia was already taking off, having transformed into a wolf and the pull of it dragged at him, so he let it take him, sprinting away from his two mates and soon catching up to Nia.
He smelled the smoke well before he saw the fire. He also heard the screams and the occasional gunshot. Despite the fact they were sprinting through the forest and in wolf form, Nia managed to get Alex's attention.
“Don't. Go. Wild,” she said, carefully sounding out the words.
Alex huffed in agreement although he wasn't sure if he was able to keep that promise.
The smoke spiraling up above the village was now thick and black, and seemed to be coming from everywhere. Soon, Alex and Nia burst from the trees, and Alex felt a pain in his chest at the devastation before him. Everything was on fire.
There were mages, at least fifty of them, over on one side of the village, hurling fireballs and fighting werewolves. There was another group closer to Alex and Nia, maybe twenty or so, flanking the werewolves, throwing fireballs, and erupting great gouts of flame. Alex took a moment to take in the scene. His pack was down there, fighting viciously, most them over near the smaller group, slashing at them with claws and ripping off heads. Alex saw a number of dead weredogs that had very obviously been the first wave of the attack. He was about to sprint down the hill when Nia suddenly shifted to hybrid form and dug her claws into his shoulder to stop him, forcing him to shift as well.
“It's too many. We need to retreat and save who we can,” Nia said. Alex turned his head back to the village and the fighting, but then Nia grabbed him.
“Listen to me Alex. Save who you can, go to the cave, and escape,” she repeated.
Perhaps it was only because it had been the tail end of the thrall that her words got through. The wild rage that someone would attack his pack was somewhat muted.
“Okay,” Alex finally said and shifted to his wolf form before bounding down the hill. He crashed into three mages from behind, crushing them to the ground, tearing one's head off. The twenty mages on this side were now down to ten, but those ten were exacting their price, fireballs going everywhere, flames bursting out from their hands.
Alex shifted to hybrid form and saw that his pack had seen him. Despite the fighting, a few of them let out howls, joyful sounds, over the flames that were crackling in the smoke that lay heavy on the air.
“Retreat! Alex roared and pointed at the forest.
Alex had felt the pull of other werewolves many times, the power of it that had sometimes shifted him involuntarily. Now, as he roared, a furious alpha, the sound of his voice carried command in it. As one, the werewolves around him sprinted towards the forest. A few helped grab the injured and carried them, but they left their dead behind.
Alex sprinted through the village until he came to the fifty or so mages and the remainder of his pack. He roared the command to retreat again and they did, taking the injured and running.
Alex realized that Nia was beside him, and suddenly he was on the ground as she pulled him down as at least six fireballs shot past where he'd been standing. They hit a cabin that had already been alight and disintegrated it. There was a crack and an enormous explosion as a gas tank on the other side of the village exploded. Alex felt the pressure of it. It was almost painful.
There were flames everywhere now and as Alex got to his feet, he saw they'd been utterly defeated. With Nia close behind him, he ran, desperately dodging attacks, and searching for any werewolves who are still alive, but he found none. Soon he emerged on the far side of the village and had no choice but to follow the rest of his pack up into the forest.
The fire mages were too powerful. The flames themselves fed their magic. Alex could see that now and faintly sense the pull of it. He'd cast a single fireball at a mage, but it been utterly useless. The mage laughed as he swatted it
away with one hand. Although a few had guns, most were casting spells and using wands.
As Alex and Nia ran away from the village, Alex felt pain bloom in his back and he cursed himself for letting his shield spell expire. His shield ring had been long exhausted, and in the gap between one spell and the next, he’d been shot. The burning pain told him it was silver, and without thinking of what he was doing, he cast Purify on himself, charging it with the very pain it was producing. The bullet burst out of his back, taking a chunk of flesh with it, but Alex was long past caring. That cold and hard part of him, the one that had decided against babies, was taking over. He'd been split between two sides—the village and the wildness distant from Baxter—and then the civilization. Now, some unknown number of his pack were dead and the village destroyed. It seemed the fire mages had made his decision for him.
It wasn't long before they caught up with his pack and his heart broke to see the size of it after a quick count. There are only fifteen werewolves left. Alex shifted to hybrid form and immediately crashed into Jeremiah, who surprisingly gave him an enormous hug. He and Jacob had survived, although not without injuries.
“Where are the children?” Alex asked, having a tough time keeping the quaver out of his voice.
“Esme and Lydia took them but they're not back yet,” Jeremiah said. Alex looked past him seeing various werewolves were using the healing flame rings but then Jeremiah moved in front of him again, blocking his view. He had Alex by the shoulders, holding on to him so tightly his claws were almost cutting into his skin.
“You must stay, you cannot go wild. Come with me,” he said.
He pulled Alex for a step or two then let him go, rushing into the cave. Alex followed, the fear that had been churning in his stomach threatening to overwhelm him. As soon as he got inside, he saw April on the bed, soaked in blood. There was a werewolf nearby. He was using the final charge of the healing flame ring, pressing it against her stomach. The flame came and went but seemed to do little for the enormous gashes and wounds.
