When the burn of my lungs finally forced me to breathe, the lead wolf after a minute of standing there staring finally walked slowly to Daniel’s body, putting one paw after another on the ground, stepping gingerly as if all four of them hurt. As he lowered his head and sniffed, the final group of wolves and vampires arrived. Each of them came to dead stops as well, surely taking in and evaluating the situation, finding their place in it. They all came in seconds to fall in with the crowd, to stare at the wolf over Daniel.
I wondered if he was deciding how to handle things, seeing how the vampires and werewolves had all paused in defensive positions waiting to see if they’d fight. They awaited his decision, seemingly another alpha of the pack, the one that would take over now that their main alpha had died. My group, I knew, just waited to see if they would be called to fight, or if this night’s festivities would be over. I hoped until it hurt that these wolves hated Daniel’s ways, and would be somehow relieved to find this tyrant of a man dead, though the rational side of me doubted that possible.
Finally, the wolf over Daniel made a snorting sound, disturbing the very air around him, causing a cyclic reaction through the crowd. Once the reverberations of that singular act died down, he turned back to the group which had formed a nearly perfect semi-circle around him and the body now. He gave a shake of his head, his big ears making a clapping sound against his head, before he stood up taller and stretched his body though he remained on all fours still.
He appeared poised to howl at the moon, even if it still remained hidden by thick clouds, with his hind haunches down, and his front shoulders stretched upward, like a yoga position. Without a connection to the moon like the true werewolves had with their curse, even if he did howl at the thing, I couldn’t be sure of the meaning behind it. I’d still have to wait to see his next move.
I could feel the anxiousness churning within Josh, a combination of wanting to know what came next and wondering what had come before. He had to feel me, but he also had to wonder about the rest of my group, how they had faired. The present moment lingered on in a stalemate as silence reigned. Luckily, I maintained our connection, continued to watch through his eyes as the others stayed in their tense stances, poised to deal with whatever came next.
It seemed an eternity that no one moved. I blinked instinctively, as useless as my own eyes were at this minute, to see if I’d fallen asleep. As the vampires and werewolves by the cabin did, I waited with bated breath, hearing the hammering of my own heart, the deep thud of it within my chest, as this true werewolf mauled over the options of the pack he’d just assumed leadership of.
Again, I willed them to walk away, the force of my brain stirring up the magic inside of me until I felt I’d burst into a hot ball of light. I wanted no more violence, and continued to try to think of a magical way to make that happen as I waited. What else had I to do than spin my wheels in what seemed a fruitless endeavor? If only I had mind control, I’d have told them exactly what to do.
Even if they had not been outnumbered at the moment, which they still were, I just couldn’t take any more violence, not tonight, maybe not ever. Good or bad being a subjective thing, in the eyes of the beholder and all, two sides to every story, I didn’t want another soul to be extinguished tonight. As my powers increased, making me actually sweat, I feared just a mere growl may throw me over the edge at this point. I was wound that tight.
Selfish or not I needed a minute or two or five to lick my wounds. I needed to be carried off into the sunset by Lex to spend night after night in his arms and day upon day just talking or sitting side-by-side in silence. Fighting with the true werewolf needed to be over. It really did. Yet, to the demise of what lingered of my sanity and my patience, the wolf that appeared to be the new alpha standing over Daniel still had his head lifted to the sky. He apparently had all the time in the world.
I waited for him to howl, assumed everyone did, and yet no sound came. Instead the woods continued to be eerily quiet. Even the wind hadn’t blown in a matter of minutes. I believed I could actually hear the ticking of time passing, but in reality it was my pulse, racing like I’d run a marathon, or one block, which was about all I could do in human form. If this was some sort of calm before a storm, I believed I’d lose my mind. Seeing through Josh’s eyes it looked as if the world stood completely still, like my wishful, magical thinking had paused it, given all of nature time to mourn Daniel.