Chapter 57

I edited this in my garden, and I could hardly see the screen lol. Sorry if there are more spelling mistakes than usual!

- Sian

Pip stared at the wolf for a long cold minute. The wolf nudged his cheek with its wet nose and even tried to lick Pip's face.

Pip wasn't sure if he wanted to run, talk, cry, or just lie in the snow until the cold engulfed him. Pip knew what Krey's wolf looked like, and that same wolf looked down on him, occasionally pawing at his shoulder.

How do I know it's really Krey? A part of Pip wanted to deny that werewolves even existed, despite one staring him in the face with glowing red eyes. Pip was still worried that the wolf wasn't Krey at all and would snap him up as soon as he moved.

Eventually, snow crunched under more feet and familiar voices echoed down the slope. "Get over there," Victoria hissed. Pip then heard what sounded like someone tripping in the snow. "Pip, it's okay. It's Krey, we just needed to be wolves to find you!" Victoria yelled down at him.

The wolf sat on its haunches and Pip finally dared to sit up. He glanced to Victoria in her black and white floral dress. Her curly blonde hair was more ruffled than it was at the party. She stood in front of Mark with a pointed finger in his face. Mark timidly stared at the ground, like a child in trouble with a parent.

Pip looked back to the wolf who hadn't moved a muscle. Blood dried around the wolf's mouth, and across the wolf's face.

Is this really Krey? Pip struggled to link the tall, dark haired, muscular nineteen-year-old to the fluffy yet terrifying wolf with glowing eyes. "C-Change back," Pip whispered. The wolf stood on all fours again, and Pip tensed. "I-In front of me. I have to see this," he whispered to himself.

The wolf's eyes flicked to Victoria who angrily scolding her mate for pushing Pippor towards wolves that could have been the enemy. Pip was glad that Krey wasn't going after Mark, his heart wasn't strong enough to see him attack.

The wolf sat down again and lowered its head.

Pip then watched as the beast transformed. Bones cracking and limbs distorting was so horrifying, Pip couldn't look away. Wide eyed, he watched everything. The transformation was like Krey's wolf turned inside out to reveal Krey on the inside, crouching in the snow, trying to tolerate the excruciating pain with a brave frown.

Krey turned his neck and it cracked, and the transformation was complete. He stared hard at Pip's horrified reaction.

"Oh come on," Krey said deeply. Snowflakes landed softly on his dark hair. "I'm not that ugly."

Pip would have been sick if he didn't fill the woods with nervous laughter. Pip covered his mouth and blinked until his eyes stopped stinging. More important things filled his head, like the scratches across Krey's face. "You're hurt," he made himself say. Pip had no problem getting close to Krey in his human form.

He knelt in the snow, cupping Krey's face. A cut deep enough to concern pip spread from Krey's inner brow, across his nose, and over his left cheek. Another scratch spread from the outer corner of Krey's right eye, to the top of his lip.

"Don't worry about me," Krey mumbled. He pulled Pip's hands away from his face and wrapped them around his neck. Krey gripped Pip's waist and hugged him tightly, burying his face into Pip's cold neck. "You're freezing."

Pip shivered against him, pushing his body into Krey who was hot like he spent his time standing next to an open fire.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Pip said through chattering teeth.

Krey's arms were around his mate, but his eyes were firmly on Mark standing at the top of the slope.

"I don't care what differences you've had in the past," Victoria yelled at her mate. "Pippor is Krey's mate. Krey is family! Imagine if we were the enemy. Both of you wouldn't have made it 100 yards. Pushing Pip down the slope is something I hope you never do again. It was cowardly and I will willingly give Krey your head if you carry on. Do you hear me? One day, I won't be around when you hurt his mate, and Krey will come for you."

Krey's hands turned to fists as he hugged Pip. If his mate wasn't so cold, he would have stormed to Mark and smashed his head against a thick tree trunk until he bled from his ears.

Later, Krey thought, knowing Mark would find another reason to piss him off. "Are you hurt?" Krey pulled back, scanning Pip and pulling at his soggy jumper for tears and cuts.

"No, j-just cold." Pip's eyes saw a big gash on Krey's arm and the tear in his black blazer. "You're hurt more!"

"Pippor, they're not serious. It's okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Krey lifted Pip onto his feet and brushed the snow from his clothes. Victoria and Mark waited for them at the top of the slope while Krey pulled Pip's face into his shoulder. "I was worried someone else would find you first."

"I was-was w-worried about that too." Pip was so cold, he struggled to form words properly.

"We need to get you out of this snow. Crescent pack is eleven miles from here." Krey looked up at the placement of the moon. He knew the woods better than he knew himself.

"Eleven." Pip looked all around him. Each direction tunnelled into darkness. He wasn't sure if he could walk two more miles, let alone eleven. "Which way?"

Krey turned Pip by his shoulders, facing him west. "I can carry you if you want. Or..."

Pip looked up to his face silvered by the moon's glow. His brown eyes looked black. The grey streak at the front of his hair seemed to shimmer slightly.

"Or I can change into my wolf and you can ride on my back."

"That is a really efficient way of travelling," Victoria said, pulling Mark down the slope behind her. "And you'll be warm."

"And we'll get there much quicker."

Pip started fidgeting. "Um, I-I don't um- I-I don't know if I can."

Mark muttered something under his breath at Pip's stuttering. Krey turned towards the human, and before Victoria could stand in his way, Krey punched him in his chest and Mark flew a few metres, landing heavily on his back, coughing and wheezing and rolling in the snow.

Victoria pinched the bridge of her nose and went to see if Mark was okay.

"He'll be lucky to be alive by the end of this fucked up night," Krey growled.

Pip watched Mark struggle to breathe with minimal sympathy. Mark had pushed him headfirst towards wolves that they thought were the enemy. If Pip needed proof that Mark would never return to the friend he once had, pushing Pip to his death was it.

"What's happening at the Shadow Packhouse?" Pip asked as they started walking west. He couldn't feel his feet. His yellow converse were drenched.

"I left when my pack arrived. I haven't heard anything else, but I assume we overpowered the southern wolves. With Saphine's pack there too, we should be winning."

"Why did southern wolves attack?"

"I don't know. I think they attacked without their Alpha." Krey frowned as they walked.

"And what a-about Francis and um, Sid, and your mum. Are they okay?"

"They should be." Krey's frown deepened with unease. "They should be fine."

They walked ahead of the others for a little longer, until Pip heard them running to catch up. Mark avoided Krey by almost ten metres. Pip looked around for Victoria, sure that he heard her running too.

Pip froze when he faced forward and a big black wolf trotted ahead. Pip tried to pull away from Krey, so he could back away.

Krey held him tighter. "It's okay," he said in a softer voice than usual. "It's Victoria. She won't hurt you."

Again, Pip had a hard time linking the beautiful, blonde curly haired, green eyed, and tall girl to the black wolf with silver glowing eyes.

Pip thought back to Krey's transformation from his black and brown wolf, to the person standing next to him in the snow. She won't hurt me.

"It's best if one of us is in our wolf forms in case we run into trouble."

Pip couldn't take his eyes off the wolf as they continued walking. The size of the animal was unnatural. Victoria's head would come up to his waist, and she was smaller than Krey's wolf. He sometimes lost sight of her in the shadows because her fur was so dark, but then she would turn her head and her eyes would glow in the distance.

The longer they walked, the more comfortable Pip felt. He was still on edge, but Victoria acted like a playful dog. Mark would throw snowballs and she would chase them, and sometimes she would flop in the snow and Mark would rub her belly. She nipped him sometimes, and never broke the skin.

Pip wondered if Krey would be that playful. Maybe it's time to get used to that part of him. Krey was lost in thought as they walked. His thumb occasionally rubbed up and down Pip's thumb, when his thoughts drifted.

"Krey," Pip said with a thumping heart. "I-It's okay if you want to be your wolf again."

That pulled Krey from his troubled mind like Pip reached in and plucked him out. "You- really?" Krey was so surprised, he stopped frowning until he saw Mark staring at them, then scowled coldly.

"I can't be scared forever."

Krey didn't waste time and asked if he should shift in front of Pip or somewhere else.

"In front of me." As disturbing as it was to see a wolf change into a human and vice versa, that transformation was a part of Krey, and something Pip should be comfortable with if he wanted to fully embrace Krey's werewolf side.

"I know it's a bit gross, and I know it looks like it hurts a lot. Well, it does, but I've shifted a million times."

Krey was nervous, Pip could tell. "T-The wolf is a b-big part of you. I want to- It's time."

Krey nodded and squeezed his shoulder. He crouched in the snow, and the transformation began. Starting with Krey's back, it arched and cracked and snapped out of place, then his arms bent the wrong way. Krey's scrunched his eyes shut, grimacing at the pain.

Pip watched as fur sprouted from every pore and Krey's face changed, but it changed quickly, and in less than two minutes, he was staring at a wolf.

"Krey?" Pip whispered when the wolf stretched its front legs by bowing. The wolf gave a short nod and a low noise, which almost sounded like a yes. Pip lifted a hand and edged it towards Krey's face. The wolf stilled as the tips of Pip's fingers brushed his fur.

Pip quickly snatched his hand back with a nervous chuckle. "This is so weird," he whispered. Krey titled his head and his ears flopped to the side. "Y-You're kinda, um, cute."

Krey made another low noise, which was one of frustration, and Pip smiled, knowing Krey wouldn't like that statement. He reached to Krey's neck and sank fingers into Krey's fur. The hairs were thick and a little wiry. "I can't believe I'm stroking a wolf," he whispered.

Krey nudged Pip's cheek with his nose and panted with his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth. His wolf looked like it was smiling.

Pip gripped the other side of his face too. His fear slipped away when Krey lowered his snout and pushed his fury head against Pip's forehead. He smelt like the earth and the cold.

"If we hug now", Pip whispered, smoothing his hands down Krey's fur, feeling his warmth, "while I'm not so afraid, will the bond connect?"