Torment (Primal Progeny Book 1) (27 page)

Alfred looked gravely at his pack, making deliberate eye contact with each and every one before launching into an explanation of what had happened.

His voice was calm as he spoke, but the scent of concern seeped from him so strongly the whole room could smell it. Not that any gave any indication of this as he delivered his speech. ‘No doubt you all heard Tobias and Eve return a few moments ago… Well there is good reason for their haste and I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news to you all but things have taken a turn for the worse. Earlier today Tobias and Audra left to visit the barn where the first murder took place.’

This statement bought murmurings from the room of ‘first murder?’ and ‘There has been more than one?’

Alfred continued to speak over the commotion. ‘Yes there has been more than one. We do not need to dwell on that for now. Audra has gone missing, and it seems she has followed Varulv alone.’

As he spoke Alfred could not help but notice that amongst the horrified looks in response to his statement he did not see one surprised face. In fact, when he glanced at Courtney she was smirking. She saw his eyes on her too late and could not change her expression before he noticed.

‘Is something amusing Courtney?’ The old man snarled, flashing a set of perfectly healthy teeth which were all his own. ‘Perhaps you would care to enlighten me?’ His voice was so full of menace that the girl crumpled under the weight of it. Dropping her head she shook it firmly, but Alfred pressed her. ‘No Courtney, I would like to hear it. Now.’

She did not raise her head, instead answering from behind the protective veil of her hair. Her voice shook as she spoke. ‘I… I’m sorry Alfred, I just… Um… well, I’m just not, you know… Surprised at all?’

Alfred snarled so loudly that it echoed throughout the room. ‘Why not young one?!’

Courtney shrank even lower in her seat and it was plain to see her wish that she could simply disappear. ‘I… I don’t know’ She stammered, her body then visibly trembling and tears beginning to fill her eyes. ‘I just… She just… Well… She always wanted to rise up the ranks… It seems like… Well… Something she’d do sir?’ A lone tear trickled down the girl’s cheek and she roughly wiped at it with the back of a clenched fist.

Alfred growled. ‘Well it seems this is not a particularly unpopular opinion. Did any of you actually expect this kind of extreme behaviour from her?’ He swept his gaze around the room, to see a uniform set of slowly shaking heads. He sighed deeply, his face so creased from the scowl that refused to leave it that he was beginning to get a headache. He continued ‘Well I would appreciate in future, if regardless of rank someone would tell me when a pack member is obviously becoming a problem. This needs to be regardless of lineage or rank, with personal problems aside. We cannot operate effectively as a unit if we are not working together at all times, do you all understand?’

Everyone nodded and Alfred continued on to explain what he wanted them all to do, his voice now much more stern. ‘We must now move quickly. Unfortunately Eve is currently incapacitated with a serious injury, and Tobias will be needing the help of some of you in his hunt for Varulv. We cannot be lax or the police force may well find him and that will be the end of our existence as we know it. I would like for Tobias to pick at least four of you to accompany him, and then you must all go in search of Varulv and when you find him you must kill him and bring back my daughter.’ He paused for a moment, obviously troubled by his thoughts. ‘Provided that she is well enough to be bought back to us.’

Tobias delicately interrupted ‘Do you have any preference as to who I should take with me Alfred?’

He elderly werewolf shook his head. ‘None. I trust you to make a good decision Tobias, you have proven yourself time and again and I have faith you will choose wisely.’ He then turned his attentions back to the rest of the room and directed them. ‘For those of you who remain, we must be ready to move at a moments notice. It will be your jobs to keep track of the news and to pack things up and ready for easy transportation should the need arise.’

The room nodded in unison, and Alfred held out a hand, making a sweeping gesture to indicate that it was time for Tobias to pick his team.

Tobias nodded respectfully in response and stood slowly. Stalking around the edge of the table he paused and rested his hands upon the shoulders of Finnlay. Looking down at the younger male he smiled gravely. ‘You’re one of our stronger members Finnlay, I’ll be requiring your assistance.’ Finnlay nodded, his long blonde hair falling about his face and the lines around his mouth tightening as his lips stretched into a taught smile.

Tobias looked up and glanced around the table, deliberately training his gaze on four other pack members, calling them as he did so. ‘Arthur, Mason, Matthew and Michael, You’ll also be joining me.’ He looked over to his alpha and requested permission to leave. ‘Do I have your say so to move off Alfred?’ He asked.

Alfred nodded, watching as Tobias filed out of the room, followed by Finnlay, and then Arthur, Mason and Matthew. Once they had gone he looked to the rest of the room and rose slowly from his chair. ‘You may all leave now; I’d like you to begin preparations for potential moving immediately. There is no time to delay.’

Chapter 28

In Eve’s quarters Anna paced around the bed fitfully. I was against every instinct she had to watch another make the change, and the fact that she had no choice made her feel no less uncomfortable about the situation. She wrung her hands and moved from one side of the bed to the other. Constantly monitoring the female beta’s breathing and her heart rate from sight alone.  

On the bed Eve had squirmed and rolled until she was almost falling off the side, and the blanket was wrapped loosely about her legs. Carefully, and as quickly as she could Anna grabbed the blanket and yanked it free of the bed. She was met with guttural snarls and very nearly had her arm bitten, but was lucky in that Eve missed by a hair. The snarls quickly turned into whimpering as the pain of the broken limb and the impending change took hold of the wounded werewolf.

Anna stood back and watched carefully, seeing the fitful jerks that her beta’s ribcage made as she struggled for breath. Watching as sweat began to dampen her paw pads and her tongue lolled loosely from the side of her open maw. She felt utterly helpless but knew there was absolutely nothing she could do to help at that point. She could do no more than watch and wait, and hope that in the initial moments after the change… Should Eve survive… That she would be able to help fix her broken leg before the bones were solidly changed back into their broken position. She considered whether she should remove the pillows from the bed in case Eve became tangled in them but decided against it. Thinking that they might be useful, to create some padding during the setting of her leg once she had managed the transformation.

On the crumpled bed sheet on top of her plush four-poster bed, Eve writhed in agony as her body began to metamorphosize. Her body tensed and relaxed sporadically. If Anna hadn’t known better she’d have expected she was having some kind of seizure. But as it was she remained coherent despite being in immense amounts of pain, which nullified that possibility. Her eyes focused on Anna whenever her body snapped her head into a position that meant she could see her. They pleaded for help past their pain filled haze.

Eve could not help the whimper that escaped her wide-open jaws, as her head snapped backwards and her tail clamped suddenly to her belly.

Anna shot forwards, leaning over the bed with worry etched deeply into her ageing features. She was greeted by a snarl distorted by copious amounts of drool. Receiving the message loud and clear she stepped back, concerned by the sheer amount of slaver trailing from her beta’s mouth. The bed sheets glistened with it, and it clung to Eve’s fur in thick strands.

Eve tried to swallow but her tongue refused to sit in her mouth. Dragging her head backwards across the bed sheet she left a trail of thick, foul smelling drool in her wake. Every muscle in her body contracted, and she tensed into an angular contortion of a wolf like nothing Anna had ever seen. Her limbs seemed to dance to their own tunes, and bent themselves into positions that should have been physically impossible. She was in agonizing pain, but then suddenly her body relaxed. Panting heavily she whimpered again. It was a pitiful sound that bought tears to Anna’s eyes, but before she could react Eve’s body again went into spasm with ferocity. This time there was a loud crack, followed by another and another. Eve screamed in pain, and three of her legs hung limp in awkward positions about her. She looked like a heaving, squirming insect that had been trodden upon. Her limbs stuck out from her body at awkward angles and she lay panting on her back with her head thrown back against the mattress.

Anna’s hands shot to her face and she clasped them in front of her mouth in horror ‘Oh my god, Eve?!’ The words came out of her mouth as a high-pitched squeal, and almost instantly footsteps thundered towards the room.

The bolted door shook on its hinges as someone crashed into the other side. The handle twisted sharply and in vain as Samantha’s familiar voice rang out. ‘Are you ok in there?!’

Eve snarled so aggressively in response that Anna tripped over herself in her efforts to back away from the bed, and landed on the floor with a crash. Scrambling to get herself back upright she called back. ‘We’re fine, you’re not needed!’

This seemed to calm Eve who’s snarls faded away into whimpers, and on the far side of the door footsteps could be heard retreating down the hallway. On the bed Fur had begun to fall out of the writhing wolf woman who lay there. It started quickly and soon it was falling out in clumps. It was only a minute, perhaps even less, before the wolf on the bed was totally naked. It was a horrible spectacle to behold. The broken limbs, previously partially concealed by fur were laid bare to the eye in all their horror. Eve’s jaws gnashed as the change began to really take hold and her eyes rolled back into her skull.

Her ribs bulged and contracted in unnatural ways, looking like piano keys played by invisible hands. Blood began to seep from her mouth and nose as her legs shifted and re-set themselves. She whined as half of her toes extended painfully into fingers, the bones popping through the flesh only to have it chase them back to their tips in creeping tendrils. Her nails pushed their way out of the fresh skin quickly; as her hind legs snapped and reset, and snapped and reset a dozen times or more. Her thigh and calf bones lengthened rapidly, tearing open the muscles at her hocks. Fusing back together as her human ankles and feet formed and shortened. Blood covered the bedspread and she wailed in pain, a sound half human and half animal.

Her head and tail were last to change. Her ribcage and organs having shifted whilst her legs were in the process of transforming. This part of the transformation was something often felt but almost never seen by her kind, and it sickened Anna to the point that she had to flee to the adjoining bathroom to vomit. She stood transfixed by fear and disgust as she watched the flesh on her beta’s muzzle begin to necrotize, but that was as much as she could take. As She ran retching loudly to the bathroom, on the bed Eve’s change was close to completion. The flesh on her muzzle and ears was blackings and sliding off the shifting bones beneath. As her eye sockets cracked and shifted her muzzle split wide open down the centre. The bones cracked so loudly the sound echoed round the room, and then they began to splinter. Breaking into hundreds of tiny shards, what had once been a muzzle rapidly disintegrated into a flurry of decomposing bone matter and flesh. At the same time her lupine ears slipped down the sides of her head and came away, falling and crumpling as though set aflame. The same thing was happening to her tail. It had shriveled up upon itself and slid slowly off her then entirely human buttocks. All those cast off body parts dried and shriveled, turning to a fine ash which soon became nothing.

Lastly came her hair, which twisted out of her scalp in great clumps that wound themselves back into the long dreadlocks that had been there before the transformation. Panting heavily as her face reformed and the pain began to settle, Eve called weakly to her pack mate.

‘Anna…?’ She could muster only this one word, and even that was so feeble that she feared she would not be heard.

But Anna was waiting for her call and re-appeared at the bathroom doorway, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Nervously she hovered there for a moment, fearful of a reprimand for entering the room too soon. When it became clear that her beta was in no shape to deliver such a thing, she risked walking to the bedside. The sight she looked down upon relieved her immensely. Eve was naked and slick with sweat, but her body seemed to have returned to its human form normally. Crucially her legs were both lump free and apparently painless, as Eve was shifting them wearily to test their strength. She rubbed them gently back and forth along the sweat soaked bed and a weak but triumphant smile lit up her tired face.

‘Do you mind…?’ Anna asked quietly, seeking permission to test her beta’s newly formed limbs.

Eve shook her head ever so slightly, but closed her dazzling blue eyes against the possibility of pain to come.

Anna leant over the bed and carefully placed her hands gently on what had been Eve’s broken limb. With as much care as if she had been dealing with a freshly born baby, she ran her fingers slowly and carefully down the length of the limb. Her expression betrayed her surprise as she encountered no lumps or bump, there was no swelling at all and her touch seemed to cause Eve no pain. Smiling broadly she stepped back and put a comforting hand on Eve’s naked shoulder.

‘I think you’re ok.’ She informed with obvious relief.

Eve opened her eyes and looked up at the older female. ‘Are you certain?’ She asked.

‘Absolutely, 100 percent.’ Anna smiled down at her.

Nodding slightly Eve rolled onto her back, exposing her bare breasts, which rose and fell slowly as she breathed contentedly. Grinning form ear to ear she demanded. ‘Go into the top drawer in the bathroom and get me the package which is in there please Anna.’

Without hesitation she did as she was bidden, crossing to the other room and rummaging in the drawer for the object she had been asked to retrieve. She found the package bigger than she had expected but did not think to wonder what might have been inside it. She took it to Eve and placed it on the bed next to her.

‘Do you think it might be alright for me to sit up now?’ Eve asked her.

‘I would think so’ Anna replied, silently steadying herself in case she had to catch the younger woman.

Pushing herself up with her forearms, Eve swung her legs carefully sideways until she was sat upright with her feet rested on the floor. Still sweat slick from the change she shivered slightly as her temperature began to return to normal.

‘Thank you’ She smiled up at Anna. ‘I’m going to head over to the dressing table, would you walk with me incase I am unsteady?’

Anna nodded, standing by worriedly as Eve rose shakily to her feet. She followed her across the room and was surprised to find that although weak, her beta did not stumble or falter. She hovered over her as she seated herself at the table, and was relieved that she did not seem to find the motion of stooping to sit uncomfortable.

Eve sighed when she noticed she had left her bag on the bed and asked politely if Anna would retrieve it for her. Anna of course agreed and fetched it again, placing it into her beta’s hands gently. Eve then thanked her for her time and asked her to leave her for a moment. Although she was reluctant, Anna did as she was asked and closed the door firmly behind her as she went.

At the dressing table Eve unzipped the cloth bag that she had asked for and peered inside. Smiling to herself she fished out the contents and laid it out on the table top before her. First out of the bag came a handful of needles, then a few antiseptic wipes and finally a small baggy of jewelry followed by a small sharps pot to dispose of the used equipment into. Opening up the wipes Eve rubbed vigorously at her face. She scrubbed at the centre of her lower lip, one of her eyebrows, the bride of her nose, one nostril, her cheeks and her ear lobes. She then picked out a selection of needles, equipment and jewelry and began her task.

With practiced precision she re-pierced her lower lip and plugged the fresh hole with a shining new ring. She then did the same with her left eyebrow, this time puncturing the soft flesh there twice and inserting two glittering bars. Then she screwed up her face and took a deep breath; grabbing the bridge of her nose with a clamp she drove a needle sideways through the thick flesh there. Blood began to trickle down her nose before she could get the jewellery in but she did not let this deter her. Carefully sliding the bar into place she screwed on the ball which would hold it there, and then moved on to the next piercing. Opening her mouth wide she slid one arm of another clamp into her mouth and closed it down onto her cheek. Quickly and smoothly she plunged a needle into the thick muscle there from the outside in, then removing the clamp and hurriedly fixing the appropriate jewellery in place. She repeated the process with the other cheek and sighed, the swelling was begging to start and it ached irritatingly.

Ready to quit but not yet done, she opened another sterilizing wipe and rubbed at one of her nipples, then her navel and finally the soft cleft at the front of her smooth and utterly hairless vagina. She was grateful somewhere in the back of her mind that she had taken the plunge and had the laser removal done. There was enough hair in lupine form; she didn’t need to be dealing with it in human form as well. 

With a deep, shuddering sigh she picked up yet another clamp and none too carefully pulled on her pre-prepared nipple. Attaching the clamp she pulled it out a little further and took a deep breath. This was her least favorite re-pierce but she endured it, as she liked the way it looked enough that to her it was worth the pain.  Picking up a needle she hovered it next to the tough pink flesh for a moment before stabbing it through as quickly as she could. Removing the clamps rapidly she pushed the ring she had chosen into place and secured it, wiping at the minimal blood the action had produced with a clean tissue. Next she moved on to her navel, which she had to stand to perform. She knew this was not the proper way but she had no time to dawdle and it would have to do. This one she found barely even pinched, and it was not long before she was ready to move lower with her needles. Taking a clean clamp she carefully grasped the delicate skin which concealed her most sensitive part and took another deep inhale. This should also have been performed with her lying down; but instead she sat down and scooted her bare backside forward in the deep chair until she was as horizontal as possible. Spreading her slender legs wide she took a second deep breath and took up one final needle from the side. With deliberate speed she drove it home and pierced easily through the sensitive skin of her clitoral hood. A tiny gasp escaped her, but the pain was not as bad as the nipple had been and so she pressed on with the procedure as quickly as she could. Taking the last piece of jewellery from the tiny plastic bag on the side she pushed it into the freshly made channel and screwed the balls on tightly. At no point had she looked away from what she was doing, but after a quick clean of the area she did so and smiled.