Full Moon: Chapter 1

"Derrik!" I angled my head so that I could see the large cream-and-brown colored wolf. Her yowl had gotten my attention quickly - as it should have. She wasn't that far away from me and I would have always been able to tell where she was at. If she was close, I would know. Her voice was panicked, and I could feel that too.

We had just stopped out sprint so that we could both catch our breath. We stood there panting, each with bundles of fur at our feet. Despite popular belief, werewolves were not the fastest of creatures. Okay, we were pretty fast, but not the fastest. Vampires were. Us werewolves could run fast over short distances, but we specialized in running over longer distances. My sister and I probably could have ran farther if it hadn't been for the extra weight that we had been carrying.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" She panted. Her brown eyes met my green ones and I could not just see the worry that she felt; I could smell it on her fur. Along with the slight scent of fear.

"They will be fine. Damian is with them." The way we were communicating was different than how we did in our human forms. We were speaking telepathically. Any other werewolf - or regular wolf - would have been able to understand our conversation. No other creature would be able to, though.

Though, despite my words, I did not feel that they would be completely true. A total of five rogue werewolves attacked us. We had more wolves, but that was about it. And the only reason that we had more wolves was because of Matt and Charlie. The two of them didn't have any experience in a fight, and they were still young. Matt wasn't even a teenager, and Charlie just barely. That meant five wolves against five, but with one disadvantage on our side. Chris was an older wolf, and wasn't always as limber as he should have been.

It normally was never normal for a werewolf to live as long as had. We always fought too much and it led most wolves to their downfall. Even if they were doing okay one day... All it would take was something to go wrong, and it could be a fatal mistake to a creature of our species. Werewolves were predators. They were possessive predators. If any other werewolf even set foot over the line - it could be the start of a battle between two or more wolves. Normally one or both died. If they didn't die their wounds were so severe they would never be able to fight again without the risk of death being greater than it normally was.

I shared Aileen's misgivings. She and I had fled with the two pups - because that was all Matt and Charlie were - to make sure that they would live to see the next dawn. That left Damian, Clyde, and Chris. Three against five. That was a disadvantage in and of itself. Anyone could see that we were at a disadvantage without having to count out Chris's age.

"I hope you're right." She said, and her voice trailed off into a whimper. "We can't go home. Where will we go?" I knew as well as she did why we couldn't go home. Our minds were thinking about the predators that we were. We were thinking as actual wolves now. Our instincts were telling us that we needed to stay away from our home; the rest of the pack. If we were followed, or if the others were defeated, the rogues would most likely follow our trail. We couldn't risk them going to our home; to our family.

"There's a cave around here." I said. This was our territory, and we knew it well. "Let's go there. We need shelter, and fast. It will be fine for a little while." She shook her head in acknowledgement before she looked down at the pup that was at her feet.

"Yeah. Let's get going." She picked up the bundle of red and black fur before racing off in the direction that the cave was in. I followed suit, after I had picked up the brown wolf. Charlie was more like a dead weight than he probably should have been, but that was understandable. He had a horrible leg wound, and the way that I was carrying him - by the scruff of his neck, the way that animals always carried their young - made him go limp.

Him being the dead weight wasn't the only reason I was carrying him. Even if he would have been awake and able to run - like Matt was - he wouldn't have been able to keep up. That was why Aileen was holding Matt's weight as I held onto Charlie. We could run a lot faster; even with the weight of the two of them. I was just carrying Charlie because he was heavier than Matt when in his wolf form, and I didn't want it to slow down my sister as she made for cover with our brother.

A growl started to form from my throat as I heard bushes moving from behind. As we stopped at the entrance to the cave I let my sister and brother go in first, before following quickly and dropping Charlie on the ground. I turned my head sharply as I heard the rustling sound again; this time closer than the time before. Was it one of the rogues? I don't like to fight.. I would if I have to. And if it was one of the rogues that had decided to follow us, I would.

"Don't even." A familiar voice growled. I let out a slow breath of relief and let my hackles go down as the dark gray wolf showed himself. Clyde was barely younger than me, but he was slightly larger than I was. It wasn't exactly fair, but nothing in life is fair. And especially in the wolf society. Besides, we were both done growing. Most werewolves were done growing by the age of 16. When they started to grow, they grew fast.

He shot me a glance through narrowed, green eyes before hurrying into the cave in search of Aileen. I only had a few reasons to take care of her. I was her brother, her elder, and she was a female. He had only one reason, but it was almost as important as mine. They were mates. All wolves aways put their mates' safety above anything else. Even if the pack was in danger, they would do anything to be with their mate to make sure that they didn't get hurt.

Then, there was the fact that all the rogues had been male. Clyde wouldn't let any of them near his mate - that being that main reason - because it was mating season. The ending of mating season, to be exact. No matter what time in the season it was, a male would never let his female get anywhere near another male that he didn't trust. I would have just said "mate" instead of female, but it was rare if a werewolf was a homosexual. Most wolves take one of the opposite sex as their mate. It wasn't not natural.... It was just different. That was why it was a rare thing. Most wolves were pretty much the same.

"Are they gone?" I asked, coming about behind the other as he bent down to lick Aileen between the ears.

"No." He flicked an ear at me. " They're still here."

"I'm glad that you're safe, but... Why are you here if they aren't gone? Where are Damian and Chris?" The only female in the space asked as she looked at her mate. Clyde had a few minor marks and scratches on him, but none were severe.

"I had to make sure that you all got away safely. And I needed to report that Chris couldn't take it anymore. He collapsed. They were on him in an instant."

"So Damian is alone?" My voice was colder than I wanted it to be, but what could be expected? He was my twin brother. I was going to be cold if he was fighting by himself, and when he was outnumbered. The news about Chris also made me feel cold, but I had to push that away for now. When out on the field you had to worry about what could be lost in the future, and not about what had already been lost. "Why did you leave him there against five werewolves? He can't take them all by himself?"

"I didn't want to." His voice sounded distraught - something that sometimes seemed like a foreign concept to him. " Damian told me to go, and when I refused to the first time, he decided to order me. I didn't have a choice." Sometimes I really hated pack structure. On the hunt Damian had been the leader; even though Chris was older. Damian was just the nephew of the Alpha, and Chris was just an aging male. Of course Damian would be the one leading the hunt. That meant, since Damian wasn't here, I was the one in charge. Even when it was just Aileen and myself, I was in charge.

"Alright." I gave a small growl as I thought about it. We would have to stay in the cave, at least for a little while. Besides, even if we would have been able to head home, it would be ill-advised. It had started as a light rain at first, but, as the seconds passed, it kept getting harder and harder. It was supposed to storm in the early morning - and that was pretty accurate. Dawn was soon approaching. No type of the canine family liked storms. That would involve liking thunder and liking - which most animals didn't like. Canines didn't like thunder because of how much it hurt the eardrums."It looks like we are going to be staying here for a little bit."

"As long as we get home soon." Aileen barked quietly. "The sooner the better. I'm worried about Charlie's wound.

I scowled a little and we all looked down at the still unconscious wolf. He had curled up as best he could, but he still looked like a brown mess. We needed to hurry home. If his wound got infected.... Let's just say that it wouldn't be too pretty.

"Can't we make it home?" Clyde broke the silence. "We can get there in a fairly short amount of time. We can make sure that he really doesn't get an infection. Can't we get him home? Can't we get ourselves home." My eyes met his, and I wanted to do the same thing. I just wanted to go home. I just wanted to get Charlie, Matt, and Aileen home. But... I didn't think I could. I wasn't used to making these kinds of decisions... That was what Damian was good at. Not me. For the moment, it would seem that I have to fill in for him for a little bit. At least until he came to where we were.

What? Just because I said that he would be overpowered by the rogues didn't mean anything. I knew that he wouldn't die fighting them - he couldn't.

"No." I stated, against what I would have rather done. My instincts were telling me not to go home, but for some reason they were also telling me not to stay in the cave. But we had no other choice but to stay in the cave. "Running in the rain might just make Charlie worse. And if the rogues track us back home... We can't let that happen."

"I know." His eyes were narrowed and I knew that he had already known the answer. He just didn't like it. I didn't like it either.

"We can all make it." I murmured. Or, that was how I meant it to be. My voice came out louder than I had wanted it, because subconsciously I made the decision to speak louder in order to be heard. The way the rain was hitting the ground was making it hard to hear. I would have thought that my voice would echo, but it would need silence in order for that to happen. "Even Charlie. He's strong enough." That's what I hoped.

Then my ears flattened against my head as I heard the bushes started to rustle again, and the distant sound of paws thumping against the ground. I would have liked to think that it was Damian, but I knew better. I knew it wasn't him. Somehow I just knew. I looked at Clyde, who had his ears flattened as well, and was standing in front of Aileen. I turned my head away from him before looking at the entrance, and moving towards it as if I could be a barrier to protect my family.

Not more than a moment after I stepped into the entrance was I bowled over. The wolf was larger than I was, and the speed at which he was going at helped knock me over more easily. I snarled; one of rage mixed with surprise. My claws slid out as more paws thundered past into the cave. I raised my head to look at the three wolves that had ran in here, and I found myself glaring at the black wolf that had rammed itself into me.

I wanted to lunge at him; something I never wanted to do. I wanted to harm him; another thing that I never wanted to do, but instinct had me wanting to do it. I couldn't, though. Not without risking a few rocks falling. Certain places where we lived tended to be more... accident prone - for lack of a better word. Especially when the weather was like it was at the moment. The wind howling; the rain beating against the ground. I couldn't risk a full blown fight in case something happened to make some parts of the cave collapse.

Clyde, apparently, had other thoughts on the matter.

He launched himself at the wolf that was closest to him. I watched with wide eyes as both he and the white wolf hit the side of the cave. My ears flicked up as I tried to pick up a certain sound. I could here my sister snarling as she tried to keep the strangers away from the young ones, and I could here the fear in Matt's whimpers as he stayed near his friend and sister.

If it was any other time I would be standing in front of them; protecting them. Any other time, though, I wasn't picking up the clues that added up to something caving in. I flicked my tail as my head snapped in the direction of the black wolf to see that he was still glaring at me, and baring his teeth. I growled at him, but turned my head as I heard something hit the ground.

It was a rock at the front of the cave.

My jaws opened as if I was going to say something, but then the wolf sprang at me. I managed to move out of the way, but barely. I looked towards the entrance as a new sound hit my ears. It wasn't the sound of Clyde's snarls, or of Matt's whimpers. It was the black and gray wolf that was standing in the bushes in front of the entrance; yowling.

"You guys have to get out of there! Get out of there now!" There was a look certain hardness in his face. As I looked straight towards him he met my eyes. There a look of horror seemed to form. Damian never had that look on his face. From what I could see of him... It made me think on whether the look was for us, or for himself. Most likely for us considering what he was yowling. It seemed to turn into a sort of chant. All because of how he kept yowling it over and over.

Apparently I was the only one to hear him. It didn't surprise me. Clyde was still fighting with the white wolf; Aileen was still crouching over Matt and in front of Charlie, batting at the other wolf if he tried to tread too close to them. The only other one that seemed to hear Damian was Charlie, who had raised his head a little and was looking towards the entrance. I started to yowl to get their attention as well. I had done a better job than my brother had; due to the fact I was closer, I had assumed.

My voice, however, was cut off by the louder sound of rocks tumbling down something. The hill right over our heads, as a matter of fact. Somehow I knew that all of the wolves in the room had looked up at the roof all at once; even the two that had been fighting so viciously. The tumbling just wouldn't stop. I looked at the entrance to see rocks starting to fall onto the ground. I forced my head to turn slightly so that I could catch a glimpse of my brother through the falling rocks.

"Damian, get out of here!" I yowled at him. I knew that he had heard me. He always could. He seemed to hesitate; going forward a little bit before taking another step back. The instinct to protect his family was fighting with the instinct to protect himself.

Finally, though, the choice was made for him. With a final wave the rocks launched themselves into a larger pile at the entrance. The three wolves that had followed us in here started yowling; a sound that might make someone think they were dying. Clyde was just staring at the wall that was being made in shock.

By the time the last rock had fallen into place, the three rogues had fallen silent, and Clyde had moved towards Aileen and the pups. There was only one hole in within the batch of rocks that had fallen. Though, one would have had to jump more than a few feet to reach it; even if they would have reached it, none of us would have been able to get through it. It was too small for a wolf to get through.

"We're stuck." I heard my sister. The words were nothing more than a whisper, but they echoed throughout the whole cave. She didn't lie. We were stuck in here. I wished we would have been stuck in here alone. But no. There were the three strange creatures that had attacked us. That had killed one of our own. And that had pretty much got us caught in here.