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Its Name Was Bonduras

-Naomi-

This was it. The final straw. These past few hours, I had been turning it over in my head. This entire visit, if you could even call it that.

"Are we friends, Naomi?"

I don't think so. Who would ever want to be casual friends with their ex? If So, what the hell was I doing here? Supporting him from the sidelines? Even with my life being trashy as it is? Fuck all these house rules and tests and trials from this strange pack. It was time to leave. I picked up my carry-on bag to make a U-turn, but the wolf remained immobile. Trapping me in the liminal space between the entrance and the compound.

"Move aside" I mustered myself to speak up to him.

"I have given you the conditions." he said telepathically. I wondered if the raspy deep voice in my head sounded anything like him in real life.

"Yes, And I give up. I'm unworthy, whatever. I'm leaving this place." I stated, avoiding direct eye contact. The grey wolf did not move so much as an inch, and the telepathic waves between my mind and his went silent. Even his dark irises seemed set in cement.

I decided, in blind fury and a lack of judgment, to make the first move by pushing him away with my hybrid strength. The wolf inclined its hind legs a little bit, but that was the extent of the effect of my efforts. His body felt like a wall of laminated fur. What was under there? Muscles or piles of steel piled together?

"I am afraid, I cannot let you leave." he said finally, after my 3rd try.

"What?"

"You have your conditions" he repeated.

"Which I have rejected!" I clarified.

"Unfortunately" he began "the conditions also include your life. Allow me to rephrase again for your understanding. Shift into your wolf to enter the Moonlight Residence. Do not shift into a wolf, and you will be...I can see you are already imagining my intentions." he said. It was true. The techniques of mind-linking were coming back to me. I saw a singular picture that flashed three times in my mind's eye; A body with a hole in it's heart, blood meandering down it's broken limbs like a river flowing into it's tributaries. It was my body. A sudden terror washed over me, sapping me of any strength to even lift my hands.

I hadn't shifted in years. To do it on the spot with a mysterious wolf watching me, with my life on the line?

"Just- hold on" I pleaded, the words shivering out of my mouth. "I'll call Vincent, and we'll all find a way to straighten this out."

The wolf inched its pointed mouth towards my left breast. And said nothing.

"Just let me call Vincent. He won't be happy if anything happens to me." I said the words, but did I believe it? I mean, at the very basics, Vincent would at least raise some sort of hell if I died here, right? The thought warmed my heart a little.

"I don't think Master Vincent would miss an intruder like you, human," said the wolf. Suddenly, his demeanor changed. The neutral countenance morphed into one with sinister and urgent tones, his eyebrows arched downwards, hair raised, fangs fully bared, with translucent saliva running down its chin, to bite down on me-

"Bonduras!" A familiar voice yelled out from the parking lot. The wolf cast its eyes towards that direction, mid-bite. My eyes had closed instinctively, and I was more than relieved to find my upper body and mid-section were still intact when I opened them.

"Get, Bondura. You have a death wish? She's Vincent's guest for crying out loud!" the man cried. I was surprised, and a little frustrated to find Arthur Livingsworth here. He carried himself with the same childlike energy that was unsuitable for a werewolf, and it cast a warm light on this dark despicable scene, which I was grateful for. The wolf loosened his grip on my shoulders, and I reminded myself that I could breathe again.

"You know this human, Master Arthur?" the wolf asked, this time out loud. It was clear that the wolf was a master shifter. He would have had to have only morphed his vocal cords back to that of a human being to talk, all while still retaining this form. I went through similar training, trying to keep my fur while still human and vice versa. In the end, all I could manage was to grow my fangs 3 or more inches while in human form. The passing grade.

But I had heard of techniques where werewolves could retain their claws, only transform their heads or their legs, and finely tune their strength to suit whatever their needs at the moment. It was reserved for only the most talented and dexterous of werewolf kind.

"Human?" Arthur questioned. He looked at me with a devilish smile and winked.

"Yes, I believe she is an intruder. And thus, I am eliminating her. To protect the pack" said the wolf. As I suspected, his voice was the same as in my head.

"Your head is filled with ideas. As always" said Arthur, looking bored.

"I have previously met her, and it was the first thing I noticed. Did you see her teeth, her skin and the color of her eyes? Especially the eyes. Have you ever seen a human with so strong a shade of black?" Arthur questioned.

"All of which can be faked with magic. What matters here is that she cannot shift." returned the wolf. The whole experience was surreal. Should I be angry that I had come here? Should I be grateful for Arthur's interference? I was grateful, but it seemed the matter wouldn't pass so easily. If the wolf loosened his grip a little more, I could defend myself.

"Shifty, shafty. Bondura. One, She is a guest of honor here. Two, You overstep yourself. Three, Are you saying you don't trust the Alpha's judgment?"

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