Moon Child
Chapter 11

They had been patrolling the edge of their land for weeks now, and the scent of humans was only getting stronger. He had come across containers meant to store alcohol, but the cans and glass bottles were empty and discarded carelessly across the forest floor. Keith, Marcus, and Lauralie had been assigned trap duty. They had found more than a dozen metal hunting traps hidden around the edge of their territory in the past few days. The threat to the pack was only growing as the humans inched deeper into the trees.

There were no mortal abodes within hundreds of miles of them, no cities or even smaller towns, yet the humans had suddenly come here to hunt. He had been going round and round with his pack mates as they tried to reason out why the men would come out here. Had they heard news of wolves in the area? Who would share such gossip if no humans came around here? It was a frustrating topic, because they had to replace a solution before the hunters got any closer to their homes. It wouldn’t be an easy problem to solve.

Now hyenas were in the area? Their problems were only getting worse. Hyena changelings were almost double the size of a wolf changeling. If they came into contact with an aggressive one they would need the power of numbers without a doubt. Kane was bigger than the normal wolf changeling, but he would still need backup if he ran into a pack of hyena.

Kane made sure they didn’t shift. If the hunters saw them in their animal forms they would be more willing to explore deeper into the trees. The last thing they needed was hunters following their trail to the rest of the pack. Their animal forms were faster, but in their human flesh they still dodged the obstacles of the forest with ease. Their noses picked up every scent within miles, their ears perked up like satellites honing in on their surroundings. Kane led the hunt.

…

Dawn had successfully knelt beside the large beast without any lethal attacks her way, but the hunting trap gnawing away at its back leg was a whole different story. Blood had matted its fur all around the wound, staining the grass it laid on as well. She would need to pull the metal jaws apart to free the creature. She looked toward the animals face, into deep brown eyes that held pain, anger, confusion, and so much more that she wondered if it could be a changeling like herself. A quick glance over her body made Dawn’s eyes widen.

“You’re pregnant.”

Her soft whisper made the creature wine, bowing her head to the ground as an obvious wave of pain clawed at her back leg. Dawn quickly pulled her attention to the trap, reaching out to place one hand on either side of the metallic claws. Such an inhumane trap.

She met the eyes of the beast once more, trying to keep her voice calm and as soothing as possible in such a dire situation. One wrong move and the poor girl could lose her back leg.

“I have to pull it open to free you. I’m sorry for any pain I cause.”

She seemed to understand, her ears perking up as Dawn’s eyes flashed silver. She didn’t have any time to waste, and her mortal strength wouldn’t help her here. She took a deep breath, tapping into her changeling strength. Canines sharpened within her mouth, her lips curling back slightly as she began to pry the trap apart. The creature before her whimpered, but remained still as she watched Dawn’s actions ever so intently.

Her leg was almost free, but Dawn was beginning to feel the ache inside her to shift. Allowing that side of her out was a must if she wanted to use the strength needed to save this beautiful creature before her. She would deal with the consequences of her actions later.

“Ok, just a bit…more.”

A low growl escaped her lips as she ripped the metal apart so roughly that the mechanism holding it together snapped. It fell limp against the ground, making Dawn smile in triumph before jumping back to caring for the creature. Very gently she moved the bloody leg away from the trap, just in case it came back to life with a vengeance. She needed to stop the bleeding, and quick because it was obviously taking a tole on the woman.

The hyenas snout was pulling into its face, ears shrinking as its body mass lessened. At this rate she would lose the shape of her animal half, slowly taking on a human form. Dawn ripped up the fabric at the bottom of her shirt as needed to bandage up the wound and stop the bleeding.

“What in the hell are you doing?”

It made Dawn jump to realize someone had come up behind her without her senses catching the new presence. She had been so focused on helping the creature that she had forgotten to be careful out in the open like this.

She stood, spinning around to face the threat ahead. A large male that resembled a tank stood beside another man that was far less built but still threatening. They both held guns and reeked of humans and alcohol. They were drunk, or almost there, and the shorter of the two was aiming a shotgun her way. She wanted to run, a dark memory flashing through her mind.

She had hunted not far from here, killing a dog while in her wolf form. Had it been the dog of these men, who were clearly hunters? Had it been their bullet that skimmed her? If so they weren’t out here just to party. They were looking for trouble.

“What are you doing? Did you set this trap?”

The men looked taken aback by her harsh tone, confused by how unfazed she was with a gun pointed at her face. The more built man, voice deep and gravelly, was the one to speak up as he stood with his gun aimed at the ground.

“We’re here to hunt, and the trap is there to catch animals. Obviously.”

Dawn’s eyes still shone a bright silver, but her canines had receded just enough to make her appear normal in the human’s eyes. She squared her shoulders, moving to stand right in front of the hyena.

“Obviously you picked the wrong damn forest to hunt in. You have no right to be here. Why come out so far anyways? There are no people for miles.”

The men looked at her, looked at each other, then broke out laughing like a pair of fools that just caught onto an inside joke. The smaller man wiped a tear from his eyes, lowering his gun and shaking his head.

“Oh lord, it’s one of those tree hugger types. I should’ve known, walking around barefooted like that. Of course we came out here where no people are, because that’s the best place to hunt. More animals for us, and we plan on hanging that hyena head up in the dining room. Never seen one of those in the woods, only on TV. No one will believe us unless we come home with proof, right Fin?”

The taller man nodded, taking a step toward Dawn and the injured animal. She had, thankfully, kept her animal appearance in front of the men. If she had shifted in front of them things might have gotten a bit awkward. The man took another step forward, hand tightening on his gun. He planned on killing the creature. A beautiful beast that was clearly pregnant. He planned on slaughtering her as she lay wounded with no way of defending herself.

Flashbacks hit Dawn hard, a forest bed damp and muddy pressed into her mortal flesh. A time when she was weak and her attacker had the upper hand, claws ripping at her bathing suit and flesh, blood splattered across tree trunks and leaves alike. She couldn’t hold back the growl that erupted out of her throat as she took a step toward the man before her.

“Back off.”

She was no longer weak. Her body could shift into something these men had never witnessed before. If she wanted to she could snap their fragile bodies in two, rip them limb from limb without much effort at all. She could protect herself and the creature behind her.

“Move aside lady, we don’t have time to play your hippie games.”

He took another step forward and that was it. She ran at him, ducking low only to launch herself off of the ground and grab him by the shoulders as she flew over his head. The air whooshed out of his lungs as his hand released the gun to free his arms as if he could do something to stop the inevitable. When she landed it was on her feet, slender arms coming down hard as he smashed face first into the ground.

The other human, eyes wide in surprise, instinctively backed up a step. He was the cowardly one, obviously here only because his buddy told him it’d be fun. Now the big brute was lying still as a rock. His heart was still beating, breathing slow as he was clearly unconscious. His gun had landed far enough away to render it useless.

“I said back off.”

The other man seemed to recover himself, remembering the shotgun in his hands. Dawn had been so angry, so caught up in the past, that she hadn’t thought of what a gunshot might do to her. As he aimed the weapon her way she had to think fast. Dodging in any direction would still get her shot, but it wouldn’t be as lethal as standing her ground would be. She thought of the position of the creature now a good space away from her. The bullets could hit her if Dawn didn’t block them, which meant she had to take the brunt of the impact.

Inwardly groaning she raced toward the man, knowing full well she wouldn’t make it in time to stop him. Still, the closer she got to him the less likely the pregnant hyena would get hit when he fired the roughly sawed off piece of manmade machinery. His finger shook as he pressed back on the trigger, letting fly a pack of metal that would result in an explosion of shrapnel. Her torso took the impact like a brick wall reinforced by bulletproof glass and steel, but she didn’t come out unscathed.

The adrenaline pumping through her gave her enough time on her feet to tackle the man to the ground, punching him square in the face as soon as they landed. He was out like a light, but her wounds were far too serious to be ignored as she rolled off of him.

“Dawn?”

His voice, so familiar and comforting, had her heart skipping a beat. Kane. Her stomach and chest were covered in blood as Kane and two others jumped out of the tree line.

She pushed herself to her feet, blood running down her body and dripping along the soft blades of grass as she moved a hand to cover a large hole in the right side of her chest. Wincing, she tried to move toward the men. She wanted so badly to be within the safety of his arms, his hands holding together her tattered flesh.