Chapter Text
Derek trotted around the forest, thinking about nothing in general as he scouted. There weren’t any other werewolves in the near territory, and the newest additions to the forest was a small encampment of humans. They met the humans when they first arrived, agreeing with their leaders to stay separate and not hunt each other.
At the moment there was one wondering around the area, apparently lost. It was female, still on the younger side but she didn’t smell like anyone from the encampment. He slowed his paws and frowned. She was calling out to her family, but they weren’t answering her. He followed behind her, thinking only about getting her attention so she would go back home and get out of his forest. He had his pack to protect.
“Oh?” The women turned and spotted him sitting there. “Do you know the way back to camp? They said wolves aren’t feared around here.”
Derek didn’t say anything, just jerked his head in the right direction. She smiled at him, but it was more predatory than anything he ever seen on a human face. She raised a gun and shot him. Derek staggered back in shock, glancing down at the wound, which wasn’t deep, but wasn’t healing before he bolted. His head started to spin and he could hear at least four humans rushing toward the evil female. His wound burned with every lunging step his took but he couldn’t stop.
Instead, he threw his head back and howled as he ran. He staggered, making his way up river. The water had flowed so long that there was a ten-foot drop to the water, and he was stuck on the bottom. Usually he would have no difficulty clearing it and moving on but with the poisoned bullet in his body he was weakening by the second. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the humans gaining on him and realized it was his only chance.
“Derek!” One of his younger cousins screamed from the top of the cliff, trying to make her way down. She had just turned ten so he wolf was far from fully grown.
“Run! Don’t come down, just get away from here!” He snarled at her but she didn’t listen. He panicked when he heard one of the humans start laughing, knowing that they spotted her. “I said RUN!” He charged up the cliff face and slammed into her, throwing her clear of the second bullet. It buried itself in his lower back and his hind legs gave out.
“Derek?” She cried as he slithered back down the cliff, no longer able to move his legs to shove his way back up. The burst of energy that came from protecting his little cousin was overwhelmed by the wolfbane in the bullets. He tried to shift back so he could put up more of a fight when one jumped him, wrapping a collar around his neck. He jerked back but found that his transformation was being blocked.
“Get the horses!” The oldest man called as the young women and the younger man picked him up. Derek found that he couldn’t even lift his head to growl at them as they threw him roughly over the back of a horse and tied him down. Seconds later all the horses were racing away from his family. He opened his jaws to howl but the darkness closed around his mind.
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Derek felt his shoulders dragging along the ground, still numb from the hips down but the pulling of his muscles proved that they were being dragged behind him. He pried his eyes open to see he had slipped off the horse, his paws tangled in the rope. His body was healing itself slowly, like it was exhausted but he knew he was lucky that the horses were only going at a slow trot.
“He’s awake.” He heard the women laugh low and he bared his teeth at her. “He’s a feisty one, isn’t he?”
“He’ll learn to behave.” The oldest hunter commented dully. Derek snapped in anger, digging his front paws into the ground. Hours passed as he tried to break free or just be a general nuisance on the hunters, tiring out the horse by pulling against it with what strength he had. His hind legs started to work again and while he was grateful, one leg was broken from the fall and healing slow from the wolfbane in his system.
“Doesn’t matter.” The man spoke in a unemotional voice. His head bowed over his horse in what looked a lot like misery. He glanced back at him with a strange look on his face but then shook his shoulders and faced forward again. “Do you think that the others are like him? That pup?”
“Good thinking son. Yes, they are probably like him and should be captured or killed. Whatever is easiest.” The oldest man beamed at the man. The women scowled at her saddle but remained silent.
Days passed this way. His body healing the wounds as he was dragged across a desert. He tried to fight against the ropes and the horse but he hadn’t the strength to keep his paws moving or even under him. He didn’t sleep much, for obvious reasons as the nights came and went. When his fourth dawn struck, he was barely able to keep his eyes open. He was miserable and lost, his body and heart aching in a way he didn’t even know was possible.
“We’re here!” The women, Kate, cheered as a large building came into light. He held his breath as he was pulled through the massive gates that smelled like they were soaked in mistletoe and wolfsbane. He could tell there were other wolves in the area, but they were all giving off scents of utter misery.
“Get him in a proper collar and send him to the Bishop for a cleaning.” The man in charge, Gerard, commanded, swing off his horse and nodding as men surrounded him. The last man in charge, Chris, dismounted and grabbed the horse that was pulling Derek along.
“I got that, brother. Why don’t you go visit your family and explain to your daughter why she isn’t crazy for seeing one of these ordinary wolves stand up on two legs and rip Charles throat out.” Kate spoke sweetly as she grabbed the reins from him and lead the horse forward.
“I have yet to decide if this is the life meant for her.” Chris snapped at her and Derek found himself watching him as he was dragged away, arching his eyebrow at him. The man stared at him, his face cold and impassionate yet there was a tenseness in his shoulders that wasn’t from riding a horse for three days straight.
“You’re just lucky that cloaking spell worked or we’d be dealing with his entire pack right now.” Kate called over her shoulder and Derek nearly sobbed. His family wouldn’t be able to follow them if they had a cloaking spell. It could take moons, and they might go back for seconds.
“Good morning Miss.” A large man wearing a leather apron with his sleeves rolled up and a grim frown dipped his head to the women, who beamed back like a predator.
“I like this one. I might even keep him for myself, so don’t break him to much for me. I want to do it myself.” She handed off the reins and bounced off. The man scowled after her before pulling the horse forward more but froze when he finally looked at Derek.
“What the fuck?” Bishop hissed as he looked up and down the ropes. Derek raised his eyebrows the best he could in his wolf form and bared his teeth. Bishop unwrapped the binds from the horse and handed him off to a helper before he turned back to him. The binds dropped down but didn’t loosen. He tried to kick out and free his paws so he could run for it.
“Don’t even bother” he bent over and tried to grab the collar digging into the fur of his neck. Derek spun and snapped his teeth, barely clipping his gloves. Bishop glowered down at him before he turned back to his table. HE fiddled around, then spun and slashed him with a knife. Derek snarled but grit his teeth against the pain. He expected that it would heal after a few seconds. It didn’t. It continued to bleed and he slowly felt his head roll back as he fell limp. The Bishop waited patiently, whipping the knife off before unraveling the ropes binding his paws.
“You know, they’d kill me if I cut the rope every time yet they tangle it up with every wolf.” The man muttered under his breath as he grabbed his collar and dragged him across to a tub. A few men appeared and lifted him in.
“Do you need one of us to hold his head?” a younger one asked and Bishop shook his head. Derek groaned as the tub was filled. The water was like ice and after a while he started to slip under. He took a massive breath just before his nose went under and held it. It was difficult not to let go and die just out of spite. Holding his breath was harder from being paralyzed so bubbles of air kept slipping out past his lips as water trickled in. Before he could fully make up his mind about letting go, he was lifted back up.
“Now, are you going to behave wolfy?” Bishop asked calmly as he dumped some powder into the water. Derek wrinkled his lip at the sharp scent and the man let go of the collar, causing him to sink back down. The powder dissolved around him and stung his eyes as his lungs started to scream for air. A hand pulled him back up. A rope was tied behind his ears to his collar before it was wrapped around his muzzle and tied it off so he wouldn’t go under again.
“Now we get him cleaned up for the miss.” Bishop muttered more to himself as he started scrubbing. He cleaned the dirt and blood from his shoulders before he ran a comb through. Derek was sure he would enjoy himself if his eyes were clean of soap and he wasn’t being held captive. All the tangles and blurs that gathered over the course of his capture were worked out of his fur, his paws cleaned of the grit and thorns.
“I want him dried off and chained up. A cup of water but no food until the Miss says so” Bishop commanded when he was done, pulling the knots out so Derek slid under again. His laugh sounded rough through the water the covered Derek’s head and he nearly sobbed in relief when he was hauled out of the water onto a wagon. He was to exhausted move as they stretched him out in the sun and shoved a small bowl of water by his muzzle before he was tied down. His eyes fluttered shut and he let his mind drift.