Lost Soldier: 7, Inner Choice
#7 of Lost Soldier -Book 1- Complete
Thanks to my editor for getting this back to me so quickly, the other stories will be along soon enough within the next few days as I work on them and he checks them.
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Mike was forced to remain in bed by Koro for days, he wasn't allowed to get up for anything except to eat and use the bathroom, both which were guarded closely by Koro making sure he didn't strain himself too much with either activity. Mike wasn't completely sure how many days went past since every time he laid down to sleep he found that he slept more comfortably here than all his years before. He wasn't sure if it was the nature around him, the soft bed and pelt surrounding his body or Koro's soft fur that was now a second blanket and pillow to him. Wind, along with a few other members of the clan, had also stopped by occasionally to check up on him and make sure Koro was taking good care of him.
He stared up at the ceiling of the cave once again for what seemed like an eternity. His wounds had closed and were healing nicely as Koro put it. He claimed that her cleaning them with her tongue everyday helped them heal along and as awkward as it felt did seem to speed up the healing process. Pushing the blanket pelt down off of himself, he looked over his naked form. Koro insisted that he just lay there naked to let air get to his wounds, as well as letting her clean them without him having to move to get undressed, however he thought that she just wanted to see him naked.
Sitting up and looking at his sides, he saw the puncture wounds that had healed mostly, those would be nasty scars once they fully healed up. His eyes shifted down to his legs seeing the bullet holes in each of his thighs which didn't hurt at all anymore but every time he went to get up Koro would tackle him down and lay atop of him to keep him from standing. He looked about, seeing that Koro wasn't around and decided that he at least wanted to see if he could stand, turning and setting his feet on the cold stone floor before leaning forward to test if his thighs hurt. Satisfied when he felt no pain on the initial push he slowly leaned forward a bit more before pushing himself up onto his feet, leaning to the right with his hand on the side of the cave so he wouldn't fall over.
He felt strange to say the least. He hadn't really stood for days even when he went to the bathroom, having Koro next to him so he could lean on her and because of that his legs felt out of place. Slowly he adjusted and took a tentative step forward with a bit of a stagger, catching himself on the wall with a soft sigh. The last thing he needed was to take a fall down onto the cave floor. Picking himself back up and looking to the mouth of the cave, he saw Koro sitting there patiently as if waiting for him.
"I was wondering when you were going to try and walk," she said before padding into the cave and slipping up next to Mike, helping to steady him.
"I can't stay in this cave for another day Koro, I think I'm gonna go crazy."
Koro gave a small laugh at this, before nodding, looking up at the human with a wolven smile. "Yes, Elder Shadow wishes to see you as well tonight so I'm here to help you get your legs back," with that she pulled away from him slowly letting him balance himself. "I'll be your crutch, so if you think your gonna fall just call and I'll be there to catch you."
Nodding, he took another step forward with both of his hands on the cave wall. "Right now though Koro, could you get me my pants or something," causing Koro to giggle,
"Yes I think that would be best, so just walk back and forth on the cave wall while I fetch you some, your military clothing had to be burned, they were in tatters, so I'll get one of the other male's clothes for you."
Padding out of the cave, she left Mike slowly moving back and forth on the cave wall, finding that it was like when he was little trying to learn how to walk again. To think a trained soldier needed to treat himself like a toddler so he could walk once more. Koro was soon back with a pair of boxers and pants.
"Here, both have been washed, we don't normally wear clothing around here but some find it fun to wear such things, strange."
Koro, being a Dire wolf, had no real way to wear clothes, at least not comfortably. Clothes in hand Mike dressed himself before moving toward the mouth of the cave in some wrangler blue jeans that were slightly sagging off of his lean form, but not enough to show more than a half inch of his boxers. Moving outside, he quickly covered his eyes with a hand as the sunlight hit him directly. He looked around through squinted eyes after pulling his hand down, it had been so long since he had been outside that he found that the sun hurt his eyes and that his skin had paled a bit.
No longer that soft tan but now a slightly light white, he looked over his arms a bit he decided that he really needed to get out if he was turning white, literally. He looked down as Koro brushed herself up against him.
"Com'on, there's not much going on during the day aside from day to day activities, I'll show you our clan," with that Koro stepped forward to lead Mike on.
Mike however needed to take a moment as Koro's words of 'Our Clan' hit him. He remembered that he was still to become one of the creatures that he hated, he wasn't sure about the situation now, granted he felt more than comfortable here but to become one of those Lycanthrope creatures? Shaking his head slowly, he looked up to see Koro watching him curiously, it was too late to turn back now, if he ran there's no real possibility that he'd get away, no out running a wolf let alone an entire clan of wolves, dire wolves, and mythical creatures.
Pushing himself toward Koro, he made it a few steps before Koro moved toward him to keep him from staggering. Placing a hand on her back and leaning on her lightly, they started into the forest, in the direction of the large pillar of stones that stretched toward the skies.
Limping along beside her, with Koro as his crutch, they finally reached the large stone like pillar. This time, however, there were several wolves, both dire and normal, as well as dozens of human and anthros moving around and lazing about on the rocks that protruded over one another and created the large stone structure. Looking over the dozens of people and wolves that were here he noticed that many eyes were on him. He wasn't sure but he seemed to be the centre of attention and with so many eyes gazing on him Mike showed his discomfort, obviously not one who wanted so much attention at one time.
Koro seemed to pick up on Mike's discomfort and leaned back against him slightly.
"This clan's in a buzz about you killing off the Hybrids that plagued this forest. To do something by yourself makes you a prime candidate for mating season for many females and a prime target for males to challenge when the time comes, a strong human body will make a powerful Lycanthrope."
Mike felt a swelling in his stomach from the nervousness that he was feeling, he felt like he had to do something for them that's why they were staring at him though he had nothing he could do. He could barely stand as it was, let alone do anything that would make these creatures stop staring at him. He felt Koro suddenly lean against him again, giving him a soft nudge.
"Don't worry about it right now, com'on we're going to go around to the back to meet Elder Moon's Shadow," with that Koro led the limping human around to the back of the large rock formation under the eyes of many.
At the back of the large rock formation, there sat Elder Moon's Shadow with the large Lycanthrope that was his mate sitting with him and no others. They were resting on a large rock slab with several other slabs around them in a large circle and upon seeing Mike the old man smiled as his eyes opened slightly.
Koro led Mike in front of the old man and his mate before letting him sit himself down on the ground, much to Mike's relief, his legs felt weak and like they would give out at any moment. Giving a soft sigh before looking up at the old man, wondering what he wanted to see him about but like always the old mans face wore a happy smile though he was looking at him directly with his eyes this time which made Mike even more curious.
"Well, I must say you being able to kill all the Hybrids by yourself is something that certainly inspires awe. You have a strong will and spirit to be able to do such a feat Michael, be proud in the knowledge that your comrades will be able to rest knowing that they have been avenged."
With those words Mike reflected on his past with his team. He did feel better, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders though there was still a weight on his shoulders and something eating at the back of his mind but he wouldn't say it aloud, he didn't want to think about it at all.
The old man seemed to feel that Mike was still uneasy but didn't let it show as he continued smiling before standing up and looking down at him.
"Now Michael, you've been brought here so I may explain what it is I wish you to do for me."
Mike tilted his head back slightly as he looked up at the man, showing his curiosity as to what he wanted him to do though he was still apprehensive about the whole idea.
"What is it?" he asked after a moment of watching the old man, who just continued to smile at him.
"Tomorrow there will be a half moon and at that time I wish you to come to this place by yourself. Once you arrive we will perform a special ritual to see into your soul to find just what kind of Lycanthrope you hold within you."
This confused Mike a bit and it showed on his face but Elder Moon's Shadow just continued to smile. "Yes, many don't know it but those who are shifted by one of our kind can transform into either a Lycanthrope like my mate here or to be one like Koro. It all depends on one's soul, depending on which path it decides to take without them really knowing it."
Mike was surprised to hear that, the books didn't have something 'wrong' so much as something missing from them, now he could end up like one of the beasts that walked on two legs, or a feral like Koro who was an extra large wolf.
He nodded unconsciously to Moon's Shadow who slowly turned and began moving away. "Now, move around and get your strength back and tomorrow we will be able to see what your future within your new clan will be," the old man said happily before turning and continuing on with the large Lycanthrope who was his mate moving after him.
Sitting there and now slightly leaning on Koro, his left hand absently petting her back which she didn't seem to mind much. She gave a few soft murrs that caused Mike to look at her since he never heard of a wolf being able to purr, but he left it alone as he let his mind work over. He was nervous now, he had killed those Hybrid Lycanthrope for revenge, not for this clan and he had succeeded, but now it was time for him to complete his part of the deal and become one of those beasts. He couldn't say that they were exactly like the beasts, though, as those Hybrids seemed to have no thought process except basic survival and protection of their territory like feral wolves.
Suddenly feeling a lick from Koro's warm tongue on his cheek brought him out of his minds workings, blinking and looking to her seeing her giving her wolfish smile to him. "Don't think too much or you'll make yourself sick," she said softly before laying her head across his chest with her muzzle on his right shoulder. Giving him a hug, his hand moving up to scratch between her ears, Koro just knew how to make him feel better with her words and actions. It was hard to believe he had more of an attachment to this Dire Wolf than he did to the women he had in his life, she at least knew how to make him feel better.
Slowly pulling himself to his feet, still using Koro as a crutch, he began wandering the woods with Koro telling him all kinds of information about the forest. They moved through the large groups of anthro wolves, feral wolves, humans and Lycanthropes that surrounded the large fires that were scattered throughout the forest. He was still getting many stares though he tried to ignore them, Koro and him finding themselves a spot near a fire without being in the middle of the group that surrounded it.
Koro seemed to be in a very talkative mood this night, she didn't give Mike any room to speak, which he didn't mind. When Koro wasn't talking he could overhear the conversations that were being thrown around the campfire that were strangely happy and sounded very normal. Like a large group of friends talking about how they would get out of doing work tomorrow or how to get the attention of the male or female that they were attracted to, leaning against Koro letting several minutes pass by before noticing someone was sitting next to him.
Turning, he saw the girl Wind sitting there, her knees pulled up and her arms hanging over them. Her eyes shifted to the corner as he looked at her, she turned her face to look down at him and her expression seemed serious for some reason and it made him feel like he was in trouble.
"Know something Michael, we're all grateful that you killed those Hybrids but that doesn't mean you'll get any 'special' treatment from us when you've been transformed," her tone cold and it seemed to make Mike slightly angry.
"Like I wanted it," he said with some irritation in his voice, this seemed to take Wind by surprise. She obviously didn't expect him to suddenly snap at her and with that several eyes were locked on them, some smiling coupled males and females with some angry glares from single females and males.
Wind narrowed her eyes before standing. "Good, because if you did we'd be sure to stomp that thought from your head," she said back in irritation while moving away from him quickly, leaving Mike leaning against a smiling Koro, slightly confused about the entire outburst.
Shaking his head and looking back to the fire, he saw some of the glares and smiles from those around him but he showed some of his teeth in a slight sneer. "Got somethin' to say," he shouted out, now slightly pissed but this seemed to make everyone turn back, some laughing and some giving annoyed grunts, the grunts being from the males but several of the females smiled happily.
Sighing and slowly pushing himself to his feet, Koro moving up and helping him still, he moved back to the cave that he had been living in. Koro seemed to be very happy as he moved back so he decided to ask, "Koro, why are you so happy all of the sudden?"
Koro's ear swivelled to him as he spoke and she looked up at him with a strange new look as they entered the cave. Koro led him over to his bed and lightly forced him to sit down before jumping up, her front paws landing at the sides of his legs on the bed with her wet noise lightly hitting his as she looked him in the eye.
"Your showing your dominance with males and females already, telling everyone that your going to be a very powerful Lycanthrope, it's angering the males and getting far more attention from the females." Mike noticed Koro's tail waving around behind her slowly, yet it seemed excited at the same time.
Looking back into Koro's eyes though, he saw someone at the entrance of the cave. "Koro!" Winds voice rang out filled with anger, the woman stepping into the cave as Koro quickly jumped from Mike and spun around looking ready to jump on Wind and tear her face off for a few split moments.
Wind moved toward Mike, looking down at him intently, her hands on her hips and with narrowed eyes. Mike wouldn't back down from her like he always did, suddenly standing up and looking down at the Lycanthrope in human form. Now he was about a head taller than she was but even if he were fully healed she'd still knock him down without even trying if she wanted. Wind looked up at him, her eyes glaring into his and Koro slipping up onto the bed silently.
"You'd...you'd better not mate any other females..." Mike nearly fell to the ground at the sudden order from Wind.
His face completely taken off guard and confused, staring at Wind, he could sware that she was blushing and had actually shied her eyes away from him. Just as he was going to ask her what the hell that was about Koro grabbed him by the back of his pants with her teeth and pulled him down onto the bed. He fell onto his back with a pained grunt, though that was quickly forgotten as Wind slipped up onto him, straddling his waist. Her hands holding his wrists at his sides, she looked down at him intently, his head lying on Koro's stomach as she looked at him from the right side, her muzzle near his face.
"Listen Michael, when you become a Lycanthrope or Dire wolf, Koro and I have already made a pact to share you between us, a powerful male can have more than one mate but you won't, do you understand?" Winds tone embarrassed yet serious,
"What are you talking about, I don't want a mate," he countered but neither female backed down, Koro now licking his cheek and neck.
"You will when we go into heat, all males do, and we've agreed to be yours no matter which form you take because you will retain your human form even if you become a Dire wolf, the gift of being half breed." Wind lowered her head down to where her nose was lightly brushing against his, "I'll be yours and you'll have no other, if you do...I'll kill you," with that she pulled back and left.
Now to say he was confused before meant he was utterly mind fucked right now, staring up at the ceiling with Koro licking over his cheek and face. He had just been threatened to take a mate and it had already been pre-determined for him, the large wolf he was laying his head on and the leader of the clans Granddaughter. He reached up and patted Koro's head lightly, making her lean her head up into his palm.
"Go ahead and get some sleep Mike, busy night tomorrow," Koro stated with a smile and Mike agreed as he closed his eyes.
He woke the next day about mid-day to early afternoon and things seemed to pass quickly, his nervousness being constant now in the middle of his stomach now and he didn't know what to do. Koro continued to try and keep him calm but now that it was the day he wasn't sure, though her telling him that it was basically a reading of what he would become and not the actual transformation did calm him slightly. Sighing, he lay down in the large field that he had ended up in when he was being chased by that secondary Special Forces unit, lying with Koro, his head on her side as she nuzzled into the side of his neck.
"Koro..." he began, but she seemed to already know his question.
"Because your powerful, yet kind as well, you just have a powerful aura around you and everyone around can sense that you will be powerful," Koro said happily, giving his jaw-line a small nip and he sighed softly before patting her head a few times then sat up.
He was feeling better now, at least physically, he was still nervous but he had to get this done. The sun was setting now, he and Koro had been lying out in the field for hours, just staring at the sky with her licking him over and over while he talked about random things that Koro seemed to find interesting.
Now it was time to move. Slowly standing up, they moved back to the forest, seeing that there were several anthro and humans waiting for him. They were obviously there to make sure he went, though it wasn't like he would run now, there was no possible way he'd get away but he didn't say anything as he passed them and they followed behind.
Moving back to the large stone structure and the circle like formation behind it, he saw that everyone had gathered around for this. That didn't help his nervousness as he stepped through the large group that was around the circle and stood in front of Elder Moon's Shadow who smiled up at him.
"Glad you could make it, now, all you have to do is stay right there, just let your mind wander through everything that has happened to you within this clan and everything will be fine." Turning, he moved to the edge and stepped up onto one of the five stone slabs that made up the circle.
Smiling as his mate stepped up onto the slab on his right, Koro on the next one, an anthro on the next then Wind on the final one, everyone else moved back, several jumping into trees and onto the large stone formation. Mike looked around before sighing and turned back to Moon's Shadow, doing what he said. Closing his eyes he started to focus on everything that had happened to him, from when he first woke up in that cave till now. Elder Moon's Shadow raised his arms up slightly from his sides, the others copied his movements save for Koro who just raised her muzzle to the sky, everyone's eyes closing.
Mike could feel something flowing through him, like a strange energy as the sun continued to set and the moon that had already risen in the sky was starting to become more prominent. As the last ray from the sun disappeared and the moon became the prominent light in the sky all five of those standing on the pedestals eyes snapped open. Each and every one of their eyes were glowing and they were quickly locked on Mike, whose eyes also snapped open, with nothing but pure white light shining from them.
Mike grit his teeth as the light slowly pulled from his eyes and shifted around him like mist, creating a large image around him like he was inside of a costume. He fell to his knees as the light continued to flow from his eyes and shift around him, showing a large white Lycanthrope with glowing white eyes. Moving to his hands and knees Mike's eyes closed as the white Lycanthrope that surrounded him opened it's mouth and let forth a shifting roar, the sound moving from distant to prominent as it's white form shifted around just like mist.
Everyone around seemed to back away slightly as the large mist formed Lycanthrope looked around and roared out in anger and rage, it's large white teeth bared as it's head shifted back and forth, loud snarls and growls constantly echoing throughout the air.
"Such vicious rage," Elder Moon's Shadow said, getting the mist Lycanthrope's attention, causing it roar directly at him but he showed no fear of the large beast, narrowing his eyes however as the mist Lycanthrope suddenly began to shift again, growing smaller and taking the shape of a Dire Wolf.
Still the wolf looked around, with glowing white eyes and a shifting mist body, Mike vaguely visible as the wolf snarled and growled angrily. Suddenly the wolf lifted it's head, giving out a loud howl that echoed for miles all around before dispersing into the air leaving Mike laying there unconscious and everyone on edge.
Elder Moon's Shadow slowly stepped down and rubbed his chin slightly. "Hmm, such a dangerous beast lays within you Michael, can you control it I wonder?" he said aloud to himself as everyone started to gather around the unconscious human, wondering about when he was changed, would he be friend or foe.