Backstabber

CW: Violent assault | Torture | Poisoning | Sexual Slurs

My wolf was ready to rip its way out of my skin; it wouldn't take many moments more for my transformation to take hold. On my feet, I towered up and flexed my clawed toes into the ground, ready to sprint in Aiden's direction, pounce and throw him to the ground. The thought of his neck between my jaws, his blood soaking my tongue, fuelled me.

A body wrangled mine, clinging to me to bring me down. 'Kick' Another boot met the back of my knee, taking my feet from under me again. Despite their weight, I rose back up. The hands and fists that met my torso did nothing against me now that rage, adrenaline, and the sheer power of my wolf flowed through me. Buff-coloured and coarse hair on the back of my neck spiked and ran my spine right to the tip of my tail – my heckles quivered as I roared another growl that shook the wood. Birds took flight at the sound, every prey animal bolted from my vicinity, and my brother's panic took hold.

The Goddess's silvery beams glittered over my fully-fledged coat as I, now a seven-and-a-half-foot mass of fur, fang, and muscle, stalked toward my brother. His wolf attempted to free itself of his human skin. Time was not in his favour; my speed was formidable and beat that of his transformation. With his throat in my grasp, I hoisted him from the ground. How his blood seeped onto my black claws as they gouged into his throat, and the metallic scent of it thrilled me.

"Just. Because—" He choked, "You. Look. Like—" He panted, "An Alpha. Doesn't. Mean—" He strained a smirk. "They'll. Follow— You."

His words meant nothing. If he was dead, there was no one to take me on. If he was dead, he couldn't have my Wife. If his posse intervened now, his honour was on the line. Aiden's pride guaranteed they'd hold back. Or so I thought...

'Jab.' A blade burrowed into my left side. 'Slice.' Aiden tugged it through my flesh, toward my front. That was enough to loosen my hold on his neck; he stumbled to his feet and rose fully in wolf form.

Hunching and clutching my bloody side, I couldn't fathom why I wasn't healing.

"Ha! I'd lick your blood from this blade if the silver wouldn't poison me, brother." He cackled wickedly, the moonlight glinting off of his sharp fangs.

That's why I wasn't healing. Though my head felt light and woozy, I swiped out my claws, but he dodged them. Though I flung my whole weight at him, gnashing my teeth nearer and nearer to his throat, I never got a bite.

'Stab, stab.' His blade hollowed my strength.

"Give me the vile Gus," Aiden demanded, slinking my withering form off him. "Hold him, boys."

They'd all had a chance to turn now, and four hulking Lycan against one wounded was devastatingly unfair. My chances dwindled by the second. Any attempts I made to get to my feet were in vain; I'd gain footing only to lose it when the pain that darted through my abdomen winded me—the muscles there, torn asunder, failed, sapping my strength as the pressure of my fight caused me to bleed out faster. I tumbled to my knees and resigned to clawing at the ground to drag myself away, but they descended upon me mercilessly.

Grappled, their hold on me held firm. Still, I writhed, thrashing this way and that. Snarling and gnashing my fangs, hoping I'd snag one of them. Gus took hold of my left ear; someone else took my right and yanked my head back. I thought Aiden might cut my throat, but he didn't plan to be so kind as to kill me. He would take more pleasure in elongating my suffering.

When, with a malevolent grin, he thrust the shaft of the axe between my bite, my fate occurred to me. I growled in defiance, my amber eyes glowing wide and wild. Hot air huffed out my nose, flaring my nostrils. Now, I was the one panicking. The wooden shaft splintered under my fangs, but not enough to snap it. Clutching his claws into my jaw, he guided my head so that he could glare down into my eyes as he delivered the poison. The deadly liquid trickled over both my teeth and the axe and beyond to lace over my tongue.

"You bastard!" I growled, barely audibly, but he realised my sentiment.

"Hear that boys? I'm a bastard." He gloated. "Least I'm not a dirty cocksucker."

They erupted in raucous laughter as the silver did it work. My wolf slipped away, sinking back within. Now a withered skin sack, I collapsed to the ground, completely disarmed. The five Lycan encircled me, beholding the spectacle of my defeat.

"I'd fuck you with your own axe, but you'd moan like a bitch in heat."

"Chop his cock off, Aiden. Bitches only need a hole." Gus jeered, yanking and lifting what was left of my tail to expose me.

"Make him whimper like the pathetic runt he is."

"Dirty faggot!"

They took infinite pleasure in humiliating me, each taking a turn to degrade me, and I was helpless to stop them now that the silver's burn coursed through me. The agony was paralysing. My limbs felt limp; I couldn't even hold up my head, though Aiden did that for me until he dropped me like a sack of shit onto the floor.

'Kick, kick, kick', hefty hind paws pummelled into my stomach, building in clout. Someone grabbed my neck, hoisting up my head, only to deliver a blow to my cheek that sent me flying back onto the floor. Another crushed the head of the axe down onto my shin; the moist, bone splintering crackle almost as loud as the yowl I left out...

"Ngh," I groaned. "Ah, Ai—Aiden... Why?" I whined.

"Because you're disgusting." Aiden hissed, hacked, and spat thick mucus onto my face. "You never deserved Alis. She deserves a real man."

At the mention of my sweet and beautiful Alison, I writhed, desperate to get up. I didn't care to beat him, though he deserved to be taught a lesson. I just needed to protect Alis from him—my brother, a vile, misogynistic monster meant to take her... defile her... put his pups in her over and over and over... He continued to spew his insidious plans; all the while, my beating continued.

Before they left me a beaten and bloody mess on the woodland floor, he scraped his claws over my chest, slow and deep, to scar me, to mark me. I wouldn't heal under the influence of the silver. He bit down into my shoulder, asserting his dominance. With that mark of defeat on me, he usurped my title; now he was Alpha.