Fade. To. Black. (open)

[wolfe]

Wolfe had his face tilted up to the heavens; the fading copper sunset warmed his tawny cheeks, but did nothing to melt the permanent chill that had made a home in his core.
It had been months since the witch had robbed him of his ability to shift unto his natural form; months of hunting her to no avail, for it seemed she had completely vanished off the face of the earth.

It was absolute misery for the creature.
He longed to run wild within the untamed embrace of Mother Nature. He ached to disappear like he had for centuries in the unpopulated green of the woodlands. Wolfe was soul weary. His physical body was fatigued and his spirit had given out; the emptiness had utterly consumed it.
The great wolf was nothing more than dead eyes in a vacant visage; strong limbs frozen with no want nor will to move.

Wolfe wasn’t aware how long he’d been sitting up on the precipice, but the sun had already disappeared below the horizon and winter’s chill now kissed the exposed skin of his unclothed frame.
The silver moon hung low in the satiny onyx blanket of night and gauzy clouds were its lover; ever clinging to the glowing orb so that it only peeked out every once in a while to whisper illumination across the landscape.
The male parted his lips and a miserable sound came from deep within him; the noise more animal than man as it echoed across the expanse.
Finally, when the wolf could no longer bear the trembles crawling through his body, he pulled on the tattered human clothes he had stolen months before and made his way down to the bustling city below.

The witch seemed but a false memory whispered in his mind, but he did what he was compelled to do…he continued to pursue her.

The city was breathing with bright lights and the noise of human life as the wolf in human skin paced the icy side walk in the metropolis’ downtown area.
He believed to have caught the spell weaver’s scent here a fortnight before, but perhaps it was just his imagination playing tricks on his senses, for he’d found no trace of her. Still, he could not leave without being certain and there were a few places he had yet to search.

Hunger tore at his insides with razor-sharp talons and though he had been holding off feeding the pang, Wolfe knew that if he did not concede to it soon it would be the death of him. Death had seemed a welcome friend for centuries, but now his purpose had become something much more vital…retribution. He would gladly close his eyes for the last time but not in -this- form. Not before he found the sorceress and forced the return of his natural body.

At the window of the fast food joint Wolfe pulled a few crumpled bills from the pocket of his low slung jeans and handed it to the female inside. It still made no sense to him, but he had become accustomed to the exchange of green paper for food when he’d grown tired of being bested by the prey he’d once been able to track and catch so easily. He was still of supernatural speed and agility even in this awkward, alien frame, but he was clumsy of foot; unfamiliar with the way his muscles worked and his hairless body moved.

And the male wasn’t proud of how he’d gotten the currency he was handing to the woman, or the clothes that hung awkwardly from his body, but taking it from the weaker species was necessary in order to move about in this world. It was merely survival of the fittest.

The circle shaped meat between two pieces of bread was heaven to the starving Loup Giroux, and Wolfe devoured it, along with the sticks of fried potatoes. A bottle of water took seconds to inhale, and it quenched his bodily thirst, though he missed the taste of the pure crystalline fluid from the untouched lakes of the forests.

Drawing the back of his hand across his moist lips, Wolfe began to move purposelessly down the concrete path, his bare feet stinging from exposure to the bitter winter cold.
The tattered black tee-shirt and jeans did nothing to shield him from the chill either, and before long he found himself ducking into the warmth of a building that was fairly bursting with scantily clad human women and pheromone driven males. The pool hall was small, but filled to capacity, and though the male had no desire for drink or conversation, it was good, for so many bodies heated the room to a perfect temperature.

Wolfe narrowed his intense azure eyes and took in the scene; standing awkwardly in the doorway.