Wotan's Hounds

"What's up, Siggi?" said Tom, as he sat up and began pulling on his jeans.

"We weren't the only ones out hunting tonight." Siggi replied, "We need Flossi to come and help us track them."

I told Siggi to wait while I got changed. Tom had never seen this before; it wasn't a nasty sight, it was just that it was easier to be naked for it and I'd never been naked in front of anyone except my family before. He was fastening up his fly when I growled, and he turned to watch.

The first thing that happened was the hair sprouted all over my body, thick soft charcoal coloured hair that covered every inch of me. Then my nose began to grow and my legs began to shrink; my back rounded up and my collar bones melted away to let my shoulders move forwards, and finally my tail grew. Within a few seconds, I had gone from human to hound. Tom ran his hand down my back, stroking my fur as I snaked my head forwards and licked his cheek. I wandered out of my lair, and stopped to stretch, leaning back with my front legs pushed right out in front of me and curling my tail up over my back. I stood up, shook myself, and bounced over to Siggi.

He looked down at me and said, "Yeah, yeah. So you popped your cherry. Get over it already, we've got work to do."

Siggi crouched down beside me and changed. His fur was darker than mine (almost completely black), though both he and Froh had tan patches on their legs. Both boys stood a few inches taller than me at the shoulder. I put my nose into his ear and sneezed, something he absolutely hated but always made me giggle. He growled and snapped his teeth at me, missing my nose by millimetres.

I fluttered my eyelashes at him and said,

"What's the matter baby brother? Upset coz you didn't get lucky tonight?"

"No,"

Siggi replied,

"I'm upset because there was someone out there tonight hunting us, and they weren't human."

"You mean like us?"

I was suddenly sober; Siggi was seriously worried about this.

"I don't know. Come on, I want to get Mum, she might know more,"

Siggi replied.

We trotted down the hallway to Mum's room and pushed through the flap in the door. Mum was sitting, looking out the window, and turned when she heard us come in.

"I suppose you wanting me to go out with you,"

Mum said.

"I think you need to,"

Siggi replied.

"I've never smelt anyone like this before."

"How many are there?"

Mum asked.

"Three that I can pick up, but they're covering their tracks well,"

Siggi said.

"If it's who I think it is,"

Mum responded,

"There'll be one other."

"How do you know that?"

I asked.

"Because I think your father is in the group,"

Mum replied.

<><><><><>

Froh had joined us after we'd called him in from the hunt. While we were waiting for him, I'd run back to my room and gotten changed and dressed; Mum needed me to translate to Major Williams and his soldiers. Tom had put out a perimeter guard around the barracks to warn us of anyone approaching, and he walked back to Mum's room with me. We sat round, and she explained what was happening.

"I met your father in London about twenty years ago,"

Mum began.

"I'd been on the streets for nearly fifty years by then, and it could get pretty lonely at times."

"I'm sorry," Major Williams interjected, "How old are you?"

"In were-years, 42; in human, I've lost count,"

Mum replied.

"I was born in 1715. Weres are different to humans. We age normally until we're eighteen, then for some reason we slow down. For every seven human years that pass, we age by one."

Having brought Major Williams up to speed, Mum glanced at us, gathering our attention before she continued.

"Anyway, I met your father one night when he was drunk out of his skull after a party. He'd wandered into a bad part of town by mistake so I followed him, partly to keep him safe and partly out of curiosity. I could smell he was a were, and I'd been without the company of my own sort for so long I wanted some contact. Eventually he found his own way home, back to a big hotel and I left him to it. Except he must have picked up my scent, because the next night he found me."

Mum shook her head at the memories before continuing,

"I had had a bad day, so I was curled up in a box in some little alleyway when this big handsome hound came trotting towards me. I knew who he was by his scent so I wasn't scared of him. When he asked me to dinner at his hotel to say thank you for looking after him I agreed. I think he was a little shocked by where he'd found me but he was too well bred to mention it."

"How well bred are we talking Mum?"

I asked.

"He was the eldest son of his clan's leader, and his ancestors had come over to Britain with the Vikings. They could trace their pedigree back that far."

Mum replied.

I was stunned as I turned the telepathy into words for the soldiers who surrounded us. This was an old family she was talking about, I knew that much. Mum was talking again and it took me a minute to catch up with her.

"He took me back to his room and left me alone while he changed and got dressed. I hadn't been brave enough to tell him I couldn't change until then. When he came back and found me

sitting in the corner, I had to explain about my parents. I fully expected him to kick me out there and then, instead he calmly ordered us room service, including the biggest steak I'd ever seen, all for me."

Mum seemed lost in memories, almost as if she were describing something she was seeing right then. She continued,

"We talked for most of the night, about my past, his past, everything. He was down in London at university, this was his first term and he was finding living in the city very claustrophobic. It didn't help that he had two bodyguards and a witch keeping an eye on him. The night before he'd given them the slip, and gone out drinking with a couple of friends from his class, that's why he was alone."

"So what happened? Did you stay with him?"

I was so curious! Mum never had told us anything about who our father was before now. All that she'd said when we asked, and that wasn't often, was that he was high up in a pack and she hadn't seen him in years.

"I did,"

Mum answered,

"I was with him for nearly two years. He moved out of the hotel and we got a house together. We had to be discrete; I couldn't go with him to any of the parties his father insisted on, but we were happy. To a were, especially one who would be expected to take over a clan one day, I was and still would be considered an abomination. I have no idea why your father went against all tradition, but he could be a bit of a rebel. I suppose you could compare it to a white guy seeing a black girl in 50's America. Not the done thing. Then I fell pregnant with you three. It was a bit of a shock at first, then once the news set in, Odin, that's his given name, decided to come clean and tell his family he'd found a wife. We didn't think it would cause such uproar though. His father came down and said I had to leave."

Mum's head came up and she looked around, as if she was surprised to find herself in the barracks and not in a plush London flat.

"Odin didn't want me to go so we packed our bags, and were all set to run away together. Then he went out to get some last minute supplies and never came back. I waited and waited for him. After a few

days, I got a letter he'd managed to sneak out, saying he had been taken back up north to the family estate. I knew it was in Northumbria somewhere, but I didn't know where about exactly."

"The house was sold, and I was out on the streets again. I planned to go up and find Odin, then one night a few days later I went in to labour and had to find somewhere to hide out until you were old enough to make the journey. Then we were picked up and brought here, and the rest you know."

Mum ended her story.

"So, why has it taken him so long? If he knew about us, why hasn't he tried to find us until now?"

I asked.

"Odin wasn't able to find you until you were eighteen, sweetheart,"

Mum said.

"That's when you truly became weres. He couldn't track me because we have no blood connection, and he needed something like that to use as a guide."

"So what do we do now?"

I asked.

"I'll go out and find him,"

Mum said,

"Can you ask the Major if Odin is welcome here? I know he'd like to meet you all."

"Yes, that's fine by me," responded Major Williams to my question. "So long as it's just the four of them, and they're not armed."

"Odin won't be armed, he doesn't want to hurt anyone,"

Mum insisted.

"He just wants to find his children."

"OK, then. Bring him in," said Major Williams.

Mum got up and trotted out the door, followed by Tom. He needed to tell the guards who was coming in. I heard Mum howling for her husband, and the answer came fast and close by. Within a few minutes, Mum was back, leading in a handsome man in his early thirties, wearing a loose robe that belted round his waist with an elaborate scarf. He strode confidently into the room, followed by a pair of huge bull mastiffs and a pale-looking woman with ice blue eyes and ash blonde hair. I saw Siggi's eyes light up when he saw her, and he stood up to greet her. But his friendly remarks were greeted by a cold stare.

"Dream on, mutt," the blonde sneered, "I don't consort with strays."

On hearing this, the tall man spun round on her and growled, "Carla, if you cannot keep a civil tongue in your head when greeting my son, you can leave."

"Yes, Lord Odin," came Carla's quiet reply.

"Lord Odin?" I said, surprised at the title.

"Yes, I am Odin," the tall man responded. "And you are?"

"Flossi, Sir," I replied.

Mum looked up at him and said,

"Your daughter, Flosshilde. Your sons are called Sigfried and Froh."

"And can they all change?"

The blunt question came from Carla.

"Yes, they're all full weres,"

replied Mum.

"I don't expect you to understand, Carla; you never could."

Tom stepped forwards and introduced Major Williams and himself. The humans had not been able to follow the speeches between Mum and Odin, but they all felt the tension in the room. I smiled at Tom, grateful for his help, a gesture that was not lost on the witch or my father.

"Lord Odin," Carla commented in a smarmy voice, "It is as well you got here when you did. Your daughter had been fraternising with humans."

I was furious with Carla, and lost my temper big time. "I've been more than bloody fraternising, witch. Lord Odin, is there a problem with me having boyfriends?"

"You do not have to call me Lord, Odin will suffice if you cannot bring yourself to call me Father yet," Father replied.

"The question still stands," I repeated. "Is there a problem with boyfriends?"

"Well, I would prefer it if you chose a were over a human obviously," Odin replied.

"Right, so you think you can just abandon my mother then show up here two decades later and start making demands?" I retorted. "If that's how you want our relationship to be then you can just turn round, and march straight back out that door."

"And my sons, how do you feel about your sisters' statement?" Odin asked.

Siggi and Froh looked at each other and changed. They sprawled naked on the floor, totally unashamed, and stared at our father. They'd perfected a technique of finishing each other's sentences over the years, a habit that could drive me nuts at times but they used it to good effect here.

"To be honest . . . "

"That all depends . . ."

"On what you want from us."

"If you're expecting . . . "

"Us to follow you . . . "

"Like good little lambs . . . "

"Baa baa . . ."

"You can get fucked!"

Siggi gave Odin the most insolent look and concluded his part in the conversational duet by saying, "Round here, respect is earned, not demanded."

Froh looked round at the soldiers watching them, and continued "We've hunted with every man and woman in this room, yourselves excluded, and we know them all."

Siggi carried on, "If the Major or Tom gives us an order, we'll carry it out, no questions asked. They've earned that right. Who are you to show up out of the blue and demand the same treatment?"

"Who is he?" The witch's eyes blazed for a second. "He is your father and the leader of your clan," Carla proclaimed.

The boys' heads turned simultaneously to glare at her. I was used to their synchronised behaviour, and even I was freaked out by it. The witch paled even more as she recognised the threat they posed, and I had no doubt that if Lord Odin hadn't been in the room she would have used her magic against them.

"Were we asking you, witch?" the boys said in unison.

Odin stepped forwards. The soldiers stepped back, giving my family room to fight if they wished. They'd all seen us bringing down much larger animals, and they were well aware of our abilities. Odin paused; he seemed unsure for the first time since he'd entered the room.

"We appear to have picked up a problem with our communication. I am not here to insist or demand anything. I simply wished to meet my first born children, my heirs. Perhaps I was wrong to do so in such a way, to come into your lives so suddenly, yet it is how my family has done things for many a generation."

"He has pretty words . . . " the boys were at it again.

"We'll grant him that . . . "

"Ahh, yes, but can he hunt?"

"Sister, you up for some playtime?"

"Other than with the gallant Captain of course?"

I grinned at my brothers. For all that they were loutish, they were fun and the night was perfect for some games. I nodded and slipped behind the curtain at the end of the room to change while the boys simply stretched and switched where they sat. Sometimes I thought it must be easier to be a man. Once changed, I trotted out to rejoin my pack. The world looked so different when I was on all fours. All the colours were muted; only reds, blues and greens standing out from the monochrome background. The smells on the other hand -- they danced in front of me. Mum was sitting in a cloud of mixed feelings, worried about us but oh, so proud at the same time, tinged with regrets for her life away from Odin.

Odin had changed too, and I could see why Mum thought him handsome. Odin looked like a foxhound, very satisfied with himself, yet he smelled unsure, a little out of his depth and angry that he'd let himself be provoked by the witch. There was something going on between those two. Carla had waves of smugness and conceit rolling off her, and I wanted to bite her arse to pull her down a peg or two. There was something else too -- control. Carla thought she had perfect control over the whole situation.

Odin's bodyguards were almost disinterested; if they had been human they would have been lounging against the wall examining their fingernails. My brothers were lit up; they couldn't wait to try out a new prey. Over the years they'd hunted everyone they could find, so they knew all the tricks that prey had used. They'd been longing for a new challenge for a while now; that was part of the reason for them leaving. They needed something fresh, and hunting a group of weres was a fantastic opportunity they couldn't have passed up for all the beer in Scotland.

"Ok,"

said Froh, taking charge.

"Here are the rules, as amended for tonight. No humans or witches; weres only. You three get a two minute head start, then we come after you. Stay within the fence. Anyone going over will be caught, captured and thrown in the cells for the night. If we catch you and manage to mark you, you're out. Oh, and trees are allowed for tonight only."

"Trees?"

asked one of the guards.

"Yeah you know, tall things, lots of branches and leaves? Normally used for pissing on by thugs like you. The rules usually state that climbing them is out of bounds coz they get used by the judges, and we can't have them getting caught up in the action, but as we're dispensing with judges for tonight, trees are allowed. Any more questions?"

Froh concluded.

"No. Thank you, son. Good hunting."

Odin peeled his upper lip back in a smile and turning, bounded out of the room with his guards following close behind.

Froh looked up at the witch, and told her to stay put. When she gave him a withering stare, Froh said,

"It's either that, or you can sit in a cell for how ever long this game takes. Your choice."

Carla went and sat down beside Tom, who immediately got up and moved over beside Mum. I wandered over to him and let him stroke my head while I waited for the hunt to begin. It was so soothing, to be calmed like that. The energy I got from the anticipation of a hunt was huge, and it could leave me feeling a little jittery. Once I was actually out there using my skills, I was fine, it was just getting to that point.

Froh looked over at me and nodded; it was time. I licked Tom's hand and followed my brothers out into the night. We picked up the scent easily; now that we knew what we were scenting, it was simple. The scent trail led down to the woods at the corner of the barracks, the three of them staying in a tight grouping. We each took one scent, each letting the others concentrate on their own work. I zeroed in on one of the bodyguards. He was a big guy, and the testosterone flowed off him, making him ridiculously easy to track. Halfway along the main path, however, he split off from the group, disappearing down to one side. I looked over at Froh for guidance, and he shook his head. He was focussing on Odin, but he could tell one of the group had left. It was a trick that the squaddies had used exhaustively in the past with us all, and one we knew all about.

We expected that the next one to leave wouldn't be long and sure enough a few hundred yards later the second guard separated too, but again, we kept together, focusing on Odin alone now. He'd kept to the main track, leading us on through the woods at an easy lope and out on to the assault course. At the A frame though, the scent died; he'd tried to lead us into a trap.

The attack came from three directions, the bodyguards rushing us from left and right, as Odin sprung down from the trees, via the A frame. No doubt their strategy had worked in the past; they were quick and silent, no loud growls or cries, just the rush of air over muscular bodies, and the thud of heavy feet hitting the hard packed ground and wood. In most cases it should have left the intended victims immobilised with shock.

We had been expecting something like this, though perhaps not so soon. We'd kept in a tight group, each one facing a different direction, a different aggressor, until they were just about on us, and then suddenly we split up, allowing them to flow in between and past us. We turned on them and pounced, turning the defence into attack. Siggi and I raked our outstretched claws over the ears of one of the guards each while Froh twisted in mid-air and snapped at our father, his teeth meeting in his scruff. It wasn't so much painful, more humiliating for him; that's where a bitch carried her pups. We came to rest on the floor of the clearing, landing more or less together and ready for whatever they came up with next. Odin looked at us in shock, then shook his head at the surprise of his guards. They weren't bleeding badly, it wasn't like we'd used our full strength on them. This was just for fun after all.

"I can think of three people whom that would not have worked on, and I have known them for a very long time. Where did you learn to move like that?"

There was a new respect for us in Odin's eyes and thoughts, a gleam that said he could see the day he'd be very proud of us all.