Wolfsbane

Another Full Moon, the 3rd this year, so you know what that means. Time for another Tale of the Wolfmoon aka a werewolf short story. Again based on a prompt from the Daily Prompt app, this is a situation where in a party my main character spots somebody sneaking something suspicious into their food. I came up with the below and if you like werewolf stories please visit Amazon.com and give my debut novel - Wolf Soul - a go.

Enjoy and happy howling!


Wolfsbane

I didn’t really feel like going to that party, but my girlfriend Julie convinced me. It was too crowded and crowds were dangerous for someone like me. Mind you, it’s not that they could hurt me, it was more like what they could accidentally provoke in me that then would hurt them! Too many people always meant too many hearts beating, too much blood pumping... that was too appetising.

“It’s my boss’s 10th anniversary with the company, I can’t miss it.” Julie had said while eagerly browsing dresses on Google. “I know you don’t like her much, but this is important for me. Do you really think you will transform? It’s not even full moon yet and you have been quite good with people lately.”

It was true I had got better at taming the beast within and months could go by without me ending up in my wolf shape howling at the moon somewhere. It was harder during the full moon but I had managed. Yet there were things that could make me lose control and transform. Large crowds was one of them. I was fine with small groups of people but anything more than twenty was too much. But I also knew how much Julie liked her boss even though I didn’t. When we had first and last met, I didn’t like her posh ways nor how she treated Julie like a servant. Yet my girlfriend followed her like a puppy.

“I’m really not sure.”

Julie turned her beautiful red-flamed head to stare at me with her water-green eyes. She was the only person who knew my secret and had never judged me for that.

“You’ve been so good lately, Hairy Harry.” she loved calling me that. “Let’s go for at least one hour and if you start feeling funny we will immediately come home.”

I ended up agreeing. I could always try to stay at a corner, away from the buzz.

———-

We walked in the big saloon where people were chatting and enjoying themselves with glasses of champagne and appetisers. It wasn’t too loud, something I was thankful for. Too much noise messed up my senses. They smelled nice - not perfume nor shower nice - but it wasn’t enough to arouse me. I could handle it.

After greeting some coworkers and wishing a happy birthday to her boss, Julie and I sat at the huge, long mahogany table. We were close to the kitchen but even if we weren’t, my nose would always be able to detect that. I turned my head only to see one of the chefs sneak something into a plate. Would that be my plate?

“Wolfsbane...” I thought to myself as I immediately got up to go investigate.

“Harry, what’s up?” Julie asked me in surprise.

“Toilet.” was my only answer.

Someone here knew my secret. One just doesn’t sneak wolfsbane into a party. But who? I trusted Julie with my life.

“Excuse me, sir. You can’t just walk into the kitchen like that.” the security guy at the kitchen’s entrance told me, placing himself between me and the door. He was tall and muscular but no match to me if we had to fight.

“I have reasons to believe something strange is being placed in the food.” I said straightaway, not bothered that anyone could take offence.

By now the cooks were staring at me, puzzled. All but one, who kept mixing his pot as if deliberately ignoring us. I pushed the security away and rushed towards the man. The wolfsbane smell was now so intense I started feeling dizzy. I grabbed him by his shoulders, as the security followed me.

“You! What are you putting in the food?” I demanded to know.

“Sir, if you don’t get out of here, I will call my colleagues and the police to arrest you.” the security said, taking his walkie-talkie from his pocket.

I was getting angry and felt threatened. If someone there was using wolfsbane, my secret could soon be revealed. Anger wasn’t good either, it could make me transform too. I took a deep breath and stared at the cook.

“What are you putting in the food?” I repeated.

“Sir, I don’t know. She gave me this and told me to put it in your plate.”

“She? Who is she?”

“I am.” a voice came from the entrance. I turned my head and stared at her. Tall, elegant, her beautiful dark hair hanging down her shoulders and contrasting with her lemon dress. Julie’s boss.

I was dumbstruck. I never really liked her but how had she found out? Julie showed up behind her looking terribly confused. She stared at me, then at her boss, then back at me.

“What....?” she asked in a tiny voice.

Her boss smiled, her eyes hooked on me like a hunter who had just trapped his prey.

“Julie here is a sweetheart. A lovely girl. As lovely as she is stupid and naive. So easy to befriend her and get information out of her. But you must know that, Hairy Harry.”

We both looked at each other. Julie had tears in her eyes, her face going red with the betrayal.

“You said you’d never tell anyone.” she cried, grabbing her boss’s arm. “Please let him go. He’s never done anything wrong, never hurt anyone.”

“Imagine how I will be rewarded for capturing this beast.”

From the corner of my eye I saw three more security guys approaching. Julie was sobbing and begging them to leave me alone. As to me... I was properly pissed at how this woman had taken chances and fooled my girlfriend. And it was now a matter of surviving.

“You forgot one thing, Adele. Wolfsbane smell itself isn’t enough to stop me. And I didn’t ingest a bit. So if you wanted to weaken me, your plan failed epically.” I said with a smirk, feeling my wolf blood starting to pump in my veins. The securities grabbing me was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. As I raised my head and growled, they started shouting and running around the kitchen like headless chickens, trying to get something they could use against me. Julie screamed.

“Harry, no!”

But it was too late. Without caring what would happen next, I let myself fully transform and did what a werewolf is supposed to do. I can only say that only Julie survived the carnage... but she never again wanted to see me.

________________

Enjoyed this story? Check my other Werewolf Stories, which I post every Full Moon:

Officer Brooks' Creepy Blue Eyes

Midnight Shift at the Zoology Museum


Or some of my non-werewolf stories:

Fluffy, the Spiteful Cat

Behold the Brave New World

Sympathy For the Devil

Magic Mirror on the Wall


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