Chapter 53 – Awakening (Multi- POV)

  “We know of many higher beings, some of which have a lot of influence and rge followings in the lower realms. We also know that their reasoning is often perplexing and inscrutable to the mortal mind.” – CIA brief on extra dimensional beings and deities.

  Jay was in his study, reviewing the ledger that he had been working on. It was te, or rather early, where he lived with his wives in the south of France. He had a few other homes, but this one was his favorite, mostly due to the memories.

  He was up early mostly because he didn’t actually need sleep, instead entering a state of slowness and weakness while remaining conscious. He had found the slight distortion to how he normally viewed reality to be novel, even after all the millennia he had been alive.

  As was always the case, when things went wrong, it was usually at the worst possible time. Just as he turned the page to a rather interesting entry on a trade agreement between empires that hadn’t existed for centuries, a ward he had pced fred to life.

  The ward in question was one of his newer ones, having only been pced several weeks ago. It was also one of the few that he pced on a person, rather than a pce. He stopped and looked to the west, staring in the direction the ward alerted him to.

  “Hmm, this is unexpected.” He hummed to himself as he closed and stored the book. “What are you d-… Shit!”

  Jay lurched to his feet, forcing his physical body out of its hibernating state. His phone was going off in his pocket with several notifications, all likely connected to this issue. He jogged to the portal on the other side of his house that would take him to the Order and passed one of his wives along the way.

  “Jay? Where are you going?” She called, still rubbing sleep from her eyes.

  He ran past, slowing to give her a kiss. “Sorry, Hanna. I have to go take care of some order stuff. I will hopefully be home before brea… oh, probably not. I’ll text. Love you, bye.” He said to his rather confused wife as he opened his second front door and ran through.

  He would have liked to tell her more, but he was in a hurry. One of his underlings had done something strange. He was not sure if he was gd that he took the precaution of pcing a ward on him or not, due to what was involved, or what he thought was involved.

  The ward that Jay had set would alert him to any outside influences that took an interest in Kurt. It usually would give a little feedback if he was doing something like a rift or the raid on the coven house. Many of the higher order beings liked to look in and make sure their precious rules and bances were in order. There were also their underlings that looked down and ‘monitored’ certain individuals, usually just taking a peek.

  This time, Jay had felt a minor influence getting a closer look at Kurt. That’s fine, happened all the time, he just didn’t know who it was. But this time was different, this time the connection was two way and Kurt looked back to it which meant words were exchanged in some way.

  What happened next was a rger presence that descended and attempted to suppress the lesser one, to force it to break the contact. This was also normal and happened when one of those higher beings found its minions breaking rules. What wasn’t normal was for the supposedly lesser presence to fre out and rebuff the divine suppression. Whatever Kurt was talking to was old enough and strong enough to force a minor deity to back off.

  How did Jay know this? Because the ward he pced was an ancient one that was part communion rune and part arm ward set to trigger if gods were present. Something he very much hoped wasn’t the case as he rounded the corner to Penny’s office and began forcing his way through the portal by creating a spatial bridge using the other side as an anchor.

  “I really need to get permission to use this thing.” He muttered while expanding his spatial tunnel so he could walk through it.

  *****

  Val shifted. She then shifted again as Kurt moved. She finally settled back down as he stilled. She dealt with this a lot and didn’t mind. Kurt wasn’t exactly an active sleeper’ but he occasionally had muscle twitches or moved on his own and she would adjust to follow him.

  Kurt kicked. That was strange. The most he had done before was some slow leg movements. After a second, she began to drift off until he mumbled something. She turned over to look at him and then saw the look on his face.

  The expression her lover wore was wone of extreme discomfort. She could see the deep furrow of his brow and the clenching of his teeth that she hadn’t seen since he was impaled by that bird in their first rift. She was about to reach out and wake him, thinking it was a nightmare when he suddenly kicked again.

  The first kick had moved the covers, this kick removed the covers as his toe cws got caught on them. Toe cws. Kurt didn’t… “What the hell?” Val murmured as she stared at his canine feet. They were like normal in his werewolf form but now it started just below his knee.

  The hair was long and a mottled dark grey and bck like always. His feet somehow looked bigger than normal as she stared at them in a slight daze after being half asleep. She blinked and studied the furry appendage that ran down from his mid-thigh. Nope, that’s weird, it’s spreading.

  “Kurt.” She said and touched his arm. She noted he was suddenly very warm, and his muscles were standing out like corded rope as they tensed under his skin. “KURT!” She yelled and shook him.

  She pried open an eye with her fingers, and saw they were a brilliant amber color that seemed to glow from within. The reflective membrane seemed to produce light more than reflect it. He just stared up at the ceiling, looking at nothing as his lips curled back and exposed his elongating canines.

  Val backed away. She didn’t know what was happening to him but also didn’t want an accident to happen to her. ‘Full moon? No. We didn’t eat anything strange, so it isn’t poison. There aren’t any magical items that would set him off.’ She was racking her mind on what was causing this when the fur that was climbing his legs reached his hips, and she heard a sharp crack.

  “KURT!” She screamed. “Kurt what’s happening!” She was trying to get his attention but had to watch in complete helplessness as the man she loved was being forcibly shifted into a werewolf, a very, very big werewolf. The bed frame had already broken and colpsed under his immense size. All she could do was back away toward the door and wait.

  The door to their room suddenly opened and Kristi was standing there. She was wearing nothing but her panties and a tank top as she stood in the doorway breathless. Val thought she smelled something but didn’t have the time to ask as they both heard a loud cracking and popping that wasn’t coming from the furniture.

  *****

  Kristi was having a rough night. Scratch that, Kristi was having a rough day. The ordeal with Kurt’s mother, then with Val then the shower… but the shower and cuddle were nice, just a lot to deal with. What her most recent struggle was, also happened to be reted to her earlier issues.

  Being descended from a wyrm, Kristi had some pretty amazing senses. Sure, she had the normal draconic things like heightened smell, vision and durability but she and her retives also had great senses when it came to vibrations.

  She always knew when someone was walking or moving in her area. Normally she could tune it out, but it was harder when those vibrations followed a distinct pattern and came from the room across the hall. Kurt had made the sound almost nonexistent, but she could imagine, through rhythmic vibrations, what was happening in there.

  Eventually the vibrations stopped but then she was left all worked up with nowhere to go. She was half tempted to walk over there and see if she could sneak in for some time with him but then remembered that she was supposed to wait for Val. She tried to put it out of her mind and turned over, jostling her around the bed.

  That extra motion and the slight rocking made her wish it was Kurt making the bed rock. Kristi rubbed her legs, feeling herself respond to the motion. She slight rock of her hips and rubbing of her thighs was enough to start her on the path to a little self-indulgence. She shimmied out of her pajama bottoms, tossing them to the side as she slid her hand down toward her already damp slit.

  She hummed softly as her fingers grazed over the outside of her underwear, putting pressure on her sex as she rubbed lightly. She rolled to her back and moved the hand to the inside of her underwear just in time to faintly hear something. She ignored the sound, continuing to dive deeper into her fantasy. She then felt a strong vibration through the ground and heard Val scream.

  Kristi yanked her hand out of her panties before rolling to her feet. Then fell ft on her face as she was twisted in the sheets. Muttering several oaths about how this better be good, Kristi lunged back upward and surged through the door to Kurt and Val’s room. She threw the door open to see Val standing right in front of it and staring off the side.

  Sliding to a stop, Kristi immediately saw what Val was staring at and what all the fuss was about. Kurt was thrashing on the bed, obviously in a significant amount of pain but seemingly not lucid or even conscious. She didn’t know what was happening, but she could tell that he was rapidly growing. She felt something brush her hand and saw Val was reaching out, so she gripped her hand back.

  They stood there watching Kurt grow to his full size in his werewolf form, then keep growing. Val was openly crying as Kurt began to scream in pain. That scream turned to a howl out as his face and vocal cords shifted to that of a wolf. There was a low vibrating hum that persisted under that howl, vibrating the air in a frequency that seemed to cut to the bone.

  His growth rapidly increased, shooting him past his normal nine feet and causing what was left of the bed to turn to splinters below him, broken by his weight and thrashing. Then there was a sudden shaking that caused everything in the house to rattle. Kristi recognized the phenomena and turned to the door just as the figure of Jay came crashing in, bouncing off the door frame as he slid to a stop and tried to take in what was happening without seeing Kurt and only the two of them.

  “Guys...” Kristi said, and Val looked back to Kurt as Jay stepped into the room.

  “Oh, fuuu…” Jay began but was silenced as a new howl sounded and a pair of glowing amber eyes snapped open, focusing on the three of them.

  *****

  There was a spike of pain as Kurt became aware of his surroundings. Unfortunately, it wasn’t pain in his body, he probably wouldn’t notice any more of that given what he was currently going through. It was pain in his mind, a new distinct set of instincts was trying to surge to the fore and take control. Kurt resisted, not letting the chomping, svering monster have its way for even a moment.

  He felt he had to beat that presence into submission before it finally relented, backing away to a corner where it slowly dissipated. As that new bundle of genetic knowledge was absorbed, he felt the instincts were more present than ever before. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to consider them in detail as he realized what was going on.

  In the fight for dominance, Kurt hadn’t exactly had full control of his body. He had at least been able to turn and look at the trio of people standing on the far wall of the room, near the door. While he recognized all of them, he wondered why they looked so small. It was when he shuffled and bumped his head on the ceiling that he realized what was happening.

  “K-kurt?” Val asked, hesitating as she said it.

  Making a few distinct nods with his head, Kurt signaled that there was at least someone behind the wheel. He could smell something that his new bundle of instinct said was fear. But his higher functioning brain said it likely wasn’t just fear of him but also for him.

  Having bought some time, he then moved to his next problem. How the hell had he gotten so big? His back was brushing the ceiling with every breath, and he was already nearly doubled over. He tried to focus on the process of changing back but was interrupted by that earlier instinct telling him to stay a wolf, to hunt and feast to his hearts content. It appeared that the other presence was back for another round.

  Kurt still remembered his first change. He had thankfully not had a problem in handling that side of him, but he heard the stories of those that failed and succumb to their new aspect. They became the mindless monsters that the movies always liked to portray them as. At this particur moment, all those memories came rushing forward and he once more fought against the new instincts.

  He knew this was his only chance to take back control of his body. It was his only chance to preserve his humanity. This time he wasn’t just fighting the instinct to hunt and kill, he was fighting all the others. He felt the urge to cim a territory, to form a pack, to see gods ripped from their thrones and to hunt the great enemy once more. This time, he had not only the other presence to fight, but he also had to fight against the genetic memory bestowed by the Avatar.

  *****

  Val was standing and watching as Kurt tried to do… something. His eyes were closed, and he was shaking his head around while his body twitched at random. She didn’t know what was happening, but she knew that she didn’t want him to suffer through it. She wasn’t letting go of Kristi and the dragoness didn’t appear inclined to do so either. The addition of Jay surprised her to the point that she was now worried about other things.

  Jay had been standing in front of them and slightly to the left as they watched the massive werewolf trying to come to its senses. He subtly waved his hand behind his back and signaled for the girls to begin edging toward the door. After a brief gnce at each other, they decided to listen and began moving that way.

  As they cleared the threshold, Jay followed after them, slowly backing out and silently closing the door. He wasn’t under any illusions that the door would be any more effective at containing Kurt than a wet paper bag contains the bst of a grenade. Slowly and as quietly as possible, they backed down the hall and into the kitchen. They didn’t stop there, continuing all the way to the breezeway where Jay put another door between them.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Val whisper yelled at the demon.

  “First things first.” Jay said and turned to them both. “If he loses it, both of you need to be through the Order portal as fast as possible and close the door. Just lock out this side and get all the response teams spun up.”

  “Wh-MMFFAFAAHMM” Val began but was muffled by Kristi’s hand.

  “Shhh. We need to be quiet.” She hissed in Val’s ear.

  They stood there waiting for a moment longer before Jay spoke up. “I don’t know what is happening, but it looks like the infection happening all over again. But this one is on a bigger scale.”

  “What do you mean?” Kristi asked, still smothering Val with her hand.

  “Look, this is what I know.” Jay began. “I pced a ward on Kurt, on all of you actually, but that’s beside the point, that ward had been going off on occasion. It detects the presence of divine beings and their underlings. Normally not a big deal since they keep tabs on the lower worlds but this time it was different.”

  Val had stopped struggling and Kristi took her hand off the kitsune’s mouth. “Is he… g-going to b-be ok?” she choked on the st words as tears started flowing down her face.

  “I don’t know.” Jay said again. “All I know is there had been this presence skulking around him for as long as the ward was there. Tonight, that presence became more active and established a two-way communion. When a higher order being tried to descend and suppress it, the original presence brushed it off like it was nothing.”

  Kristi was the one to put it together. “There is a fight between divine beings and Kurt was caught in the middle?”

  “Hell if I know.” Jay sighed. “I just know my wards went off and that’s what I felt. If he survives this, instead of going feral, I pn to have a chat with him.” Jay was peeking through the little window in the door while they whispered back and forth.

  Kristi was about to ask another question but stopped as they heard another howl. It started as the sound of a successful hunt but rapidly devolved into a human scream. Jay was quickly knocked out of the way as the girls rushed past him despite his protests.

  Val was first down the hall, practically running on all fours as she sprinted for the bedroom. She barely slowed as she rebounded off the wall and through the door they had just closed. She rounded the short wall and immediately noticed that there was no longer a giant werewolf in the corner. She then noticed that Kristi was vaulting over her, not expecting the sudden stop.

  “Shit!” Kristi said as she jumped then crashed into the dresser.

  Sparing the dragoness a brief gnce, Val rushed to the sound of sobbing and groaning. She nded next to Kurt a moment ter, sweeping the area around him clear of broken wood and gss. He was a mess of blood and was curled into the fetal position on the scattered remains of the bed frame, but all the wounds seemed to have healed.

  She leaned in near his ear and spoke softly. “Are you ok?” she didn’t want to touch and hurt him. A moment ter, Kristi came to sit next to her with an expression that said tears would soon follow.

  “Noooooooo.” Kurt moaned. “H-hu-rt.”

  “Where, babe? What do you need?” Val said. She saw how Kurt had shrugged off the bonding of the alter without much issue so to see him like this was worrying.

  “D-don’t know.” He took a rattling breath. “Aches like it used to.” He forced out before being racked by choking sobs again.

  “Bath.” Kristi said and got up, brushing past Jay as she started running a hot bath. She set the temperature before quickly returning to Kurt. Jay grabbed her arm on her way back through and she snarled at him with a draconic rumble in her chest.

  The demon held up his hands. “Woah, just saying it looks like you have it under control. I am leaving to give you some privacy. I will be in contact tomorrow.”

  Kristi nodded once before continuing to Kurt. His breathing had evened out in the minute that she had been gone, still a little choppy at the top but was much more consistent. She picked him up, surprised at how heavy he had become, and carried him to the bath.

  The tub was only half full at the time, but she set him in and watched his reaction. She had decided to run it a little on the hot side, assuming he liked that for his body pains. When he didn’t even flinch at the temperature, she just let the tub keep filling. She wasn’t prepared for a naked Val to suddenly crawl in with him and y there against the side while holding his head to her chest.

  Val just looked at Kristi, a very pointed expression on her face. Kristi bit at her lip for a moment before skinning out of her own clothes and climbing in to hug him from behind. She was just thankful that the bath was rather rge and quite easily accommodated all three of them.

  They stayed there in the hot water for as long as they could, trying to soothe the aches and pains as Kurt went through the aftershock of his transformation. It wasn’t until a couple hours ter that they all climbed into Kristi’s bed to try and pass the rest of the night.

  Kay_Ship