Becoming Wolf - Sequel to 'Staying Human'

The Journey

Winston hated travelling by ship, it took far too long and brought back too many painful memories of a life now gone. He lay back on his bed and sighed, the journey was taking longer than he thought and he was becoming bored. He picked at a hole in his jeans and watched his werewolf as she slept and then he triumphantly laughed out loud. His plan had actually worked; all those years of planning and waiting had finally paid off. She was not even his first choice, he’d wanted a male but when Mae had presented him to him he could not believe it and he knew he just had to have her.

He laughed again when he remembered Max’s agonised howl when he realised he could not reach her and he wondered if he was still in pain now. He probably was and that thought pleased him immensely.  

He thought about the carnage he could now cause and he had quite a few vampires on his hit list, including his maker but he was going to leave him until last. He wanted to make him suffer just as he had been made to suffer. His loud laughter woke Racheal from her slumber but she darted her eyes to the floor when Winston looked at her.

“I’d let you turn back into your human form but unfortunately your travel papers state you are a wolf and I don’t need any further complications, these past two weeks have brought more than enough.”

Rachael just stared back at him through the holes of the box he was keeping her in and snarled.

Winston kicked the box hard in response and warned her to keep quiet. Secretly though he was worried, it had been five days since she had drank his blood and he knew it was leaving her system. He also knew that if that happened he would no longer be able to control her and he knew what the consequences would be.

The past five days had been a never ending nightmare for Rachael, her nightmare and a nightmare she believed was never going to end. She could sense Winston was becoming tetchy, in all his careful planning, he had not taken into consideration the length of the journey from England to New York and he had not considered how he was going to feed. Rachael was frightened, she hated being on the water and she hated being with him especially as she could sense he was hungry.

They were on board a tanker vessel and due to the strict laws of the shipping industry today there was no vermin on-board and no stowaways either. The ship was also manned with only twenty-four men, so he could not even feed from any of them as any absence would be immediately noticed and he knew from overheard conversations they still had four days until they reached the US.

The crew were becoming increasingly cautious about the stranger travelling on-board especially due to his changing appearance. He appeared to become paler as each day passed; his eyes were no longer green but looked black. His cheeks were sunken and his lips were blue and his refusal to eat anything, made them even more suspicious but no-one dared approach him.  

Two days later Winston’s state had become even worse, he was sweating and shaking and his eyes almost looked as if they had sunken back into his head. He left his cabin and began to watch the crew as they worked, he was figuring out which crew member would not be immediately missed.

He studied the watch book, learnt the shift patterns and who worked with who and the location. On the eighth day of their journey, knowing they had approximately two days left, he decided the timing was right and he decided who he was going to take.

Winston watched Rachael as she began to circle the box she was in and he knew when she started to whimper and bang her body against the sides, he had to get his blood into her system and fast. The only safe way he could think to do it was to inject her with it.  He stalked his way through the galleys until he came upon the medical room and then he waited for his prey, he always checked the medical room at the end of his shift.