Duality

"Steward Finn, why do you have such large canines?" The governor asked quietly.

"For the same reason this town won't exist tomorrow." The steward said. "There are two thousand werewolves on the plains right now."

"Two thousand?" The governor asked in shock. He stood up from his desk in a rush, knocking over his chair, and messing up the surface that was normally pristine. It always irked Finn about how neat and tidy this man was. Finn was a wild land werewolf, and they loved the chaos and wildness of the forests of their birthplace.

"You've always wanted to go into the forest to hunt them, sir." The steward grinned as his teeth elongated and his claws lengthened. "Now, the orcs have let us come right to you." The governor heard screams outside. He realized that the werewolves were inside his town, and even his castle.

"What do you mean 'They let you?'" The governor couldn't believe it. "We've have been fighting the orcs for centuries, just in order to get access to the forest, and its resources!"

"Yes, a foolish choice. You see, the orcs were protecting you this entire time." The steward's clothes tore as his body thickened, and his fur grew out. "But now, we are allowed to come out and attack you foolish humans as much as we want." The governor saw the steward's large maw grin wide.

"Now you get what you have always wanted. The orcs are letting us come to you. Vampires. Beasts. Demis. And us, the wolves of the wild lands, are going to have so much fun!"

Before the governor could cry out, or even pull his sword from the sheathe around his waist, his desk was thrown to the side, and a set of claws shredded his decorative leather armor.

"The young pups you've killed are nothing compared to the Alphas of our tribe, nor the adults." Finn growled, and ripped off the governor's arm. As his life ebbed away, Finn let him hear the reason why.

"If not for your foolish actions of infiltrating the orcish tribes with your assassins, they would continue to protect you from yourselves." Finn grinned and ripped out the governor's throat.

"Finn." A voice behind him spoke.

"Alpha Loran. How goes the hunt?" Finn grinned.

"We've subdued the populace. The humans are barely snacks, but some of the females have compatible blood. We've let a few of the pups run through and see if any males have potential too. No luck yet." Alpha Loran sniffed. "Are there others here?"

"A skin." Finn growled. "I'll retrieve it and let it go home to the forest soil. How many will return to the forest?"

"About twenty young ones with new mates. They should give us many pups before they adapt, and change." Loran said. "To think that we wouldn't be able to get new blood into the tribes if the humans hadn't been so foolish." Finn shrugged.

"They thought the young ones were adults. They are pretty stupid, if you ask me. What about the orcs?" Finn asked quietly. Those giants were completely unpredictable from the standpoint of a wild land wolf. Not only were they stronger than a werewolf, their magical expressions could easily dominate their tribes, or decimate them if they so chose.

"We are allowed to cause chaos, and punish the humans. However, if we move out of the plains, we won't be allowed to return to the forest." Loran said. He frowned.

"Do you think it's because we won't be as wild, and may get contaminated?" Finn asked.

"They don't do anything against us, and have even advised us to attack that herd without elders. They have been faithful guardians of the forest for countless cycles." Loran closed his eyes, and nodded.

"We'll raid these plains, avoid the vampires, and return home to the forest. The vampires won't return. The succubi are also leaving. The demis are leaving as well." Loran said. Finn pursed his lips a little as he returned to his human form.

"You know what that means, Alpha Loran." Finn grinned that same wolfish grin that always set the old governor's teeth on edge.

"New territory." Loran grinned. "Let's go, old friend. We have a few more villages to raid, and one more town to destroy. Our tribe still needs more new blood." That was something unknown to the humans.

Their superstitions always said that if a wolf bit a human, they would turn. That was untrue. The human had to be compatible, and they had to be mated with a werewolf.

Ongoing bites, scratches, and living conditions that heightened the wolf's wild nature, would slowly invade a compatible human's nature. Over the course of a full cycle, after multiple couplings, and wild feral heats, the human would undergo the 'change'.

Human males would seldom survive the process. Females, on the other hand, would grow from submissive fearful creatures, into wild feral beings that could more easily assimilate into the wolf tribes. After a few litters, their bodies had been scratched and bitten outside, while they shared their blood with the pups inside.

Female werewolves were always eager to find mates, so when the males brought home human females, the humans expected there would be jealousy, and violent attacks.  That wasn't the case at all.  The female werewolves saw the bigger picture for the tribes.

The female werewolves often coupled with the human females strictly for pleasure, but also to help them adapt. With multiple werewolves biting and scratching them, they would go into a heat within the first six months.

Thanks to the tribe's women, the females adapted, had healthy pups, and learned how to hunt a lot faster.

Werewolves were tribal in nature, and did everything they could for the tribe. That included helping the new ones to nurse, kept them warm in the winter when they had no fur, and helped them to raise their pups. More females meant more pups. More pups meant more chances for mates.

Wolves were intelligent, and werewolves had an old society that has lasted for thousands of years. They were wild, not stupid.

* * *

"Sire, we have some reports of werewolves on the border." A guard knelt down in the court of the human kingdom closest to the ancient primeval forest.

"A few werewolves give your men trouble? Have they been slacking on their training?" A man asked from the side. The guard grit his teeth. "Captain Rian. Are you sure you're leading your men properly?"

"It is not a 'few' werewolves, Minister Jahn." Captain Rian said angrily. "The reports were given by scouts that were investigating why the flow of goods from our border settlements suddenly stopped a week ago."

"And what have your 'men' discovered?" Minister Jahn asked with a sneer.

"That in only a day, you will have the opportunity to tell the werewolves that you don't respect the soldiers of the kingdom." Captain Rian stood up, which made the king frown, as he had not given permission for the captain to rise.

"In less than a day, two thousand werewolves will be looting our nearby villages and the cities. Sneer at them if you want." He left while he beckoned to the men who held weapons in their hands.

He had already informed the palace guards of the reports, and this was the chance for the king to prove he was still a capable monarch.  The palace guards saw all of this and decided to follow the captain as they had planned.

Their king hadn't spoken. He neither reprimanded the minister, nor shown that he knew how to rule. That was why their kingdom had regressed in economic and military power.

The ministers paid lip service, but were as corrupt as they could be, even going so far as to join in on factional disputes over who the next monarch would be among the four remaining princes.

This king failed miserably on all counts, and they didn't want their families to bare the consequences of his failure.