Felix
Inside, I was kicking myself. How could we have been so stupid? We had been in the right place back at that “abandoned” mansion! If we had only looked harder and found the underground segment, we would have rescued Chasity already. I roared in frustration. We should have torn up the floorboards in that place not tiptoed around.
My brothers and I ran out of the pack house with Chance and Detective Danny trailing after us. An unfamiliar wolf came bounding up to us on our way out. Huh? Instinctively I growled at the intruder. Calix put a hand on my chest to stop me advancing on the newcomer.
It’s Dexter! Said Calix, sniffing the air, recognising his smell.
That weirdo who was friends with Chasity’s Dad? What’s he doing here? I said privately to my brothers.
He was right after all, remember, about the bodysnatching? Said Chance.
I had forgotten momentarily that there was no such thing as a private mind-link where Chance was concerned. He could tap into any mind-link private or otherwise once he was within a certain radius of the wolves mind-linking.
He could be useful. He’s been right all along, said Alex, fetching a coat and giving it to Dexter’s wolf.
Dexter quickly shifted back, covering himself with the coat.
“I can help! I know you think I’m crazy but…” began Dexter, the desperation in his tone evident.
“We don’t! Get in the jeep!” I ordered, interrupting him.
There was no time for long appeals. If he wanted to help, he had to be ready to leave right now. We all got into the jeep and I floored the accelerator. The mansion was about a half-hour away from the pack house but I planned to make it in less than ten minutes by driving at full speed. I didn’t even slow down when turning corners. Every second counted. We didn’t know when they were planning on switching Chasity’s consciousness with that of Deidre’s imposter.
“Faster!” Yelled Calix as the jeep hurtled dangerously fast down the icy roads.
I would if I could but I actually couldn’t go faster. The accelerator was floored.
“There literally isn’t any faster!” I bellowed in frustration.
The speed meter was at the max point. I turned to my elder brother Alex out of habit, hoping he had a better idea.
Alex
We could outrun the fastest of off-road vehicles in this icy terrain. This was our turf. We were built for this.
“We can run faster than this! Danny drive Chance and Dexter there as fast as possible! We’ll run ahead!” I ordered in my Alpha voice, leaving no room for protest that would only slow us down.
There was no time for squabbling. Chance and Dexter had been a great help but there was noway they could keep up with our Alpha wolves. Danny might be able to keep up but I needed him to drive Chance and Dexter while we ran ahead. I also didn’t want to leave the elderly Chance and middle-aged Dexter without any extra protection so that was where Danny came in.
The jeep came to a screeching halt and my brothers and I got out, tossing our coats in the backseat.
“Bring her back, please!” Begged Chance.
I nodded solemnly. I would do exactly that. There was no other option. There was no other acceptable outcome.
I shifted seamlessly into my Alpha wolf in seconds. My brothers shifted too just as quickly. Danny floored the accelerator again while we took off in our wolf forms, running alongside the car at first but in a few seconds we overtook the car and sped ahead of them. We darted through the snow alongside the roadway, going at least double the speed of the jeep, leaving it in the distance. We ran until our breathing was ragged. We didn’t care. We had to keep up the pace.
To think we could’ve rescued Chasity much earlier from that house. There must’ve been something we missed the first time we broke in to search the house. We should have been more thorough. I was angry with myself but I couldn’t waste my energy on it. I had to put it behind me in the past where it belonged. I had to focus on getting to Chasity now in the present moment.
The house with its archaic design came into view. It was built to look more like a medieval candle than a house. That too made sense now. The old-time-y tastes of the owners betrayed their ages. The bodysnatchers were probably ancient. Their longevity was about to come to an abrupt stop and it was no one’s fault but their own. They had messed with the wrong girl, my Luna, and they would pay for it!
When we neared the house, Calix dove straight through a huge glass window, shattering it. I had not been expecting that. I watched my youngest brother roll across the floor of the mansion with glass strewn everywhere.
CALIX! I yelled over mind-link, instantly worried.
Calix
In my haste to rescue Goddess Chasity, I crashed straight through the largest window in sight, shattering the glass as I went. I rolled across the floor, narrowly avoiding a large jagged shard. I could hear Alex freaking out over mind-link.
Present! I called to reassure him as I tumbled, rolling right back onto all fours and standing up.
Tiny glass splinters were sprinkled all over my fur. I quickly and vigorously shook the majority of the splinters off. I had a few minor cuts that I could already feel knitting together as they healed.
Felix and Alex jumped through the space I had made. Hmph. You’re welcome. I heard Felix breathe a sigh of relief after sniffing me to make sure there was no significant bloody wound. Aww, he actually cared about me.
We need to find the way down, said Alex.
We ran through the place, darting in and out of rooms, searching for any sign of a hidden trap door. We went back to the dining room where we had picked up Chasity’s scent when we had first searched this house. I was so frustrated with myself, knowing that we could have rescued her that day if we had been more observant somehow.
My paws were on a soft surface. I looked down. There was a huge printed rug beneath me between the dining table and the fireplace. It depicted a fox opening its jaws wide to reveal the forms of many beautiful women inside, all of them looking forlorn. I understood now what it meant. The women trapped in between the jaws of the fox were the melancholic consciousnesses who had been ripped from their bodies. The rug wasn’t perfectly flat. A lightbulb came on in my head. I gripped the edge of the rug with my teeth and pulled, moving the rug aside to reveal a trap door! Bingo!
Calix, you’re a genius! Exclaimed Alex.
That was high praise coming from him. Felix shifted back instantly to open the trapdoor. When you’d been a wolf for a while, you quickly knew what movements you could and couldn’t do with paws versus fingers and opposable thumbs. We didn’t even bother to waste time trying with our paws. As soon as Felix had pried the trapdoor open basically ripping it off its hinges, he shifted back into wolf form and we ran down a flight of steps. Darkness swallowed us up but our lupine eyes soon adjusted.
The underground level was huge as it spanned the same entire square footage as the ground floor. Unfortunately, it was a maze just like the ground floor had been. I wasn’t picking up Chasity’s scent but Alex seemed to be getting a whiff of something.
Alex
This way! I said. It’s not Chasity’s scent but there are other girls nearby and maybe they can lead us to Chasity!
My younger brothers followed my lead and we came upon two girls, both of them wounded but one was in way worse shape than the other. My stomach lurched. I hoped my Luna was okay.
I shifted, vaguely aware that I was naked, but there was no time to find something to cover with and the girls weren’t wolves so I wasn’t sure I could communicate with mind-link.
“What happened?” I asked the girls, gesturing to their injuries. “Do you girls know our mate, Chasity?!” I added, getting straight to the point.
I stared at them. I could tell they knew something. Their faces both turned red as they looked away from my naked form in embarrassment. One of the girls was cradling the other. The gravely injured girl lifted a shaky hand and wordlessly pointed a trembling finger in one direction, indicating where Chasity was.
“She’s in Madame’s bedroom. Go out into the hallway and up the stairs,” clarified the less injured girl. “Please help us!” She implored us.
“We will,” I promised.
After we found Chasity, we would get these girls to safety. They both needed medical attention.
I shifted back into my wolf form and followed their directions, entering a long hallway lined by a few doors. The walls were shaking. Dust fell from the ceiling. There was no time to ponder why the place seemed to be on the verge of collapse. We needed to locate Chasity and get her out of there pronto. We found the stairs the girl had mentioned.
I caught her scent just as we began ascending the stairs. I could tell without mind-linking that my brothers had picked up her sweet aroma too. Chasity! My Luna was here! We darted up the stairs to find a single door. We burst through it to find Chasity supporting a tall thin woman who was shaky on her feet.
Words could not express how I felt in that moment when I laid my eyes on Chasity again. There was a massive sense of relief to the point that it made me giddy. I was overjoyed and overwhelmed. I loved her more than anyone or anything including myself. I felt whole again.
“Alphas!” Screamed Chasity.
It was so good to hear her voice. We literally knocked her over as we pounced on her, licking her face. She giggled. I had missed the sound of her laughter so much!
Felix
My heart was beating erratically. I had never been so relieved and overjoyed and grateful in my entire life. Chasity, my baby, had been found safe and sound finally. I sniffed her as I licked her face, checking for the scent of blood in case she was injured. I was even more relieved when I didn’t pick up the scent of any injuries on her. Seeing the state of those two poor girls had scared me. I had thought Chasity might be injured too. Thank goodness she was okay. Her little giggle reassured me further and made my wolf howl in delight. We could also smell our pup, safe and sound, inside of our mate.
“We need to get out of here!” Yelled Chasity, projecting her voice over the sound of the ground rumbling and the building quaking.
It seemed like the same dark magic responsible for the bodysnatching was trying to bring the building down. Maybe it was because the switch obviously hadn’t happened yet and this evil place knew that.
My baby Chasity had a woman with her. I hadn’t paid much attention to her at first. I looked at her, recognising her waif-like figure and deep skin tone. This was Deidre. This was the bodysnatcher. I growled at her. Alex got ready to strike. Even Calix snarled.
Calix
We had found Goddess. My heart was so full. I had never been more scared than when I thought I had lost her. I was so grateful to have her back, I almost didn’t notice Deidre with her at first. As soon as I did, I snarled at the bodysnatcher.
“NO!” Yelled Chasity, alarming us. “This is the real Deidre Binx! These snakes are my parents!” Said Chasity, showing us two snakes curled around her arms.
How had I missed that? I really hadn’t noticed anything or anyone other than Chasity just a few moments ago.
“There’s no time to explain. Please we have to get my parents bodies and go!” Said Chasity, looking as though she was terrified we wouldn’t believe her but we did.
We knew all about the crazy dark magic that had been going on. I was glad to see that Chasity’s parents were still alive in their snake forms. We would be able to reunite her with her parents after all. Now that we had Chasity, we just needed to find her parents’ bodies and figure out how to transfer them back into their bodies.
Felix was sniffing Chasity’s tummy, smelling the pup. I could smell the pup too. I could scarcely believe my Goddess had been made to go through her early pregnancy like this.
The real Deidre was placed on Alex’s back and Chasity got onto Felix’s back. I led the way. We ran straight into Danny, Chance and Dexter. They had arrived at last.
“Chasity!” Cried Chance with tears in his eyes.
Chasity looked bemused. She didn’t know this was her grandfather but their tearful reunion would have to wait. We had no time for introductions. The building was coming down. I whimpered impatiently, encouraging everyone to run back to the dining room where the two injured girls we had promised to help were.
“No!” Exclaimed Chasity. “April! June!” She cried, jumping off of Felix’s back and running up to the girls.
I supposed she had befriended them.
“We’ll help you get out of here!” Said Chasity reassuringly to April and June, who were then hoisted onto Felix’s back with help from Danny, Chance and Dexter while Chasity sat on Alex’s back with Deidre.
“We have to get my parents’ bodies!” Said Chasity worriedly.
“I know where they are,” mumbled one of the girls.
I didn’t know which one was April and which one was June.
“Their bodies are inhabited by distant relatives of Deidre. They live down here and help her run the school,” she said, her voice sounding as though she had been drained of most of her energy.
“Mr and Mrs Chalet!” Exclaimed the other girl.
We ran in the direction indicated by one of the girls. Whoever Mr and Mrs Chalet were, they were about to relinquish those bodies that didn’t belong to them. The audacity of these bodysnatchers was astounding. How could they be so conniving and selfish?
“What about all the other girls?!” Asked my benevolent Goddess Chasity, always thinking of others. “What about Maurice and Dante?!” She asked.
She was even concerned about that monster Dante who had stolen her for his own self-centred reasons. I heard Felix growl in response to the name.
Felix
Chasity mentioned that asshole we had imprisoned in the pack house cellar.
“Dante’s missing. He hasn’t been back for a few hours,” said one of Chasity’s new friends. “Maurice isn’t here right now. The other girls all fled as soon as they saw us heading back to the dining room to confront Madame!”
I knew who Dante was but I wasn’t sure who Maurice was. He sounded like a jerk. Maurice was a stupid name.
“Are they all Foxes?” Wondered Chasity.
I should have paid more attention to the paintings back when Calix had pointed them out. In hindsight, the artwork had been a vital clue. These body-snatchers were some form of were-foxes who were stealing the bodies of werewolves. Were-foxes had powers too but werewolves were undoubtedly stronger on average.
“Yes! But they don’t necessarily want to be snatchers. They’re not all bad! Trust me,” said one of the injured girls. “Madame gave us food and shelter. Many of us come from nothing and actually do want to break into modelling. Madame scouted almost all of us herself, handpicking us, looking for the vulnerable,” explained the girl.
Madame must be what Deidre’s imposter had dubbed herself. She had been grooming these girls to take over her bodysnatching ring. How gross. The girl with the more severe injuries had fallen silent. She seemed to be unconscious but her heart was beating and her friend was propping her up. We would get her some help soon. We just needed to rescue Chasity’s parents. Their rescue had been a long time coming. We entered an office where there were two people crouched under a desk with their arms over their heads as they tried to shelter from the falling dust as this place had begun to crumble. Chasity gasped at the sight of who I assumed were Mr and Mrs Chalet, the people who had stolen her parents’ bodies. It must have been jarring for her to see them.
“Mom! Dad!” Shrieked Chasity, momentarily forgetting those weren’t actually her parents, just the bodysnatchers inhabiting her parents’ bodies
Chasity’s real parents, the snakes in her arms, hissed at the imposters who had stolen their bodies and relegated them to nine years of crawling around on their bellies in a glass tank while their daughter grew up elsewhere. The bodysnatchers growled at Chasity. If we didn’t need those bodies back, I would have ripped their throats out for that.
Alex
The bodysnatchers recoiled from the hissing snakes in Chasity’s hands. Those snakes contained the minds or rather the consciousnesses of Chalice and Chase. The bodysnatchers were backing away, retreating. I wondered if mere contact with the snakes would switch them back. The bodysnatchers would have disposed of their old bodies when jumping into new ones. I wondered if they would end up in the snakes or in their old bodies somewhere, assuming their old bodies hadn’t disintegrated or decomposed.
“Chasity! Let the snakes bite them!” Instructed Dexter, his eyes on the fake Chase, the person who had stolen his best friend’s body.
I realised my Luna had no idea who Dexter, Chance or Danny were but she listened to Dexter anyway. She was naturally sweet and trusting even after this ordeal. She moved slowly towards the imposters.
“Hurry, Chasity!” Yelled Chance.
“I called for backup while we were on the way,” announced Danny.
Good. We would need an ambulance for these two girls. Chasity looked unharmed but I needed her to have a checkup especially for the pup’s sake.
Felix
I looked at my baby, realising the source of her hesitancy. She didn’t know which snake was her Mom and which snake was her Dad. Thus, she didn’t know which snake to throw at Mr Chalet and which one to throw at Mrs Chalet.
Baby, just do it. Even if your Dad ends up in your Mom’s body and vice versa, we’ll figure that out later! I said.
Chasity threw the bigger snake at her Dad’s body and the smaller snake at her Mother’s body. The snakes struck, springing towards their counterparts and latching onto them. The snakes imbedded their fangs into the bodysnatchers’ throats. Mr and Mrs Chalet screamed and struggled, clawing at the snakes, trying unsuccessfully to pull them off. The snakes fell off of their own accord and hit the ground turning to dust instantly. My heart was racing. Had it worked?