I lead my team to the armory.
We put on our combat vests and load up with silver knives and a couple hand guns with extra clips.
The vests are impressive. They fit them to our wolves. They look a little baggy on us now but not by much. They expand and contract to accommodate the change. It allows us to keep our weapons no matter our form.
"Come on dog boys! We have a mission!" I call to my team.
They chear pounding on the gun cages as we exit the room.
We pile into a black military truck. Aries behind the wheel and Odin riding shotgun as navigator. Anhur and I in the back.
"How far are we?" I ask as we drive.
"Stop here." Odin answers looking at the map. "We're a couple miles out. If we want the element of surprise we need to go the rest of the way on foot."
We hide the truck off the road and huddle up.
"We circle the camp. Odin North, Anhur south, Aries West, I'll circle around and take the east end. Kill any patrols quickly and quietly. Don't change unless you have to. Wait for my signal. We take the camp in one swift strike. Keep your head down we have a lot riding on this." I lay out the game plan and they all nod.
"We got this brother." Aries says grabbing my shoulder then running off to take his position.
I make my way around to the far end of the camp. Their security is a joke. I only ran into two dog men as I approached my position. They went down easy. The camp is small. A few cabins. If our intel was good 15-20 adults, 5 kids.
I can see the children in a clearing in the middle of the cabins. A couple men are training them in hand to hand combat. One of the little ones changes. Crap how young do they start becoming monsters.
"Derek shift! We are fighting in human form today!" One of the men scolds the boy. He changes back and the man tosses the boy some shorts.
"Come on Mack! If I need to fight I'm gonna rip them apart as a wolf not punch them in the nose!" The boy protests.
Wow they are training the kids to be killers! That boy can't be more than 8! I see why father said we have to take them all out.
I see my men in position and let out a howl. In the blink of an eye we all charge in. One of the men with the kids orders them into the main house and they run. The man turns back and changes charging at me.
The wolf goes for my throat. He's way to focused on the kill. Blinded by his rage it makes him sloppy. I duck out of the way plunging one of my knives into his heart. Stupid Dog.
When the fighting is done the only one that changed was Anhur. Of course. Aside from his vest his clothes were shredded.
"Find some pants Anhur. It's time to finish this." I tell him.
"Its done Titan... we can leave it. The threat is eliminated." Odin urges me to stand down.
"You heard father. This isn't over until they are all gone." I stare him down until he nods.
"Let's get this over with." I turn to the main house with my men behind me I open the door.
The kids are huddled in a corner.
"Hay Derek." I call to the boy I'd seen before.
"You know me?" He questions as he breaks from the group walking cautiously toward me.
"Yea Mack sent us to get you guys." Why did they have to turn children into this. They are so... innocent.
"They are like us!" He calls smelling me.
The kids come out to meet us. I smile at the boy as another comes along side him.
"This is my brother Sam. He's 6... he just had his first shift!" Derek tells me. The younger boy flashes me a grin his sharp teeth elongated.
Man... they are so young... do we really need to do this?
Flash back
"Wake up boy." I hear a voice and begin to stir.
Where am I? What's going on? What happened? Who?... who am I?
I jump up as a man lays a hand on my arm.
"Let me go! Leave... leave me alone!" I yell fighting him in utter panic.
"Calm down boy you're safe now." The man says. I thrash against him.
He reaches for my face to still my erratic movements. I lash at him biting his arm jerking around like a savage animal. His blood sprays my face.
"Dang it boy!" He jumps away and stumbles out the door. I can taste his blood in my mouth. What am I?
The next day the man returns arm bandaged.
"You calmer now?" He asks.
"Yes sir." I mumble sitting on my bed knees to my chest.
"I'm commander Willson... do you remember anything?" He asks. I shake my head.
"We saved you and the other boys." He gestures to the cots containing three sleeping boys about my age.
"What am I?" I ask him.
"Well... they are calling you dog boy after this." He says holding up his arm with a chuckle. "If the infirmary wasn't next door I would have probably bleed out."
"I'm... I'm a monster!" I cry.
"No son... I'm gonna help you. You will learn to control it." He says reaching out to me. I look at his bandaged arm.
"I hurt you! Why would you help me?" I yell.
"Call me Father... I'm gonna look out for you boys." He says and hugs me.
Present
If it weren't for father I would have killed someone. They are no different. If we can't save them we can't just let them go. They will be savage just like I was.
I wrap an arm around each boy and turn to my men. I nod to them and they each take a child in their arms. We need to make it quick. All at once so we don't scare them. I don't want them to suffer any more than necessary.
"Can you boys count to three with me?" I ask. They look confused but nod.
"One... two... three." As we finish I slit their throats with my claws as my men do the same. They drop in front of me.
"Let's go home." I say leaving the room.
The ride home was silent. Everyone has their eyes focused straight ahead. This is who we are now... killers.
"The Dog Boys return triumphant!" Father greets us.
"Its done." I tell him as we enter the compound.
"Oh I know! The clean up crew already washed the place clean... can't have any evidence of this drug out there." Father smiles at us. "You boys did good!"
No evidence... we are evidence... I don't feel like we did good.
"Go clean up boys." I tell the other three. They nod and head to the showers. Father stops me.
"You did good Titan. Your men follow your lead and you brought them back safe. You completed your mission. You are safe now." He says. I look down.
"Kids." Is all I say.
"You know as well as I do that kids can be monsters with this drug if not taught better." He tells me rolling up his sleeve. A large section of his arm missing. He can't even make a fist with that hand any more. He sighs and wraps an arm around me. "You did the right thing boy. Don't question that... go clean up and get some rest. The higher ups are impressed. I have your next mission ready."
"Yes father." I say turning away from him.
I drop my vest in the armory and head to the showers.
I'm still a monster. A monster that takes out other monsters. A monster that fights terrorists. A monster for a cause... I'm not sure it makes me a good monster tho.