Chapter Text
Ashton’s paws dug deep into the ground as he ran.
His instincts were sharp, drawing him further into the forest, mindlessly focusing on some scent in the air to chase. Usually it was the part of the change Ashton hated, the way he could slowly feel his humanity bleeding away and letting the wolf take control. He’d fight the instinct as long as he could, hold on to that last part of rational thought like a life line, terrified of what he might do without that control.
This night was different.
This time Ashton let it happen, if anything he encouraged it. He wanted the wolf to take over completely, wanted to forget the anger and frustration burning up in his chest. Most of all wanted to forget the sound of Luke’s voice when he watched Ashton pick up his bag, forget the crushed look on his face as Ashton stormed out, forget how he didn’t turn back the minute he left the house when his irritation had turned into a pool of regret which settled heavily in his stomach.
For the first time Ashton welcomes the change, craves it, anything to make the memory of Luke’s sad eyes disappear if only for a while.
There’s a relief that’s almost calming as he runs, further and faster into the woods, the way he can sense the presence of other wolves close by.
He should ignore it, should move away. They all have their ground, their sections that they or their pack have claimed. It’s a way of avoiding conflict during the change, a basic rule that they can follow even when they’re running on nothing but instinct.
But right now it’s Ashton’s instinct that’s the problem, his wolf is feeding of the anger he had at himself, the need for distraction. The need was pulling him towards the other wolves, out of the small territory he and Calum had claimed for themselves.
Ashton had no pack, not since he left his home and felt the bond tying him to the others fade away like a fraying rope, strand by strand until it snapped. Then he found Calum, two wolves on their own who considered each other the closest thing to family they had. Calum was Ashton’s pack, if they could even be called that, if it was even possible to be a pack with only two members.
Calum would say this is stupid, Ashton would probably agree if he was thinking. But he wasn’t, his wolf wanted a fight and he knew how to get one.
There were four of them, he could feel them, banding together as Ashton treaded the line of their boarder. Coming to a clearing, a small one at that, but enough room between the trees for the moonlight to spill through onto the ground, Ashton spots them.
There’s only two, close enough for the light to catch their fur as they slink between the trees opposite him. He sees the rusty coloured wolf first, almost ginger against the trees with his blue eyes fixed on Ashton. The second is darker, not quite black more chocolate brown blending in with the forest around her. She has more rank over the slightly larger ginger wolf, this is obvious in the way he lags behind her as they move out of the shadows, but the only reason Ashton notices her is the flash of her teeth as she emerges slowly, her growl low and full of warning.
The other two are off to the sides, keeping out of sigh. Then there’s a third, coming up behind Ashton on his right, something tugs in his chest as the wolf approaches. Pure black and honey brown eyes which take in the scene around him as he pads up to Ashton’s side, his sandy tipped ears twitching.
Calum
His packmate whines, it's like a question if the way his furrowed expression didn't make clear already. The dude what the fuck are you doing? that his human self would be saying is all too obvious.
Ashton ignores him, keeping his attention on the female getting closer and closer to the middle of the clearing, the ginger male at her rear side, daring him to make the move. Calum's there, nudging at Ashton's side and trying to force him back. It's irritating and Ashton's too far gone to stop his wolf from snapping at his best friend.
Calum's wolf recoils, frowning before only pressing back harder, more insistently making Ashton growl. The female stiffens, crouching down and snarling making both the two wolfs stop and look at her.
This is what Ashton's wolf wanted, it's just about grinning at how close it is to getting it. The next moment he's sinking onto his front legs and his hearts racing, his wolf is practically buzzing in anticipation. Even Calum can't stop him as Ashton launches forward.
All around them birds fly from the trees, as the loud ferocious growls cut through the tense air of the clearing as the two wolfs crash together. The white flash of teeth the last thing Ashton sees before his world becomes a blur of claws and fur.
~oOo~
He's in a box.
That's the first thing that Luke realises when he opens his eyes, his vision blurry and his head throbbing. He's in a box in the back of the van from the feel of it, unless the knock to the head was worse than he thought and the place is just spinning that way.
He tries to stretch his body out but his feet find the sides almost instantly, keeping his knees bent. At this point Luke's just happy he has enough head space to sit up straight, his body aches and he can't remember the last time this happened, if it ever did. There must be something laced in the metal of the box, he figures, silver perhaps, and it's slowly bleeding through to his bones, making Luke's muscles seize up and tense.
There's a decent sized hole in the corner, rough and the metal around the edges was sharp like it had been drilled or something whacked through it. The warm glow of the street lights flash through the gap and Luke tries to focus on the pattern of the flashes as his head begins to stop spinning.
When the lights disappear and the road becomes bumpy, sending the box rattling in the back of the van and Luke's focus is pulled away as he's clinging onto the sides for balance, that's finally when the panic catches up with him. He's banging on the walls, hands curled into fists and yelling out as he only manages shallow dints to the thick metal.
“Let me out of here! Let me go!”
There's another light streaming through the hole now, bright white and harsh as it glares straight into Luke's eyes. “Aw, looks like the princess is finally awake.” a deep voice coos over the sound of the engine.
Luke surges forward, slamming his hands against the walls. “Shut up and let me out of here, you shit.” he growls, trying to get a decent look at the man behind the torch but the light was too blinding. The man just chuckles which only makes Luke punch harder at the walls, “I said let me go, or I'll -”
“You'll what?” his captor sneers and he can't see it, but Luke can hear the smirk in his voice. “You gonna call for your pup of a boyfriend?” he says, spitting through the gap, making Luke shoot back as it lands on his face. “Do it, scream out for him so he knows just where to find you. Tell him to come and get his little gift.” he finishes, smacking his hand over the gap and plunging Luke's terrified face into darkness.
ashton
ashton
they're after ashton why
Over the rumble of the engine and the tires on the road, Luke hears it and his chest floods with cold, freezing cold terror. The distant sound of a wolf howl, long and drawn out but there was something wrong, something different that triggered the sharp cold to flood Luke's body.
It was in pain.
Logically, Luke knew how many werewolves there were, knew how many would be out tonight and that it could be anyone of them.
The van comes to a stop and all around there are sounds of doors being slammed shut and footsteps gathering around all sides of the box. Suddenly he's moving, well the container is, Luke can hear the shallow pants of the men carrying it and he heads for the gap again, making as much movement as possible. He catches glimpses of what looks like a beat up garage, getting closer as the men carry him towards it.
“Where am I? Who the fuck are you?” Luke keeps yelling as he bangs against the sides as much as he can, who ever these people are they can be damned if he's just going to sit here quietly any more.
The next thing Luke knows is that he's been placed down, none too gently in the slightest. “I liked him better when he was unconscious.” One of the five men say, giving the box a hard kick as Luke keeps yelling and thrashing about.
“Can't we just shock him again? Just a little, I can't be arsed listening to his whining all night?”
“Tempting, but we need him awake for when the mutt gets here or else there's no plan is there.”
They're talking about Ashton and it's making Luke's gut churn with every passing second, nothing but questions and blind panic swirling around his head. He's not even thinking about what he is yelling any more, as long as he makes as much noise as possible.
What their plan is, Luke doesn't know, only that they need Ashton here, they need him to find Luke. It's all he's wanted ever since he realised there were these people in the house, just Ashton back with him, safe and happy. But that's what these people wanted too, only they want to what? Hurt Ashton? Kill him?
Either way, there wasn't a single good outcome that Luke could think of if Ashton were to find him. If it meant that he was kept safe and alive then Luke hoped he'd never see him again.
~oOo~
Ashton felt like shit.
Sure after a change it was always a rough few hours being back in human form, like having a hangover but your whole body is just one big headache. He was fine with that though, this Ashton could deal with, it was nothing compared to the feeling of Luke possibly hating him for the night before.
He needed to fix it, then everything would be alright.
When Ashton woke up, it was only a short run back to the small garage where he kept his things, his wolf knew not to trail too far away during the change. Not even bothering to put shoes on, just throwing on shorts and a hoodie over his head, Ashton jumps in his car and sets off home.
god, i hope he's still there
Halfway home and he's starting to regret skipping the minute it would have taken to put his shoes on. His feet are starting to hurt against the roughness of the car pedals but Ashton just pushes it aside. There's no sign of life when he reaches the house and for the first time Ashton is hesitant to go inside. It can be safely said that there are not many things in life that Ashton is scared of, but sat in his beat up car outside his on house, not even sure if the love of his life is still inside it, yeah he's pretty fucking scared to find out the answer.
Something is off the moment he steps out of the car. It's in the air, thick and heavy just this sense of wrong that surrounds the place and it makes Ashton pick up his pace, heart beginning to hammer faster and faster. He's thinking nothing but everything at once as he pulls the door open, the scents hitting him square in the face, scents that don't belong here, that have Ashton's blood boiling and a growl rumbling through his chest.
“Luke?” he yells, skipping the worried stage and flying right into blind panic when he spots Luke's phone at the foot of the stairs where it had clearly been dropped. Then he's hurdling up the stairs to where the smell is thickest and Ashton kind of wants to throw up at the thought of someone else being here, in his house around his boyfriend.
The desperation takes over when there's no reply, Ashton's throwing open the wardrobes, the cupboards under the stairs anywhere Luke might be. The feeling in the bedroom is making him dizzy when he takes his phone from his pocket, something happened here he knows it, can feel it. Ashton's fingers are shaking and he actually has to focus to select Calum's number from the list.
He paces the room, waiting for the other boy to pick up. “Good morning, drama queen, feeling better are -” Calum drawls and any other time Ashton would follow up on the clearly slightly pissed edge to his friends voice, but today there's no time.
“Cal, someone's taken Luke, he's not at the house.” Ashton cuts him off, hand tugging at his hair so hard it hurts. “I can smell them still, I don't know where they've gone. He's not here I've looked everywhere and I-”
“Ash!” Calum says, it's harsh and sudden but it gets him to stop talking. “Just breath yeah, think. Follow the scent as far as you can and keep in touch, I'll meet up with you soon.” he adds, calm and steady and Ashton can already start to notice his breathing evening out.
“Yeah, yeah okay, just hurry, Cal I can't loose him.”
“I will and Ash?”
“Yeah?”
“We're gonna find him, it's going to be alright.”
Ashton sighs, coming to a stand still in the middle of the room. “I really hope you're right.”
~oOo~
Luke's head hurt.
It was this damn box, he knew it was, the people who took him must have lined it with something that would keep him from breaking out. It was odd really, usually his ring kept all that kind of stuff from effecting him, so why wasn't it -
wait
my ring
where is it
Luke clasped his hands together, running over his left pinky finger like that would make the ring that was normally placed there, magically return. In the panic of everything happening he hadn't even noticed it was missing, they must have taken it when they knocked him out. Clearly these people knew just what they were doing, which didn't help to calm his nerves at all.
There was the sharp sound of metal on metal and Luke winced, it was like someone's nails on a chalkboard he hated it. The sound went right through him and the next thing he heard was the sound of voices. It had been a while since his captors had left him in this room, getting bored of stood around watching a box they knew he couldn't get out of.
The next thing that hit him was the blood. The beat of their hearts pumping away making Luke's fangs ache in his head. It had been awhile since he and Ashton had ventured out to 'top up' as his boyfriend liked to call it, they had been planning on going that afternoon after Ashton returned from his changing. Obviously that wasn't going to happen any more.
Luke curled up against himself, trying to fight down the urges, even werewolf was temping right now, even with their wolf blood running high, he could smell it. There were ways of putting off the transformation, different drugs and treatments but it wasn't considered healthy so most werewolves didn't try it. However these guys clearly had a plan, Luke could see how they would think, how easier it would be to take him when they knew for sure Ashton would be gone for hours on end.
It also meant they were more dangerous, their wolf blood being capped making them more violent and instinct driven. Luke also knew that a werewolf was at his weakest the day after a full moon. If Ashton did find him, he didn't stand a chance.
One of them passed by the box, right by the hole in the side and the rush of blood made Luke groan into his arms. But then he's being moved again, dragged this time, which does nothing to help the thumping in his head.
“ - saw him coming up the south road...shouldn't be more than a few minutes.”
ashton
“Just him?”
“No, brought a little friend to see the show too. Nothing to be worried about, from my cousin's old street, she said he's a runt just like the Irwin kid.”
calum
“Aww, bless them how cute.”
no no no no no no no
they can't be here
they can't
Luke didn't know what to do. He couldn't get out, couldn't warn Ashton than he and Calum were about to run into a trap, by the sounds of it these guys didn't mind if they took the other boy down too. He felt sick, kicking out at the sides of the box and hearing the few guys around him laugh at his efforts.
“I think someone heard us.” one of them chuckles and Luke growls, more like a hiss picturing ripping them limb from limb, screaming as he drains the life out of them, begging for their lives at his feet before he snaps their necks.
He has to get out, has to save Ashton, save Calum has to -
“Oh, look who finally made it to the party!”
“You're going to let him go right now and I might be nice and kill you quickly.” Luke hears Ashton growl, bringing his escape attempts to a stop as he throws himself up to the hole.
“Ashton, go, run, you've got to get out of here! They're going to hurt you!” he yells.
Something hard comes slamming down against the box, the clang echoes around the small space making Luke's ears sting. “Gosh, you two are just too adorable, honestly.”
“Yeah, you're almost making me feel bad about all of this. Almost.” another wolf muses, and Luke can almost see the sneer on his face, picture the way Ashton must be stood, shoulders tensed and fists turning white at the knuckles. “Woah, woah, woah, careful their, pup. One more step and you'll be sorry.”
Ashton must have tried something, it kills Luke that he can't see him. “Just let him go, or I'll-”
There's a bang, a scrape and Luke screams out. There's another hole in the top of the box, wider than the other, the same width as the metal pole one of them just shoved through the top. Sunlight streaming in, hitting the top of Luke's arm and it burns.
He doesn't have his ring, the part of his skin the light hit starts to peel away like ash until he manages to move away. There's a scuffle outside and Luke can make out Calum's strained voice, trying to calm Ashton, clearly trying to hold him back as the other boy screams at them “You bastards, you fucking bastards!”
“We told you.” the guy says, Luke figured he must be the leader at this point. “You'll be sorry, so just stand there and be nice like the good pup you are and we wont kill you're precious boyfriend...well, not just yet anyway.” There's a ominous tap against the box in warning and Luke shuffles to the corner, hand clutching his arm as he hears the sounds of Ashton's struggling die down. “Good choice, and they told me you were stupid.”
“I'll listen, just don't hurt him.” Ashton yells, voice cracking and Luke wants to hold him.
More tapping, “Now, now, you don't make the rules around here boy, so watch yourself and listen up while we explain why we're going to kill you.”