The Wolf Who Loved Me

Chapter Nine: Revenge


WARNING: Extreme violence and attempted rape.

Remus Lupin was tired. Flat out bone deep weary but he couldn’t stop smiling. He was a man loved by a good witch. For the first time in his sorry life he had something to come home to and it felt damned good. Hell he couldn’t even be upset for having to go back to the camp and deal with the Gilford Greyback situation; the sooner he settled everything the sooner he could take leave and go on holiday with Hermione. Gods, just the thought of her had him grinning like a fool. He had to force himself to leave her, had kissed her a dozen or more times on the doorstep before he had finally forced himself to leave her.


He supposed he would have to look for a place of his own when they returned from wherever they decided to vacation. He was fairly certain that Harry and the Weasleys weren’t going to take the news of their relationship well. Especially if Harry ever found out what had happened on his kitchen table. In his shower….the stairs….gods he needed to stop thinking about her or he would turn around and go back. As tempting as it was he was sore as hell and quite frankly wasn’t sure if he was up to another round with the little witch. She may be slow to get started but once she was fired up she burned out of control. His back bore the marks to prove it. He most definitely needed to find a place of his own, he couldn’t keep his hands off of her and didn’t really want Potter or anyone else hearing her scream his name.


He was still smiling when he apparated into the woods surrounding the camp. He stopped, cleared his breath and schooled his features into the familiar, morose expression that people expected to see. He reluctantly pushed Hermione and memories of making love to her repeatedly, to the back of his mind and let the mission take the forefront. When he had himself under control he followed the scent back to the circle of wagons. He was greeted by the quiet sadness of a community in mourning. The bright colors that were normal for the Gypsies had been replaced with drab black and gray. Obviously something big had happened while he was busy claiming his mate.


“Welcome back, Lupin.” Paine Greyback slipped up beside him, his face somber and eyes sad.


“What happened here?” Remus asked.


“Banishment,” Paine answered softly. “My son was banished from the clan for his behavior.”


“I am very sorry, Paine,” he said. “I apologize if I caused trouble within your family.”


“No, Gilford has been out of control for some time now. He is so much like my brother that it frightens me. He has that same temper, the same violent streak that was Fenrir’s downfall,” Paine shook his head, obviously disappointed. “Maybe if I had acted sooner instead of turning a blind eye, instead of chalking it all up to youth I could have changed it, I could have saved him.”


“Some people can not be saved,” Remus said quietly.


“A sad truth,” Paine sighed and looked up at the darkening sky. “The moon will rise soon and the pack will run for the first time without him.” Paine sniffed the air and frowned. “He is no longer nearby; I wonder where he has gone to?”


Suddenly Remus knew fear unlike anything he had known before…..




~ @ ~


Look at her, smiling and swinging that bag of groceries as if she didn’t have a care in the world. She’s different…her scent is different…the wolf actually claimed her. Revenge was going to be sweeter than originally expected.


~ @ ~



Hermione couldn’t stop smiling. She was tired and sore but happier than she could ever remember being before. She finally had him; she finally had the man she had loved in secret for too long. Life was wonderful, she thought as she carried her bag of groceries down the street towards home. Remus would be home in the morning and she wanted to have a wonderfully big breakfast laid out for him when he arrived to welcome him home.


She couldn’t wait for him to finish his mission so that they could plan their holiday and then figure out just how they intended to tell their friends about the change in their relationship. That was going to be fun. She was confident that once the shock wore off their friends would be more than happy for them. They didn’t really have a choice, it wasn’t their relationship. Gods she couldn’t stop smiling. She never dreamed that she would actually be his lover, had always expected it to remain a fantasy. The reality was FAR better than the fantasy. Remus had loved her thoroughly and every inch of her body felt it. After she had kissed him goodbye she had taken a long, hot bath where she soaked in healing potions for an hour before heading off to the market. She was happy.


She was walking quickly, trying to reach home before the daylight disappeared completely. It was the worst part of fall, when the night crept in too soon and every hour of daylight was treated as precious. Especially on a full moon. As she crossed in front of the park she wondered how Remus was faring with the Beng Ruv. What kind of reception had he received upon returning?


The trees shaded the pavement, blocking the last bit of waning light and cooling the crisp air considerably. She shivered and pulled her jacket closed, increasing her pace. She suddenly felt uneasy, as if she wasn’t alone. She looked around her at the empty streets and wondered if she were paranoid. She laughed it off nervously, blaming her over active imagination on finding out that she was in love with a real life secret agent.


Her attempts at calming herself weren’t working and the sense of unease continued to grow. She couldn’t apparate, not in the middle of muggle London where some one might see her, so she moved faster, sliding her hand into her pocket and wrapping her fingers around her wand. She didn’t move quickly enough however. A blurry image came at her from the side at preternatural speed grabbing her and dragging her into the trees. She dropped her bag, her groceries spilling onto the pavement forgotten. She couldn’t find the breath to scream as she was dragged deeper and deeper into the woods by her unknown abductor.


The movement halted when Hermione was thrown hard against the trunk of a tree, her side slamming into it with bone cracking force. The rough bark scraped the side of her face and her lungs seized momentarily with the blow causing her to gasp and wheeze. She was barely able to draw in a breath when her neck was wrenched painfully by a hand fisted in her hair. She was slammed back into the tree, the hand in her hair releasing his hold on her curls in favor of gripping her throat.


“Miss me?” Gilford Greyback snarled. Her body trembled with fear and disgust as he licked the wounded side of her face.


“What…what are you…what do you want?” She hated herself for stammering but the fear rising inside her wasn’t conducive to a smooth delivery.


“Revenge,” he said, his lips curling in a sneer. “You and your weakling wolf got me banished from my clan…because of you I will never take my place as ataman…you ruined my life, stomped on my goals and shattered my dreams.”


“I didn’t do anything…you did it yourself,” she snapped boldly, trying to get a grip on her fear. She knew that if she hoped to make it out alive that she couldn’t let the fear debilitate her, she needed to keep her wits about her.


“Things were going along just fine before you and that pussy Lupin showed up! I was going to be taking over as ataman soon, I was going to make the ministry recognize the lycan community, I was going to force them to give us the rights we have been denied for so long!” He was shaking her, her head slamming into the tree with repeated force.


“No, you were killing innocent people with your terrorist actions!” Hermione thought to distract him with conversation, slowly sliding her hand down towards her wand.


“Innocent people? You will defend them and their bigotry? How do you think those innocent people are going to respond to you being Lupin’s whore?” He leered at her, his hand tightening around her throat as he leaned into her. “I can smell him on you, in you. The coward finally took you but that’s alright, when I am finished with you his scent will no longer be detectable, he won’t even recognize what’s left.”


“Remus is no coward! YOU are the coward,” she felt a surge of triumph as her fingers wrapped around the hilt of her wand. She didn’t hesitate; she raised it high above her head and fired several red flares into the sky.


“Clever bitch,” Gilford sneered. “But by the time the aurors find you it will be too late.” His smile was nothing short of evil as he cocked his head and looked up at the darkened sky. The clouds eased back and the brightness of the full moon illuminated his face. “I’m gonna huff, and puff….and tear you to pieces!” His voice slowly transformed into a growl as he taunted her, his eyes turned a dark yellow and the pupils became narrow, dark slits. His fingers elongated and his nails extended into claws that he used to slash her clothing from neck to hip, tearing at the skin beneath with out care.


He threw her to the ground, slashing the remainder of her clothing until it was just a pile of debris on the forest floor and she was a naked, sobbing mess in the moonlight. He stood over her as his transformation completed, his bones cracking, his muscles stretching and changing until he was no longer recognizable as a man. He crouched over her, his tongue lapping at the rivulets of blood running from the angry slashes across her torso. She whimpered, too weak and in too much pain to move as he flipped her onto her stomach. She felt the cold, wet nudge of his snout at her backside, heard the sound of his sniffing as he clawed at the backs of her thighs. He was going to rape her in wolf form and she was too weak to defend herself.


She felt his paws on her shoulders and the slimy heat of his tongue on the back of her neck. She closed her eyes and prayed for unconsciousness to deliver her from the horror that was coming. Then she felt nothing, the oppressing weight was off of her and for a moment she wondered if she had crossed into the oblivion for which she had prayed. The sounds of snarling and snapping infiltrated her fuzzy brain and she managed to turn her head and open her eyes. Two werewolves fought heatedly just a few feet away. She recognized the sleek black form of Remus having seen it once years ago. He was more delicate compared to the larger, more robust form of Greyback but he fought fiercely.


She could barely focus on the tussling blur of fur and claws and gnashing fangs, she was losing a lot of blood and weakening fast. She heard a strange whooshing sound and then the yelps of injured wolves just before the clearing was filled with aurors clad in black leather trench coats. She watched as the twitching bodies of the wolves slowly transformed back into human form, the shafts of arrows sticking out of their shoulders.


“Hermione!” Harry shouted her name as he rolled her onto her back, gasping when he saw the claw marks. “Oh sweet Merlin, what happened to you?”


“Remus…” she turned her head back towards the naked, writhing bodies of Remus and Gilford surrounded by aurors.


“Remus did this?” Harry asked, his eyes narrowing.


“No…saved me…Remus…alright?” She whimpered, her back arching in pain.


“Remus will be fine…the arrows were laced with Wolfsbane and tipped with silver, it reverses the transformation and contains a were safely for arrest,” he pushed her hair back and examined her closely. “Were you bitten, Mione?”


“No…Harry…” she convulsed slightly and then fell limp in his arms.

~ @ ~

The sun was warm on her skin and she could sense its bright light behind her closed lids. She shifted, frowning slightly at the mild ache in her limbs when she did. She opened one eye at a time, blinking against the bright golden light spilling through the slats in the blinds. A plump woman with hair the color of a ripe pumpkin was standing at her bedside with her fingers clamped around her wrist. The crisp white apron and jaunty little cap told Hermione that she was a healer.


“Welcome back to the world, Sunshine,” the woman said cheerfully. “How are you feeling?”


“Achy,” Hermione managed hoarsely, suddenly aware of the dry, burning in her throat.


“Tussling with werewolves will do that to you,” the woman chuckled as she raised the head of Hermione’s bed and offered her a cup of cold water. She drank slowly, grateful for the cool liquid as it soothed the burning in her throat.


“Remus?” Hermione queried, her throat hurt too much to speak.


“Tall bloke? Brown hair and pale blue eyes? Skinny as a rail?” The healer asked. Hermione nodded and the woman grinned and stepped aside. “Would that be him?” Remus was sprawled in a chair near the window, his arm in a sling and bandages peeking out above the collar of his shirt. His hair stood straight up on one side and he snored softly. Hermione smiled and relaxed against the pillows. “Your man hasn’t left your side since you were brought in.”


“Good man,” Hermione croaked, sighing softly.


“Yes, I imagine he is,” the healer said as she plumped the pillows behind her. “Now, you rest your voice, you are healing nicely and I’d say one more day in here and you can go back home. Your man is sleeping and those other two blokes will no doubt show up again before long so rest while you can and have a bite to eat, that ginger one has eaten the last two trays brought to you while you were resting.”


Hermione smiled and nodded her head, snuggling into the warmth of her bed, her eyes on Remus as the nurse shuffled about. As if he knew she was staring at him he opened his eyes slowly, the corners of his mouth twitching into a smile when he saw her watching him. He sat up stiffly and unfolded his long body from the chair, crossing the room towards her.

“How are you?” He asked softly, reaching out with his good hand to touch her brow.


“I’m fine…how are you?” She asked.


“Better now that you are awake…I was scared to death that I wouldn’t get to you in time,” he said.


“Harry shot you,” she said, reaching out to touch his arm where it rested in the sling.


“I forgive him, he couldn’t know it was me,” he said. “I’m so sorry, Hermione. I never wanted my job to touch you that’s why I kept it so secret.”


“I shouldn’t have followed you, it’s not your fault,” she said.


“I promise it will never happen again, I won’t let anything bad touch you ever again,” he said as he pressed his lips to her brow.


“That was a lousy good morning kiss, Remus, surely you can do better than that,” she said. He chuckled and pulled her blankets back as he slid out of his shoes.


“Slide over, I want to nap beside you,” he said as he climbed into the narrow hospital cot beside her.


“No funny business now, you both need to rest and heal before you start up with that,” the healer said smiling as she cast them a sideward glance.


“Yes, ma’am,” Remus said as he settled his uninjured arm around her and cradled her against his chest. The friendly woman slipped out of the room and Remus turned his face towards her, taking her lips softly with his. “I love you, Hermione.”


“I love you, too,” she sighed, burrowing against him and closing her eyes as the warmth of the sunlight streaming through the window lulled them to sleep.