I would appreciate it if you read the note at the end! Thx.

***

    Jeff came up beside me, immediately tensing up. A few other proxies like Hoodie, BEN, and Sadie followed.

Huge, vicious looking wolves were lined up in front of the mansion, standing tall with their heads straight and their ears forward in alert. Muscles rippled beneath their glossy pelts, their eyes sparkling with malice.

One man with dark black hair stood in front of them all, smiling cruelly. He had hazel brown eyes and a well built body, and looked enticing despite his venomous gaze.

"H-how did you know my name?" I asked, moving closer to Jeff for minimum comfort. It was weird seeing my own kind. They had bad intentions, I could just feel it radiating off of them.

"We know more than you think." he responded, his voice deep and charming. I shivered, averting my eyes instinctively.

"Why are you here?" Slenderman growled, stepping forward.

"We needed a new member, of course." he said, shifting his gaze to me. I froze, clenching my fists. They wanted to recruit me?

"And we also needed to give these two back." he sighed, snapping his fingers. A few wolves stepped aside and shoved a couple figures to the ground with their scarred muzzles.

"Masky, EJ?!" Clockwork said, clutching onto Sally. My heart sped up as I recognized the two.

Masky grunted in pain, blood beginning to pour onto the ground and stain the grass dark red. EJ looked completely broken, not even bothering to groan in pain. Sally whimpered, burying her face in Clockwork's side.

Hoodie gasped and rushed forward, grabbing his friends and pulling them away from the wolves. The wolves curled their lips in a silent snarl as he got too close, causing Hoodie to wince slightly.

    The man's eyes followed Hoodie, as if he was daring him to get any closer.

"Get them inside." Slenderman ordered, walking up to the man. Hoodie and BEN hurried to get them inside, barely able to hold them up.

"(Y/N) works for me. She's a proxy. I'm not just going to hand her over to you." Slenderman said firmly, his tentacles flailing behind him.

"Why not let her decide." The man replied calmly, crossing his arms and sizing up to Slender.

"I'm not going." I spoke before they could even turn their heads to me.

    It was a tempting offer, but judging by the awful things I was assuming they had been doing to intimidate me into joining them, they definitely weren't the best pack. Slender relaxed, almost seeming relieved.

The wolves growled and lifted their tails as a sign of dominance. Their body language changed from neutral to aggressive in just one second. Their ears pinned to their heads and they bared their fangs, their muzzles scrunching up as they snarled.

    I stood up straight, trying to seem more confident than I felt.

"Calm." the man hissed, causing every wolf that got worked up to immediately avert their gazes and tuck their tails between their legs. I arched my eyebrow. It was crazy how much dominance he had over them.

"You'll regret that." The man chuckled, his eyes gleaming with malice, "But remember, you can stop it all with just one decision."

He turned his head and signaled something to the wolves, shifting into a chocolate brown wolf and sprinting away in the lead.

A few of the wolves snarled and lashed their tails as they followed, directing angry glares at me.

We were all silent as we watched them disappear into the trees. My palms were sweating, my breathing beginning to slow as I forced myself to calm.

Jeff faced me, his face full of stress, "I.. they.. the flashbacks.." he gasped quietly. He looked hurt and lost, his eyes in a daze. I could almost feel it radiating off him.

"It's gonna be fine.." I replied after the shock wore off, reaching forward and gently squeezing his hand for a split second before I could stop myself.

He winced slightly, as if I had burned him with just a little contact. I moved my hand away, embarrassed of my actions.

"We all need to discuss this." Slenderman said, and I felt a pulse of electricity run through me.

When I could see again we were all standing in a room together. I saw some proxies I hadn't ever been introduced to and some proxies I hadn't even seen before.

A couple people groaned at the shock, looking disoriented.

"Patrols will be increased. I will be gone for a day or two, it's time I get the right things to reinforce that barrier. No one is to go out alone, and everyone is to begin training again." Slenderman got straight to the topic, not even waiting for everyone to come to.

"What's the big deal?" LJ asked, rubbing his forehead as he comprehended everything.

"We have a threat from a wolf pack living nearby." Slenderman answered. LJ arched his eyebrow, looking at me as if it was my fault.

"Hoodie. I need you, LJ, Silver, and BEN to patrol the forest. Bring Seedeater." Slenderman demanded.

"What about Masky and EJ?" Hoodie asked, seeming worried.

"I'll handle them." Slenderman sighed, then got to ordering everyone around. Jeff and I were assigned to go steal as many weapons and other materials as possible. It was almost as if Slenderman expected a battle.

"We aren't going to attack them or anything, right?" I asked Slenderman as everyone went about their own business. Soon it was just Slenderman and I standing alone in the living room.

"We're going to do whatever we need to do. Now leave the planning to me and go do your job." Slender said, teleporting away before I could say anything else.

"Might as well go ahead and steal some weapons." Jeff said out of the blue from behind, causing me to jump a little. I didn't realize he was behind me.

    He seemed like he had snapped out of whatever trance he was in, his confident posture back and his chest puffed out once more.

"Yeah, let's get this over with." I sighed, deciding not to question his earlier state.

    It was obviously a sensitive topic. But I could only assume that the wolves triggered flashbacks from his night terror. That was the only thing that made sense.

    The one thing that seriously bothered me, though, was the thought of harming my own kind.

It just didn't feel right.

***

Ello guys! A mate of mine has published a new story. They were one of the first people to read my Chains book, and I appreciate them for staying with me for so long!

Here's their profile lovelemons101
It would mean a WHOLE lot if you checked it out! Thx if ya did <3

Thorn, Out