Work Text:
Allura stalked forward through the forest. Lance was by her side, rifle ready and loaded with silver bullets. They knew what they were looking for. There had been reports of werewolves nearby, at least two for sure. Although none of the locals were consistent, far too insistent on protecting the beasts, they had gathered that one was a large white wolf and the other, a smaller black wolf.
Hours ago, they had set out to find them. To eliminate them so they couldn't take more innocent lives. Lives like her father's. Lives like Lance's family who was at risk every day by these monsters. She couldn't allow it to happen. So here they were, three and a half hours later, following a trail of bright red blood.
Something had gotten wounded badly enough that it was having trouble walking correctly. The werewolves must have hunted it, and it must have been a human if the boot prints were anything to go by. Allura held her whip-sword at ready, never sure when she'd have to use it. She wasn't going to let another person get brutally murdered by these creatures.
Walking about twenty yards forward, she paused when she heard a small noise. The trail of blood was even thicker here. What had been a few drops was now a splatter of connected red liquid. Another sound filtered through the trees just in front of them, and Allura waved her hand, signaling Lance to find a perch to have a better shooting angle. As the Cuban silently moved away, she continued forward. Moving the tree branches aside, she came upon a clearing. It was sheltered enough that the warm sun could not filter through the trees, filling the air with a chilly seriousness. Right through the middle was a small river, about the depth of maybe a foot or two in the middle.
But Allura's attention was not on the scenery. She looked towards where the trail ended, just by the river's bank. What she saw angered her beyond words.
A man was laying there, obviously injured fairly badly. Allura knew right away that the blood was from him. His side was covered in it, a giant hole in the clothes and flesh. It looked like a werewolf had bitten through his side. He barely looked conscious, making small pained sounds every now and then as he panted. From where she stood, she could see white hair, the front drenched in red, and an old scar covering his nose.
By the man's side was a black wolf. It was roughly the size of a timber wolf, much smaller than the average werewolf. Its body language was aggressive as it stalked back and forth restlessly, probably ready go for the kill at any second now. Allura rushed forward as she swung her weapon at the beast, using surprise to get an edge.
The last second before the sharp edge was to slap the wolf in the side, it sprang to the side in a blur. Teeth reared back, it growled deeply as sharp fangs dripped saliva. Slit eyes on yellow sclera glared back at her, eyeing her as the wolf's pelt bristled. It stood almost over the injured man like it was guarding its lunch. The man let out another low groan, and it got agitated even more.
“Back away from the human,” Allura commanded as she held her weapon close to her chest, “Or I'll have to take action.”
Allura knew most werewolves were smart. Most could understand and loosely communicate with others, including humans. Most were smart enough not to want a bullet or blade in their body, even at the risk of losing a meal. Most would have attacked her by now or left with their tail between their legs in the opposite direction. But this one growled even deeper, compacting its body like it was ready to spring at her at any moment.
The human's hand started to move weakly, slowly going to the creature’s leg. Allura needed to distract the beast so it wouldn't attack the man any worse than he had been.
“Leave or be destroyed,” Allura frowned as the ebony wolf stayed in place, nearly hissing at this point as it puffed up, fur making it look a little more menacing, “If you touch him anymore…”
The man's hand slowly rose to the wolf's side, gripping the fur carefully. The white-haired woman expected the wolf to turn quickly and snap his arm off, but the wolf only continued to snarl at her. She steadied her sword.
“Keith,” the man spoke tiredly as more blood pooled around the wolf's paw, “Buddy.”
The wolf blinked, its eyes going all big and innocent and purple as it softened visibly. It turned its head toward the man, letting out a small whine as it licked the man's face. Said man chuckled quietly before his face crumpled with pain as he clenched his side.
Still waiting for the wolf to turn on the man, Allura was surprised when the creature let out another whine as its ears turned down in fear. The man let a fragile smile cover his face.
“I'll be okay,” he stated as he petted the wolf, “It's not that bad.”
“Not that bad?” Allura demanded as she stared at them warily, “You need medical treatment and the werewolf needs to get away from you.”
Said werewolf growled at her before the man again petted it. By this time, Allura had no idea what was happening. She raised her hand, to which the black animal glared at, to signal to Lance to wait. As she lowered it and relaxed her position to look less threatening, she wondered what she should say. Why was a werewolf protecting a human? One that was badly wounded at that…
Unless…
The werewolf, Keith, let out a soft whimper as he sniffed the man's side. The wound had stopped bleeding as badly, but it still was leaking scarlet at a steady pace. The man huffed slightly before he rubbed the wolf's face, right over the scar on its-his...right side just millimeters below his eye. Keith seemed to relax a little, body less tense as he stared back...worriedly.
“I'll be fine,” the man waved off as he cringed, “Been through worse. Just...just need to patch up my wound.”
Keith let out a sigh, which Allura had never heard a werewolf do prior to this, and buried his muzzle into the man's neck. The human (?) chuckled quietly as a pink tongue licked his skin. By now, Allura was very confused. Everyone knew these...these monsters didn't care about others, not even their packmates. They all turned on each other when there was trouble or better options.
But this one was protecting him? That was unheard of. Was it too good to be true? Were there...good ones? If there were, Allura didn't have time to question it as Keith licked the man one more time before turning to her. She tensed but soon calmed down as he gave her a considering look. He stepped out of the way as he out a tiny whine, still by the man's side. But now she could see him better, could get to him. She could see that he was missing his right arm, only a stump left in the tied up shirt.
Just like the white wolf who was said to be missing a limb.
This man was also a werewolf. This man...was the black wolf's mate. No wonder Keith had been protecting him.
She didn't even think as she moved forward. She quickly pulled out a medical kit she'd gotten from Coran and got out some disinfectant. Silently asking for permission from the protective wolf, she applied it when the wolf nodded back. Said man hissed slightly at the pain but soon settled as Keith licked his face. She felt herself grin at the display as she brought out her bandages and started to wrap them around his side.
“What's your name?”
“Shiro,” the man answered before he rubbed his face tiredly, “I think we're okay, Keith. She would have attacked by now.”
The wolf huffed before nuzzling the man's scar, getting a laugh from him.
“I know,” he responded as he smiled and pressed his forehead to Keith's fluffy one, “You're just worried.”
The wolf let out another huff as he gave her a quick glance before gazing back to Shiro. If she had missed the look of love on his face before, she saw it now. The glow those unusual eyes took on, the tiny smirk that turned up the corners of his mouth, the tongue that hung out of his mouth slightly, the wagging tail. He was happy with Shiro. And Shiro was happy with him.
“What happened?” She asked as she inspected the other shallow injuries on the man, “It looks like a werewolf bite.”
Keith snarled and paced angrily at those words. Shiro looked at him worriedly as if he were afraid the other would rush off at any time. If she thought he was scary back a few minutes before, she clearly had not seen him that mad then. She watched as his eyes shrunk to near dots as his fangs elongated into even sharper teeth. His fur got more jagged all around, giving him a wild look to his whole body like a rabid dog. As saliva dripped from his jaws, he stalked back and forth. Allura didn't know what to do, but luckily, Shiro did.
“Keith,” the wolf refused to even look at him, “Keith. I'm okay. He won't get me again. She won't get me again.”
Keith let out a deep growl as he stalked forward a few steps, his tail rigid and stiff.
“I know,” Shiro reassured as he grinned, “But you found me. You saved me, Keith.”
He let out another low rumble before his features slowly turned back to normal as he settled beside the werewolf in human form.
“I was captured by a group of werewolves,” Shiro stated as both of them stared at her with the same cool looks, “And Keith got me out. But in the process-"
“You got bitten by Haggar,” a new voice joined them as Allura nearly jumped in surprise. By Shiro's side was now a human. His skin was pale, the scar on his cheek a darker shade of pink. He was dressed in black pants and a red shirt, boots a mix of bright red, whites, and black. Ebony hair was long enough to cover the nape of his neck and part of his face as amethyst eyes stared at Shiro with guilt.
“Hey, that's not your fault, Keith,” Shiro reassured him as he wrapped him into a warm hug, “If you hadn't come to save me, I'd still be there. By now, I probably would have been turned into Zarkon's minion or one of the witch's were-beasts.”
“Zarkon?” Allura demanded in shock as she watched them exchange glances, the smaller tucked into the other's side, “You've met him? He hadn't been seen in many years.”
“His group captured me about a month ago,” Shiro stared off into the distance, and Keith picked up his mood, letting out a small growl as he glared at a fish swimming in the river nearby, “Again.”
“Again?”
“They had him for a year before that,” Keith huffed as he hugged the other close, “But a wolf from my mom's pack snuck him out. We've been on the run ever since.”
“But Zarkon found us,” Shiro stated.
“And I wanted to stay and protect Shiro but-"
“I told him to get to safety,” Shiro muttered as he stared at Keith who looked away, “I couldn't let them have Keith. It's bad enough what they did to me, what they forced me to do...I couldn't let that happen to Keith.”
Allura felt her heart warm at that statement. If she had doubts before, they evaporated at that. It was clear that they loved each other very much. They would do anything to protect each other. The woman admired that about them. She quickly got an idea.
“I could use your help,” she stated as she saw them both turn their heads to her at the same time, “It could be dangerous, and you might not want to risk it. We will be working together with a few more people than just me and my partner if you agree. But I think you'll want to.”
“Sure,” Shiro shrugged as the two shared a look before he winced slightly in pain, “What are we doing?”
“We're taking down Zarkon and all of his followers like Sendak and Haggar,” she stated firmly as their eyes widened, “I refuse to let them hurt more people. To take innocent lives. And now, I will not let them touch you. Will you join us?”
“Yes,” Keith let out a growl as he grinned, hugging Shiro and burying his face into the man's neck, “I will rip them apart if they've touched my mate.”
“Keith,” Shiro huffed before he chuckled, “We're in.”
Allura smiled. She really meant it. She didn't want to see their love being torn apart. Not when they had this going for them. Not when they were so supportive and caring about each other.
She hoped she and Lance could be the same someday.
As they pushed themselves up to walk away, Allura grinned.
“My name is Allura,” she nodded as they smiled, “And welcome to our group, Voltron.”