Stricken

Part One

He did not just say what I think he did.

“You want me to what?”

“Kill me,” the young man repeated, in a slightly firmer tone of voice than before.

Angel blinked. Cautiously taking another step towards Xander, he reached out again and grasped the shaking boy by the shoulder.

Snarling viciously, Xander snapped at him with sharp white teeth, eyes flickering between dark brown and an eerie yellow-green. Angel released him and took a step back, eyes widening at the low inhuman sound coming from the boy’s throat that made his demon perk up and take notice.

“Xander? Why would I kill you?” he asked slowly, calmly, watching the boy intently. A flash of impatience and a resigned desperation crossed Xander’s face a split second before two rough, tanned hands shoved Angel hard in the chest, knocking him backwards against his desk with a strength the boy had never had before.

“Enough with the talking, more with the killing. Why do you care ‘why’? Because we damn well hate each other. Because you can’t fool me and I know you and Angelus are the same fuckin’ person. Because I sent you to Hell. I don’t give a shit why you kill me, Deadboy,” he mocked derisively, a twisted smirk on his face as he stared at Angel’s shocked expression, “just fuckin’ do it, already!”

He actually saw red. Something in the back of Angel’s mind snorted in amusement that this teenage human boy could bring him to the brink of rage, that fine line between demon and soul, like nothing else in the world. A smaller part was shocked at the words coming out of the boy’s mouth because it was the first time he’d ever heard the boy curse and he had to bite back the desire to tell him to watch his mouth.

The rest of his mind was battling between swallowing his demon’s howling, clawing fury and the brief, but oh so sweet, desire to give in and snap the insolent brat’s neck.

It was the glimpse of sheer terror in those dark chocolate eyes that helped him grit his teeth and push down the rage still clouding his vision. Something was terribly wrong with the young man in front of him, something that was forcing him to provoke a vampire he hated with all of his heart into ending his life.

“What the hell is going on, Xander?” Angel finally asked, his demon’s howling having subsided into growled mutterings. The boy’s face fell, shoulders slumping as he once again curled up into himself, as he realized the vampire wasn’t going to do what he wanted him to do.

“Please, Angel. I don’t have time to explain, I can feel it.. Fuck, it burns,” he gasped out, eyes flickering upwards to stare into Angel’s, letting him see the fear, pain and confusion glistening there. “It’s clawing and tearing inside me and I can’t stop it. I tried, please, I really tried. I’m not strong enough,” Xander moaned softly, fingers digging into his arms as the violent shudders wracked his body again.

Heart twisting at the anguish in the teenager’s voice, Angel straightened up and was about to walk back over to the trembling, shaking boy, but something in Xander’s posture, the new-found grace and strength, and the dark, damp scent of pine and musk, of biting cold air and forest made him freeze.

“Wolf,” he whispered roughly, suddenly remembering where he had smelled the tantalizing scent before, of Angelus facing down Oz in wolf form back in Sunnydale over the bleeding body of some poor broken girl. Xander’s head snapped up and feral yellow eyes locked on his own, round black pupils curving oval.

He opened his mouth to say something but Xander shuddered convulsively, with a low, harsh moan, and in a blur that even Angel’s senses couldn’t see, flesh rippled, cloth fell away and thick, rich fur took its place, leaving a massive black wolf crouched on the floor, air crackling with the hot electric smell of magic.

Bristling, snarling, its intent yellow gaze never left his as it crouched there only feet from him, muscles locked and trembling with the urge to spring. Knowing that just one quick movement could finish with him on the wrong end of those deadly and sharp fangs, Angel tried to push his demon down, but it wanted the fight, wanted the rush and clash of teeth and claws, wanted battle with something worthy for once.

It almost made him snort, that his demon was all of the sudden deciding that Xander just might be a worthy opponent. Later, he would wonder if it was the glimpse of humor in his eyes or the sudden sound of Cordelia’s footsteps in the hall that made the wolf attack.

Sharp claws raked over his chest as Xander sprang, the force of it knocking him backwards even as he brought his hands up to protect his neck from the sharp white snapping fangs. Distantly, he heard Cordelia scream but he was too busy trying to get a grip on the thick silky fur to do more than warn her to get out. He heard her start to argue but by then his own face rippled, letting his demon emerge, and the combined sound of their viciously feral snarls sent her running.

Feeling the scorching hot breath and wet slick feel of saliva on his neck, Angel fisted a large hand in the ruff along the back of Xander’s neck, yanking him backwards before those teeth could clamp down on his throat. The wolf yelped and growled, struggling to twist its neck away from his hard grip, sleekly muscular forelegs scrambling for purchase as it was lifted into midair, claws leaving great gouges and slashes down Angel’s chest.

“Fuck,” Angel snarled, the razor-sharp nails feeling like a hot knife cutting through his flesh. Not to mention the fact that Xander had totally destroyed his expensive shirt. Cordelia was going to kill him.

Being careful to not use his full strength, because it still was Xander under all the fur and fangs, he slung the heavy wolf away from him, trying not to wince as it impacted the wall with an almost sickening thud. He didn’t want to hurt the boy, just bring him back under control.

But Xander merely shook his head violently, lips curling back to bare his fangs at Angel as he scrabbled to get all four legs back under him, tail twitching in agitation as he crept closer, hackles rising, muscles bunching for another launch. Expecting it this time, Angel moved quickly and spun around as the wolf leaped, getting around behind it and slamming it into the floor.

Hooking a strong forearm around Xander’s thick neck, Angel pressed him flat into the carpet, ignoring the fierce struggles and snapping jaws as he waited for the boy to tire. When Xander stopped writhing underneath him and lie panting and wheezing, tongue lolling out from open jaws as Angel pressed his arm harder against the boy’s windpipe, the vampire listened to his demon and leaned forward to bury his fangs in the nape of the wolf’s neck.

It was far from enjoyable, although the brief taste of his blood was scaldingly hot and spiced with magic, because Angel’s ears rang from the deafening howl Xander made and his mouth was full of thick black fur. It was necessary though, his demon insisted, to show Xander exactly who was in charge around there.

“Angel!” Coredlia’s screech was almost as loud as Xander’s howls and Angel just had to flinch when he looked up into the admonishing gaze of her and Wesley, feeling a bit like the cartoon cat trying to pretend he hadn’t ate the bird, while feathers peeked out from his mouth.

Too bad it wasn’t him.

---

After reassuring his friends that no, he hadn’t been trying to kill Xander and yes, he did know how much that shirt had cost her and no, he wasn’t evil again just because he was found biting into the throat of a live creature, they finally listened to him and brought him the chains from his room so he could try to keep Xander from attacking again.

Eventually, he gave up trying to keep the thick chains on the squirming wolf. It would have been easier with two people, but he didn’t want to chance that either Cordelia or Wesley might get bit. Luckily, his friends had constructed an Angelus-proof cage in the basement, in the event of another actress spiking his wine with a happy drug, and he was able to drag the young wolf down there.

Not that it was easy, with Xander growling and snapping at him, but the whole ‘showing dominance’ thing seemed to have worked a little and while the wolf was seething, he wasn’t attacking. Tossing Xander into the cage, Angel slammed the door shut and locked it, just as the wolf hurled himself at the metal bars, snarling.

Angel snarled back, flashing fang and golden eyes, and Xander huffed, before growling a little more and turning to pace along the inside of the large cage. Hearing Cordelia and Wesley come into the room behind him, Angel turned and smiled at them tiredly. His body was aching from the fierce struggle earlier, Xander having been a lot stronger than he had expected.

“What happened to him?” Cordelia asked hesitantly, watching her ex-boyfriend pace and growl in the confines of the cage. Wesley was watching intently and Angel could practically see the wheels turning in his head as the former Watcher tried to remember all he had read about were-wolves.

“I don’t know,” he answered, looking back at the large black wolf. “We didn’t get much time to talk before he changed. He.. wanted me to kill him.”

“What!?” she yelped and he turned to find her glaring daggers at him.

“I said no!” he assured her and she nodded, though she continued to frown at him.

He sighed and gestured towards the cage as Xander sat back on his haunches and howled, an eerie echoing sound that sent chills down his spine, saying, “You guys might as well go home. It’s gonna be a long night.”

They glanced at each other, then shook their heads.

Wesley said quietly, “No, we’ll stay and keep you company. I’ll go start some water for tea and coffee and look around for a pack of cards, or something.”

Nodding, Angel walked slowly over to the small table and dropped down into a hard chair, feeling his muscles protesting. Cordelia glanced at him and then back at Xander, a small frown still on her face. “I’m going to go get dinner for me and Wes, you want anything?” she asked.

He shook his head and then nodded, sheepishly, feeling his chest burn and itch as it slowly started healing. “Um.. Can you heat up some blood, if you don’t mind? It’ll help these close up faster,” he said quietly, hating that he asked her but not wanting to leave Xander down there by himself.

She blinked, then glanced down at his chest and winced. “Yeah, he got you good. Score one for the geek.”

There was a thud and a warning growl as Xander threw himself at the bars of the cage again and she blanched a little. “Okay! So you aren’t a geek anymore,” she said quickly, before straightening her spine and glaring back at the keen yellow eyes. “So touchy,” she huffed, before turning back to Angel, who was trying hard to suppress his amusement.

Her eyes narrowed but she didn’t comment, just started up the stairs, calling back that she would be back down in a few minutes.

Shaking his head silently, Angel cocked his head at the bright, intelligent gaze of the wolf. “So you’re still Xander in there?” he mused softly, watching the silky black ears perk up at the sound of his name.

“I know this has to be hard on you, but is it really so bad that you’d come all the way here to try and make me kill you?” The mournful yowl he got in response to that made him shiver and he sighed.

Tomorrow morning, they were going to have a nice long talk, whether the boy liked it or not.

A/N: going with the non-Btvs were-wolf route, meaning they turn totally into wolves, not the half man horror movie things