New Life in a New World Ch. 01

"Hello?" John said quietly, no one was inside.

Rollo moved past John and pulled back the curtain slightly, John slipped through to the other side. John saw two beds on one side of the room and a cabinet that looked to contain herbs, cloth bandages and other medical supplies on the opposite side. At the center was a wooden table that was waist high and with a pillow at one end. This was their version of an examination table. John sat patiently on the table as Rollo left the house. Just like back home, he was sitting by himself in a doctor's office waiting the doctor to finally arrive. John smiled, guess some things never change. A few minutes later, he heard the door open and close again as someone entered the house. As the curtain pulled back, John expected to see Rollo but instead a female lycan entered. She was shorter that the male lycans but still taller than John. Her fur was primarily reddish in color with white around the lower half of her muzzle and down to her chest. Her hair however was brunette and flowed down her back. She wore a dark, emerald green dress with yellow detailing that followed the curves of her body and neckline. A slit in the right side of her dress exposed her leg from the mid-thigh down.

"I am sorry to keep you waiting", she said in a tender, almost motherly, voice. "I'm Anya and you must be the human everyone is talking about."

John nodded, "Yes, name's John. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Well enough with the pleasantries, we need to get you fixed up quickly," she said putting her hands together, "First thing's first, please remove your shirt."

John pulled stripped off his t-shirt and tossed it aside. It was covered in blood and ripped up from the imp and the IED explosion earlier. John got a better look at the bandages that Lydia had wrapped around him while he was unconscious. John noticed Anya's nose flinch a little. John realized that he had not had a shower in three days and probably did not smell pleasant.

"Sorry, I bet I smell like a yak."

Anya smiled, "You probably have not smelled a lycan that had just come back from a one week hunt during a rain storm. So don't worry, I've smelled worse. Now please lay down."

John laid down on the table, resting his head on the pillow. Looking down at his chest wound, blood was still flowing out and over his chest. Anya walked over to her cabinet and pulled out a jar that contained a fine, black powder. After scooping a handful of the powder, she sprinkled it over John's wound. John flinched as initially it stung, however the stinging faded and was replaced by a tingling sensation. The blood started to coagulate at a much faster rate than it would normally, the bleeding eventually slowed.

While Anya was observing his progress, she placed her furred hand on John's toned abs. As soon as she touched him, her heart started to flutter. She let out a small gasp that did not go unnoticed by John. When he heard her gasp, John raised his eyebrows with a slightly worried look. John was afraid that she found something wrong, other than the fact his body had gone through hell in the past twenty four hours. Instead she turned to and gave him a flirtatious smile. Was she attracted to him? That question alone planted a dangerous seed in his mind.

He looked her over, despite not being human her feminine qualities were very clear. The plunging neckline exposed the tops of her ample breasts. The form fitting dress hugged her torso and showed off her womanly hips. Even her wolf-like face was beautiful in it's own way, he was even captured by her icy blue eyes. What the hell was wrong with him? Beautiful or not, she was a lycan and he was a human. But that still did not keep him from admiring her.

"Take off your pants," Anya said, breaking John's train of thought.

"Wait Wha..?" John was caught completely off guard. Anya pointed to the splint tied to his leg and he realized what she had meant. John unstrapped his kneepads while Anya assisted with untying his splint and boot laces, she did not want him moving his legs too much. Once he unbuckled his belt, she helped pull his ACU pants off of him. Now in only his underwear, John felt more exposed than he wanted to be and that made him rather uncomfortable. As Anya worked his calf, John decided to strike up a conversation to help ease the tension.

"You and Radulf are not like the other lycans, you both have shown kindness toward me. Why is that?"

Anya smiled, "I can't speak for Radulf, but some of us have not let ourselves get caught up in the anti-human sensationalism. Also, I owe you for what you did for me today."

"Oh?" John was puzzled, they had only just met and he did not recall seeing her during the attack.

"You saved my daughter today and I can't thank you enough for that."

Her daughter? John replayed the imp attack in his head and remembered the little lycan girl. John didn't really think much about what he did, he was simply trying to protect those in harms way.

"The little girl, right?" John replied, "I hope she's doing alright."

Anya nodded, "She had deep lacerations on her back but the important thing is that she's alive, thanks to you. Because of that, you may always consider me a friend." Anya patted his shoulder, "Word is already getting spreading about the human who protected the other lycans, which I think may change a few perceptions around here."

John looked back down at his leg, his calf was very swollen. He grimaced when she touched the break. However, despite having two inch claws, she was rather gentle with her hands. She reached to the table next to her and grabbed a towel which she handed to John.

"It's a nasty broken bone, but nothing that can't be fixed."

Fixed? John wondered how exactly they could fix it. Obviously they did not possess any real technology yet Anya acted like his broken bone was nothing more than a wound that needed to be stitched.

"Out back you will find a warm bath, water's already heated. Flip the sand timer and soak until the timer has finished."

"What about these?" John asked, pointing to the gashes on his chest. The bleeding had stopped but the wounds were still wide open, possibly prone to infection.

"Don't worry," Anya said reassuringly, "It will all be taken care of during your bath."

John continued to stand there in disbelief and started to doubt her medical ability. Sure she had the hemostat powder, which did seem pretty advanced for this kind of culture, but she would have at least put stitches on him. Noticing that he had not moved, Anya shot him a seductive look.

"Did you want me to join you?" she said with a wink.

John gulped, "Nope. I...uh...think I'm ok."

John quickly turned and made his way toward the back of the house. A pair of sliding doors opened up to a patio in the back. At the edge of the patio was a large metal tub lined with wood with artistic engraving on the outside, it looked nice enough to put modern day Jacuzzis to shame. Underneath, John saw a small, smoldering fire. The water inside the bath was not clear, it was cloudy. He could smell an herbal scent coming from the water, almost like lavender. At the foot of the tub was a large hourglass, about two feet high. John turned over the heavy hourglass, he guessed it would take a few hours for the top bulb to empty.

"I hope she doesn't plan to eat me," John laughed to himself.

John stripped off his underwear and placed it along with the towel on a table that stood next to the bath. John cautiously placed one foot in the bath, the water was very warm but not scalding hot. His foot then touched the bottom of the metal tub, he breathed a sigh of relief when it did not burn him. He put his other leg in and sat down until the water came to his neck. John noticed a pillow behind him, he moved it closer to the edge of the tub and rested his head. The sun was directly above him, but it was cloudy enough that John's face would not get sun burnt. He laid back, letting the warmth of the water envelop him. The lavender scent relaxed his muscles and his eyelids felt heavy. It was not long before John drifted off to sleep.

****************************************************

It was a beautiful Tuesday morning, sunny without a single cloud in the sky. In fact, John could not recall any other time that the sky was so vividly blue. The cloudless day allowed no impediment to the sun's warmth. You could not get a more perfect day than today. Unfortunately, John was stuck in his windowless third period math class. He was sixteen and starting off his junior year at his New York high school.

He never liked his math class, or many of his other classes. He did ok, got average grades but struggled sometimes. The only positive thing about high school that he could think of was the fact that his best friend Terry attended the same school. To make matters worse, the period had only just begun. A sudden announcement over the intercom interrupted the monotony.

"Teachers, we ask that you continue with your lesson plans for the day. You will be notified if there are any changes. Thank you!"

"What was that all about?" one of the students asked. Everyone turned to the teacher, expecting an answer.

"I really don't know," she replied. She was just as confused as her students, but was determined to find out. She walked over to the phone on the wall and dialed the number for the main office, "Barb, it's Jill. What's going on? My students are getting frightened."

There were a few silent snickers and giggles in the classroom. No one was frightened, but the teacher was being her typical drama queen self. Suddenly their teacher let out an audible gasp and covered her mouth in shock. The room became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. The teacher hung up the phone, her hands were visibly shaking.

"Um...class," she said, the shock was still noticeable in her voice. "I want you to open your books to page thirty seven and complete problems one through five."

"What's going on?" another student asked suspiciously.

The teacher shook her head, "No more questions, just get started. I will collect these at the end of class." A chorus of groans filled the classroom as students reluctantly started to pull out their books and papers. "You may work with a partner if you wish," the teacher added now attempting to smile again and act like everything was normal.

Like most activities, John chose to work alone. He opened his book and began working on the first problem. If there was one thing that made this math class so terrible, it was the textbook. It was worse than useless as far as he was concerned. Each question had five parts that consisted of first answering the question then rerunning the calculations four more times just to be sure it was right the first time. The only light at the end of the tunnel was that John would not have to take any more God forsaken math classes next year.

With ten minutes left in the period, the teacher's phone suddenly rang. John seemed to be the only student to take notice as everyone else was scrambling to finish their assignments. John looked up as the teacher answered the phone.

"Hello?" she then looked directly at John, "Yes, he's here, why do you ask?"

John quickly looked back down at his book, hoping the teacher did not notice him eavesdropping on her. He glanced back up and saw that his teacher was still looking at him, except something was not right. She looked at him with sadness and sorrow. She proceeded to hang up the phone and breathed a heavy sigh.

"John, you need to report to the office. Bring your things with you."

There were a lot of "Oohs" coming from the students as John packed up his things and walked out of the classroom. It was not the first time John had been to the office. As he walked down the hallway, he glanced into some of the other classrooms. Almost all the teachers had serious and mournful looks on their faces and even some of the students were crying. This had to be more than just getting stuck in school on a sunny day. When John entered the office, his best friend Terry was sitting in the lobby. Terry's mother was sitting next to him. Their families have been very close to each other ever since Terry and John became friends in kindergarten.

"What did you tell them I did this time, Terry?" John laughed, still clueless as to why he was there.

Terry and his mother were not laughing and neither was anyone in the office. Instead, they all looked at John with the same look his teacher had given him earlier.

"John," Terry's mother replied with a shaky voice, holding back tears. "We are taking you home with us, something's happened."

*************************************************

The sun was fading as John awoke, painting the sky in bright red and blue. He glanced over and saw that the sand timer was now empty. The water which had been warm earlier had now cooled and the lavender smell had faded. The water had also cleared up and John could see his own body beneath the surface. However, what he saw amazed him.

The open wounds on his chest were completely gone. Only a few, faint discolored lines remained like the last signs of a fading scratch. However, some of his older war scars still remained. John removed the bandages on his torso, there was almost no evidence of the shrapnel wounds at all. He reached for his lower right leg, his muscles were still sore. He prepared himself for some pain when he grabbed his leg, but felt none. In fact, he did not feel any break at all, his bone was intact. What astonished him was that it was like his body has healed naturally. Whatever was in the water must have forced his body to heal itself at a significantly faster rate than it normally would.

John stood up and climbed out of the bath when he realized that he was not alone. He looked across the courtyard to see Lydia standing in the doorway, catching him exposed. Her soft golden eyes were fixed on him as he stood before her in all his glory. John quickly grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his waist, covering himself. Lydia had already seen everything, she was transfixed on his near naked body. She bit her lower lip as she thought about what was beneath his towel, igniting a desire with her.

"Um, can I help you?" John asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lydia was snapped out of her daze, blushing when she realized that John had caught her ogling him. She was so distracted by what she had saw that she had completely forgotten why she had come there. She continued to stand there, stupefied until she realized that she was holding his folded clothes in her arms.

"Y...Yes," she managed to sputter. "I have your...um......clothes here. I will...uh...will wait for you outside. I'll take you to where we...uh...I mean you will be sleeping."

"Ok?" John replied awkwardly. Lydia walked towards him and set his clothes and boots on the table. He reached for his pants when he saw that Lydia was still standing there.

"So, I'll meet you outside?" John said trying to grab her attention.

"Uh, yes, of course," she replied, embarrassed. In a hurry, she left the courtyard.

What the hell was that!? John pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to make sense of what just happened. Less then twenty four hours ago she was willing, no, eager to kill him. She wanted blood so bad that she argued with her own father, the leader of the village. He figured that his actions earlier would have earned some respect from her. But he did not expect her to act like a distracted, horny schoolgirl around him. At least he was making progress. The cold air was starting to get to John, so he continued drying himself off. It had been a few days since he had a proper bath and boy did it feel good. He then dropped the towel and reached for his pants.

"I can see why she likes you," came a voice from the other side of the courtyard.

John looked back across to see Anya now standing in the doorway. Again, he was caught completely exposed.

"Jesus!" John cried, scrambling to grab any article of clothing to cover himself with. "What is with you people and barging in like that?" John grabbed his pants and made an attempt to haphazardly cover himself.

She simply shrugged in response. Unlike Lydia, Anya was not embarrassed to have walked in on him. Instead, she looked him over sizing him up. The wolfess had a hungry, predatory look on her face and a devious smile. Her icy blue eyes giving him a come-hither look. John simply stood there slack-jawed, completely caught off-guard by her brazen advances. While flattered that she found him attractive, he still could not get over the whole non-human thing. However, a part of him did suggest that it could be fun.

"You human males are so easy to tease," Anya laughed. "You want to say no, but a part of you is thinking about it." She giggled again watching John struggle with a reply. "Don't worry, I won't force you into anything....yet. Besides, I think Lydia wants you first."

"Oh?" John was able to finally say.

"She was watching you, intensely for a whole fifteen minutes before you woke up."

As she turned to leave she gave her ass a little shake in John's direction, her tail accentuating her movements. John looked down at his crotch, clearly aroused by the situation with both women. It betrayed his rational thinking and was begging him to accept Anya's invitation.

"Shut up," John said, looking down at himself.

******************************************

Lydia stood nervously outside Anya's home. Her legs were shaking and hands twitching as she thought about what had happened between her and John. She had never felt this way about anyone, much less a human. Despite being half-human, she spent her life trying to be accepted by the other lycans. She pushed herself to become one of the best hunters and fighters in the village. She did not have the brute strength that full lycans had, but she was quick and agile. Like most lycans, she disliked humans. They were dangerous, uncaring and unkind creatures who wrongfully called themselves civilized. They took what they pleased and killed what they did not understand. She had always considered her human side a curse. She could never be fully accepted in a lycan or human community, only tolerated.

Lydia thought John was like other humans, dangerous and cruel. When she found him wounded, she wanted to leave him to die. But her father gave her strict instructions so she tended to his wounds. She noticed many older scars on his body which she assumed were from past battles. She almost felt sorry for the suffering he had gone through, however, she had no idea just how deep that suffering was. Then she saw him help defend her village, at that moment she had a window to his heart. He had been beaten and bullied by her people and had no reason to fight for them. But that did not stop him from risking his life to help others, even those who hated him.

Her heart began to flutter as she thought about him, she quietly put her hand over her chest. This man had ignited a flame inside her and she could feel it consuming her. She wanted to feel his touch, his caress, his lips against hers. She pictured his naked, athletic body that she got a glimpse of earlier. A wetness formed between her legs as she imagined her hands on his broad chest. She wanted him badly.

There was one thing she needed to take care of first. Tomorrow she would take him to the mountains to see the one who best understood the prophecy. If her father was right about John, they would have a long journey together. When she was asked to take the adolescent lycans on their first hunt, she would spar with each one of them. That way she was confident that they could fight to her standards and she planned to do the same with John. She cracked a small smile when she realized she could also get back at him for being difficult earlier.