Frea

Chapter 1: I'm normal. Definitely

————

Let me start this by saying: I'm not a freak.

Really. I'm not. I'm a normal, middle class, university educated woman. Do I also shift into a giant dog every full moon? Yes.

But aside from turning furry once a month, I am completely normal.

Mostly.

Kind of.

You see, I've been living life in a series of mediocre events. Even my infection with the werewolf virus was mediocre. I accidentally got a needle-stick injury at work.

I used to be a nurse before I was a furry, werewolf-turning beast. But once you become infected with the werewolf virus and people find out, they don't want you working at a hospital. You know, just incase you infect them too. Which is fair enough. But anyway, I got a needle stick injury from a junkie who also happened to turn furry. And voila: now I also turn furry.

There was no dramatic attack like in the movies. No cool superhero story where I fall into a vat of contaminated dog bones and saliva-covered tennis balls and

wham-bam!!

I turn into SuperWolf.

None of that.

Some dickhead junkie was careless with his needle, and thus, another werewolf was created.

It was freaky at first - scary actually. You know, I lost my job because the hospital found out what had happened. Then my family disowned me, because they didn't really want a werewolf in the family. Which, you know, kind of really sucked.

Then there are other things you don't think about, like food. You got to get food and pretty regularly. Not just a salad will do either, you've got to have a hefty amount of raw protein in there. I feel like I'm eating constantly. Although the upside to being a werewolf is the metabolism. The downside to being a werewolf is also a metabolism. When most people begin starving their stomach rumbles and they get aches and pains. When I begin starving I go crazy and kill a bunch of animals and people. No one tells you about that shit.

Also, no one tells you about the whole wolf clan thing. Luckily for me, I'm not the only werewolf in Melbourne. There's a whole huge clan of us. They're nice, but also annoying. There's this whole hierarchy thing that means I get bossed around by macho alphas like every second day. They have all these weird rules and rituals which are just an absolute headache to even remember.

It's a whole

thing

.

Part of that

thing

is keeping the wolf bloodlines going, reproducing so that alpha werewolves mate with alpha werewolves and produce more alpha werewolves. Which is how I found myself in Brisbane being put out as a candidate for the Clan King there. It's common for wolves to get sent over to different clans to arrange ties and keep the whole alpha breeding lines going.

I'm a white werewolf, which is apparently super special and super rare. The Clan king in Brisbane is also a white werewolf. This means we will have super special children if we mate. So here I am, trying to be all seductive and fancy, but honestly, the king and I just don't click. There's nothing between us. I'm, like, eighty percent certain he feels the same way.

But it doesn't matter. Every single day, until my clan King recalls me to Melbourne, I have to present myself at the Brisbane clan court and try to be all alluring and seductive.

Blergh

.

Today is such an occassion. Well kind of. Today I'm in the clan den, standing in the court room waiting for a meeting to start. The whole pack is here today, which means I get to see a bunch of wolves I haven't actually met before since coming to Brisbane. And I also get to see a bunch of wolves I have

unfortunately

met.

"Hi Lilith" Titus says smugly, looking at me like I'm the missing link, "I was hoping I'd get to see you tonight."

Titus is a werewolf from another clan - I think he's from Sydney. Although I don't really speak to him much on account of the fact that he's pushy, rude and sticks his nose in places it shouldn't be. Like my sex life.

Who

does

that?

I nod, unwilling to meet his gaze because I know he's probably laughing at me. He thinks it's funny that I can't quite connect to Eric, the clan King. He thinks he knows why and often says that he can solve it. Solve it, my ass - Titus' definition of solving things is asking personal questions and trying to get me to go to weird sex clubs with him.

No thank you.

Besides I don't know how some weird wolf is going to help me figure out my romantic life. Because not even I'm sure about what's missing in my relationship or sex life.

I'm of the theory that nothing can solve it. Maybe the way I feel is what it's supposed to feel like. You know, sex is nice, and I have a nice little orgasm. But it's not enough, it's never enough, never quite feels like I've scratched the itch. Same with relationships, they never last, actually they barely take off, because they never feel exactly right.

But who is Titus to say that it's not normal? Do most people feel satisfied in their sex life? I don't think so. See?

I'm normal.

I mean it's not my fault. There's nothing wrong with me. I've read in countless magazines that statistically most people are unsatisfied in one aspect of their life or another. Mine happens to be relationship, and sex, and career and...well let's just say I'm unsatisfied in a

few

areas of my life. Well, show me someone who isn't.

"Eric," Titus thankfully turns his attention to the clan King standing next to me. He smiles like he knows something we don't. The only thing Eric and I have in common is that we dislike Titus.

"Titus." Eric smiles tightly. He's being polite today, usually he'd just straight up tell Titus to fuck off. But today we are all on our best behaviour.

"How's everything going with the new queen?" Titus asks.

"I'm not his queen," it comes out at the same time that Eric says, "She's not my queen".

Good to know we're on the same page. It's true too, I'm just a trial, I'm kind of just a 'sit in queen' while we test each other out for suitability. Wolves are all about sustaining the bloodlines, but not if we have no connection. There's a chance that if you force connection, our wolves will reject each other. That's a nightmare no one wants to deal with. So we're allowed and, in fact, encouraged to take our time together. Well, at least in Brisbane. I know it's different in different territories. Brisbane's courtship rules are different and I'm grateful for that.

"You two are hysterical," Titus just laughs in an annoying high-pitched voice. I'm glad he's finding this funny, because actually my entire time in Brisbane has just been stressful.

"Are you going to not greet me, or what?" Pipe's up Ben Shaw, he's a vampire from the Brisbane nest. He's one of the junior ones, of little actual importance, but today he's in the clan den because he's been central in organising some kind of agreement between the wolves and vampires of Brisbane.

I'm no too sure on the exact details, but it's the reason we're all here today. He's probably someone we shouldn't piss off, not at the start of such a precarious truce, and so I suppose we should acknowledge him.

But there are also a bunch of others in the room, and the actual important vampires aren't here yet, so I wonder the wisdom of starting any formal greeting, because if you want to know anything about the vamps, it's that they're all about protocol and bloody formality. We should greet Ben, but not before we greet Liam, the Vampire Master of the City - and he's not even entered the room yet.

"I think we're supposed to wait," I say, giving a small smile to Ben, in a way I hope is disarming and charming.

We're saved by timing, Liam saunters in, all immaculate in a nicely cut suit. I don't think I've ever seen a poorly dressed vampire, come to think of it. Maybe all those centuries of being alive means time to make money and afford nice things...

I notice that Liam enters with a group of other vampires behind him, filling the space of the den completely. And now we're all packed in here together like a bunch of supernatural sardines.

The most important thing you need to know about today is this: It's historic.

Today is the day we attempt to build a supernatural co-existence like the one they have in Sydney.

The Sydney preternatural community mostly live in this big underground conglomerate. It keeps them safe and keeps them from fighting as much with each other and the humans. We're hoping to begin that style of co-existence in the den. But it's just beginning with us wolves and the vamps. Because that's realistically all that's going to fit inside the den at this point in time.

Before we begin to treaty with other supernaturals we'd probably need to build a bigger space. But for now, the main thing is seeing if this can work between the Blood-suckers and fury meat-eaters for the next few months.

To put it into context: Today is so historic, I had to wear heels.

————-

When Liam and his group enter the room, I notice Ben shrink back, walking to stand behind the group of...what seems to be around twenty-five vampires.

Standing on either side of the Master of the city are two large vampires, one a terrifying beast man with crazy red eyes. He's not unattractive, but not someone I'd be drawn to in a room full of people. He looks like he's been in one too many fights and had a few broken noses. But his gaze is arresting, and I have to remind myself that I'm not supposed to look vampires directly in the eyes. The other vampire next to the Master is a tall, amazonian woman with the blondest hair I've ever seen in my life. She's muscular and strong looking. They must be other master vampires, I can feel the power running off them in rivers.

We begin with the formal greetings. The underling wolves don't matter so much, but Eric, myself and the alpha wolves must take turns to greet the vampires.

They're all greeting each other.

Master this, welcome that, blah blah blah.

It's boring and time consuming and occasionally one of them will try testing the other with some kind of metaphysical show down. It's exhausting.

After Eric is done with the greetings, I'm supposed to up next technically on account of the fact that I'm currently the Queen-in-trial. But I don't, because Michelle, who is Eric's ex-girlfriend and a certified mega-bitch, will try and rip my throat out. In case it's lost on you, let me explain: Michelle hates me.

Why? I guess she's not over Eric - well and neither is he - and I imagine she isn't thrilled with the idea of the clan having a queen that isn't her.

I get it, she's stronger than me, why shouldn't she be queen? Well, because her and Eric have this inflammatory, aggressive on-again-off-again relationship which is toxic for the stability of the clan. Besides, she's not a white-wolf and in that way, I'm superior to her as a match for Eric. Although in every other way, including looks, she wins.

After Michelle is done greeting, I step forward towards the vampires to begin my greeting. But before it leaves my lips, Michelle turns to face both me and Eric.

"You're not queen, why are you here?" Michelle says directly, eyeballing me like she wants to tear me a new asshole.

I don't know what to do, except flush and bow my head - if I take issue with her here, it's going to make things worse, and there's a chance the vamps will end this whole agreement-thing. It's not good for them to see us in-fighting like this. Michelle's statement alone is enough for them to realise that the clan perhaps isn't that strong. We need this treaty, because actually, the clan

isn't

strong. Not being seen as strong, again means vulnerability. And Vulnerable wolves are - you guessed it - dead wolves.

"She's still my trial." Eric says, kind of starting to get angry - I can tell because the energy from his body is flaring out, but he is containing it, stopping it from invading the room. This is good, a King who can't control his power is a dead one. The vamps will see that and they'll not want to tie themselves to us.

"Mhmm," Titus says, "Your time's over, Michelle. Stand down." I can't believe he's just said that. I. cannot. fathom. his. guts. Michelle looks like she wants to make an example of Titus, but even she knows the folly of this in front of the vamps.

Michelle steps back into line on the other side of Eric. But it doesn't matter - the damage has been done. She's undermined my authority and rank. It's bad enough the wolves of the clan don't respect me, the vampires are unlikely to now as well. There's really no point in me introducing myself anymore. I just want to shrink and disappear, but I can't. I have to be an adult, I have to be an alpha, most importantly I have to make my clan proud.

So I step forward and bow, and say the greeting, "Welcome to you, Vampire Master Liam, welcome vampires of your house. I am Lilith, trial Queen of Brisbane, White wolf of Clan Melbourne."

"Thank you, Trial Queen Lilith, we are most humbled to be here." I begin to straighten my back after his greeting, but apparently the Master isn't finished yet, "May you ascension be swift and your enemies mute," the vampire adds, chuckling. It's followed by a chorus of laughter from the vampires.

Great. Am laughing stock of entire preternatural community. I want to throttle Michelle, I want to throttle Eric, and I want to go back home.

Did I mention I hate Brisbane?

————

Maybe it's punishment for, I don't know, existing, but Michelle asks me to be a blood donor for one of the master vamps. Apparently, the younger ones can share, but it'd ludicrous to ask a master vamp to share his blood donor.

Whatever

, I don't care.

I hate Michelle but I'm willing to help out the clan in any way I can and take any opportunity to prove my worth to them. If that means letting a blood-sucker feed off me, I'll do it.

She direct me towards the area of the den the Vampires will be residing in for the duration of this test trial co-existence. But doesn't give me the name of the person I'll be feeding, just a room number, and the explicit instruction to keep my 'fat mouth shut' and 'do what I'm told'.

So I do just that, I walk to room number 7, and knock on the door. I don't hear anything, so after a few minutes I turn the doorknob and duck my head in to check there's someone actually in here and this isn't some elaborate joke from Michelle.

The room is illuminated by a central light fixture, although it's still not exactly light in the room. But I spot the vampire in question, typing away on a laptop at the desk in the corner. It's weird seeing one use technology so efficiently. My assumption about vampires is that they're all old and don't know how to use modern technology. This is obviously bias on my part informed by watching too many Hollywood movies.

"Uh, hi," I say to the back of his head, "I'm...ah...here to..." how do I politely say this? I don't want to be rude, but there's no better way I can think to phrase it, "I'm here to give blood..." I trail off.

He seems to pause, shutting the laptop screen and turns. I realise It's on the the master vampire who'd been standing next to Liam before; the big fierce looking brute with red eyes.

Of course

this is the guy Michelle volunteers me to feed. The serial-killer-looking one, the one who looks like he could snap me in half with his damn hands.

Fucking Michelle.

He doesn't say anything, just stands and walks to sit on the bed. How is this man so huge and monstrous looking? How does he exist??

"Come", is all he says, patting the space between his legs, he wants me to sit there? Is that normally how vampire's feed? I don't know what else to do and I really don't want to piss this guy off, so I comply. I sit in the space between his thighs and try to keep my eyes focused on the door in front of me.

There's no soothing, no words, nothing; he just pulls my back against him, so that I'm pressed against the hardness of his chest, his masculine scent invading my nose. His hand snakes up to wrap around my throat and pushes my head to the side. I feel him lean down and latch onto my neck, fangs sinking into flesh.

And it's...it's...

fuck

.

There's an initial pain, a thrill - but nothing compared to the thrill and fear of being set upon by this beast. His hands are large, strong and they hold me securely in place; one circled my throat, keeping my head tilted for easier access, and the other hand sits at my waist, it's surprisingly soothing and gentle - fingers splayed just under my shirt. I can feel his thumb brushing up against the exposed skin at my waist causing little goosebumps around the area.

The hand at my throat suddenly moves to tangle in my hair. He pulls, his grip is like a warning, pulling my hair tightly against my scalp, pulling my neck further to the side; straining as he feeds deeper.

I gasp, I can't help it. He's too much and it's overcrowding my senses. The way his mouth pulls at my neck, the way his hands touch me - one tight in my hair, one caressing my skin - it's delicious, sends tingles through my body.

His fangs retract from my neck and I can feel him pulling away. His hand untangles from my hair and then...then I feel like my body is going cold. I feel dazed, scared now that the excitement is gone. But the fear has a different taste to it. It feels warm and prickly. There's no way to describe it but as a 'safe fear'. I'm scared, but I like it.

"Thank you," his warmth breath tickles my ear, the faint smell of blood present. The words are like a whisper against my skin; a caress. It's lovely, makes me shiver, makes my nipples tighten and thighs squeeze together. This is...this is

weird

.

I can only nod I'm too scared to say anything right now. I don't know what's come over me, maybe he has some kind of magic bite? I didn't know vampires could do that when they fed. He's silent and probably waiting for me to get my ass off his bed. So I do that. I get up to leave, walking to the door slowly making sure I don't suddenly become legless, because really anything is likely to happen to my body at this present moment. I open the door to leave.

"Good night," I turn around briefly. trying to not be rude. He grunts in response, barely sparing me a glance before he turns back to do whatever it was he was doing before.

I step out back into the hallway, shutting the door firmly behind me and release a breath I didn't know I was holding.

What. the. actual. fuck.

I think and think, walking back down the hallway, up the stairs and into my bedroom. I realise I may or may not have almost gotten off from some creep sucking my blood and pulling my hair.

I'm normal, I'm normal, I'm normal.

I have to remind myself over and over again. There's probably some magic in his bite, maybe it's the whole point so that donors feel comfortable.

Sure, let's go with that.

I didn't feel any magic in the air, but that doesn't mean he wasn't using it. I've hear of some master vamps being so powerful they can hide their magic. Yep, that's probably it. Definitely.

Because if that's not the case, then the question becomes: What sort of person gets their jollies from blood-giving, fear and pain?

I pass through the common area, past Michelle to let her know I've done what was asked, and that she can stop being annoying now.

"I've fed him," I say, trying to resist the urge to run and hide from the imposing wolf.

"Good." She eyes me suspiciously and peers at my neck, "I see that you did...and it was..okay?" She's frowning looking at me like I'm odd. I'm not the odd one,

she's

the odd one.

"Yeah," I shrug, "Why wouldn't it be?"