Hi friends, it's short but it's not late! More to come.
Love, T.
Chapter 7
They ran into the hills that night, and Vera led the way. She could feel the influence of the moon, riding the night sky above them, almost full. The closer the moon got to full the harder it was to stay human at night, and the harder it was to think like a human. On the night of the full moon, from moonrise to moonset, werewolves were fully animal. They had to be careful, on the night of the full moon, to make sure they weren't in a populated area when the sun set.
They'd been running through the dark woods for hours when Vera picked up a scent: human. She followed, nose to the ground, suddenly oblivious to everything but the pursuit of her prey. The scent was that of a male, young, alone. Vera's paws were almost silent on the pine needles that covered the forest floor, she could just barely hear Lucien padding through the dark in her wake.
Through the trees ahead she saw a campfire; her quarry was sitting beside it, staring into the flames. Good, Vera thought, the light would blind him until it was too late. Clear slaver dripped from her jaws as Vera slowed and dropped into a crouch. The scent of the young man was rich in the cool night air. Vera circled left, mentally willing Lucien to go right, flanking the prey. She stalked slowly behind the man, ready to pounce. A quick snap to the back of the neck, he wouldn't even have time to scream.
Just as Vera gathered her legs beneath her to spring, Lucien surged out of the darkness with a snarl, blocking her path. The hiker shrieked at the sight of the wolves and fell off his seat, scrambling away.
Vera growled low in her throat and tried to step around the bigger werewolf. Lucien moved to block her again. The hiker scrambled to his feet and took off running. She could hear his panting breath and scrabbling feet as he half ran, half fell down the hillside, away from his camp.
Lucien transformed into his human shape and stood, chest heaving in the firelight. Vera transformed as well, her blood boiling with anger.
"What the hell were you doing?" he asked her, gesturing in the direction the man had fled.
"Having a snack. Why did you stop me?" she snarled back. "We're not even in your territory; no one would have suspected you."
"It's not about that!" Lucien looked flabbergasted. "You were trying to kill him!"
"He was a human!" Vera retorted hotly. "Prey. It's what we do!"
"It's not what I do." He replied hotly, running a hand through his hair and turning away from her.
Vera narrowed her eyes. "You don't kill humans? Even when you can get away with it?"
"No," he said softly.
"Never?" Vera was intrigued, her anger draining away. She'd never met a werewolf who didn't hunt before. They had to be careful of course, especially close to home, but they all did it. Once you tasted the flesh of a man nothing else came close.
"No." Lucien said sharply. "They might not be like us but they still have thoughts and feelings." He gestured down the hill again. "That could have been David!"
Vera twisted her lip in a snarl, expressing contempt, but inside she felt something strange. She really did care about David. If someone else killed him, like she had almost killed that hiker, she would be angry and upset.
The two wolves made their way back through the woods but Vera's mind was still spinning. She had been raised to think of humans as prey. Beneath her. The werewolf population was small by comparison to humans so they had to be careful, but the humans were theirs to hunt. She'd thought that all werewolves felt the same way.
Since spending time with David and Chris she'd gotten to know them as people. They weren't the weak, stupid creatures she'd thought humans were. Her jaws still salivated at the thought of eating human flesh but when she pictured David's sweet face on the body she was ripping apart, Vera found she had no stomach for the kill.
Lucien seemed distant when he kissed her goodnight in the backyard. These feelings were new to Vera but Lucien had obviously spent a lot more time in the company of humans. Lying awake in David's bed that night Vera wondered again why Lucien had never joined a pack. He was young but she thought he had the makings of an alpha wolf. She could easily see him leading his own pack. Then she wondered again why she herself had never joined a pack.
Vera had tried it of course. When she came across another group on her travels she usually stayed for a week or a month, maybe even several. But she never seemed to find a place within a pack. And the road was always calling to her. Vera's father used to tease her that she's caught the wanderlust from her mother, whom Vera had never met.
Thinking about it Vera got a prickly feeling, and suddenly the walls seemed too close. She longed to slip outside and run all night. Away from here. Just to see what was over the next hill, around the next curve in the road.
Eventually Vera fell asleep but the wanderlust had been reawakened inside her.
