Beast Or Man

Chapter 1

After meeting a few colleagues for drinks, Celeste walked past a park that sat next to a lot of lush trees, beautiful in the daytime but creepy at night. Celeste, now in her early 30s, knew better than to walk after a night out alone, but the tube station was just on the other side of the park, and it was a quick journey home. It was airily quiet, so she hurried through the park. But just as she was approaching the gate, she heard something running towards her. It was so quick that without thinking she ran towards a tree rather than the exit.

"Shit, that was stupid," she whispered to herself.

She looked around for a few seconds, and just as she was about to run toward the gate, something pulled her jacket, and she fell onto the ground. She couldn't see anything in front of her and turned her head to see who had pulled her backward. But it was so dark that she could barely see anything. Her head snapped back to the front when she heard a growl. Almost materialising right in front of her was a beast or werewolf-type form. It was well over six feet, with dark brown fur and eyes. She got up and attempted to run in the opposite direction, but the beast was so fast it pinned her against a tree, deeper into the trees.

With no one around to save her, all Celeste could think to do was try her best to not appear scared. She stared the beast down and held onto the wrist that it was using to pin her. Confidently, she said "You're a fucking werewolf, aren't you? Show me your human form!"

The beast's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Wow, shit, I might be right" she thought, not expecting its reaction.

"I know you understand me, werewolf. You're a man in there, so I demand to speak to your human form!" She wasn't sure if this would work, but she had to try something unexpected to catch the beast off guard. The beast scoffed and loosened its grip on Celeste's arm but didn't let go.

"Silly girl, what makes you think a demon would take orders from a human?"

Celeste smirked. "You're no demon. You're just a man who transformed into a werewolf. You probably sucked a demon off for this power, though."

The beast growled and tightened his grip on her.

"I'm going to rip your throat out and watch as all of your blood drains onto your body."

This confirmed Celeste's suspicion that it was indeed a man in there, a man with an ego.

"Oh, does that make you hard? Ripping women's throats? Or is it men too?" she said as confidently as she could.

The beast appeared challenged for a moment but quickly mimicked her tone.

"I don't possess human desires. They are beneath me. I only hunger for flesh. Now, that's enough talking" he leaned his snout toward Celeste's neck, but she quickly perked up.

"So when you are in your human form, are you attracted to women? Would you be attracted to me? Or am I not your type?"

The beast pulled back slightly, looking at her face, bewildered.

"It's okay if I'm not. Maybe you like redheads, or blondes, or women of colour..."

The beast interrupted, "I just like beautiful women. Women who are strong-willed and intelligent."

Surprised and relieved by the beast's honesty, she looked at the ground to process. Noticing this, the beast let go of her arm and gently tilted her chin up with one sharp finger.

"Based on how you have faced me with so much courage, despite your obvious fear of death, I can tell that you are a strong girl" he looked her over. Her cream blouse revealed only a small bit of cleavage, but her black pencil skirt hugged her curves well. "And you are beautiful. So... yes, I would be attracted to you."

His voice was surprisingly calm, but it was the last part that caught Celeste off guard. She was used to compliments from good and bad men alike, but they were usually about her body. Men rarely ever complimented Celeste on things she would have liked, such as her sense of humor or personality. She received those types of comments from her friends, so she learned to be self-confident and didn't take much stock in what men said to her. She also stopped hoping that her boyfriend would say meaningful things like that. He hardly ever complimented her lately.

Her skin was pretty fair, so she could never hide the flush on her cheeks. She would blush even more when she was aware she was blushing. She hoped that the beast couldn't see that, although she guessed that his senses were heightened, so he probably could. She couldn't be sure, of course, but if any of the stories of werewolves had some truth to them, this would be the case. She shook off the thought and cleared her throat.

"Thank you... that's probably the best compliment I've received in a long time. And it's from a werewolf... I can't believe this is real."

Although she still felt some adrenaline, the sense of dread crept in. The world was not as she thought it was, and she may actually be killed.

"You're welcome" the beast interrupted her thoughts. "Now, girl, that really is enough talking. I hunger for human flesh..."

"Celeste," she interjected. "My name is Celeste and I am a woman, not a girl. I'm 32, so..."

The beast perked up. "Fine, enough talking, woman..."

"Celeste. If you're going to devour me, then you can at least use my name" she snapped.

The beast paused before saying, "Miss Celeste, you are not in the position to be making demands" she could almost see his eyebrow raise.

"There is definitely a man in there. And I am going to reach him" she thought.

"What's your name? I told you mine, so, what's yours, sir?" she hoped using "sir" would appeal to his male ego.

The beast obliged and responded, "Maximus."

He almost appeared timid.

Smiling, she responded, "I like that name. So Maximus, how old are you? Since you can turn into a werewolf, I guess you age slowly?"

The beast paused, like he wasn't sure of the answer. "I was in my mid-30s when I changed, but I have lived many lives since then, not aging like other humans."

"Yes! I knew it. So all of the Western folklore about werewolves is true," Celeste said, pleased with herself, forgetting her situation for a minute. "Well Maximus, since you have told me this much about yourself already, why don't you show me your human form?", she said, hoping for the best.

"I think not" the beast replied, turning her head to the side, exposing her neck again.

"Wait, why not? Are you ugly? Is that why you don't want to show me your male form?" the words slipped out, but Celeste hoped that it was some form of reverse psychology.

"Nice try", the beast exposed all his teeth and moved closer.

Celeste perked up in one final attempt for her life, "Look if this really is going to be the end if my life, then..I want something from you", the beast scoffed and waited for her to continue, "Kiss me. Kiss me Maximus, but in your human form", she wasn't sure if this would work but she was out of ideas.

The beast looked confused and asked Celeste to repeat herself, "I..I just want one last kiss, from a man who thinks I am beautiful, before I die. Since you want to take my life then..shouldn't you do that for me?". The beast could hear her already quick heartbeat quicken even more. He let go of her face and took a step back.

"Okay then Miss Celeste, I will grant you your death wish. However I cannot transform out here, so we will need to go my home".

Relieved for a moment, she replied "Okay fine, is it far?"

The beast almost laughed. "Funny girl. Yes but travelling with me will be quick."

In what felt like a second, Celeste's waist was pulled towards the beast. She buried her head in his chest out of fear. After just a few moments of what felt like falling, she was very still and quite cold. Celeste took a step backwards and realised she was alone in a dark room. She looked around to get a sense of where she was but it just looked like some sort of hall that was turned into a home, a very minimalist home. She could only spot a sofa, no tables or chairs. When she turned around, she saw a huge bed, with a wooden headboard and bed posts. "Huh. It's like a bed from a sexy romance book. How cliché" she said aloud, not expecting a response.

"You don't like it?" The beast suddenly appeared in front of her, leaning on one of the bed posts. Before replying, something in between the beast's fingers caught her eye. A small glass vial.

"More cliche" she thought. "Don't tell me, that's some sort of potion that will turn you back into a human?" she said, almost rolling her eyes.

The best smirked, "This is what you asked for" and suddenly downed the liquid before dropping the empty vial on the floor. It didn't smash however. Before she could respond the Beast coughed, and despite gripping onto the bed post he lost his balance and fell to his knees. Celeste instinctively reached out her hand but he turned away from her and crawled on the floor, until he was behind the foot of the bed, where Celeste could barely see him.

She froze for a few seconds before slowly leaning over to try to see the beast. He was on his hands and knees, still facing away from her and his back twitched and cracked. "Oh shit", she accidentally said aloud. She took a steep back, and looked around to see where the nearest exit was. Just as she spotted what looked like the front door in the distance, the beast rose to his feet. When he stood up, back still facing her, she realised he was a man now. Although it was dark, she could make out that he had big shoulders, and a defined muscular form. His hair looked fairly short but she wasn't completely sure. The man took a few steps forward and Celeste turned to make a run for the door.

As she got closer to the door, her heart pounding, she couldn't believe she was going to make it. She grabbed the door handle just before she felt an arm tightly grip her upper body. The movement was so quick, she didn't even scream. The next moment she was facing the ground, and her lower body felt so uncomfortable. It took a few seconds to realise that the man had thrown her over his shoulder and was walking towards the bed. She felt the urge to punch his back but she stopped herself to take the time to check his body to see if he had anything on him. He was wearing a dark coloured shirt and trousers with a belt but she couldn't see any weapon. "Damn. I'm gonna have to play this smart" she thought.

The man placed her onto the edge of the bed and stood in-front of her. Celeste looked him up and down to analyse him but she still couldn't see much. The man pulled out a lighter and lit a few candles on the bedside table and the walls around the bed. With the help of the candle light, she looked at the man's face again and could see that his hair was a silver grey, in an anime boy type haircut. He had a clean shaven beautiful but masculine face, quite fair skin but not as fair as hers, with brown eyes. "Fuck" she thought, she didn't expect to be some tall, probably over 6 foot, sexy man. She was 5'8 so anyone taller than her naturally impressed her, as silly as it was. She shook her head.

The man tilted his head slightly, looking into her grey blue eyes. In a similar voice to before, just slightly less deep, he said " What? You think I am ugly?" Celeste scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh please. You know you look like you just came out of a woman's porn novel. Or sexy anime, one of those, I don't know." After a sigh she looked up at the man again and said, "So this is the real you huh? Is your name really Maximus?"

The man quickly replied "Yes, it is". Maximus stood there confidently, with his hands in his trouser pockets. It took her a second to realise he was wearing a black shirt with most of the buttons open, exposing his defined chest. She looked away in annoyance.

"This guy. He was going to tear my throat out 5 minutes ago and now he's standing here looking like that, like nothing happened, like this situation isn't fucked up" she thought.

"So", Maximus broke her chain of thought, "You wanted one last kiss before my beast side devours you". Before she could respond Maximus was crawling on top of her, forcing her to push her back into the headboard.

"Wait, I.." before she could finish Maximus put his finger on her lips and told her to shush.

He said, with a deep sexy voice, "This is what you asked for, your final request." He cupped her chin with one hand, and in response Celeste slapped his face as hard as she could. With his face turned away, she tried to jump off the bed but Maximus grabbed her waist with one arm, and in one swoop he slammed her onto the bed. Celeste's back was now fully flat against the bed and Maximus was on top of her. He also held down her wrists so she couldn't move even a little. All she could do was turn her face away but she knew it was pointless. She just didn't want him to win.

Maximus held her face with one hand and turned it towards him. He leaned in and lightly pressed his lips onto hers. Celeste tried to struggle for a moment but a thought came to her. She should just play nice and maybe she can buy enough time to get another chance to run. She sighed and gently kissed back, feeling nothing inside but contempt.

Maximus let go of her face and placed his hand on the side of her head, to run his fingers through her long wavy brown hair, before gently grabbing some of it. His other hand cupped her neck softly. This gave her tingles but she stayed focused and did the same gesture to him, committing to the role. When she did this his kiss intensified and he started massaging her tongue with his. Without thinking she matched his intensity and let out a quiet moan. Her body suddenly felt so hot and she got completely lost in the moment. Maximus was also making noises which turned her on even more. He cupped her breast before he started undoing the top buttons on her blouse. This made her snap back into reality and she instinctively grabbed his wrist and sat up. Confused, Maximus also sat up and looked at her.

"Thanks. Let's get this over with" she said coldly as she left the bed. She walked a few steps forward, facing away from Maximus. She turned her head back slightly to see if Maximus followed, but he didn't. Celeste snapped her head back towards the door and tried to make a run for it. She was once again close to the door before Maximus grabbed her lower body but stood behind her this time. With both arms wrapped around her, he kissed her neck and gently bit her ear. He then whispered "There is no point in running."

Celeste froze for a few seconds, unable to think or move. After refocusing, she turned around to face him and snapped "Just get it over with and kill me. Since I have no chance, let's not delay it."

Maximus scoffed, then smirked and said "What if we make a deal for your life?"

Celeste raised an eyebrow and suspiciously asked "What do you want?"

Maximus grinned even more, "I'll let you live, but you have to stay here with me for as long as I see fit. And I will do anything I want to you, and you will not refuse or fight. Deal?"

Celeste shook her head in disgust, "Why would I agree to that? You'll probably just kill me eventually. I have a boyfriend so why would I cheat on him if I am going to die anyway? Just kill me now."

Maximus frowned, "Well if you take my deal you won't be seeing your boyfriend anymore, so you don't have to worry about that. And if I were going to kill you, I would have done so back at the park. Anyway, don't you think what we just did was cheating?"

"That was different!" she interjected. "That was the only way I could think of to get you to let your guard down. That was for survival. Anyway I realised that I have no chance in fighting you so I'm giving up now. I don't want to sleep with you just for you to kill me later anyway. I won't die a cheater."

Maximus's face softened, "My blood lust can be subdued if I satisfy my human urges. And frankly I would rather spend many nights exploring your body than disposing of it after one night as the beast."

The image sent chills down her spine. "Uhh, you are such a creep. I can't believe that despite being good my whole life, I've ended up here. Fucking a psycho or being mulled to death. Either way I lose everything. If you let me go eventually, I won't be able to explain to my family what happened and how will I explain it to my boyfriend? I would feel too guilty to face him, even though it wasn't my choice." Celeste started to feel hopeless.

Maximus perked up, "I have given you a choice. Now, I can't keep the beast at bay all night so you need to make your decision quickly."

Celeste raised her voice, "Can't you just let me go?! You've come this far and you haven't turned back into the monster. Just let me go and I won't tell anyone I swear." Celeste tried to search for sympathy in his face but he just looked blank.

"I can't I'm afraid, Miss Celeste. You have seen my home, and my face. I have killed people for less information than that."

She swallowed, unable to respond to that chilling statement. She sighed, "You know, this is considered kidnapping and..."

"Not at all", he interrupted. "You agreed to come to my home. And my deal is for you to not resist me, however I will not force myself on you. I will come to you when you allow me. When you stop resisting. You will also obey my house rules. And I will remind you that physical affection will be necessary for keeping the beast on a leash, so to speak" he was being sincere but Celeste saw this as smugness and gaslighting.

"Typical, the choice is mine so you bare no responsibility? Fuck that. Can't you just take potions to stop yourself from turning?" she spat.

"I do, but it's not enough on some nights. The amount of control I have once I turn, varies month to month. And let me be crystal clear, even if I were to let you go, once I turn, the beast will come after you, wherever you are, it has your scent now. I was able to control myself tonight because I took some experimental elixir but I have run out. The next time I turn I won't have any control. Furthermore the beast won't just kill you, it will kill everyone in your home".

Celeste's eyes widened. She didn't live with her boyfriend yet but they stayed at each other's homes a lot, so there would be no way to avoid telling him. He would probably think she was having a breakdown. Plus she stayed with her family from time to time. "So, what your saying is, I'm fucked either way. But if I stay here and play house with you, then...my loved ones are safe at least". She signed once more, "This doesn't seem like a sustainable plan, but I guess I will have to stay here for a little while. At least until you can get more of that elixir."

Maximus slightly nodded his head, his expression showed some relief. Celeste sensed that he wasn't telling the whole story and she didn't trust him, but she didn't want to risk her boyfriend Nick or her family's lives. She decided that she will stay as long as she needs to, trying to gain some sense of power, despite knowing she wasn't in control for once. She also told herself that she will do as little with Maximus as possible, despite secretly wanting to do more with him.

"So we have a deal?" Maximus reached out his hand with a smile.

"Don't give me anything or get me pregnant," Celeste said bitterly.

Maximus bit onto his lip to stop himself from grinning like an idiot "Agreed."

Celeste shook his hand "Then deal."