I'm sorry that this took so long to reedit, but I got overwhelmed with everything and wrote a terrible chapter and I apologies about that. That being said I am going to do my best to keep up with this story and get back into writing. At the moment I cannot promise an exact time on when new chapters will come out but I do promise it will not be two years. Thank you all.
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A large black wolf ran through the trees, twigs snapped and leaves crunched under the weight of his monstrous paws. He ran swiftly and quietly; dodging rocks and sprinting through brush. The cool night air blew through his fur. He let out a loud howl as he sped around the side of a lake and jumped upon a large flat rock.
The wolf sat, panting. Slowly he started to transform. His bones cracked and disjointed; his femur's lengthened and snout fractured caving in upon itself. His spine straightened and ears melted onto his skull. Black fur fell off in clumps and jagged daggers sucked back into his skin. The creature howled a deafening song of pain.
A large man lay nude now in place of the wolf. His muscles rippled and twitched as he caught his breath. Sweat drenched his brow. James had been transforming for nearly two hundred years, yet somehow never got used to it like others had. Some wolves he knew fully embraced the change, pulling strength and true power from it. The change never weakened him, and though he would never let the others know it, he absolutely hated it. He looked into the lake, noting the half crescent reflection of the moon.
He should be with his pack. No, he should be with Daniel. The boy was one of his closest friend and Beta, but couldn't help himself around women; or power. This new female was a dangerous combination of the two, and she didn't even know it. Daniel had gotten himself into some bad situations before James had taken him under his wing. He had calmed down over the past 50 years but there were still spurts of his old life. Daniel once tried to lay claim to the mate of a rival packs alpha. He nearly started a war between the packs, he nearly got himself killed.
He stood up and dove into the crisp cold water. It seemed to be the only thing to truly clear his head. Anyone else would be shivering at the thought, but James loved the feeling of a cool nude swim. The water flowing through his long hair, the weeds rushing past his skin; it felt almost as good as laying with a woman. Though swimming was something he did often, he hadn't been with a woman in more years than he could count.
He swam to the shore and pulled himself up lying flat against the grass. He stared into the midnight sky. Lost in thought he ran his hand across his chest, resting it on a pendant given to him by Gideon before he disappeared. It was a moonstone; a special stone to all Were-creatures. It was believed this stone had mystical properties to increase their power, not only physically but mentally as well. Gideon was the only known Were to possess such large pieces of the stone.
Gideon had worn one on his wrist and one on his ankle. One hundred years ago, Gideon gave one of them to James. He said he saw great potential in him, and with the power of the stone, he would one day be a legendary Alpha. The moonstone was in the shape of a crescent moon, and it never left his chest. He briefly wondered what happened to the larger one that Gideon kept. He growled at the thought of his killers keeping it for themselves. He needed to stop thinking about Gideon; He hadn't thought about his old pack master in years. He knew it was only because of the girl; the girl that somehow, shared his blood.
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It had been a week since Tara's conversation with Dr. Miller. Everything had gone back to normal and no one seemed to be paying specific attention to her; not even Dr. Miller. It was as if their conversation had never even taken place. She went to class as normal and her classmates ignored her; as normal.
It was a particularly crisp and beautiful day outside. Tara looked down at her math work. She wasn't sure what Advanced Algebra had to do with her degree. She hated the whole subject of math. After a while the whole equation turned into a series of squiggles and dots.
Tara turned looking out of the window; the wind whistled and birds sang. A large predatory bird sat in a tree near her; it was a hawk of some kind. She had seen her fair amount of wildlife on campus. Mostly songbirds, chipmunks and squirrels but the occasional eagle, turkey vulture or coyote would venture in. The wind blew in the smooth sound of an acoustic guitar. That was it!
She closed her algebra book. It was way too nice to be stuck inside. Mid-term or not, her sanity was worth it. Since the incident at the coffee shop last week she hadn't dare venture outside. She only left to quickly run to her classes or get something to eat. She had been surviving on junk food mostly.
Tara turned around in her chair looking for her shoes; she saw them near her dresser. Standing up she made her way over, she kicked her roommates discarded laundry back over to her side of the room; that girl was such a slob. She caught something out of the corner of her eye. She turned around quickly; startled. It was only her reflection. She stood up straight and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked awful. She hadn't so much as taken a shower in the past week.
Tara walked over to her mirror and grabbed a lone old hair brush and attempted to run it through her thick mane. It pulled and hurt and the third time the brush became stuck she gave up and threw her hair into a bun on top of her head. She almost put effort into her appearance, she really, truly, did try.
She desperately needed to change her clothes as well, her sweat pants and t shirt were starting to become one with her flesh. Tara stripped off her oversized black t shirt, and giving it a small whiff, threw it into the trash can. There was no saving it. She slid down her sweat pants and looked back at herself in the mirror. Not only had she not showered or taken real care of herself in a week, she had also run out of underwear, and was stark naked. The only thing she wore was the stone she had found. There was, conveniently, a hold drilled into the top of it, she placed an old thick piece of leather through it and make a necklace. She had worn it all week. It sat perfectly between her breasts.
Tara looked herself over. If only she could gain some confidence she may truly become beautiful. Her flesh was silken and smooth, spotted with the occasional scar that she couldn't remember getting. She had curves for days and long strong limbs. Her witch of a mother had always tried to get her to dress nicer and act like more of a lady. Until the day that women died she would say "You could be a model if only you would cut back on those french fries." She was almost happy the women had died.
Opening up the dresser Tara grabbed a black v neck top and slipped it over her head. She sighed as she looked at herself. Her free breasts burst through the top creating more cleavage than she had shown in years. Tara grabbed a pair of dark jeans and after pulling them up, carefully zipped attempting to avoid the bush she had forgotten about. She would most definitely have to take a shower later.
Tara laughed at herself as she walked over to her backpack. She couldn't believe she was going out in public looking like this. No bra, no panties, hair a mess, and the worst part is the actually looked kind of good! She opened the backpack and grabbed her id and some loose cash; then grabbed her keys and walked out of the door.
Escaping through the emergency exit door of her building she walked into the cool crisp air; she took a deep breath. The air smelled of brittle leaves and grass. What should she do? She hadn't dared to go back to the café. She had made a huge scene, cracked their door and not to mention bled all over the place. Luckily the few other people who were there hadn't wanted to tell anyone.
There was a large field in the center of campus that other students called the Quad. There were some nice Oak trees situated randomly and they each happened to have a bench underneath them. On a day like today that may be a nice place to sit and people watch.
She walked through the grass by-passing the sidewalk. Even though she had shoes covering her feet she would still much rather walk on the earth.
Tara looked around her; the Quad was a large fairly flat piece on land. A few thick oak trees lay scattered; offering shade and sanctuary to any passerby's.
A group of students was occupying a section of the field playing Frisbee. There were five of them, three boys and two girls. They were obviously close and very flirty with one another. Tara wondered if any of them were dating or if they just led each other on in a sort of sick sudo-sexual ritual.
She was spellbound by their social connection; the comfort they felt around one another. A red haired girl played keep away from two of the boys. They chased her in circles laughing. After a few minutes of the same cat and mouse game the boys stopped and looked at one another. They seemed to know what each other was thinking; one went left and one went right. The smirked as they stalked their prey.
The girl seemed to get nervous, she threw the hostaged Frisbee to her friend, but she seemed to be busy flirting with the spare boy. She turned to run when one of the boys grabbed her by the waist.
Tara ran into something hard. She fell backward and landed flat against her back. She gasped for breath and looked around her frantically. What happened to the girl? Did they get her, did they hurt her?
