Chapter 2

2



            Erin had been asleep for three hours; it was 2:00 AM. She turned in her bed, blinking her eyes into the darkness; something had hit her window. It hit it again. She groaned, crawled out of bed with much effort, and moved to her window. She pulled the blinds aside and squinted into the darkness. She could only see a shadowy figure jumping up and down outside, but couldn’t tell what exactly it was.

            “Who…”

            Erin opened her window and looked out again, still unable to make out the shape.

            “ERIN! GET OUT HERE!” Aiden’s voice was loud and slurred.

            Erin’s eyes widened in disbelief at the sight before her. She hushed him quickly.

            “Aiden! Are you serious?! It’s two in the morning! What are you doing?” She whispered loudly at him. He drunkenly wandered forward and leaned against her house.

            “Yes, I am serious. You need to come with me and party. The Andersons down the road. They have food! They have beer! They have a PINATA!”

            “Aiden, no. I can’t.” She frowned; was he serious?

            “Do you ever get out?” Aiden grinned at her and leaned on one hip.

            Erin sighed; he had made a good point. But she never saw the point in high school parties, it was simply drunken teenagers running into things and playing stupid games. What was the point? Maybe she’d find out if she—

            “Aiden, I can’t. I wouldn’t get back before my mom woke up. She comes in the mornings to check on me.” Not that she cared about that really, but she needed some legit excuse to avoid the situation.

            “Lame.” Aiden fell forward, but caught himself on her wall. “Just for a little bit, come on.”

            “Ugh… Promise to get me back before sunrise?” She was still unsure, something about this seemed like a horrible idea.

            “Definitely.” Aiden grinned widely as Erin opened her window up just enough to slide out. She jumped the four feet to the ground below, stumbled, and caught herself on Aiden’s shoulder. He took her hand, then began sprinting into the woods; Erin followed reluctantly.

            “Are you sure you’re okay to run? I don’t want to fall!” Erin gritted her teeth, just waiting to be led into a tree, or the ground.

            “God you whine a lot.” He laughed wildly as they ran, giggling together as they stumbled over the brush beneath them.

            Erin blushed. “I don’t get out much.” She even felt her cheeks redden, it was embarrassing. But she never felt the need to go out; the whole “teenage” thing was overrated and monotonous. There was no point.

            But to her amazement, Aiden led her to the party. It seemed like everyone from her graduating class was there. It also seemed like the Andersons really knew how to throw a party; this place had everything. Aside from alcohol, there was music, a hot tub, a pool, a whole lot of food, and sure enough, a piñata.

            “Hm…” Erin stared around, amused. To her, it seemed like an awful lot of trouble to go through, especially for a graduation. Nearly everyone graduated high school, except the four few kids who decided they would rather work at McDonald’s for the rest of their lives.

            “Nice pajamas, Erin!” Nikki, an Indian girl from Erin’s academic classes, handed her a cup with some sort of drink inside as she appeared from the inside of the house. Erin looked down at her pajamas and felt herself blush again. Tweety Bird, of course.

            “Yeah, thanks, Nikki.” Erin’s voice was quiet as she stared down at the blue plastic cup in her hand, sloshing around the liquid inside.

            “No problem! So what brings you out of your hole? You’re actually going to come and party?” Nikki giggled and danced around Erin to the hip-hop music that had just been turned up.

            “Party. Right.” Erin shook her head. Nikki simply laughed again, kissed Erin’s cheek, and danced away. She mingled with the others on the back deck, flirting with boys and grabbing another drink.

            “She was always the smart quiet one in class.” Aiden chuckled a little, then turned to look at Erin. He smiled brightly and Erin couldn’t help but become lost in his eyes. Even if he was a little tipsy, he still found a place in her heart, and she sighed wistfully. Before she could become too caught up in his gorgeous features, she shook her head.

            She moved her gaze to the liquid in the cup before her. “So, uh, what is this?” She looked back at Aiden, as if he was all-knowing.

            “Well, let’s see. Uhm.” He stared at it, dipped a finger in, and licked it. “I have no idea.” He laughed and put his arm around her waist, pulling her inside the living room. All the couches were overfilled, every kid in there was happy and chatting away. Erin began sipping her drink.



            Four drinks and two hours later, Erin had become quite a bit livelier. But she had lost track of Aiden and Nikki, and anyone she knew for that matter. She was giddy, feeling good, but had little idea where she was.

Erin continued to mingle for a bit, trying to find a friendly face. She was looking for Aiden, but no one seemed to know where he had gotten off to. Erin was beginning to feel guilty for even going to this stupid party. Sure, it was a little fun, and it was a change from the usual, but she lost faith that she would even find her way home in time to slip back into bed before anyone in her family awoke.

And the call of nature was beginning to howl in her head like never before. She

tapped an unknown taller boy on the back of his pants; he turned to look at her with a sleazy grin.

            “Why hello there, little lady.” He bowed down to her level and breathed in her face. The smell that attacked her nose was incredibly fowl. “How can I be of…” He chuckled before speaking again. “…Service to you?”

            “Where’s the uh, the bathroom?” Erin frowned sourly.

The boy shrugged, and then pointed outside.

Great. Just great.

Erin struggled to make her way outside, stumbled off the deck, through the crowd, and into the woods behind the house. It felt like forever before she found a tree that looked like an ideal spot to relieve herself. After she had, she turned around to head back to the party, when she realized the lights of the house were no longer in sight.

“Oh no.” Erin stared in disbelief at the woods before her. She tried listening for music, but to no use. She had apparently walked further than she thought.

Tears began to stream down the girl’s face, and she thought things couldn’t get any worse. She stumbled through the woods, in a direction that felt like it might lead her somewhere with people. Lucky for her, she heard some crunching and rustling ahead, and sped up towards the sound.

“Heyyy! Who’sup there?” Erin stumbled clumsily through the woods. After a few moments, she came to what seemed like a naturally made hedge surrounding a clearing. Erin could not believe her eyes. She was staring at a very muscular and appealing young man. A very muscular and appealing naked young man. He was leaning against a tree, facing the other way. She looked over his body. Every muscle in his back seemed to be its own entity, and his skin was a gorgeous olive tone. The long tousled brown hair that curled around his head fell just below his shoulder line. He stood still, seeming to listen, and Erin gasped loudly in awe of his figure. The man turned. His face was even more stunning than his back. His features appeared to be sculpted to resemble a great Roman warrior. And his eyes. He had strange eyes; they appeared to be yellow and seemed almost primal.

But what stood out the most to her was the fact that the man began to crouch and snarl like a dog. Perhaps, she thought, she had way too much to drink.

As the thought tumbled through her mind, the man changed.

He morphed, quickly, into a seven foot tall werewolf. A muscularly defined seven foot tall werewolf.

A muscularly defined seven foot tall werewolf that was leaping out at her, jaws outstretched, with shark-like teeth yearning to penetrate her flesh. Erin toppled over backwards, shaking and screaming. It was the most frightening thing she had ever seen in her life.

She scrambled to run or crawl or escape in some manner. The seconds went by slowly as she turned her head to stare, shocked, at the animal that was about to land just behind her. Right where she had been laying, the ground shook. He was nearly on top of her, and she tried to scream. But nothing came out, she simply started to fall away from what was happening. Maybe it was shock? She didn’t know, she didn’t know anything anymore. Erin’s mind and vision blacked out completely as she collapsed onto the earth.

Then came pain. She couldn't quite see, as the world spun around and around, but she knew there was pain. A sharp tearing pain in her calf.

Erin could hear nothing, nor could she see anything. Her head continued to spin, she had lost track of what was around her. She didn’t know what had happened or if the man, the beast, whatever it was, had left. She was so scared and tried to tell her body to curl up into a safe position, but she wasn’t even sure if her body was responding. The last thing she remembered was groaning as the pain pulsed through her body like fire.

In her unconsciousness, Erin dreamed. She wasn’t sure why the images that appeared did so, because they seemed strange and irrelevant to her life. She saw images of the moon. The full moon. The moon was red and high in the sky, spinning above her. She was laying on grass that felt like velvet and smelled sweet and wild. She inhaled deeply, taking in every smell around her, as she raised to her feet and stepped lightly around the field. The grass and the trees danced in the light breeze and she watched them, feeling very at home. It was home, this was her home. Her home was in this soft grass with the sweet smelling trees that dropped round red berries all around her. She bent over gracefully and swept one off the ground, placing it smoothly on her tongue. It squished in her mouth and the liquid it held in its core gushed between her teeth and around her tongue. It was sweet, but sour, and had a texture that made her feel very peaceful.

            Erin smiled as she fell backwards onto the ground again, and it ate her up. The ground dropped under her and she felt as though she was being swallowed up into the earth, its velvety kind skin massaging her body. She smiled and shouted happily, but no sounds escaped her. No human sounds. The sound that came from her was a howl, it was a howl of a wolf. But it felt natural, and this was her home now, so it must be right.

            She looked around her excitedly as the ground that had dropped beneath her came back up to bump her gently in the sky, it was like the whole world was a soft moon bounce for her to play on.

            When she reached the sky and shouted, or howled, again, she saw a figure approaching. It was Aiden! She waved her hands frantically at him, smiling and making more animal noises. Oh, Aiden. He smelled lovely, tonight. He smelled strong and desirable. She reached out to him, waiting for him to run to join her and bounce on the soft earth. Oh, Aiden. She smiled and he smiled back, his teeth whiter and brighter than normal. She felt a desire to be with him, to be close to him, and to protect him. She wanted him to be hers, her pet. Why he would be her pet, she didn’t know; after all, she was the one barking. But he looked frightened as he got closer. And she smelled the fear rushing through his body and overpowering his primal desires.

            He started to back away, and she became scared. Why would he leave her? He was her mate. Aiden! She tried to shout, but nothing but dog sounds were coming out of her. As she fell back to the earth from a bounce into the cool air, the earth gave way beneath her. Her moon bounce had deflated, and it was falling away into darkness. Erin was falling, and she was scared. Was Aiden okay? She fell until she hit hard ground again.

            This ground was black and cold, and the air around her was also cold and dark. There was nothing here in this world, nothing but that man. That man in the clearing. And she remembered him, too. She remembered how he had become a wolf. A strange wolf that could walk like a person. He wasn’t a wolf here, though. He was a man, and he was so incredibly beautiful. Erin’s eyes traced his nude figure, desiring to reach out and touch his stomach which was sculpted to perfection. Oh, he was fine.

            I want to be yours, she thought. Not like Aiden, she wouldn’t have to protect him. He would protect her. She knew it. He was a real man, and she just wanted to reach out and touch him and be with him. She tried, but he snarled. He snarled and jumped at her. And she screamed, because the pain came back again.