The mist of the night covered her body like a rusted iron corset. Every breath she took was like a thousand needles in her lungs, so cold, so painful. She touched her right thigh, but it felt numb. Her fingers touched the lacerated skin, and something even more cold than the air around her sipped out of her skin and it was like a frozen liquid. She then saw her hand was full of blood. She didn't have time to scream, her throat froze in a mute scream, her eyes almost popped out of her eye socket, as she saw a creature that her weak mind at the time couldn't process. The last thing she heard was a guttural growl and then she was being dragged away from the forest as she went unconscious.
Birds chirped, the sun was beginning to rise accompanied with cold air of the morning. Feeling the cold air on her sore skin, she woke up with a jolt, and immediately sat up only to discover she was in a different environment and in a bed that felt like fur. She quickly glanced around the tiny and barely furnished room, and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The only light in the room was from a PC monitor, which had some programs running.
As she sat up and glanced around, she placed her hand on her thigh and pressed into her wound and realized she had four deep claw marks. It stung that she gasped from the pain. Trying to remember what had happened last night while she was camping with her twin brother, a man walked into the room. His physique was like that of a fighter, six and seven tall, with thick curly dark hair and eyes like the creature she saw before her memory went blank. Quickly she grabbed a sheet to cover her body and then she held it to her cleavage like her life depends on it.
"Easy! I don't bite" the man said in a thick, hoarse baritone voice.
"W-Who are you?"
"My name is Zeeb, I rescued you from a pack of dangerous werewolves who wanted you for dinner"
"What about my twin brother Alex?"
"It was just you I saw"
"N-no! That can't be true. I need to go find my brother. We were together last night"
"You are in no condition to move young lady and tonight you may go through your transition because there is going to be a full moon. So reserve your strength"
She looked bewildered, "What do you mean?"
"You were bitten by those werewolves multiple times and all the bite wounds are all healed except for the alpha mark of ownership on you"
She quickly glanced at her lacerated skin on her thigh, look back at Zeeb and said, "Please help me, I don't want to become a werewolf and I need find to my brother"
"Sorry Princess, it is too late, you are already one of them and I can smell you from where I am standing. So either you let me teach you how to transition without killing yourself or you don't. Which is it, princess?"
She sighed and said, "My name is Maria and thank you for saving me. How will I transition?"
"Good. First drink this it will help you heal faster" Zeeb handed to her a cup containing a drink of some mixed herbs.
"Aaah! It smells like ass!" Maria said with disgust
"Drink it or you can forget about looking for Alex"
With that Zeeb walked out to give Maria some privacy to fully digest what he had told her. As soon as the door closed behind him Maria gulped down the liquid and grimaced. But what really hurt her was that when the liquid got into her stomach, she could feel herself losing control of every muscle in her body, and then she fell asleep again.
It was nightfall with the moon getting to its peak in an hour. Alex, Maria's twin brother was in a bad place, he wasn't thinking straight, his mind filled with thoughts about Maria. He loved her with everything inside of him. And the more time passed, the worse his condition became. He was sitting on an old wooden table, with his knees pulled tightly together and arms hugging them. It was dark, but somehow he could see well. How is that possible? he thought. Suddenly, the door opened and two men entered. One of the men had his face painted black and wore only pants, the other wore shorts and a t-shirt but his body that was exposed were covered with tattoos of various animal's skulls painted.
In a hoarse voice, the man with tattoos said, "Are you ready for your transition boy?!"
"Y-yes" Alex said out of fear he had no control over.
The man laughed and said, "You may call me Jareth. I am the alpha of the Riverash pack and after the transition you will be a member of my pack. Let the transition begin!".
Groaning from the excruciating pain, Maria was trying to change back to her human form as she listened to Zeeb voice putting her through all the process. Bone snapping, muscles shifting and reshaping Maria dug her claws into a tree for support as she lifted her head and howled into the cold night. Panting from the intensity of the transition she said, "What did you put in that drink? I still feel drowsy"
"It's a recipe to quicken your transition" Zeeb said,
"Why?"
Zeeb sighed and said, "I am Zeeb, the original alpha of the Riverash pack. The werewolf pack that attacked you and took your brother away. Jareth, the current alpha, pushed me out of my status using a mistletoe powder to subdue me before we both fought for the alpha status. He cheated and won. So since then I have been exiled from the pack. I gave you that drink because Jareth is after the power and strength that come from twin werewolves. It is written in the old times, that when a set of twins become werewolves, they possess a unique ability and power when they are bonded together as one."
"How does it concern me and Alex?"
"Jareth wants you and Alex to bond together as one then he kills you both and takes the power for himself. So that is why I sped up your transition so that you can be stronger than Alex as he will be under the influence of Jareth."
"How do I prevent this from happening?"
Zeeb look at Maria intensely and said, "I will have to bond with you. I am older and a former alpha, so with my strength coupled with yours you can beat Jareth."
"Okay then, let's bond"
Zeeb laughed, "is not that easy. For me to be bonded to you, I will have to bite you and alpha bites are excruciatingly painful. Are you ready for that?"
"Anything for my broth-"
"Silence, they are here!" Zeeb said
Maria followed Zeeb into his cottage as the Jareth and his pack came all prepared for war if need be. As they went inside, Zeeb removes all his clothes to transform into his true self. Maria watched as Zeeb became a gruesome looking creature with fur as dark as the night, his eyes changing from their normal bright brown to an insane glowing red. Grunting as his claws and sharp teeth sprouted out. Growling, he stood up to his full height of 7feet and walked towards Maria. Scared for her life she began shaking. Zeeb pinned her in place with his glowing red eyes and a single heartbeat in swift and quick movement he sank his elongated teeth into her neck. Maria screamed as she bonded with Zeeb. Her body accepted his bite which made her transform effortlessly into a werewolf.
"Zeeb! I know Alex's twin is with you. Bring her out to avoid any further embarrassment." Jareth called out, but there was no response from Zeeb.
Jareth walked around looking for Zeeb but didn't see any sign of him. From nowhere, Zeeb launched toward Jareth with a sepulchral growl. As they began to fight, the attention of the packmates was on their Alpha as he fought with Zeeb ferociously while Maria used the opportunity to sort for her brother. She quickly sets him free by bonding with Alex. Bonding together, made them strong enough to subdue half of the packmates while Jareth enraged he gave Zeeb a nasty bite which weakened him.
Alex tried to control Maria but he couldn't match her strength. Jareth, seeing that Alex had no control over Maria, launched towards them, but he was caught mid-air by his neck. Struggling to get out the hold, the twin growled loud into the night and snapped his neck. Quickly Zeeb launched towards Jareth's dying body and gave him a bite to absorb his power. With that he became the new alpha of the pack.
This is my entry to the Scholar And Scribe Monthly Short Fiction Contest. Please click the link to find out more.
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