“Go fuck yourself.” I muttered. Panic made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. Home was less than half a mile away. I just needed to maintain enough distance until then.
Behind me, I heard a tree branch break and the loud clop of hooves slapped loudly against the stone road. “Come back.” It groaned again. The rancid smell grew stronger, making me cough.
Nope. Nope. Nope. Not me, not tonight, not ever.
Its otherworldly voice lost its feminine edge. Replaced by a wail of several nightmares rolled into one. “Come back. Come Back.” The clopping noises sped up, accompanied by a high-pitched screech of struck stone. “COME BACK, COME BACK, COME BACK.”
I screamed for help and ran for all I was worth. The haunting clop of its hooves grew closer, no matter how fast I tried to push myself. I blinked away tears and screamed for Felix. Hoping the werewolf’s hearing would be strong enough to hear me this far away. A shadow flew over my head and landed with a thud a few feet in front of me. I skittered to a halt to avoid crashing into it. The dim light of the lantern flickered in the darkness, revealing the monster.
Its head was that of a deer’s skull. It hunched forward, glowing yellow eyes peering at me from sunken sockets. When the light flickered brighter, I could just make out the twisted branches coming out the back of its neck. The creature stepped toward me on all fours, sharp claws ticking against the cobblestone. Its emaciated body rippled as it cocked its head to the side. Its bone mouth clacked together in quick succession. Loud ticks before the creature’s head turned up and down as if studying me. Then it reared up on two legs, the hooves of its back legs clicking loudly as it stumbled to support the monster’s weight. “Felix.” It screamed. “Felix, help me.”
I stepped back in a panic. It continued screeching the words I just said before, its high-pitched voice altering until it sounded just like mine. “What the fuck are you?” I asked.
The monster looked around us, screeching for Felix, using my voice before it turned to look at me. Its haunting gaze rooted me to the floor. It shook its head slowly, as if mocking me. “No help. No Felix.”
Alright, the insult to injury seemed a little unnecessary. It was bad enough I was about to get eaten by the spare parts of a depressed taxidermist’s wet dream. It didn’t need to toy with my emotions as well. The creature let out a sickly laugh and moved closer. Its putrid stench rolled off of it like a wave of armor. I inched backwards, my pulse beating in war drums in my ears.
The beast lunged. Knocking the wind out of my lungs as I went down hard. I cried out and dropped my lantern when its claws dug into my arm. The glass shattered on the ground, releasing the flame in a sea of scattered dead leaves. Flickers of yellow and orange lapped at the loose foliage until the flame rose high enough to touch the monster’s side. It screeched and reared up away from the flame, circled behind me and reached for my shoulder. I rolled out of the way and snatched the remains of the lantern, throwing it as hard as I could at its exposed skull.
The monster shielded its face, but its arm caught flame. Ear shattering screams erupted as it tried to shake off the fire. I took my chance and bolted down the road. Clouds blocked the moon’s light from view as I ran half blind into the darkness. “COME BACK.” it roared, still using my voice. “COME BACK, COME BACK.”
“Why would I listen to you?” I screamed back. An enormous figure broke out of the trees down the road. I tried to stop and turn around, but slipped on wet leaves and barreled right into it. Without thinking, I lashed out. Kicking and clawing at the mass of fur.I’m not dying here, I won’t do it!
My efforts proved futile when a clawed hand pinned my wrists together. I shot up, trying to bite at its wrists, when I noticed the monster holding me captive wasn’t even looking at me. Its red eyes fixated on the screaming mess of the deer beast charging towards us. When I squinted, I could just make out the color of familiar blond fur. “Oh sweet baby jaguars, you’re Felix.”
The werewolf didn’t take his eyes off the flaming creature. “Lamb, don’t look.” He moved me behind him and stepped forward. I scrambled on wobbly knees and hid behind an oak tree.
“THAT’S MINE.” The deer beast roared. I peered around from behind the tree to see it closing in on Felix. Its left arm was still smoking, but it charged ahead, screeching and screaming its head off. “THAT’S MINE. IT’S MINE, ITS M-”
In retrospect, I probably should have heeded his warning not to look. I could admit fault on that one. Watching its jaw get smashed into the back of his skull was going to haunt me for a few years, at least. The deer monster’s screeching turned to choked gurgles as it tried to slash Felix with its claws. But the werewolf merely snatched its wrist and snapped it back. Blood shot out past exposed bone, and my stomach churned.
I watched on in horror, unable to look away as Felix tore into the beast. No matter how hard the deer beast fought, it was no match for the much larger werewolf. It wasn’t even a fight. He just mauled the wretched thing beyond recognition. Tearing into its chest and shredding it into blood red ribbons. Finally, the monster below Felix grew still and quiet.
He stood, shaking the gore off his hands, before he turned back to me. The clouds had finally freed the moon, and gods, I wish they hadn’t. In the pale glow of night, with the light yellow of his fur stained with unmistakable red, there was no denying what Felix was. It was easy to romanticize werewolves in the fairy tale romances that lined my bookshelves. But in person…in person, he just looked like a monster.
In the back of my mind, Fallon’s voice kept repeating the ending to Kinnamo’s creation story. There was a woman in my exact same position before, and she wound up dead. Killed by a werebear who couldn’t handle the effects of a love potion.
My knees buckled under me. I tried to get my breathing under control, but panic grew with each step he took toward me. I pulled my knees to my chest and shielded my head with my arms. The sound of crunching leaves grew closer until I felt the heat of his body as he knelt down beside me.
The rough pad of his thumb gently grazed across my cheek, wiping tears away. “It’s alright, Lamb. It’s dead now.”
I glanced up at him, but the sight of his glowing red eyes only made my fear grow. “I don’t wanna die.” I cried.
Felix’s tone was soothing. Well, as soothing as a voice could be coming past a row of fangs. “You’re not going to die, Sweetheart. I’m here.” He tried to gather me in his arms, but I scrambled away. His long ears dropped low, and he backed away from me. He sat down a little ways away and rested his head on his hand. “Still scared of this form, eh?” he sighed, and closed his eyes. “I’ll turn back as soon as I can. Right now I’m still too angry.”
So he said, but when he opened his eyes again, Felix was smiling. His soft grin lighting up his wolfish features like he hadn’t a care in the world. “Y…you don’t look angry.” I sniffed.
He hummed and tilted his head. “What can I say, Love? Being around you makes me smile.”
A laugh broke out in between my tears. “That was so lame.”
He grinned wider. “But it made you laugh.” Felix moved a little closer, testing the waters. When I didn’t flinch, he settled next to me on the ground. Close, but not enough to touch.
I wanted to be brave enough to close the distance. Reach out and take the comfort he was trying to give, but my body wouldn’t budge. “Felix, I don’t know if I can do this.”
“Do what, Lamb?”
After wiping away my tears, I tried to keep my voice from stammering. “Being with you. I know you’re not trying to scare me, but I can’t stop thinking about the bear shifter that killed the dragon’s wife and I’m terrified you’re going to snap and break my neck or something and-”
