Stronger than Ever

Chapter 1 - "Once upon a time there was a werewolf named Alexandra..."

Strands of my blond hair clouded my vision as I fled through the forest. I pulled the strands behind my ear but not before looking behind me. Nothing but trees and darkness met my gaze and I sighed in relief. I finally got away from them. I finally lost them.

Quickly, I slowed down trying to catch my breath but found it hard to do so. My throat was dryer than a desert and I, unfortunately, had no water. And the fact that I ran for about 2 and a half hours didn’t help me. Well physically it didn’t but emotionally…let’s just say that it helped a lot. So much I almost didn’t care how my lungs were about to jump out of my chest. Almost.

The ground, filled with fresh grass, grazed my feet, reminding me how bare they were. By now, my breathing eased up and I could now inhale oxygen without me wheezing. Not that I was old or anything, I was only 17, but my body wasn’t at its strongest.

Why, you may ask? Well that, people, is a story for another time.

I glanced at the star-filled sky debating whether I should get up or not. I knew I had to but it felt nice to just lay there and finally relax. I stared a bit more before giving in to my conscience. As I got up, a felt a bit of sadness knowing what would come next. It wasn’t pretty but I understood that it was needed and required.

I let out a strangled breath, getting up from the ground. I closed my eyes and prayed to the moon goddess that what would come next wouldn’t be like all the stories I heard, that it wouldn’t be painful. Of course, it didn’t change the fact it would hurt but I guess I just wanted to hope. Too bad it didn’t want me.

I gulped as began to kneel down on all fours, looking straight at the moon.

I mean, you’d think that I would be like a normal teenager—going shopping, having sleepovers, arguing with my parents because my dad just happened to clean his gun when my almost-boyfriend took me out on our first date—but no I wasn’t. Instead of doing homework I was here, in the middle of the woods on a full moon, waiting to shift into a werewolf.

Yeah…repeat the werewolf bit and you know that I’m not normal.

“…”

My necked instinctively snapped towards the sound. It sounded like a twig snapped (cliché right?) and I slowly rose to my feet. I narrowed my eyes to the left, gently easing my way towards the direction. When I finally faced it all I saw were trees, grass, and other nature stuff I could care less of.

“…”

This time the sound came from my right. I swallowed some non-existent liquid and let my eyes wander, ultimately finding nothing again.

Crap, was I imagining this? I thought as my heart sped up a bit. Deep down inside I knew I wasn’t.

“…” Again I heard a twig snap.

“L-look I know you’re out there!” I shouted, lying through my teeth but hey, I got this far might as well continue. “Just come out wherever you are.” My voice cracked at the end of the sentence and I knew I was scared. I mean, who wouldn’t be when you were alone in a giant forest at midnight?

Silence greeted me as I continued to rant in my head. Yeah maybe I did imagine all of this. Maybe I was so scared of the transformation that imagined all of the noises…

“Aww… little girl think she imagined us…”

I froze as I heard a husky voice chuckled throughout the night. Oh no.

“Oh no? Is that all little girlie?” I heard a snap to left and I got into my ‘fighting stance’.

The air bitterly got colder and goose bumps appeared on my hands. Crap, when did it get so cold?

It was then, as I thought that, a man appeared to walk out of the bushes in front of me.

You know how when you see a stranger, you usually run? What about a beautiful stranger? The man that walked out stopped when he stood right in the moonlight, showing his features. And what features where they.

A white shirt held onto his chest smugly, gently showing his muscles. They weren’t the overly disgusting, I-go-to-the-gym-everyday kind either. No they were perfect ones, the ones that made you want to just touch—whoa did I just think that? I must be going crazy though the action was very tempting.

My eyes continued to glide down his body and I noticed that black designer jeans loosely hung off his hips. I unconsciously licked my lips and I finally gazed at his face. A gasp escaped from me as I took in his eyes. They were this pale blue and green color that peered right into your soul.

“Are you done eye-raping me now?” asked a very husky voice, laughing softly. My gaze went to his lips. I could just picture them—

Suddenly a burst of air went through the tiny forest clearing and I blinked to see the man gone. Wait, but that’s impossible—

“Looking for me?”

I jumped as I felt warm breath on the side of my neck. Though I knew I should be scared, I shivered—and not from the cold.

“You know,” the man said, pressing himself even closer to me, causing me to gently bite my bottom lip. “I know every thought that runs through that pretty little head of yours.”

I moaned, relaxing against his frame, closing my eyes as I just focused on his voice. It was so soft and velvety—wait what!

“What did you just say?” I asked. I heard him smirk then place his hands on my shoulders, gently massaging them.

“I have to admit, your thoughts about my lips on yours” he whispered, letting his lips brush the tip of my ear.

“—I never thought that” I argued but he ignored me.

“…was very appealing though I wish to put my lips elsewhere”

Wait, what—but I couldn’t finish that thought because he twisted me, brushed my hair from my neck and bit me. HE BIT ME! Despite the fact that all of this happened between a 2 second time span, I was still stuck on the thought of this hot guy guys biting me. But I knew that it wasn’t the worst part when seconds after he bit me he started to suck my blood. Pain immediately shot through me and I tried to push him away from me. He didn’t budge and I started to panic.

My pack told me about vampires but I never knew they were in our territory!

My vision started to blur and I knew I was going to die if I didn’t stop this sexy guy from—ugh did I say sexy? Even though a vampire was sucking my blood, I still thought of how good-looking he was.

I groaned my body began to turn limp and screamed.

“Geez brother, if you’re going to feed from someone, you know to knock them out first.” said another masculine voice. I tried to open my eyes and spotted another hot guy exit from the bushes. He grinned at me after frowning at his brother.

I heard a groan come from behind me and I was released. Well, more like pushed onto the ground. I groaned and glared the hot guy #1. He opened my mouth to speak but stopped to stare at me. I followed his gaze and noticed a great amount of blood on my torso…but how—then it happened. What seemed like fire flashed through me and my eyes widened. Oh no… I drew in a shaky breath as I my insides felt like they were going to explode.

The transformation.

I crouched low to the ground but not before I felt bones crack throughout me. I screamed in pain and clutched my stomach. My fingers flew to my lower abdominals, coming in contact with blood. Why was it hurting so much? The elders said it was painful but I saw a transformation before. It wasn’t this bloody. It wasn’t bloody at all!

“Oh crap!” a man yelled. I looked up and remembered the two vampires. They stood there staring at me with their mouths open. Emotions fled through their eyes and I picked out 3 main ones: shock, regret and fear.

Hottie #2 smacked Hottie #1, “You bit a werewolf!” he yelled. “And on her transformation?!?” the guy just continued to stare at me and I began to feel uncomfortable.
Another crack echoed throughout the forest and I felt tears run down my eyes. It hurt so much.

I whimpered but shut my eyes as the fire exploded and more bones cracked. My back bent forward and I yelled as fur sprouted from my pale skin. It seemed as if someone was sticking a needle repeatedly on me.

When the pain started to numb down, I collapsed on the ground. My body was weak and I doubted I had any energy left in me. It was like someone sucked the energy out of me. Sucked! The guy sucked my blood!

I tried to peer through my heavy eyelids but this time I couldn’t. Instead my body gave out, welcoming the only thing it could: Darkness.