I knew I wouldn’t be able to see straight for a few hours after. It was my way of checking out.
I caught the deer, tore its throat open, and closed my eyes as I reveled in the taste of blood in my mouth. I took my time to feast on it. I hadn’t hunted like this in a while, and I knew I wasn’t going to do it again for months, so I wanted to savor the moment. It calmed me down, reminded me of who I was – a beast, a part of the woods and the mountains. The wilderness was in my blood, and I had to remember to allow it to take over from time to time. It was what set us werewolves apart from humans. My brother, Chase, had been too kind, too empathetic, too human. And that had been his demise. Since his funeral, I’d often caught myself wondering what I’d done in his stead. If I’d felt and heard the hunters on my trail… I knew what I’d have done. I would’ve turned the tables. I would’ve become the hunter and turned the men with rifles into my prey. They would’ve never returned to the house on the lake that night.
Satisfied, I licked my nozzle as I left the carcass behind. I lazily strolled back toward the valley. As I got closer and closer to the community, my heart started beating faster. My muscles began to ache, and it wasn’t because of the intense run and hunt I’d just been on. Something wasn’t right. I lifted my head and dragged a deep breath in. “The human female.” But she was in the caves, in her cell! No, maybe the scent I caught was of another female. I kept walking, trying not to think about Isabel. It was frustrating how no matter what I did, no matter what distractions I tried to come up with, she was always at the back of my mind. Reid was obsessed with her, I could tell. He couldn’t stay away. And Thorn… He was more level-headed, but every time I looked into his eyes, it was so obvious that he was thinking about her, too. Every minute of every day. She hadn’t been with our pack for too long, and she’d already poisoned us. I was coming out of the forest when I felt her scent again. It was more intense now, and I growled as I turned in circles, trying to figure out where it came from. “She’s escaped. How? Who was the idiot that let her go?” Reid or Thorn? They were both so capable of complete stupidity when it came to women. Especially since neither of them had ever had a human cunt. But I hadn’t had one either, and that didn’t mean I had to lose my head over the first that showed up. She was close. I snuck back between the trees, intent on finding her and teaching her a lesson. It was time to set things straight.
She screamed when she spotted me and ran faster. Bad idea. She’d probably read too many books or watched too many movies where humans ran through the forest with no trouble. Ha! There was no such thing. That was fantasy. In real life, no human could run through the trees, jump over fallen branches and bushes, and speed up without falling on her face within the first thirty seconds. Which was exactly what happened to Isabel. I didn’t even have to make an effort to chase her. Catching her was too easy, almost boring. When she fell on her hands and knees and struggled to get up only to slip and fall again, I was almost disappointed she was so bad at escaping that she hadn’t even provided me with a decent amount of fun. She turned on her back and started crawling backwards and away from me. I could see the sheer terror in her eyes, and that fueled me. I licked my nozzle and grunted appreciatively at the remnants of blood from the deer I’d just eaten. Maybe I should’ve saved my appetite for sweet, fragile Isabel. She was a tasty morsel, for sure. When I saw her try to get up, I pounced and trapped her underneath my four paws. I was on top of her, and she was shaking like a leaf, tears running down her dirty cheeks. I leaned closer and bared my fangs, growling menacingly. Two drops of deer blood fell