Creatures Awaken

Waking up, I look over and see Chetan's face. He is so sweet sleeping. I trace the outline

of his chin with my fingers.

"Mmm, good morning sweetheart," he says, opening one eye.

Kissing my lips, he runs his fingers through my hair. With his scent entering my mouth, I

feel my throat start to burn. Pulling away quickly, I bring my hands to my throat and begin to

panic.

"Zare, calm down. We will find something to drink," he declares, sitting up and reaching

towards me. I growl, showing my sharp fangs. At this moment, I didn't love Chetan; the only thing I focus on is the blood rushing through his veins. Cocking my head to the side, I study him and his movements, planning my attack.

"Zare," he whispers.

My hearing is so enhanced, I hear his every breath. His heart is beating faster. I listen to

the sweat dripping off his palms. He backs up to the tree, putting his hands up in protest.

"Zare, it's me, Chetan. We will get you something to drink!" he yells.

Ajay rushes over, his scent causing more burning in my throat. Throwing my head back, I

hiss.

"Zare clam down!" Ajay shouts, taking a step towards me.

Snarling, my throat burns more by the second. In the blink of an eye, I am on the ground.

Ajay is on top of me, pinning my arms to the ground. He tackled me so fast I didn't see it coming. I hiss and show my fangs as a threat. Keeping my arms in his, Ajay gets up from the ground pulling me with him.

"Be careful with her," Chetan cautions.

"She's fine," Ajay assures him.

I'm strong, even as a vampire, yet I can't break free; Ajay is even more robust. Smoke

saunters over with a massive grin on his face.

"I am not going to lie, this is turning me on a bit." He chuckles.

"Let her loose on him," Chetan begs.

Ajay laughs, too. I calm down a little.

"Come on, baby, let's find some blood," Chetan tells me.

He leads me to the woods. Well, if you can call it leading. It was more so Ajay towing

me there as he still had me ensnared in his arms. Standing there listening, I hear tiny footsteps. Squirming and hissing, Ajay finally lets me go. I run off fast into the woods, yet I hear footsteps behind me. Looking back, I see it's Smoke. I stop running and wait for him to catch up. He walks close to me, examining my face.

"Damn, you are still fine even as a wild beast."

Him being so near makes my mouth water. His scent smells like walking into a house

with a freshly baked cake. Lunging towards him, I smash him into a nearby tree. Grunting, I

plan to attack him and drink all that sweet blood. His head is bleeding from the crash, and the blood makes me high. My whole body quivers.

Hearing Ajay howl, I know it is moments until all the wolves arrive. It sets off my wolf,

too, causing me to change. I am still thirsty and the burning is very much present, but I had more control over myself as a wolf. What have I just done?

Truing the other direction, I run as fast as I can. I am a beast, an uncontrollable monster.

The pack isn't safe.

"Zare!" Chetan screams.

He tries running after me, but he can't keep up. My speed has increased as a wolf, too. It

is outstanding. I can be across the world in two days flat. Running all around Sandy Shores, I notice the vampires are right. I see creatures I have never seen before. It is a little alarming. There are gnomes by the river; their little red hats stand out. Seeing one big ogre, my eyes are shocked. I rub them. He is large and tall with plenty of hair.

There is a goblin; he is green and slimy like a frog. He hangs out by the swamp. The

unicorns in the field are breathtaking. They are white with rainbow-colored horns. They leap and gallop on the beach. A griffin flies above me; with the body, tail, and hind legs of a lion and head, wings, and talons of an eagle. He is truly remarkable.

The thing that alarms me the most is the army of centaurs forming in front of the

cemetery. There has to be at least thirty of them. The centaurs have the body of a horse and the chest and head of a person. Some carry weapons, like a bow and arrow.

There could be many more creatures awake, too, Sandy Shores is awakening by the

minute, and if all these new creatures are against wolves, we are in trouble. My feet stop at the site of a deer. I leap on him, taking it down quickly. The poor little deer grunts as I bite into his flesh. Soon all his movements stop as I suck the life and blood out of him.

Wiping the blood on my face, I now understand I am a monster. I belong with the

vampire clan; they are more my kind. First, I have to give the wolves a warning that the beast and creatures are awakening. My feet turn in the opposite direction, and I race to camp. The wind cools my fur as I run. This was it, the battle.

Kiara, will she be okay?

Making it to camp, I rush to find Ajay. I don't say anything to Chetan as he laughs with

Dev. The smell of pancakes warms my lips, and I follow the scent to the camper and find Ajay making breakfast.

"Feel better?" he frowns.

"No." Retelling the creatures I saw and giving him a description of all of them, I notice

he looks worried.

"We will reason with all of them," he says when I was done.

"What if they don't want to reason? What then?" I pick nervously at my shirt.

"Zare, it will be fine."

"Is Smoke okay? Where is he?"

"He is fine; he is resting."

"I am sorry."

"He asked for it, he knows that."

Sandy Shores, once home to only wolves, are now overfilling with mythical creatures.