Chapter 1

1 — Prey Blood

It waited to kill.

On the sun-baked dry sand, hiding in the blades of the thin yellow grass, it laid. Waiting.

Through its lacerating fur it could sense the vibrations being transmitted. Though they were still far off, the creature could sense it, distinctly and precisely. The rabbit sat in a reasonable distance from the creature, unaware it was about to meet its abrupt end. The creature's eyes glowed on its target, determining not only its direction and speed of movement, but also its weight. Every predator knew that weight was of cardinal importance when it came to their prey. The rabbit was fat. And so the creature readied itself. Giving chase meant a loss of energy that it was sure to replenish by the calorific value of that fat juicy rabbit. It knew it would have had to quit the attack if the prey was too small. But not this rabbit. This rabbit was fat.

Moving its limbs cautiously, and avoiding sudden noises, the creature reduced the distance between itself and its prey. Eyes blazing, pitch focused. It watched as the quarry's eyes moved away and the creature now knew where to approach it from, how to force it to flee and how to catch it off guard to swoop it in one great giant leap. The vibrations from the ground finally signaled what the creature wanted. The rabbit had turned its back and not only that, it had given up its concentration, there was no better time. 

In that split second, the creature braced its rear limbs and leaped.

                                        

                                  

The cottage door swung open, wind pushing in the dead leaves and dirt from the invidious forest as the fragile furnitures shook. Standing on the passageway was a woman, or what was left of one. Her mouth was soaked in red fresh blood and her fingers painted with the same fluid. Her body half drench in moist dirt and her raven dark hair seemed even blacker covered in soil muck. 

Lena Banecroft walked into her house, holding on to the small piece of clothing she used to shield her naked self from the winding cold. She flung the pair of shoes in her hand by the side of the wall and grabbed the bottle of water waiting for her on the table.

“Fuck,” she muttered to herself after gulping down what it seemed to her was barely a cupful of water even though it was a bottle. “I have to stop doing this.”

That indeed was very true. Lena still hadn't found a way to battle with her beast, her alter ego. The wolf. She wasn't a very good hunter herself, but when she transformed to her wolf self, she could hunt whatever she wanted. The only problem that resulted from this experiment was that she always ended up with raw meat in her belly. 

Of course, Lena's plan was to hunt the quarry, kill it and transform back into a human so she could cook it in her home. She never reckoned how unbelievably difficult it would be to change back to human while being enchanted by the bedeviling scent of raw meat. How could she know? It was only three months ago that she had her first change. Back when the incident happened. . . Lena blinked, defeating the thought from sneaking into her mind once again.

She let the piece of clothing fall off her shoulders as she walked out the back door of the cottage, grabbing the soft rag she used to wash her skin.

There was a small lake sitting right in the middle of two tall oak trees. If Lena ever swam the lake in a straight course without veering, she would find herself in the valley of Ol' Abana. Then, just one cold hill to climb before Wolf Landing; her real home. She'd fought with the temptation of attempting it a couple of times; going back to her pack. And somehow she was always able to get her mind off it. It would never work. Not that they'll ever accept her again. Not after what happened.

The water was cold as expected. Lena shivered, wishing she had her tepid wolf fur to warm her up. She washed her body in the lake, wondering to herself where her mate was. He hadn't returned the night before, never even letting her know when he had left. She had little to work with, so she wasn't sure whether to worry or not. Jude will always be Jude.

She hurried out of the freezing lake and ran into the cottage, bolting the door after her and grabbing the towel that hung by the wall.

“Taking a bath so early?”

Lena took the towel off her face and almost leaped at the sight of her runaway mate. She let out a sigh of relief.

“You've been away,” she said to him, drying her armpits and her dripping breasts.

“I'm always away,” Jude answered unconcernedly. He took a cup with him and started down the small space to their bedroom.

“You could at least tell me where you're off to next time,” Lena said, her feet dragging after him.

“And why should I do that, Lena?” He sat on the bed. Lena didn't see where the bottle of rum that he held had appeared from but she frowned at the sight of him pouring it into his cup.

“Well, so I wouldn't have to worry about you as much.”

Jude stopped his pouring and turned to look at her. A sonorous acidic laughter followed, his shoulders bouncing as he placed the bottle of rum on the table by the bed.

“What's so funny?” Lena asked, flustered.

“You. . .” he pointed tauntingly at her. “Worried about me?” His annoying laugh continued.

“Of course I am, Jude. You're my mate,” she sneered. “And I'm yours too, whether you like it or not.”

“Alright Lena, calm down. Because Selene directed me to you doesn't automatically mean I'm your damn mate.”

Lena's eyes widened. “Yes. Yes, it does. That's literally what it means. That's exactly what happens when you're directed by the moon goddess to a female werewolf.”

“Well, you're not a werewolf, are you?” Jude yelled.

“What?” Lena's eyebrows fell to her face and she felt the mist gather under her eyes. “You don't mean that, Jude.”

“Yes, I very much do.”

“I am a werewolf, I've always been one.”

”Oh. . . so you think because you were born into a pack that automatically makes you a wolf?” Jude got to his feet, his tall hunkering body hovering over her as he looked down at her condescendingly. “Or you think because you can change into one that makes you one, huh? Look at this.”

He strengthened his fingers and to Lena's panicking reaction, sharp long claws drew out of his nails, the edges razor sharp.

“You see this. . . this is what makes me a werewolf,” he bemused. “I can do that on command. I can control my beast, Lena. I am my beast. But you. . . you can't even stop yourself from eating our dinner before you even cook it.”

Lena's eyes darted.

“Oh what? You thought I didn't notice that? You took a bath this early at noon, of course I did.” When he seemed satisfied with himself, he returned to the bed and took a huge gulp of his rum. “So don't bullshit me with all that mate stuff. You can't be in want of a mate when you're not even a werewolf.”

Lena's eyes dampened and she fought back, knowing the dam was about to break. She looked down at Jude, unable to feel any type of contempt or anger. Only sadness.

“Jude,” she called to him softly. “Jude!”

“What is it?”

“Jude, you have to stop being so rude to me,” she blubbered, her mouth filling up with saliva and tears. “You have to. I don't think I can take it. . . I'm not sure I can take it anymore.”

Jude looked up at her. “What are you saying? That you're gonna leave?”

Maybe she should. Lena sniffed. “I just want you to stop.”

“Fuck this,” Jude swore as he grabbed his rum and flounced out of the room, slamming the fragile door so hard that Lena whimpered to the thud.

Following his departure, Lena folded herself on the bed, doing a very poor job in holding back her tears. It felt like they gushed out the more she tried to stop them. 

Truly, she always seemed to forget how she ended up there. In that cottage, with the most unsavory and unloving mate any wolf would ever ask for.

She missed her life in Wolf Landing, her friends and her pack even though all they ever did was bully and make fun of her. It felt better than this. . . much better than this life of loneliness and depression.

She remembered asking the moon goddess for a mate, her excitement when she was finally granted one. But ever since she got to know Jude, she could never understand why Selene had chosen to curse her with such a man. At first she thought she could change him, but changing Jude was impossible. And so was going back to the Landing.

This was her life now. And it all happened because of one mistake. A mistake that she knew would hunt her even in her death.