Chapter 3 - Troy

~Troy’s Point of View~

I shook my head walking away from the bubble head blonde that clearly only gets by because of her family name and daddy’s money. She reeked of opulence and self righteousness. 

Everything from her highlighted hair, manicured nails, jewelry and heavy perfume screamed that she was better than me. That she thought she was better than everyone.

But her green eyes, the way her mouth hung open the first time she looked at me. I was fixated on it, her pink lips. Well those were probably fake too. I shook myself.

“It’s not gonna fucking happen,” I said, as I slammed the door behind me. 

“What’s not,” a voice said from the kitchen. 

I broke my cardinal rule, I was distracted. I didn’t check out the inside first. One day and already a female was messing up my head. This was bad.

“Nothing, it’s nothing,” I said, moving toward the male who seemed to be sipping tea. I’d never seen anyone other than a female drink hot tea.

He was dressed as ridiculous as Alice, clearly from money. Clearly everything I wasn’t. I inhaled, he was just a werewolf. Basic werewolf. No real threat there, so that was good. Weird smell though, maybe like a black jelly bean? Weird. 

“Are you the last roommate,” I asked. 

“That would be me,” he said, getting to his feet and holding out his hand.

“Troy,” I said, shaking it.

“Dustin, but everyone calls me Dough,” he said, winking. 

Okay he wasn’t a threat but he was a prick that much was obvious. Did this routine work with females? I sure as hell wasn’t impressed. 

Just then I felt the ground shaking, a strong wind flew through the windows and a loud whirring noise thudded my ears. I reached for the kitchen island, as if I needed to steady myself but it was just instinct to hold something. 

“Oh that’s just my helicopter taking off to go home,” he said, without a care in the world. 

He went back to his tea and I shook my head, turning to run to my room. I threw myself on the bed. One. Two. Three. Just relax Troy. Keep the focus. 

I’ve come so far and worked so hard. I couldn’t spare any room in my mind for her. So what if she was the first female my wolf liked, the first female whose scent didn’t offend me. Melon, maybe honeydew, sweet but light and welcoming. It didn’t suit her personality at all.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

I jumped to my feet, quickly taking a breath. Jesse. I threw the door open to see him in surfer shorts, his tan washboard abs on full display. His weird tattoos made absolutely no sense.

“What’s up,” I said, trying to be friendly. 

“Going to hit the pool, check out the scenery if you know what I mean. Care to join,” he asked.

He was nice enough, but I was hardly in the mood. I had a beautifully clear and perfect lake back at home, it was my haven. I didn’t care for a stupid concrete puddle. I certainly didn’t need to stare at a bunch of females and their skin, that wouldn’t help me a bit.

“Nah, I’m kind of beat from a long trip here,” I said, lying through my teeth. If they only knew how I traveled. Had I actually come by car though it would have been a fifteen hour drive. Jesse was obviously some kind of warlock though, if he was worth his salt he’d probably be able to teleport.

“No worries, catch you later then,” he said, making some gesture with his hand I didn’t understand. 

I sighed and inhaled Ryan’s wafting odor, there was no getting used to that. If he was bothering me I was sure to be having the same effect on him. I wanted to know more about what he was, but it was obvious I wouldn’t like the answer. 

I wasn’t one to shy away or back down from a threat. I stared it straight in the face and neutralized it. I heard the door downstairs close and dashed to my window. Rich boy was leaving with Jesse. Perfect. 

I took a deep breath and turned toward the door but stopped dead in my tracks. Was he reading my mind? Could he? There was still so much I didn’t know about other creatures. Hell, I was still learning about myself.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

I threw the door open to be greeted by Ryan’s glare. 

“Seems like we have absolutely nothing in common with pretty cat and rich dog. I have no desire to be your enemy. I'm here to get through this shit, I’m guessing the same as you,” he said, leaning against the door frame.

“Yeah, I don’t want us to have a problem either, but it’s not every day you find a…” I trailed off. 

“Ditto. How do you feed,” he asked, cutting right to the chase.

I looked at the floor. I didn’t discuss this with anyone outside of my immediate family. Well, they were my adopted family, but still. They knew all my secrets.

“A mix, depends on my mood, the time of the month,” I said, glancing at the window. The full moon wasn’t for another two weeks so that was good.

“Me too. Although I'm not a shifter, I still need raw meat and lots of it. We should hunt together. I have a love/hate relationship with hunting in unfamiliar places but a guy like you could probably go anywhere I’m guessing,” he said, raising his eyebrow with curiosity.

“Yeah, it’s fucking great in that regard,” I said, sitting down at the desk. He casually strolled into the room and stood in front of me. Okay, so my skills were on full display, what did he bring to the table?

“Oh I’ve got skills you can’t even imagine, farmer,” he said, flashing his black eyes.

I glared at him, fuck. He grinned, happy for me to know he could read my thoughts. 

“You’re a little trickier I won’t lie, you don’t have a normal human brain wave but I’m getting most things,” he said, clearly proud of himself.

“Well you’ve definitely got one thing going for you,” I said, flashing him my fangs.

“What’s that dare I ask,” he said, showing me his. Shit his whole mouth enlarged, every tooth was a fang. 

“You’re the only one at this school I don’t want to drain,” I said, laughing.

“Same here. I don’t imagine you would taste too … lively. The fun is all in the fight, wouldn’t you agree,” he said, sitting on my bed and making himself at home.

We both waited impatiently for it to get dark, deciding that together we could easily conquer and check out the woods nearby. Who would dare fuck with us?

I threw on some shorts and met him out behind the house. The night was alive with the magic of ‘other’ … of shifters ready to stretch their legs and explore. They’d be happy with some rabbits, squirrels and whatever other things on little legs they could get. My hunger was by far more dangerous. But I had a feeling that with my new companion the woods would be utterly terrified tonight.

“Let’s do this,” he said, beginning to morph and change. I don’t have a clue what I was expecting, but what he became was now the only other thing that truly scared me. His skin was a glowing green, his height now over seven feet. His arms and legs were almost like octopus tentacles, long and flowy, seemingly without bones yet he could stand. 

His head sprouted honest to goddess horns, and his hair disappeared, giving way to a large bald head with a red hue. He flicked his talon of a finger at me, clearly waiting. I dropped my shorts and forced my wolf forward, my body elongated and my bones shifted and cracked. The movement under my skin was probably enough to make a human die of fright. I shook out my pitch black fur and took off after my roommate who had already started pounding through the forest. 

Due to years of living literally off the land as a feral beast, I knew how to move almost without sound. I was the ultimate predator, you’d never see me coming until my teeth were in your throat. But Ryan … yeah it was hard for him to be quiet. It didn’t matter though, his speed was insane and his intuition was spot on. I had to imagine his senses were on overload much like mine even though I knew very little about demons.

We came to a creek and Ryan reached his big hand in, pulling out a huge trout and instantly biting its head off. I wanted to laugh at the visual. I needed something bloodier. If I didn’t get enough from what the woods could provide it could spell disaster. But sometimes there was no possible comparison for human blood. There was no other way to quench my true thirst.

I laid down for a minute and watched him enjoy plucking out fish like a human would pick flowers. It was certainly entertaining. I closed my eyes and focused, listening to what the darkness had to offer. There were lots of little things around, keeping their distance from the boogeymen that were occupying their home.

After a minute I heard hoof beats, but they were running away. I’d never catch it in my wolf form. 

*Go get him,* my wolf said, giving me back control and pushing the change. 

A few seconds later I was shaking out and stretching as I motioned for Ryan to get out. His huge legs lifted his body out of the river with ease and he stuck his nose in the air. 

“Get on my back,” I said, weird as it was to imagine. 

However he did it, moving quickly and I dashed through the trees, the air whipping my face. I knew he could dash around and quickly, but I was faster. Even with his weight which had to be 330lbs, I moved like the wind without much effort. This was what I lived for, what my body demanded of me. 

I stopped us maybe an eighth of mile from the elk, it had stopped to take a break from its run. His face was buried in some shrubs and he was completely distracted. I turned to look at Ryan who licked his lips, clearly happy with my find. The animal was in a big clearing and we had a straight shot, but it would only take me a second to reach him.

“You hold him, I’ll get his throat,” I said, without actually speaking. Hmm that's handy. Ryan nodded, and jumped on my back again. 

In the blink of an eye Ryan had the elk by the antlers and I bared my fangs to bite his jugular. Blood gushed everywhere and I sucked it hard, absolutely savoring the taste. When I had my fill I lifted my head to see the demon patiently waiting. He understood I couldn’t drink dead blood and I greatly appreciated that. He could care less if his meal was still living or not. 

I moved back from the pair and he went to work quickly, even eating bones which I had to admit freaked me out. I’d never seen anything like it. I had to imagine this is how sharks ate or something or was the only comparison I could make.

Snarls, grunts, smacking. Gore, ligaments were being tossed around. It was too much even for me and that was saying a lot. My wolf had almost forced me to shift back so he could get in on the action, but this was actually making my stomach churn.

When he was done he fell to the earth next to the animal and made a motion with his hand toward his mouth. Without a second thought I scooped him up and dashed us back to the river. He jumped right in and began drinking the water. I followed suit and began to clean up, trying to get all the blood out of my hair and out from under my nails. 

“Dude, that was so fucking intense,” he said, taking me by surprise. I turned around to see him shifted back.

I laughed.

“I usually thank the goddess for her blessing in giving me a meal and hate to see waste, I guess if I hunt with you there won’t be any,” I snickered.

“We made quite the pair, the certain death squad,” he laughed.

My body was flush with the thrill of the hunt, the fire in my throat quenched for now. I dashed us back to the house and we both quickly dressed. 

“You hear that,” he whispered. 

I nodded, females. Either coming back from a shift or a party, or both. I didn’t get one step before her sweet melony scent infiltrated my nostrils. Then suddenly she was standing on the edge of the woods across the yard, gaping at me.

*I like her, get closer,* my wolf said, reminding me that whatever satisfaction that hunt gave us, a female would be even better.

*If you like her, then you’ll want to keep her alive. So just forget it, you know we can’t,* I said, trying to push him ... and her out of my mind.