Chapter 5
That shift, and many after it, were all the same. Then, about six months after my first shift, I had a strange one.
It was during the summer solstice. The full moon lined up perfectly with the shadow of the sun. It was a shift I will never forget.
Per the usual, my body trembled with a strange energy, and then burned with fever. Knowing the signs, I made my way to the mountain of Wolfe Point—with Ryder driving. And then the bone-breaking pain began. As with every shift, I was thankful it was so much less painful and drawn-out than it had been that first time.
As soon as my body transformed into the wolf, I felt extremely relieved and aware. Every pinprick of heat and hair on the surface of my skin had been an acute alertness. Now feeling comfortable and happy, I followed the wolves around me as we ran in a pack, hunting for food and blood. I’d learned early on that we needed blood to survive, just like a vampire. But just the mention of the word ‘vampire’ made an ire grow wildly in my chest, but I could never figure out why.
This particular shift, as we were in the woods hunting small animals, we found ourselves in a small clearing. Being that I could hear my wolf brothers and sisters inside my head—it was how we communicated—I listened to their voices, almost as one.
“What’s that smell?”
“There’s one nearby!”
“We need to get rid of it!”
I lifted my snout and sniffed the air. There was not only something delicious nearby, there was also something repulsive.
“Vampire,” I heard Aden’s voice in my head as he warned me.
It freaked me out. But then I grew angry, and thought, why am I angry? Not analyzing the emotion, I committed the scent to memory, because honestly, it was nothing like I had ever smelled.
“Kill it,” I heard Ryder’s voice in my head.
“Why are we killing the vampire?” I wondered in my head.
I heard a few growls inside my head, and then my brother’s voice. “Because they are evil, vile creatures. Undead and unnatural… they need to die forever.”
Um, I had not asked that of anyone particular. I had just been wondering. Now, I was officially freaked out.
“Stay outta my head,” I thought, my furry wolf body shuddering.
“You are part of the pack now, beautiful. We hear you, you hear us,” came a voice I recognized as Ryder’s.
I remember panicking that the wolves could hear my inner voice. Had they heard all my inner thoughts this whole time? Why was I hearing them now? And why was I remembering the shift when I usually shifted, then woke the next morning covered in mud and blood?
“Why now?” I whispered.
“The solstice must have awakened your awareness. Congratulations, girl,” came Aden’s voice.
“Thanks,” I replied, unexcited.
“Unfortunately, there’s also an eclipse tonight, so it should be extra fun for you,” said another voice I didn’t recognize. I looked around the clearing, and for some reason was able to identify the wolf who had spoken. It was Benson.
“Why?” I asked.
“Guys!” came Ryder’s voice. “Vampire at ten o’clock!”
I followed Ryder’s big, black wolf’s gaze and saw something move fast through the trees. I had pristine eyesight, so I was able to see that it appeared to be the form of a man moving quickly through amongst the trees. What is he doing here? I wondered.
Moving in a slow, calculated circle, I could feel the hatred for this creature emanating in waves from my wolf brothers and sisters. I felt the hatred too—and I hated the hate. Why did I feel such disdain for this creature? He had done nothing to me—to us. I should not feel anything for him.
“It’s a natural instinct,” came Aden’s voice.
Dammit! Stupid wolf telepathy.
I heard Ryder’s wolf chuckle. “I heard that.”
Mary had a little lamb, a little lamb, Mary had a little lamb… I sang.
“Stop singing,” Benson growled.
“Why are you singing about lambs when you’re around a bunch of wolves?” Aden asked, laughing.
“Tryin’ to keep my head clear!” I volleyed.
“Get it!” I heard Benson shout, and then we were all running toward the vampire, who had scurried up a tree like vermin.
The growl that burst from the back of my throat surprised even me. Looking up, I could see the vampire at the top of a very tall pine tree. He was so far up, I wondered what the hell we were doing chasing him. There was no way any of us could reach him. As I growled, my long tail swished back and forth behind me.
“What now?” I asked to no one in particular.
“We wait for it to come down.” Ryder’s voice.
I watched as the vampire looked down at us. His skin was as white as the moon that shone down on us, and looked to be completely flawless as if his skin were etched from stone. His eyes were a very light color, and his hair as black as night. He wore dark but regular clothes. As I stared at him, I wondered what kind of power these creatures possessed. I also wondered what he had been thinking climbing that tree. I could see that they could move very fast—probably too fast for the human eye to see. So why not just run away?
“Because they’re not smart,” Aden said.
Dammit!
“He couldn’t smell a bunch of wolves around?” I asked my brother.
“They don’t have as sensitive of a sense of smell like we do,” he replied. “So we probably surprised him, and he panicked and climbed the tree.”
“What a dumbass,” I thought to myself.
I heard laughs and snickers as my reply.
Whoopsie.
I watched as the vampire looked over his shoulder, to the east, and I followed his line of sight. I smiled when his face looked worried. The horizon held a slight pink hue to it, indicating sunrise was coming soon. I was obviously not wearing a watch, but I could feel the sun coming soon.
I wondered if vampires were allergic to the sun like in the books and movies?
“They are,” Ryder said.
This time, I just laughed.
“Then what are we doing sitting here waiting to devour him? Let the sun kill him,” I said, proud of myself.
“He’s gonna climb down if we don’t stay here,” Benson replied.
“Point taken,” I said.
The sun was rising fast, and I briefly wondered how much longer until we all reverted back to regular humans. What time of the morning did that happen, anyway?
“When the sun overpowers the moon and it disappears from the sky,” came a voice, and at this point I didn’t really care whose it was. I clearly needed to stop thinking.
“Then he’s going to get lucky, we will all be a bunch of naked humans, and he’ll climb down and find some shade for the day,” I said.
A scream came from the top of the trees, and having to crane my neck all the way back, I could see the vampire’s arm begin to smolder and smoke as if on fire. A few sunbeams were now filtering in through the trees, and it seemed the vampire had sustained a direct hit.
A gaggle of laughs erupted inside my head, and I couldn’t help but join the laughter.
Even though we were laughing inside, on the outside we were howling and barking at the vampire. He began to climb lower on the tree, but refused to come all the way down. For now, he was safe from the sun, but I began to fret that we were going to turn back into humans at any time, and that he would have bested us.
“Can we climb trees?” I asked the crowd.
I heard a few chuckles. “Go ahead and try.” Benson’s voice.
“Shut the fuck up, B,” Ryder said. “Baby, don’t try to climb the tree.”
I laughed. “Noted.”
The sun was rising fast now. The vampire began to climb down the trunk some more, when suddenly, he jumped off several feet away from the circle we had made at the base of the tree, and landed on his feet, but then rolled and got up and began to run. It seems like he had almost flown off that tree. Could vampires fly?
“Get him!” Austyn yelled.
We all took off running, and I gained the lead. The vampire looked behind him as we gave chase and I was quickly gaining on him. I could hear his breaths come out in pants, and while he looked worried as he chanced glances back at us, he was also laughing maniacally, as if he were going to get away.
I sped up, and at once, I was about two feet from his backside, and Benson had reached me.
“Let’s fuck this bloodsucker up!” he said.
At once, we both pounced on the vampire, causing him to fall to the bed of leaves at our feet. He immediately flipped over onto his back and tried to get up, but we had him pinned. The rest of my brothers and sisters stopped short just behind us.
Getting a close look at the vampire, I could see that his eyes were completely red. This frightened me briefly until I remembered that we had the upper hand here. With long and sharp fangs that extended from his eyeteeth, he hissed at us like some deranged snake.
With lightning-fast moves, he reached up and gripped Benson by the throat. Benson’s wolf made a gagging noise and this angered me. I felt my blood go hot.
“You got this, baby,” I heard Ryder say, reminding me that the pack was behind me. I felt like I was at some kind of training exercise, while the rest of them waited behind me and didn’t help.
Without thought, I reached down and bit into the vampire’s arm, causing him to scream in some unholy octave, but it had the desired effect. He let go of Benson, and that was when I went in for the kill. My jaw fully open and extended, I let out an internal banshee cry that came out as a howl from my wolf, and I tore into this vampire’s neck with teeth.
The rush of blood into my mouth was near orgasmic. I had not remembered tasting blood before, and this tasted good.
“Do not swallow his blood, Ayla. I’m serious, spit it out!” Aden commanded, panic in his voice.
“But I want to swallow it. It’s delicious.”
“Spit it out!” they all began to scream.
The vampire under me was fighting. He was strong, but I was stronger. With all my self-control and resolve, I gagged out the vampire blood, letting it dribble from my mouth. I showered his face, neck, and chest with his own blood. Then, I bit the other side of his neck.
“Take off his head!” I heard Austyn begin to chant, and it sounded like he was thoroughly enjoying watching his little sister devour a person—a vampire.
With all my strength, I began to wrench the vampire’s head from his neck, and that stopped his screams.
It was the single most disgusting thing I had ever seen, smelled, or done. But for some reason, I didn’t feel like gagging or throwing up like I had when I had watched a particularly disgusting horror movie last week as a human.
Huh, that’s interesting…
With his neck vertebrae between my teeth, the vampire’s head swung from my jaws, which elicited the cheers from my brothers and sisters.
“Go put the head in the sun, in the clearing,” Aden commanded.
I turned to see Benson and Ryder drag the body with their teeth behind me. Once I had placed the head in the sun, it burst into flames.
Then I passed out.