Beast

|Chapter Eight|

New cover made by caesium- it's so damn beautiful this is what you call  t a l e n t  *shed's tear*

Anyways I hope you guys not only like the cover but the chapter as well baiii ♡

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|In another part of the forest|

The trees stood tall, covered with the snow that was currently falling from the white clouded skies. The winds bellowed loudly, causing the tall trees to sway and dance with it. At the edge of the forest, where the trees were much shorter, were four men; Rick, Ben, David, and Aura's father – John.

"Was it all a scam to get our old asses out of our chairs? There was no wolf!" Rick yelled and kicked a pile of snow with his foot, making it soar into the air.

"That old fart, Mr. Lemmings most likely confused this bear for a wolf." Ben cursed at the old man that reported the wolf sighting to the police and glanced behind them at the large bag the four of them were dragging.

The shot that Aura heard before dashing into the forest was actually to target a large grizzly bear that charged at the group, her father being the one who shot it down. The group unfortunately didn't see a wolf nor did they hear one.

"At least we got something out of this trip boys! We can trade this bear in for the reward money for the wolf, they might even give us more. Of course, more of the share will go to John for actually killing it." David laughed and nudged John who was beside him.

John nodded in agreement, "I can't wait to show my girls what their dad caught." His face beamed brightly at the thought.

"I can't wait to show those bastards at the bar what we got." Rick laughed, the laugh sounding very evil. The others nodded in agreement. The men in the bar were always comparing and judging each others hunting skills. This time, Rick, Ben, David, and John would be at the top ranks.

As the four men talked they quickly reached the end of the forest where all of their cars were parked. They spent half the day in the forest, they couldn't wait to go home to their families.

"Hey Aura! Look what we got!" John said in excitement and opened the door of the truck.

The four of them looked inside the truck expecting to find a girl with icy blonde hair and golden eyes but they were met with an empty truck, two large gloves on the seat, and a photo of a man and a little girl thrown on the dashboard.

"Where is she?" They all asked.

|The cave|

The fire burned brightly inside the cave, illuminating the dark walls and the faces of the couple in front of it. The two stared at each other as the man retold the story of his ancestors, his eyes burned as bright as the fire as he spoke.

But the topic of the story left Aura feeling bewildered as she heard the man talk of the humans being turned into a hairy creature because of a witch. Was this really the reason why she was kidnapped? So that she could hear a fantasy filled story around a fire with a stranger inside a cave? Aura wanted someone to come in and yell, "cut and scene," to tell her that all of this was a joke, or better yet, that she woke up from this god awful dream.

As if the man could tell what she was thinking he stopped and said, "It seems...that you don't believe it." He then placed his hand on his chin and stared at Aura intensely.

"N-No, I do." She stuttered, denying his statement quickly. But in Aura's mind she was cursing profusely. Why was he so keen on her believing such a story? He told her to just listen, didn't he?

The man sighed, he could not only sense the lie coming through her lips but as well as hear it a mile away. "Living in the human world and blending in as if you were one blocks your brain from believing in the truth of the supernatural."

Aura looked at the man weirdly and laughed. "I don't need to blend in, I am one."

The man chuckled, "I would say the same thing but I would be lying, and lying isn't good."

"What do you mean-"

"What if," The man held his hand in the air, stopping her mid sentence. "I told you that, that story is very much real? That the witch did turn those men into beasts."

The man looked at her in all seriousness which left her stunned, it was the same look he gave her in the forest when he first spoke to her. It made her confused when he spoke nonsense yet looked determined as he did now. It also made her think once again that the man in front of her wasn't normal, that he was crazy instead.

"Look, I listened to your story. Don't you think it's time that I can finally leave?" She said annoyed.

"I'm not done," The man stood up from his seated position, which startled Aura and made her scoot further away. What was he going to do? "In order to make humans believe the truth, you need to show them evidence. I think that way might work with you as well."

"What – what are you doing?!"

The man, as if he wasn't crazy enough began to undress himself. Aura looked away and shut her eyes but she still managed to see him take off his black shirt and reveal his chiseled washboard abs and smooth tan skin.

"Stop it!" Aura yelled and then heard the sound of a zipper being undone. Her blood ran cold and she painfully began to register her situation fully. Of course... she was chained, weak, and with no one to help her. Any man would take this chance if they had it. Tears began to suddenly trickle down her cheeks, she didn't think this was how it would happen.

"Open your eyes," The man ordered. "And don't scream when I do this.

Aura opened her watered eyes, her tears blurring the vision of the naked man in front of her. She prayed silently in her head, that it wouldn't be painful and prayed that even after all of this she would be able to return home. But in that moment, in the middle of her prayers — the blurry image of the man in her eyes began to grow and the sound of bones breaking, snapping, and grinding filled her ears. Her eyes instantly dried up and Aura watched the man with horror written all over her face. She had never seen such a thing, not even in her nightmares. She thought the wolf was scary but he was far more. Aura was left sitting paralyzed as she watched the man in front of her turn into what the witch turned the men in the story, a beast.

The beast resembled a wolf's features but only slightly; the monstrous creature reached the roof of the cave and almost threatened to break through as rocks fell. It's black fur looked like spikes lining its body and its eyes penetrated into her. The same golden eyes as the man and the same golden eyes that she had.

Aura could hear herself breathing hard with her heart racing in her chest. Was the story real? Is the thing in front of her real? Was any of this real? So many thoughts bombarded her mind as she stared at the beast. Just when she thought she would fall unconscious the creature grew smaller, it's bones shrinking inside its body. The fur turned into skin, it's claws turned into hands, and it's face turned into the man once again.

"W-Who are you?" Aura said, panting. Every limb of her body was shaking in fear now after such a scene.

The man walked closer and smiled down at her, canines revealed themselves in the dark cave as he did so but seconds after they disappeared, startling her greatly. "Zev Alian, a beast."

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