Once Upon a Wolf

Chapter 21

"Oh, Maddox is hell bent the Grey Howlers has got something to do with these rogue attacks," she said, and I shuddered at the word rogues. I was in this shit because of them.

"The Grey Howlers? Is that another pack or something?" I asked and my eyes lingered on Poppy slicing the meat. The raw deer's blood seeping out and I could pick up its salty and iron scent.

"Yes, the Grey Howlers are the largest and most powerful pack from the north, and our greatest competition," Poppy said, raising her brow. "They're our biggest enemy in Maddox's view."

I swallowed in deep, watching the deer's meat hypnotize me. "Why does Maddox think they're the enemy?" I asked.

"There's bad blood between us and them. The Moon Stone has many allies and enemies. But I don't know if the Grey Howlers are our greatest enemy."

I nodded and breathed in the deer blood, savoring the fragrance of it. I exhaled a shaky breath. It smelt fucking delicious!

"What the hell," I murmured nervously, staring at the raw meat.

"What?" Poppy asked with a tilt of her head. "Are you okay?"

No, I wasn't!

Suddenly, I lunged across the table and attacked the meat, sinking my teeth into it. The deer meat was fresh and disgusting! My eyes snapped to Poppy's bewildered ones, and I tore my body away, scrambling off the table. From embarrassment, my hand darted to my mouth, smudged with blood. I was mortified. How the hell could I do that? That was the most revolting thing I've ever done.

"Well... I know about your bite-situation," Poppy said awkwardly, clenching her teeth. "But even I would prefer to cook the meat first."

I swallowed, and bile rose in me. "I need to go," I gagged and rushed out of the kitchen, running past Willow in the passage.

"You look like shit," she yelled as I dashed up the stairs to the safety of my bedroom. I hurried to the bathroom and threw up in the toilet. After a moment, I stood up and composed myself, rinsing my mouth with water from the gushing tap. A painful itch bored into my fingernails. I raised my trembling fingers and inspected it. With shaky hands and a panicked breath, I picked on my right thumb. Black edged my nail as I pulled it off with ease, leaving my thumb bloody and sticky.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" I cried. The tears rolling down my cheeks. I sobbed on the floor as I fell to my knees, staring at my trembling hands.

I felt alone in this world.

With no one to help me.

It was the most terrible and lonely feeling as I knelt in the cold bathroom tiles.

What about if this was all true and I was turning into them. Like a vampire bite I read in stories. But this wasn't a fairytale. It was a fucking nightmare! I believed them now. I believed Faye. I was turning into something — something I didn't want to be, and there was no way of fucking stopping it.

My eyes bawled tears as I hugged myself.

After I wallowed in self-pity for a good hour, I got up to my feet. I needed fresh air again from the cool rain.

I marched out of my room and out of the house, evading everyone that crossed my path, desperately wanting to be alone. All thoughts ran through my mind as I walked abruptly across the pack ground. My grandmother, the only mother I've known since my parents passed on at a young age. I would never see her again. My studies, never fulfilling my dreams as a scientist. But everything that happened defied scientific theory. Tears prickled my eyes, feeling the inevitable happening.