Bite Me

Prologue

Hey beautiful souls!

Thanks for giving my book a go. I've  spent so mich time publishing and  unpublishing chapters because I didn't  feel like it was right. However, it was fun to write and edit. So, let me know what you think fellow writers and readers.

Copyright ©
The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All characters and events in thus publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved.
No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievable system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Prologue:
My small bare feet were pounding against the cold, wet soil of the forest in rhythm with the drumming of my heart. My limbs ached from the thuds but I pushed through, my fear fueling the adrenaline that coursed through my veins. I couldn't hear anything but my strained breaths and the squeaking of the old and newly fallen leaves that littered the floor beneath my feet, from the canopy above.
I used to love this place, it was my safety, my identity, the only home I had ever really known, but now as I ran all I could feel was the betrayal of my own stupidity for ever even considering that my escape would help me find my forever.
I could feel them gaining on me, hunting me.
"We'll get you!" They taunted.
I could hear their voices echoing in my head all at once, taunting me.
I couldn't do this anymore, I just couldn't outrun them. Large feet against wet soil approached. My legs began to slow, my heart racing so quickly that I could barely breathe.
The world began to grow dark and suddenly I couldn't run anymore, my path ending near a cliff's edge. I skidded to a stop unable to see into the darkness below me.
The air became thicker and I spun to face my attackers, I held my fists up. If i had to die I would go down fighting.
Dark shadows loomed over me as they reached the end of the trail. I cowered but tried to stand tall and brave.
A man stood into the light of the moon, the fluorescenceofluorescencthe bronze sheen of his skin, his face terrifyingly beautiful, anger in the facet of his features.
He stared at me with a raw anger and I gritted my teeth, baring them at him like an animal.
Another man came to his side, each almost equally as burley as the first.
Both their fseemfacesed to suddenly  contort with confusion as they watched me. All signs of their previous anger, gone.
"Shit Beau, it's just a kid," the second man said.
The man, Beau, approached me but I took a step back, unaware of how close to the edge I really was.
I was well and truly stuck between a rock and a hard place.
More men approached and I looked around, in desperate need for a way out.
I wanted to scream out for help but my voice had all but disappeared.
"Beau, she's beaten up pretty bad."
Beau's large hand cupped my face to make me look up at him and I tried my best to stay as still as I could.
He seemed to assess my bruises and I winced remembering how I had gotten them. I moved my head flustered by the attention, and to my surprise he let me.
"Hey," he said, softer than I imagined a man of his stature could speak. "We aren't going to hurt you kiddo."
Something in his voice made me believe him.
He held his hand out to me. "I promise you'll always be safe with us."
Always?
I nodded slowly and placed my small hand in his.
Beau's smile widened slightly.
I tried to smile back but my heart was still beating too hard for me to do anything.
"Can we keep her?" Two of the men asked in unison, big grins revealing their dimples.
This made me smile. It occurred to me that they looked identical. Twins perhaps.
"Do you want to come with us?"  The twins asked with excitement.
I nodded without thinking.
"Boys," warned Beau. " We cannot just kidnap a child. She is not a stray dog." He said lowly, his voice authoritative as he seemed to turn down the idea, yet I was still acutely aware of his hand still holding mine as if betraying the feelings of his own words.
The words came out before I could stop them. "Take me with you, please!" I pleaded, fear pulsing through me at the thought of returning to the orphanage.
How much could these four want to hurt me if I was still alive?
My chances of survival out here weren't any better then going with these men, if anything they could have a greater outcome.
All of their eyes turned to me, the colour as bright and beautiful as the next.
There was a shuffling in the forest behind them and I wandered if more of them were coming.
Beau looked at the blond man beside him, one who had only spoken once.
"What do we do with her Beau?" he asked softly.
Do with me?
I gulped, swallowing down my fear. Maybe I had been wrong about my chances of survival with this bunch of strange men. Then again I hadn't had a mother to warn me about stranger danger.
"Do you trust us?" Beau asked, in a low voice that was almost a growl.
I shook my head in honesty.
"Good," he agreed.
Beau's grip tightened around my wrist forcing me to look up at him in reaction,  I was frozen as his smile stretched into a sickening grin of sharpened teeth.
I wanted to run, but the sight was mesmerising almost hypnotic.
He drop my hand as his body trembled, blurring his features.
As if breaking one at a time, his bones cracked and snapped, with the most ungodly of sounds. I watched in both horror and wonder as his skin tore away from his body like he was unzipping a disguise. Suddenly, there it was, a large wolf revealed, his fur a deep copper, shifting directions in the win, spreading a strong smell of jasmine and musk through the air.
I held my breath, unsure if I wanted to cry and laugh.
His large mouth opened to let out a loud howl. The other men shed their skin within seconds as if on command.
I couldn't move as their sights slowly set on me, teeth baring, saliva dripping out of their muzzles. All four wolves padded their paws against the grown, growling and angered, before they pounced on their meal...me.