The Werecats: Creatures of the Night (Book One) (Revised)

- Twenty Six: Emergency Situation -

- Twenty Six: Emergency Situation -

My eyes snapped open as Eran's last words echoed through my head.

Return to the Compound by morning, or face these same consequences...

I rolled over on the rock I had slept on and stared up at the sky. It was a beautiful day. Not a single cloud in the sky.

That's when it hit me: Return to the Compound by morning...

"Wake up!" I shouted to Nick and Sam. We had shifted back to their human forms as we slept. They didn't budge.

I had a flash of a memory from my first day in this world, when Dom was teaching me how to fight. I found a stick nearby and shouted "Wake up!" As I thrust it into Nick's stomach.

That did the job.

"Holy shit!" Nick yelled, pouncing up and making a full circle. His teeth and claws were sharp as knives, "What the hell was that for?!"

"We need to go now." I said as Nick took the stick, broke it in half and threw it into the woods.

"And why's that?" Sam's voice came from behind me. The commotion must have woken him.

"I- I had a dream. It was awful. Eran was there, so was Dom, and you!" I said, pointing at Sam, "He killed Sam and did something to Dom. He burned his panther."

Sam's face went pale and his eyes opened wide, "But it- it was just a dream, right?"

We both turned to Nick who had stayed quiet. His hand was pressed against his mouth and he held his elbow as his eyebrows creased.

"Well?" I said a bit too sharply.

"Eran has a unique affinity." Nick said, breaking the last shred of hope that I held onto that it was all just a nightmare, "He can enter the dreams of others and manipulate them to his liking."

"So does that mean Dom is actually..." I couldn't finish the thought. The words caught in my throat as tears welled up in my eyes.

"No. Not yet, at least." Nick said quietly, "A panther being burned is a fate worse than death. It's the punishment to enormous crimes in the leaps."

"Why would Eran do something as extreme as that just because you visited some humans? You didn't tell them anything." Sam said.

"She also changed a human into a Werecat without it being her mate, which is strictly forbidden." Nick said, sighing in frustration.

"So this is your fault..." Before he could react I pinned Sam by the neck to a tree with my arm. I felt a fire bubbling inside of me yearning to be freed.

Just before I punched Sam with a flaming fist, Nick intervened and pulled Sam away, "Hurting him isn't gonna fix anything! What's done is done."

"What would have happened if he had never even come?!" I boomed. My anger had frightened the birds and they blew from their trees. I wished I was a bird so I could fly away from here.

"I don't know. But what I do know is that we need to move. Fast." Nick said, "Now, there's a way for Werecats to shift during the day, but not an entire shift. We can run faster if we're half panther."

He closed his eyes to focus as Sam and I watched. A small breeze blew by, stirring up leaves and dirt around his feet. It was like he was inside his own mini tornado. Finally the breeze died and the tornado fell, and we could see Nick again.

His blonde hair had become jet black and whiskers protruded from his cheeks. Two cat ears poked from the top of his head. Two white fangs were barely noticeable on either side on his mouth.

"Chop chop, guys." Nick said, clapping his hands for us to hurry up.

I could hear him take several deep breaths and the same small breeze passed by that had passed Nick.

I did the same as I thought about the night Dom found me waiting for the bus. It seemed so long ago but in reality was only a week.

I breathed deeply, feeling Sam and Nick's gazes, and suddenly it felt like my face was being rolled by a rolling pin. My nose and mouth seemed to tear away from my face, forming my snout. As soon as it had started it was over.

"Come on!" Nick said, pouncing into the woods.

"Wait!" I shouted after him.

He poked his head out of the woods again, "What?"

"Smell that?"

We all put our noses to the air and burst into a single file run as we all registered the same scent. Smoke.