THIRTYFOUR|PRAETERITUM

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These days hunting seemed to be my only escape

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These days hunting seemed to be my only escape.
Just the birds, the trees, and me.
-and of course the pup I carried inside my stomach.

It had been moving more and more the past few days, growing bigger.. stronger. Everyday came closer to the moment he would be in my arms.

I smiled at the thought, maybe once my son came into the world things would be different. Maybe then Theos would love me. Maybe then he would realise that everything I had done was all for him.

And one day, he may even be able to forgive me. It seemed like years since sleep had came easy to me. Ever since Mare's death nightmares plagued me. It was a cruel and vile thing that I did. But it had to be done. She had stolen everything from me. She always had.

Growing up we were friends. Best friends.
But I could never quite escape from beneath her shadow.

I had loved Theos since were were children, but he only ever had eyes for her and she knew it. She knew my despair the day after my first shift when I realised he wasn't my mate as I had always believed he would be. She had had her first shift a week prior.

I grieved the love that was never mine to have.
And she held my hand and comforted me all the while she knew he was hers.
She never told me.
For six weeks she hid it from me that they were mates.

She hid it from me, and they would meet behind my back. Sneaking around like thieves in the night.

Until one night I caught them, bare and entangled in each others lustful embrace. I felt my heart shatter into a thousand painful pieces.

She tried to make excuses, she tried to soften the blow. But she couldn't undo the damage that was already done. It was then I knew that she had to go.

I cradled my swollen stomach, though still slight in size it brought me comfort.

It was over now.
I had won.

-And I wouldn't let her sister ruin the life I had fought to hard to have, even if I had to take her out too.

I dropped to crouch beneath the thick brush at the sound of a twig snapping. Despite my stomach I could still hunt. I couldn't run as fast as I once could, but I could still run fast enough, I just had to be careful when shifting.

I sat in my human form beneath the thick foliage, trying to focus my hearing to the source of the sound. Something large, lumbering through the forest on four legs. It was far too uncoordinated to be a deer.

I slowly sat up to peek over the brush, it was huge, with thick brown fur matted to its black with a mix of blood and dirt.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐒✔️Where stories live. Discover now