Page 7 of Camp Dire

I should stay the fuck away from her. I shouldn’t be out here lurking like some fucking perv that needs to stalk his prey. But I can’t stay away. And after that kiss, I am well aware of how hard it is going to be to let her walk away from me during the blood moon. Just the thought makes the creature inside of me fight to get out. And the fact she stood up to me without backing down just made me even fucking harder, even more certain that she was mine. That this is right and inevitable.

Yeah, she slapped me but thankfully, I have other senses that tell me just how turned on she was by that kiss, the scent of her sweetness getting stronger and turning to pure honey as she started to kiss me back. God, I could have dragged her off right then. Or worse, I could have taken her right there in front of everyone standing around.

A scent catches my attention long before I make my way around the camp to where I last saw her sneak off. This one makes the animal in me immediately burst free and rush to my mate.

“I don’t…um, like you like that, Doyle. I don’t want to hurt you but I…am not comfortable with…you.”

“Because you’re too busy panting after the mayor. Maybe if I was mayor, you’d start opening those legs for me.”

“Oh, God, no! I mean…,”

“You should be careful, Piper. A tiny little thing like you might get hurt chasing after someone so powerful. You know, they found bodies in this forest. Wouldn’t want a whore like you to get all sliced up because your too stupid to realize what danger looks like.”

Piper’s face goes white as blood drains from her face and her scent turns acrid. A growl rumbles out of me and both of them turn to look at the thick underbrush. Doyle goes pale now. He knows I’m here and that I listened to every word he just said to my mate. The wolf and the man are in total agreement that Doyle has signed his death warrant. He will never leave this camp alive. But I don’t want to do it now, right in front of my already terrified mate. No, Doyle and I will end this thing tonight. Under the nearly full moon.

I watch as he runs, leaving my girl sagging against the cabin wall. As much as I want to go to her and rub my scent all over her, I also don’t want to scare her. So, I bide my time, spending the rest of the afternoon in my wolf form as I track every step she takes. I want to be sure she is safe in her bunk before I finish Doyle.

What I failed to calculate, is how much rot has infested Doyle over his life. She’s walking some of the younger campers back to their bunk after they sat around a campfire making smores and telling stories when a large wolf jumps out in front of them. Immediately, my mate shoves the tiny children behind her trying to protect them.

When we are wolves, we are bigger than a normal wolf. I’ve always wondered if it might be a holdover from the days more of our kind walked among people. Whatever it is, most of us in wolf form are twice the size of a normal wolf. And I’m even bigger than the rest of us because I’m the alpha.

Seeing Doyle in his wolf form is startling to say the least, especially for someone who didn’t know we were out here in the world. Someone like Piper. Normal people in her position would run screaming. She stands in front of small children remaining calm and poised. She’s got everything it takes to make a good mate for an Alpha like me, everything I could ever ask for in a mate. Everything.

Courage, bravery, and willingness to put others ahead of herself, she’s perfect. And I will not let anything harm her or take her from me, especially not Doyle.

Piper backs up slowly and keeps the children behind her as the wolf advances closer and closer. When he opens his mouth, a roar fills the night air but not from him. The wolf’s head snaps to the side as it looks with wild eyes as I emerge out of the brush and dark trees. The wolf standing in front of my mate is brown and white and gray while I am big and black, the same shade as the night around us. A color unmistakable among our kind.

I growl deep in my throat as I step closer and closer to the other wolf.

“Oh shit!”

The two words are said in a quiet whisper, but I pick them up, just like I pick up the scent of fear that is heavy in the air, not just from Piper but from the children as well. The wolf looks away from me and back to my mate. I feel his intent before heever moves and in anticipation, I launch myself at the other wolf catching it in mid-jump sending us both rolling.

The last thing I hear before we both hit the ground is my mate screaming at the top of her voice.

“RUN!!!”

Chapter Eight

Piper

What the hell is going on? And why did my life suddenly morph into a fucking horror movie right before my eyes? When the first…creature came out of the woods I thought it was a bear, but the snout was all wrong and it had pointy ears that reminded me of a dog, but it was fucking huge! Huge! And now there are fucking TWO of them!

“RUN!!!” I use the fact the creatures seem to be fighting with one another to motivate the children behind me to run as fast as they can. I try to keep up with them but one of the creatures cuts me off before I can run away with the children. I turn and run the other way so maybe they will chase me instead of the kids. Those things have to be…wolves…or werewolves! Right? Fucking werewolves! In the woods!

“Hey! Come this way!” I duck into the forest and take off running as fast as I can when I hear twigs and branches snapping behind me. Apparently, it worked, and the monsters are chasing me like I want them to. Why did I think this was a good idea? Why, why, why?

I trip over something and go sprawling across the forest floor, but before I can get back up the first ‘wolf-thing’ is on me. A split second later the other wolf knocks him off me. I make it to myhands and knees only to find myself ducking and covering as a tree falls, its branches encasing and trapping me!

A merciless growl fills the woods as the tree hits the ground. By some stroke of luck, the bigger branches and the trunk of the tree miss me but I’m trapped by the smaller branches at the top. But I'm still trapped!

“No!!” I kick out at the thin wooden arms trying to hold me down, but my thin canvas shoes are no match. I couldn’t kick anything and break it if I wanted to, damn it! I grunt trying to press my way between two of the bigger branches as twigs and sticks grab and catch on the jacket I’m wearing. Light flashes through the trees and thunder cracks overhead like even the sky is pissed about what’s happening. Another vein of lightning isn’t far behind, creating forks of fire and lighting up the sky, giving me a better look at the two creatures.

Oh shit! I work faster at trying to wiggle between these two branches. I finally squeeze through but have to leave the jacket behind, snagged. And just in time too, because the fight between the two wolf things comes right towards me and one of them lands on my wooden cage and crushes it to pieces beneath its massive weight.

These things aren’t werewolves…at least not like the ones in movies. A moment later, a flash of lightning affirms my suspicion. Not werewolves. There are no human features at all, no humanity in the brown eyes staring at me like the creature wants to eat me. He probably does and the worst part is I wouldn’t be even an appetizer to these big things. More of a late-night snack.

I take off again and start to run in the opposite direction, away from the fight. I can see my breath in the cold air, but I don’t feela thing as I try to make my escape. No one is going to believe this. How am I going to explain this? Who the hell do I even tell? The police? The game warden? Fucking Animal Control?

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