Chapter 3

The Bite

The night was unfriendly. It was the type of unfeelingness that reached into his bones as if his heart was a door left wide open to the icy wind, slamming only to open again. 

The only thing to do was keep moving, keep wandering around until he found her. The sky was a rolling blanket of clouds, the color wet ash, and the ground its dank reflection. 

The only thing letting him see his path was his phone’s flashlight and the full moon. 

He heard the howl of a wolf followed by a feeble sound of the dead leaves and branches on the ground behind the tall trees. Aaron promptly turned around in trepidation as his stomach dropped. His heart hammered against his chest as if trying to get away from its place. 

Aaron expeditiously looked around, trying to see what was lurking behind the tall trees. He knew he wasn’t alone; he just hoped it wasn’t that one thing he was terrified of the most—a werewolf. 

His body went cold as a chill ran down his spine at the sight of what was on the hills. On the crest of the hill were several silhouettes, wolfish. Two stood almost statue-like while the others tumbled about, pulling one another. 

He began to walk back slowly when he noticed they hadn’t seen him. Turning around to bolt, he encountered the most vicious and angry creature glaring back at him. 

“Fuck,” he whispered as his heart beat against his chest. He was so scared that he felt his legs were about to fail him. 

He slowly walked back before finally turning around and bolting in any direction he could. He ran as fast as he could just as he turned to check if the monster was close behind. He could no longer see it. 

Aaron halted to catch his breath. But before he could think of anything, he was sprung down, and he suddenly felt an abysmal snappy, deep pain in his arm. He yelped in agony, holding his arm as he tightly closed his eyes, waiting for his predator to finish him. 

The pain felt like a pin creeping along his bitten left arm. Every heartbeat sent a surge of agony as if his arm was being torn apart. 

The night soon went silent, with only the sound of the cricket and him wincing in pain. He forced a moan as he opened his eyes slowly. He looked around with his bloodshot eyes, but he couldn’t spot the thing that bit him. 

He managed to get to his feet and slowly walked toward home. As it tortured him to move, he kept the movements small and steady. He had long dropped the book and forgotten about it.

After a prolonged, painful walk, he finally got home and managed to climb the tree up to the balcony leading to his room. He knew his parents wouldn’t take it lightly if they discovered he sneaked out into the woods after the warnings and policies they’d set when they moved to the farmhouse. 

With a muffled grunt, Aaron slowly plumped down on the edge of his bed for a moment. 

What he saw was scandalous, and he couldn’t tell if it was a werewolf or a monster he had never come across before. It was huge, and he could swear he saw it standing on two feet before it got on its four legs and launched toward him. It was a scary moment—especially knowing he was left with a huge bite mark on his left arm. 

Steadily, he got up and sauntered into the bathroom to take care of his wound. He dropped the first aid kit on the basin before slowly taking off his shirt to take a look at the wound. 

“Fuck,” he mumbled upon sighting the massive bite in his left arm. It was a phenomenon that his arm wasn’t ripped off. 

Aaron could feel the panic rising as multiple thoughts swirled around his mind—how was he going to hide it from his parents? It was obvious he wasn’t going to tell them he went into the woods in the middle of the night looking for the girl he couldn’t get out of his head for weeks. He couldn’t tell them something twice his size attacked him and just bit him without eating him up. 

How was he going to show up at work tomorrow with a huge bite on his arm?

The next morning, Aaron woke up with a throbbing headache that felt as though his head was going to split in two. Massaging his temple, he got off the bed and slothfully ambled toward the bathroom. 

He barely slept last night—his whole body went cold, making him feel as though he was dead or was about to die. 

He stood before his bathroom mirror, thinking back to his life before they moved here. It was tough, especially the part where he broke up with his ex-girlfriend, Ashley, who cheated on him. It broke him that he took a year off college, and now he might not go to college. 

He loved his job at the gift shop he worked, and he wanted to open his own shop as soon as he saved enough to open a candy shop and a gift shop. 

His life before the farmhouse was filled with chaos. He guiltily felt happy that they went broke and had to sell their house and move here. He loved it out here; he made friends so easily, and they didn’t judge him like his friends back in Virginia did. Though he was among the most popular kids back in high school, it didn’t mean anything to him. He knew they only liked him for his fit body and beautiful face. 

Aaron looked at the blood-stained bandage and slowly started to peel it off. He winced before he even felt the pain. He was afraid of how it was going to turn out, knowing he needed proper medical attention. Maybe it would get worse and sore, and he would have to go to the hospital. If he did, without a doubt, his parents were going to find out, especially his mother, as she works at the hospital. 

“Huh,” he gasped out in awe. There was not a single scratch on his arm, let alone the huge bite mark he last saw before treating the wound. How did he heal within just twelve hours? Has it been twelve hours? It happened at midnight. Now it was barely eight in the morning. 

An hour later, Aaron found himself at work. Gasping, hardly knowing what was going on around him. He was barely concentrating on what he was doing. His body felt different than usual. 

He could audibly hear things he wasn’t supposed to. He could smell things he shouldn’t be able to smell. He could see things more clearly. Felt stronger than before. 

“Aaron…”

He promptly snapped his head panickily as he breathed out. He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until Tyler called out his name. 

“What’s up, man? You’ve been off lately. Everything alright?” He asked worriedly. 

Aaron could see the worry in Tyler’s eyes. He knew he had to tell someone about what had happened to him last night. The only person he could tell that was Tyler—he trusted him though they’d known each other for only a couple of months. 

“Hey, Tyler, I know you’re a werewolf freak. Do you know anything about a werewolf biting a human?”

“Ahh, yes. It’s simple. When a human gets bitten by a werewolf, they might not turn into one. But when you get bitten by an Alpha, you’ll be one of them. I have so many theories and histories about werewolves. I know 99.9 percent about them. 0.1 percent is when I get to meet up with one up close—which is in never.”

“I may have been bitten by a werewolf last night,” Aaron announced, his chest heaving up and down. 

Tyler stares at him for a moment. He wanted to believe what Aaron had just told him now but it was hard to. He chuckled softly, thinking Aaron was just pulling his leg. 

“Just because there are some asinine rumors about werewolves living out in the woods does not mean you can joke about it.”

“I can hear and smell things I’m not supposed to, Tyler. This morning, I damaged the barn door—it’s made of metal. I feel different, my body feels different.”

Tyler looked around; the customers were busy surfing through the gift shop. He dragged Aaron by the wrist to the back room.

“What exactly are you talking about, Aaron?” 

Aaron walked back and forth in the room as beats of sweat cascaded down his forehead. His chest was heaving up and down, and he found it difficult to breathe or think straight. He was somehow still going to explain to Tyler what he meant. 

“I… I met this girl, and she dropped a book, and I kept on looking for her for weeks, and last night, I went out to look for her, and something attacked me and bit me. I am sure it was a werewolf that bit me. Because when I woke up this morning, the bite was gone. I mean, completely disappeared as if nothing happened,” Aaron spoke breathlessly as he paused to observe Tyler’s reaction. 

Tyler was taken aback by Aaron’s elucidation; it was too much for him to process. 

“Wha—” he paused to take another second to think things through. 

“You have to believe me, Tyler. Something is wrong with me; I can feel it.” Aaron was shaking. He was so afraid of the changes he felt and why he was changing. Everything felt unreal. He didn’t want to believe that he was turning.

“Dude… You’re a werewolf?”

***

Alice stared back, not moving an inch from her position. She was boiling inside; she felt the urge to attack him to his death. For numerous, nameless purposes, she hated him. She hated the sight of him and wouldn’t want to be anywhere close to him. How did she manage to hate him this much over just a couple of weeks? Has it even been a month?

He could see in her eyes that she despised him. He didn’t care—he still wanted her despite being rejected so many times. He had to get what he wanted, no matter how many times she rejected him. 

He slowly breathed out and walked over to her. If he wanted to get approval from her to be his mate, he must learn to be patient though it was hard for him to do that. He was used to other females swooning over his feet, wanting him to be their mate—it was difficult for him to chase a girl. But this was different. This is the Goddess of Dawn, Alice. 

He didn’t care how long it would take for him to chase her until she said yes to him. He’d keep on pushing until she eventually does. 

“Don’t step another foot closer to me, Dominic,” she warned. He slightly tilted his head, staring at her. 

“Why?”

“Because I don’t like you, and I would never like you, and you’re fucking crossing my territory.”

He looked around her room, analyzing it. He didn’t like her choice of color or the room’s interior. 

“Your room could really use a new setup. But it’s not going to be of any use since you’ll move to my pack after you accept my proposal.” He settled his light brown orbs on hers. 

She sent him a death look, but he didn’t care. He brushed it off, walking around the room until he got to her. 

“Why don’t you want to say yes to me? Why don’t you want to be my mate, Alice? I believe you’d never find someone like me.”

She swatted his hands away when he attempted to touch her. 

“To hell with you and your boldness. To think I will ever accept you! I will never be with someone like a murderer who took his wife’s life for his own selfish aims!”

Unwittingly, he grabbed her neck and pushed her to the wall. She held his wrist with both hands, but he didn’t even budge. He was strong—stronger than she wanted to believe he was. She gasped for air, but he didn’t even seem to care that he was choking her to her grave. 

“Careful, girl! You’re playing with fire, and it will burn you if you don’t behave. The last thing you’d want to do is bring my ex-Luna into this! And yes, I killed her because she deserved it. Who’s possibly going to believe that I killed her when everyone knows she fell off a cliff and fell to her death?”

Her eyes began rolling back into her head, his claws were deep in her neck. He threw her to the floor and calmly moved to the chair in her room. 

He watched as she coughed and wheezed for air. Her neck dripped down with blood. She’d heal herself—he knew that. He never knew he had shifted to half his werewolf form until he got a glimpse of himself in the mirror. 

He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he cursed. 

“You see what you’re making me go through, Alice? No girl has ever made me feel this way! Can’t you see that I want you?!” He clamored, making her shift uncomfortably with fear. One thing Alice hated was showing her weakness. 

“No! I hate you! And I will never mate with you!” She thundered despite how she was shaking with fear. She completely broke down. This was the man her father wanted her to be with? A man that’s making her weak and hurting her?

This was how he wanted her to accept him?

“Fine, we’ll see about that, Alice. Just wait till you see what I have kept for you.”

He was gone.