Bitten

What am I up to? Follow me through NaNo 2009!

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Hello followers!

I am sorry that I kind of quit blogging for a while. Mostly, I was busy goofing off and I really didn't have a structured day to sit down and do some blogging, so I just didn't really do it.

I really hope you guys enjoyed the ending of Bitten. You may have been waiting to hear from me (or given up, who knows?), so here I am again!

I decided to start a new blog. Mainly because I'm going to be doing NaNoWriMo this year and I want to blog my progress (not saying I'm going to blog actual parts of my story, but I will blog about the story). I also am going to post things about writing in general, what I've learned from NaNo, and the ins and outs of my life.

Please check out my new blog at http://arielle-writing.blogspot.com/ . I'd really appreciate followers, comments, and anything else you can throw at me.

-Arielle

Six Years Later

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:28:00 +0000

Date Unknown
Waxing Gibbous Moon (Four Nights to Full Moon)

I was more animal than human; I couldn’t remember the last time I’d changed back to my human form. There was no more Tala; there was no more Selene. There was just one being in my body. I wasn’t ruled by the moon or Packs or Alphas or power.

I was a wolf.

I had my own territory, several hundred miles of wilderness. The other wolves didn’t dare come close. They knew I was stronger than them.

I was roaming the night when I came across another wolf’s scent. I growled and took off, following the smell of the foreign wolf. I would teach him to come through my territory. The thrill of the chase sent energy through my body. From the scent, I could tell that he was strong. It would be a fun fight.

I stopped short when I came to a clearing. I could smell water, the river that ran through my territory, but I could also smell something else. Something that wasn’t entirely wolf.

I cautiously approached the naked figure standing by the water. He turned to look at me. He looked older, more grown up, more handsome. He smiled, “I finally found you.”

I snarled a warning as he tried to come closer.

“Selene? I know you’re in there,” He said as he slowly inched forward. “Please change back so we can talk.

I turned to leave. Talking was the last thing I wanted to do.

“We forgive you, and I know you knew that when you left,” He said, “We all do, even mom. It wasn’t your fault Quinn died, and you saved the rest of us. Quit blaming yourself for one death, that isn’t something a pack leader can do.”

I hesitated, lingering on his last statement. They still wanted me to lead?

“Please talk to me. I have so much to tell you.”

I walked back to him and lay down in front of him. I didn’t even know if I could change back after so long. He ran his hands through my fur and rubbed behind my ears. I could feel his energy flowing through me. He was trying to help me.

I felt cold as the fur began to recede, the distant ache as my limbs changed back to those of a human. My face reformed back to that of a human’s, but I didn’t even know how I looked. Would I look the same as I did five years ago, or would I look older like Randall did? My tail disappeared as I lay naked in the grass. Randall climbed on top of me and kissed me deeply, something I hadn’t experienced in years. I was dirty and I probably smelled bad, but he kissed me anyway.

“I missed you so much,” He whispered into my hair, nuzzling me, enveloping me in his familiar scent.

“I-,” I paused to clear my throat. I hadn’t talked in a long time. I wasn’t used to it. “I missed you too,” I whispered. It was the truth, I had missed him at first, but giving myself over to the animal nature had helped to quell the emotions that were beginning to resurface. I didn’t want to go back to being a human. It hurt too much. It was too complicated. Being a wolf wasn’t so problematic.

“I’ve been leading the Pack by myself ever since you left, but I need someone to rule the Pack beside me. We’re growing; there are nearly twice as many members now. The Elders tell me that I have to pick a bride soon. This is the longest any pack leader has ever gone ruling alone. I need you, Selene. You’re the only one I want. I’ve been looking for you for the last six years.”

“Why me?” I pushed him away and got up, wobbly on two legs. I slid into the slow-moving river to rinse my body off. It was colder than I expected.

“You’re the only one I ever loved, Selene. I love you. I need you. Without you, I don’t feel complete, and the Pack won’t be complete.”

I looked up at him, standing on the riverbank, “You never said that before.”

“That I love you?”

I nodded as I climbed out of the water, wringing out my hair. The night air was warm and I would dry quickly enough.

He pulled me into an embrace and kissed me again, “I should have, but I wasn’t man enough then. I’ve had to do a lot of growing up in these past years. I have to be strong enough for nearly two hundred people. I have to know what I want and I have to know how to say it. I love you, Selene. I always have and I always will.”

“I love you too, Randall.” I kissed him and then pulled out of his embrace, “But I can’t go back. No one in the Pack liked me, not even the Elders. I was no better than Lilith.”

“Selene, your name is celebrated amongst the Pack. If it wasn’t for you, Lilith would have just preyed on someone else, someone that may not have been able to stand up and fight her, someone that may not have been able to defeat her and survive. I have pack members come up to me asking if they can name their daughters after you. Every year we remember the day you defeated Lilith. You are the reason we’re all alive and free today. I want you to come with me. I want you to marry me and rule the Pack beside me. Please,” He said, his eyes staring deeply into mine.

I nodded and began to cry. He pulled me into a tight embrace as tears streamed from my eyes, dripping onto his skin. He walked me out of the woods slowly, to his truck. He pulled a blanket out of the cab and wrapped it around me. He dressed quickly and I climbed in. It was going to be a long drive, and I was exhausted. I curled up and lay on the seat, my head resting in Randall’s lap as he drove. He absently stroked my hair as I fell asleep. It was the best sleep I’d gotten in years.

-----

A/N: This is the final chapter of Bitten. I hope you guys enjoyed the ride, I know I was late a lot and it still needs major work before it is print-worthy, but it's done and that's all that matters right now. Please comment and let me know what you thought if it as a whole.

I will leave the entire book online for about a month before I take it down for editing. I don't want to just leave the finished product out on the internet for very long. Let your friends know about it, re-read it, offer suggestions, help me to get Bitten to where it needs to be for publishing! Keep this page bookmarked and come back often for updates about Bitten, even when I take down the book. I'm going to take a few weeks break from working on this story to pursue other ideas and maybe finish Becoming, and if I start blogging a new book, please read it! I'll post a link to it here, of course.

As for this final chapter, I actually wrote it a while back ago, just because I had the idea in my head and I didn't want to lose it. I didn't want to make things too cheesy (i.e. Twilight), but I wanted it to be a happy ending. I had some ideas for a spin-off chapter later on about Selene's crazy mom and what she's been up to for the last six years (idea was she got herself bitten so she could prove werewolves existed so she could expose them and find a cure), but if that happens it won't be for a while, and it'll probably be a short story.

Anyway, thank you all for reading Bitten. Thank you for your comments over the past nearly year, and thank you for supporting me. Thank you Brandon for pushing me to write when all I wanted to do was play WoW. >.<>

52. Awake

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:03:00 +0000

Date Unknown
Moon Phase Unknown

When I awoke, my entire body was sore. I blinked my eyes against the harsh, white fluorescent lighting. Everything smelled like sanitizer. There were people around me, breathing. I smelled tears.

My throat was dry and my voice cracked as I spoke. “Is she dead?” If I was alive, then Lilith had to be alive. There was no way I could have survived. I’d failed at killing her.

“The vampire is very dead, Selene. You did a number on her.” I heard Randall say as he pushed the button on the bed I was laying on, making my head rise. He held a glass of water for me as I drank out of the straw.

“But, I’m alive. I’m supposed to be dead too.”

“You should be happy that you’re alive,” A woman said as she walked in. She was wearing a doctor’s white coat, but I recognized her as a pack member. “Your heart was a wreck, it was like nothing we ever saw. But when anyone touched you, it was like an electric shock. You were harboring so much life energy from the Pack that it kept you alive, just barely. You were very near cardiac arrest, but you made it. You’ve been asleep for a few days. Once all that power was used up to heal your internal injuries, your body became very frail. You’ll recover, but you’ll be very weak until your own power regenerates.”

“You even missed the full moon,” Randall said. “We were pretty worried that you didn’t change, but the doctor said it just meant you weren’t recovered yet.”

“You believe me about Lilith now, I guess,” I smiled weakly.

“I should have believed you sooner. I’m sorry that I didn’t. Most of the Pack didn’t even really realize what was going on after you passed out on the rocks. We rushed you to the hospital and made sure our Pack doctor took care of you. We didn’t even really quite believe what Lilith was until the sun came up. Her body caught fire and disintegrated to ash as soon as the light hit it. She’s gone, all traces of her.”

“And Quinn?” I asked.

He looked away as he spoke, “We buried him yesterday, on the Pack lands. We couldn’t really take him in anywhere, with all the scratches and bites on him. People would be hunting wolves after that, and we couldn’t take that risk.”

Tears ran down my face as I thought of that night. “It shouldn’t have been that way.

He changed the subject, “Kate hasn’t spoken since that night, she’s been waiting for you to wake up.” I followed his gaze to the girl, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

“I’m so sorry!” She burst out, sobbing into a fresh Kleenex.

We waited patiently for her to regain composure. “I didn’t know she was a vampire! She told me all these things about how Quinn was an awful leader and that he was too soft and how you two were going to get married and take over the Pack and it would be even worse and the Pack would be in danger if we didn’t do something! She – she handpicked Doyle and had me bite him and infect him. She said he was what we needed to have justification to challenge Quinn and take over the Pack ourselves. She said and did all these things and I just went along with it because I was jealous of you guys and I thought she liked me,” She burst into tears once again as some of the Elders began to walk into the room. Sylvea was at the back of the group, looking sullen-faced.

Susan was at the front and she spoke first, “She fooled us all. We thought she was the perfect, innocent girl that she wanted us to think she was.”

“It was all my fault, I let her come to power because I was too weak,” I said, looking down.

“Randall already told us the situation you were in. He said you tried to tell him, but he didn’t believe you at the time. He said she bound you to her and threatened you with death. As I said, she fooled everyone, even those of us who are supposed to be wise. You were no different. She used us all,” Susan said. “What we need to do now is focus on the future of the Pack. Technically, you did win leadership of the pack, and if you want to lead, you have earned the right.”

I was so shocked that I couldn’t form sentences, “Me? Lead?”

“The other option is to give the position of Pack Leader to Randall, since he would have been the next in line.”

I nodded my head and told them, “Give it to him. Definitely. He deserves it more than me.”

Satisfied with their answer, Sylvea and the other Elders turned to leave, but Susan stayed, placing her hand over mine, “No matter what you think, you do deserve it. You sacrificed more for the Pack than most people do. You weren’t afraid to die to save everyone. You have the qualities it takes to be a great leader.”

I sighed and lay back as she left the room. Kate left as well, leaving me with Randall. “You look tired,” He said as he pushed the button to lower my bed again.

I nodded. My eyes were drooping. I was exhausted. He bent over to kiss me and said quietly, “I’ll need someone to help me run the Pack, you know.”

* * * * *

As soon as I had enough strength to do so, I left. I couldn’t stay and run the Pack. I felt too guilty. Yes, I saved them from Lilith, but I didn’t do it so they would like me. I did it because it was my obligation to. I did it because it was my fault she was there in the first place. If I hadn’t fallen into her trap, none of that would have happened.

I spent two weeks in the hospital recovering the power I needed to escape. Randall visited me every day and I led him to believe that I was still too weak to do much of anything. He wanted to take me home with him and let me rest there, but I insisted on staying. It would be easier for me to escape from the hospital.

I kissed him goodbye after his last visit. I would miss him, but I had to put all of that behind me. I was trouble, and I had to go. It would be the only way their lives could go back to how they were before I came and ruined everything.

I snuck out that night. I didn’t need anything else besides the hospital gown, which I would shed as soon as I got outside. I’d regained a bit of power, more than I’d led Randall to believe I had recovered. It was enough for me to change, which I did between two empty cars in the parking lot, out of sight. And once I was a wolf, I left, hugging the shadows until I got to the woods. From there, I was free.

-----

A/N: I couldn't really let her die. I didn't want to end it that way, it's not very creative! I don't know if this way is much better, but I liked it. The last and final chapter comes tomorrow. I've already got it prepared. It's sort of like an epilogue/follow-up chapter. It takes place six years after Selene leaves. Enjoy!

51. Revenge

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:32:00 +0000

“What are you doing?” Susan asked as I climbed onto the stage.

“I challenge the Pack Leader, Lucille.” I said, stressing her fake name.

“On what grounds?”

“On the grounds that she isn’t what she claims to be. She needs to die tonight.”

Susan laughed nervously as she glanced at Lilith, who was glaring at me. “What are you doing, Selene?” Lilith asked.

“Something that I needed to do before things went this far. Now, fight me.”

“You’ll die either way,” She said.

“I don’t mind, because I’ll be taking you with me,” I said with a smile as I continued the change. I didn’t care about anyone else. I didn’t pay attention to what the crowd was saying or what Randall was doing. Sylvea had pulled Quinn’s body aside, so the stage was clear aside from the fresh blood still on the rocks.

She sighed and began her own transformation. The moon wasn’t all the way full, and I was already weak from my previous blood loss as I struggled to force the change. She laughed as she realized my difficulty. “You’re going to beat me when you don’t have the strength to turn?"

I gritted my teeth as I tried to force Tala awake, as I tried to get her to help. I’m tapped out, Selene. There’s nothing left here for you to use. She’s taken too much.

No! We have to beat her now. It’s too late to give up. She killed Quinn, she’s going to kill others, she’s going to use them as her slaves and private buffet, I said to her in my mind.

There’s no power to fight her with. Unless you have another way of getting it…

I looked out over the crowd. There were a hundred werewolves there. Only Randall and Sylvea were Alpha, but they all still had some power within. Power that I could take in order to kill Lilith. I probably didn’t need too much, since she’d exerted so much during the fight, since it had to take a decent amount to keep her form so solid. A little bit from everyone wouldn’t hurt; maybe a little bit more than when I’d taken it for Doyle the previous full moon. Some might not even notice.

Tala helped me as I began to siphon off a little bit here and there, as I took the power of the Pack and pulled it into my body, using it to help me change.

“What are you doing?” She asked as I fell to all fours, my tail growing out behind me. She was still only half-changed, waiting on me to finish.

“I’m beating you at your own game. I’m taking their power just like you took mine, except you fed off my blood and pain. I feed off life and energy. Let’s see which one is stronger,” I finished my sentence as my face grew out to form a muzzle, teeth coming in nice and sharp.

Lilith completed her own transformation, dropping to all fours as we stared at each other, a white wolf versus a black one, yin and yang.

I didn’t stop taking the power, and people were starting notice something was different, draining them. They didn’t like it, but I didn’t really care. I wasn’t doing this for the glory or the power. I was doing it to get rid of Lilith. She was my responsibility now, since I’d allowed her to gain so much power. The air in the clearing was buzzing with energy, and it was the power of the Pack members creating that electricity around us. The best part was, Lilith couldn’t take that energy. It was all mine.

I used it to strengthen my muscles, to give myself more speed and agility. I used it to sharpen my senses, so I could react faster and notice her movements better. I used it to become more powerful than her, and she knew it. I could see it in her eyes as she stared me down.

I attacked first. I didn’t know if it would work, but I hoped that if I could wear down her power, I could break through her disguise and kill her. I lunged at her, mouth open, claws extended. She tried to move out of the way, but with my enhanced reflexes, I was able to adjust my path to anticipate where she was going. I hit her dead on as my teeth and nails dug into seemingly real flesh and fur. As I’d expected, Lilith hadn’t anticipated Quinn getting through her barrier. Even if he’d managed to land a hit on her, it would have most likely been a graze or a nick, since she was able to outmaneuver him so easily. It wasn’t solid enough to take a full-on attack.

The illusion was a thin barrier, enough power to create a solid surface, but it wasn’t thick like a real body. I tore through the power, through the black fur to reveal a large patch of her pale skin underneath. The Pack saw it too, gasps and whispers coming from the crowd.

“What’s going on?” I heard several people ask. Of course they were confused. Wounds are supposed to bleed, not disappear to reveal a human body underneath.

Lilith growled, ignoring the hole in her disguise. She ran at me at full speed, exerting a huge amount of power to move so fast. I couldn’t move out of the way fast enough and ended up with her teeth in the fur on my tail. It hurt, but it wasn’t too much to endure. She’d been going for my neck, just like she’d done with Quinn, but I’d managed to deflect her. I turned quickly and snapped at her, grazing her front leg with teeth. I came away with a mouthful of air and a hand and arm replaced the leg I’d gone for.

She moved away, but I followed, not allowing her to get any time to regroup. I pounced on her and knocked her to the ground, going for her throat with teeth, going for her heart with my claws.

“You kill me and you die,” She warned from under the slowly fading disguise.

I glared at her with yellow wolf eyes. I couldn’t speak in that form, but I knew she could see the resolution in my gaze. Lilith screamed as I dug into her chest, using the power I took from the Pack and Tala’s guidance to grow my claws, to tear through flesh and muscle. My own chest burned as I pushed myself to keep going. My breathing became more laborious as I found her heart, beating weakly to pump my blood through her veins. The fire in my heart grew as I pierced hers with my claws. She screamed louder, her cries echoing through the silent clearing, before she went silent, her eyes dead, her body still. She looked almost human, almost innocent as I stared down at her.

My vision blurred out as my own heart stopped beating, a mirror of her injury. Only this time, she wouldn’t heal, and neither would I. I heard distant voices and looked up, my world going black as I gazed up at Randall standing over me. He was touching me, trying to help me off Lilith, but I couldn’t do it anymore, trying to see if I was okay. I couldn’t get enough air. I couldn’t talk because I was still mostly wolf. I couldn’t do anything. The pain was too much.

So this is how it feels to die, I said in my head to Tala.

You did well, She said quietly, weakly.

It was the last thing I remembered before everything turned to blackness.

-----

A/N: Two more chapters to go, one to wrap up, and then a sort of epilogue. I hope to have the next one up in a day or so. The last one is already written. Hope everyone's enjoying the ending so far.

50. To the Death

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:23:00 +0000

We could only watch as the two black wolves circled each other. It was easy to tell them apart; Lilith was smaller than Quinn, which may have seemed like a disadvantage for her, but as we watched the fight play out, it proved to be a big benefit.

Lilith made the first move; literally a blur as she lunged with teeth at Quinn’s face. Quinn was barely able to dodge, and I smelled blood when he got away. She’d nicked his muzzle, but he didn’t show any signs of pain so it was most likely only a shallow cut.

It was amazing to see how solid Lilith’s wolf form was. It was flawless, and the raw power that made the body was impressive. Though it was merely a solidification of the power she’d stolen from me mixed with her own, it was firm enough to form claws and teeth, to cut, bite, tear, and scratch. I wondered if it would bleed if she got hurt.

I was mad at myself for allowing her to drink from me only a few nights before. I’d felt her hunger and I actually went to her, not wanting to feel that hunger while I was staying at Randall’s house. I hadn’t wanted him to notice any change in behavior or mood, so I told him I was going to hang out with a friend and I allowed her to take her fill. Now, she was using that blood and power to fight against Quinn.

She attacked again, this time running all-out at him. He didn’t move fast enough, and she hit him with her body, using momentum to knock wind out of him and push him onto his side. As he struggled to catch his breath and get back on his feet, she pounced on him and went for the neck.

I cried out with the rest of the Pack. It couldn’t already be over! Quinn growled and used sheer force to shove her off of him, her teeth only able to grab fur. She pulled away to regroup as he got back on his feet and went into a crouch. He made his move instantly, now allowing her to get any time to plan her next strike. He couldn’t move as fast as her, though, and as he attacked, she was able to easily spring out of the way, turn, and bite down on his left back leg. He yelped as she bit down, a cracking noise echoing through the clearing as we all held our breath.

He turned with her still latched onto his foot and went for her stomach with his teeth, but she released when she saw what he was doing and quickly moved out of the way so all he got was air.

I turned to look at Randall, whose face was emotionless as he stared at the fight. Before it started, he had been so confident, but I knew how the fight was going to turn out, and I’d known that his confidence wouldn’t last for long. “We can still stop this,” I said to Randall. Lilith couldn’t win against all of us.

“It’s pack law,” He said through gritted teeth. “Anyone who tries to stop the fight will be kicked out. If we were to try and help dad, he would lose no matter what. He’s on his own.” I could tell as I watched him speak that he wished it could be different, that he yearned to help his dad, but he’d been in the Pack all his life, these rules were a way of life to him.

Limping, Quinn snarled angrily at Lilith, who only stood there with confidence. I saw her glance at me and give me a private grin under that shadow of a wolf. She was gloating.

Lilith didn’t waste time in drawing out the fight. It was as if she’d even planned this part. With Quinn injured, he was like a sitting duck. He hadn’t lost much blood from his wound, but the pain seemed to weaken him the most. She struck again, going for his neck. He couldn’t fend her off with his front paws because he would have to put his weight on his back feet, so he dropped to his stomach as she came, putting himself low to the ground as she attacked. There, he was able to use his strength to a slight advantage, but it wasn’t enough. This time, she came away with a piece of his ear, and there was even more blood.

I glanced over at Kate, who was watching Lilith intently. Was this what Kate wanted? Why had she helped Lilith? Was it out of some sort of devotion towards the vampire? Did she want Quinn dead because of some sort of cruel revenge towards Randall for never wanting her? She didn’t seem happy, though I didn’t really know who she was rooting for.

Quinn was slowly losing the fight, and it was amazing how much willpower Sylvea had. She was standing up on the stage, and though she was watching her husband fight a losing battle to the death, all she did was watch. Tears shined on her face as she watched the two snarling, growling wolves. I saw her hands shaking as Lilith attacked again and again, coming away with more flesh, more blood matting down Quinn’s fur. She cringed each time Quinn yelped from pain, but it was like there was some kind of invisible wall separating the fight from the rest of us, and no matter how much we wanted to, we couldn’t cross it to help.

All we could do was watch.

We watched Lilith make her final move, ending the inevitable as she finally got her teeth around Quinn’s neck, snapping it with sheer power and strength, ending his life.

We watched as he breathed his last breath, as his eyes went dull and his body stopped moving. The entire crowd stopped breathing with him as we gazed upon our new leader, a leader that kept her mouth around his neck a little too long, a leader that was trying to inconspicuously drink the blood of our fallen friend and family member.

We watched Sylvea fall to her knees, sobbing at the loss of her husband, and we watched the Elders return to the stage to welcome the new leader. It was as if the wall dissolved as they stepped across that invisible barrier only a moment to late, as Lilith began to drop her wolf disguise and change back to her naked human form. Her body was unscathed and covered in only Quinn’s blood, her lips and teeth tinged red, her fingernails stained as well.

“We have a new leader,” The Elder woman, Susan said to the Pack. Lilith stood up next to her, grinning at the crowd.

“We can’t let her be the Pack Leader, Randall. Once she gets control, we’ll never be able to stop her.”

Randall’s mind was far away from the issue at hand as he stared at his father’s body. The fur was slowly melting away as it returned to human form. “She won it, Selene. Just let it go. No one else needs to die tonight.”

“You don’t understand! If we don’t get rid of her tonight, countless others will die in the future!”

He turned to me and yelled, “She won! Just. Drop it.”

“I won’t drop it,” I said as I began to change, white fur covering my body. “I’m going to save everyone or die trying.” I climbed on the stage to confront Lilith, all my fear gone. It was replaced with hate and the need for revenge.

-----

A/N: I wanted to finish all the chapters before I posted the next set. There's only 3 more planned after this one, and I hope to post them all in succession. The plan is one tomorrow, one on Wednesday, and the final one on Friday. I know this part is kind of suspenseful, so I want everyone to get to the ending so I can see what you all think of it. I am mostly done with the next chapter, I have the last chapter finished, and the second-to-last is stored up in my head. I will probably have more free time over the next few days so I'll get some writing done. I had an interview today with the City of Houston Public Works department for a Chemist position, but I won't hear about it for at least a month, so I don't really know what I'm going to do until then...

I need to get on the rewrite so I can put it up on Lulu. >.<

As for this chapter, it feels a little awkward, and it will hopefully be smoother in the rewrite. I'm also going to write a scenario before the fight takes place in which Lilith and Selene do their last little blood donation. I mentioned it offhandedly in the chapter, mostly because I forgot to write it earlier. Maybe that scene will be a better transition into this chapter!

49. Challenge

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:30:00 +0000

Saturday, December 19th
Waxing Gibbous Moon (Three Nights to Full Moon)

Something serious happening. We never had meetings like this. It wasn’t the full moon yet, but everyone was called out to the clearing for something big. Something that couldn’t wait.

“Lucille called dad and said she had something important to announce. She said he needed to get the whole pack together, so here we are,” Randall answered when I asked him what was going on.

As darkness fell, the cold December winds blew through the crowd, carrying Lilith’s scent, as well as the scents of Kate and Doyle. I hugged myself as the biting wind cut through my jacket. A month ago, it hadn’t been nearly this cold. The Texas weather had changed drastically during that short time. In a few nights we would be running in this, but our fur would work much better to block the wind than the pitiful jacket I had on.

Quinn and Sylvea, as well as Randall, the Elders, and I all stood up on the stage, all waiting. Everyone seemed confused and it made me feel a little better. We were all in the dark when it came to this matter.

When Lilith arrived, she was dragging Doyle. He looked unconscious. Kate was bringing up the rear, her face red and puffy, as if she had been crying.

Lilith dragged Doyle up the stairs, the ragged man looking even worse for the wear. She deposited him on the stage in front of Quinn and Sylvea and turned to address the crowd, “You all are probably wondering why you’re here tonight in the cold.”

I heard murmurs from the crowd, people agreeing with her, hoping they could get some answers soon. It was probably warmer down there, though, all those bodies close together. Up on the stage, it was lonely and miserable.

“I bring to you tonight, our newest pack member. He has brought shame upon us, he has committed a horrible sin.”

Gasps came from the crowd, Quinn looked at her inquisitively, urging her to go on.

“When he was first brought into the Pack, I had a feeling about him. A bad feeling. I enlisted fellow member of the Pack, Kate, to help me follow him, to help me watch him. And my suspicions were confirmed. Your fellow pack member, Doyle, is a pedophile.”

“What?” Quinn asked as I heard other voices mirror his question.

Kate nodded to confirm it as fresh tears rolled down her face.

“We saw him staring at kids with this strange, predatory look in his eyes, but it was nothing we could prove until tonight. We were following him and he decided to get brave. With his new werewolf strength and agility, he broke into a home tonight, stole away a young child, and attempted to rape her. Of course, we stopped him before he could commit the act and returned her to her home unharmed physically, but the poor girl is only seven years old. She’ll probably be traumatized for a long time, if not the rest of her life.”

As she spoke, whispers spread across the Pack. People began shouting, yelling at the unconscious man on the stage. The crowd began to boil with energy and hatred. All the emotions, all the rage, if not contained, would cause them to change. After that, they would probably attack Doyle. He began to stir up on the stage, slowly waking up.

“Stop,” Quinn addressed the crowd. “We need to work this out rationally. Do not jump to any conclusions until we question him.”

“You’re going to take his word over a lifetime pack member and an Alpha?” One of the Elders asked.

“I want to question him,” Quinn said again. He kneeled down and helped Doyle to slowly sit up. Doyle looked at him with wide eyes, shame crossing his expression.

“Is it true that you attempted to rape a young child tonight?” Quinn asked him.

Doyle looked up at Lilith and then down at the crowd before back to Quinn, “Y-yes, I did, I feel terrible about it, but it’s like something inside me, some animal part of me smelled her, felt her inside that house, and I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t stop the animal from taking her. It just felt so good to let it happen, it was like I was watching and feeling, but not controlling, not really. Something else was controlling.” He looked down as tears ran down his face.

I heard sounds of disgust from the crowd. “He admitted it with his own words,” Lilith said.

“He also admitted that the wolf was in control, not him,” Quinn said through gritted teeth as he looked up at her. “Why did you have to call everyone here for this? Why couldn’t you just bring him to me so we could deal with him without prejudice from the Pack.”

Lilith turned her back on the crowd of pack members to face Quinn. “Because I want him to be punished. If I just brought him to you, you would be lenient on him. With the whole Pack here, you have to take action.” Cheers and shouts of agreement came from behind her, people yelling out different ways to discipline him, some much worse than others.

“I’m not going to punish him. He needs to be rehabilitated. He needs to be able to control the animal side of himself. If he can control it, then it won’t happen again.”

“Doyle, did you have fantasies about little girls before you were a werewolf?” Lilith asked him.

He looked away and nodded slowly, working the crowd up even more.

“I imagine the new wolf part of him only made the problem worse, but the fact of the matter is, he was like this before he was one of us. I think it was only a matter of time, and I think he needs a suitable punishment. He doesn’t deserve to be a part of the Pack. I don’t even think scum like this deserves to live.” As she spoke, she turned to address the rest of the Pack instead of Quinn. It seemed like most of the wolves were in agreement with Lilith.

“Are you questioning the Pack Leader’s judgment?” Quinn asked, standing up straight, almost a head taller than Lilith.

She glanced sideways at him, not even bothering to turn to look into his eyes as she spoke. Instead, she spoke to the people. “I am, because I believe that the Leader of this Pack is too weak to manage the members in it.”

Randall and Sylvea both growled at her. “Do you realize what she is implicating?” Randall asked me.

Confused, I replied, “That Quinn doesn’t punish anyone?” I kind of liked that. If Quinn had been harsher, I would probably be out on the streets for my mistakes.

“She’s implying that she would be a better leader than him. But she wouldn’t offer a formal challenge to him, there’s no way she could win…”

My blood ran cold as I processed his words. All I could do was stare at the two as they argued back and forth. This was how Lilith was going to take over. This was how she planned to fight Quinn for the Pack.

“We have to keep that from happening,” I said, grabbing his hand. My words seemed far away as I tried to think of what to do.

“Why? If she has a death wish, it’s fine with me. You didn’t like her anyway.”

“I’m not worried about her. We can’t let her fight Quinn. It’ll be a disaster!”

Before I could make a move, Quinn’s words rang out over the crowd. “What is the meaning of this?” Lilith was stripping off her clothes.

“I mean to challenge you for the Pack. I challenge you to a fight to the death for the right to lead.” The ghostly black fur began to creep along her skin. The crowd had gone silent, unsure. They wanted Doyle punished, but this was something completely different.

“He’s not allowed to decline,” Randall said to me as Kate and the Elders left the stage. Sylvea stood to the side as Quinn took off his shirt, his own black fur covering his muscled body. “He has to fight her if she issues a challenge. Otherwise, she automatically wins.”

“He can’t fight her, Randall. She’ll kill him.”

Randall led me off the stage to stand at the front of the crowd. “Even if she did get lucky enough to win, that’s part of being the Leader.”

I closed my eyes and tried to keep out the tears. I had to stay rational, I had to keep my emotions from taking over, and I had to figure something out. Was there no way I could stop it? Stop her?

-----

A/N: Late again, that's me. I spent a lot of time yesterday trying to apply for jobs. I really need to get a job soon so that I can start pulling my own weight...and we need a new bed as well as other furniture. I want to do some landscaping as well.

I think the main complaint about this chapter will be that it's kind of sudden. I probably didn't build up to this event enough, but it's time for it to happen. The next chapter is going to be the fight between Lilith and Quinn. I didn't like the ending either, but it was the best stopping point for the chapter. Also, in the rewrite, I'm going to change Lilith's fake name (Lucille) to something not quite so similar. It will probably help with any confusion.

There's only a few chapters left in the story. After I finish Bitten, I'm hoping that I can finish Becoming. Then I'll start working on my newest idea, a demon story I've been rolling around in my mind for a while. I'll also work on the rewrite/revisions of Bitten and try to get a finished version of it to sell on Lulu. Until then I will keep it up though, so tell your friends, get people to read and comment. Post suggestions. Say what you liked and didn't like. The more input, the better the finished product will be.

48. Semester's End

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:52:00 +0000

Monday, December 7th
Waning Crescent Moon (Fifteen Nights to Full Moon)

The semester was near ending. It was the last day of classes, and it was a huge relief to be done, even with that small feeling of dread that had settled into the bottom of my stomach. I had two days to study before my first final exam on Thursday. The semester had flown by, and I had to cram for the comprehensive exams that I had in nearly all of my classes. On top of that, I had to take an oral exam for Spanish and a practical exam for my Biology lab.

I spent a lot of time studying with River in her room, since Greg was still staying with Stephanie and the two had no respect for boundaries. The living room was a mess, and I had to keep an air freshener in my room just to keep the smell from the garbage, dirty dishes, old food, and hamster from creeping into my room. Whenever I opened the fridge, I was greeted with the smells of rotten food, spoiled milk and other dairy products. I could constantly hear Waffles rolling into walls and chairs in his little plastic ball. His cage was a mess and she kept him in the shared living room instead of in her own room. I didn’t have the energy to clean up after my messy roommates, especially with finals so soon.

I hadn’t talked to my parents since I dropped them off at the hotel on Thanksgiving. I got a few calls from them a few days after Thanksgiving, but after I ignored those, they stopped calling. Randall’s family wasn’t too mad about my parents. They had dealt with people with the same opinions in the past. They told me the biggest fault in my mother’s plan was that, without me and the Pack, she had no proof. People would just think she was crazy.

“What are your plans for the break?” River asked me while we were studying. We were quizzing each other on our biology questions.

I wasn’t planning to go back home for Christmas. I didn’t want to see my parents or even talk to them, and I was worried that if I did come home, my mom wouldn’t let me go again. Instead, I would stay at Randall’s for the break, since the dorms were closing. I would be moving most of my things into one of the guest rooms so that I would be comfortable for the month-long break. I was looking forward to that more than anything, which made the torture of Finals Week even worse.

“I’m staying with a friend here in town,” I said, not wanting to give much detail.

“Oh, you don’t want to spend the holidays with your family?” She flipped over a flash card and looked surprised about the answer on the other side. River didn’t pick up material very fast, but she was persistent in her studying, which led to her good grades.

I shrugged, “It’s too far, plus I just saw them for Thanksgiving and that didn’t go very well. I don’t think I really need to go back home. I like it here more. What about you?”

“Oh, I’m going home but it’s not too far away. We should keep in touch, though. And if things don’t work out at your friend’s place, you can always come and stay with me,” She smiled.

I smiled back, happy to have someone like River as a friend. She was so helpful and caring. Even if she did hit me with her car and Lilith used her as a pawn against me, it wasn’t her fault. She was a good person and I was glad that I saved her from Lilith, even if doing so had bound me to the vampire.

“Of course, I want to hear how your break is going as well,” I said before we went back to quizzing each other.

* * * * *

Tuesday, December 15th
Waxing Half Moon (Seven Nights to Full Moon)

I walked out of my last final exam with a feeling of accomplishment. It had nearly taken me the full two hours to complete my American Literature essay final, but I was done, and I felt like I had aced it. I couldn’t say the same about all my other finals, but I knew well enough that I had at least passed all my classes. I felt like my studying with River had been much more productive than if I would have just tried to study alone. The biggest relief was that I was done for a month, and I could focus more of my time on Randall and Pack business without having to worry about classes.

After selling back my books for a miserable amount of money, I went up to my dorm room to finish packing up what I needed to bring to Randall’s. Kelsie and Stephanie – and thankfully, Greg – were already gone. Kelsie and Stephanie had their last finals on Monday and left, not bothering to clean at all before going.

I sighed as I was greeted by the offensive odor. I would have to clean up the common area before I left, otherwise it would smell even worse when we got back. I got a new trash bag and emptied the contents of the fridge into it. I filled the dishwasher and started it, wiping down the counters, washing some dishes by hand, and throwing away all the old cans and bottles that littered the room. It wasn’t the best cleaning job, but at least I wouldn’t have to worry about anything growing in there while we were gone.

Stephanie had taken Waffles and his cage, but she hadn’t bothered to clean up all the little shavings and bits of food and poop that had fallen out of it. I pulled out the vacuum cleaner and ran it over the carpets. Even with the mess, she had actually taken care of the little creature better than I thought she would. I figured it would already be dead. I wondered if it would still be alive after the break.

After I finished cleaning, I called Randall and he came by in his truck to get me and all my stuff. Of course, I didn’t take everything to his house, but since I didn’t have much to begin with, I was able to take almost everything. At least, all the important stuff.

He helped me carry my boxes into the guest room and before I could unpack, he closed the door and pushed me roughly onto the bed, crawling on top of me and kissing me. I grinned and kissed him back, running my hands over his chest as I reached down to pull off his shirt.

It was going to be a good break.

-----

A/N: I wasn't planning to write this chapter, but as I was looking at the calender and the upcoming events in the story, I realized that I would be going very close to Christmas without even talking about finals, the end of the semester, etc. So I made this nice little (short) transition chapter to wrap up a few loose ends. This is the last that we'll see of River and the other roommates (other than Lilith). I originally planned more roommate drama with Greg and Stephanie breaking up and hamster custody battles (which really happened), but I kind of ran out of time. I will have to find a place to add it in for the rewrite.

I liked the ending. I never really planned for Selene to be staying at Randall's house, but when the idea popped into my head, I decided I really liked how it fit into the rest of the story.

I know this chapter was supposed to be posted last week, I just got really busy. I will have the next chapter up by tomorrow hopefully.

47. Thanksgiving

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:40:00 +0000

Thursday, November 26th
Waning Gibbous Moon, Twenty-Six Nights to Full Moon

I picked my parents up at their hotel at noon on Thanksgiving. The dinner was more like a late lunch, and we would be eating around three.

My mom was bringing up the rear as always, trying to make herself look absolutely perfect.

“Come on, mom, we’re going to be late,” I complained as my dad and I waited for her outside the bathroom.

“It’ll be just a few more moments, sweetie. I missed a few stray hairs when I was plucking,” She said through the door.

I sighed and flopped onto the bed. The evening was going to be stressful enough, I needed to just breathe and relax.

“Okay, I’m ready,” She finally came out of the bathroom. Her blonde hair was curled, longer than it had been before I left for college, the dye job fresh and not showing a hint of gray strands or any brown roots. It was a large contrast to my dad’s hair, which was more grey than brown now, and shorter than I remembered it, starting to thin.

I grabbed my keys off the bed and took them to the car, “Now remember what I told you on the phone,” I said as I drove.

“Hmm?” My mom asked from the backseat. My dad was beside me in the passenger seat so he could have more room for his legs.

“They don’t want to be treated like freaks or abnormal people. Just treat them like you would treat anyone else, and don’t mention anything about diseases, curses, or cures.”

My mom was silent from the backseat. It wasn’t a good sign.

When we pulled up to the house, there were already several cars there. I helped my parents out of the car and we went up to the front door. I tried to just go straight in, but my mom slapped my hand away from the doorknob.

I looked up at her as she rang the doorbell and stood to wait. “This is the proper way to come in when you’re a guest.”

I sighed, remembering that my parents didn’t realize quite how close I was with the pack leader’s family, or how open he was about people coming over.

The door opened and Sylvea was standing there to greet us. “Hi Selene, these must be your parents.” They introduced themselves and they all shook hands. “Quinn is on the deck, as usual. He insisted on doing more than the traditional turkey and ham, so he has the grill fired up and he’s cooking brisket to go with the meal.”

“Thanks, I’ll go introduce him to my parents,” I said as we walked into the home.

“Was that Mister Quinn’s daughter?” My mom asked as we continued through the house. Sylvea went back into the kitchen.

“No, that’s his wife.”

“She can’t be older than you. Don’t they have a son your age?”

“He’s a few years older than me, actually.”

“Hmm, must be a second marriage,” She postulated. I didn’t bother to give her the real story. It would have been too much explanation.

We went out onto the deck, where Quinn was standing with Randall, one of his bodyguards, and a few other pack members. “Oh, here’s Selene right now with her parents!” Quinn exclaimed as we walked up to them.

“I’m Quinn,” He said to my parents, shaking their hands.

My mom gaped for a second until I nudged her, hoping she wouldn’t embarrass me. “I’m Alyssa, and this is my husband, John. Pleased to meet you,” She said politely. I held my breath, waiting for her to screw up the introduction. “You’re so young, you can’t be Mister Quinn,” She said.

He laughed, “Just call me Quinn. Everyone else does. And yes, I look that way, it’s a perk of being me.” He flashed a smile at my parents and then at me.

Randall stepped forward, waiting for me to introduce him. I cleared my throat and my parents looked over to me. “This is Quinn’s son, Randall. We’ve been dating for the past few months.”

I could hear my mom stop breathing, and then she mouthed to me, “Is he?”

I sighed and put my hand over my face. “Yes, mom. He’s the same as me.”

“How will I ever have grandchildren?” She asked, her voice a little too high.

I could feel my face growing red with embarrassment. “Just drop it mom, we’ll talk about this later.” I pushed them back inside and threw Randall a look that said, I told you so.

Back inside, I hovered around my parents as they met various pack members. The elders were there, along with Kate and Pete. Kate looked lonely without Lilith around, but as it was still light out and Lilith couldn’t consume solid food, it was a safe bet to say that she wouldn’t be showing up.

I grabbed them some drinks and we moved into the living room to sit down. “They’re all so nice,” My dad said, taking the wine glass I handed him.

“What did you expect? They aren’t bad people.”

“We didn’t really know what to expect, really. But I guess even animals can act tame,” My mom interjected.

“Mom!” I shushed her. “That is a very rude thing to say. You forget that I’m one of those animals you’re talking about.”

“Oh honey, you aren’t like them,” She reached out and stroked my hair.

“I’m more like them than I am like you.”

Randall walked in after my statement, both of my parents at a loss for words. I walked up to him and hugged him, no longer worrying about what they thought. My mom scoffed from the couch, my dad only narrowed his eyes at Randall, though that was probably what any dad would do around the man he just found out his daughter was dating.

“So what do you two think of our home?” Randall asked, picking a neutral topic.

“Oh, it’s very beautiful,” My mom said quietly.

My dad added in his own adjectives, “Large and spacious,” He nodded.

“It’s been in my family for generations. One day it’ll be mine,” He smiled.

“Dinner’s ready!” I heard Sylvea shout from the kitchen as she began rounding up people to start eating. As we got up, I could only pray that my parents would just eat and keep their mouths shut. That was something we would all be thankful for.

* * * * *

We all held hands while Quinn did the prayer, and then we got our plates and got in line for the food. There was too much to fit on the table, more food than I had ever seen before. There were two turkeys, a huge ham, and the brisket that Quinn had been working on. There was a huge bowl of mashed potatoes, and the rest of the spread consisted of cranberry sauce, peas, corn, sweet potato casserole, green been casserole, and plenty of gravy. That wasn’t even counting the dessert. Pies of all kinds, pumpkin, cherry, apple and lemon. The entire house smelled like spices and mouthwatering food.

I piled on the turkey and ham while my parents went around and got a small sampling of everything. Sylvea hadn’t cooked everything, several of the side dishes had come from other pack members, but it all looked delicious.

The dining room table wasn’t large enough for all of us, so some of the younger pack members ate at a separate table that had been set up in the kitchen. My parents and I sat at the main table though, alongside Quinn, Sylvea, Randall, Kate, and the Elders, as well as one of Quinn’s bodyguards.

The first part of dinner was mostly quiet; the only sounds were of people chewing and swallowing, quiet comments on how good the food tasted, the moistness of the turkey, the richness of the gravy. It was the after part that worried me. What would come out of the mouths of my parents after they were full, after they were done with the chewing and beginning to converse with the others.

“Where’s Lucille today?” Randall asked Kate in-between bites.

Kate sighed, “She said she couldn’t come today, no matter how many times I asked.”

“Oh, maybe she’s doing family stuff or something,” He said.

“I don’t know, maybe. She doesn’t really ever talk about her family.”

“Maybe they don’t accept her,” He shot a quick glance at me. I had a feeling he was talking about my family rather than Lilith’s hypothetical one.

My mom leaned over to whisper to me, “Is everyone here…?”

I glared at her, and several others looked at her inquisitively. She didn’t realize that everyone at the table could hear her whispers.

“Care to elaborate?” Quinn asked, smiling as he cut a piece of turkey.

My mom, taken aback, just gaped for a few seconds. Regaining her composure, she spoke, “I was just asking Selene if everyone here was um, the same.”

“The same in what way? Happy? Content with our lives? Werewolves?” He put the piece of turkey in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully as he waited for my mom’s reply.

“I just didn’t think there were so many,” She said.

“There are a lot more of us, a lot more,” Randall interjected.

“But you still manage to keep so secretive.”

Quinn looked at her sternly, “We like our secrecy.”

She put down her fork and focused her gaze on Quinn, “But what if you weren’t so secret? If you came out to the general public, then the government could do research for you, help you find a cure.”

I heard several sounds of disapproval around the table. I just groaned and wished I could hide somewhere. Everyone around the table was talking at once, the voices becoming jumbled.

“You mean do research on us.”

“You want your own daughter to be a lab rat?”

“Maybe we don’t want a cure.”

Quinn silenced everyone as he spoke, “Alyssa, you seem not to understand us. We are no longer part of the general human community. Yes, we can interact and we can pass ourselves off as human, but we have a part of us that is animal, and we will have that part until we die, and if we were to expose ourselves to the world as what we are, we would be locked up, caged, treated like our more dangerous animal sides. We would be killed, experimented on, hunted, and eradicated. Humans don’t like what they cannot control. And besides that, a cure, even if one existed, isn’t something that we’re all that interested in. Is anyone here unhappy with what they are?”

I followed my mother’s gaze around the table. No one spoke.

“We don’t need a cure. What we have isn’t a curse; it’s a blessing. We are more than human. We are different, yes, but we don’t mind.” Everyone nodded along with Quinn’s words. Everyone except my parents.

“I think you joining these people was a mistake, Selene,” My mother stood up and my father reluctantly followed. “They’re brainwashing you or something. They’re not normal. Let’s go.”

Her and my father left the room, my face flushed and hot. I apologized to everyone and got up. “I drove them here. I’m going to take them back to the hotel. It’s probably for the best that they go anyway.”

Randall stood up and walked with me. We went outside where they were waiting at my locked car. “I’ll come back later, if it’s okay with your family.”

“You’re welcome anytime, Selene. It’s not your fault your mom’s deluded. She’s got some strong opinions and she just wants you to be normal again. Come back when you can, okay? Don’t let them take you away.”

“I won’t let them. I’m going to see them off and try to get away.” I kissed him goodbye and didn’t care that my parents were watching.

The ride back to the hotel was tiring to say the least. My mom went on and on about how rude everyone was and how quickly they just shot down her suggestion without even considering it. It was as if she didn’t think that they had considered it in the past. My dad was his usual quiet self, just allowing her to ramble as he sat in his seat and stared out the window.

“I don’t want you going over there, I don’t want you seeing that boy again. If you do, we’re going to pull you out of this school.”

“Mom, you can’t run my life anymore. I’m eighteen, my student loans are paying for college, so you aren’t paying a dime, and you’re being irrational. You aren’t considering my own happiness.”

“Well, I just don’t think it’s right to be content like that,” She said once more before I dropped them off.

“I’m going to make my own decisions from now on, mom. If you can’t stand by them, then I’d rather you not even bother with me anymore.”

“You really shouldn’t talk to your mother like that,” My dad said, glancing nervously at her.

“No honey, she’s right. We did the best we could for her, and she’s old enough to make decisions now, even if we don’t approve. Even if it’s a mistake, at least she’ll learn something from it.” She pressed her lips together in a tight line.

“Goodbye,” I said as I rolled up the window. They waved to me as I drove off and went back to Randall’s house for the rest of the evening.

-----
A/N: Sorry once more for lateness. I had a bit of writer's block on this chapter because I wrote the first half before finals and then took a break from it. In-between, I kind of forgot exactly how I wanted to write it. Anyway, it's quite long. One of the longest chapters so far I think, though there's a lot of dialogue so it's not too long of a read.

The wedding went well even though it rained, I passed all my classes and graduated, and my birthday was a little lackluster compared to the other events, but it's okay. After last year's 21, the rest of the years are just numbers.

I will have the next chapter set up to automatically post on Monday while I'm on my cruise. I can't get internet on the ship because it's really expensive. We're getting out of the time killing/filler phase and into the story again.

I hope Selene's mom wasn't too over the top. >.<

46. Doyle

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Wed, 13 May 2009 03:20:00 +0000

Sunday, August 22nd
Beaver Moon

Nights were getting longer, allowing Lilith to wake up earlier each night. I felt the rush of energy that always signaled her arousal, heightened by the full moon. She would arrive soon, but late nonetheless. It would be easier for her to join us this time, since she didn’t have to change up on the stage. Tonight, we had another new member, a man I’d never met before. It was his turn to be the center of attention.

Randall and I stood up on stage with Quinn and Sylvea, behind the naked man. He was newly bitten, and it was his first moon. Quinn found him through a pack member that works in the hospital as a doctor. A few weeks ago, he was found on the side of the road, covered in bite marks. When rushed to the hospital, the doctor immediately recognized the bite marks and called Quinn. Quinn had been coaching him and helping him, preparing him for his first moon.

Now, the man was changing for the first time, and I could sense his fear. I recognized that fear, that torment. It was the same as mine back before I joined the Pack. It was the same fear that gripped me every time I saw the moon growing fuller, the same fear that forced me into a small cage and tried to fight against the wolf inside me.

The man was stalling, his long, scraggly brown hair nearly covering his face, his beard snarled and unkempt. He looked more animal than human; he looked like he might snap at any time.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I whispered to Randall as we stood there, waiting.

“This is the tradition. Everyone has to do it,” He said quietly, watching the man.

Quinn stepped forward and put his hand on the man’s shoulder. The man flinched, but didn’t pull away. Quinn began his speech, similar to the one he had given on my first night, “Welcome tonight, fellow children of the moon. We have a new addition to our Pack. He is young in our terms, and he needs our guidance. Please welcome Doyle into our family!” He stepped away from the man as we waited.

“Can he do it?” I whispered.

“Eventually, the moon will force the change. He’s too weak to fight it and win, but if he does fight, it won’t be pretty. It will be almost painful to watch.”

“Can’t we do something? Use our power to help him?”

He glanced at me, “Everyone has to do this by themselves. It’s a rite of passage. Just let him do what he has to do. In doing so, he will slowly gain acceptance of what he has become. In being with us tonight, he will see that it’s not so bad. Just like you saw.”

I quit focusing on the man and scanned the crowd. I saw a dark figure slide in from the woods. Lilith had arrived, but she would stay in the crowd instead of coming up on stage tonight. I also saw Kate, who was staring up at Doyle with a look on her face that almost looked like shame. Did she disapprove of the new pack member that much or was she embarrassed for him?

I felt sorry for Doyle, and I felt even worse that I couldn’t help him. But what if I could do it without anyone else noticing?

What do you think, Tala? I asked inward.

That man isn’t good; he has darkness in his heart.

I was taken aback by her statement. Darkness in his heart? What did that mean? That still doesn’t mean that we can’t help him. Maybe being a part of the Pack can make him a better person.

We are too weak, your vampire took our blood just yesterday, but you can still gain some power from the people around you.

I glanced at Randall and the other two Alphas. Won’t they feel it?

Not them. She turned my head towards the crowd. Them.

I watched the mass of people, nearly a hundred beings full of energy. If I took only a small amount, no one would notice. Then what?

Then you give it to him. Slowly push it into him and he will begin to change. He won’t be able to fight it, and if you do it right, he won’t want to fight.

I closed my eyes and saw the crowd in my mind, I thought about their energy, their power running through them just like their blood, and I took it, not much, but a little bit from every person in the crowd. I took it and instead of bringing it into me, I slowly, gently put that energy into Doyle.

I opened my eyes and watched the man begin to change. He fought at first, but he couldn’t stop the wave of fur from growing over his body, thick and brown to match his hair and beard. He cried out when he saw his hands change, but it was more shock than anything else. He dropped to his knees when his legs began to change from human to animal, his spine elongating and poking out from behind to form a tail. We all watched as his face elongated to form a muzzle, teeth filling out and growing to sharp points. His ears grew up and pointed as he climbed onto four legs and shook out his fur, testing his new body. I stopped then, but continued to watch. He was no longer human, and I could feel his inner wolf taking over.

“This isn’t good,” I said to Randall, focusing on my own change. If he was going to go wild, I wanted to be in a form that I could fight him in, I wanted to keep him from hurting anyone else.

Randall put his hand on my shoulder as my own white fur began to spread over my body. I hadn’t even bothered to take my clothes off yet. “Not yet,” He said and I stopped, trusting his judgment.

Quinn walked up to Doyle and the wolf growled at him, snarling and snapping its new teeth. “Calm yourself. You are stronger than the animal inside. You are human, even in this form.” He put his hand on the wolf’s head and he stopped gnashing and growling. He looked up at Quinn with eyes shining with human intelligence.

“Are you in there, Doyle?”

The wolf nodded and the crowd began to cheer. Quinn had tamed the wolf with his power.

“See?” Randall gloated as he pulled off his clothes, preparing to make his own change. I followed suit, trying not to rip my clothes with half-formed claws. We all changed after that, and I ran with Randall at the front of the Pack, like before Lilith had come. I glanced back and saw Lilith and Kate not far behind me, a black shadow of a wolf next to a red one.

In the morning, after we changed back, Lilith lingered to talk to me. The sun wasn’t quite ready to rise, but we were all exhausted from the run to care that it was still dark out. I changed back and pulled my shirt and sweatpants on, only to cover myself up until I could get a shower.

“I felt what you did, even if the rest of them didn’t notice,” She said as she pulled me aside.

“So?” Was she planning to go tell on me or something?

“You know, doing that makes you no better than me,” She smiled.

I growled at her, “I’m nothing like you. I didn’t use that power for myself, I used it to help.”

“This time,” She said, not bothering to say more. She walked off, saying goodbye to Kate and heading to her car.

I brushed off her comment and went up to the house with Randall. We showered together, which would have been fun under normal circumstances, but we were too tired to do anything except clean ourselves off. I collapsed into bed and ignored the fact that I had class that day. Finals were coming up, and I should have been attending class, but I was too tired to function, let alone stay awake during my lectures. Biology lab was cancelled for the week because of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, so I didn’t have to worry about missing much important material.

As I drifted off, somewhere in those moments between consciousness and slumber, an idea came into my head. I didn’t necessarily like the idea, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like my only option. I wasn’t strong enough to beat Lilith in a fight, not with her taking my blood, but there was another way to gain power. Her word echoed through my head and later into my dreams. If I was to be no better than her, I could use that power for myself. It would make me just like her, but in a way maybe I needed to become something like her in order to beat her.

I could use it to destroy her.

-----

A/N: I got a bit of writing done last week, and I plan to finish up my writing of Bitten over the next few weeks (before the honeymoon). I'll be gone on the honeymoon for a week, but I plan to have the new chapter automatically posted that Monday. If for some reason I can't get it up, you'll get two chapters the following week. I plan to only have about five or six more chapters in Bitten. I've already written the last chapter, just gotta write some of the in-between material.

I get married on Saturday and my birthday is Monday, so the week will be even busier, but I still think I'll have time to get some writing done in between packing and wedding stuff. Stay tuned for wedding pictures!!

45. Surprise

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:16:00 +0000

Saturday, November 21st
Waxing Gibbous Moon (One Night to Full Moon)

The Thanksgiving disaster started with a phone call I received from Randall. “Hey, we just received the confirmation from your parents that they’re coming over for Thanksgiving dinner.”

“What?” I asked, trying not to panic. Maybe he was just joking.

He paused, “You didn’t know? Dad just told me today but I figured they knew since they’re your parents.”

“Who invited them?” I asked, gripping my phone.

“Dad did, I think. Holidays are kind of a big deal around here and we always have a lot of people over for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Your parents are the ones that contacted the Pack before you moved here, so he had their number and thought it would be nice to invite them. I don’t think you’ve seen them since you moved into the dorm, have you?”

“No, I haven’t really wanted to see them. They aren’t very comfortable with what we are. I try not to even talk to them that much or tell them about what’s going on. I haven’t even told them I’m dating you.”

He didn’t say anything.

“It’s not like I’m ashamed of you or embarrassed by you or anything,” I said quickly, “But my mom still holds this hope inside her that she’s going to find a way to make me normal again, and dating the son of the pack leader isn’t really on the path to becoming a normal human, is it?”

“You still should have told them. I figured our relationship was serious enough that you would tell your parents about me,” His voice was laden with disappointment.

“Well, we can tell them together when they come, then. That way, they can meet you and see how wonderful and normal you guys are. They can see that someone can lead a perfectly normal life being a werewolf.” I was already cringing at the thought of how my parents would act, but I knew saying that would make Randall feel at least a little better. “Now, I need to call my parents and see exactly what is going on. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” The following night was the full moon, another evening with a group full of people who really didn’t like me.

After I got off the phone with Randall, I phoned my mom. “Hi, sweetie,” She crooned.

“When were you going to tell me about this Thanksgiving thing?” I asked, trying not to sound as mad as I was.

“Well, you never call us, and we knew you probably weren’t going to come see us for the holiday, so when Mister Quinn called us, we were delighted by the idea. We still had to make sure all our plans would work out, but we were planning to call you and let you know. We just got everything confirmed last night. We miss you and want to meet your friends.”

“When will you be down?”

“We made reservations at a hotel close to your school, we’re coming down Wednesday evening and staying through the weekend. On Thanksgiving Day, we’re planning to go over to Mister Quinn’s home for dinner. He says there will be a lot of people there, friends and family. He’s a really nice man.”

“Yeah, he is, which is why you and dad really need to watch what you say in front of him and everyone else,” I warned.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, they’re probably all going to be the same as me, and they might be offended if you talk to them about certain subjects, such as your obsession with trying to find a cure. They don’t see it as a disease like you do.”

“Oh, baby, it isn’t a disease. It’s more like some sort of curse, some sort of dark magic.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I’ve been doing some research and lately a lot of new ideas I’ve found compare lycanthropy to magic more than a transmitted disease. I mean, it’s not like people really believe in it unless they’ve seen it firsthand, so it’s hard to sift through everything and determine fact from fiction, but I’m seeing a general trend towards people referring to it as a curse, and we need to find someone powerful enough to lift the curse.” Only my mom could sound like she knew exactly what she was talking about and crazy at the same time. Maybe the dinner would be good for her, maybe she really could see how at ease we were with ourselves.

“You will not talk about any of this during dinner. No curses, magic, disease, nothing. These are good people and they are happy being what they are.”

“Hey now don’t you go ordering me around,” She chastised, “I know how to be cordial. You worry too much, honey. Now, I have to do some housework so I will call you when we get into town on Wednesday. Love you, sweetie.”

“I love you too, mom,” I said through gritted teeth. She hung up the phone and I flopped onto my bed. I wished there was some way I could muzzle her, to keep her shut up so she wouldn’t spoil anything. I was already on thin ice with the Pack as it was. I didn’t need them to ruin anything, even if they didn’t mean to.

-----
A/N: This is some more transition. A little short, but I've got exams to study for! I've found that people respond better to actual scenarios rather than me passing the time by saying, "Time went by, blahblahblah." I don't know if I'm going to really go deep into this curse thing, thought I've always liked the idea of lycanthropy being a sort of magical thing. Selene's mom could be onto something. I also feel real bad, because I don't think I ever gave her parents names. I will probably go back and add their names in the first chapter, but they will also get names in the Thanksgiving chapter when they introduce themselves at the dinner. Next chapter is full moon, where Lilith continues to gain some followers and Selene gets an idea for how she will take her down. At least, that's the plan for now, I haven't actually written it. The following chapter will be Thanksgiving, which I think will be a very bad experience for Selene.

44. Greg

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:41:00 +0000

Friday, November 13th
Waxing Crescent Moon (Nine Nights to Full Moon)

He’d been living with us for five days. I was counting because he wasn’t supposed to be there. Visiting hours were over by midnight and we weren’t allowed to have guys over past that time. But he was spending the night in Stephanie’s room, and they weren’t just sleeping in there.

His name was Greg, and he was Stephanie’s new boyfriend. I didn’t know exactly how long they had been dating, but it wasn’t nearly long enough to justify the sleepovers. It wasn’t even spending the night, I noticed as I brushed my teeth in the mornings, having to push his shaving kit out of the way to make room at the sink. He had made himself at home, more evidenced by him cooking macaroni on our stove while Stephanie was at class, leaving his dishes in the sink like someone was going to clean up after him.

Stephanie hadn’t asked us if he could stay, she just introduced him to me one afternoon when I walked in on the two making out on the couch. Nor had she mentioned that he would be staying with us or how long. Not that it would have mattered if we gave our approval. It was against the rules and if our RA found out, we could all get in trouble.

I could hear them at night and I could hear them together in the shower that I was now sharing with two other people, the loud moans coming from her bedroom. They weren’t subtle about it, and since my hearing was already better than normal, it made it hard to shut out the noises when I was trying to sleep.

“I could kill him,” Lilith offered after she finished taking my blood. He was out on the living room couch enjoying the new TV that Lilith had put out there.

“I don’t want him to die, I just want him not living here anymore,” I applied a slight bit of pressure to the wound in my neck, though it was already healing.

“I could make him sick, you know, anemic.”

“He would probably just stay longer then,” I sighed. The kitchen was a mess and the apartment was starting to smell. Neither Stephanie nor Greg were doing their dishes, even though she was cooking for him every night. I had always cleaned up after myself, which was a given, but I had to push Kelsie and Stephanie to do any chores at all. I felt like a nag sometimes, but it was annoying to walk into the kitchen and see a mountain of dishes. We even had a dishwasher, but they still insisted on piling dirty dishes in the sink. I couldn’t even use the sink most of the time because it was so full. Not only that, but the stuck-on food smelled bad and they didn’t even bother to rinse the dishes or throw out old food. Not something that’s enjoyable when you have a nose that is incredibly more sensitive than a normal human’s.

“Where did he come from? Doesn’t he have somewhere that he lives?” I asked her.

She only shrugged.

“Our roommate is dating a bum,” I sighed.

I heard a shrieking sound and jumped to my feet, the blood loss making me slightly dizzy. “Was that Kelsie?” I asked Lilith as I leaned against the wall while my head cleared.

“Sounded like it,” She smiled, her teeth still tinged red with my blood. She always seemed happy about the misfortune of others.

I opened the door and peered out the hallway, looking to see what was the matter. I saw Kelsie perched on the arm of the couch, trying to get away from what looked like a clear plastic ball. However, peering more closely at the ball, I noticed that there was something moving inside of it.

I walked down the hallway and into the living room to see what exactly was happening. Stephanie was laughing and Greg was picking up the ball gingerly. “He’s not going to hurt you,” She was telling Kelsie. “He just wants to say hi!

“It’s a rat,” Kelsie said. “It’s disgusting!”

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing at the ball.

“We got a hamster!” Stephanie said, all grins as she took the ball from Greg and shoved it in my face, the little white hamster staring at me and twitching its nose. “But Kelsie doesn’t seem to like Waffles.”

“Well, we’re not supposed to have pets in the dorm,” Just like we’re not supposed to have our boyfriends over to spend the night, I thought but held my tongue.

“They won’t find out about him, he’s just a little hamster. He likes to get his exercise though, I was letting him roll around in his ball. He doesn’t scare you, does he?”

“No,” I said, pushing the ball away from my face. She put it back on the floor and it started running, bumping into the dining room table, “but we’re not supposed to have him.”

“It’s too late,” She grinned. “We can’t take him back.”

I left the room a few minutes later, stalking into Lilith’s room rather than my own. “What would happen if our roommates ended up missing?” I asked.

“The whole dorm is going to smell like hamster a week from now,” She said, ignoring my question.

“If they keep it alive that long,” I sighed, as I listened through the closed door to Stephanie and Kelsie arguing about the hamster out in the hallway. Stephanie was standing her ground, saying that her and Greg adopted the hamster and were planning to care for it together.

“Since you and him started going together, you don’t spend any time with me anymore. You don’t even care about my feelings,” Kelsie said overdramatically.

“We’ve only been dating for like two weeks, and you’re the one that introduced us at that Halloween party.”

“I didn’t know you guys were gonna hit it off so well and go on to adopt a hamster child!” I heard a door slam, with Kelsie presumably ending the conversation by shutting herself off in her room.

“You can be Waffles’ Godmother,” I heard Stephanie say, trying in vain to make it up to Kelsie, but Kelsie didn’t respond.

I covered my mouth to stifle the laughter as I glanced over at Lilith. I felt strangely happy about the drama between the two, though it probably wouldn’t last long. I would enjoy the entertainment while it lasted.

-----

A/N: Sorry again about lateness (and kind of shortness). I had a test and a final Tuesday and Wednesday, so I've been studying. I wonder if this chapter seems a little too goofy. Some of this happened in real life. Yes, one of my roommates had her boyfriend over for several weeks, we got caught, and we got in trouble. None of my roommates ever really enjoyed cleaning up after themselves and the dish thing was always a problem. Yes, they had sex at all hours of the night and morning and it kept me up. I also believe they did it in the shower that I shared with her. And yes, they adopted a hamster, though I changed the names of all characters involved to protect the innocent (hamster) a well as the guilty (roommate and her bf). The hamster was always rolling around the apartment, and it would even roll into our rooms. I can't count the number of times it got stuck under my bed and she would be walking around the dorm looking for it. What I didn't include was the roommate with the guinea pigs who died because she didn't take care of them and then she got a snake (which we reported and she had to get rid of). She then told the RA that she thought it was okay to have a pet because the other girl had a hamster. I don't think any of us really liked each other that semester.

You're probably wondering right now why Lilith and Selene are getting along so well. Lilith doesn't really want Selene to hate her, I think Lilith really even wants Selene to be her friend. The only thing is, Lilith only thinks about herself and she will do what needs to be done and use who she needs to use in order to accomplish her goals. This is loosely the character of the person that Lilith is based on. Nothing says Selene and Lilith have to be at each other's throats all the time.

43. Party

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:46:00 +0000

Saturday, October 31st
Waning Gibbous Moon (Twenty-Two Nights to Full Moon)

I heard a laugh behind me as I was getting ready to leave the dorm. “You’re wearing that?” Lilith asked, nearly doubling over in laughter.

“What’s wrong with it?” I asked, turning around, my nearly see-through cape swirling around me. Lilith was wearing a bright green, long and flowing dress. There were huge blue and green iridescent wings attached to the back and she was wearing a long blonde wig with matching blue and green stripes throughout. Her ears ended in pointy tips and her makeup was blue and glittery, which made her eyes seem like they were nearly glowing. Of course, she looked beautiful. She probably made the costume herself. Next to the fairy, mine looked cheap and uncreative.

“It’s just ironic,” She smiled. Our conversation was cut short by Kelsie and Stephanie trouncing through the living room, bedecked in their Halloween costumes. I recognized Stephanie’s from my reject pile. She had gone for the slutty nurse theme, her long, blonde hair in waves around her face and over her shoulders, her ample breasts stretching the thin, white material of the outfit even thinner. She had a stethoscope around her neck and a skirt so short I could see glimpses of her red thong and what looked like a tattoo on her inner thigh.

Kelsie’s costume was toned down a little from Stephanie’s, but still no better. She was dressed up as an angel, with a low-cut white dress only slightly longer than Stephanie’s. It looked more like lingerie than real clothing. Large, feathery wings, a puffy halo, and 5-inch white stilettos completed the outfit.

The two eyed us as they went out the door, giggling and whispering something to each other as they exited.

“I assume you’re going to the same party I’m going to,” I said to Lilith.

“I don’t know, who invited you?”

“Randall, who invited you?”

“A young wolf named Kate. For some reason she really seems to like me.”

“Yeah, because you’re my opposite, you have no interest in Randall, and Quinn and all the Elders dote on you. Of course she likes you,” I said, trying to hide the bitterness in my voice.

“Well, she wanted to go to the party but she didn’t want to go alone, so she asked me if I wanted to come with her. She’s a nice girl. I might make her one of my top people once I take the Pack over.”

I ignored Lilith’s comment as my phone rang. I picked it up and Randall spoke, “I’m here.”

“Okay, I’ll be right down!” I hung up the phone and grabbed a jacket. Fall was setting in and it was getting cool in the evenings. Since I wasn’t wearing much, I would need the extra layer.

‘I’ll see you later, I guess,” I said to Lilith as I left. I didn’t know why the vampire was going to the party, but I would definitely be keeping an eye on her once she arrived.

* * * * *

Randall picked me up wearing a red hat over a hair that had been temporarily colored black, blue overalls with big, yellow buttons with a red shirt, white gloves, and a thick, black mustache. “It’sa me!” He exclaimed in a fake Italian accent when I got in the car, giggling. I was jealous of his Mario costume because, as a guy, he got to do something completely random and simplistic, but it still turned out really well.

“You look really hot in that outfit, Selene, I won’t lie,” He said, eyeing my costume.

“Thanks,” I said as I slid the fake teeth over my real ones to complete the outfit. I hadn’t felt very comfortable putting them on in front of Lilith for some reason.

“I love the irony in it,” He laughed as he pulled out of the parking lot. “But seriously, you should wear stuff like that more often.”

I looked at him curiously, my eyes narrowing. If he thought I was going to dress like this all the time, he was mistaken. I would leave stuff like that to Stephanie.

“Well, you know, just when we’re alone together,” He winked.

We were heading to the convention center. Whoever was throwing this party had money to blow. They’d rented out the whole convention center and hired a band. There would be tons of food and candy, as well as games for the younger kids. When we pulled up, the parking lot was already pretty full, cars ranging from the rust buckets that belonged to us poor college students to vehicles that I would never be able to afford, gleaming in the bright outdoor lights of the convention center.

Randall parked the truck and got out quickly, opening my door for me and helping me out. I left my jacket in the truck, though I knew I’d be regretting it later when we were leaving the party. The early evenings were still fairly warm, but the fall winds were blowing in and it would be considerably colder later on. I didn’t feel like carrying it around all night though, so I just left it.

We walked inside, holding hands. Randall nodded to a man at the door that was holding a clipboard. The man was one of Quinn’s bodyguards, who checked off our names quickly as we walked by. I wondered if Quinn had volunteered the man to his friend for help or if he was getting paid for the job. He didn’t look too unhappy doing the job, though. He’d even dressed up for the evening, wearing a bright orange jumpsuit and a fake ball and chain strapped loosely to his ankle.

As we went into the main room, the band was already going at it, playing loud rock music, the drums rattling my ears. I scanned the crowd, looking for familiar faces, but there were too many people. Everyone was in costume, most of the girls dressed up in costumes like the ones I had seen at the costume store. Short skirts, revealing tops, and very little material.

It wasn’t long before Pete found us, dressed as a pirate. “What’s up, yarr guys?” I laughed while Randall greeted him. “Have you seen Lucille’s costume? She just got here a few minutes ago with Kate and the both of them are just mouthwatering. I can’t believe you turned both of those two down, Randall.”

I glared at him and he apologized. “You have to go see it, though.”

Randall and I followed Pete over to where Lilith and Kate were. I already knew what Lilith’s costume looked like, but I hadn’t expected Kate’s. Kate was wearing a short green skirt that looked like it was made of some sort of plant material. Her top was shimmery and low-cut, showing cleavage, in the same color as her skirt. She was wearing green stilettos and fake pointed ears. “They match,” Pete said, ogling the pair. Indeed, they did match to a certain degree, though Kate’s costume was more elf-like while Lilith’s was a fairy.

Pete walked up to Lilith and complemented her costume, lightly touching the wings. As he offered his words of flattery and she responded politely, I noticed Kate’s expression turn to jealousy. At first, I thought she was jealous because he was only complimenting Lilith, but it soon dawned on me.

I turned to Randall and said, “It looks like Kate has found a new obsession.” He followed my gaze and stared intently at Kate. Indeed, the look on her face was a mirror of the expression she had shown to me when Randall and I first joined the Pack.

He laughed, “I never knew that about Kate, but you’re right. I guess Lucille has replaced me.”

Pete followed Kate and Lilith around for the rest of the evening, bringing the two drinks whenever they wanted them. Lilith always refused any food or snacks, but Kate accepted them.

I even saw Kelsie and Stephanie at the same party, which surprised me at first, but it really shouldn’t have. This was probably the biggest Halloween party in the area. It was only fitting that my two party animal roommates would show up. If they saw me, though, they pretended not to notice. I didn’t even get a hello as they passed by Randall and me.

Throughout the night, I saw many Pack members mixed in with the humans. Whenever we passed by someone that knew us from the Pack, I heard whispers behind us. I guess they were wondering my fate, especially since Lilith and I were both present at the party. They had all expected me gone after the last full moon.

Randall and I kept to ourselves for most of the party. We paid our respects to Quinn, Sylvea and a few of the elders that came to the party, as well as Quinn’s friend, Robert, who was hosting the party. He looked to be in his forties, with salt-and-pepper gray hair and dressed in a tux. If he was in costume, it was more of a James Bond look than anything else. Randall told me later that he was a self-made millionaire, and he threw a big party every year, inviting all his friends and encouraging them to invite more. He was really good friends with Quinn, one of the Pack leader’s many connections around town.

At the end of the evening, they announced the top three best costumes of the night. Randall and I found a table as we watched. Third place was Kate, the elf. They called her up to the stage where the band had been playing and gave her a giant bucket of candy. She thanked them and smiled, showing off her costume (as well as a bit of her green underwear) with a twirl as she exited the stage.

Second place was a nerdy-looking guy wearing a renaissance-themed costume, dressed as a knight minus the plate armor, with a real chain mail shirt and hood, a red tunic and a gold cape. “I think he just reused his renaissance festival costume,” I said to Randall as the winner took a bucket of candy slightly larger than Kate’s and shyly exited the stage. Randall nodded in agreement as we waited to see who won first place.

I wasn’t surprised at all when they announced the name, “Lucille.” Looking surprised, she climbed the stairs to the stage and stood under the bright lights so everyone could see her beautiful costume. It really was the best costume of the evening, and it was only fitting for her to win, but I still didn’t like it. I didn’t want Lilith to win anything, especially not the flat-screen TV that was the grand prize. She probably hadn’t even known there was a costume contest. Kate cheered for her from the side of the stage, waiting for her to climb back down. Randall clapped along with the rest of the crowd and I followed suit, not wanting to seem rude. Everyone already had a bad enough opinion of me as it was.

Lilith thanked everyone and Robert presented the television to her as he complimented her outfit. I watched as she went down the stairs and Kate hugged her, maybe a little overzealously for just a friend, but Lilith didn’t seem to be bothered. The two of them left together a little bit later, and the crowd seemed to thin out after that. Randall and I went to his truck as I continued to ponder Lilith’s actions.

“You okay, Selene?” He asked me as he took off his fake mustache, and hat, his hair still black. He had assured me that it would wash out when he took a shower later that evening.

“Yeah, I’m just tired, I think. It was a busy night. I’m not accustomed to partying,” I smiled weakly as I pulled on my jacket and waited for the cab of the truck to warm up. It had rapidly cooled off, but it wasn’t too uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry you didn’t win anything. I think your costume is really great.”

I began to giggle. He thought that I was upset because I didn’t win the costume contest. It was hard to remember that Randall’s version of the story was a lot simpler than mine. He didn’t know everything that was going on behind the scenes, so it was only natural for him to think about things a little differently.

His kiss stopped my giggling as we sat in the cab of the truck and made out. I pulled off my wig but he made me keep the fake vampire teeth in as I nibbled at his ears and neck. “I don’t care about that stuff,” I told him as we kissed.

Randall drove me home and I showered off, washing away the night. Lilith hadn’t really done anything at all, and I was still waiting for her to make her move. All I could see from her actions was that she was slowly gathering followers, people who favored her. Whether or not they would favor her more than Quinn was to be seen, but I had a feeling Kate would agree with anything she said or did, as long as she showed her even the smallest bit of attention. I cursed myself for not attempting to make more friends in the Pack. I had just stuck close to Randall, and he was now my only real ally.

I got out of the shower and dried off, combing through my wet hair. It was after one in the morning, but I was the only person in the apartment. Kelsie and Stephanie had probably gone to some after party, and Lilith was probably off with Kate. I just hoped that Kate was safe. Even though I didn’t like the girl, I didn’t want her to be taken advantage of by Lilith, which was exactly what I knew she would be doing.

With nothing else to do, I put on my pajamas and hung my costume, planning to save it for another time. Randall had said he wanted to see me in more stuff like that, maybe I would save it for the next time we fooled around. I smiled to myself as I climbed into bed. Even though he was my only ally, I would rather have just him than anyone else.

-----

A/N: I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I've been pretty busy this week and I'm down to zero prewritten material for Bitten. I may go back later on and add more filler during the two months in between the last full moon and the end of the semester, or space things out a little differently, but for now I'm going to skip ahead a little bit. For the next chapter, I plan to add a new character, Stephanie's new boyfriend. This chapter is going to be more based on an event in my life when one of my roommates had a boyfriend that lived in the dorm with us for several weeks. We got in trouble for it because of how they acted, and we all covered for her, because we were nice people. I haven't written out the chapter, so I don't know how it will go for sure, but it's basically just going to be a bit of filler, but it should be fairly entertaining. After that, we will go on to Thanksgiving, and then final exams.

As for this chapter, it was very difficult for me to write. Nothing all that awesome really happens, but I wanted to show Kate's shift to Lilith (I don't know if she's actually a lesbian or not, but I don't think Lilith would care either way.) Lilith really is gathering followers, and later on we will see what she does. This chapter is much longer than usual (2,500 words), so I hope that makes up for the lateness.

42. Invitation

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:16:00 +0000

Monday, October 26th
Waning Gibbous Moon (Twenty-Seven Nights to Full Moon)

Randall took me home in the morning, after much prodding to get me awake. I had to go class, though, so I let him drag me out of the warm, inviting bed and drive me back to the dorm. I wore another one of his t-shirts and a pair of swim trunks as I fished around in the bushes to find the clothes I’d thrown down from my window the night before.

Triumphantly, I held up the clothes for Randall to see and crawled back in the truck to change. I hid myself below the windows of his truck to pull on the clothes while Randall kept watch to make sure no one would walk by and see. I caught him taking small glances downward every few seconds to check on my progress as well as look at me half-naked body, but I wasn’t embarrassed anymore. After I was dressed, with my key card in hand, I kissed Randall goodbye, thanked him for the night, and went inside.

I couldn’t concentrate in class, and my thoughts continued to drift to Lilith. She had been several steps ahead of me ever since before I’d met her, and I had to get the upper hand. I knew what she was planning, I just didn’t know where or when. She would eventually challenge Quinn to some sort of fight, and as the Pack leader, he would have to accept. If he didn’t, it would be automatic forfeit. But if he did, Lilith would decimate him. She was more powerful than anyone I had ever met, and she had the element of surprise. She was playing the role of a hustler. They all just thought she was weak, and she would play that role up until she killed Quinn. After that, no one in the Pack would have the strength to challenge her and win. I couldn’t even win a fight against Lilith. Even if I did have the power to do kill her, I would die too.

Could I die for the sake of the Pack? Yes, they were like family, but did they really care about me? Would my sacrifice mean anything to them? It didn’t really matter whether it meant anything to them or not, though. I was doing it to help Randall. I was doing it because it was my fault Lilith was so powerful in the first place.

* * * * *

Randall called me after I got out of class. “What are your plans for Halloween?” He asked.

“You know well enough that I don’t have plans,” I laughed. My life mainly consisted of school, Randall, and the Pack.

“I just found out that one of my dad’s friends is throwing a Halloween party and dad is pretty much making me go. Do you want to come with me?”

“Is this a pack function or a human thing?” I asked.

“Quite a few pack members will be there, of course, but humans will be there as well, so it will be a nice mix,” He said.

“This is a dress-up thing, isn’t it?”

There was a pause, “Is that a bad thing?”

I sighed, now I had to decide what to wear.

* * * * *

“How about this one?” River asked, holding up an outfit consisting of only shreds of material, trying to keep a straight face.

“You want me to look like a slut,” I complained.

“It’s not my fault all the girl costumes are slutty. That’s all Halloween is nowadays, an excuse for girls to dress up like sluts and not be looked down on for one night. You should embrace that.”

“Or I could look in the male costumes section.”

“Now you’re just being a prude,” She giggled, picking out a few more costumes and shoving them in my arms. “Go try these on.”

I sighed and went into the dressing room, filtering through River’s choices. She’d been feeling a lot better since Lilith was no longer draining her blood, but when I’d asked her to help me go costume shopping, I thought her taste would be a little better.

“I’m not wearing the policewoman costume!” I yelled through the door.

“What about the firewoman costume? It’s hot!” She giggled from the hallway.

I laughed at her incredibly bad pun and kept looking through her choices. There was a bunny costume, a cat costume, a nurse costume, a superwoman costume, and a vampire costume.

I opted to try on the last costume, since it actually had a little bit of material to it. The others were mainly bras, underwear, and a few garnishments. The vampire costume consisted of a long, black wig and an outfit consisting of a dress with a black bodice, laced up in deep red and a frilly, lacy skirt barely long enough to keep me decent. There was a separate black collar to go around my neck with a long, thin chiffon cape that went down to my knees.

I pulled on the outfit and poked my head out the door. River was standing there, waiting. “Let me see it,” She said, opening the door further. She stood there, gaping at me in the costume. “That looks really good on you, Selene. Were your boobs always that big?”

I looked down, embarrassed. I’d made them a little bit larger so they would fill out the bodice better, but I didn’t think she would notice. I pushed them up with my hands and then let them fall. “I don’t think so,” I said nonchalantly.

“Well, I think we already have our costume. I don’t even want to see the rest. Let’s grab you some accessories and we’re done!” She grinned at me and went off through the store to look for things to add to my costume while I went back inside the fitting room at put my clothes back on.

When I was dressed, River was already back with a set of vampire fangs, some spider web pantyhose and some knee-high black boots. “I think that’s all you’ll need. Can you think of anything else?”

I laughed at River’s shopping prowess. There was a reason I’d brought her along after all. I tried on the boots to make sure they’d fit and after that, we went to check out. I wondered what Randall would think of my costume.

-----
A/N: Yeah, it's short, and there really isn't much to it. This is the transition chapter to get us to Halloween. I'm running out of material here! I almost want to just skip like two months and get back into what Lilith's planning to do, but I need to fill in these time gaps. We've got Halloween, and Thanksgiving before final exams and then Christmas Break. I think I might have Selene's parents come in for Thanksgiving and have dinner with Randall's family. That would be very interesting. Selene's mom, "So Quinn, have you found a cure for my baby yet?" Quinn, *glare.* Oh yes, I'm definitely going to have to write up a Thanksgiving scene. There's going to be a lot of character development coming up, but it won't be boring!

41. Caught

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:53:00 +0000

Previous Chapter

Instinctively, I tried to be as still as possible. Maybe the man just thought he saw someone.

I heard a rustling behind me and felt a tug at the fur around my neck as someone grabbed me out from under the bushes with immense strength. I pulled free from his grip once I was out of the bushes and spun to see who it was.

I was looking at one of Quinn’s bodyguards, a man whose name I couldn’t remember, and whose face was a vague imprint in my mind. Quinn’s bodyguards weren’t Alpha, but they were stronger and more powerful than normal werewolves, suited for the task of guarding the Alpha. The man’s muscles were huge, tattoos covering most of the expanse of his arms. His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized my fur. Even though it was dark, the moon was still nearly full and it shone off my white coat. “You,” He said. “There’s only one wolf around here like you. Why are you eavesdropping on the meeting? Why are you here?”

Of course, I couldn’t answer in my current form, and I really didn’t want to change back just to talk to him naked. I only sat there and tried to look non-threatening.

“I think something’s going on outside,” I heard Lilith say. “Did anyone else hear anything?”

“I did, we should probably have a look,” Quinn said.

A minute later, the whole group came outside to observe the scene. “It’s Selene, why is she here?” Randall asked.

“She isn’t changing back,” The guard said as the second one walked up.

“Well of course she’s not. She’s stronger in that form,” Susan said. “She’s probably looking for a fight, to challenge someone.”

“Maybe she heard Lucille was going to be here and she wanted to try to kill her,” Her husband said.

“She wanted to get the jump on poor Lucille?” Another elder spoke up, looking nervous.

I saw Randall disappear into the house, a look of disgust on his face. He had just been defending me inside there and now he couldn’t even stay by my side. I’d broken his trust again. It had been stupid for me to come.

I flattened my ears against my head and tucked my tail in, trying to make myself as small and insignificant as possible as accusations and harsh words were thrown at me. Tears leaked from my eyes and into my fur as I sat there, not knowing what to do.

A few minutes after going inside, Randall appeared with a large blanket, the one from his bed. He came up to me and draped it over my body. “Change back now, Selene. You can cover yourself with that.”

I nodded, grateful that he came back and happy that he remembered my discomfort at being naked in front of others. I slowly changed back to my human form, gripping the blanket once I had hands and pulling it tightly around myself when I was fully human.
“Why are you here?” Quinn asked once I could speak.

“I heard that there was going to be some kind of meeting of the leader and elders tonight with Li-Lucille, and I wanted to know what it was about and if it concerned me as well.” I said, catching myself from saying Lilith’s name and replacing it with her fake one. I could only fight one battle at a time and I needed to get out of trouble first, if that was possible.

“Coming to listen to our conversation from outside wouldn’t have changed your fate,” Susan said, her voice harsh.

“I was…worried. I wanted to know right away. I’m scared,” I looked to Randall when I said the word “scared.” “I don’t want to be kicked out of the Pack, you guys are like my family. More than family, at least I was accepted here for what I was.” I felt the tears coming again and I brushed them away with the edges of the blanket.

Lilith came up and hugged me, giving me a private smile that no one else could see. It was a smile full of malice and greed; quite different from the innocent look she replaced it with. “I understand the feeling, Selene,” She said as she hugged me. I wanted to pull away, but it would probably look unfavorable if I did. Instead, I hugged her back, pretending to get along. “My other pack hated me for what I was, and I just wanted to find somewhere to belong. I don’t want that to happen to you.” She looked over to Quinn. “Please overlook this episode and overlook the past for now, sir. I can tell that she’s a good person. She’s just a little too worried about what others think of her. I can live in this pack at peace with her as long as she is willing to do the same.”

The eyes stayed on me as Lilith pulled away. I wrapped the blanket around myself tighter as they stared. “I can do it,” I said. “If you’ll let me,” I looked to Quinn who sighed and rubbed his eyes.

“You’re still going to be on probation,” He said to me. “And no more of this sneaking around. If you’re not invited to something, don’t invite yourself.”

I nodded as everyone began to go inside, leaving me there in the blanket. Only Randall stood there, leaning in the doorway, hands crossed over his chest. When they all went inside, he closed the door and walked up to me. I looked down at my bare feet and said, “You defended me in there.”

“I don’t know if it was the right thing to do,” He said. “You’ve been acting strangely the last few days.”

“I’m sorry, for everything, for lying and breaking your trust, for sneaking around like this. I just wanted us to be together and to be happy, and we were for a while. Hopefully we can go back to that someday.”

“Well, dad’s letting both of you stay for now, but you have to be on your best behavior. You have to be perfect. No mishaps.”

Lilith walked back outside, carrying her meal in a Tupperware container. She smiled at me and Randall standing there and walked up to me, offering the dish. “Hungry?”

I could smell the steak and potatoes through the plastic. It smelled fantastic as I realized I hadn’t eaten since the night before. I thanked her and took the bowl from her. I would eat it when I could, though once I had the thought of food in my mind, it was hard to shake the hunger.

“I’ll drive you home,” Randall said. “I don’t want you running back in that form. It’s too risky. You could have been seen, what were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t really thinking, just doing,” I said as I watched Lilith walk off, presumably in the direction of her car.

“Do you still think she’s a vampire?” He asked.

I thought about my answer to him. Of course Lilith was a vampire, but he didn’t believe it and neither would anyone else. I had two options. My first was I could stand by the truth and argue that she was a vampire, which could potentially damage my reputation and make him angrier with me, especially since I had no definitive proof. I took the second option: more lies.

I walked closer to him and hugged him tightly, crying into his chest. I didn’t want him to sense more lies, but strong emotions would it harder to be able to tell with his Alpha senses. “I’m so sorry, Randall. I’m sorry for lying to you last night and making up stories about Lucille. I was just so jealous and confused. I won’t do it again, I promise! Just please forgive me!” I was lying to fix lies, but it was better than the alternative. I would have to find a way to deal with Lilith on my own.

He was silent for several minutes as I sobbed into his chest, breathing in his musky scent and hoping he would believe me. Finally, he said, “I can forgive you for the lies, but I won’t forget that you did lie. You have to be honest with me from here on out. Just like you’re on probation with the Pack, you’re on probation with me too. I can’t be with someone who lies to me all the time. You’re lucky Lucille seems to have no interest in me, otherwise dad would be pushing me onto her even more than he’s already tried. He thinks I told her something to make her disinterested in me,” He laughed. “Now let’s get you back…unless you want to stay the night?” He made it a question, an invitation.

I was somewhat taken aback by his offer. Was he no longer upset with me? Was it that easy to make up with him? I figured he would be mad at me for much longer than only a day.

“I can’t stay mad at you, Selene,” He said, reading my expression like he was reading my mind. “I care about you too much to stay mad at you. The way you were acting did make me angry, and it did hurt my feelings, but the full moon fueled some of my actions, it enhanced my anger. I’m sorry for how harsh I was to you. I don’t want to lose you, Selene.”

“I don’t want to lose you either,” I said as I followed him inside, feeling better than I had felt in a while.

Quinn and Sylvea were off somewhere, probably still talking with the Elders in a private place. I ate the food Lilith gave me before we went off to bed, the steak as good as I remembered. It gave me a little satisfaction to know that Lilith wouldn’t ever be able to taste something that good, but I could. After I finished the meal, Randall and I went to his room.

I didn’t have any extra clothes at Randall’s house, but he lent me a t-shirt and some boxers to wear. Though I was covering all the essential parts, I still felt somewhat unclothed. It shouldn’t have bothered me, though. He’d seen me naked before. The whole pack had. But it still did.

The simplicity of the clothing made fooling around a bit easier, as there was no bra or underwear to get in the way. The world around me narrowed to only Randall, his breath on my skin, the touch of his fingers, more exploratory than ever before. I let him do what he wished. It was something my body had wanted for a while, but my mind had been too timid to ask for.

Hands, fingers, tongue, it was all a rush as his lips found mine then went to explore for a few minutes before returning. He tasted the skin of my shoulders after slipping the sleeves of the loose shirt up. He proceeded to my collarbone, my back, stretching the fabric to uncover only the parts he wanted to lick, bite, and kiss. No words were exchanged as we explored. We didn’t need any words.

After he got his taste, I moved, slowly, to find my own spots to stimulate him. I copied him in some ways, nipping at his collarbone, his neck and shoulders. I went for the ear, licking and nibbling until I gave him goose bumps. He moaned and continued to touch me with his hands as I went along with my lips.

Even Tala enjoyed the experience, waking up from her doze to give me a few pointers. Apparently, my instinct knew more than I did about how to arouse a guy. Judging from his reaction and the noises that came from his mouth, he enjoyed my boldness. The clothes came off slowly. As we continued on, I forced away my feelings of discomfort and soon forgot why I even had them in the first place. I was with Randall, my Randall. I didn’t need to feel uncomfortable around him. He liked me for who I was.

The contact of my bare skin against his felt even better, even though we were still only exploring. I was at that point where I could have given him everything I had, but we still weren’t ready for that. It wasn’t the right time.

It wasn’t long before the day’s events overcame me and the exhaustion took over. The change and the run had taken a lot out of me, and I was still weaker than I would have liked, thanks to Lilith. After a while, I gave Randall one last kiss and just curled up next to him, still unclothed but warm, safe, and happy. I slept with his arms around me, and dreamt of a better future.

-----

A/N: This chapter was a little bit difficult. I don't really know if Selene's getting away with too much or if it's believable enough. I also don't know if I should put any disclaimer on the blog or not, since Selene and Randall are getting a little bolder. I probably will if they actually have sex or if I make it explicit, which I haven't really decided if I will. I'm not too good at writing that kind of stuff. It's funny how Selene's little mistake made their relationship stronger, though I don't think that's how I originally planned it.

The next few chapters are going to be kind of filler and character development chapters. I have to kill some time and help Lilith gather support from the Pack and since Halloween is coming up in the story, I plan to have a little fun with that.

40. Eavesdropping

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:54:00 +0000

Previous Chapter

I wasn’t going to sit around all night and wait for Lilith to get back. I wanted to know what was happening! This affected my fate just as much as it affected hers. I didn’t know exactly what they were going to be talking about, but if she was going to be meeting with the Elders and the Pack leader, it was going to be important.

Driving was out of the question. My emotions were running too high and I didn’t want to risk changing accidentally while I drove. It would be messy and I couldn’t afford to wreck my car, with all the other things that were going wrong in my life.

The bicycle would take too long, plus it was dangerous in the dark. It had tiny reflectors, but they didn’t make me feel any better.

I opened up my window and balled up some clothes, wrapping them around my room key. I threw them down behind the bushes that lined the outer walls of the dormitory. I would need those later when I came back.

I looked around to see if anyone was nearby, but I couldn’t see anyone at all. I took off my clothes and laid them on the bed. They were already a little messed up from my altercation with Lilith, but they weren’t beyond repair yet, and I wanted to keep them that way.

I coaxed Tala from her nap. Once Lilith had gone, she’d lost interest and went back to sleep. What now? She yawned.

“We’re going to Randall’s. We’re going to see what happens firsthand.”

I don’t trust her, I never have.

“I don’t trust her either. I feel so bad for getting us into this mess in the first place.”

Well, we’re stuck with our problem now, so we have to deal with it. Tala was so wise sometimes, so human. Was she really just instinct, a wolf inside me, or was she more? She just didn’t act like one sometimes. It made me feel very lonely to think that Tala was one of my only friends in the world and she was inside me. Probably as much a figment of my imagination as she was real. Stop sulking and let’s get going, then, She growled impatiently.

“Fine,” I grumbled. I was stalling, really. Maybe I was a little scared. What if they truly liked Lilith better than me? Would her plan to take over the Pack work? Would she really kill Quinn?

I’d calmed down a little bit since Lilith had left, so I was mostly human again. I gave Tala a bit of control so we could change quickly and smoothly. Running would be a little slower than driving, but we’d make it there to at least catch a large portion of their dinner meeting.

I shivered as the white fur crept over my body. I’d never get used to that feeling, or the next one, my bones moving and shifting, modeling themselves into those of the wolf. My face lengthened and my teeth grew, powerful weapons of destruction to match my newly formed claws. Lastly, my spine elongated, forming a tail that sprouted from my lower back.

When finished, I shook like a wet dog, testing my new body and making sure everything was properly in place. I stuck my nose out the window and sniffed the cool evening air. I could smell the humans in the rooms around us, but there were none outside, none to watch what would happen next.

I backed up a few steps, and then took a running leap out the open window. Under normal circumstances, I would have been scared to jump from a window three stories up, but Tala still had a little control. She was sure of herself, so I was too. It was exciting, flying through the air, the wind running over my fur, flapping back my ears. I landed on all fours, bending my limbs slightly to absorb the impact. It didn’t hurt; it was just a little jarring.

From there, I began to run. I stuck to the shadows, trying to keep from being noticed until I could get off campus and into a wooded area. I felt very conspicuous as I roamed the campus, but if anyone saw me at all, they’d probably mistake me for a dog, a massive one at least.

Once I got off campus and into the trees, I could breathe easier. Even with my highly visible fur, I wouldn’t be seen amongst the trees and underbrush. Hurdling fences and ignoring property lines, I made a beeline for Randall’s house, going as fast as my four legs would take me. It still took me about thirty minutes to get there and if I judged correctly, they would be sitting down to dinner by then.

Once I hit the Pack lands, I began to slow down, to move more stealthily. The chances were low, but there might be other wolves roaming around. I knew of Quinn’s bodyguards, and I expected that some of the Elders had bodyguards of their own, or at least someone to look after their well-being.

No matter what, I didn’t want to be seen.

I got within earshot. I could hear the conversation that was taking place within the house, but I really wanted to see the scene. I slowly and silently crept over by the floor-to-ceiling bay windows that lined the exterior wall of their formal dining room. Little by little, I crawled on my belly underneath the bushes, careful not to shake them and make noise. I flattened my ears against my head, took a deep breath, and peeked through the window, trying not to smudge the glass with my ridiculously long nose.

Inside, I could see Quinn and Sylvea sitting next to each other at the table with their backs to me. Across from them sat Randall – my heart beat faster when I saw him – and Lilith sitting next to him, all dressed up and innocent-looking.

The Elders flanked the four, with three people sitting on either side of them. I recognized a few of them from my interrogation, though some were new.

“—Always welcome in our Pack,” Quinn was saying. I hadn’t heard the conversation before that.

“Back home, the local pack was very mean and territorial. They wouldn’t let me join because they recognized me as an Alpha. Even though I wasn’t all that strong, they thought that I’d try to take over their pack or something,” A horrified look crossed Lilith’s face as she told her story.

“Poor girl,” One of the elders said as she reached across the table and patted Lilith’s hand. I recognized her as Susan, the lady that had treated me so harshly last time. “To be accused of something so harsh when you’re truly innocent.”

I snorted, and then quickly ducked down when I realized someone might have heard it. I realized that it was pretty stupid for me to come to Randall’s house. If I got caught, then I would be in even more trouble. It would give Quinn even more reason to replace me. My heart raced in my chest as I held my breath and held absolutely still, straining my ears to hear anything.

Inside, no one seemed to notice and I quit worrying about getting caught so I could focus on what was going on inside. After a few minutes of mostly silence in which I assumed they were consoling Lilith, Quinn spoke. “I don’t like to brag, but I’ve been told I make great steaks,” He said. “Are you sure you don’t want to have just a little bit?”

“Oh, no thank you, sir,” She said politely. “I ate a really late lunch due to my school schedule. I don’t have any breaks all day until three and by that time I’m so ravenous I normally eat enough to keep myself full for the rest of the evening. It’s probably not too healthy, but it’ll have to be a habit until the end of the semester. I would love to take some home for later, though, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, of course,” He said, a happy lilt to his voice. “Sylvea can put you together a little doggy bag to take back to your dorm.”

“Now, down to some Pack business,” I heard Susan say. “We have a little problem now.”

“Yes,” An unfamiliar voice remarked. “We cannot have two Alpha females in the Pack for too long. It can only lead to fighting and power struggles.”

I heard a few murmurs of agreement.

“But Selene was already a member of the Pack before Lucille came. You can’t just make her leave without reason. She’s worked too hard to stay here,” I heard Randall say in my defense. It made me happy to know that he still cared about me enough to say kind words in my defense, especially since I hadn’t been invited to this decision.

“I don’t think she has worked hard enough,” Susan said. “She couldn’t hold herself last night while everyone else could. And if she changed on purpose when Lucille was having her induction, then it is just as bad. She’s a troublemaker and she can’t follow tradition. She probably hasn’t worked on her control at all.”

“I’m not here to take anyone’s spot,” I heard Lilith say quietly. “I just came because of school. I just want a place to belong.”

“Let’s just leave them be for now. We don’t have to make any hasty decisions,” Randall said.

“You only say that because she’s your lover,” Another voice said.

“I say it because it’s only fair.”

“Fairness among animals…” Someone commented offhandedly.

“We’re humans too,” Randall said. “Besides, it’s up to the Pack leader to make the final decision, you guys are just here to advise him.” I heard a general shift in the room as Randall spoke. I presumed that they were all moving to look at Quinn.

There was a long pause before I heard Quinn sigh. “I will allow both of them to stay in the Pack for the time being. We will closely monitor Selene’s actions and decide once the semester is over in December, or if something else presses our decision. Both Selene and Lucille will be under probationary watch in order to make things fair.”

I wondered how closely we were going to be “watched.” Lilith couldn’t keep up her werewolf appearance all the time, especially when she had to drink from me. It might be a good thing that she was going to be watched. Maybe that would help the truth come out.

“Hey, who’s there?” A voice behind me asked.

Next Chapter
-----

A/N: I've gone back and added dates and moon phases to the previous chapters. All future chapters that start on new days will include the date, moon phase, and time to next full moon. I really had to nail down a timeline for Bitten so I could figure out where I was in the school year as well as begin to add seasonal information and holidays to the story. I had to do a little bit of editing to the story because I had some weeks with more than seven days in them, another reason I needed the timeline.

Nothing in the story changed, just very minor details about days of the week and things like that. I haven't gone back and added a lot of seasonal information, but it's just October in the story and things don't really start cooling off in Texas until then anyway. We don't really have deliniated seasons here in Texas. :P I also plan to make her schedule more noticable and I need to add more roommate confrontations (besides the ones with Lilith) and I need to add more conversations between Selene and her mother. There's a lot missing in Bitten as I'm fleshing out the main storyline, but I have lots of ideas for things to add after I finish the first draft. (Yeah, what I'm posting is the first draft.)

Anyway, midway through this chapter is the ending of what I had previosly written when I started posting Bitten, so now I'm out of prewrite. I have about two chapters written right now, but I gotta start getting ahead again so I'm not struggling during exam and wedding time. (6 weeks till I'm married!)

39. Used

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:40:00 +0000

Previous Chapter

I awoke when Lilith did, cursing her for messing with my already ruined sleep cycle. I stumbled out into the hallway to confront her.

She was already standing there, waiting for me, a smug look on her face.

“Care to explain what the Hell is going on?” I growled. I was pissed. She was ruining my life. Not only my status within the Pack, but also my relationship with Randall. She seemed to always be there to ruin things each time I was just finishing picking up the pieces of the last problem. She’d made me a monster in the first place and right when I was finally able to accept what I was and fit in with the Pack, she’d destroyed that too.

“I don’t need to explain myself to you. You’re my pet, my dog. You don’t need any explanations.”

“I’m more than an animal and you’re ruining my life! That doesn’t deserve some kind of explanation?” I rushed at her and shoved her into the wall with a dull thud, pinning her against it, the force enough to make the wall shake. I knew she had the strength to fight me, to force me to let go of her, but she didn’t. She just waited for me to make my next move, her eyes daring me to hurt her. My back was already aching, a mirror of the hurt I’d caused her, a reminder of the pain I’d feel if I hurt her even more.

“I’m guessing your precious little lover doesn’t believe you.” She said as if she already knew the answer.

“Why should he believe me? I’ve been lying to him all along. I’m nothing but a liar and you planned it that way, didn’t you?” I snarled. I knew that I was beginning to change, my emotions getting the better of me, but I didn’t care. My anger fed Tala and she was happy. She never liked Lilith. I should have listened to my instinct. I should have listened to Tala and I should have tried harder when Randall was training me. I shouldn’t have gone for the easy way out.

My arms itched as the white fur spread across my skin smooth and thick like white and creamy frosting over a cake. “I didn’t make you lie to him. I only offered an easier path to control your animal and you chose to take it, knowing you wouldn’t be able to tell him the truth. You have been lying to him long before I came to visit last night.”

“Why did you even come? What business do you have with the Pack? I gave you the power you wanted.” I let her go, trying to force Tala back down. I didn’t even know who was there at the apartment, though it was safe to say that Kelsie and Stephanie weren’t there. We’d been making enough noise that they would have already come out of their rooms to see what the commotion was if they were there. However, I didn’t know when either one might come back, and I didn’t want them to walk in on me while I was half-wolf.

“Yes, you gave me your power and you are my wolf, you are my pet and energy source. However, there is something that I want more…” She ran her hands over my fur, rubbing it forwards and backwards, petting me.

“You want the Pack,” I realized, looking at her through wolf eyes.

“Yes, the Pack here will be mine. This is one of the largest packs in the country. If I have control over it, I will have power beyond imagination. I’ll grow my pack and have hundreds of minions, all serving me, their Alpha queen. I’ll be the most powerful vampire in the world!” She grinned, showing off her fangs.

“To become the head Alpha female of the Pack, you’ll have to marry Randall. My Randall.” So she’d been trying to steal him all along, she wanted him to be mad at me.

“No, I’m not interested in your little pup. There’s another way to be the sole heir to the Pack.”

“You won’t kill Ran--”

“No, not that way. Randall isn’t important if I win a fight against Quinn. It’s not my fault that the Pack rules say it has to be a fight to the death. When I win, I become the leader. Don’t worry, though. I’ll let you and your boyfriend stay in the Pack, if he’s still speaking to you after I kill his dad. I’ll be a kind leader to my favorites,” She scratched behind my half-formed ears as she gazed at nowhere in particular.

“They’ll figure you out eventually. They’ll find out what you are.”

“By then it will be too late. There will be no one powerful enough to challenge me! They’ll have to obey me or I’ll kill them.”

“You sound like you’ve done this before,” I told her, pulling away from her hands.

“No. But do you remember the wolf that bit you?”

“The silver wolf, the one you sent to infect me.” I tried to keep the low growl from escaping, but it did anyway.

“He was an Alpha, exiled by his superstitious people because of the color of his fur. He was the rightful heir to his pack, he won a fight for power in a fair battle, but they didn’t give him what he earned, so he left. We found each other, both lonely, both unfulfilled. He learned of my abilities, powers that no other vampires have. He wanted me to use those powers against the wolves to enslave them and get his revenge.

“However, it took time for me to be able to gain control over my power. It wasn’t new to me, but I’d never had wolves that were willing to work with me. Some of my abilities only work with powerful Alpha wolves, which are even harder to find.

“By the time I got full control, he was too old to help me. So we found you to carry on his plan. He put all the energy and power he could into that bite, and combined with your own latent potential, he created you, probably the strongest and most powerful werewolf ever.”

“So I was chosen for a reason?” I asked, stunned by her revelation.

“Of course! We wouldn’t just pick any random human off the street! You showed potential, Selene. Potential for greatness,” She smiled proudly.

“Potential to be used,” I snarled.

“Only for a little while longer,” She said thoughtfully. “Once I’m leader, you can even be my second in command if you’re a good girl. I won’t need to drink from you as often because I’ll be drinking from the other wolves too, once I tell them what I really am. You’ll slowly regain your strength back to what you were, you’ll be the second strongest in the Pack under me.”

“I won’t help you destroy the Pack.”

“Even to keep your little Randall alive? If you’re gone, there’s really no reason to keep him alive.”

I growled at her again, failing to keep hold over my temper.

“Why don’t you take the rest of the evening to mull things over? I have to go meet with Quinn and the Elders tonight. They want to talk to me about something,” She flashed a devious grin.

“What!? Why?” I clutched at her shirt as she tried to walk away, my half-formed claws ripping the thin, gauze-like material.

She looked down at the holes, “Aw great, Selene. Now I have to change.”

“Why are they meeting with you?” I snarled. The only time they’d ever met with me was to decide if I was a threat to the Pack.

“I guess they just want to get a better look at me. I had to leave before dawn last night, so I couldn’t stay for breakfast.”

Her comment only fueled the fire. Filled with jealousy and anger, I stormed off to my room.

Next Chapter
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A/N: This chapter may be reworked a bit in the revisions. It feels really repetitive.

Check out my short story if you're bored. It was a little exercise in writing from a prompt, a little bit of playing around with the unknown and just writing a little scenario. Let me know what you think! The Hitchhiker

38. Lies

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:20:00 +0000

Previous Chapter

Sunday, October 25th
Waning Gibbous Moon (Twenty-Eight Nights to Next Full Moon)

I woke up feeling warm. I stretched and rolled over to see Randall sleeping next to me, clad only in his boxers.

“Don’t you have your own room?” I rolled over again so all he could see was my back.

I heard him yawn and felt him move beside me. “You’re the one who didn’t want the presence of this new wolf to change our relationship, but you’re the one acting strange. Don’t push me away unless you truly want me gone, Selene.”

“You won’t believe me about Lilith, though.”

“You still think that was a vampire up there last night?” He touched the bare skin of my back and sent involuntary shivers of excitement through my body.

“Yes, that’s Lilith, and she’s a vampire,” I said, trying to ignore his touch on my body.

“Selene, the whole night last night, I tried to find some piece of solid evidence that this girl is not what or who she says he is, but I couldn’t find anything. She doesn’t smell like a vampire, she smells like an Alpha wolf. She looks like a true wolf when she changes forms. She sounds like one of us, she runs like one of us. I have never heard of a vampire that can also be a werewolf. She looks a lot like your roommate, but maybe it’s just a coincidence.”

“She came after dark and left before sunrise.”

“Being busy isn’t solid evidence of vampirism. Unless you have some kind of proof or explanation, I can’t believe you on this subject. Don’t be angry about it, but I don’t really have any other options here.”

I rolled over to face him, making sure my body was fully covered. “Fine then, I’ll tell you. But don’t judge me and try not to get angry.”

“I’ll make an effort not to,” He said unconvincingly.

I pondered what I should tell him. I’d lied to him for a while already. I struggled to decide whether to tell him the whole truth or to just tell him part of it.

He waited patiently as I collected my thoughts. I sighed as I decided to tell him only what he needed to know. It was better that way.

“She took my blood,” I said simply. I wished I had more clothes on for this conversation. It was hard enough telling Randall this, being naked in bed with him didn’t help.

His eyes narrowed suspiciously, “Did you give her your blood voluntarily or did she take it from you forcibly?”

“At first, I gave it to her voluntarily, but then she after she drank from me, she told me I was bound to her and her to me. She refused to drink from anyone else and if I didn’t give her my blood, we would both die.”

The look on his face went from suspicion to anger, “I can’t believe you’re lying to me still.”

“It’s the truth!” I exclaimed, tears filling my eyes out of frustration. He didn’t believe me.

“Your story is impossible. I’ve told you before that vampires can’t drink our blood. It kills them. That’s how we can coexist. They don’t bother us and we don’t bother them because we have nothing to offer each other. On top of that, I haven’t ever heard about a vampire and a werewolf being bound to each other. It just seems like a bunch of lies. And why would you even give her your blood if she had a use for it? Your story is so full of holes it feels like you’re lying to me. How much more haven’t you told me?”

He should have been able to tell that what I said was truthful by using his power as an Alpha, but I was afraid that because I wasn’t telling him the whole truth, it seemed like I was lying. “She’s a special vampire, she can drink our blood and take power from it. She used her power and mine to bind us together and sealed the deal with my blood.
“Even if that’s remotely true, it doesn’t explain anything else.”

“Why did I do it? Why did I give her my blood? Because she told me she would help me gain control over Tala, and she did.”

“So you’re claiming that Lilith helped you gain control over your inner wolf,” He made it a statement.

I nodded, “She established dominance over Tala for me. She trained me to gain my own control, she taught me everything I’ve showed you. But by using her power, she slowly bound herself to me on purpose. She bound herself to me so I wouldn’t be able to turn against her. When I voluntarily let her drink my blood, she was not only taming Tala, she was completing the process of binding herself to me. I guess the blood sealed it. Now, when she rises, I feel her. I feel her hunger, I feel her pain. And not only is she draining my blood, she drains my power. Tala is so much weaker now. She’s lazy and listless.”

“And last night…?”

I shook my head, “I don’t know how she did it. All I can think is that she used the power she took from me to create an illusion of transformation. My power in her tricked everyone else’s senses into seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling an Alpha wolf, but she isn’t at all. She’s just a monster. A monster that I let come to its full power,” I began all-out crying, wanting him to just hold and comfort me, but he was too angry. I could feel it coming off him, a heat. Waves of angry heat. I didn’t know if he still thought I was lying or he was mad because I had lied so much before, but he was definitely mad.

“I think she’s planning to hurt the Pack,” I said before getting out of the bed. Anger and rage were not good things for us to feel. Strong emotions like that helped channel our power, and sometimes brought about the change.

He grabbed my arm as I tried to get out. I looked at him and wasn’t surprised to see his eyes already changed to the wolf’s yellow. There was a low growl emanating from him and the hand around my arm had black fur growing on it. Claws were forming and beginning to dig into my skin.

I knew he could smell my fear. I was too weak to change again. Lilith took too much blood, too much of my energy to be able to do it again. If it came to a physical fight, I wouldn’t be able to defend myself.

When he noticed how scared I was, he looked down at the arm that was holding me. His eyes widened. He’d just neglected how dangerous his anger was getting.

He let go of me and I pulled my arm back to myself, rubbing where he’d scratched with his claws. I stayed sitting on the edge of the bed though, still uncomfortable in my nakedness. I think he had more important things on his mind than my nudity.

He slowly calmed himself, willing the change to reverse, forcing down his own inner wolf. When he looked me in the eyes again, his eyes were still that of a wolf, but everything else was back to normal.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” The anger in those yellow eyes had changed to sadness.

I looked down, “I needed to get control over Tala, and your techniques weren’t working. She offered to help and I just didn’t want to disappoint you. I just wanted the both of us to stay happy, but Lilith isn’t going to let that happen. I shouldn’t have taken the easy way out, I realize that now.”

“I still don’t know what to believe, Selene. Either you’re lying to me about Lilith, or you’ve lied to me all along. Either way, you’re a liar and it hurts. You’ve broken my trust.”

“I’m sorry, Randall. I did it for the sake of our relationship. I just wanted us to be together and happy!”

“Can it be that you’re just jealous of this new girl that calls herself Lucille? Jealous because she already has the approval of my father, jealous of her control over her own power? You’re afraid she’s going to steal me away.”

“No, I’m not jealous. Please, just believe me.”

“Just go, Selene. Your clothes are in the closet. Get dressed and go.”

I found my clothes and quickly put them on, grateful to finally have something covering my body. Randall stayed in bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to keep his emotions calm.

When I was fully clothed and ready to go, I realized something. “Uh Randall…” He looked at me with a flat expression. “You picked me up,” I said timidly. His eyes were normal again, but the anger was still there.

He sighed and got up, disappearing from the room for a few minutes before returning with some pants on and keys in hand. “Come on,” he said, heading for the front door.

I followed him out to his truck, but when I tried to open the passenger door, it was locked. I waited for him to unlock it for me, but he just started the truck and sat there. I tried the door again, but it remained locked. It then dawned on me. He didn’t want me in the cab with him. He was giving me a ride back, but I didn’t get to be comfortable.

I climbed into the back of the pickup with my overnight bag and sat with my back against the tailgate, staring at the back of his head in the window. He drove fast and recklessly, throwing me around the back of the truck every time he turned a corner. When we got back to my dorm, I jumped out, happy to be back on solid ground. Luckily, I had my bag in hand because as soon as my feet touched the ground, he drove off, tires squealing as he rushed away.

Depressed, I went up to my room, no energy or drive to do anything except cry myself to sleep.

Next Chapter
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A/N: Not much to say about this chapter. Randall has a bit of a temper, but don't judge him too harshly. It had a bit to do with the full moon too.

37. Lucille

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Previous Chapter

My blood ran cold as I realized who was up on the stage. I turned to Randall and yelled to him over the howling and clapping, “It’s Lilith!”

“Your roommate?” He squinted in the direction of the stage. We were pretty far back and from where we were standing, it was hard to tell. But I didn’t need to see as much as I could feel her power. I was surprised I didn’t feel it sooner, but that was probably due to all the wolves around me, their own power clouding my senses.

“Yes, my roommate. The vampire!”

“That’s impossible!” He said, his voice a shout over the cacophony. “We would be able to tell if she was a vampire, especially my dad. And if that’s a vampire on stage posing as a werewolf, how does she expect to keep the act up in front of a crowd of a hundred real werewolves? She can’t exactly turn into a wolf if she’s a vampire, can she? What would her motive be?”

“I’m telling you, Randall, that’s her.” How could I tell him why she seemed so much like one of us? How could I tell him the reason why they couldn’t tell what she really was?

I stopped arguing with him as Lilith began to speak, her cool voice silencing the restless crowd. “I apologize for my tardiness,” She said simply, bowing to the crowd in apology.

Quinn moved to the front of the stage, “Let us all welcome to our pack a new Alpha, Lucille.”

I looked over at Randall. “It’s a fake name, of course.” He only rolled his eyes at me and shrugged before returning his gaze to the stage. He didn’t believe me, but I knew it was her.

“Let the initiation begin,” Quinn said as he moved back again, leaving Lilith at the forefront.

“We have to stop this,” I told Randall.

He shook his head, “Maybe we were wrong, Selene. Even if it is her, maybe she isn’t a vampire. I’ve never actually seen or smelled one anyway. I could have been wrong. I could have interpreted things wrong.”

“She is a vampire,” I insisted.

“You know this for sure?”

“Yes!” I was yelling now, but no one noticed. I tried to get him to push through the crowd towards the stage with me.

“How do you know?” He asked as he followed me.

I stopped and sighed, “I’ll tell you after this is over, just believe me. We don’t have time for me to tell you everything!”

“Then you’re on your own. If you’ve lied to me or if you’ve been dishonest and won’t even tell me the truth now then you can go fix it without my help.”

I sighed exasperatedly and pushed forward to the stage through the crowd. What was Lilith doing?

The howling and cheering of the crowd began to build even more, so loud that I felt rattled. Lilith also howled, a feral sound ringing through the night. Quinn looked proud and expectant behind Lilith on the stage, as if she were his child. Lilith took off her clothes, her pale, naked body nearly glowing in the moonlight.

As I finally made it to the front, I could only watch in amazement as Lilith began her transformation. Before everyone’s eyes, she began to change into a black wolf. However, she was not truly changing. No one else seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary, judging by how they were acting, but I saw it. She wasn’t really growing fur and a tail, it was only an illusion. However, that illusion was truly flawless. I assumed that the only reason I could even see through it was because of my bond to her, which further strengthened her earlier threat of how closely we were bonded together. If our bond allowed this, I didn’t know how strong it truly was.

As she “changed,” I could feel the pull of our bond. This power she was using derived from what she took from me and it reacted unfavorably with my own power, pulling at me, forcing me to change against my will. No one else had begun to change except Lilith, which was the custom for this evening. It was her time to be the center of attention. I tried to stop myself, tried to hold in my animal side, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t even problem with fighting against Tala. I was being forced to change and even she didn’t like it from the sounds in my mind. As the black fur seemed to sprout all over her body, I could feel the itchiness and tickle of my own white coat began to grow along my skin, to creep over my body. The pull of her power forced me to all fours as I agonizingly fought a losing battle of wills.

I heard disapproving whispers from the crowd around me as I continued to change against my will. Some thought it was a stunt in protest of the new Alpha female. Others thought I was just too weak to hold myself in the presence of another Alpha until she was finished.

When she finished, others saw a large, black wolf standing on the stage. That’s what they had to have seen, because no one seemed to notice something wrong. I saw something much different, a girl standing on the stage, still naked, the shadow of a wolf outlining her, enveloping her like a spirit, a shroud, but more solid. She howled once more, exciting the crowd. I could only sit back on my haunches in disbelief as the rest of the Pack changed together. I struggled to push down my anger, to not let it get the better of me as Lilith stood in front of the Pack, like she belonged. They accepted her. They howled and cheered for her and she wasn’t even one of us.

When we ran, Lilith ran at the front of the Pack with Quinn and his Sylvea. Randall was up either at the front with them or close to it. I ran in the middle of the Pack, a white speck drowning in a sea of dark fur. I felt like I was alone even though I was surrounded by everyone else. As we ran, instead of relaxing and becoming free in the night, with every footfall, I became more depressed and more frightened of the future. What was Lilith’s plan for the Pack? Whatever she was plotting, it was confusing and I knew it wasn’t good. All I could feel was a sense of foreboding and sadness because I knew all that could come of this was misery and anguish.

* * * * *

Lilith disappeared before sunrise, of course. She played the part of looking incredibly exhausted upon reaching the clearing once more and “changing” back into her human form. As she changed once more, I felt that unfightable pull on my own power, forcing me to return to my naked, human form. She was naked and dirty, but she didn’t seem as bothered by her exposure as I was. She said goodbye to Quinn and the elders, politely rejecting their invitations to breakfast, telling them she had an early class she needed to attend after cleaning up.

She picked up a small bag she’d left near the stage and dressed quickly before disappearing. I wanted to confront her, but I didn’t want to do it in front of the Pack. Many of them, including Randall, were still in wolf form, but were slowly changing back. I left, embarrassed by nudity, sprinting back to the house where my spare clothes were, hoping not to run into anyone else, even though they’d all just seen my unclothed body anyway.

Up at the house, I showered but I couldn’t find my clothes. I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open. I didn’t want to keep looking, so I just went to bed naked in the guest room, closing the blinds and curtains to keep the room dark when the sun fully rose.

Next Chapter
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A/N: Here's that extra chapter I've been promising for a while. Monday's chapter was fairly short but I didn't want it to be part of this chapter, so I broke it apart.

36. Whispers

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:08:00 +0000

Previous Chapter

Back at Randall’s house, people were beginning to arrive, relaxing from a long day at work or school. I realized that, for the Pack, this day was not only a day of necessity due to our affliction, but it was also an essential time for bonding. The time spent mingling and talking, the grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and potluck dinners, the eating together; it all helped the Pack members to form bonds. Each full moon evening was like Easter Sunday. Everyone, despite our vast differences, had one thing in common that brought us together. We were a family. We didn’t have to like or even tolerate each other, but every full moon, every Easter Sunday, we were still there together, eating our holiday ham and enjoying our time of relaxation.

Randall and I said our greetings to a few people, and then went to hang out with his friends. There weren’t many people around our age in the Pack, so we had to make do with what we had, even if some of them were incredibly annoying, like Pete. We tried to hide it, but they could tell that the two of us had been fooling around.

“Ah, when the moon is round, emotions can run high,” Pete winked at Randall while shoving a hot dog in his mouth. I blushed involuntarily while Randall shrugged and said nothing as Pete tried unsuccessfully to get a high five. Unwavered by our lack of enthusiasm to divulge what had gone on, he moved on to another sore topic.

“So the Pack is buzzin’ with news of the new Alpha girl,” Pete said as he began to dress another hot dog for sacrifice. He scooted his chair close to me, mustard on his lips, crumbs stuck in his unkempt beard. “When she takes your place, you and I could always run away together. I’m more of the loner type anyway.”

I growled as he tried to put his arm around me and he quickly backed off. Randall got up and I followed his lead. He took my hand and told the group, “Selene isn’t going anywhere. This new girl, though she’s won the approval of my father, has no place in my heart.” He looked at me and smiled.

Pete nodded and apologized, the others silently eating their food and keeping their eyes on their plates. Kate looked sadder than usual, more resigned.

Randall and I made our way through the crowd, trying to find some space to ourselves. The Pack was so large that the house was packed with people. They were in every room including Randall’s bedroom.

Everywhere we went, I could feel their eyes on me, staring and whispering their rumors and lies. They all expected to see me gone. It wasn’t that they didn’t like me or wanted me gone, but everyone likes good drama, even if they are part of your adopted family. It keeps everything interesting. They also all knew that Quinn didn’t really approve of me. He was afraid of my strength. Though a strong Alpha should be good for the Pack, to defend it and to keep the harmony, Quinn was afraid his position would be usurped. He was protecting himself rather than his people. Not exactly the qualities of a great leader, but who was I to say anyone else in the Pack could do any better?

As twilight approached, the Pack members began to make their way to the clearing. I felt Lilith awaken as the sun sank below the horizon and we prepared for the evening’s events, but I pushed the feeling aside. Feeling energetic, we went towards the rock stage to prepare for the evening and to meet this new girl, but when Randall and I arrived, one of Quinn’s bodyguards barred us from getting onto the stage. Quinn and Sylvea were already up there, surveying the crowd.

“What’s this about?” Randall asked the man.

“Pack leader’s orders. He says the new Alpha requested only the Leader of the Pack and his wife to be on stage for the initiation. No one else. Quinn is honoring her request.” He said importantly.

His words inexplicably gave me chills as we both walked away from the man and made our way though the crowd, trying to get a good vantage point so we would be able to see this new wolf when she arrived.

The crowd began to grow restless as we waited. I could feel their inner animals struggling to free themselves in the light of the moon, wanting only to run in the night. The girl’s tardiness only made me feel better. The longer she took, the worse she would look in the eyes of the Pack. First impressions are key, and she wasn’t making a good one.

Finally, to the cheers of the restless crowd, a figure appeared on the stage, a girl dressed in black, with short blonde hair and pale skin. She looked a lot like, “Lilith?”

Next Chapter
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A/N: This chapter is shorter than normal, but I liked the idea of leaving you guys on a nice little cliffhanger here. I have another chapter primed for posting on Wednesday morning, so come back in two days for the next part. ^.^

(Everyone knew it was Lilith! I'm terrible at foreshadowing!)

35. New Girl

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:19:00 +0000

Previous Chapter

Saturday, October 24th
Hunter’s Moon

When I awoke the next morning, I was still exhausted. All my limbs ached and I didn’t want to get up. All I felt like doing was going back to sleep, and it was difficult for me to even get out of bed. When I did finally get up, the queasy feeling in my stomach made me sit in front of the toilet for a few minutes, willing myself not to throw up. I ate some cereal and drank some orange juice, which helped a little. The nausea went away, but I was still tired. My movements were sluggish and my world was hazy. I didn’t have the strength to bother with my bike, so I just walked to my classes, taking it slow and sneaking in the back when I was late.

After classes, Randall picked me up. This would be our third full moon spent together and I thought he would be happy to see me. I was wrong, though. He looked upset.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I climbed into his truck after throwing my overnight bag in the back.

He sighed, “My dad…I just don’t understand him.”

“Quinn? What’d he do?” I asked, buckling my seatbelt as Randall pulled out of the parking lot.

“He’s letting a new Alpha female join the Pack tonight. He thinks she’s,” He paused before groaning and continuing, “Better for me.”

“What?” I turned to him and nearly shouted, “How is she better?”

“I don’t know, he hasn’t even met her, I don’t think. She contacted him and asked his permission to transfer into our territory and he agreed almost immediately. He thinks you’re trouble, the elders think you’re too powerful, and he’s going to find any way he can to get you out of here.”

“Even after I worked so hard? After all that?”

He only stared at the road.

“Well? What do you think of this?” I asked, still taken aback.

“I don’t like it, obviously, but I don’t know what I can do.”

“Tell him you don’t want her. Tell him you want me. That’s the truth, right?” It was a risky question, but I needed to know.

“Of course it’s the truth! But it isn’t that easy to just tell him that. He’s my dad as well as the leader of our Pack, and if I go against his wishes, he has the right to kick me from the Pack. If I don’t want to leave, the law says I have to physically fight against him and win. I would have to fight my own father to the death.” He glanced over at me, trying to gauge my reaction.

“Then if he wants to force you to be with her, and you don’t want to fight him then…we’ll go start our own pack or something.”

“You need territory to start a pack,” He said. “You need followers, you need an establishment. It isn’t easy to just start a pack. Most are very old, passed from generation to generation, like my family’s pack.”

“So you’re just giving up on us?” I tried not to cry. Tried not to overreact. Overreacting meant emotions and with the full moon tonight I did not need to get emotional. I pushed down all the feelings and took deep breaths.

“I’m not giving up, Selene. We’ll find a way to be together. I haven’t even met this girl, but I know you’re better for me than she is.” He glanced back at me and smiled reassuringly.

We were the first ones at Randall’s house. His parents weren’t even home. We wandered around the outskirts of the forest, ending up where we always did: the clearing.

I stretched out on the stage of rock, warming my back as I lazily stared up into the trees. Fall was slowly meandering in and the leaves were turning orange. Randall, still looking troubled, sat next to me. I moved my head into his lap and he absently stroked my hair.

“When is she coming?” I asked. I didn’t want her to come, but if I couldn’t stop it, I could at least be prepared.

“Dad said she had something to take care of after her classes, but she would be here as soon as she could. He said we might have to wait for her, since she’s being inducted tonight. She’ll have to change in front of everyone tonight, just like you had to.”

At least she wasn’t getting preferential treatment in that area.

I sat up and leaned against him. We were sitting with our legs hanging over the edge of the rock, feet flailing in the air.

I thought about my predicament. I cared deeply for Randall, but since Lilith had helped me gain control over Tala, the aggressiveness towards him had dissipated. I wanted to be aggressive, but with her so beat into submission, all I could do lately was wait for him to make all the first moves, and he wasn’t as aggressive in that department as I needed him to be.

I prodded her awake inside me. I needed to show Randall how much I did care for him. I didn’t want him to be seduced by this new girl. I had to make him remember me and think of me while his dad was trying to get him to consider another option.

Tala rustled inside me, What is it? She growled.

I spoke within. I definitely didn’t want Randall to hear the conversation. It’s been a while since I gave you some control-

Several moons, She interrupted grumpily.

Yes, and I was wondering if you wanted to be in charge right now. I…need you. We need to show Randall how important he is to us so we don’t lose him.

I’m tired. It’s your little vampire’s fault. You do it. She rolled over and went back to sleep.

I sighed at my lack of success. Without Tala, I didn’t know where to start.

Randall turned to look at me inquisitively. I had been silent for a while before sighing outwardly.

“Are you still worried about this new wolf?” He asked, wrapping his arms around me comfortingly.

I nodded silently.

He squeezed, holding me tightly. I didn’t want him to ever let go. “I’m worried about it too, I won’t lie. But I care about you immensely and because of that, I’m not worried about our future. I’m just worried about the future of my family. Well, I guess not just my family, but the Pack. If I were to leave, they’d have to find another Alpha male. This Pack has been passed from generation to generation for countless years and it won’t be fun breaking the tradition. But if that’s what it takes, then that’s what will happen.”

I felt tears pricking my eyes. It would be my entire fault if the Pack broke up, and I didn’t want the blame for it. But I also didn’t want to lose Randall. He was all I really had by way of friends. He was the only one in my life that actually cared about me. The only one that liked me for what I was. The only one that didn’t want to use me or “fix” me.

I summoned up my aggressiveness and kissed him. I could tell he was surprised at first, but then he settled into the kiss and kissed me back, his hands caressing my back and sides.

Trying to seem confident, though I was actually quite afraid of what I was doing when I didn’t have Tala in control, I carefully pushed him onto his back so he didn’t hit his head on the cold stone. I still felt somewhat weak from the blood loss, but I was able to be forceful enough for what we were doing since he wasn’t fighting me. From there, I did what I remembered Tala doing a while back ago in the dorm room. I climbed on top of him, straddling him and leaning over his body. I kissed him again, my hair falling into his face.

I realized my hands were shaking and I was having a little trouble breathing normally. It was a mix of fear, excitement, and my weakness.

“Selene?” He whispered in question.

“Hmm?” I asked as I kissed his neck, knowing I wouldn’t be able to keep my push-up position for much longer.

“Since you seem to be in control here, what are my boundaries?”

I laughed as I realized how careful he was being with his hands. However, his expression was full of wanting, and I could feel that want under where I was straddling him. “You’re such a good little pup,” I giggled as I sat up and threw back my hair. I took his hands in mine and guided them to various places where I wanted him to touch me. There were more things I really wanted, but I didn’t have the courage. Maybe I just wasn’t ready.

We continued to make out, and then changed position when I couldn’t hold myself up any longer. He moved to the top, pressing against me and forcing his tongue into my willing mouth. My back enjoyed the warmth of the stone as my chest enjoyed the warmth of his body. He was also gaining confidence, all in all a good breakthrough for us.

After a while, his breathing heavy, he sighed and rolled off me, lying beside me. He took my hand in his and kissed my fingers. “We should probably go back soon.”

“I don’t want to,” I said, like a spoiled child. Going back meant dealing with other pack members and eventually having to meet the new girl.

He laughed, “We can always pick up where we left off at another time.”

I smiled at him, “I’d like to.”

“Good,” He helped me up and we jumped down from the stage, walking back to his house, holding hands.

Next Chapter
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A/N: Next chapter, we meet the new girl. I did some writing over the weekend and typed up everything that I had written. All in all, what I have typed up is a little over 52,000 words and what I have posted right now is about 46,000 words. So I'm a little bit ahead, but I won't be for long. I like how Selene and Randall came along here. I feel like I've been neglecting actual relationship and bonding scenes, but I don't want them to move too fast. They've only known each other for abut 3 months. I'm working on a calendar and plotting out all the events, so I can put this story on a better timeline very soon. Then I'll probably go back and add some detail dealing with seasons, holidays, etc.

34. Donor

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Previous Chapter

I thought we would be going out to our field once more, but Lilith said it wasn’t necessary. Between the two of us, we had plenty of control over Tala. We just waited until the other roommates were gone and did the exchange in her room. Changing into wolf form helped me to burn any energy I got from my bond with Lilith, so it was helpful. Every few days, I would feel her hunger, go to her, and donate a small amount of blood. In-between donations, I took the largest dosage of multivitamins I could and made sure to eat well. We didn’t speak much because I was mad at her and she seemed indifferent. But we were both alive, figuratively speaking, and I no longer had random cravings to munch on my classmates. Donating to Lilith was also better than watching River waste away. I didn’t doubt that Lilith would eventually kill her, and then she would probably move onto other people I knew.

Drinking my blood had other positive effects for Lilith other than having a never-ending blood supply whenever she wanted. The smell of wolf pretty much never wore off of her; it only got stronger, only made it more difficult to see that she was a vampire. Her power felt like a wolf’s power. It was unnerving whenever I walked by her and it only made me more curious – and scared – to see what she had planned.

* * * * *

Friday, October 23rd
Waxing Gibbous Moon (One Night to Full Moon)

On the night before the full moon, Lilith drank from me again. It was different, though, and from the moment she started drinking, I knew something was wrong. She drank for longer than usual, draining more than she ever had. I began to feel lightheaded and I tried to struggle against her, but the blood loss was making me woozy. I could only wait for her to stop on her own. When she finally did stop, I crawled towards her bedroom door, away from her, trying to escape. The door handles were paw-friendly, just levers you pushed down rather than round doorknobs. I needed to get to my room. I needed to lock the door, even though the lock wouldn’t be able to stop her. I just hoped neither of the other two roommates were there to see a big white wolf streak down the hallway.

In the light of her lamp, she wiped the blood from her lips and grinned, the sallow light giving her fangs a slight glimmer. “You thought I was going to kill you, didn’t you?”

I couldn’t speak, so I merely whimpered, unsatisfied with my distance from Lilith. I needed the comfort of walls in-between us. She moved fluidly. I couldn’t even follow her with my eyes in my state and I didn’t even notice she was right in front of my face until she touched me, trying to pull my head towards her. I instinctively flinched, but she was only trying to pet me. She kneeled down and took my head in her hands, her face close to mine. If I wanted to, I could have tried to bite her face off and mar her beauty, but I was too cowardly, too weak to even try.

She lightly kissed my nose, a form of apology. Then she got up and opened the door, checking the hallway to make sure it was clear. She then picked me up and carried me to my room, because I was too weak to walk. She carried me like I weighed nothing, carefully laying me down on my bed. I slowly changed back into my human form, shedding the fur for skin, reforming my human features. I felt my neck with half-formed fingers and it came away clean. I wasn’t even bleeding. Had it healed that fast or had Lilith taken so much blood that it there wasn’t much to bleed out? I hoped for the former as Lilith spread my blanket over my naked body and left a bottle of water on the desk next to my bed.

“Why did you do it, then?” I asked, my voice hoarse. I was referring to her earlier question. Why had she taken so much blood?

“I needed a little more. Plus, tomorrow is the full moon. It’ll help you with your control.” She opened the bottle and helped me sit up to drink it.

After a few sips, I said, “My control is fine,” My voice sounded better but it was still tired.

“Thanks to my help. Where would you be without me?” She sounded arrogant. “I deserve what I take.”

I only lay back down before rolling over, facing the wall rather than her, “I’d be normal without you. I’d be human. I’d be happy.”

“Do you want me to get you something to eat? I can run and grab you a hamburger,” She ignored my statement.

“I’m not hungry,” I said. I was only tired. I wished she’d go away and let me sleep.

She left the room but didn’t turn off the light. I was too weak to get up and turn it off on my own, but I couldn’t sleep with it on. I lay there under the covers, stuck in a state of helplessness. Fifteen minutes later, she returned with a bag that smelled strongly of grease and meat. The instant I smelled it, my mouth began to water. She helped me back to a sitting position and I took the food from her.

She watched as I ate, “Slow down a little,” She told me.

“Hmm?” I mumbled, a large chunk of meat and bread filling my mouth.

“Enjoy the flavor,” She said quietly.

I swallowed the bite, “You can’t eat regular food?”

She shook her head no, “My body can’t process solid foods. I can drink other liquids but I can’t even taste food. My body automatically tries to expel it.” She looked almost sad about something I’d never paid much attention to before.

After that, I ate slower, concentrating on the taste in each mouthful, thinking about what it would be like if I couldn’t taste such things. Though Lilith had immortality, she had to sacrifice many things, such as sunrises, going to the beach on warm, summer days, and eating delicious, savory meals. Did she have to make other sacrifices as well?

I went to sleep shortly after my meal, my belly full and my strength already returning. That night, I slept peacefully. No dreams, no nightmares. However, if I had known the living nightmare that was to come, I would have happily taken a few bad dreams.

Next Chapter
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A/N: So if you hated Lilith before, you have to be at least confused about her right now, right? She has her ups and downs, but she's still mainly a self-centered you-know-what. I had a roommate like her, I never knew what to think of her because she seemed to change all the time. There are good things happening right now, check out the pictures of our new house over at Insight into my Life. If you like the study, just imagine me writing in there. It'll be such a beautiful place to write. It will help with background writing, descriptions, and a myriad of other things. The next few months are gonna be hectic with finishing school, moving into the new house, and keeping up with Bitten, but I think I'll be able to handle it. Just don't be mad if a chapter is a day or two late. ;)

33. Hunger

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:49:00 +0000

Previous Chapter

Friday, October 9th
Waning Crescent Moon (Fifteen Nights to Full Moon)

Since I was avoiding Lilith as much as possible, we stopped doing our training. It didn’t bother me much. That meant she couldn’t do any more of her vampire tricks to me or use her or my power against me. I didn’t know what else she could have even taught me, even though I was sure she could probably dig up something. I didn’t want it. I was done with her.

No more training gave me an immense amount of time to actually have a social life, which made Randall happy. My grades improved and I could actually stay awake in classes.

I almost felt normal, aside from feeling Lilith wake up and go to sleep. It messed up my sleep schedule a bit. Whenever she got up, I felt like I had just downed a pot of coffee. When I was alone, I would go for a run before bed to work off that energy. When I was with someone, I would have to hold it in, constantly shaking my leg and hoping I could find a way to spend it later. In the mornings, I always had a hard time waking up. Daybreak was when she went to sleep, and my connection to her willed me to keep sleeping. Sometimes I barely even heard my alarm. I kept a stock of Red Bulls in the fridge and stopped for coffee at the campus Starbucks on particularly bad mornings.

I also turned my lie to Randall into truth and started spending time with River. She was a great friend and a plus to our relationship was that she lived in my dorm. She was a friendly and nice girl and always had me over to her suite. I’d told her that I didn’t get along with my roommates and she was sympathetic. It helped me to avoid Lilith without having to spend all my time at Randall’s house. Of course, I was always welcome at his place, but I didn’t want to spend so much time there that his family would start to tire of me.

River and I would work on homework together, since she was in many of my classes, and on nights where we didn’t have homework, we would watch random TV shows or I would bring a movie from the collection at my dorm for us to watch. Some nights we would go for fast food or she would cook us dinner. She was a good person to have as a friend, especially since I didn’t have many in the first place.

After the first week-and-a-half after the full moon, I noticed a change in River’s demeanor. She seemed to tire easily while we were walking around. She was pale and didn’t look well. The first day I noticed it, I asked her about it, but she wasn’t too worried. I cooked her dinner anyway and brought it to her room, making sure she ate a large amount and took in fluids. She seemed to improve, but after a few more days she looked even worse. She stopped coming to class and I visited her in her room, making sure she was alright, making sure she was eating and taking in fluids. She refused to go to the doctor. She said it was just the flu.

One day, when I came to visit her and bring her the notes she’d missed, I decided to look around. She was in the living room, watching TV on the couch. I snuck into her bedroom and when inside, I noticed a familiar smell. I tried to be discreet and sniffed the air, using my enhanced sense of smell. It was blood, only a few days old.

I followed the scent to River’s bed and lifted the covers to smell the sheets. I lifted the pillow and saw what I was looking for. There were a few small drops of blood on the sheets under her pillow, where her neck would be when she slept. There was another scent, less strong than the blood. It was Lilith’s smell, her new smell with the old smell underneath. That fresh earth, animal, and wilderness smell of wolf laced with the scent of death.

Furious, I left, giving a curt goodbye to River, who looked half-asleep anyway. It was almost dark and I had a vampire to deal with.

I was sitting in our living room with the TV off when I felt the rush of energy that accompanied Lilith’s waking. A few moments later, I heard her door open and she walked into the living room.

“Long time no see,” She said.

“Leave River out of this,” I growled, getting off the couch and getting in her face. The energy was making me bold.

She laughed, “I have to eat somehow. If not her, then who do you suggest?”

“How about no one? Why don’t you just shrivel up and die and go away? Why don’t you just leave me and my friends alone? Why do you have to force yourself into my life?”

“If I die then you’ll die, remember? And if I quit eating, it will be much worse for you than it will for me, trust me on that.”

I shoved her backwards into the wall before going into my room, “Leave me alone. Leave my friends alone. I don’t care if I die, it’s better letting you have the satisfaction of hurting them.”

* * * * *

Monday, October 12th
Waxing Crescent Moon (Twelve Days to Full Moon)

Three days later, I was already regretting my talk with Lilith. Apparently, she had honored my request. She wasn’t eating, and I could feel her hunger. Not only could I feel it, but it also influenced my own hunger. I was ravenously hungry, but it wasn’t for normal food. I was hungry for raw flesh and warm blood. The first time I felt that hunger, it disturbed me. The hunger grew over a few days, my dreams full of blood and violence, images of me tearing into people and feasting on them. I woke up in the middle of the night and threw up, the images so realistic that I could still feel the skin, muscle and sinew in my mouth, between my teeth, down my throat.

Whenever I saw Lilith, she looked paler than usual, but only gave me a smug, knowing smile. She was used to the hunger. She would surely last longer than me. At least, her mind would. The dreams, the nightmares were becoming more realistic. The hunger, more powerful. The smell of human flesh set my salivary glands off and I would have to will myself not to attack people I walked by. Elevators were the worst. Closed off spaces with only myself and another person. I could kill them in seconds and they wouldn’t even realize what was coming. Just the thought made me nauseous.

No matter how much food I ate, I couldn’t keep the hunger at bay. I ate protein after protein, which was closest to what I actually craved, but it didn’t sate the desire for raw flesh.

There was only one option to end the madness, to end the torture. I hated that it was my only choice. I hated Lilith for putting me in that position, but it was the only way to save innocent lives.

I had to be her donor.

Next Chapter
-----

A/N: I had this chapter written, but I couldn't decide if it was ready for posting. Most of this chapter wasn't in my original draft, but I wanted Selene to have more of a reason to confront Lilith about this and get the ball rolling on being her permanent blood donor. It originally just started with Lilith starving Selene then her giving in to donate the blood. I thought slowly draining Selene's new friend might make Lilith seem even more cruel, because she really is one of those people that only thinks about herself.

If you're bored, I've been posting pictures and random stories over at Insight into my Life, a blog about me and my life. I have a load of material to post, so I'll probably be making regular posts over the next few weeks. I just posted one today about our Bacon Explosion experiment. It's turning into a photoblog more than anything else.

Also, Brandon's sister and my future sister-in-law, Jessica, has begun posting a story of her own, so if you want to check it out, head over to Dark Ages of Landanasia to check it out. Be sure to leave a comment and let her know what you think!

32. Avoidance

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:16:00 +0000

Previous Chapter

Saturday, September 26th
Waning Gibbous Moon (Twenty-Eight Nights to Full Moon)

The next day, I was exhausted. Even though I slept in until nearly eleven in the afternoon, I was still tired. It hadn’t been a restful sleep. I met with Randall for lunch, but I was still tired. I could see the worry in his face.

I desperately wanted to tell him why I hadn’t slept, why I didn’t want to go back to my dorm. I wanted to tell him about Lilith’s revelation and my knowledge that she was planning something important, but that would mean telling him everything, and I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t tell him about my real training, about my lies. Instead, in response to his worry, I told him that the moon’s roundness had kept me awake the night before. It wasn’t technically the full moon anymore, but it was close enough.

“Yeah, it does that to me sometimes too,” He said, accepting my response for truth.

During lunch, we didn’t speak about or mention the previous day’s events, the whole waking up naked and the embarrassment. I didn’t want to talk about it, so I was happy that it remained unmentioned. However, when I thought about it, I felt happy and warm. I wanted to do it again and maybe I would be more confident. I hoped we would get to do it sooner rather than later, before Lilith did whatever she was planning to do.

“Do you ever just run alone on nights when the moon isn’t full?” I asked him. “I mean, as Alphas, it’s possible for us to change whenever we want to. Why not do it more often?”

He smiled, It’s a great way to get rid of pent-up energy. But you have to be careful. You can’t just run anywhere. Even if you have control, you could still be seen. Plus, it tires you out, so that’s why you can’t do it too much.”

I nodded as I took another bite from my sandwich.

“If you ever can’t sleep, if you feel the need to go for a run, just call me. We can do it on the family land. It’s better to run with someone, just in case something happens. We could go, just you and me.”

“Like a date?” It seemed romantic in an odd sort of way. That was the story of my life since I became a werewolf.

“Sure,” He grinned. I supposed I didn’t need to ask. I was pretty much his girlfriend, but it still felt awkward. I was happy for a distraction, though, and I knew that he would be the best thing to do the job. The more I stayed away from Lilith, the better.

“Tonight, then,” I said.

He laughed, “You already know you can’t sleep?”

“I won’t be able to if I’m thinking of you,” I said, my face getting hot. He smiled and his cheeks reddened as well, probably thinking about the morning before.

We left from lunch and went to the movies. Then, we went back to his house. His parents were gone for the evening and he made me dinner at his house. It was a simple spaghetti dish, but it was still more than I expected.

After we ate, we cuddled on the couch together to watch a movie. I felt the same feeling from the night before, though not as strong. I could feel Lilith waking up, though it didn’t affect me all that much. I was so tired that not much could have given me energy. I just ignored my bond to Lilith and watched the movie. The warmth and closeness to him made me wish we could just lie there forever, but the whole reason I had come was for us to run once the moon was high in the sky.

It was hopeless, though. Even though I tried to stay awake, I lost the battle against my own sheer exhaustion and fell asleep in Randall’s arms.

I woke up in Randall’s bed. He was sitting in a chair watching me sleep. It was light outside, which meant morning, or maybe later.

“I thought you couldn’t sleep,” He laughed.

I groaned and rolled over, covering my head with the blanket. I’d messed up our date.

“I’d better get you back to the dorm, you probably need to study for next week.”

I mumbled into the pillow something nearly unintelligible that was supposed to be, “I don’t wanna study.” I had a test in Spanish the next week, but I was reluctant to buckle down and review the material. I would have much preferred to just stay all day and cuddle with Randall.

He pulled off the blankets and kissed me, “It’s for the best.”

I sighed and got up reluctantly. I was still wearing my clothes from the previous day and would have to change when I got back. I was just happy it was light outside, even though I was not too happy about knowing exactly when Lilith woke up or went to sleep. I’d dreamed about the latter, sometime around daybreak. It involved going into a very dark, confined space. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant dream, but at least she was in that space for the rest of the day. I would do my best to avoid her.

Randall took me back to my dorm and kissed me goodbye. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it, or as if he was too nervous. He didn’t say anything, however, and we parted without him telling me what was on his mind.

Next Chapter
-----

A/N

This chapter is a bit lackluster compared to the last one, but it serves as a transitionary chapter into the next bit.

31. Bound

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 06:01:00 +0000

Previous Chapter

Friday, September 25th
Waning Gibbous Moon (Twenty-Nine Nights to Next Full Moon)

I awoke to the feeling of warm breath on my neck. At first, I got a little panicky because I didn’t know where I was, but after a moment I got my bearings. I felt Randall stir beside me, awakened by my sudden movements. I quickly came to the realization that not only was I waking up in Randall’s bed, but we were both now back in human form, and we were both completely naked on top of the covers. Moving quickly, I pulled back the comforter and slid under it, trying to cover my exposed body as completely as possible.

Randall opened his eyes and looked at me as I was frantically trying to get under the blankets. I saw the smirk on his face turn to embarrassment as he realized his own exposure. He rolled off the bed and hid himself by blocking my view with the bed.

“This is awkward,” Randall was actually blushing. All I could do was laugh. Neither of us were thinking ahead when we came up to his room last night. “How about, uh, I turn around and close my eyes and you can go in the bathroom and take a shower. I’ll bring your bag and leave it by the door so you can get dressed.

“Only if you promise not to peek,” I smiled, looking down at the blankets again to make sure I truly was completely covered. As werewolves, nakedness really shouldn’t have been an issue, but the human part of us made it a problem.

He laughed, “It’ll be hard, but I think I can do it.”

I got up and quickly went into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I turned on the water, picking bits of grass and leaves off my skin that were still stuck there from the previous night as I waited for it to get warm. When I got in, I stood there for a few minutes and just let the heat of the water soothe my muscles, sore and tight from my run. I stretched out my body under the pounding water and washed away all the dirt and grime. I was sore and exhausted; I could have slept a few more days.

It was already well after noon by the time we were both showered and dressed. We ate, and then Randall drove me home. In the truck, he told me, “You did really well last night. You never lost control. It was you in there the whole time.”

“I told you that I practiced,” I kind of wanted him to drop it. I didn’t want him to catch me in my lie.

“Well, you have a lot of discipline to have accomplished so much in so little time. I hope you haven’t been neglecting other important things, such as school or being social.”

I fidgeted with a loose thread on my shirt. I had been doing my assignments, but I had also missed a lot of class, mostly due to exhaustion. “My grades are fine,” I told him. As for a social life, Randall was really my only friend other than Lilith, and I couldn’t tell him about my friendship with her. My other roommates ignored me and pretended I didn’t exist, and the only other person I really knew was River, but I hadn’t talked to her much other than in class. “I’ve been spending some time with River too,” I lied. I didn’t want him to think I’d been alone all the time, which wasn’t the truth either. Almost every evening was spent with Lilith, though I should have been a little more proactive in finding some human friends. Maybe I would ask River if she wanted to come over and watch a movie or something.

He only nodded and then dropped me off at my apartment, kissing me goodbye. I went up to my room and spent the rest of the daylight hours teaching myself what I had been missing in my classes and trying not to fall asleep.

When nightfall came, I felt Lilith stir. I didn’t know why or how, but I did. I knew she was awake, and her being awake erased all my exhaustion. I got up and knocked on her door. When she opened it, the lights were off and it was pitch-black inside the room. I couldn’t see any of the interior, even with my better-than-human vision.

“How did last night go?” She asked.

“It went flawlessly,” I said uneasily.

“As I expected,” She wasn’t smiling. I wondered if I had done something wrong. This was the first time I had ever knocked on her door. Usually, it was the other way around. It was also the first time I had felt her awaken, which was part of what made me uneasy, but there was something else.

Something was different.

Spending the last month with Lilith, I had gotten used to her vampire scent. So used to it that I hardly even noticed the smell. But now, “You smell different.”

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, or was it amusement? “Different, how?”

I breathed in deeply through my nose, using my animal sense of smell, “Like,” I paused, goosebumps running up my arms. “Like a werewolf.”

She grinned, “Good, that means that it’s working.”

“What’s working?” I asked cautiously.

“Your blood, inside of me.”

I was confused, “You’re turning into a –” I began to ask stupidly before she cut me off.

“No, silly,” She laughed at my ignorance, “As a vampire, I get my power from the blood I drink. Most of the time, I drink from normal humans, who have no power whatsoever. During those times, I have my own power to rely on, but I’ve told you before that I’m special. When I drink from you, a powerful creature, I also get certain powers from your blood, which mingles with mine, and if strong enough, overrides mine temporarily. What you smell is your own power inside me. As I am right now, no werewolf can tell what I am. Thinking I am one of them, a whole pack would welcome me with open arms.”

“What’s the point of that? They would find out eventually.”

“Probably, yes. But not before I got close enough…” She trialed off, a smug look on her face.

“You’re planning something. Something terrible,” I didn’t know what to do. I had to call Randall, I had to warn the Pack about the monster I’d created.

She reached out, faster than the blink of an eye, and grabbed my arm, pulling me into the dark room and locking the door behind us. She held me by the neck and forced me to the ground, pinning my arm behind me with her other hand, my head hitting the hard floor under the thin carpet. I saw spots but nothing else. The room was like a cave. There was no light. My face dug into the cheap, rough material of the carpeting.

I tried to struggle, but she had me solidly pinned, and my arm was at a painful angle. I would have to break it to get free and even then I might not be successful. I could do nothing but growl at her.

“I know what you’re thinking, Selene. You want to be a little do-gooder and tell them. But you wont,” She said. The skin of my cheek was rubbed raw and the pain in my arm was making me cry. “What do you think they would try to do to me if you told them?”

“Kill you,” I snarled, the pain pissing me off. Her sudden aggression was scaring me, but I knew she needed me too much to kill me. She needed my power. She couldn’t pass as a wolf forever.

“But do you know what would happen to you if I died?” Her voice changed to something soothing, like an elementary school teacher asking a small child if they knew what would happen if they hit their peers. Would there be a consequence?

I stopped struggling and asked, “What do you mean?”

“You’re bound to me. I know you’ve felt it; felt me.” Witnessing her sudden aggression, I had forgotten about the reason why I knocked on her door in the first place. I had felt her awaken. I might have even felt it the evening before. I knew I’d felt something different, but I thought it was just the moon and being with the Pack. I realized that at least part of what she was saying was truth.

“So I’m more attuned to you, that doesn’t mean that if you die, I die.”

Her silence implied the opposite.

She let go of me and I sat up, rubbing my arm and face. She turned on a small lamp, its soft glow piercing through the solid darkness of the room. I couldn’t see much of the room, only outlines. It was clean, neat, and orderly, but other than that I couldn’t see much.

“As I said, you are bound to me. You feel what I feel,” She pulled a small knife out of her pocket and cut into her right arm. It wasn’t a deep cut, but it was enough to draw blood. Immediately, I felt a sharp pain in my arm, in the exact same place she’d cut herself. A wound didn’t open up, but it felt like I’d been cut into as well. A minute later, her wound healed and the pain went away.

“Do you believe me now?” She asked. She was smiling to where I could see her fangs.

“You were able to do this just by drinking my blood?” What had I done by associating myself with her?

“Drinking your blood was the final step, but I’d been preparing long before that. Every time we trained, I used my power to slowly bind you to me. The last step was a willing blood donation, which you gave to me, and which you will give many more times, unless you want both of us to die.”

I sat there and stared, paralyzed with anger. I wanted to call her every name I could think of. Every word, every curse seemed too mild. I really wanted to tear her throat out, to wipe that smug, satisfied smile right off her face, but I couldn’t, and it was all because of her. I was defeated before I even knew there was a fight.

I got up, wordlessly, and she let me pass. I left the room and slammed her door behind me. I left the dorm altogether, too mad to look at the empty, white walls and went to the edge of campus, where smooth landscaping met the rough edges of wilderness and woods. I went into the trees and stripped off my clothing, hiding it under a rock. I would easily be able to find that scent again. Then, I changed to my wolf form and began to run.

Next Chapter
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A/N: This took me a little longer than I expected to put out, since it's a fairly long chapter in comparison to some others. This twist is one of the main things I planned when I wrote the book. I really wanted to see what I could do with a character like Lilith, someone that is so practiced at lying, so great at acting that you really don't know what to believe. I'm sure you all know someone like Lilith, to different extremes. (I know several Liliths, without the affinity for blood of course.) I also enjoy putting characters in hopeless situations like Selene's. I'm not even completely sure how she's going to fix her problems. I have several endings for the book in my head, but not written out.

Poor girl. :P

30. Contentment

ToastyTreat@me.com (Arielle Fragassi) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 04:57:00 +0000

Previous Chapter

More people began to arrive, so Randall and I went back inside to greet them. I wanted to get to know more of the Pack, but there were so many that I couldn’t put names to faces after a while and they all got jumbled up. I gave up trying to remember names and just apologized when I had to ask again. Randall, of course, knew everyone’s full names, occupations, and everyone they were related to. He probably knew their blood types and birthdays with all the information he had stored up there in his mind.

He introduced me to someone I had seen before, and after a few seconds, I remembered where I’d seen her. Actually, it was when I saw the look she was giving Randall that it clicked. She was the lovesick puppy that I had seen at the breakfast table the morning after the last full moon. Randall introduced me to her as Kate.

“Kate, I don’t think you and Selene have been formally introduced, have you?” He said.

“No, but I know well enough who she is. You’d have to be blind not to.” Her voice had a tinge of a southern accent, and it matched how she looked. She had thick, tightly-curled bleach-blonde hair, her face and arms covered in freckles. She was cute and looked like someone bred in the country that was trying to become more urban. She was wearing tight jeans and a low-cut shirt, probably something she wore purposely to get Randall’s attention since he breasts were almost falling out of the shirt.

“Selene, Kate is a very good friend of mine,” I saw her cringe slightly when Randall said the word “friend.” “Her and Pete were really the only ones in the Pack around my age when we were growing up, so we spent a lot of time together, whether we wanted to or not. He looked across the room at Pete and laughed.

“I miss those carefree days when it was just the three of us,” Kate said. I could hear a hint of sadness in her voice.

“Things change,” Randall said bluntly. He told Kate he’d see her later and led me off to greet others.

“You’re hurting her,” I told him. “I can feel her pain.”

“She’s been in love with me ever since before we knew the word for it, but for some reason I’ve never been able to return the feeling. Before you came, she still had hope. She was the best candidate within the pack to marry me, even though she isn’t Alpha. The elders would rather arrange a marriage with a non-Alpha than look to other packs for mates. It’s a sign of weakness. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but at least she wasn’t a stranger.”

“But then I came.”

“Yeah, you changed everything. Suddenly, we have the perfect candidate and Kate gets pushed aside. It’s for the best, though. I wasn’t looking forward to marrying a girl I had no feelings whatsoever for. She’s a great person and a good friend, but nothing more to me.”

“You should still be a little nicer to her. The poor girl,” I felt sorry for her. I just came in and quashed her dreams. She must have hated me.

“It’s not me she’s upset with, you’re the one who came in and stole me away,” He laughed, his statement mirroring my own inner thoughts. It made me feel bad. I hadn’t known that by joining the Pack that I would be affecting the lives, hopes, and dreams of others. I wondered who else I may have affected.

I brooded to myself as we waited for nightfall. We ate and had a little party, some of the older pack members drinking sparingly. I didn’t feel much like partying, so I mostly sat and watched.

When the time came for us to head out into the clearing, I was anxious. As the sun set, I began to feel more awake than ever. Partly, it was the full moon. It brings out anxiety in everyone, and I could feel it in the air. It was also in part because I would again be up on the stage with Randall and his family. There was a mysterious element to my alertness too, something I couldn’t quite place. I ignored the strange feeling, not allowing it to ruin my night.

I was relieved to find that I wouldn’t be going first or alone this time, but as a rule, all Alphas had to be up on the stage, and I was no exception. I stood up there and held Randall’s hand in mine as Quinn welcomed everyone. It was pretty much the same as last time, except this time he wasn’t introducing a new member, so it was shorter.

This time, instead of me initiating the change, Quinn started first. I could feel the Pack shudder as a whole as he began, and then they all started. I could feel a pull willing me to follow suit and I gave in to it. This time went smoothly, and it seemed that everyone was in unison, much more different from last time’s fiasco.

I expected a slight amount of unruliness from Tala, since it was the full moon and we weren’t with Lilith, but I barely even felt her presence within me. It was as if something was suppressing her while I was able to use her power.

Tonight was different from all other full moon nights because I never lost myself. I was conscious of my surroundings through the entire time. All other times, I’d blacked out, let Tala, the wolf inside take over. The feeling was wonderful! I was myself inside the body of such a powerful, beautiful animal alongside everyone else in what felt like an extended family all around me. I ran beside Randall and he looked at me, panting, his eyes shiny with a primal excitement. I felt so free! Untiring, we ran. I tried to pay attention to our route, but it was impossible. Quinn was leading us, and he seemed to know where he was going, and we followed our leader without fear or doubt. Someday, Randall would be the one leading us, weaving the Pack on some unknown path through the trees by the light of the full moon.

I lost track of time. The night felt endless in a good way. By the time I saw the first hint of morning light peeking over the horizon, I realized we were back in the clearing. Some changed back to their human forms, looking tired and haggard as they left. Others, weaker wolves who were too tired to even change or leave just collapsed in the clearing, forming warm, cozy little dog piles. In these clusters were people in human and wolf form, all cuddling together like family, all naked and exposed.

Randall and I were still in wolf form. He nudged me with his nose and I followed him up to the house. We went through a large dog door leading into the house. I followed him up the stairs to his room and he pushed the door closed.

Exhausted, I hopped onto his bed and flopped onto the covers. He followed and cautiously lay down beside me. I cuddled into his warmth and breathed in the scent of his fur. I could smell the forest, the rest of the Pack, all those who he came in contact with during our run. He licked me and I looked up. I could almost see a grin on his wolf face.

Lying there, I was overcome with exhaustion and I fell asleep as the sunlight began to stream in through the windows of Randall’s bedroom.

Next Chapter
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A/N: There's a bonus chapter coming eventually. I've been pretty busy with life. My puppy that my mother was taking care of got out of the fence and got run over by a car and died on Friday, so I was pretty tore up about it all weekend. I had most of this chapter typed up though, so I didn't have to type much more to post it. Next Chapter should come on time next Monday, and hopefully I'll get time to throw up another chapter in between. Enjoy!