Hunter had noticed the change in the color of Ash's ears as he passed by the girls that morning, just before class. He had been genuinely amused by Celia's accidental insult of her friend's mental capacity (Celia had accidentally called Ash "retarded" earlier that day) but he felt a little guilty that Ash had been embarrassed by it. He had no doubt that Ash was smart. And it wasn't because she was a scholar: the SBA scholarship's only conditions were that she didn't violate any of the Academy's rules and that she pass all of her classes.
Despite that minimum standard, Ash had made the effort to perform well in school. She maintained her academic standing in the upper 10 percent of their level every year since she started at Saint Blaise's Academy. While she didn't exactly top the class, she always ranked third or fourth at every term and received minor commendations at the end of every school year.
Hunter admired Ash's tenacity. She didn't have the advantage of exclusive prep school education and professional tutors that most of the elite kids had, but through her natural intelligence, hard work, and sheer force of will, she held her own with the best of them.
"Hey man, you headed out?"
Luka called out to Hunter as he got out of the heated Olympic-sized swimming pool. Luka was Hunter's best friend at SBA.
"Yeah man. I gotta do some homework."
Hunter stood over the edge of the pool in his swimming trunks. His golden hair dripped water over his face. He ran his fingers through his gorgeous wet hair, and as he did, his biceps swelled ever so slightly, calling attention to his toned arms.
In his swimming trunks, Hunter cut a lithe, strong figure. He was nearly six feet tall, had wide shoulders and a nice strong chest. The pool water ran down his body and sensually slid down the defined cuts of his well-formed abdomen. At 18 years old, Hunter was a young golden god among men.
As he walked to the showers, the groupies at the sidelines swooned. Their eyes were glued to the muscles on his back and they whispered among themselves about the firm swell of his buttocks. They would do the same with Luka and the other male swimmers when they got out of the pool: ogle them and whisper about how firm their muscles were and how hot they looked fresh out of the pool---but the consensus among the group was that Hunter's body was by far the best.
Hunter took a quick shower and dressed promptly; his hair was still dripping water as he pulled his clothes on. He walked briskly to his dorm building and when he got there, he took the stairs two steps at a time.
When he got to his room, he dumped the contents of his backpack on his table and pulled out his homework. He shoved the rest of his school things to one side of the table and got cracking. If he could absorb text and regurgitate answers, he would, but he had to settle for super fast reading and flurried writing. He was in an unusual rush.
He hadn't lied to Luka when he said he had homework to do: he really did. He just had another more important thing to do that had nothing to do with school. He wanted to get his schoolwork done quickly so that he could leave by nightfall.
Hunter finished his writing just as the sun was setting.
[Perfect timing] he thought to himself. He had been itching to go out since lunch time.
He quickly arranged his messy desk; he would put his things back inside his backpack when he would come back later that night.
He pulled out some dark colored clothes from his closet to change into. It was a fitted black leather vest and matching black leather pants. It was a cool-looking outfit for going to parties at underground clubs, but here at school, it looked ridiculous and over-the-top. As out-of-place as the outfit was, it was meant to serve a purpose, and Hunter needed it for the little trip he was going to take.
Hunter opened his door and popped his head out into the hallway. He had to make sure the coast was clear: he didn't want people to see him in this ridiculous outfit. When he was sure that the hallway was clear, he raced toward the fire exit and left the building through there. And then, he made his way to the fence at the edge of the school grounds.
The woods surrounding the school was a protected area. The Academy worked in partnership with the local government to ensure that no hunting or logging took place in the woods. It was a measure to keep the students safe and a climate change initiative to preserve indigenous flora and fauna.
Entry into the woods was restricted, and the SBA Handbook specifically warned students that unauthorized entry into the protected area of the woods surrounding the campus was a punishable offense. The first violation warranted a warning, the second violation warranted suspension and a written notice to the offender's parents, and a third violation resulted in expulsion from the Academy.
If the SBA Handbook was anything to go by, Hunter should have been expelled a long time ago. He had jumped the fence more times than he could remember, although he did take care to space his outings.
He looked around to make sure that no one was near enough to see or hear him. When he was sure that he was alone, he quickly climbed over the fence. The first 4 feet of the wall was made of solid concrete, and it was topped with about 8 feet of cyclone wire. It took him less than 30 seconds to climb over and jump to the other side.
Hunter wasn't a rule breaker by nature, but he had his reasons for disobeying this one particular rule about not entering the woods. It had to do with fulfilling an urgent and incessant need: the need to kill and eat.
Hunter bounded swiftly into the woods. He had been aching to shift since lunch time: he had felt the surge of animal energy coursing through his veins and the wolf's hunger had been clawing away at his insides. He needed to channel his urges into a hunt, otherwise, he would have gone crazy.When he was far enough away from the fence, he chose a safe spot under a tree. The half moon was cradled in the tree's branches as he looked up: he deemed it a good sign.He let go of his human mind and began to shift. His spine lengthened and his muscles grew to accommodate the increase in his height. From his human frame of nearly 6 feet tall, he grew larger to an impressive 8 feet from his head to his new hind legs. His bones shifted all over his body and his muscles and tissues expanded to cover them, all the while his organs moved, resizing and reorganizing inside him. As the surface of his body increased, his leather costume was swallowed into the expanding mass of his new ski
Hunter took stock of the tattered uniform in front of him. He knew from the scent who it belonged to, but it didn't really give him much to go on.Thinking was hard. It was especially hard when the aroma of a fresh kill was still wafting in the air and the enticing scent of a possible mate was within immediate mating vicinity.Hunter left the pile of tatters and returned to the deer carcass. He ate the leg that Ash had dropped, fed on the entrails, and tore apart the deer's front legs. When he had finished with his meal, it looked like a pack of wolves had descended on the poor deer. He would leave the rest for the scavengers to find.If a forest ranger were to pass by, the carcass would just be another hard piece of evidence for predation in action: another prey animal succumbing to a carnivore, just another day in the wild with Mother Nature.He turned his attention back to Ash, eager to sniff at the new werewolf up close.When he found her, she
"You know, I saw you at lunch today, and---"Hunter cut himself off mid-sentence: he noticed Ash's eyelids were twitching. It looked like she was about to come to.[Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,] he thought, panic rising in his chest.She was still haphazardly dressed and propped up on his knee. He would have wanted to put a modest distance between their bodies (making room for the Holy Spirit, as the teachers called it) especially considering her state of undress, but that would have meant putting her back on the cold ground.He settled for cradling her shoulders: it seemed like a reassuring thing to do for her (human contact after passing out and all that) but more importantly for him, he could at least keep her from slapping his face the moment she opened her eyes."Heeeey, Boots. Wassup?" he said.[Wassup? Where the hell did that come from? That sounded so lame!] he thought to himself, cringing inwardly.Ash slowly open
[The following is Ash's interpretation of what happened on the night of her first transformation]Tonight, I was in the woods with the Prince of the Forest. The palace was cold and the deer that drew my carriage ran away because his stomach hurt. I think he ate too many blueberries.The Prince arrived after dinner when they had taken all the food away. The fairies were playing a song when he asked me to dance with him, but the music wasn't right so I asked him to wait until it changed.The Prince gave me his tunic to wear because he had chosen me as his betrothed. I was very happy. I had never been chosen before. Then he asked me if I knew my way home so we could tell my parents of our engagement. But I couldn't tell the Prince that my parents were gone. It would have made him very sad, and I did not want to see him sad.I was only sad that we never got to dance.I picked up my garters from where I dropped them: if human things
Ash woke up the next morning chilled to the bone and with a splitting headache. Her night had been heavy with mixed up dreams that made no sense: the dreams just seemed to jump from one to the other, each one more fantastical than the last. She didn't remember leaving the room to eat, but for some reason, she wasn't hungry.She remembered falling into her bed right after school the day before, and between then and now, she did not remember ever having taken her clothes off. So she was definitely surprised at waking up naked under her thick blanket."Aaaah!" Ash shrieked loudly."Well, look who's awake."Celia had been standing over her friend for the last 15 minutes, just waiting for her to open her eyes. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was staring menacingly into the bottom bunk where Ash was sleeping."Are you gonna tell me where you were last night or do I have to torture it out of you? I'm in a very torturing mood this morning, so y
At the pool, Hunter sat on the bench watching the others finish the last relay for the day. He had been benched by the coach for finishing dead last in the second race. Usually he would be neck and neck with Luka or Anwar, the best swimmers on the team, but today he was barely keeping up with the group.When training was over, Luka and Anwar came up to him on the bench. Luka put a wet arm around his buddy's shoulder and nearly knocked him sideways off the slippery plastic bench."Swimming a little heavy today, weren't you?" Anwar asked without looking at Hunter. He was concentrating on stretching his arms over his head."How does a man from the desert swim so fast anyway?" Luka interjected, smiling at Anwar mischievously, dark gray eyes twinkling."How can I not? It's so hot out there that I cannot help but take to the water. I would rather drown than melt." His caramel skin glistened as he rubbed water off his toned arms. Standing next to the two paler b
On the second night of the fever, Ash dreamed about the Forest. Unlike the first time where she was physically in the woods behind the school, this particular visit happened purely in her mind. She never left her bed.In Ash's mind, however, there was no difference: she truly believed that she was in the Forest, and so there she was. For her, the hallucination felt real.[[Ash's Delirium: Night 2]]I have returned to the Forest, but the fairies were not there to greet me. I wanted to see the Prince again, but I couldn't seem to find him. I asked the fireflies where his Highness was, but they flitted about, lighting my path without pointing me in any particular direction.I realized that I made a mistake the last time I was here: I did not ask the Prince his name nor did I tell him mine. Cinderella made this mistake, and her prince had to search the entire kingdom for her. At least she left him a shoe to find her with. I took everything with
Although the lights went out in the library, the room didn't exactly plunge into darkness. The stained glass windows still let in a bit of daylight, but it wasn't bright enough to read by. Shadows moved across the floor as the students milled around, looking for friends to huddle with and empty seats to sit on as they waited for the backup generator to kick in. Two figures moved together behind the stacks, forming one large shadow as their individual forms merged. Hunter and Ash had locked in an embrace, bodies pressed against each other, their hands caressing each other's necks, and tousling each other's hair, oblivious in their passion to the world around them. Another shadow crept along the floor, moving silently away from the stacks where the lip-locked couple remained. Celia scurried away on her hands and knees, giggling like a naughty child who had seen something she shouldn't have. Further away, the librarian at his desk looked at his watch. Five minutes had gone by and the g