The night has fallen, Blue Ridge Mountain cast a shadow over the land before it, gracing the residents with a peaceful atmosphere. The sky held a full moon, dotted by countless twinkling stars which brightened the otherwise ebony mantel of the horizon.

Verra stood on the balcony of the presidential suite procured by her father. She may have hated the idea of attending the conference, but she cannot shy upon, or hate the heart stopping scenery of Blue Ridge. The sweet scent of the luscious forest from the famous mountain which held great importance to the werewolves is something she can never resent. Matter of fact, the mountain awoke an unexpected curiosity from within her. No one, not even the werewolves who valued and treasured the mountain had ever made it to the peak of the majestic land mass.

Well, not even to the base actually. Because a wall has been erected twenty meters between the base of the mountain and the town proper. History said, the mountain is a sacred place, it is where the werewolves came to life, the question how though, is a mystery to all-even to the werewolves themselves. No werewolf in existence ever had the right answers about how or why they came to be. Some say they evolved from that of a normal animal to a hybrid, due to exposure from radiation. Others may argue that they have been walking this earth long before humans did, but the popular theory—the one that made actual sense to Verra, is that they were once humans who contracted an illness and eventually had their DNA altered due to said disease.

She will find a way to reverse it, Verra thought to herself.

She was half way turned towards the sliding door that divided her room and the balcony, when out of the corner of her eyes, she caught sight of a black form perched on a branch of the tree just below her balcony. She squinted her eyes and felt her heart immediately hammering inside her chest—it is thesame wolf she had seen earlier, but this time, she is certain that it is frowning at her. In an instant, she ran towards the door and slid it shut.

“What the hell” she whispered amidst the pounding of her heart.

She ran, he knew she would, so he slowly descended from the branch he is perched on. Some may find his ability impossible, even to the creatures he created, but unlike them—he learned which part of his body to transform, it is an ability that slowly rose throughout his years of isolation, and unlike the others, he managed to retain his normal animal form, werewolf form and human form-which makes him, a force that one should never cross paths with.

Upon reaching the base of the tree, his fingers slowly turned back into paws. He walked away from the area he previously occupied and gazed towards the room the woman is residing in. She must not survive the night. He cannot allow someone to walk the earth with his beloved’s face, scent and smile. Someone, who is not her. Machi to him is unique, an existence that is long lost. How dare the strange woman take over his beloved’s form. He must end her tonight.

She is frantic and completely out of breath when her guards reached her room.

“One of you should have stayed by the door!” Verra yelled, unable to hide the shake in her voice.

The two men who responded to her distress call glanced at each other, unable to talk back.

The master of the Constantine family made it clear to all of them—if anything happens to the young mistress, their lives are over, and so are their loved one’s.

“So-sorry ma’am, it will not happen again,” one of them answered.

Verra remained silent and did her best to compose herself. She closed her eyes and tried to think rationally. The animal is an ordinary wolf, it could not have frowned at her— maybe, she is experiencing paranoia. It is not an impossible thing to happen, given she is aware that her greatest fear will soon come to fruition.

She took deep breaths, and after a few minutes, she manged to fully compose her emotions. With the same air of arrogance that is her mask, she sneered at the two men and waved her hand to send them away.

“Stay outside my door and don’t you dare leave yout post” She scoffed, before slamming the door to their faces.

He heard her voice shake, even her huge gulp of air was clear to him. He hadn’t done anything to her yet, why is she so scared? Did she have a bad experience with his creations?

He wanted to break the sliding door that separated him and her, jump out and tear her to pieces, but he must wait for the right time.

It took another two hours, before the lights inside her room was completely turned off. That is his que. As silent as he could, he transformed his front paws into that of a human hand, he slowly pushed open the glass door and slipped inside.

The scent emanating from her is driving him insane, heightening the urge to end her life. She will be his next kill, after that faithful night, hundreds of years ago.

In all fours, he walked slowly towards the woman on the bed. He can hear her breathing, and it reminded him of Machi. Even the way the air gave out a sound as it passed from her throat out to her nose is similar to that of his beloved. Who is she anyway, why does she look like his beloved? Is she only a coincidence? An abomination to the balance of things—like himself, or is she something else?

Unable to concentrate, he stopped walking towards her. He is now standing in the middle of the room, only five meters away from the bed. He kept his eyes on her, hesitating to move forward. Must he end her life now? Maybe, he can watch her some more, learn who she is and understand why she is similar to his precious Machi.

He closed his eyes and inhaled her scent. It has been so long. It has been so hard. It has been torturous. He fell into a trance unable to hide the extacy her scent is giving him. He kept breathing, inhaling, sniffing, and before long—he found himself hovering over the woman on the bed.

He knows, it’s time to bare his fangs, but he couldn’t. He instead, sniffed and sniffed some more, unable to stop. As he sniffed again, an ear splitting scream broke him out of his trance. The woman on the bed is awake, scurrying away from him. Startled, he leaped off of the bed, ran towards the balcony and jumped out. He ran and kept running, never looking back. For once, after a very long time, he felt alive—and surprisingly, happy.