Ty forced himself from his mate; as much as he needed release, he had other needs to fulfill. The thoughts in his mind slowly became as bestial as his body. He knew
his duty as alpha was to feed and expand his pack. He growled to Dustin, snarling as the wolf-man withdrew in supplication. His mate slunk back as well, inciting a
wave of werewolves in submission to his authority. Only Janet, the alpha female, stood her ground.
Ty ran, the claws of his four paws clacking against the tile floor, leading his pack in search of new brethren.
The entire school had emptied itself in the panic.
Amazing as it was, most everyone didn’t stick around to chance experiencing it. A few had been pushed down flights of stairs, through glass trophy cases, even
directly into the path of the werewolves in the fracas. Surprisingly, no fatalities were evident, though there were countless injuries.
Aaron Gray busied himself with pulling hurt students out of the line of fire. His short blond hair was matted with sweat, and the blood from the girl’s arm, badly cut by
shards from the broken glass doors of the bulletin board, would probably never come out of his favorite Ghost Rider T-shirt. He jerked his head back to keep his thin
glasses from sliding off his face.
“What’s your name?” he smiled as he asked, trying to keep her calm as he propped her good arm over his shoulder, taking her weight for her.
“V-V-Vanessa,” she stammered, woozy from blood loss. Her long brown locks were stained with her life flow; tears welled in her hazel eyes. “C-Cold-d-d.” She
shivered, despite the heavy blue and black workout sweats she wore.
Aaron nodded. “I know, I know. Just hold on a little longer, Vanessa, and we’ll get…”
His words were interrupted by a long howl.
He gasped and looked back, bringing Vanessa around just enough to see.
They were real, he thought. There were real, honest-to-God, snarling werewolves running on all fours through the halls!
“Jesus,” he gasped, willing his legs to run.
The rescuer moved as fast as possible with victim in tow, stumbling as the sounds of growling and padding paws loomed closer. Urgently, he scooped Vanessa into his
arms as he ran, her bloodied arm hanging limply behind her.
Images fought their way through tears and pain into Vanessa’s eyes. Images of slavering, feral wolf people, scratching every fallen human they found in their path.
Frightening images, of the fallen growing fur and tails and muzzles, of them howling in rapture as they were rapidly turning into newborn werewolves and rising to all
fours to join the hunt. She saw some of them rutting like animals, some eating the humans too badly injured to be fit for the pack, and still more biting her classmates
and overseeing their indoctrination into their new lives. Amber eyes hypnotized her, drilling images into her imagination of herself, in any and all of those roles.
“We’re…dead…” she whispered.
“Fuck that!” Aaron knew he could escape. They were in the science wing of the school; two heavy steel doors loomed open before them. Through them was freedom,
once they were closed behind them. Working cleanup after school gave him more than pocket money; it gave him the keys to lock himself safely away from these
monsters.
The lead werewolf, most definitely male, rounded the corner, gaining on the fleeing pair. Mere inches separated them, kept the werewolves from literally nipping at his
heels.
All he had to do was throw the doors shut and jam the keys into the lock, and they were safe.
He leapt, just as the alpha lycanthrope launched through the air.