New Blood

Elsa’s POV

Lightning struck through the dark sky as rain pattered on the ground.

“Run, Elsa, run!” I could hear my mother scream in the midst of the confusion. The flashes of thunder let me see the carnage as dead bodies laid on the ground. The Heads of wolves decapitated from their bodies, littered the ground.

My father knelt some distance away with an enormous wolf, swiping his head from his shoulders. My mother's calls came once more.

“Elsa, run!”

I turned in her direction, watching as they dragged her away from me. The sound of horses sounded from my back just as a flash of lightning lit up the sky. I turned around to face a swinging paw, knocking me into a swiveling darkness.

I woke up screaming with my hands flailing into the sky. “Another nightmare,” I muttered to myself as I dropped the sheets from my body. I was soaked in my sweat as I stepped out, feeling the chilly wind of the night.

“Elsa!” Damian called out as he burst into my room.

I wrapped my clothes around my body, as I had expected no one to step into my room. “Don’t you know this is a woman’s room?”

He stopped, stuttering as it seemed it had skipped his mind. “I heard.. you scream... screaming,” he stuttered, dropping his head to the ground. “And I thought you were in trouble.”

I heaved a deep breath as I stared at the lad. He was a ruddy boy, the same age as I was, but seemed to keep to himself. “I’m fine now. It was just a nightmare,” I said, inhaling deeper.

“You should know I am here for you at any time,” he said with a smile.

“Doesn’t mean you’d have to barge into my room like that.”

“I’m sorry, but I genuinely thought you were in trouble.”

“It’s fine,” I muttered, rubbing my hand across my face, eager to change the topic. “What do we have to do for the night? It seems the pack is rowdy.”

He looked outside the door as flames flickered in the hallway. “We have run out of food supplies and have to make a run for some more. Meat supplies, at least to keep us for the coming winter. We are werewolves and need meat.”

“Can't we just raise these animals ourselves?” I asked as I picked out clothes for myself to wear.

“You should know we do not have the time to raise animals by ourselves as they could give us out to both humans and werewolves. Hence our need for raids in the human settlement,” he said as he turned around, letting me dress up.

“Do we have to raid human settlements for food?” I asked.

I could hear him breathe deeply before he answered. “They are the easiest people we can pick on before we can have something to eat.”

“And then they have to retaliate, coming at us with wooden stakes and pitchforks,” I said as I slipped on the hood.

“At least they haven’t caught one of us yet,” he said as he turned around to face me.

I stared at him with slitted eyes. “I did not tell you to turn.”

“I turned even when you never asked, but right now you are fully dressed,” he said, turning backwards once more.

“I’ll let you know when to turn,” I said as I turned towards the mirror, checking how I looked in its reflection.

A knock sounded at my door as we spoke, with a lad entering my room. “I knew you would be in her room if you weren’t in yours.”

“What’s the matter?” I asked as I turned to face the newcomer in my room.

“Not anybody important, but I’ll need to take your boyfriend for a minute,” the lad said as he grabbed Damian’s hand.

A blush formed on my face as I stood from the chair. “Well, you can take him for as long as you want,” I said as I walked towards the both of them. “And please, let the rumors stop. We have nothing in common.”

“Yeah, right?” The lad said as he looked at me from my head to my feet. “Still do not know what he is doing with you.”

“That’s enough. Let’s go,” Damian said as he pushed the person away. “I’ll come back for you whenever we finish whatever it is they are calling me for,” he said to me before dropping the curtain over my doorway.

I sighed as I flopped on my bed, but I could still over hear their voices.

“What do you see in a girl who we consider a human? No one has seen her transform into a wolf ever,” the lad said as they stood outside.

“Even if she is human, she has never given us up for a day,” Damian replied.

“She is definitely a human until I can see her transform. Until then, I say you stay away from her like the rest of us.”

Damian sighed as his silhouette pointed as he was staring at my room. “We can leave for whatever it is you called me for.”

They nodded their heads, walking away from my room while I sat still. It was nothing for me, as I could feel their stares whenever I came out in their midst.

“What do I do?” I said to myself as I walked to my window. I knew I was a werewolf like all of us here, but there was something inhibiting me from transforming.

I sighed as I stared at the full moon shining through the cloudy sky. It felt like there was going to be a downpour tonight. A perfect time for them to do what they wanted to do, as humans tended to lock themselves inside whenever there was a downpour.

“Nothing,” I muttered after thinking for a while. Outside felt like it was a Fiesta as everyone was outside, standing with smiles on their faces until they saw me.

“Don’t get lost with some humans when we get to their territory,” a guy said as he walked past me.

“Let her be,” a girl standing next to him said as the guys laughed.

“It’s fine. I’m used to it,” I said as I walked past them, standing in a spot I knew no one would disturb me. At least I wouldn’t be a hindrance to anyone until after the raid.