4 - Lick Your Wounds

*POV=DABERE*

I stood for a moment, terrified that the bullet had landed. But I suddenly realized that Cain’s gun was now pointed towards the sky…. my savior had redirected the barrel just in time. He grabbed Cain by the arm, twisted it and slammed his face several times into the wall.

The other men raised their guns and began firing away at him. I felt something pierce my arm and a sharp pain, but it barely registered as my eyes stayed glued to the man before me. He flung Cain aside and sped towards them in human defying speed, knocking their guns down and knocking them out so fast that the only thing I saw was a blur before I heard bones shattering and quick, painful groans before they fell to the ground.

In a moment, every single one of them was on the floor, unconscious and bleeding. Cain was the only one who could still move.

“I’ll get you for this!” Cain hissed as he tried to back away by pulling himself across the ground on his good arm. “I’ll make you fucking pay!! Remember this face!”

The man walked up towards Cain, grabbed him by the collar, raising him up from the ground.

“You’re lucky I’m not allowed to kill,” He muttered, before slamming his fist several times into Cain’s face. Each punch reverberated in my ear drums, the sound of knuckles against bone, flesh and blood. I couldn’t move. My ears were still ringing from the earlier gunshots, my knees barely holding me up. And yet all I could do was watch him.

It was only when Cain’s features became unrecognizable and a few teeth were missing that he stopped.

He let go of Cain, who landed on the ground with a thud, before he turned slowly to stare at me. 

“You okay?” He asked, his voice surprisingly calm and cool in spite of everything.

I couldn’t reply. My legs were trembling underneath me and I found it impossible to form words. Suddenly, I felt tears cascading down my cheeks as I stared at the man who had just saved my life.

“You must be in a lot of shock,” He said casually, making his way towards me. I could barely see his face, but he seemed young, probably in his late twenties.

“T-thank you,” I muttered, my voice heavy with sorrow and fear but more than anything else, an overwhelming sense of relief.

He paused, then stared down at me. “You’re welcome,” He muttered in reply as he slowly began to take off his jacket.

The night air was chilly. Was he taking it off to keep me warm? No, no he’d already done so much. There was no way I’d let him do that as well.

I looked up to tell him to stop, only to realize he was suddenly frozen in place mid jacket removal, staring at me with so much shock and horror in his gaze that I flinched.

“W-what’s wrong?” I asked, my heart suddenly beating faster.

He remained frozen like a statue for a few seconds longer, before he started making his way towards me, taking off his jacket completely in the process and throwing it around me.

Suddenly, he grabbed me by the arm and yanked me towards him.

“You’re bleeding.” he said, eyes wide, like the realization alone meant death.

“What?” I replied, then looked down at my arm, and realized I was bleeding profusely from where a bullet had grazed me.

My eyes widened. I’d been in so much shock that I hadn’t even noticed. 

I looked up at him. “I’ll take care of it when I get home. You don’t have to worry, you’ve done more than enough.” I said reassuringly, then tried to pull my hand away so I could wipe off the blood when his grip tightened dangerously.

I stood, confused as to why he was staring down at my arm like that, when I saw it.

Those golden eyes of his that shone even brighter under the moonlight, slowly turned red, like blood spreading across molten gold.

Panic and fear ripped through my soul as I stared, unable to pull away from his grip, unable to move or even scream. I could almost hear my heart pounding in my ears as something large and furry wrapped around my waist and pulled me close to him, close enough for my nose to touch his broad, hard chest.

It took a moment for me to realize that it was a tail. A tail large enough to wrap itself around my waist firmly and cover me with fur from my legs to just below my chest.

Panic swole in my chest, threatening to burst out of me. He wasn’t human. Ohh god, he wasn’t human. And he’d probably done all of this just so he could devour me right after. Right from the very beginning, I’d been nothing but prey.

I looked up at him, a scream burbling at the back of my throat, my arm trembling so much it could’ve fallen off. His mouth opened, and a pair of fangs glistened under the moonlight. I was sure I’d scream. Any moment now, it would rip out of me and into the night. But just before it could, he pulled me even closer, tilted my arm enough so he could clearly see the part coated with blood, stuck out his tongue, and ran it across the length of my bloody arm.

Instead of a scream, a gasp escaped my lips as a jolt of electricity ran down my arm and up my spine. His tongue dragged across my arm in slow, reverent licks, hot and slow and I shuddered violently.

His eyes were closed shut as he groaned against my arm, his hot breath fanning my skin as he licked the blood of me like it was the finest wine, like it was an elixir of pleasure and eternal life.

It should have felt revolting, disgusting, appalling. It wasn’t. It felt like fire and lightning had kissed my spine.

Suddenly, his tail came undone around my waist and his arm replaced it, holding me firmly, crushing me against his hard, suddenly furry chest and all of a sudden, I forgot how to breathe.

I panted as pleasure mounted with each lick, with each soft, pleasured groan that escaped his lips every time he swallowed and stuck out his tongue for yet another lick. When most of the blood was gone, his lips came down on my arm, sucking and licking at whatever remnants of my blood he could find.

My knees buckled, but he held me upright. My fingers curled into his shirt, whether to push him away or hold on, I didn’t know. All I could feel was heat. Licks of it. Every drag of his tongue unraveling me from the inside.

And I couldn’t breathe.

Suddenly, he was breathing faster, his breath even warmer as it fanned against my arm. His chest heaved like he was barely taking in air as his grip on my arm tightened.

“Fuck,” He let out, crushing me even harder against himself as he stared at my arm. Panic and pleasure swirled inside of me as I stared into his beastly eyes as they turned an even darker shade of red.

“More,” he growled, his grip tightening, his chest heaving. “Fuck, more.”

Suddenly, he drew back his lips from his teeth, his fangs glinting under the moonlight once more, and brought it down on my arm.

I yelped in fear and panic and he froze, his fangs barely grazing my skin. For the first time, his eyes found mine, and it felt like I was staring into a pool of molten gold and lava.

Suddenly, he had a horrified expression on his face as he pulled away from me. In that moment, my heart dropped as I saw his fingers extend into claws. He was shifting into something unnatural, his legs morphing into powerful, beastly limbs, fur sprouting where there had been skin, clothes ripping from the sheer force of his transformation

He suddenly leaned in to whisper into my ears, his eyes even bloodier than a second ago,

“Run,” he whispered, the word breaking on his lips. “Run as fast as you can. Because if you don’t leave now…” His voice cracked as his eyes found mine, burning with desperation and all the restraint in the world. “I might not stop until you’re dead.”

The moment his words hit my ears, it felt like I immediately snapped out of a trance, and all the pleasure I’d felt seconds ago evaporated into thin air, leaving behind nothing but fear, panic, and outright horror.

For a second, I couldn’t move, couldn’t think. But a warning growl escaped his lips almost instantly and right after, I ran. Over Cain and his men sprawled on the floor, over the large pools of blood, and into the night.

For a moment, it felt like there was something else, a shadow following behind me that wasn’t mine, watching me. But I kept running regardless, confused and scared and horrified. 

I ran, until I got to my home and barged in. I was panting as I saw papa set down the landline, worry and relief in his eyes as he stared at me. For a moment, it hit me, the fact that I was actually alive and staring at my father.

“Dabere??” He called out, making his way towards me and throwing his arms around me. I stood in shock for a moment, before melting into his arms and crying.

“Dabere, what happened??” He asked, clearly panicking as he cupped my cheek.

I leaned into his touch, and then stared him in the eye.

“We need to leave papa,” I said, my voice trembling. “We need to leave now.”