Roshni
Calen was a benchwarmer on the university swim team, someone who never actually competed.
The captain, Karl, was everything he wasn’t, a campus golden boy. Three records broken. A new girlfriend every other week.
One night, Calen realized he’d left something behind and went back to the locker room.
That was when he heard it.
Ragged breathing. Strained, barely held back. And beneath it… the slow, awful sound of metal bending under pressure.
He pushed the door open.
Karl stood with his back to him.
His bare muscles writhed beneath his skin, moving wrong, his spine standing out in sharp ridges. His fingers were dug deep into the steel locker, nails tearing through metal, leaving long, brutal gouges. The air was thick with the smell of blood… and something wild. Predatory.
Karl snapped around.
His eyes burned gold in the dark. Blood stained the corner of his mouth, and when he bared his teeth, the canines were far too long. Far too sharp.
He ran.
He barely took two steps before something crashed into him from behind, slamming him to the floor. Karl’s weight pinned him down, his body radiating heat… too hot, almost painful. A low voice brushed his ear.
“You saw something you weren’t meant to see.”
“I won’t say anything….”
Karl lowered his head, his nose grazing his neck as he inhaled slowly, deeply.
“…You smell fucking irresistible.”