Lunaticus

9

It felt like I had been walking for an hour, and that said something about how loud the wolf had been. It must have been someone really powerful and very much in pain.

It was only when I was nearer, panting and breathless, that that wasn't entirely reassuring. On giving it further though, I found myself pausing, Where the hell did I think I was going?

All sorts of creatures roamed these woods. Blood-thirsty rouges, lone wolves out to hunt, monsters straight out of old tales. This most definitely was either of the three.

So what the hell was I doing out here?

I was just fumbling with my thoughts when another scream pierced the air. I was close, twenty steps, fifty? Before I could second-guess my thoughts I caught the scent.

It was Lyell.

I was eighty-seven percent sure it was Lyell.

But what the hell was he doing out here?

So I had been right earlier. See, I wasn't losing my smarts entirely. But there was still the fact that he was a fully shifty wolf.

Ten steps.

Twenty steps.

Twenty-Five.

I stopped, my hands paused on the outgrown fern. Just a slight parting and I would be able to see.

I don't get to keep secrets, Chloe, no matter how much I want to.

My fingers moved on their own accord, under the lure of his words. His mysteries, his world.

Curse me, but I wanted to know.

The sight took my breath away.

There he lay in the dirt, feets digging into the ground, fingers elongated and clawing again and again at the forest floor. His shirt was tattered, hanging from his shoulders, leaving his abdomen bare. His hair was a mess, eyes dark and dilated, canines bared, and jaw shifting.

A scream froze in my throat, watching a pale snake wrap around his torso. Another one crossed the path it had laid. When I didn't see it emerge from him, a part of my sane mind decided that that had indeed been a ripple across his muscles.

Was this real? Was it a dream? Was it a hallucination?

His back arched the bone of the spine showing. Spittle flew everyone, a bit landing on my feet. I jumped back, and in doing so I accidentally stepped on a branch.

Crack.

His gaze whipped my way. A growl ripped from his chest, followed by a snarl. I watched his ears elongate and tip.

Fear seized my body. I almost peed. "L-Lyell? Lyell it's me. C-Chloe."

He moaned. A bone protruded from his bottom, looking suspiciously like a tail. The leftover of his clothe blew apart, as sharp sleek silver hair sprouted all over his body.

Then just for a second, the beady eyes changed into the silvery that I had come to obsess about. "Chloe." He clenched his jaw, and the pain on his face almost broke my heart. "Chloe, please. Run. Get- get away."

His voice shifted, turning deeper, guttural. "Run. Run. Run!"

I gazed at him a moment longer, and as I did so long, dark, curved nails popped through the spaces where his nails had been.

That was enough to make me yeet the hell out of my frozen stance.

I scampered, dodging trees and fallen logs. This wasn't normal, this wasn't normal, this wasn't normal.

I had seen wolves shift. I knew it took hours for the first one, but Lyell wasn't a newbie. And it took seconds for fully-grown mature wolves to shift. Just a snap of a finger, and you'd find yourself standing on four legs instead of two.

And he. Goddess and her apostles, but he had looked like a freak. I apologized to him silently, but in my defense, I had never seen someone with teeth so protruding and claws so big. Even though I hadn't seen him transform completely, I knew without a doubt that this creature he was turning into would be twice, maybe thrice the normal Lyell.

My mate.

Was.

A yeti.

Ohmygosh Ohmygosh Ohmygosh. My feet hurt. I really would have loved to use some werewolf stamina by now. Or a nice warm bath. Or maybe just a nice place to lie, without a freaking monster/mate running after me.

I stopped to catch my breath and cocked my head to a side, Wait, was he even chasing me?

Sweat blurred my vision as I took in my surroundings. I was lost, and the sad thing was I couldn't bother my survival instinct to worry about when I pretty much was about to die.

I didn't hear him. No rustling, no birds flapping. Silence, like the one you hear when you're alone in your bed with your thoughts.

Something was off. I knew I should be running, but I didn't know which way. No point in going deeper into the woods. There were probably at least four more hours until sunrise.

Four more hours until his shift would end.

I decided to go uphill. If nothing, I'd at least be able to see where I should head next. I had to look out for myself because I knew no one would care enough to come look after me.

If I survive this, I thought as I climbed the inclining path upwards, I will have a few words with him. Honestly Lyell, a little hint maybe? Like 'Hey Chloe, mind if you don't check the woods for tonight? Got some digging to do.'

Okay, maybe I was being a bit unfair. I should have told him about being in the woods as well. He probably didn't know any better than me.

I sighed. This wasn't helping. Pointing fingers until they doubled down on me.

It took some time, an hour maybe, but I knew I was getting nearer. I could see the dark sky stretching beyond the tree barks. Nearby I could hear the gushing of this river, maybe a fall.

I was so lost in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed that the sinister silence that had accompanied me on the ground had followed me uphill.

It wasn't until the moon was directly on top of me, that a sudden crushing weight settled in my stomach. There was a waterfall in front of me that fell some fifty feet below me.

Which meant I couldn't go any further.

When meant I had to turn around, retrace my steps, go back down, and find some other way.

Crap. Ohmygosh Ohmygosh Ohmygosh-

Why, I thought with barely suppressed agony, did I have to be so dumb?

A growl rose from too very close. I nearly jumped my skin and fell into the water.

I turned my head and met the bright crimson ones of the demon straight from the deepest pit of hell.

***

Btw, did you guys know theres a legit redit page on Werewolf vs Yeti? 

You guys are so weird and I love you.