Ravenous

Prologue

"You're not a boy!" Pain shot through my head as my father's large palm slapped the side of my face. He shoved the dress towards me and I growled. "Put it on." With every word my growl got louder. No dresses I won't wear it.

"Boys. Don't. Wear. Dresses." I snarl at him and claw at the dress. It's yanked away but not before my sharp, lengthened claws tear a hole in the front of it. Get it out of my face. This angers my father so much he starts to partially shift while snarling at me. Panic and fear bubble up in me stronger than they ever had. Run run run.

The battle between us had started as a toddler when I chose to play in the dirt and he tried to force dolls into my grubby hands. My emotions  have always been volatile and our whole pack knew it. Uncle Jack, the alpha of a neighboring pack, saw it whenever he visited. They all knew how I fought against all things feminine and speculated. It enraged my father, who's bigotry rivaled my anger. My mother watched silently. Their bond was weak and she knew he could turn his anger to her as well so she stayed quiet.

"Luke maybe-" her attempt was cut off immediately by a feral growl.

"She is 11, Amanda. 11! She should be over this phase by now." His clawed hand roughly gripped my butchered hair. Get off get off get off. "Look at what she did. I won't stand for this any longer!" As he spoke I raised my hand and clawed his face as hard as I could. "You bitch!" He roared and used his grip on my hair to throw me across the room. Run run run.

The floor is rough and I quickly scramble to my feet and bolt. The front door is locked and he's fully shifted now so I know I wouldn't have the time to unlock it. My feet carry me to the window without thinking and I don't pause before jumping. Momentum helps me shatter the glass but I don't make it far before I meet the grass. Instincts take over and I throw myself forward while ignoring the pain of glass digging into my skin. Have to go have to run.

Father is hot on my heels as I push through the treeline; heading to the border between our pack and uncle Jack's. The fear and panic boil under my skin and push me forward faster. My feet dig into the springy grass and dead leaves less and less as I get faster and faster somehow. I let out a scream that sounds halfway between a roar and a howl when I near the border. Hear me save me. But my father's teeth find me before they do.

Agonizing pain rips through my calf and I slam face-first into the ground. I have no time to blink the black dots from my vision before he attempts to bite at my face. Raw determination to survive surges through my and I weakly dodge before lunging forward and digging my teeth into his furry cheek. I won't let you kill me. The blood hits my tongue and I take a back seat to my instincts. Destroy destroy destroy.

~~~~

"Jackson you know what the best course of action is. We need to put her down." Slowly I feel my senses coming back to me. Wake up wake up wake up. The smell of disinfectant and sterile rooms lets me know I'm in a clinic but cold stinging metals around my wrists and ankles let me know it's not all good. Trapped.

"Fuck you Derek, you know I can't. We don't even know if-" 

"She was half shifted and ripping into her dad! She's a lycanthrope!" 

My heartbeat spikes. I know what a lycanthrope is; when someone doesn't have an inner wolf, just themselves. They can't fully shift into a wolf and have less control over their rage. Usually they end up going crazy and massacre anything they see. Werewolves, vampires, witches, humans, animals, anything that gets in their way. Both of the men in the room go quiet and look over at me. Stop looking at me like that.

"Oh, good morni-" Uncle Jack starts to greet me but Derek, his beta, grabs his arm.

"Please don't kill me." I whisper. Hear me save me. Their advanced hearing picks it up easily and Derek looks at me guiltily. "I-I can control myself. I pro-promise." Tears fall down my cheeks and the salt burns the cuts on my face. "He didn't want me to be- to be a boy. But I am." I am I know what I am. I cry harder. "He attacked me. I wanted to get here. Please don't kill me." Sobs wreck my body so hard I feel like throwing up. Hear me save me.

"Fuck." 

Heard. Saved.