Book I in a Series of Short Stories: Wolves of the Wood | ✔️

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A world where Creatures and humans live in harmony is a fantasy.

'Those Creatures are monsters!'

'I heard one bit the Tyler's girl.'

'I heard she is cursed!'

There were rumors of the wolves that roamed at night in the town of Paradise, Ohio. The Tyler's girl, Emma, had been bit by one of these wolves supposedly and had become cursed, the symbolic three marks engraved on her upper arm. Her parents had begun to notice that she was more awake at night, and that she would disappear. Until one day she left at night, and didn't return for a couple days. Of course being the worried parents they were called the Police, a search party was set out for her and a few days later they found her, or at least her clothes...

After that curfews were set, gun sales went up, and people were more careful of their children. Nobody had ever seen these wolves, but they were fabled to only appear at midnight. Their piercing eyes seeming to summon you over, their black fur blending in with the midnight sky, their fangs as white as the snow that fell in the Winter.

The town was in a small panic because they were all surrounded by forest, and the wolves were known to inhabit them. Little did the people know that they weren't alone in their civil town. If anyone was cursed nobody knew, it was always unnoticed.

The next victim was a small gray-haired girl that went by the name of Nichole, she was known for her icy blue eyes and kind smile. She was the Bruner's daughter, they were a nice family, there small white house sat on a small hill that was surrounded by woods. There were rumors that the family were already Werewolves and had started this whole thing in the first place, they had scratched people to curse them.

Anyway, back to the victim. Their daughter. Nichole walked along the trail that was behind their house, a cool breeze blowing on the chilly autumn night that it was. She looked up at the half moon that hung above her head in the starry night sky and smiled as the golden yellow leaves fell around her, the peace was then cut by a lone wolf's howl that echoed  through the woods as the breeze picked up. Nichole shivered as the breeze made her skin crawl, she then continued to walk down the path. Her icy blue eyes scanned the woods around her in fright as the howl grew louder.

The path led to an old shed that her parents forbid her to go in when she was little, and still did. Nichole had always thought of the frightening things that could be in the shed, she had heard of the wolves in the town and always thought one was in her shed. She told her parents of the theory and they laughed at her, their exact words being "You're crazy sweetie, those are just rumors...".

Nichole clenched her hand in determination, she then began to walk faster towards the shed. Her heart was beating so fast that all she heard was the sound of her blood pumping in her veins, and not the sound of the wolf that was following her in the brush, it's piercing green eyes stalking her like a predator stalks its prey. Nichole stopped at the old gray shed, it chipped paint and rotting wood staring back at her. She was slowly gathering up the confidence to open the door to see what was inside, 'Should she? Should she not?'. Another howl rippled through the air, but it sounded closer than the last one. After a few minutes of debating whether or not to do it she decided 'Yes. I can do it.', her hand reached for the old rusty door handle slowly. That's when she froze in second thought, her mind racing for a sensible thought.

She then inhaled a shaky breath of cold air and opened it, flinching as it squeaked open to reveal gardening tools.  Nichole sighed in relief as she was scolding herself for being so stupid when she was a little younger. She slowly closed the door and turned to walk back home only to be met by the face of a pitch black wolf with piercing green eyes, a snarl plastered on it's face. Another howl rippled through the woods, soon to be joined by others. Her eyes widened in shock as multiple wolves emerged from the brush surrounding where she was standing, one having the familiar eyes of the Tyler's girl. Nichole put her hands up defensively in front of her face, her hands shaking with fear. "Please d-don't hurt m-me..." she stuttered out in fear, her voice squeaking.

The wolves continued to howl loudly, the moon seeming to be the only thing that was visible. The howl became like one of those songs that you get stuck in your head after listening to it in repeat. She put her hands over her ears, as her eyes closing tightly. Nichole fell to her knees as her ears began to ring loudly, her eyes meeting the ones of the green-eyed wolf that stood in front of her. She then felt a burning sensation in her arm and looked to see the symbolic three bite marks on her upper arm, her eyes widened. Nichole watched as her hands became paws, hair became fur, and her nose became a snout.

A long howl rippled through the empty woods again, soon joined by the newly dubbed Pack member.

So after that night another howl joined in the spooky song that haunted the woods of Paradise, Ohio...