Teen Wolf Fanfic | Theo Raeken

Chapter 10: Nine Herbs

I get in the van by myself with the street already in my GPS. At the speed I drive I make it there in three minutes, pulling onto the side of the road and getting out. I leave my possessions inside.

I scent the air like the animal I am. To my surprise, I actually smell something. The scent I catch isn't what I was hoping for.

The smell of blood is thick in the air. I follow it down the street until I reach a t-intersection. I know to go left but I hesitate, pressing up against a fence along the road. I peer around it, looking down the road.

It's like a painting.

Light is flooding down from a street light. In the cone of the light is the beast, even larger than a lion despite having the body of one. It was true, from its back sprouted the head of a goat, and its tail was a snake.

Its face was covered in blood, beneath one of its massive paws was the body of a person. I say body because this person is definitely dead. The ribs are sticking out, bare of any skin, fat or muscle. The Chimera is feasting on the carcass.

I step out onto the street with purpose. I know better than to face it as a human with fangs and claws. I drop onto all fours, shifting to a lion. I question my decision but I think I'll need the speed and flexibility. I unsheathed my claws and dragged them on the pavement, the scraping sound echoing down the street.

The Chimera lifts its massive head and our eyes lock.

I don't know if it thinks like a lion or if it has higher intelligence. Regardless, I am a threat to its kill. The growl it emits is loud and clear as it turns its body to face me.

My lips curl up to reveal my teeth. There would be no reasoning with it. It was an animal, there was no person behind this beast. This could only end in death.

I stride forward with confidence, releasing growls of my own as we both advance towards each other.

I break to a sprint and it matches my pace. As we collide we rise up onto our back paws, swiping with the front ones and twisting our heads trying to get an opening where we would be able to latch onto the other's throat.

I can't get in any way because the Chimera has a mane. The purpose of that mane was to prevent life-ending scratches or bites. I don't know how I was so stupid as to forget that.

I don't have the time to sprout a mane of my own because the teeth of a snake clamp onto my right back leg. It gives out and I fall onto my side, the Chimera landing on me. A set of claws tears across my left side and it feels like I'm about to be torn open entirely. I manage to wiggle from its grasp and scramble several feet away. It doesn't bother to run after me, instead only using a leisure pace, each paw slowly moving forward as it approached. There is no urgency anymore, for I am now merely a wounded animal.

Involuntarily my body shifts, returning to myself. My energy can't be divided between healing this large of a wound and being in a shifted form. I begin crawling away, cursing my thoughtlessness. I can feel the Chimera's breath on the back of my legs.

And then it's gone and the sounds of growls fill the air.

My nose is flooded by the scent of my own blood. I can't imagine who my savior might be considering the only person I spoke to was Stilinski.

Deep down, though, of course I know.

I rest my forehead on the pavement and breathe deeply a few times. I open my eyes and I can see blood dripping onto the pavement below me.

I don't want to see how bad the wound is. I'm also naked on the side of a residential street with two supernatural beasts fighting off to the side of me.