Rille (Tribes, Book 2)

Chapter 1

Dark clouds rolled over a bright moon, casting eerie shadows under the flickering streetlight. The sidewalk, at this hour, held no pedestrians. Every intelligent human had already gone home, save for those closing the stores along the path. Those few part-timers who worked harder than the full-time workers.

The streetlight flickered again.

Just outside of the ring of yellow light, a young woman hauled two full bags of garbage from the back door of the bakery to the dumpster nearby. One at a time, she threw them up and over the dumpster's rim. Thunk. Thunk. One at a time, they echoed in the empty container.

Brielle swiped the back of her arm across her forehead. Who knew that carrying bags of trash would take so much effort?

Her phone chirped from her pocket.

Brielle paused to dig the device out and swipe a finger across the screen. "Hello?"

"Bri, where are you? It's getting late and you're not here."

Brielle sighed at the masculine voice. Not like she ever asked where Lou went every other night. He never told her, either. They may have been dating for a long time, but the common courtesy of telling her where he had gone would be nice.

"Are you out with a guy?"

"Lou." Brielle rolled her lips together. "Can you please not assume that I'm cheating just because I have to work late?"

"What else am I supposed to think? It's almost midnight and you're not home."

"I'm closing down the bakery for Melinda. I'll be home soon."

"Why is it always you who works overtime?"

Something clanked against the corner of the building. The light flickered again.

Brielle rubbed her fingers against her forehead to ease the oncoming headache. "Let's discuss it when I get home, okay? I'll leave as soon as I lock the door."

"Fine. Hurry up." Lou hung up before Brielle could come up with a snappy remark to provoke him.

Brielle pocketed her phone at the same time another thunk came from the dark part of the alley. She froze, unsure what could have made the scraping noise that followed.

Only stupid people in horror films called out to the darkness, so Brielle remained silent, only watching.

A pair of glowing yellow orbs lit up in the dark corner. A snarl sounded in the air.

Brielle had never seen any animal venture into this alley before, but she recognized a beast when she saw it. With only the orbs visible, she couldn't guess at its size. Not until those orbs moved. Up, up, up to a height that Brielle didn't even want to guess.

Step by step, Brielle backed toward the bakery's back door. If she moved slowly enough, nothing would scare the strange creature, right? The conservationalists on the TV said if you moved slowly enough, some creatures couldn't even detect the movement.

Brielle should have known better than to hope it would leave her alone.

Thwack. Thwack. Sploosh. Each footstep that the creature took brought those yellow eyes closer.

Fingers trembling, Brielle stretched a hand behind her to search for the door handle. They connected with it just as the creature pounced.

Brielle yanked the door open and scrambled through it. She never heard it close.

The creature connected with the swinging door, slamming it against the side of the building.

Brielle fumbled to her feet. This was her territory. She knew this place better than the beast. She could escape. Get to the front of the store. Get to people.

The determination to escape built in Brielle's heart, but it wasn't enough.

The beast crashed through the bakery behind her, knocking over shelves and slamming holes in walls.

A display case shattered. Something snagged Brielle's ankle. Brielle dropped face-first to the floor.

She kicked backward, her foot colliding with something behind her. Brielle scrambled forward, but only made it a few inches. Something large and claw-like pressed down on her back.

Brielle shot an elbow backward, taking her full weight with it. It only managed to remove the pressure long enough for her to roll onto her back.

Yellow eyes. Fur. Long fangs.

Those were the only things Brielle saw before it attacked. Its paw pressed her down as if to hold her still, but one of its claws stabbed her abdomen. Its fangs sank into the flesh joining her shoulder and neck.

Brielle screamed.

A shot rang out.

The creature released her.

Another shot.

The beast writhed on the floor, shrieking its own pain, scrambling away from Brielle.

But the world went tipsy. Wisps of black fog gathered at the edges of Brielle's vision. Her limbs lay heavy and lifeless and her breathing came fast and shallow.

Something clacked against the floor beside her. Brielle heaved a breath, silently begging for help from whomever had arrived.

A familiar face appeared above her. She knew him. Had met him before. He had taken her to see her best friend at the Crescent Reservation. What was his name again?

His fingers brushed her hair out of the bleeding wound and lingered in the air by her head. A curse fell from his lips.

The black fog swirled again, this time obscuring his face before it cleared again.

The shifter looked up from the wound to mutter only one word. "Sorry." 

Green enveloped his eyes. Fangs grew from his ever-widening mouth.

 The pain that came next, overlapping the wound already there, didn't hurt nearly as much. The shifter's head lingered there, his fangs pierced through both the wound and Brielle's skin. She didn't know what happened after. The black fog took her under.  

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