Awakening (Awakening, #1)

Chapter 8

Violet takes me outside to the back yard where there's a vast wood forest. It amazes me to no end how they all live under this roof together. The house is huge, and so is the back yard. And it's all theirs.

"So I know you're probably confused, hm?" she asks.

And in a way, maybe I am. I have a strange higher connection with everything around me. 

"Well I'll try and clear up as much as I can. This is real, I'm not making up anything I'm about to tell you." She takes a deep breath and starts. "Okay, so someone tried to Awaken you. That person only partially succeeded though, because you haven't fed off of a human. Now, your kind are extremely rare and few and far between. That's why the guys were so caught off guard by seeing you. Awakening is a long, lengthy process; so whoever did this to you did it for a reason."

I'm intently listening to what she's saying.

"But if you don't feed off of some type of blood source, you'll eventually die. You lose your memories as the Awakening gradually gets further and further along. You forget how to do basic things. But you don't need to be afraid, I'm here to help you make it through this. Even though we're very different. The guys and I are a family. We're all the same. That's probably why Elijah treats you the way he does; he doesn't take too kindly to change. He isn't always the way he's acting right now."

Then it hits me. It hits me like a semi going 100 miles an hour. "You're wolves. Werewolves."

"That we are. Our kind- you and I, we don't really coexist. But my pack isn't aligned with any others, so the risk of consequences are little to nonexistant. You're safe here. We have your back. You don't have to worry about anything."

I'll admit, I've read Twilight and seen the movies. "So that means I'm a vampire?" That sentence shouldn't even exist and yet I just said it. That seriously just happened.

"Yes. But only partially. When vamps fully Awaken, that's when shit really hits the fan. Human blood completes the transition, that's why I'm strictly keeping you on an animal diet. Can't have you going all Jack the Ripper on us. Then I'd have to kill you."

I chuckle, assuming she's joking. But when I look at the stoic, thoughful expression on her face I see she's in fact not joking and she's being completely serious.

When we finally finish walking to the mouth of the woods, Violet says "Just stay close. I know these woods like the back of my hand, but I don't need you getting lost. Your nose is probably a little more pronounced than mine, so you'll smell incoming animals before me. Let's make it a game, hm?"

I smile and nod, liking the sound of it. She explains that the rules are simply, finding a hunt first. She leans against a nearby tree and gently rubs her arm up and down it.

"You can go to the edge of the tree line, but we have to meet back here in five minutes, whether you find something or not. Follow my scent back here." she says, pointing to the tree.

I smirk and shake my head in agreement. "Alright," she says. "Ready...go!" And she bolts off straight, and I go left.

It takes about three of the five minutes to find a small deer. It reminds me too much of Bambi. I know I might be being a baby about this, but I just watch the deer nip at the green grass and think about how it has it's whole life to live. And I don't want to be the end of it. I was counting down the seconds, and my five minutes are about to be up. I turn around to run back to the tree but I meet Violet face to face. She was watching me.

She whistles an elaborate, short song and the deer trots away. She gives me a warm, sweet smile and I smile back. I thought she would have been mad at me for not going in for the kill, but she seems to understand.

"Here," she says, taking two rather large squirrels from under her belt and handing them to me. I take them, wondering if they suffered.

"I promise, it was quick. No pain," she says softly, as if she had read my mind.

This puts my mind at ease. She puts her hand on my shoulder, and we both sit down on the lush green terrain. "Go ahead," she whispers.

I put one of the animals on the ground next to me, and keep the other in my hands. I slowly bring it up to my mouth and Violet watches me intently the whole time, like she's front and center in a National Geographic video taping starring a lion and a gazelle. 

I turn the head to the side a little, and lean in slowly. It's instinctual, my fangs just pop out, and Violet doesn't jump this time. I sink my teeth into the artery right beneath the skin, and the fur doesn't bother me much.

And I drink.