A Rose With Teeth and Claws

My mistake

It was a dark night when Talia finally awoke from her deep sleep by a terrifying screech. No more than 1am, she was horrified to find out what had made the dreadful noise so close to her quiet home in the outside of a small town. Deciding it best to find out what it was, how intelligent, she crept out of bed and stumbled sleepily down her hallway towards the door where she shrugged on her boots and coat. Slowly she opened her front door to the cold outside world, getting viciously attacked by harsh winds and smells.

She heard the sound again, this time eerily close but also so far away, deafeningly loud. She whipped her head in the direction of the woods behind her house. It was pitch black to the point of playing tricks on your eyes if you stared too long into the darkness. A type of advanced darkness if you will.

Painfully slow, she stepped gingerly into the tree-line, hoping to the gods that whatever it was that made that sound was long gone and that her agonizing curiosity would never be quenched, no-matter how much she wanted to know. There was suddenly a rustle in the bushes to her left. Talia cracked her neck with how fast she whipped her head to the side. Her heartrate was picking up and she was starting to have a panic attack, sudden memories flooding her mind from the scenario she had found herself in so similar to one she didn't even remember.... Until now.

He didn't know what came over him but he had the intense urge to hunt that night with his little family. He was feeling nostalgic and just wanted to spend some quality time with his dear friends. Lately he had been suffering from the memories more than ever, but he was determined to suppress them for as long as possible until the right time came for him to release all the pent-up anger, frustration and sadness. For now, he wouldn't let any of it bother him and his family or their time together.

He quickly picked up the scent of a doe and motioned for his friends to follow his lead. They obeyed easily, trailing after their alpha as he stalked through the night into the woods. Red eyes glowed in the darkness, two pairs of yellow-golden eyes following and a pair of blue not far behind. On silent feet, the pack hunted for their prey, focused solely on the scent of their food.

They spotted the lone doe, probably separated from its herd, and, as light as a feather, approached it from behind. The doe was completely unaware of the wolves that now circled her, and in a flash, they leapt at her, teeth flashing in the moonlight before disappearing into the flesh of their target as she whined out a horrible, dying scream.

Blood covered faces looked at their kill with pride. Readying to pick it up and return home to clean and prepare it, because they are cultured people and eating off the floor was completely last century, some of them came to an abrupt stop.

The female with the glowing gold eyes shuddered, narrowing her eyes and sniffing the air with a deep inhale.

"Guys, what's that?" She whispered.

All of them blanched and looked at her as they too took a sharp intake of air.

The blue-eyed male responded, "I... have no idea, Kate. It doesn't smell like anything I've smelt before."

The alpha stopped in his task, noticing now that his whole pack had frozen in their work. He glanced around curiously.

"What's going on, guys?"

The female, his beta, responded in a hushed tone, "do you not smell that? It's so strong and intense, how could you, of all people, not notice that?" She stopped for a brief moment, gauging his still confused expression, and continued, "it smells of-"

"Burning wood and honeysuckles." The alpha finished for her, red eyes widening. He sprang into action, grabbing the deer and barking out orders for all of them to get their kill and get back to the house as quickly as possible.

None of them wasted any time in picking up the deer, or covering their tracks as they raced back to their home.

No. No! That person can't be here! Why are they so close to our base? If they see us, especially me...

The alpha had a million thoughts racing through his mind per second, never stopping to dwell on one for more than a split-second before moving on to the next. He heard a light thudding coming from a very close proximity to his right, just as one of the hooves of the deer brushed the bushes. Red eyes met panicked brown and he knew, his whole life was about to change drastically because of his mistake.

He saw the petite girl gasp sharply before whispering a single word, his name, that sent pleasant shivers down his spine.

"...Andras?"

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A/N: Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'm slowly getting my motivation to write back and getting more and more ideas for what I want for this story. As always, love you guys and peace out :) ~K