I couldn’t sleep at all. I had the night off from work, but I wanted to just stare up at the moon and the stars. With being a werewolf, I was told to be mindful of the moon. She held power over us, keeping up at her mercy. When she was a new moon, a werewolf is powerless. On a full moon, we were at our strongest, but we had to real control over ourselves. But on the other nights, bathed under the light of the moon, we could choose if we turned or not. And unlike most of my family and my pack, I didn’t turn on those nights.

I looked out into the yard of my family’s home to see my brothers returning from their run. From the way they hung their head, I knew something was wrong. I got up from my seat on my window sill and went downstairs. My brothers were just finishing with putting on their pants. I could see the pain in their eyes.

“What happened,” I asked them, “Where’s Dad?”

“We,” my oldest brother, Michael, answered solemnly, “We were tracked down by hunters. They ambushed us and got Dad.”

“Don’t drag me into anything,” I made them promise me, “I will not be dragged into this.”

“It’s up to the prince of the pack to make that choice,” my next older brother, Kyle, replied, “You know we have to follow what he says.”

I just sighed and sulked up to my room. With our father gone, Michael was now in charge of our household. And for being twenty-four, I had the same amount of freedom as a fourteen-year-old. All because I’m not matched with anyone yet.

---

The party was raging on. There was a successful tonight. One of the wolves’ higher-ranked members was killed in the woods tonight. I wasn’t all that thrilled about it. Sure I’m a hunter, but I don’t like it. I’m trained to hunt and kill those that threaten the normal human population, but I hate it even though I’m good at it.

“Alex, lighten up a little,” my girlfriend, Lisa, said as she handed me a drink, “We managed to protect more lives with the death of another mangy dog.”

I took the drink from her, making sure to groan with resentment at how hunters talk about the people we kill. We took away someone’s father or brother tonight. I wished I was born into a different world. This one I’m in has me in a vice grip. I hate that I can’t go off on my own, start a band, and just make music. I’m forced to stay here and be a hunter, even though I’m miserable here.

---

I stood in my mirror, fixing my uniform for work. Having to work at some hole in the wall they call a bar, I had to wear barely any clothes to sell drinks. I wore a white tank top under a flannel shirt that was tied up to hold up my breasts. I got away with wearing skinny jeans and my black boots, but even with those on, I was cat-called all over the bar as I served drinks or worked the bar. I hated my job, but I was forced to work there by the prince of the pack. He’s the one that determines what the lesser wolves get to do.

I got into my car when I was ready, and headed out to work. I was not looking forward to the advance the local drunks were going to try and pull on me, but I had no choice. I just had to grin and bear through it.

Once I arrived, I went into the bar, knowing that tonight I was working the bar. I got my service well ready for all my orders, doing a check on my glasses, booze, and other ingredients I needed for my orders to last most of the night.

I looked over to the stage, noticing that a local guy that tried to play every night he could was setting up the stage for his show tonight. He was very handsome; he had short brown hair with bangs that fell over his eye, he was tall and he was fairly slim, not having a whole lot of muscle. He looked up at me, and our eyes locked.

---

I could feel eyes on me as I was tuning my guitar and going over my setlist for the night. I looked up to find a woman behind the bar. She had black hair like ebony wood, her blue eyes were noticeable from where I stood. The guy running the bar was making her dress so her breasts were on display to get men to buy more drinks. She was slender, having curves in all the right places.

But what I noticed above all was this strange connection to her. I could feel some sort of energy pulsating off her. Only the beings I was trained to kill would have a presence like hers. That’s when it clicked; she’s a werewolf.

And I felt drawn to her. She had me hooked. Even when I shouldn't.

Notes