Spark of Chaos

Dalby Forest lay of the southern slopes of the North York Moors. 8000 acres of dense forests, open meadows and rugged valleys that created a diverse and secluded landscape.

Or at least that's what the pamphlet told me. I tossed it to one side and climbed out of the jeep, breathing in the clean, forest air.

"Lot of pine trees," Jack said, pulling off his t-shirt to reveal that well-sculpted physique once again. "Some spruce, oak, beech and birch."

Okay?

I gave him a look that suggested I had no idea what he was talking about, and he flashed a grin.

Then he pulled his pants down.

Oh gosh!

I fanned my face with one hand as I tried to look everywhere but straight at him. "Don't werewolves have any modesty?"

"Not really." He shrugged in a way that had my heart racing and laughed. "You're a city girl, right? I'm just telling you what trees you'll see."

"You think I'm going into the forest?"

It was kind'a hard to give him a querying look when he was naked but somehow, I managed.

"Sure."

I screwed up my nose and shook my head as I lifted a hand and counted off points on my fingers.

"So, let me get this straight. Go into a heavy forest with no one around for miles. With a werewolf. In full wolf form. And… what, you gonna suggest I try a little run too?"

His laughter echoed from the trees, warm and robust, full of life. Small birds fluttered from the nearby trees in response, and the undergrowth rustled as the forest life ran for it.

They were smart enough to recognise the sound of an apex predator. Even in its laughter.

"Aren't there, like, hikers and stuff you can stalk instead?"

"They're further north," he said, still grinning like a loon. "These trails are largely unused so not many hikers."

"Okay, so I'm the only potential victim around then?"

"You will be safe," he assured me, and, as I looked into those deep, brown, eyes. I actually believed him.

"Damn, I can't believe I'm gonna do this."

He cricked his neck and stretched, grunting as he pulled at tight muscles.

"I need this," he said, voice soft, almost gentle. "I can control myself enough not to harm you, but I need the chase. The hunt. You get that?"

Yeah, I kind of did. Not that it made it any easier for me to imagine doing what I was about to do. I exhaled softly and shook my head.

"Okay. Fine. But if you bite me, I'm taking you to the vet."

"Trust me," his voice said, while his grin told me something entirely different.

I had no worry about being turned by a bite, and I was pretty sure he couldn't kill me. At least not without a hell of a lot more effort than he would be willing to put into it. One of the peculiarities of my race, we were damned hard to kill.

Or so I'd been told. Not like I'd actually tested that theory.

"There's a winding stream, a couple of miles that way," Jack said, pointing east. "You reach it before I catch you and I'll buy you dinner."

I cocked an eyebrow at that and eyed him askance, a smile playing on my lips. "You sure? I have expensive tastes."

"Aye, I saw those wines you drank last night." He laughed happily. "Don't worry, I think you'll enjoy what I buy you."

"Planned it already, have you?"

Now that was interesting.

"Set off," he said, shooing me away. "Will take me a good fifteen minutes to change. That's your only head start."

I didn't need any further urging. Running a couple of miles in boots, on the flat, would have taken me more than fifteen minutes. In dense forest with no real path and uneven terrain. I was looking at an hour at least.

That gave him 45 minutes to chase me down and catch me.

Not much chance of him buying me dinner then.

My breathing was shallow, coming in gasps, a lot sooner than I'd expected. I'd left my purse in the jeep, which was something, freeing up my arms but I was no seasoned runner, and I wasn't dressed for it.

The fact was, my trim figure was more down to diet than exercise and the last time I'd run a mile had been in high school.

Thank goodness I'd never taken up smoking.

I ducked a low branch and yelped as I almost twisted my ankle on a loose rock that shifted beneath my foot as I stepped on it. I stumbled and pushed aside the branches of a pine tree and headed uphill.

Sweat ran down my face and stuck my hair to my head as I reached the top of the incline, puffing and panting. I gripped a tuft of grass and pulled myself the rest of the way and stood, breathing deep with hands on hips as I waited for my heart to stop hammering in my chest.

A howl came from somewhere in the forest, echoing through the valleys and trees. A shiver ran down my spine at the sound and I felt a faint stab of spear. Some genetic memory in the lizard part of my brain screaming that was the sound of terror.

I set up running along the crest of the hill and then down, stumbling and arms windmilling as I nearly fell. I made it to the bottom and stumbled through a bush, the thorns pulling at my jeans and nicking my hand.

Cursing, I wiped it almost angrily against my leg and pushed on into the forest. The light grew dimmer as the thick screen of branches overhead grew thicker. There was rustling in the underbrush and birds singing in the trees, oblivious or uncaring about my presence.

Then they stopped.

So did I.

Pressing myself back against a tree I sucked in a breath and held it, squeezing my eyes shut as Jack made no attempt to hide his passage through the trees and bushes.

A flash of dark fur, there and gone again in an instant, and he was past.

I blinked. Surprised.

Then took advantage of it and set off running at an angle, away from Jack but still towards the general direction of the stream.

Twice more, I heard the crashing of the big wolf moving through the underbrush, and each time I ducked behind a tree or bush and hid.

The second time, I finally had a good look at him.

He was huge and utterly striking.

 Standing in the small open space, the sunlight forming a halo around him, he had an almost overwhelming presence. Larger than any dog, but unmistakably unnatural in his proportions, he stood hunched, yet retaining a towering height.

His frame rippled with unnatural muscle. Broad shoulders and elongated limbs beneath coarse dark fur.

The face was a blend of man and wolf, with a broad lupine muzzle that hung open as he panted, revealing jagged oversized teeth. His eyes shone almost golden, lit from within by an ethereal glow. There was no hiding the human intelligence there.

Pointed ears swivelled, capturing every sound, while his powerful claws dug deep into the forest floor.

I shivered, excitement mixed with fear. He was beautiful, strong and powerful with a predatory grace.

My first instinct was to flee, but I forced it back, knowing there was no way I could outrun him. All I could do was hide and hope he couldn't smell me.

A sound off to my right had him cocking his head, ears swivelling towards the sound and then he was off, running, lithe and almost silent until he crashed through the heavy lower branches of a pine tree as though they were made of paper.

I stared, open mouthed, for a long moment before I shook myself and set off running once more.

He was the first werewolf I had seen in the real world. All of my knowledge of his race came from books that were filled with more myth than real accounts.

It was a moment I would remember for some time; I was sure.

Soon enough, the sound of running water came to me and I pumped my arms harder, breathing coming in shallow gasps as I pushed on, determined to reach the stream before Jack did.

Then I was flying across the ground. I hit the forest floor with a gasp, rolling across fallen leaves and branches as Jack bounded after me.

He darted in, nipping almost playfully at me as I rolled to my feet. He leapt back as I swung around towards him and rushed back in, warm nose touching the back of my hand before he was away, out of my reach, tongue lolling as though he was laughing.

"Dick!" I muttered, recognising the humour in those eyes.

Another playful leap, wet tongue running over my fingers before I jerked my hand back and glared at him.

He was definitely laughing at me.

"Fine," I snapped. "You win!"

Lifting his head, he trotted forward, eyes fixed on mine. I lifted my hand, holding it out to him as though he were any other kind of dog that I was encountering.

As soon as he stepped in close, I stooped and threw my arms around him, laughing as I intended to lift him and toss him on his ass.

But nothing happened.

I grunted and he turned his head, puzzled, to look back at me as I strained.

"The hell?"

He might as well have been made of iron for all the chance I had of moving him. It was the first time since I'd developed my abilities that I had found my strength lacking. I stared at him, nonplussed, and shook my head.

My strength was gone.

"What the hell is going on?"

Jack, unsurprisingly, gave no answer, though his tail wagged as he turned his head this way and that, trying to figure out what the problem was. He watched me a moment longer and then turned and trotted away into the underbrush.

I understood what he was doing and rather than try to see him in that unnatural state in-between man and monster, I pushed my way through the trees towards the stream.

There, I settled on the banking and took my shoes off before letting my feet dangle into the pure, clean, waters of the stream and I stared down at my hands.

Something had changed and I'd not even realised it.

How long had it been since my strength had left me?

I'd had it when I broke Kenny's wrist, and it had been the only reason I'd been able to dismember his body and carry it to the place I'd dumped it.

But after that. Sometime.

All had changed.

For the first time in a long while, I felt lost and very alone. My father would have been the one I'd turned to for help and he was gone. My family despised me for something I had no control over, and my only real friend in the world was a human girl who wouldn't understand.

How then could I figure out what it meant?

"Em," Jack said, stepping out from the trees.

And, he was naked again.

I rolled my eyes.

"As much as I really do enjoy seeing you without your clothes on, I think I need you to stay behind me for now," I said. "Please."

"Sorry." He chuckled softly. "Wolves don't tend to notice. I forget that others do."

"It's cool, just… not now, yeah."

"Are you okay?" he paused. "I didn't… hurt you, did I?"

The sincere concern in his voice almost broke me.

How long had it been since anyone had been that concerned about anything to do with me?

Not since my dad.

I brushed at my eyes and sniffled a little. "Something's wrong," I said. "I've lost my strength."

"That doesn't happen." Small branches crunched beneath his feet as he shifted position.

I threw my arms up and scoffed, "Clearly it bloody well does!" I turned my head, looking back at him, the anger I felt burning away any embarrassment at his nudity. "I'm a Ghoul! A bottom feeding piece of trash! The one thing I had was my strength, the ability to protect myself. Now I don't even have that!"

There was no stopping the tears that sprang to my cheeks, and I swiped at them angrily.

"Do you know how that feels? No, of course, you bloody don't because you're the big bad bloody wolf!"

He stared at me, a stupid look of bemusement on his too handsome face, and I wanted to scream at him. Unleash all of my pent-up anger and frustration of the past few months regardless of how fair that was.

Then he spoke.

"What made you think you were a Ghoul?"

And my world flipped upside down.