Chapter 3 THREE

MYRA's POV.

The moment I realized I'd been bitten by a wild wolf, a cry of horror escaped my lips. I cried through the excruciating pain.

It hurt, God, it hurt so badly.

As I watched blood gush from my bleeding arm, the pain was evident in every movement of my hand, but I didn't relent.

I rolled over onto my hands and knees, tucking my hand in, and crawled as quickly as I could towards the door, my eyes focused, using the last of my adrenaline. As soon as I reached safety, I slammed the door shut.

My head pounded at the same rate as my heart, my body warmer as sweat lined my back and forehead. I mean, who was I kidding? If the wolf wanted to return and finish the job, it would have easily broken down my door and attacked me by now, so what's been stopping it?

And even though I had doubts about my safety, I never heard any struggle or barrage from my door. I was safe, and now the adrenaline had dulled. I felt the raging pain eat through my eyes.

"It hurts..." I called out, "I need my phone." My voice was dizzy, and I could feel myself slurring my words as my body slowed down; the room seemed to double, and the whirling ceiling made me feel like I was going to throw up my barely eaten dinner, as if I'd been thrown into a flaming cycle.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't crawl or reach my bedroom to grab my phone and call 911 or Nate for help; my body had become paralyzed, and I slumped to the ground, my heart racing so loudly I feared it would burst at any moment.

"Someone...help me, Mom..." I thought, dying, and it was all my fault for being so stupid and trying to help a wild beast on my own instead of calling for help, ignoring my limitations.

I decided to do it on my own, and now look at me, on the verge of death. Maybe this was goodbye.

The most agonizing punishment I could have ever received was being killed on my birthday, which was also the day I got to meet my parents, who died on the same day.

My throat had seized as my vision turned black as I felt my heart and world stop.

+++*

Am I dead?

I didn't seem to be, especially given the pain that pumped through my veins as I felt my heart restart, like bones cracking back into place.

My eyes shot open as I jolted up from the floor, finding myself alone, with the sun's rays shining in; I didn't feel good, and it was a shock. I felt extremely hot, so I rushed towards my room.

My legs felt like jelly with each heavy step as I made my way to the bathroom door, turned the doorknob, and then reached for the shower knob before tumbling into the cool tub and turning the water to ice cold; I stayed under the water until I felt my sides freezing.

I didn't care that I was shivering, because my body felt like it was pumping with eternal heat. I stayed under the water flow.

I don't know how long I stayed before I trudged out, my body still aching, and my stomach growling with hunger, as if it were burning. It felt like my stomach was closing in on itself, and I needed to eat.

Like a rabid animal, I rushed into my fridge, my blurry vision fixed on the box of caramel donuts, their sweetness exactly what I craved. I devoured the dozen baked goods, then moved on to the second layer, where I found the half-eaten chocolate cake and the chicken.

What the hell was happening to me? Why was I having such insatiable hunger? I closed my eyes, trying to recall what had happened last night. As the recurring image of a black wolf attacking me surged back up, I touched.

I turned to my arm in panic, my eyes shooting open, and wondered what the heck? There was nothing there, no bite mark, so was there blood? Had I imagined it all? Or was it my father's madness that plagued me once more?

No, I swore I saw a wolf yesterday, and that pain was all too real last night for it to be just a dream. It felt too real.

As I walked towards the backyard, I saw that the tree was still lying on the ground, and my shed was a mess with bones. There was indeed a wolf, but how did it get there? I could have sworn I was dead yesterday; I was certain my heart had stopped beating.

I had an unexplainable itch in my bones and a strong desire to do something, but I couldn't figure out what I craved, so I retreated to my small office in my childhood bedroom. I tried turning on the computer, but it was busted.

So I reached for my smartphone and used the internet and Google to research wolf bites and their symptoms, something I'd never learned about despite being a veterinarian, and it wasn't supposed to feel that way, even considering it was an attack by a wild animal, based on all the studies I've read and conducted.

I press the first icon, leading me to a website on ancient stories and creatures, as the world with the bright icon that shows 'werewolves' 'What the hell...," I mutter under my breath.

My hunger, the ache in my bones, and afternoon jitters were all the result of a wolf bite? Are these people stupid or what? It just can't be, or can it? I wondered.

I had seen a message pop up from Beth, a nurse, that read, "Myra, have you seen this?" With a blurry photo attached, and just before I could touch it to load the photo, my screen turned black.

Just my rotten luck, my phone had turned off, and when I quickly realized I had no power in my home, the tree had crushed the energy outlets, dooming me with no internet or connection, but I still needed an answer.

So I rushed toward my dress closet, reaching for a navy blue tank top and shorts before I walked out of my house with a mission. Though I was clocked in today, I needed to reach the clinic. Nate would know what to do. Yes, he can help me understand. What's going on with me?

I take my keys to my scooter and rush towards the road that leads back to the clinic, my eye still a blur that had cleared bit by bit as the wind helped me wake up.

I jumped off my scooter, hit the ground, and rushed into the clinic with an aching skull. I jerked back, slamming my hands to my ears as my senses went haywire.

I could hear the incessant and loud buzzing of the crickets as I climbed the stairs; it felt so fucking close that it drove me mad.

But I shake my head to push away my delusion as I push open the back door, an easier route in as it didn't have the bell to disturb any visitor.

But then I saw Beth, a sad look on her face as she turned off the screen of her phone. Everyone had been looking at me weirdly as she rushed to my side.

"Hey, it's not that bad, and ok, everyone has their days and temptations... You wanted that role badly... and being suspended isn't the end," Beth says to me, the middle-aged nurse and an encouraging face as she pats my arm, leaving me so confused.

"What are you talking about? Beth...let me see your phone," I ask just as she hands it to me, and my heart sinks to my stomach as the shame spreads to my face.

I was looking at the picture in my lingerie that I'd taken last night, something so intimate that I'd sent it to Nate, that asshole.

I rushed to Nate's office with my heart in my throat as I reached for the door that was left half ajar and stopped in my tracks when I heard a giggle and a moan.

"Oh, Nate, this necklace is so beautiful; you know me so well... Ngh ugh!" Tania's moan echoes. I glanced to see the pendant, identical to mine, that had a grey moonstone; hers had sapphire crystals.

"It's the same as your beautiful eyes," he called, using the same line he said to me that night, while Tania was laid on the table while his drawers pulled to his feet while he thrust into her on the desk.

"And congratulations on your promotion." He says with a cocky smirk, "Tania, you are now the junior tech. I told you that you could trust me, since the head vet is my aunt," and my heart drops.

Was a position I had worked for being given to her? After struggling in this place and receiving encouragement from Nate throughout, the position has now been taken away from me!

"I can't believe that loser Myra thought wearing that lingerie to seduce you into giving her the position would work," Tania giggled with a moan as she kissed Nate.

"Neither did I; she is too naive and greedy. Nate replied. I don't know what took over me as I raged into the office, maybe the anger and disappointment that I thought I'd finally had someone who wanted me, only to see the lying scumbag.

"You fucking asshole." I rage, making them both stiffen from their actions as Nate tumbled over in surprise from hearing my voice as he tried to tuck himself back into his pants.

"M-Myra...wait...I can explain," he calls, trying to ease me like I'm an animal...but I only see red.

"Don't touch me!" I raged, not knowing what kind of strength came over me as I pushed his chest, but just a push to his chest had Nate crashing into the shelf and books toppling over him.

while Tania watches with her hand clasped in her mouth before she begins to scream. Howls of the small dogs and potions in the clinic filled my ears, but my senses were locked on my shaky hands.

I was still in shock as I peered at my hands. Did I do that? How?! I couldn't think right;. I was still in shock as I peered at my hands. Did I do that? How?!I wondered as my hands trembled-hands that had just sent a grown man flying. What the hell was I becoming?!

I needed to get away from here so I stalked away from the office, even as I heard my name being shouted back.

I hear Nate groan but still follow me. "Myra...wait, please," he hurled after me, his eyes desperate. "I wasn't the one that sent the picture, I swear," he pleads. His words had me raging.

"I know it was you! I trusted you! Yet you made me a laughingstock to the whole clinic!" His facade dropped. "You played me, proved to me, and showed me that I mean nothing to you, and the position I wanted was given to Tania! ...you spread such an intimate part of myself I gave to you. How could you?"

"Go ahead and say it's all my fault, but you can't blame me entirely; you were giving me signals, acting flirtatiously to get my attention." He reached to touch me, and I hated his touch. As Nate fell to the floor, I raised my knee, making sure it crushed hard into his groin.

"Agh! Fuck! You bitch!" He raged, reaching for me. "Yes, you deserve that, and I quit. I'm going to open my practice and achieve great success. Goodbye, Dr. Nate."

I called, flipping him off as my parting gesture. I sprint away with drying tears from the crouching male, racing towards the woods. I felt overwhelmed with anger, furious, and I needed to release it.

Something seemed to stir beneath my skin, beckoning me deeper into the woods. As I entered a clearing, my cry burst out of my body as I slumped over.

"I hate this, I hate this," I shouted, pounding my chest. I curled up into a ball with my knees to my chest and cried. I didn't know how long I was there.

The howl of a wolf jolts me back to reality to find myself deep into the woods; when I hear the howl again, this time twice, it's close, a chill runs up my spine.

It was near. "Is it you? After I helped you, you repaid me by biting me and infecting me with a virus or sickness that's causing this strange behavior, and now I feel wrong... What did you do to me?" I found myself asking, but the only response was a growl.

My body shivered when I saw clear white orbs shine towards me. As they emerged, the moon illuminated these unfamiliar malicious eyes, which gleamed with wicked intent.

They wolves with eerie white eyes. Not just wolves-monsters. Their eyes glowed like fogged mirrors, reflecting nothing but hunger.

My legs refused to move and before I knew it, I had stumbled into their trap and found myself surrounded by four wolves, their eyes drooling with bloodlust.

And now, I was their prey.