Page 12 of Primal Hunger
No, I’m going to draw this out as long as I can for both of us, until I can’t resist anymore. Until I’m panting, limbs aching from being denied what I want so badly, and I’ll enjoy every torturous second of it.
Then I’ll get to claim what’s mine.
I dive to the right, slipping off the path the girl is blazing through the woods and hunch lower, picking up speed. I keep my steps nimble and light as I race ahead, passing her by a long shot, and then curving back around. I step behind a wide treetrunk, large enough to conceal me entirely, and wait for her to catch up.
Every second that crawls by is torturous, making my mouth water more.
Her crashing footsteps through the underbrush give her away, growing louder and more careless as exhaustion slows her down.
I chuckle. Too easy.
It always is.
These humans are no match for my speed or strength, which makes these rare ventures to their planet so much more fun. They have no idea what monsters really wait for them, existing in the shadows.
They’re helpless, defenseless, and for some reason, always wandering into the woods alone. Clearly they’re not very smart either. If they were, they’d at least come prepared to fight. Instead, they practically offer themselves up to me every solstice.
I almost feel sorry for them.
Until I’m gnawing on their bones and draining the marrow from them, and then I don’t feel so bad.
The human’s footsteps grow louder as her feet struggle to find their way through the tangled underbrush, and a deep breath has her sweaty, floral scent filling my nostrils again, coating every nook and cranny of my senses. It’s all I can do to remain hidden, resisting the urge to tear after her, but I manage to keep my hiding spot and suppress the rumble of pleasure rolling in my chest.
I’m too hungry to be careless, practically starved since the last solstice. Capturing this prey will be perfect and surpassed only by how incredible she’ll taste on my tongue. My mouth waters and saliva drips, coating the patchy fur on my chest.
When she’s mere feet away, I step out from behind the tree, straight into her path, and her momentum drives her right intomy chest. With a shrill squeak, she bounces off and tumbles to the ground, landing on her backside.
So predictable.
I take a step forward, swiping my tongue along my teeth again, her scent crashing into me in a seductive cloud. It smells and feels so good.
Need to taste.
Need to devour.
She frantically crawls backward in a futile attempt to get away. When it becomes apparent she has no chance of escaping, her eyes pop open wide and she reaches for her necklace, her shaky fingers pressing at it frantically.
What is this little mortal doing?
Nothing is going to save her at this point. We’ve come too far and I’m starving. I will never let her go, no matter what tricks she attempts to pull out of her pocket. It would take a miracle for her to escape me.
She isn’t begging, either. Normally at this point, once they’ve gone down, they are frantic and pleading for me to show them mercy. There is never any to be found, though. There is something delightful in watching the hope die in their eyes before I steal their dying breath for my own.
But this one has her lips pressed into a thin line and her jaw clenched as her fingers find whatever they sought before.
What does she think will happen?
Curiosity makes me hesitate before a bright flash of light erupts from the device. It’s blinding, bathing us in white, and for a brief moment the woods disappear. There is only the light blotting out every single other thing around us.
Magic?
Colorful spots flash before my eyes, and I shake my head in an attempt to clear my vision, roaring in frustration when it takes several seconds for the sensation to fade.
I scrub the back of my hand across my eye sockets to clear them.
It isn’t pain, exactly, but the sensation is less than pleasant.
When the darkness of the woods returns to me and I’m able to see clearly, it’s just in time to see the girl’s silver hair disappearing in the distance once again, and my chest shakes with a single chuckle.
