The Werecats: Creatures of the Night (Book One) (Revised)

- Prologue: Eighteen Years Prior -

- Prologue: Eighteen Years Prior -

Dawn Brun

"Riley, please shh..." I muttered down at the infant in my arms as she began to whimper. I looked up at the sky to see the combination of purple, pink and orange that meant sunset was upon us.

"Josh, the sun." I point to the sky. Josh looks up and his eyes meet mine again, filled with worry. Just then, the cry of a panther ripped through the air not too far behind us.

"Hurry!" He grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. Even in a state of half human, half panther, my legs burned from how far we had been running.

Josh stopped suddenly, just before the sun dissappeared over the tree line and whispered, "When you shift, Riley and I will ride on your back." I nodded just as I felt my canine teeth sharpen in my mouth.

Josh quickly took the bundle of cloth out of my arms and I crouched onto the ground, bracing for the change.

It started in my face, as it does every night. I felt my nose and mouth contort to form a snout and short black whiskers folded out of my cheeks. The pinprick of fur growing engulfed my body and my nails sharpened into claws. As soon as it began it was all over, and I was a panther once again.

Josh, Riley in arms, mounted onto my back and the weight was large but not overbearing.

"Do you know where to go?" He asked.

I nodded my large black head and burst into a full run forward. Even with the weight of my lover and child bearing on my back, the feeling of my paws slamming into the forest floor was just as invigorating as it was the first time I ever did it. I breathed in and out at a rapid pace, each breath revealing more of the forest around us.

Suddenly I heard a shout from Josh, and cries of multiple panthers from behind. I curved to the left sharply, trying to lose them, but to no avail.

From above I heard Josh ruffling through his small bag of belongings and the sharp click of a pistol.

"I can't hold the baby's ears and fire at the same time." He informed me. A second later a shot rang through the air, making my ears ring, and one of the cries of a panther behind us died.

"There are four still after us," He said even though I could smell them, "Go right!"

I turned sharply at his last second directions and the weight of Josh and Riley made my nimble body too heavy and I crashed to the forest floor on my side. My back made contact with a thick tree and I heard a crack, a rib snapping no doubt.

"Back!" Josh yelled at the Werecats who had surrounded us.

I slowly got to my wobbling feet and searched frantically for little Riley. I caught sight of her lying underneath a nearby bush.

Please don't cry, I whispered to her in my mind though she couldn't hear me.

Josh yelled then and I whirled around to see that one of the Werecats had latched onto his arm. Despite the intense burning in my rib cage, I leaped forward and smashed my massive body into the attacker, sending him to the earth. Josh took the opportunity to fire at its exposed head.

The other three panthers crouched, ready to pounce. I knew in that moment that we were finished.

"Dawn," Josh's voice grabbed my attention, "when I say, you and the baby run. Do not look back, do not come back. Do you understand?"

I hissed in response, refusing the idea of losing my love.

The panthers pounced as I leapt into the bush to retrieve Riley. I held her in my mouth like a kitten and darted into the woods.

Human curiosity nipped at my neck then, and I turned around as I ran forward to see Josh being held down by two of the panthers, the other just about to strike.

Without thinking, I whirled around and ducked behind a small hill, out of sight. I tucked Riley into a small burrow under a tree and just as the Werecat was about to leap, I sprang from behind my hiding spot and sunk my fangs into his jugular.

Instincts had taken over at this point, and I used my weight to slam myself into one of the panthers holding Josh to the forest floor.

You are both sick traitors, one screamed into my thoughts just as I tore into his flesh.

Bang! I turned to see that Josh had gotten to his gun and had fired it at the final opponent.

"I told you to run! Do you know how dangerous that stunt was?!" Josh yelled.

If I had run, you would be dead! I screamed back though I knew he couldn't hear me. Humans and Werecats could not communicate through the mind.

Josh bowed his head and sighed, looking back up, "Thank you."

He walked forward and mounted my back again and I collected Riley.

I began running again, heart pounding and ribs throbbing. I knew that we were no longer being followed, but the chase was not over.