Snarls of fury

CHAPTER ONE

“Get away from my family, you wretched monster!” Hera’s father bellowed and, despite his thunderous voice, his hands trembled in pure terror as he stared at the terrifyingly large wolf in front of him.

One minute, Hera was chatting and laughing with her parents over dinner when a large black wolf suddenly crashed into the house, ripping the door off its hinges.

“Stay behind me.” Hera's father said as he carefully reached for a small table knife.

Hera gulped as the wolf kept advancing— like a predator toying with its prey. From the moment she laid eyes on it, she knew that this was no ordinary wolf. This was a werewolf.

Just as she thought things couldn't get any worse, two smaller wolves trotted in through the damaged door. Hera's mother let out a gasp and her father took in a sharp intake of breath. They were doomed and they all knew it.

“Honey,” Hera's father whispered to her mother, but she was too far gone to hear. Her body quivered as tears ran down her cheeks. “Hera,” He whispered. “When I give you the signal, take your mother and run.”

Hera couldn't believe her ears. Run? There was no escaping these monsters. It would only take a miracle to survive this. A trickle of sweat slithered down her face as she held onto her mother tightly. “What about you?”

He hesitated, not taking his eyes off the wolves. “I'll distract them. Make a run for it.”

Hera's eyes widened. “Are you serious? Those things will eat you alive. I'm not leaving you here!”

“I'll be fine, sweetheart. I promise. Take her and leave.”

Hera shook her head. It was a lie and she knew it. There was no way he could defend himself against three huge wolves with just a table knife. “I'm not leaving, Dad,”

Her voice quivered as tears welled up in her eyes. The intensity of the situation started to hit her. She was about to lose her parents forever. If she ran away, she might never see her father again.

“Hera—”

“No, Dad. I'm not leaving you!” At this point, the wolves were getting impatient, and their snarls echoed around the room, prickling at Hera's skin.

“Go now!” He thundered, his voice filled with fury and desperation. Hera, left with no choice, grabbed her mother and attempted to flee, but that was the biggest mistake of her life and it cost her everything.

With speed as fast as lightning, one of the smaller wolves leaped in front of her, barring them from escaping. Her eyes widened with fear as a scream escaped her mother's lips.

Hera's body trembled as the beast's cold blue eyes surveyed them before barring its razor-sharp canines. She saw it in its eyes— it was about to strike— and it did. The great beast lunged, tackling Hera in its wake.

She went down and hit her head on the table hard— the fall almost rendering her unconscious. She let out a grunt as the wolf swiped at her screaming mother with its claws.

Hera winced as the blood splattered all over her. A gasp escaped her lips as her mother's body went down with a thud. “No.” She whispered as her eyes stung with tears.

Her father let out a guttural cry and charged at the wolf in front of her, but he was stopped by the biggest wolf— possibly the leader. Hera stared in horror as the wolf sank its teeth into her father's body and devoured him. His screams of agony were something Hera would never forget.

Her stomach churned and bile rose in her throat. She was about to throw up and possibly pass out, but she couldn't, not yet. She stared down at the three predators with faux determination in her eyes as they slowly advanced toward her.

Her eyes anxiously darted around the room as she looked for a way to escape, but her plans were cut short as the leader of the wolves leaped through the air and sank its teeth deep into her side, biting a chunk of flesh off.

A foreign scream escaped her lips as her blood splurged out. The pain was unbearable, and her eyes slowly dimmed as she coughed violently, sinking to her knees. It shouldn't end like this.

Why did she have to die like this? She was still young. She had accomplished nothing yet. Why did her life have to end at the hands of these monsters? Tears slowly streaked down her face as the world faded to black.

*****

Hera’s eyes suddenly shot open and a loud scream escaped her lips. She had no idea how long she had been out for, and she blinked, trying to bring her vision into focus as the sunlight viciously invaded her eyes.

She had felt like she just had the ghastliest dream. A dream of wolves breaking into the house and killing her parents brutally. Such a horrendous dream. A pure nightmare.

She slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes and let out a groan as a searing pain traveled through her body. Her eyes slowly darted around just as an offensive smell hit her nostrils.

What in the world was that horrible smell? And where the hell was she? She took in her surroundings and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the state of the place.

The house was in so much disarray and everything had been destroyed. Slowly, her eyes widened with recognition. This was her parent's house! She let out a gasp as she recollected the previous tragic events. The wolves. It wasn't a dream after all.

She witnessed her parents getting killed. She was mauled down by the beasts. Her eyes darted around frantically, and her vision was still blurry— making it quite difficult to see. How the hell was she alive? A tiny flicker of hope lit up in her. Maybe her parents were still alive too.

“Mom? Dad?” She called, terrified that they might never be able to answer her back.

She scampered to her feet and as she did, she hit something slimy and, once again, the offensive smell hit her nostrils. She blinked furiously, trying to get a closer look at what she had hit, and she let out a shrill scream as she took in the rotting bodies in front of her.

“No- no- no.” She gasped as tears blurred her vision. Her parents were dead. She couldn't protect them. She failed them. She failed her parents.

Her mother's body was slashed with claw marks and her father's was mangled beyond recognition. Flies and maggots lingered around the bodies and the stench of death only got stronger.

Hera’s chest clenched as she let out a loud wail of sorrow. Everyone was gone. She was the only one left. She sank onto the ground without caring about the dirt and grime— crying her eyes out.

What was she supposed to do now? Where would she start from? She had no family left. Why did this happen to her? Her wails filled the room, and she cried for so long that she lost track of time.

As she sighed with exhaustion, the wheels in her head began to turn. Why were werewolves in Wardsville? Wardsville was a human town, although the town shared borders with Blood-Stone, a town filled with werewolves.

It could seem strange and maybe a little dangerous, but that was how it had been for hundreds and thousands of years. The werewolves were permanently banned from entering the human town and the humans couldn't go into werewolf territory for fear of getting killed.

So the werewolves and the humans kept to their sides of the towns for years, and it was indeed strange for Wardsville to be invaded by werewolves. Hera pondered furiously. Why was her family home targeted? Were other Wardsville residents killed too?

She surveyed her body carefully and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She clearly remembered a chunk of her body bitten off by one of the monsters, but there was no sign of an injury or a bite. She was unscathed even though her clothes were torn.

Hera let out a gasp as she examined her body more intensely. How was this possible? How was she even alive and, worst of all, uninjured? Tears pricked her eyes as she once again looked at the rotting bodies around her.

Why did her parents die and only she survived? She needed answers, and she was going to get them no matter what.