Beautiful Creatures Series

When Mackenzie woke, she was stiff and sore from sleeping on the floor. Judging from the light coming through the window, it was morning. She had spent the whole night on the floor. Mackenzie picked herself up and used the washroom connected to her room. She wondered if Gordon was still in the outer room. She supposed if Gordon was dangerous, he would have killed her by now, but he had not. She decided the time had come for the “Get to know you” conversation they had been avoiding. It seemed Gordon had a bigger secret than she did, and Mackenzie needed answers.

She pushed the dresser back into its rightful place, and then she unlocked the door. She stepped out into the living room to see Gordon had slept on the couch. When he heard the door, he sat up and looked at her making no attempt to come near her. Mackenzie slid along the wall keeping her distance from him. She was still nervous. He certainly looked human this morning. “You feeling better?” He asked. She nodded. “You ready to talk?” She nodded again. “You want to come to sit with me?” She shook her head, no. She did not want to get close to him; she was still seriously freaked out. “I imagine you have questions.”

“How did this happen to you?”

“Nothing happened to me. I was born a Lycanthrope.”

“I thought werewolves became werewolves because they were bitten.”

“That’s not true. That is Hollywood propaganda. You can’t turn into a Lycanthrope. You either are or aren’t.”

“How many of you are there?”

“Not many. Over the centuries, human hunters have hunted us to near extinction. There is no telling how many of us are left in this world, but here in Colorado, there is a pack of fifty men, women, and children. We are the largest pack in over four hundred years.”

“Pack?”

“Yes, pack.”

“So, your wife and daughter…?”

“Lycanthropes.”

“Your friends…?”

“Lycanthropes.”

“Your foster kids? Aurora? Charlotte? Stanton? Darrell?”

“All Lycanthropes.”

“Katelyn?”

“Well, now she is human. She’s more of an honourary pack member.”

“What are you in this pack?”

He smiled with pride. “I’m the Alpha… I’m the head of the pack.”

“What is growing inside me?”

She shrugged, looking baffled. “I wish I knew. This has literally never happened before. I didn’t even think it was possible,” he stood up and slowly walked toward her. “All I know for sure is whatever it is. It isn’t human, and it isn’t Lycanthrope. This is as baffling to me as it is to you.”

What she was carrying could very well be some type of musted monster. “I need to have an abortion.”

“No!” He rejected the idea quickly. “No doctors of any kind. If they take that baby out and see it isn’t human, you will become a prisoner and a test subject. Not to mention, it is proof of Lycanthrope's existence. Hunters will come from all over, and my pack will be exterminated. My species may be completely wiped out of existence. No, you can’t have an abortion, and you sure as hell cannot go to any doctor.”

“Well, what exactly am I supposed to do? Have the… whatever this is in the bathtub at home alone?”

“God damn it,” he growled with frustration. “The pack has a midwife. She helps the ladies birth their cubs. She can help.”

Mackenzie felt like he was not telling her something. “What is it?”

“The midwife is Melissa,” he confessed.

Mackenzie laughed. “Your wife?”

“Yeah.”

have

“Nope. She’s it.”

sure she is going to be

I thought this was possible, I would have just worn

“You lied to me.”

didn’t tell you

said you had

that was a

didn’t you tell

to kill you. We kill humans who find out about us.

she panicked, keeping

not going to kill

“Why not?”

pregnant with… something. Things are

information. “You said

her, but she proved herself by sacrificing everything to protect the pack.

I give birth, keep whatever this is, then kill me to

kill you. I like you too

what to do in this situation, I’m going to keep you around,” he smiled

said. “So… are we…

want to know that

to know where I

feel right now. I’m angry

of me now?” His tone was sad. She could see he did not want

up and smiled at her. “On the

“Oh, alright.”

think it is time for us to get to

“Agreed.”

going to take a shower,” she said, turning to go back into

like me to make

“Why?”

growing a life.

a little

***

telling what they were in store for. What he did recall from when Melissa had been pregnant, the child sucked all the strength and nourishment out of the mother. The more

eggs and fruit salad. When Mackenzie came out of the shower feeling

chair for her. “Trust me; you’re going to eat it. Lycanthrope babies require a lot of nourishment to grow. It’s going to

so good.’ She said, grabbing some sausage and taking a bite. “Am I

grow a baby bump, but besides that, if you don’t eat enough, you will

taking two

stuff?” He asked, sipping his coffee. Mackenzie grunted as she stuffed her face. “You know my biggest secret. Perhaps it’s time I know yours. You can start off by telling me what has you so unsettled lately besides the obvious,” he had noticed that she tossed and turned at night more than she usually did. He could sense something had been bothering her, but he never asked about it. He had not wanted to send her running for

put her fork down. She seemed anxious again. “Next week is the anniversary of my parents’

been expecting. He

to work afterwards. They were lawyers. They should have walked out the door right after me. I waited until I was sure they would be at the office. Then I ditched school and headed home. It was foolproof. They shouldn’t be home until after dinner. I went through the back door so the

at me, and I couldn’t look away. He got up; he was going to kill me too. I

was two weeks before they told me that the man I saw was the son of a mob boss. My parents had been causing trouble for them. So they had them killed. I saw his face. He went into hiding, and his father vowed to silence me. The FBI put me in witness

you can’t sleep