One
It had finally broken.
The collar that had caused me so much pain and embarrassment had finally cracked. This device had stripped me of both my dignity and pride. It was now weak enough to pry it from my body. The enormous metal collar hugged tightly around my bruised thin neck. It was placed on me a few years ago when the vampires first took over and had become more and more narrow as I grew older. The high-tech device had many different restrictive functions and features. This thing can track my every location, it could send alerts when too far away from the pinned area, it could even send shock waves to my nervous system, which caused me great pain. This torture collar prevented me and others like me from being able to shift into our true wolf form. It was strictly forbidden for us werewolves to shift unless granted special permission by vampires of superior status. This is how they were able to have such tight control over a powerful species like me. The werewolves who were lucky enough to be granted permission were solely used for wolf fighting, guard wolves, or even just wolves used as pets for the royal family. They were considered to be the lucky ones around here, in the vampire world of course. In my eyes, they weren’t lucky at all. They may get treated better than the rest of us here, but the vampires viewed all werewolves as just mere pets or toys to play with, nothing more. I craved and desperately wanted true freedom. The freedom to shift and roam when I please. The freedom to choose a mate. The kind of freedom one could never hope to obtain as a mere pet.
The unbearable consistent beeping noise that resonated from the device had finally ceased. I grabbed the device and with great force snatched it from my neck. Bits of shards flew everywhere, some slightly scraping the surface of my skin. I got down on all fours and began pushing the metal shards under my wooden bed. I didn’t want anyone to notice right away that I was missing from my room. I stood up straight and took a deep breath. This was my one and only chance at escaping this horrible place. The only thing holding me back was fear; fear of being reprimanded again, fear of being beaten again, fear of being embarrassed again.
I closed my eyes and listened carefully. I heard absolutely nothing. There wasn’t always a guard on duty, especially during the day. During the day, vampires were weaker, they were tired, they were more vulnerable. Going against my better judgment, I quietly and quickly made my way towards the exit and out the small hovel-like building that housed me and three others all these years. I hated this place, but oddly felt attached to it too. I was forced to live here against my will and now I was afraid to leave it. It was only a matter of time now.
I quickly stripped off my clothing one piece at a time and placed them neatly on the ground. I inhaled deeply and instinctively shifted into my wolf form. It had been so long, way too long since I had last been able to shift and it felt incredible. I darted towards the dense forest that laid ahead. I could feel the wind whipping against my face as I ran. My paws dug into the dirt with every step I took. In this form, all five of my senses were heightened. My attention was so focused on the fact that I could shift again that I didn’t realize the massive beast creeping up from the side of me. Before I could react, I was tackled and knocked clear off my feet. I slammed hard into the rocky pavement, my body slightly sliding against the ground. I was in pain, but I forced myself to recover and quickly jumped back to my feet. My eyes soon met the fierce gaze of another werewolf, a guard wolf. The massive wolf had crystal clear blue eyes, slightly more white than blue and healthy dark brown fur. I could tell this werewolf was male and a big one at that. He took a step forward and let out a deafening growl. I carefully took a couple of small steps backwards, trying to gain a little distance between us. If he caught me, he was likely going to kill me or bring me back to that hell hole. I should have known it wouldn’t have been this easy getting out of this place. I suddenly bolted in the opposite direction of him, catching him off guard. He snarled and came running after me, quickly closing the gap between us. The male wolf launched at me, this time grabbing a tight hold of my neck with his teeth. Little whimper noises escaped my snout as he bit down harder. Drops of blood came rushing down my neck, staining my pure white fur. He wasn’t going to release me until I shifted back into my human form. I resisted, which only caused him to dig his sharp teeth into me deeper. I cried out, before deciding to give in and shifted back into my weaker form. I watched as he did the same. He grabbed a hold of my arm and lifted me to my feet. He jerked me forward as he led me inside a small shed. I assumed this is where he lived as it had his scent all over it. I used both my hands to try and cover my bare body as much as possible. I watched as he calmly got himself dressed. He grabbed an extra set of clothing from a bag and handed them to me. I quickly put them on and found them to be too big, but it was going to have to work for now.
“What happened to your collar?” The unnamed male asked, his stern blue eyes meeting mine. He was listening to my heart. I could tell. My species had good hearing, even in our human form. If I decided to lie, my heart would give me away.
“.... It broke...” I intentionally left out the fact that I had literally ripped it from my neck earlier.
“I’m bringing you back now...” My body immediately began to tremble. He was going to take me back. They’re going to punish me for sure. I was so scared, I felt as though I was going to pee myself.
“No! I’m not going back!” I shouted out of fear.
“You don’t have a choice...” The guard calmy stated. He grabbed my arm and started to pull me out the door.
“You’re the same as me, right? Why are you doing this?” He paused as if thinking and ran his hands through his long blonde hair.
“I’m just doing my job.” He tried pulling me out the door again, this time a bit rougher than before.
“Please! I’m begging you! Don’t take me back to that hell hole! I will do anything! I desperately screamed. My freedom was slipping away again, and I couldn’t cope with that at the moment.
“Rainer. What’s with all the commotion?” A male voice suddenly spoke out. I look in the direction of the sound and saw two men standing before me. The one that spoke had ear length black hair and menacing amber eyes. I was nervous to even make eye contact with him. The other one had white hair and crimson red eyes. I was sure they both were vampires. I could feel it. Vampires gave off an odd different kind of aura. They were both dressed in flashy attire. They were both part of the royal family, I could tell that much. This wasn’t good news at all. I had the worst luck running into two royals. Though vampires tend to be weaker during the daytime, there was no way I could take on two of them. I couldn’t even defend myself against another werewolf.
“Sir. I was only trying to return this runaway. She removed her collar and shifted without permission.” The guard wolf explained. The vampire with the golden eyes suddenly appeared right in front of me. I jerked backwards at his sudden closeness and fell onto my ass. Vampires had the ability to move at great speeds. Speeds that even I couldn’t keep up with.
“You tried to escape... You’re a clever one, aren’t you?” He asked, squatting down so that he and I were now at eye level. He reached out and touched my neck and ran his index finger along my bruises. I flinched at his cold touch. “And you manage to remove your collar.” He said as if amused by my actions. His lips curled into a wide sinister smile, exposing his sharp fangs. He examined my facial features and pushed my black matted hair behind my ear. “How about I take her off your hands.” He said, never taking his gaze off me.
