Chapter 1
*flashback*
Sarah had a very traumatic and toxic childhood, one that she spent her life running from but one day it came after her harder and faster than ever. Her father, a gang member and notorious hitman decided that his daughter knew too much and it was her time to sleep with the fishes. Sarah had been all over the country running from him and she now found herself in a small little town in the middle of nowhere, surrounded my forests and mountains she thought she was safe, she was wrong.
It was 1 in the morning when the door to her motel room was smashed down and the face she had seen in her nightmares all these years was finally back in front of her. He looked the same but different, he had aged a lot with wrinkles and grey hair taking over his appearance, that scar on his cheek was still there though. Sarah acted quickly, she had been prepared for this if it ever happened. She grabbed her duffel bag, ran to the the attached bathroom and locked the door.
Robert, her father, knew it wouldn't take him long to smash through it but what he didn't know is that she had already thrown her bag out the window and jumped after it. Her legs sprinted her across the parking lot and into the forest, she wasn't sure it was the best place to go but her instincts pulled her there.
After running for what felt like hours she finally came to stop by a swift river. She dropped to her knees and refused to let her emotions rise or her tears fall. She bent down and cupped her hands as she picked up some cool water and splashed it over her sweaty face. She sat down and caught her breath, she was in shape, she had to be, but she hadn't run like that in a long time.
She hadn't noticed that sleep had claimed her until a close by twig snapped as did her eyes open. She shot up, holding her duffel bag over her body almost like a shield, she scanned the area. "Hello, love" it was that sickly, croaky voice from her childhood and all the hair on her body stood up and her heart stilled. "You thought you could run from me, Sarah-", "don't say my name!" She screamed back at him, he laughed, that laugh where you know they've smoked too many cigarettes in their life and their lungs are probably full of tar.
Another twig snapped but this time it stopped the laughter that was polluting the air and both Sarah and Robert's heads turned to see who was responsible for it.
There stood an enormous grey wolf. Those eyes, those glowing yellow eyes would forever be tattooed in Sarah's mind. It wasn't like any other wolf she had ever seen, it was 6ft on all fours and looked to be observing the two. "Oh bugger off you stupid animal" Robert yelled at the wolf but Sarah knew better. She started taking slow and careful steps back towards the river and was already plotting her escape. The wolf's eyes were watching the man and faster than Sarah's eyes could see the wolf was on top of her father.
She lost her balance and fell into the river screaming. She must've hit her head because her vision was beginning to fade and the last thing she saw was the head of her father, infamous serial killer and the man she had been running from her entire life, in the jaw of the beast.
When Sarah regained consciousness she was in the arms of a stranger. Her hands began working before her eyes did and she explored where she was, what she didn't realise was she was exploring a man. When realization dawned on her she abruptly opened her eyes and attempted to sit up. "Easy there" a calm deep voice soothed her. She stopped in her tracks and relaxed into the man's arms, looking up at this mystery man she was surprised to see how handsome he was. Unlike any other man she had ever laid eyes on this man looked to be the work of an angel. She didn't understand why she felt so comfortable in his arms or why all her worries and reservations had fled her mind but she just went with it.
A light chuckle left the man's lips and Sarah was enchanted, just as she was working up the courage to lift her hand to his face he placed her down on a deck chair. She looked around confused, she was sitting on the veranda of a small cabin in the woods, where was she? She thought to herself. The man sat down across from her, he was only wearing a pair of loose basketball shorts that clung to his waist and the rest of him was exposed. Sarah couldn't rip her eyes away from him.
"I'm Julien." The man reached out his hand towards the girl he had found in the river, she seemed to be in shock and Julien pulled his hand back understanding he wouldn't be getting a handshake just yet. "I'm sure you're wondering where you are. This is my home. I live here in the woods and I heard your scream." Sarah was still reeling from everything that had just unfolded and the only thing that came out of her mouth was "wolf."
Julien shifted uncomfortably in his chair, he knew that it was dangerous of him to expose his wolf like that to a human but there was something about her, plus, he really wanted to kill that putrid man. "I saw a wolf" her voice was quiet and still confused, Julien moved his chair closer to her and placed his hand on hers comfortingly, "I know" he replied and his yellow wolf eyes flashed. She gasped and as an eyebrow raised she simply said "you?"
Sarah spent the night with the man asking him endless questions and finding him absolutely fascinating. They had found themselves on Julien's bed and Sarah stroked her fingers over the rise and dip of his muscles as she continued to ask him questions. She didn't know if it was his enchanting nature or the fact that she was finally free of her father but she was spontaneous that night.
*end of flashback*
Belle was the embodiment of kindness. You could see it in the softness of her eyes, the lightness of her touch and the gleam in her smile, she was put on this earth to bring happiness. Her beauty was evident as her olive skin had freckles sprinkled over it, her untamed curls framed her face perfectly, her soft brown eyes resembled that of a doe and her ever so crooked smile was the only proof that she was in fact a human rather than an angel. Despite her appearance most of her beauty shone through from her heart, you see, you smile differently when you're actually happy.
Although all of this was the case she had a far from perfect life. She wasn't privileged and wealthy, she was raised by her single mother, Sarah, who worked hard to provide them shelter, food and clothes. She knew nothing of her father and wasn't sure she'd ever want to.
Belle was intelligent and well read, she excelled at school but stayed under the radar. Now she was graduating and she looked back at all her years of school and wondered how she had never made any real friends, sure she would smile at her classmates when their paths crossed but Belle had no real friends she could spill her secrets to or spend hours on the phone with. She guessed it had something to do with the fact she was a werewolf.
Well that's a story; Belle grew up as a normal girl, she was happy and carefree. She spent all her time travelling the world from the comfort of her window seat through the pages of books. She had friends, she would ride her bicycle to the playground and spend the whole day climbing rock walls, swinging from monkey bars and shooting hoops until the streetlights alerted her it was time to head home, she had your run of the mill childhood, until one day.
It was her 13th birthday, she was excited because she was finally going to be a teenager. Although her mother asked her if she wanted to throw a big birthday party with her schoolmates she declined, she wanted to spend the day with her mum watching movies and eating junk food. They were halfway through Eclipse, a Twilight marathon when the pain hit. One minute Belle was sitting on her floral patterned sofa, the next she was curled over in pain as she fell from her spot on the couch.
Sarah, Belle's mum reached for her in panic, asking if she was okay but all she got in return was a blood curdling scream as she watched tears rush down her daughter's face. Just as she was reaching for her phone to call an ambulance Belle's scream transformed into a deep animalistic growl and suddenly her eyes were yellow. Sarah fell backwards and remembered back to the only other time in her life that she had seen those eyes.
Sarah knew what was happening to Belle. She quickly got her on her feet and helped her downstairs into the basement. She then filled a bowl with cold water and took off most of her daughter's clothing. It was a long evening of Sarah dabbing Belle with a flannel trying to keep her cool and coaching her through her turn.
Sarah had hoped and prayed that Belle wasn't going to end up like this but here she was and she was doing a fine job of taking control of the situation. She often thought back to the night she spent with Julien and thanked her lucky stars that he was so open when speaking about his kind otherwise she wouldn't have known what to do.
When the loud sounds of breaking bones began to bounce off the brick walls of the basement Sarah knew that she had done all she could and it was now time for her to leave. She didn't want her baby girl to go through this alone but she knew that if she stayed she risked being hurt.
Sitting with her back and head against the basement door she listened to her baby scream in pain and heard her bones snap in and out of place as tears spilled down her cheeks. When everything suddenly went silent Sarah stood from her place on the floor and put her hand on the cold metal doorknob wondering if it were time to go back in.
She turned the knob and slowly opened the door trying to be as quiet as possible. She poked her head around the corner and couldn't see Belle. She descended the stairs softly and began to hear a panting sound. When she got to the bottom she found those familiar yellow eyes staring back at her from corner of the basement, oh how those eyes brought back memories.
"Belle, it's me. Are you okay?" Sarah took a single step closer to her daughter who was now a large light grey wolf. As she stepped forward the wolf stepped back, Belle didn't want her mother to come close to her, she was worried for her safety, she didn't know what she'd do to her. "Its okay, sweetie. You won't hurt me" it took some courage but Belle came out of the corner of the room and stood under the buzzing lightbulb that was screwed into the ceiling.
The sound of the lightbulb was so clear and loud in her sensitive ears and the brightness of it was assaulting her eyeballs. She had no idea what was going on and she was slightly freaking out. Her mothers hands suddenly found their way into her fur and began stroking it. It calmed Belle right down and she soon curled up into a ball on the floor as her mother sat and told her the story of her father.
