A/N: Okay, I promise I'm working on Finem Pax Romana, but I've been working on this as well, and this chapter got finished first. Like I said, my werewolves are based off of the Skyrim werewolves in terms of appearance. You can Google it if you want a visual. Mmmm, there's a bit of a gore warning here, so watch yourself.
The forest flew by as an unnatural beast dodged the trees to the left and right. Prey. It could smell it, it could hear the prey's heart pounding quickly in its chest and the blood running through its veins. The beast stopped. The prey was close, the prey was here. Its nose twitched as its searched for its meal, moving cautiously around the trees.
Kill. The prey is here. Kill the Prey.
It turned his head around a tree, following its nose to find the prey.
There. The prey is there.
Its ravenous green eyes saw the cowering figure that lay quivering at the base of the tree. It could not run or flee, The beast had won. The figure was faceless and small, hardly a meal for a great predator such as this werewolf. It would have to do. The wolf's jaws opened wide in a deafening roar.
The beast lunged at the cowering form, teeth bared as it aimed to rip out the figure's throat. White teeth flashed before they sunk into the soft pale skin of the human's fragile neck, and blood sprayed into the beast's sandy colored fur as it heard the satisfying sound of bones cracking. It's claws ripped into the human's sides, cleanly tearing through the tender flesh like a knife through butter. It shook its head, mangling the body further before dropping it to the ground. It's jaws pulled away and it threw its head back in an ear-piercing howl.
Arthur jolted awake. He noticed the sun shimmering through the curtains of his small bedroom, the beams of bright light shining directly into his eyes as he tried to shut them again. The light shone through his eyelids regardless, making him sigh and accept the morning for what it was. It was the day of the full moon, and the beast blood that flowed in his veins was coming alive as his mind and body prepared itself for tonight. Arthur should be excited, he should be ready to feast on human flesh to ease his aching hunger. But something gnawed at Arthur, something unfamiliar stirred inside him as he thought of his meal. He shoved the feeling away.
Arthur hauled himself out of bed. He had planned to meet Alfred in the park again today, where they would spend the morning together like they had done every morning for the last week since they met. Despite the fact that Alfred had originally wanted to go sightseeing with the Brit, they hadn't done much of that at all. What they had done, however, was sit on the grass and talked. Well, Alfred had done most of the talking, but over the course of the week, Arthur had started to enjoy listening to this American's loud voice. It was almost a shame that it wasn't going to be around for much longer. After taking a quick shower and dressing himself in clothes that he didn't mind having ripped to shreds, he grabbed his light coat and headed out the door. He usually skipped out on breakfast, especially on this day of the month. There was only one food that he could stomach this close to the full moon. Anything else he would just throw back up.
He walked casually along the sidewalk as he neared his park. It was only a short walk away from his small home, a trek that he made most mornings anyways. However, most mornings he would have a newspaper folded under his arm and a hot cup of coffee in his hand. Today he was equipped with neither, because he knew that Alfred would be waiting for him when he arrived.
And he was right, because when he walked up to the place that they had met together every day, Alfred was waiting for him on that bench. That bench that brought the two together, and it would be that bench that was the reason Alfred would not be going home. For some reason, that thought tugged at Arthur, it had been pulling strings inside of him all week long, gradually gaining more and more traction as they pulled in opposite directions. The strings pulled him back, but the strings also pulled him forward, towards the crazy American. They were going to tear Arthur apart. Fortunately, string could be torn and cut with lashing teeth and sharp claws.
"Good morning, Alfred." The American had not seen him approach. He looked up from his phone to see Arthur sitting down with him on the bench, grinning softly. Alfred smiled.
"Hey! What's up dude!" Alfred paused for a moment. "Artie, are you okay? You're looking kinda under the weather..." Arthur wondered how that American had noticed so quickly.
"No, no, I'm quite alright." It was a lie. Arthur had been feeling aches of hunger and dizziness all week long, and the malnourishment was starting to show on Arthur. He would eat regular meats this close to the full moon, if they didn't taste so disgusting. He wanted human flesh. He wanted Alfred. The longing he felt for this human was strange, it was beyond most of the desires he felt to feed, and it was chewing him up. All Arthur wanted was this man. Alfred was his every thought, his every desire. His mouth started to water as he thought on.
"Are you sure? Because we could totally meet tomorrow, or whenever you're feeling better, you know?
No. I need you today. Today out of all days.
"I assure you, Alfred, that I am fine. Now, what would you like to do today?" The last few days they had sat and chatted, eventually getting up to take a walk around London. Arthur watched Alfred gaze up at all the beautiful buildings, laughing, having fun. Looking over at Arthur, his eyes bright blue and gleaming like the sun. Arthur felt kind of sad all of the sudden.
"Mmm I dunno," Alfred slurred. "I was thinking maybe we could just walk or something. Remember that cute little coffee shop we passed the other day?" Arthur nodded. "I want to go there!" Alfred's smile was unfaltering, and Arthur couldn't help but smile too.
"Okay, then shall we go?"
Alfred stood up and slipped his phone into his pocket. "Yeah!"
.
They stepped into the small coffee shop, it was a warm contrast to the cold air outside, and the atmosphere was pleasant and comforting. There were tables against the wall, and one corner was nothing but fluffy brown pillows and a few bean bag chairs. Alfred's eyes lit up.
"Woah, Arthur, this place totally rules. Look, they've even got that hot chocolate that you can get a picture in the foam." He was right, latte art was advertised on the menu that sat high up on the wall behind the counter. "You want anything, Artie?"
Arthur shook his head. "No thank you."
Alfred took his hand and pulled him farther into the cafe. He led the Brit over to the corner where the pillows were, and told him to sit there while he went to get some hot chocolate. Arthur had never been in a cafe like this, so he didn't quite know what to expect. He did as Alfred said and sat down on the pillows, making himself comfortable while he watched the excited American prance up to the counter and converse with the teenage girl working there. They spoke a few words before she went to work preparing his hot chocolate, no doubt Alfred was ordering the finest latte art they had. Arthur ignored the scene up at the counter and just rested his head on the pillow, looking up at the ceiling. He felt this uneasy feeling, this feeling that he couldn't shake about Alfred. Something was wrong about this boy he was preparing to kill, but when Arthur tried to dwell on that thought, the only thing he could feel was his insatiable hunger for the American.
Alfred slumped down next to him in the pillows, mindful of his hot chocolate. The American sat down much too close for comfort. Or maybe it was much too comfortable to be this close, Arthur couldn't quite tell.
"I know you said you didn't want any, but I got you some anyways." Alfred handed him a steaming cup of hot cocoa. Arthur couldn't quite believe that. He took the warm cup into his hands, looking up at Alfred with an innocent look of shock in his eyes. He got me some anyways? But why? Arthur glanced down at the art on the surface of the hot liquid. There was a wolf traced into the foam of the warm drink, beautifully done by the girl working the counter. Arthur could not believe this. He looked back into Alfred's bright blue eyes, not expecting what he saw. Alfred's eyes where the same as always, but they were so... warm, and happy, Arthur felt his heart jump out of his chest at the sight of Alfred's gently smiling face next to him.
"Thank you," he manages to eek out eventually, his mouth was dry when he looked back down at the chocolate. "Why... Why did you pick a wolf?"
Alfred shrugged. "I like wolves. And you kind of reminded me of one, so when she showed me the wolf design, I thought it would be perfect." Arthur felt all of the color drain from his face and his stomach flipped. He tried to look away from the American, but he couldn't.
"You like wolves?" His voice was barely more than a whisper as he forced the words out of his mouth.
"Well, yeah, who wouldn't? Wolves are like, totally rad. One of my favorite animals, actually!" Arthur couldn't breathe. He looked down at his hot chocolate.
"Me too."
No. Arthur. Don't get attached to your food.
He considered backing out now, but it was much too late. There was no way that Arthur was going to find a suitable meal this late, so he figured he might as well make the best of Alfred's last day. He smiled back at the American, pushing away the thought of what was to come later that night.
"Speaking of wolves, did you know that tonight is the full moon?"
Thank you for that reminder.
"Yes, I did, actually. I guess you could say I've been looking forward to it." Arthur stated, before taking a sip from his cup and praying that he could stomach it. Arthur wasn't quite sure if he meant that as much as he used to.
"Me too!" Arthur nearly laughed at the cruel irony of the situation, but kept it in.
"And why is that?"
Alfred smiled. "Okay, okay, don't think I'm weird for saying this, but, because of werewolves. I used to think they were totally scary, but now they're like, way cool."
Arthur nearly dropped his cup. "W-why do you like werewolves?"
"Well, I always thought they were really cool. Can I tell you a secret? You've got to promise not to tell anyone else, okay?" For a brief second, he thought Alfred might tell him that he was a werewolf or something of the like, but Arthur shoved that away. He knew Alfred was human, or he would have smelt the beast blood in him by now. So it had to be something else. Arthur nodded.
"Well, I've always sort of wanted a werewolf boyfriend, like the girl in the movies. How cool would that be?" Arthur stopped everything. He stopped breathing, he stopped thinking, he stopped seeing. This was too cruel. How could fate lead this innocent boy to a demise like this? Arthur always knew that life was never fair for anyone, but this seemed much too wrong.
"N-no, that doesn't sound 'cool' at all." Arthur tripped over his words. "What if werewolves aren't really like the way they are in the movies, what if they are just hungry beasts out to feed on the ones close to them? What if they walk around during the day, searching for their prey and befriending it, only to lure it to its death on the night of the full moon?" Arthur wished he could reclaim the words that he had just let loose. He knew he was treading on thin ice, but it didn't stop him from making the statement.
"Well, yeah, there's always that... But I like to think that that wouldn't be the case. But I guess I'll never know, will I."
Arthur shook his head, his eyes staring blindly down at his half-empty cup. The wolf on the surface and smudged and slurred, and was no longer recognizable. He didn't want to think anymore, he didn't want to have to deal with the confliction inside of him. He had to eat something, he had to. Going a full moon without a meal would be hell. He didn't think he could make another month without feeding. In all his years, Arthur had only skipped a meal once... that was a long, long time ago, and Arthur refused to think of the consequences he had suffered. Arthur just wanted to get this over quickly. He silently pleaded for the end of this day, when Alfred's beautiful smile would be nothing more than a memory, and Arthur could move on in his life with a nice, full stomach. He sipped his hot chocolate again, pushing the thought of devouring Alfred out of his mind, for now.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Reviews are much appreciated!
