As a head up, this chapter contains a heavy helping of violence, injury, and a fairly graphic description of death.
It's also a lot longer than I planned. Whoops...
Enjoy!
Magnum's lips twitched back over yellow teeth, and Alex's eyes darkened. There was nowhere to run, no place she could possibly hide. She didn't have the gun anymore. There was no heavy stick within reach. All she had was her teeth.
A low growl formed in his throat and she answered it with her own. A few pitches higher. The two of them circled slow, eyes locked on each other. It'd been so long. She wasn't sure she even remembered how. But he wasn't going to give her much choice.
Somewhere deep inside, the sick twisted scar of her had been waiting for this moment. Now that they were finally face to face, she realized that she wanted to hurt, to tear him apart. She wanted to blood down her throat. Down her back.
Her teeth itched.
She barely had time to blink before Magnum's face pushed into a snout. Mottled brown and tan fur sprouted over every inch of him. His ears pulled to the top of his head while his neck cracked up into the back of his skull. The tail came next, wiggling from the bottom of his spine as he flashed bloodied canines in a painful snarl. His feet stretched and pulled until he was standing hunched on tiptoes. Claws popped from each digit with a little trickle of red.
Where a man had stood a moment before was the most stereotypical werewolf looking dog she'd ever seen.
She had just enough time for a dry huff of a laugh before he launched at her.
Alex threw herself back in time for his teeth to crunch over a tree instead of her face. His claws raked the bark as she scrambled up. Heat poured into her veins.
She opened up and let it in.
An instant flash of pain shook every joint as the world snapped on a thousand times brighter. Louder. Magnum's anger burned like smoke in her nostrils. Her claws dug into the tree as she grit her teeth against the overwhelming itch of gray-cream fur bristling over her skin. A black tipped tail whipped behind her, pushing what was left of her jeans right off. Fur stuck out the holes of her shirt.
She growled deep, teeth flashing down at him.
Magnum took one look at her new wolf-like form and leapt higher in the tree with a click of his jaws. She jumped out over him, landing front first on four legs. Instead of clawed hands, she twisted around onto paws.
Come on! She snapped. Come get me you bastard!
Magnum spun on his heels and threw his weight at her. She ducked to the side at the last second, raking her teeth over his shoulder on the way by.
[Her heartbeat pounded against his teeth, fur prickling over his tongue. The sweet musk of her throat fur blocked the bleach from his nostrils as heat billowed into his stomach]. Pain tore through her chest. Blood seeped through the fur on her shoulder. Magnum scream-growled at the sudden twitch of injured muscle.
No. That wasn't right. That wasn't what happened.
Confusion flashed in Magnum's face. His eyes flicked to her chest.
In that moment, all hesitation boiled away in a rage. He hit her so hard he flipped her onto her back, clawed fingers digging into her chest and stomach. [Her legs buckled. Blood ran down the back of his throat. Warm. Choking. His stomach spasmed against the sensation. Drowning! But he didn't let go. He couldn't].
How was he doing this? She hadn't lost. He lost. No. Stop.
His teeth tore at the fabric of her shirt. Oh God.
She screeched, twitching her teeth into his cheek. [Her body started to jerk and twist in his jaws, mechanical spasms he recognized as dying. It built into uncontrollable vibration]. Blood ran down the side of her face, mixing with the red that dripped from him. He reared back, shaking a bit of thread from his teeth.
She snapped up at him, front feet clawing for his face. Let go!
His jaws snapped over her right wrist with an echoing CRUNCH!
An eruption of white hot pain pulsed around the inside of Alex's brain.
[He dropped her body to the cement floor and stared down into wide, lifeless eyes.
Master stood behind him, over him, like a shadow.
"Good dog."]
Alex shoved hard with three feet and threw herself to the side. His claws popped from her ribs like an electric bubble of pain. Magnum stumbled forward, nearly falling on top of her. She slipped into the open space under his stomach and scrambled away with one foot tucked into her chest. It took a fraction of a second for him to follow.
Run!
No. She'd never beat him on three legs. She had to shake him. Fast.
She ducked her head, body opening up. Her ears pressed flat against her skull as she shot over the jungle floor. The caves. She could use the caves.
She risked a glance back in time to see his now four-legged form crashing through the branches behind. Shit, shit, shit! She wasn't going to make it. His teeth snapped at the end of her tail.
Almost. Almost…
Alex hit the brakes and skidded into a ninety degree turn just at the edge of a wide crack in the rock. Twenty feet down was a ledge above the sand and green standing water.
A whistle echoed through the forest.
Magnum's head whipped around at exactly the wrong moment, his feet flipping out from under him. His eyes went wide as the earth dropped out and he went tumbling through the air. He hit the ledge with a loud thud and a yelp.
Alex slowed to a stop, hobbling a shaky step toward the cliff. Panic swelled in her chest.
Her head spun, chest heaving. What the fuck? What the fuck? It was a lie! How could he–she hadn't died. They'd fought but… and the fire. There was no fire in his mind.
Heat cracked into her brain as bleach stung her nostrils. She felt herself sinking to the ground, her lungs sucking for air. The world tilted, black globs swimming in her vision.
The dark of night settled around her, a soft breeze rustling through bare fur.
Get up, a voice growled in her head.
Uggghhh. But it hurts.
On your feet.
She pushed herself onto shaky legs. What now? Her eyes turned toward the direction of a nearby tourist camp and she limped forward.