Skinwalkers Chapter 2, a sailor moon fanfic

Skinwalkers: Chapter 2
Charlyne

Uneasiness prickled over Serena's skin. She felt as though she were being watched, hunted. Shaking her head, Serena berated herself, You're being ridiculous. There's no one here but you, now lock up and go home.

Gathering her things from her desk, Serena cursed herself for agreeing to finish the report tonight. She could have told Dr. Anderson that she would have it completed by Monday. Instead, she had agreed to spend her Friday night locked inside the medical research facility studying data.

Flinging her purse over her shoulder, Serena fished her keys out of the pocket of her suit and grabbed her briefcase. At the front door, Serena paused to input the security code and make one more visual sweep of the building. The facility was silent, the doors to the labs locked tightly.

With a sigh, Serena pushed the heavy doors open, then turned and fitted her key into the lock. The night was warm, perfect for sitting out on her apartment balcony with a glass of wine. She could pick up one of those gourmet meals from Callisto on her way home and enjoy a quiet evening by herself.

A low, menacing growl alerted her to the danger she was in. Slowly turning, Serena saw the wolf, its lips pulled back in a snarl.

A wolf? No, that can't be right. It has to be a very large dog, one that resembles a wolf. Like a siberian husky, Serena thought. There are no wolves in the city.

The growling became louder as the animal advanced. Serena stood frozen next to the door, her heart pounding so rapidly she thought she would surely have a heart attack.

"Good doggy," she said softly, edging her hand toward the door. If she could get the door unlocked and get inside she would be safe. Whirling, Serena scrambled to get her key into the lock. The keys jangled loudly in her trembling hands, then slipped to land with a clang on the cement porch.

Warm breath fanned her neck before she felt hard, vicious teeth rip into her shoulder. Serena screamed and felt herself fall backward. Her head smacked the pavement, causing tiny pinpoints of light to dance in her vision. Warm liquid slid over her skin and Serena felt the animal's teeth sink deeper into her shoulder.

Suddenly, the dog released her and looked away, ears perked up as it looked toward the side of the building. Oh, God, don't let anyone else be coming, Serena prayed. She didn't want anyone else to be harmed by the bloodthirsty animal. Using the dog's apparent inattention to her advantage, Serena pushed herself to her feet with her uninjured arm and began to run. She didn't make it very far before she felt her leg ripped out from beneath her. Screaming, Serena tumbled to the ground. The animal seemed to be in a frenzy, it's attack escalating. The parking lot seemed to swim before her eyes, the lights dancing in circles, then dimming until black filled her vision.

Serena jerked awake, then moaned in pain. She felt like someone had been playing piñata with her--or like she'd been attacked by a huge monstrosity of a dog. Serena closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. Where was she? It definitely wasn't a hospital, although she felt an IV in her arm. She opened her eyes again and looked around. The room was cozy, with pale green walls and soft, gauzy curtains covering a large picture window. The bed she was on was comfortable and the furniture that she could see was well-used, the wood polished to a high shine.

Footsteps approached the room and the door slowly eased open. A brunette stuck her head into the room, then smiled brightly at Serena when she saw that her patient was awake. "I'm Lita," the woman said as she entered the room. "You really gave us a scare, we thought we'd lose you for sure."

"Where am I?" Serena asked hoarsely. Her throat felt raw.

"The village. This is my house--well, mine and my mate's. You've been here for three days," Lita replied.

Serena frowned. "What village? Why wasn't I taken to a hospital?"

"We take care of our own, especially the alpha's mate."

"That's enough, Lita."

Serena looked toward the door to see a tall man enter the room. His dark hair was disheveled as if he'd been running his hands through it for hours and he looked exhausted. Lita bowed her head to the man and left the room quickly, saying that she'd return in a few minutes with some food.

Darien sat on the chair that was next to the bed and drank in the sight of his mate. She had a white bandage wrapped around her head, her long blond hair a tangled mess. He knew that more bandages were wrapped around her waist and both of her legs. Connor had torn her apart pretty badly, but lucky for her he hadn't ripped out her throat.

Very few people lived through a skinwalker attack and those who did would become a skinwalker themselves. The virus strain in their saliva would travel through the bloodstream, replicating and growing until it began to take over the person's body. She was fortunate that she'd slept through the conversion; he'd been told by those who'd been bitten that it felt like fire burning through their veins.

There were two types of skinwalkers, those who were Born, and those who were Made. Made skinwalkers were humans that had been bitten by a skinwalker, Born skinwalkers had at least one parent who was a skinwalker and had been passed skinwalker DNA instead of human. In his case, he had been Born a lycan skinwalker.

Darien could hardly believe that he'd found his true mate. Very few skinwalkers ever found their true mate--it was so rare it was practically a myth. But scents don't lie and the moment he'd smelled that elusive, intoxicating scent he'd known that she was his. Clearing his throat, Darien introduced himself. "I'm Darien Shields."

"Serena Chander." This was getting too weird. What was going on here? "Look, Mr. Shields, I really think I ought to be in a hospital."

Darien shook his head. "They would only cause more problems. Besides, you're nearly healed."

"What are you talking about? There's no possible way that I could be healed." Her head was beginning to pound. She didn't quite feel like herself, she had the strange feeling of something crawling under her skin, trying to get out. Serena rubbed her hands over her arms.

"Serena, listen to me." Darien grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently. If she got any more agitated she could inadvertently trigger the change. "You need to calm down. You're not healed enough to change, you'll end up hurting yourself." Darien dragged his hand through his hair and sighed. There was nothing to do but come right out and say it. "Serena, the night you were attacked--"

"You mean that dog?" Serena interrupted.

"It wasn't a dog."

Serena raised one blond eyebrow in question. "It was a damn big cat."

Darien frowned at her. "This is no time to joke, mate. I'm trying to be serious. You were not attacked by a dog, you were attacked by a lycan." When all he got was a blank stare, Darien stated dryly, "Lycans are commonly known as werewolves."

"A werewolf?" Serena sighed. The man was beautiful, but disturbed. Why were all the good ones either taken, gay, or certifiable? "Right."

Growling, Darien forced himself not to shake Serena again. Most humans didn't believe in lycans, her skepticism was expected. Why couldn't Fate have gifted him with a Born skinwalker? He could already tell that Serena was going to be difficult. "Serena, he bit you. Hell, he damn near tore you apart. You were infected. You slept through the conversion--you're a lycan now."

Serena scoffed. "So the next full moon I'll get down on all fours and start howling?"

"No." Darien rubbed his hands over his eyes, a sure sign that he was getting frustrated. "That's just a myth. We can change any time we want, the moon has nothing to do with it."

"We?"

"Everyone in this village is a lycan. There are thousands of were-creatures in the world, we call ourselves skinwalkers. Being infected by the retrovirus in our saliva causes your DNA to change to that of a lycan." Darien sighed. "It's complicated."

"Darien, I work in a medical lab. I may not be a doctor, but I still know that what you're saying is impossible."

"Trust me, it's very possible." Darien frowned at her. She wasn't going to believe him until he proved it to her. Darien felt the familiar stirring deep inside, the wolf side of him coming to the fore. His body reshaped, fur sprouting over him.

Serena's eyes widened in shock and horror. Where Darien had been a moment before, a black wolf now stood. It gazed up at her with intelligent dark blue eyes--eyes the same shade as Darien's.

"Oh, God." Serena felt her head start to spin, then the world faded to black once again.

Author's Note:
Wow, thanks everyone for the great reviews! How could I not hurry with writing this chapter? I can't promise that I'll always be this quick to post a new chapter (my track record speaks for itself), but I'm going to try. I just want to note that if you e-mail me, please write in the subject the story title so that I don't delete it. If I don't respond to your e-mail for a long time it was probably deleted and I'm sorry. :-)

Anyway, let me know what you think about the chapter, as usual. Any comments, suggestions, or ideas are welcome.

07/10/2004
Unedited