The Beast Within

I blink, my eyes struggling to adjust to the eerie moonlight filtering through the trees. My chest rises and falls heavily, like I’ve been running for miles, my lungs burning with every shallow breath. The cool night air bites at my skin, but it does little to ease the strange heat that surges beneath it. I try to take a step, but my body feels... different. Strange. Alien. Like I’m not entirely in control anymore.

My limbs feel stiff, too long, too heavy, and the ground beneath me shifts, as if it’s moving with its own will. I blink again, harder this time, trying to focus, but the world spins around me, the edges of reality blurring like smoke. A harsh sound breaks through the fog in my head, like a screeching metal, but I can’t place it. Everything is off—too fast, too sharp, too... wild. I hear Sara’s soft breathing beside me, and William’s frantic voice calling out my name, but they seem distant—faint echoes, as if they’re miles away.

And then... I feel it.

A cold, electric pulse races through my veins. It’s like the very earth is humming beneath my feet, its vibrations pulling me down, down into something I can’t control. I try to stand, but the ground feels unstable, like I’m standing on a precipice, teetering on the edge of something vast, something ancient, something I don’t understand. My vision wavers, and my heart pounds, the blood rushing in my ears, drowning out everything else.

Give me control.

The voice is back. Low, calm. Inside my head. But this time, it’s different. It’s not a plea. It’s a command.

My body stiffens at the sound, a chill racing up my spine. My fists clench involuntarily, and my breath quickens, my chest tightening. What the hell is going on?

The silver she-wolf growls. It’s a low, menacing sound, slicing through my disorientation and snapping me out of my haze. Her eyes lock onto mine, glowing in the night like twin beacons. Her lips curl back, revealing sharp teeth, and she takes a step forward, her body sleek and ready. Behind her, the rest of the pack stands motionless, silent, watching us. Waiting.

But it’s the Alpha—his golden eyes fixed on me—that freezes me in place. The intensity of his gaze cuts through the fog in my mind like a blade, and suddenly, I can’t breathe. My pulse falters, my skin prickles with cold sweat, and a shiver runs through me.

What’s happening to me?

A low rumble builds in my chest. At first, I think it’s just the pounding of my heart, but no. It’s something deeper, something primal, something older than I am. And then, I feel it—a stirring deep inside me. Something ancient, something alive, something that’s been waiting. It rises, stretching its limbs, waking from a long, forgotten sleep.

“Alex!” William shouts again, his voice shaking with fear. “Snap out of it!”

But it’s too late. The voice inside my head is louder now, almost deafening, filling every corner of my thoughts, drowning out everything else. It’s not asking anymore. It’s commanding. Demanding. It’s a force too strong to fight.

Give me control.

I feel my body tense, muscles coiling like a spring ready to snap. There’s a hunger there, gnawing at my insides, a fire that’s starting to burn me from the inside out. I glance at my hands. The skin feels... wrong. The tips of my fingers twitch, like claws itching to emerge, the sensation crawling beneath my flesh. The world around me shifts again—colors bleed into one another, sounds distort. The air smells sharper, richer, thicker. The scent of earth, of blood, of wildness fills my nostrils. I’m drowning in it.

I gasp. And that’s when I feel it—my teeth. They’re not my teeth anymore. They’re sharper, longer, jagged, and a sickening heat floods my mouth. My breath comes faster, more ragged, like I’m suffocating, but I can’t stop. My throat burns. My stomach clenches. I’m losing myself, slipping away, becoming something else. Something more.

Let me out.

My body jerks. I can’t stop it. I drop to all fours, feeling the change begin to take hold, like an unstoppable wave crashing over me. Bones shift, muscles stretch, skin pulls tight and then splits open as fur sprouts where my clothes once were. The pain is excruciating. A sharp, searing agony that shoots through my spine, as though my very bones are being torn apart and remade in an instant. I howl before I even realize I’m doing it. It’s a guttural, feral sound, one I’ve never heard leave my own throat, but somehow it feels... natural.

“No... no, no!” William’s voice cracks. “Alex, stop! Fight it!”

I try. God, I try to hold on to the last thread of control, but it’s slipping through my fingers. The voice in my head grows louder, louder still, and my body moves without my consent, as if it has a will of its own. The beast inside me claws to be free, and I am helpless against it. The shift is inevitable. I can’t stop it. The silver she-wolf is no longer the only one snarling in the night. The pack is waiting, watching, but it’s not me they’re waiting for. They’re waiting for the beast. My beast.

My skin ripples, tears, and stretches. The change is happening too fast. My fingers elongate into claws, sharp as knives, and I feel the pull of the wolf’s instincts deep inside me. It’s like trying to hold back a flood with my hands—impossible. I can taste the sharpness of the air, the sting of the night, the hunger that drives the wolf.

And then it happens.

I feel the weight of the wolf inside me—the rage, the hunger, the need to tear, to hunt, to dominate. The beast, my beast, takes its first breath, and I am no longer in control. It’s too strong, too wild. The wolf has awakened, and I’m nothing but a passenger now. My body is its vessel. The world shifts again, faster now. The ground underfoot feels solid, yet unfamiliar, like I’m seeing everything with new eyes, eyes that can see beyond the surface.

I hear a howl. Then another. It’s like the pack is calling to me, coaxing me, urging me to join them, to become one with them. Their eyes are on me—glowing, predatory, hungry. The silver she-wolf takes a step forward, her gaze challenging, daring me to prove myself. But I can’t. Not yet.

I try to focus, to hold on, to remind myself that this isn’t me. This isn’t who I am. But it’s not my voice anymore. It’s the wolf’s, and it’s louder now, demanding that I give in. I growl, the sound vibrating through the trees, shaking the earth beneath me.

The Alpha steps forward, his eyes glowing with an intensity I can’t comprehend. He doesn’t speak—he doesn’t need to. His gaze tells me everything I need to know. I’m not a threat. Not yet. Not until I can control it.

And then, finally, I hear a voice that isn’t mine. Sara’s voice. It cuts through the chaos like a lifeline, sharp and commanding.

“Alex, fight it! You can control this.”

But can I? The wolf inside me is stronger than I ever imagined. It’s hungry. It’s wild. And I don’t know how to stop it.

The moment stretches on, the tension thick in the air, the pack holding its breath. They’re waiting for me to make my move. For the beast to be unleashed. And then, like a switch being flipped, the voice in my head quiets. The beast retreats. I’m still here, still human, but I feel... different. Changed. The hunger hasn’t gone. It’s just... resting. Waiting.

The Alpha tilts his head, his golden eyes never leaving me. There’s something in that gaze—something calculating, something knowing. Then, without a word, he gives a low, approving grunt. It’s not much, but it’s enough to send a ripple of unease through me. I don’t know what that means. But I do know one thing.

I’m not just a werewolf anymore. I’m something else.