Page 4 of Ice King

Then another.

While I fumed, I hadn’t realized I’d finished the glass in less than five minutes. Normally, I wouldn’t feel the effects of alcohol, but given the painkillers I’d been on, my head was already fuzzy. Before I did something I knew at some point I’d regret, maybe what I needed was a good night’s sleep.

Then I’d tackle the bullshit news sources in the morning.

I forced myself off the couch, chuckling as I passed by a perfectly good fire. At least the house was warm.

Not that a wolf needed the extra heat. Tonight, my blood was boiling.

* * *

As I stood in the darkness, allowing my eyes to adjust to the shadows forming all around me, I took a deep, long whiff of the night air. The delicious scent of prey caused the ravenous hunger to expand.

Rain had blanketed the forest, the ground wet, slickened by mud. The moisture intensified every smell, my stomach growling because of it.

The sound of stretching skin brought a smile, my heartrate increasing with every passing second. Every bone in my body screamed in agony, bending in ways they were never meant to. I dropped onto all fours, shaking violently as the transformation continued.

My jaw extended into a snarling muzzle, tearing through my own human flesh. As my canines elongated, the stench of blood filled my nostrils. As my beast emerged, drowning out every last chrysalis of humanity, a deep eagerness pooled in my cavernous stomach.

I’d never felt so famished in my life.

In only seconds, the last vestige of my humanity was stripped away, replaced by a savage joy and freedom being human had never offered.

The scents of the forest, while overwhelming, provided fuel for the hunt.

Tonight I would feast on flesh and bone.

I threw my head back, offering the forest one last cry of warning in my howl.

There was no fun if there wasn’t a decent chase.

With my head heavy, I scanned the trees, my keen eyesight catching a vision of a perfect appetizer. After pawing the ground, I crept forward, racing through the dense underbrush, nothing but a shadow. A ghost.

Invisible to most, the prince of predators.

Every few seconds, I tipped my head, breathing in the sweet stench of fear. The creature knew I was coming for him. He could run and he could hide.

But I would find him.

Miles I traveled, following my prey until the beast thought he was safe.

Then I waited, taking my time to enjoy the moment.

With a single, low-slung growl, I advanced.

The startled cry was short lived as I tossed him to the ground, standing over him with my canines bared.

Sheer ecstasy rolled through me as I drove the sharp bone into the creature’s soft flesh.

“Fuck.” I jerked up, shocked by shards of pain like broken glass ripping through every muscle. While the room was completely black, my vision of everything around me came into focus.

With my chest rising and falling, I controlled my breathing as I concentrated on grounding myself even as my thoughts remained buried in the forest.

I was on the floor, completely naked. What the hell had I done with my sweatpants? Even as the images began to fade, every muscle in my body remained tense. Very slowly I struggled to stand, my breathing still labored.

The dream had seemed so real, so… very real. With my hand shaking, I turned on the lamp by the bed, stretching while I lifted my head, staring at the ceiling. A fucking nightmare. How long had it been since I’d experienced a dream that was so real?

Or euphoric?