Pruitt
A visual of trees illuminated by moonlight faded in and out. The soft sound of a body sliding through thick grass was like a soothing melody to counteract the pulsating of a throbbing headache.
There was a familiar voice with him now, but sentences were still hard to make out.
“Pru, you with me?”
As slipped in and out of consciousness, he could finally make out that Uriah was pulling him along the side of the path they had walked on just an hour before. “And here I used to think all you football jocks exaggerated your weight to make you sound more muscular than you actually are. Christ almighty ,” the vampire panted.
turned his head to the side as Uriah dropped his right arm. He could see that he was stuck mid-transformation; werewolf claws still jutting out from his hands and patches of thick fur matting his once smooth ebony skin.
“Guess it could be the fact you’re still half wolf,” Uriah continued with several heaves and grunts. “Which, by the way, better not be some kind of permanent thing, because the whole ripped hairy body look is kind of my thing in our little love circle. You know, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Riah?” finally asked. With that, Uriah let the half-jock, half-wolf hunk drop like a wet noodle on the ground. ’s vision returned in time to see his concerned vampire lover over top of him. He felt cool hands on his face. “Are you?—”
“I’m okay, stud,” Uriah said with a smile. “I’m glad to hear your voice.”
could feel Uriah’s hands wrap around his now. “G-Griff?” he called out.
“I know I promised I’d protect him, Pru…” A pained look crossed the vampire’s face. “Uh, you see, um… He’s not here, but he’s safe.”
“Where is he?” asked, trying to pull himself up and failing. Finally, his human form fully returned.
“Some wannabe forest cop showed up and darted you and your wolf friends. Or frenemies. Whatever. He found Griff and took him to safety, and—well, Griff told me to do the same for you.”
sighed, grabbing his head as Uriah helped him sit up.
“And I know that’s a lot to process, Pru, I really do,” began Uriah. “But I think we need to figure out why this big bite on your shoulder ain’t exactly healing.”
“Huh?”
Uriah gently pressed a hand on an open flesh wound just below ’s collarbone. “Vampires can’t exactly heal werewolves. But can a werewolf bite really affect another werewolf like this?”
“I-I don’t know,” said with a low moan. “In theory, no, but I don’t run into a lot of werewolves these days.”
“Same. Avoid ‘em when I can, considering their bite is fatal to vampires, but maybe it just takes longer to heal for you.”
“That, or…” ’s head throbbed. “Like how my lycanthropy gives me a special ability, so does theirs. And maybe it has something to do with hurting other werewolves.”
Uriah and shared a concerned look.
Before could object, Uriah scooped him up into his arms. “All right then,” he said. “Feeling much lighter now that you’ve lost all your wolfy parts. Let’s get back to the cabin and get a good look before the little witch shows up.”
’s mind raced as everything around him blurred again.