FENN DRAX #2
"I don’t care what Dr. Lomax wants! Let me go right now!" I shout.
"No chance, son. Get back inside!"
"I don’t want to hurt you. You’re out of your depth, gentlemen; you'd need something like a bazooka to stop me. So for your own good, get out of my way."
"You get out of ours. Move back!"
The exchange is going nowhere. I can’t argue with them any longer. Time is critical here.
I know what they’re going to do, but I also know I can take it. They fire tasers at me at the same time. My body locks up, but I was already close enough that when I fall, I drop into them, grabbing their waists, and slamming them to the ground.
For a moment I jolt from the shock, but it’s not as bad as I expected.
I recover quickly, ripping the tasers out of their hands like toys. I don’t want to hurt them, since they’re just doing their job.
What surprises me, though, is how strangely passive they are. They don’t try to protest. First they stare at me, then at each other, and then it hits me.
They aren’t wearing nose clips!
They’ve just gotten a full dose of my pheromones.
Okay… this might actually work to my advantage.
I spring to my feet and rush toward the gate to clear it in a single leap, despite it being over nine feet tall.
As I land, I hear a sharp crack of the concrete pavement below my feet.
Well, I weigh close to nine hundred pounds, so it’s no surprise it gave in.
Wait.
That's not all I hear.
Are those the sounds of wet, smacking kisses coming from beyond the gate?
Yeah. That should slow them down for a while.
I walk away from the gate toward the parking lot, glancing around for a moment, lost in chaotic scenarios.
So, yeah. I don’t have a car. Duh!
The parking lot is full, but all the vehicles are locked, and the keys are with their owners, of course.
Frustrated, I cut diagonally across the lot, heading toward the road, in hope that someone might arrive or leave, but nothing like that happens.
Behind me I hear rising shouts and calls.
Oh. Looks like they finally managed to break free from the grip of my pheromones and have gone back to doing their security job. Fortunately, they’ve given up on a physical chase.
"Drax!" the alphas shout.
They must be using some kind of megaphone, because the voice carries with a metallic, slightly echoing quality. "Come back immediately! We don’t want to call the police; this is your last warning!"
I ignore them, rushing along the road.
But after running maybe three hundred yards, I realize I won’t reach Franklin this way. I'm not a wolf shifter. My kind is built for short, insanely fast bursts. Sprinting with this much body mass would wreck me.
Damn it, what now?
I need to get at least to Rainbow Springs and find a taxi. It’s a much shorter distance, but even then I need to cover almost seven miles.
For this, I’ll have to transform.
The problem is that my shifted form can fly, but that’s not its main method of locomotion. The creature I become is built more for brief glides and powerful leaps, not long sustained flight. And my weight limits the distances I can cover, so they’re going to be fairly short and rather exhausting.
I have no choice, though. I have to reach Rainbow Springs.
So, I head deeper into the forest so nobody can see me from the road. There, I strip off my clothes, bundle them up so I can easily carry them in my shifted version, and start transforming.
It’s much easier for me to take this form when I’m emotional; sometimes it happens almost spontaneously when I’m angry, a bit like the Hulk. But because my nature is both monster and shifter, I can also transform at will, though it takes longer.
Slowly I let my body expand and grow, taking on a monstrous shape.
And anyone who thinks this is the purple alpha’s imago form would be wrong. I only look like them on the surface; that’s how I present myself to people. I sometimes pretend to be one, so they accept me a bit more. In reality, I have nothing in common with them except for my size.
Soon, I’m in my full glory. The world around me shifts as my vision sharpens, picking up every smallest movement. My predatory aspect has a hyper-focus on everything that is potential prey.
I start moving. I’m too large to land between the trees, so I move across the canopy, leaping from tree to tree.
My flights are about two hundred yards at most, then I have to drop down and recover my strength because my weight, magically increased by the transformation, is close to a ton now, and even my double pair of wings can barely support it.
It’s extremely exhausting, and I’m not used to moving my body this way. Soon, I feel my stamina fading, and the target is still at least five miles away.
I need a short break, so I slide down into a small clearing and collapse to the ground, my wide wings brushing against bushes.
That’s when my spatial vision catches movement, and the predator in me, highly sensitive, focuses on it. Hunger drives me to hunt down and devour anything living in the forest… but that wouldn't be a good idea.
I turn my head without moving my body toward the potential food source.
At the edge of the clearing stands a strange being.
It’s hard to describe. It’s completely green, with traces of something like veins in a rusty-gold color. An aura of magic surrounds it, slightly sparkly, and a strange kind of calm, like the forest itself. It looks at me hypnotically. Its green-hazel eyes seem to glow faintly, locking me in place.
Under normal circumstances, the creature I am now operates in only two modes: catch and kill in order to feed, or catch and breed.
However, right now, against my will, I feel myself starting to transform back! As if the forest being is pushing off my second nature, trying to understand it or tame it?
To my disappointment, I soon shift back into my human form.
But I’m not alone in this. The mysterious being transforms as well, and soon we’re standing face to face.
It’s a young, very beautiful alpha with dark hazel eyes and dark auburn hair.
Well, what a meeting.
But since I’m already in this highly awkward situation, I might as well get straight to the point.
I blurt out what I have to say.
"I’m trying to get to Rainbow Springs; someone I love is at the airport, and I have to beg him to stay. If you can help and show me the shortest way, I’d be very grateful."
The man studies me for a moment.
Well, for him, the situation has to be even more unusual. It’s not every day that a giant beast turns into a human and asks for directions.
But on the other hand, he's not a normal dude either. Our eyes meet for a moment, and he tilts his head slightly, as if making a decision.
Then he slowly nods and gestures for me to follow him.
It’s a bit strange that we’re both naked, so I quickly pull my bundled clothes on. He just walks away like this, but I don’t focus on his body, though an omega would probably find him almost stunningly attractive.
But for me, no one is attractive anymore except Marlow, so I just follow the guy.
We walk about one hundred yards and reach a forest road barely visible in the undergrowth.
A dark green SUV is parked there.
I stop, staring. It’s absurd: a forest creature arrived here in an off-road vehicle?
The man bends down, pulls his own bundle of clothes from under a bush, puts them on, and takes the keys from his pocket.
Then he hands them to me and points at the car.
"You’re lending it to me?"
A nod.
I look at the side of the SUV and see the words:
Santoro Timber and Construction
with a phone number and logo.
"Oh! I know who you are. Marlow told me he once met two guys who helped him with a car. He said you were looking for workers and told me to contact you, because I'm a carpenter."
The man nods again. He’s apparently not fond of speaking.
He reaches into the SUV, pulls out a business card, and hands it to me.
"This is to encourage me to call?"
A nod.
"I’ll do it if this ends well, but chances are slim." My voice trembles slightly.
For a brief moment, he studies me intently, as if trying to reach into my soul. Then he makes a gesture with both fists, thumbs up, like he’s rooting for me.
"Thanks for the help. I’ll make sure your car gets returned, even if I end up dead," I sigh. "That’s usually how it goes for most monsters. They slay us."
He smiles sadly, places a hand on where his heart is, then points to me.
Somehow I understand the gesture, and I know he feels for me and wishes me luck.
I nod. "Thanks."
In a more hopeful mood, I get in the car, start the engine, and drive off, gripping the wheel tightly and feeling my heart pounding fast.
Unexpectedly, I’ve been given a chance by Fate. In the middle of the forest, I ran into a being who turned out to be benevolent.
I can finally move. I have a chance to catch Marlow. I have to stop him, even if it’s the last thing I do. I need to look him in the eyes and tell him I love him. At least that one thing before everything collapses and I’m swallowed by the void where all damned beasts fade out.