It's been two weeks since Zoey was taken from her brother's home. She never expected she would be here this long. She figured her presence would somehow break the curse, and she would be on her merry way. But no, that was not the case.

Jaxson hadn't been around much since that strange incident of him kissing her neck. First the bite and now this. Zoey was starting to think he had an obsession with her neck.

She had been dying to have a conversation with him so they could talk about it. He often made it quite clear that he didn't want her here, but then he did things like that, which confused her.

Zoey was starting to think he was avoiding her. No, he was avoiding her.

Zoey picked up her fifth book that week and sat by the window. This is where she usually was. Jaxson had left her a stack of books explaining that she was to read everyone. Zoey was alright with it as it gave her something to do. She spent most time inside as she was afraid to go outside and face the people. They stared at her like an alien, piercing her with their blood eyes.

Zoey stood up from her chair as a muffled thud sounded through the door. Her eyebrows furrowed in suspicion. A sharp bang followed next, as if someone had fallen and hit against the wall.

Zoey rushed into the other room, calling out for Jaxson. She gasped and ran to him as he was hunched over, his knees on the floor. She wiped the sweat from his forehead, frantically looking over his face for what was wrong. It was a challenging task as she could not see his emotions.

Jaxson was panting hard and grunting in pain. His claws emerged and stretched into the wood floor under him.

"..Z-Zoey... I-I can't..."

He choked out. Zoey's mind went blank. She didn't know what to do or how to help him. She stood to get help, but his clawed hand reached out and grabbed her thigh.

He let out a thundering roar, gripping her thigh harder, watching her red blood flow down her leg. Zoey wailed in pain, trying to pry his claw from her leg.

"Jaxson, stop! You're hurting me."

"I can't control it." He growled, his voice sounding as if he had swallowed broken glass. Zoey gasped as she looked at his face. Bright crimson colors were glowing through his shadows.

Finally, his claws retracted. "Run, Zoey!"

She didn't need to be asked twice. She scrambled to her feet and bolted out the door.

Another ear-shattering roar came from the house.

Zoey gasped and cried as she ran faster towards the old building. Blood continued to fall out like a waterfall leaving a trail behind her.

As it was in the middle of the night, people moved frantically around, confused about what was happening. They called out to ask her what was wrong, but her heart pounded so hard that she could not hear them.

A clangorous crash sounded from the house, and Zoey looked back to see a large beast break through the door. Zoey screamed as the beast chased after her. Adrenaline pumped through her body as she pushed herself harder.

She shrieked again as the beast's growls grew closer. Its hot breath was felt on her neck before she was tackled to the ground. Zoey pushed herself close to the ground as the beast's enormous teeth snapped in her face. Hot tears rolled down her tears as she pleaded with the beast not to hurt her.

"Jaxson, please!"

The beast snapped its teeth again, warning her not to move as she tried to scurry away. Zoey snapped her eyes shut, not wanting to see the beast bite into her and rip her life away.

Suddenly the weight of the beast was lifted off of her. Zoey opened her eyes as the beast and another wrestled around on the ground. They snapped their jaws at each other, and loud snarls echoed off the houses of crimson-eyed people.

Zoey scurried away on her hands and feet. Her legs felt too numb to stand.

She felt her blood run cold as the wolf who jumped out to save her was starting to lose. Zoey let out a shriek when she watched many others shift into beasts.

They dove into action, fighting against the beast with shadows for eyes. They snarled loudly as if trying to get him to back down. Zoey noticed that none of them wanted to hurt him, but they would if he didn't stop.

Jaxson's beast fought harder and clawed one of the others in the neck. The beast whimpered and let off Jaxson, giving him a chance he had been waiting for.

Zoey wailed as he sped off towards her. She tried to climb to her feet and run, but her legs were struck with fear. She tripped over her jello legs and landed in the mud, which coated her skin and clothes. Zoey felt even more trapped.

Before the beast could reach her, more people shifted and attacked him. He now had at least ten giant beasts holding him to the ground. He growled and snapped his jaw. Drool dripped from his lips, giving the beast a more malicious look.

A woman ran to Zoey, helping her off the floor. The movement caused the beast to look at her. Zoey's eyes widened as he finally lowered his head, giving up his fight.

"Shift!"

A man roared, which Zoey recognized to be Jaxsons uncle.

Zoey watched curiously as the fur of the beast became skin. She averted her eyes as Jaxson's naked body was in place of the beast. Someone threw a blanket over him to cover him for Zoey. She looked back at his face with wide eyes. His face was a mix of guilt and confusion.

A woman grabbed lightly onto Zoey's arms pulling her attention to her. Her kind eyes helped her calm her fear slightly. "Come on, dear, let's get you cleaned up."

Zoey followed her toward one of the larger homes. She stopped and glanced back at Jaxson before entering the doors.

He looked at me as the others who didn't shift grabbed his arms, yanking him to his feet.

"I'm sorry, Zoey! I'm so sorry!"

His voice echoed off the walls as the door closed shut.

~~~~

Zoey sat on a table as the woman cleaned her wounds. Five large holes marked her skin, and it took them a while to stop bleeding.

She breathed a sharp breath as the woman scrubbed harder on her wound, trying to get the dirt out.

"What's your-r name?"

Zoey asked through grit teeth.

"Linda."

"I'm-"

"Zoey. Yes, I know. There's not a single person in this village that has not heard of you."

Zoey fidgeted, unsure of what to say. She didn't like how they all knew of her, yet she knew nothing of them.

"You've been the first of your kind so far, so you can't blame us for being noisy."

Linda chuckled while starting to wrap the bandages around Zoey's leg.

Zoey watched Linda intensely as she secured the wrapping.

"Is that normal?"

"Is what normal?"

"For you guys to lose control and attack people."

Linda shook her head. "No, it's not. But we've never had a human here before. Maybe being too close to you and your blood brought out Jaxson beast."

Zoey shook her head in disbelief.

"He's been around humans before."

~~~~

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Jaxsons uncle, Marcus, shouted at him as he shut the meeting room door.

"You are supposed to find a way to break the curse, not kill the girl. What happened, Jaxson?"

"I don't know. I was in my room grabbing something quickly when I suddenly felt an indescribable hunger. I fought my beast as he clawed to the surface, but I lost control, and he took over. Next thing I knew, I had many beasts atop of me, and I was looking into her tear-soaked face."

"How often have you been around her."

Jaxson hesitated. "Not very often."

Marcus glared sharp daggers at him. "You were ordered to spend time with her. Why aren't you talking this seriously?"

"Well, it's a good thing I hadn't! Look what I did to the poor girl."

"You avoiding her could have been exactly why your beast reacted."

Jaxson turned his head and glared at the chair in the corner. He knew that wasn't why his beast reacted.

"This week, you will spend every waking minute together."

Jaxson gasped, jumping from his chair. "Did you not see what I just did?"

"We'll keep an eye on your house, so this doesn't happen again."

Jaxson groaned, sitting back in his chair. He knew this was a bad idea. He didn't like the thought of hurting her again. The look of pain and fear on her face remained in his mind; it squeezed at his heart in guilt.

"You will show Zoey the town and have her meet the people. Get to know her."

"Okay, but don't blame me if she dies!"

Marcus glared at his nephew and pointed to the door.

"Okay, okay, I'm going."

Thanks for reading!!