Millennia by Raven Slake (free books to read .txt) 📕

it was logical. A virus can kill anyone faster than a bullet can sometimes. However, there was no way that a human can turn into a wolf and understand canines in both forms. Such a creature only exists in legends and fairy tales. What if I am wrong and such a creature is real? There would be more than a few problems then.

“Give me a name at least,” I commanded. Lilith and Preston shied away from me slightly. They thought my questions would get all of us killed. Maybe they were right, and we would all die from this creature.

“Millennia, he’ll kill you in a heartbeat for knowing his name.” Lilith was truly worried for me, but I did not like not knowing who was trying to kill me. Some attackers will flee if you stay calm and use their own first name. “But his name is Hamilton.”

A low growl erupted from behind me. Looks like they were right, I was going to die for asking questions, but at least I would not die without a fight, or without knowing who I was up against. Let the freak show himself once and for all. It was time that we learned what we were up against. After all, that is what makes a fight a fair one and a good one too.

“Lilith, Preston, leave. If this ends bad then it’s best if we lose only one of us.” Brave, noble, and completely stupid. The way this wolf was built was absolutely frightening. He was large, and his teeth were razor sharp, shining a pearly white color. His fur was completely a rusty shade of brown unlike a normal wolf’s. His glowing yellow eyes freaked me out just slightly, sure all wolves have yellow eyes but not ones that glow. The pupils that were set in the center of his irises were abnormally shaped. They resembled thickened reptilian slits that are not meant to be seen in a wolf. To me, he was more than likely a pathetic manmade hybrid from hell. Hamilton was simply a show of what humans could create on their free time when they were bored. Although I have to say that Hamilton was pretty menacing. Everything about him screamed that he was meant to be avoided at all costs, if only I could do that.

With a furry smirk on my face, I looked him directly in his eerie eyes. I always threw the first punch in a fight.

“Bring it on Powder Puff,” I hissed at him. Hamilton lunged in my direction in a quick frenzy. Dodging his jump, I spun around to face him once more. His face was full of anger and contentment. He really wanted me dead. Just as I was about to make my own attack, Hamilton made another jump and caught me in midair. My claws found his soft belly as I scraped away at his skin. A sharp pain started to spread from my left shoulder. His teeth had found my flesh as we fell back to the ground. Hamilton was at the bottom of the giant mess and I crashed into him, causing his teeth to dig deeper into my shoulder. The pain turned into a feeling of white hot fire as a smile built on his wolf face and a limp began to build up from the pain, which also made my bullet wound hurt even more. I could feel it throbbing in the back of my head as well as in my tail and in the starting point, my shoulder. What was wrong with this freak? And what was wrong with me?

Hamilton watched as my strength began to deteriorate. The pain became unbearable at an extreme rate, an unnatural rate. Shaking as I stood up, I once again looked him in the eye. There was something odd other than the unusual glowing color. His pupils were dilated as if he was on drugs, or he was on a high like some vampires do in stories when they receive fresh human blood. He was a true freak of nature and not even Preston and Lilith could convince me otherwise. There was no way that he was not a monster made in a secret laboratory. Either way, there was something wrong with his teeth, there had to be some form of toxin in them. He has a virus. That virus kills innocent creatures like me. (Well, innocent-ish creatures, I am not completely innocent.)

Slowly, Hamilton began to creep back into the shadows of the forest. As he left I fought back whimpers of agony, showing weakness is what gets you killed out in the wild. Then there is Zeke, he does not care if you show weakness. As long as you come out alive he is happy, unless you suffer from a fatal injury or possibly got a virus from a senile wolf because you wanted to know what his name was. All in all, if you are ever in a wolf pack, do not get too nosy with your pack mates, it can easily jump out and bite your shoulder or even get you killed.

Limping away from Lilith and Preston, I made my way to my area of the cave that the pack resided in. They followed me with their heads hung low, avoiding boasting that they were correct up to a point, knowing that I could easily die if I had gotten some form of infection from the rabid mutt. Soon enough, once we were in the secluded area of my little “room”, they began to blabber on continuously.

“You need to see Feline! You have to tell Zeke and Kaire! Millennia, are you even listening to me?” Truly, I was trying to ignore Preston the entire time but she was so loud. The girl really needs a mute button or some of the sticky stuff that humans call duct tape. “I am going to get Feline and the others after that.” Not again. Another two hours would be wasted on my wounds. Do they ever understand that I do not take kindly to medical attention? No, they do not whatsoever.

“No, you do not need to do that Preston,” I mumbled. My head was aching as well as everywhere else in my body. The cave walls were spinning and I knew that I needed to see my pack doctor, but there was always the feeling that I needed to heal on my own so that I could have a better immune system and a faster healing time. Although many have died because that was something they thought was the best as well. Even before Zeke was alpha many packs didn’t have their own doctors. When the alpha before Zeke died he stepped up from the beta position and gave an omega with a good medical history the job of being pack doctor. Although she is crazy, Feline is the best wolf doctor anyone could meet. 

“There is no way that you are going to last another second without a doctor. Millennia, you look awful,” Lilith snapped. “I’ll stay here and watch her. Preston, get Feline here and now,” she demanded. Preston just nodded and ran out of the room. Once she was gone, Lilith stared me down with determination and fear in her eyes. She was afraid that I was going to die from the bite in my shoulder. Honestly, I would not doubt her one bit if she decided that my wound was fatal. The pain and the fire were shooting through me like a startled fish in a fast flowing stream. At least death involved being numb and feeling no pain from wounds that were inflicted on the same day within hours apart. Death was sounding pretty good at the moment.

Feline took two steps into my room, looked at Lilith and ran towards me. It was rare to see me on the ground in so much pain that I could not even stand up without shaking or collapsing. The fact that a few of my senses were falling apart was a warning signal that this was a rapid moving sickness, and probably my last few moments alive. Her eyes were gleaming a strange shade of yellow, almost like Hamilton's eyes. At the floor, powder was falling off her fur. Feline's fur was falling out, leaving the thinner fur beneath exposed as a deep golden brown. 

After a brief inspection of the bite on my shoulder, Feline held a sorrow look in her eyes. Without explaining anything to me, she left to report to Lilith and Preston. Although my ears were ringing, I was able to hear what she was telling them, but I highly regret hearing any of it.

“It is completely impossible for her to survive this. This is no small illness or minor injury. Lilith, Preston, the virus that has made its way into her system is going to kill her, today. I can tell she got it within minutes from this moment, and this is strange that an unknown disease is killing one of our finest within an hour or so.” Feline glanced back at me. “I don’t want her to die. She’s the only reason I stayed here.” What? How could I possibly be the reason that Feline never permanently left us? “Zeke was going to make her the next beta.” That was going to be a major hit in the face for Zeke. Choosing a replacement for Penelope was hard enough but when your next choice dies, there is going to be suspicions and a lot of anger directed towards everyone, especially our local crazy. Feline began to walk back towards me but I shook her off. I already knew that this was fatal; I did not need to hear it again. Not to mention the fact that I really did not want to get anyone else infected. Making my decision was not easy, but it was the only way for me to go. The only issue with leaving was my brother; he would need to know that I had left. I would miss him all the way through my journey to get as far away from any life as possible.

“Tell Kaire that I love him,” I told Feline as she stopped in front of me to watch me stand up shakily. Walking out of my room and then the cave, I ensured that no one followed me. Being spotted would cause me to be followed but in the end, I would leave the cave alone with no one by my side. If this disease was contagious, then there was no way that I would allow anyone to come within twenty feet of me.

“Millennia!” I could hear Kaire’s voice even from outside the cave. Feline had quickly delivered the message only to have him run away in search of me. Zeke would want the mutt dead after losing the both of us. I would not allow him to lose Kaire just because I pushed a hybrid to his limits. Kaire did not need to die just because of me. This was all my fault. Now I was running, trying to keep a large distance from my brother and me. Before I saw it coming, unusual images were flashing through my mind as I tried to shake them off. Stumbling, I rolled against the ground in an attempt to hold my balance. It had become too much too fast. No one imagined that I would die at such a young age, but here I am, lying on the ground dying. Odie was right, I should not have been so nosy. This is the end of my life as I know it.