Small Town Hero - #ONC 2024

Chapter 18

As I sped off in search of the coach, I still wasn't sure what type of monster lurked within me. Initially, when I transformed into a werewolf, slash, wolf man, whatever, I thought maybe that's what I'd become. But then my upper canines turned into vampire fangs, casting doubt on my predicament. The next day, I had the sun allergy, but later on, even that disappeared. All that seemed to remain was my strength and speed, and sharpened senses. I displayed the strengths of a werewolf and a vampire, but something within kept me from morphing into either again, at least so far. As if there was something about me that differed from everyone else. Something in my genes. Or my nature. It seemed I wasn't a monster in the dark. In fact, I was beginning to believe I wasn't a monster at all. I was something else.

A sense of purpose bloomed inside of me. I had always wanted to help people; now I had the power to do it significantly.

I didn't want to kill Lexa, but I didn't think she would have stopped otherwise. At least now she wouldn't be able to harm another human to satisfy her thirst for blood. As for the coach, he was a newly crowned alpha aiming to start a new pack. That meant he'd start looking for people to turn into werewolves the old-fashioned way by infecting them with his bite. Seeing he didn't have Lexa anymore; his high school brand of team building was no longer an option.

I clutched the silver dagger as I ran.

Overhead, the full moon, having waned a few days, shined down on the wide-open landscape, casting the area beyond the rock crusher with its bright glare. Past this area, the woods and mountains that surrounded the town grew up into a dense forest of mature pines, creating narrow, zigzagging lanes between the trees, making it difficult to hunt the coach down and bring him to justice.

But as I topped the hill, I spotted him seconds before he darted into the tree line. He hadn't changed into a werewolf yet, and I wondered if he could with Agent Smith's version of the silver dust running through his veins. It seemed Lexa had developed a stronger version, which was what put me down for the count and held me there for so long. And since Coach Steele was growing stronger with his alpha status, I expected him to put up one heck of a fight.

Within seconds, I covered the distance to the forest and slipped between the trees, having gained a lot of ground. But I slowed to a jog to see if I could pick up his scent and get a more accurate bead on him since he'd vanished among the towering shadows.

Up above, the forest canopy tangled together to block out most of the moonlight. Before long, I found myself so deep in the woods, darkness became the most distinguishable feature. I waited for my eyes to adjust and finally I could see the bark on the tree trunks, the crisscrossed branches overhead, and the pine needles on the forest floor. I stared in the direction Coach Steele had taken when he first entered the forest, but I knew he could have taken any angle once he entered the tree line. Turning my ear, I strained to hear any noises related to movement like twigs cracking under foot, or his body scraping against bark, but I heard nothing, not the slightest sound. That made me think he was lying in wait, watching me from a hidden location. He could pounce at any moment.

According to Agent Smith, the silver dart he shot Steele with would slow him down, but it wouldn't last much longer because of the coach's increasing strength and new status as an alpha.

Boots padded over pine straw. Deeper in the forest, I spotted the coach sprinting across my field of view, dashing between trees.

He disappeared.

I heard him panting, but soon he was running again. Faster this time, zipping between pines, growing stronger with each stride.

In the distance, he stopped, but now he wasn't breathing heavily.