Prologue
Most adults wouldn’t want to move to a college town in a tourist area such as this. They would automatically write it off as troublesome without thinking of the benefits. To someone like me, there are many... and the man three tables over from me right now has given me a reason to stay.
I lower the bill of my hat to hide my face. To anyone casually noticing me, they would assume I’m enthralled in the latest social media has to offer… but if anyone happens to glance over my should in more than just a passing glance, they’ll realize it’s not just anyone’s profile. It belongs to the man three tables over… and boy does he share… Every detail of his life is written here, perfectly documented with pictures providing valuable information.
Though he’s in the best-known fraternity on campus he lives alone in an apartment in a gated community, no pets. Mommy and daddy foot all the bills from a state on the other side of the country where daddy is a politician and mommy is a surgeon. He comes to this same café every morning ordering something different and photographs it each time.
I casually gather my things and place a twenty on the table. He will be going for his morning jog next. He’ll run the loops three times before jogging to the beach to watch the sunrise… except this morning he will not live long enough to see the beautiful rays of dawn rise over the horizon of the turbulent ocean. I will be waiting there for him…
I can feel the corners of my lips turn up in anticipation as the pieces of my plan fall into place. I rise from the spot I’ve been sitting on the beach and approach not saying a word.
Angry eyes turn to me, but I keep my head low, my face hidden by the hat.
“You! You’re following me!” His lip turns up in a snarl. “What do you want? Are you another friend of that bitch? You here to threaten me? Ha, well it’s not going to work-” His words died off as brilliantly glowing eyes met his. He takes an involuntary step back. “What are you?”
I can’t help the amused smile that curves my lips. “Sam? Sam Rogers?”
“Yes… Who are you? What do you want?” He takes another step back, panic replacing the arrogance of only moments ago. His focus is locked on straight, pearly white teeth… razor-sharp teeth…
I begin walking toward him and he begins moving faster away. “Come on Sam, don’t make this any more difficult than it should be.”
“What more difficult?!” He’s all but babbling now as his backward steps increase in speed.
My smile widens and I know my eyes will be glowing even brighter in the predawn darkness. “Your death…”
Just as expected, he turns and runs. I chuckle as I give him a five-second head start. “It’s not fair, the girls’ you victimized were too drugged to run from you. I should have slipped something into your coffee earlier… Maybe some of the date rape drugs you’re known for using…” He stumbles as I capture his arm. I yank him around to face me. “The only question left is what all I should do with you… I am definitely hungry, so eating your heart will happen without a doubt… but how should I kill you?” I rub my chin thoughtfully.
“M-monster!” He stammers as he struggles uselessly against my grip.
“Who me? I was thinking rather the same about you… You see I only intentionally kill those like you. Those who have victimized others and are too smart or too wealthy to get properly punished… though mundane punishments are much too lax for the vile things you’ve done.” I shrug nonchalantly. “You and your friends drug and rape young women. When one of them is brave enough to turn you in, your powerful families step in and find ways to flip the roles. They twist the stories playing you out as victims instead of the ones you’ve actually hurt. No, I think it’s you who is the monster, and your turn to be an actual victim. It is a public service really.”
Before he could argue or plea for his useless life, I’d already penetrated his chest and gripped down on his rapidly beating heart. Holding his gaze, I whisper. “It’s odd how humans with no regard for others lives cling to their own with such determination… up until the very last beat of their heart.” To emphasize the word heart, I squeezed down tightly, causing a loud cry to echo through the dark silence of the early morning. “Ah, yes… scream… Like I’m sure those girls tried to do… Will you beg me to spare you? Ha, it’s too late for that…” With one swift jerk, his body is on the ground surrounded by a growing puddle of blood that stained the beautiful white sands of the beach crimson. “What a waste.” My gaze moves to his now motionless heart resting in the palm of my hand. “Well at least there’s this, I suppose. It will have to do for breakfast.”
Chapter 1
"BREAKING NEWS! Another body was found washed ashore off Cape Shores. The victim has been identified as a male student from a local University. The cause of death appears to be the same as the other victims. The student's name has not been released. There are also no other details available about any of the other deaths at this time."
The local news anchor continued stories from her list of current news headlines as Shelly turned the volume on the remote down and turned to Russ, morbid curiosity riddling her expression. "Do you think it's anyone we know?"
"Are we out of tomatoes?" Joslyn asked from the kitchen, ignoring the news report and Raven's glare.
"Man, swimming at night is getting pretty dangerous around here lately, Joslyn," Raven said sarcastically. "Maybe you should stay out of the water for a while, Joslyn!" She continued in the same mocking tone.
"I live with twin werewolves and their fairy godmother… guardian, what could be more dangerous?" Joslyn laughed as she playfully threw a cucumber chunk at her group of friends seated on the sofa in front of the TV.
Shelly laughed, "Sorry Raven, she got ya there." All traces of concern and curiosity gone.
"In other news: Expect delays with heavier than usual traffic and some detours as several large conglomerate heads will be conducting business in our area over the next several weeks..."
"Oh great!" Raven huffed with sarcasm. "Just what this area needs more traffic 'cause of those rich bastards." She flung her hands up in the air in an over-exaggerated state of annoyance.
"RAVEN!" Joslyn laughed as her best friend continued to grumble. "Just take the back roads. Anyways, you work in a bar. Wouldn't all those 'rich' people be a good thing?"
Raven wrinkled her nose as the others began laughing and agreeing with Joslyn. "You may be right about that, but it's still going to be a pain in the ass…"
"Change the channel, I hate the news," Joslyn said as she brought her finished salad into the living room to eat it. She sat down on the long sofa between the twin werewolves, in the space she normally sat.
"So, guys, what do you all want to watch?" Shelly said enthusiastically. "I can't remember the last time we were all off work at the same time!" Shelly began scrolling through the Netflix movies.
"Anything but romance!" Raven yelled from the other end of the extra-large sofa. "Did anyone make popcorn?"
"I'll make it, as long as you find something other than drama," Joslyn said as she pushed herself up using Russ's leg for balance. {I hope he didn't notice.} she thought as she glanced down at the strong thigh under her hand. She pushed herself the rest of the way up and moved quickly and made her way into the kitchen.
{Did she realize where her hand was?} Russ watched as Joslyn made a hasty retreat. {She must have realized it, otherwise, she wouldn't be in such a hurry to get away. Does this mean she took my confession seriously?} He moved to follow her into the kitchen.
Shelly clasped her brother's arm before he could leave the couch. "Russ, is there anything you don't want to see?" Shelly said, frowning in her brother's direction.
Russ shook his head to clear his thoughts before answering, "I'm not picky, whatever you guys want is fine with me.” Russ added as a second thought, "But I wouldn't mind a comedy movie or anime. Netflix has added quite a bit lately, some of it’s fairly good too." He smiled over at his sister, but his eyes wandered past her to the large bar opening into the kitchen where Jos moved around inside, her back to them.
Shelly scrolled until she found an anime that would suit all their tastes. "Will this work?" She asked.
"Works for me," Russ replied. His eyes followed Joslyn as she came back around the sofa.
"Me too," Joslyn answered setting back down, popcorn in hand, between Shelly and Russ. "Hahaha, Raven has already fallen asleep. Guess she really wanted this popcorn, huh?" Joslyn pointed out as she got comfortable on the sofa. "Want some?" Joslyn asked offering the bowl to each of the twins she sat between.
Russ bent toward her holding her gaze intensely. He made sure to graze his hand slowly over hers as he reached into the bowl. "I would love some." He purred in a low husky whisper.
"Isn't Light hot!" Shelly exclaimed as the show began.
Shelly's excited shout snapped Jos out of the trance Russ's touch and fiery royal blue eyes were invoking over her. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and closed her eyes tightly as she waited for her heart rate to return to normal. Shaking her head and putting on a fake ease she turned her attention to Shelly. "Umm… Isn't he a killer?" Joslyn asked mock horror in her voice.
Russ laughed, amusement dancing in his eyes as he scooped up another handful of popcorn. "Only you Shelly."
"Hey!" Shelly yelled back playfully. She stuck her tongue out at her brother then went back to watching the movie.
***
Russ woke up to something tickling his nose. 'Sniff, sniff.' As he began to open his eyes, the smell of Joslyn's shampoo engulfed him. {She fell asleep on my shoulder. Well, it's not the first time, but when did my body decide to wrap around hers like this.} Her head was tucked snuggly against his neck and his head was resting against her head. {She fits against me so perfectly.} Without thinking he placed a light kiss to the top of her head, letting his lips linger there a bit longer than necessary. {I love her so much. I'll make her realize her feelings for me, too. I refuse to believe she still sees me as a child.} He felt her move against his body. Confused and sleep-heavy aqua eyes met his. He smiled brightly down at her.
"Russ?" Joslyn spoke his name softly, confused by why she had just woken up in his arms. {What's going on? Last thing I remember we were watching an original series. We must have all fallen asleep because Shelly's legs are still across my lap.} As the fogginess of the sleep began to subside, Russ began lowering his head down toward her for what could only be a kiss. {Oh god, wait! What was going on with him lately? Did he think I fell asleep like this on purpose, that it was my way of accepting his confession?!}
His lips fell softly onto hers. His husky groan vibrated her lips. "I've waited for this chance since we first sat down." He whispered against her lips.
Jos's body leaned into him more on its own accord but then reality finally hit. Catching her breath, Jos pushed Shelly's leg off her lap and pushed herself up off the sofa and away from Russ. {Oh Shit!!! I guess it did look bad, I was nearly in his lap. How the hell had that happened?!} She ran into her bedroom and crashed against the bed within seconds of the door shutting behind her. Things had gotten weird since Russ and Shelly's birthday two months ago. Joslyn pulled her shorts and the long-sleeved shirt she had put on earlier off. She pushed the sheets back and crawled under the covers, letting the soft cotton cool her heated skin. As Jos replayed the strange events through her head, she began to drift back off to sleep.
Anger, hurt, and rejection colored Russ's emotions as he turned the nob for the front door. He had no sooner gotten the door open before he lost all control of his body and shifted to wolf form. He took off out the door as quickly as he could. {I must get away… FAST!}
Russ sped across the campus grounds paying little to no attention to his surroundings, even when he picked up the scent of someone who seemed to be following him. He pushed the thought of being followed away as he sped up faster. {The best part of being in wolf form is letting instinct take control over emotions…}
