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                “Aren’t you going to say anything?” Jason asked.

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Sarah didn’t respond. Her future had changed in the last few minutes and finally now she understood Jason’s reluctance for children, the disappearances at weird times of the day and night and his lack of family.

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                “Sarah I’m so sorry. When we got together I thought we were on the same page but your desire for kids - I - just didn’t realise how much you wanted them until dinner a few months ago. I can’t do it; I can’t have kids. I can’t pass on what I have to a child; it wouldn’t be right.”

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Sarah stared daggers at Jason.

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                “I’ve being dropping hints on having children for five years. I was willing to wait until you were ready, but this? I can’t believe you fucking kept this from me for so long. Did you know you didn’t want kids before we met?”

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                “I did. Things were different before, when I was younger. But when it happened I knew that any dreams of children were going to stay that way, as dreams. I know this is a shock but I am doing this for you, if we end it now you can find someone who can give you what you want.”

​

                “Get the fuck out. I don’t want to hear any excuses. You’ve ruined me, you piece of shit. You’ve made the last few months of my life a misery by avoiding any discussion about kids and now you drop this news on me? Just fuck off. I want you gone, gone from the house and gone from my life. Just go.”

 

                Jason stood up from the couch and stared at the woman who had shared the last decade of his life. The woman he loved more than anything else in the world. He knew the best thing for her was for him to give her up, so he did.

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                Sarah heard the door close behind him as he left and she got up and looked out the window as he got into his ute and started the engine. She slammed her hand against the wall next to the window over and over again. She had loved him so much but in an instant that had turned to loathing. Working at the diner to make ends meet, suffering the groping hands of truckers as she brought them their huge plates of burgers and chips. All she had sacrificed and waited for. For him. Just as Jason started to put the car in gear she spun and ran to the garage. She knew where he was going.

​

“It’s been too long” he used to say, “I have to run.”

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                She wrenched the door open and ran into the dark garage and grabbed the rifle from its mounting on the wall and ammunition from the shelf underneath and then raced back to the lounge. Throwing the rifle and bullets onto the couch she quickly put on her hiking boots, grabbed a jacket and the gun and headed out to the car.

 

****

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                It had been five weeks since the last change and Jason had felt the energy build up inside him, slowly reaching a peak that felt like it was about to burst out through his skin. It flowed through his body, his blood and muscles screaming to let his inner self free, demanding release. Jason always likened the sensation of an itch that covered his entire body, an itch that no amount of scratching could satisfy. It took strong focus to resist the change and after breaking Sarah’s heart, his emotions were playing havoc with his mind and he knew he couldn’t put it off any longer.  After leaving the house, Jason had driven his four-wheel drive ute down the old fire trail, deeper and deeper into the woods. Deeper than he would normally go, away from any unwanted company. Jason felt most at peace when he was alone and he needed that feeling now.

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                The rain brought with it some of Jason’s greatest pleasures.  The smell of damp earth ranged through the forest and there was a misty fog that hung on the air, snaking its way around the trunks of the trees. As soon as he had closed the car door he took a deep breath, immersing himself in the scents of the forest, but on this occasion it gave him little joy. The moist pine needles and the smell of the soil dominated the scents on the air and Jason’s inner self again asserted its demands for release, anticipating play among the trees. Jason, suppressed the urge and need to change, preferring to take the time to survey the clearing and make sure he was by himself. He ran his hand through his short, light brown hair and down over his chin. He’d forgotten to shave this morning and the shadows of whiskers were already obvious across his neck and cheeks. He stepped off the fire trail and made his way in amongst the towering trees, into the shadows that danced together. Twenty meters in he began to take off his clothes.

 

****

 

                Sarah’s car screeched to a halt as she pulled up behind Jason’s ute. She knew he was heading here thanks to an app that told her where Jason’s phone was; it hadn’t been hard to track him down. Her resolve had wavered on the drive. Her body sagged in the seat as her hands restlessly rubbed the steering wheel back and forth. Seeing his ute and knowing what he was doing out here though turned her heart to stone. This could be her ticket. Out of this life, out of this town and out of this failed relationship. She knew she could make some money here, enough to leave and start again somewhere new. The corpse of a werewolf was a highly prized commodity on the black market and Sarah knew that one of her regular’s at the diner would be able to put her in touch with someone who would want to buy this one. Opening the door quietly, she reach across for the rifle and eased out of the car. She loaded a bullet into the chamber and finally ready, made her way into the forest.

 

****

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                When he was naked, Jason sat on the damp soil, closed his eyes and willed the change to begin. It was never pleasant, to experience or to watch. His skin started to darken and split as his breath became short and sharp. Knowing that hyper ventilating during the change made it more painful, Jason struggled to maintain a steady slow and deep breath. In an instant the most agonising part of the change hit him and he was rocked onto his hands and knees as his skin started to split along his spine, the fur starting to show through the split skin, though no blood followed.  It was as if something was escaping from inside his body.  Jason controlled the urge to cry out in pain as his jaw dislocated and his scalp split and then in one final wrenching moment, the being that was the human form of Jason Kirwan, fell onto its side and the form of a large wolf emerged. His human shape and skin began to shrink and invert into the wolf’s belly and then, slowly, the skin over the wolf’s stomach began to close. The human had disappeared inside the beast and with it went all the human remorse regarding Sarah that Jason had agonised over. These were not the worries of a wolf.

 

                The wolf lay on his side, panting, breaths coming in sudden gulps and then he opened its eyes. Although subtly different, the eyes still carried some vestiges of Jason. Hesitantly he raised himself onto all fours, shook his fur and shook off the last remnants of humanity.  Jason was a large man at six foot one, weighing ninety kilograms and the change to wolf form left him with the same weight, making him twice the size of a normal wolf.  His fur was an ash brown colour along his back, lightening in shade as it streaked down his legs.  Satisfied he was alone and flexing his muzzle into the wolf equivalent of a grin, he raced off into the forest. This was when Jason felt most free, the wind whipping against his fur and the feel of the moist earth underneath his paws, giving a sense of belonging.  He continued to run, darting in between trees, his claws scratching at the ground for grip, and using his strong legs to leap over gullies.  While human, Jason spent most of his time within the urban landscape.  He walked on cement paths, tarred roads and carpeted floors and they felt alien; these materials were in opposition to his nature.  Even the city parks felt confined and false to his senses.  Here in the forest though, he was in tune with the heartbeat of the earth. 

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                Dashing along the edge of a creek, a familiar scent struck Jason’s wolf nostrils, rabbit. He moved cautiously in the direction the scent was blowing, careful to remain downwind of the animal as long as possible. He saw a small white rabbit munching on some of the undergrowth and knew that he had found lunch. Keeping his body as low to the ground as possible, he inched toward the rabbit whose eyes darted around, constantly on the lookout whilst it ate. It was not the surprise victim Jason had hoped for and catching movement out of the corner of its eye, the rabbit realised its danger and ran.  The chase was on. The rabbit’s short legs gave it speed, its legs moving so fast they seemed to blur.  The bunny had speed, but the wolf had stamina and Jason soon overtook the fleeing creature, clamping his strong jaws over the rabbit’s neck, raising the rabbit into the air as he slowed to a stop.  He shook his mouth quickly breaking the rabbit’s neck in an instant and sat down to feed.

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                The wolf’s jaws were tensed and ready to tear into the rabbit’s skin when a familiar scent wafted across the forest. Jarring him from the meal he leapt to his feet and jumped away into the undergrowth, just in time.  A bullet ricocheted off the ground where he had been lying just a second before.  Jason was off and running, his natural wolf instinct keeping him alive.  Changing direction as often as possible to put off the aim of the shooter, he ran towards the safety of the deeper forest. As he neared the relative safety of a thicket he quickly veered right to avoid a rock in his path. Another shot echoed through the forest, had he turned left the bullet would have gone straight into his chest, instead it caught him in the back left hindquarter.  Jason stumbled briefly but was able to make the tree line, the agony scraping at his senses but Jason shunted the pain away and made his escape to safety.

​

****

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                Sarah didn’t hesitate with her shot. She had seen the beast take the rabbit down and as the wolf had killed the rabbit she had seen its eyes and knew who it was. Now was her moment. The wolf was not so easily taken though and miraculously bounced out of the path of the bullet and started to run to safety. Not knowing what had tipped the wolf off, Sarah quickly tried to line up her sights, aiming to get one more final shot in that would end this hunt and free her. This time she took a little more time to line up the target, slowing her breathing and wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. Noticing a rock in the prey’s path, she took a gamble and aimed slightly left but luck was with the wolf again as he veered right. Sarah quickly aimed left and pulled the trigger again and saw the wolf stumble but manage to make the tree line.

​

                Sarah quickly got to her feet and started out onto the game trail. She had wounded the wolf but a wound was not a kill and she wouldn’t be happy until he was dead and delivered to the broker. She was a determined woman whose focus was on finishing this and making enough money to move away from this backwater. Dropping to one knee, Sarah looked out for any sign of the direction her prey went and waited.

​

****

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                Jason ran deep into the forest before he surveyed the damage.  He licked the wound at first, tasting the saltiness of his own blood, noting that the bullet was deeply lodged.  Jason knew there was only one way to fix the problem. If he changed the bullet would be forced out of his body but he had to do this fast.  With adrenaline pumping through his veins the change would happen quicker though the pain would be more intense. He focused inside himself, on that burning pit of energy that sat within him and willed the transformation to begin again.  The process was the same in reverse, but this time, it happened within ten seconds.  The fur started to retract into the body and the skin split along the spine, the pink flesh of a human began to emerge as the wolf form inverted along the belly.  There was no time to catch his breath.  He wasn’t far enough from his hunter just yet. 

​

                When he glanced down at the ground to see a small distorted shard of metal on the ground he saw that it was the remnants of the bullet. He checked his lower back for any sign of the wound but all that was left was a red puckered scar.  Seeing that it wouldn’t be a problem, Jason touched, for the third time in two hours, the energy inside him and initiated the change again allowing another swift transformation to sweep his body and within thirty seconds he was off, time for the hunter to become the hunted.

​

****

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                With the fetid scent of sweat, deodorant and the metallic tang of the rifle, lacing the air, it didn’t take Jason long to find the hunter.  The hunter was crouched on one knee, scanning the forest and searching for any sign of the wolf. Staying under the cover of the undergrowth, he stared at the hunter’s back deciding when, not if, to make his move. The hunter had come prepared to kill and Jason was prepared to do what was necessary to hide his secret and keep his territory safe. With a huge leap, Jason cleared the forest edge and landed squarely on the hunter’s back.  Ninety kilograms of wolf was hard to shake off but the hunter rolled forward with the blow and came to her feet a few meters away. Only now could Jason see the face of the person hunting him, not a man at all. He did not press his attack, shock stunning the wolf and letting Jason’s human emotions swim to the surface briefly as he realised who the hunter was.

 

                Sarah quickly fired again at Jason and the bullet grazed down his flank as he made no effort to dodge the attack. The ex-husband and ex-wife stared each other down as Sarah pulled a bullet from her pocket to reload the rifle. Jason bared his teeth, growled and moved as if to run at her so she would become distracted from her reload and in her nervousness it worked. She dropped the bullet onto the moist ground. They began circling each other, noting each other’s wounds. Sarah had a cut on her head from the wolf’s first attack that was streaming blood down her face at the same time as Jason’s blood streamed down his haunches from the two bullet wounds.

 

                Jason knew he had to get away from this clearing. He couldn’t kill her after he had ruined her hopes for a family. He knew though that he would have to knock Sarah over to have a chance of getting away. Sarah looked at this monster who was once her husband. How could he not have told her? All the times they had lay in bed at night, exhausted from sex just talking, and he couldn’t tell her this. All the times she had slept with an animal.

 

                They moved at the same time to attack, Jason running towards her as Sarah held the rifle like a bat. Jason leapt towards her to knock her over and make his escape but all the anger and disgust that had been building in Sarah was released as she swung the rifle and hit him mid leap.  The thud of the impact echoed through the clearing and a yelp escaped Jason’s lips as he fell onto his side. Sarah quickly reloaded the rifle again and settled it against her shoulder as Jason charged again but before she was ready to shoot, Jason locked his jaw on Sarah’s arm. She screamed as blood began to pump from the wound and she lost her grip on the rifle.  She quickly pulled the knife from her belt and in an attempt to dislodge the giant wolf, stabbed down into its shoulder.  Jason howled in pain, letting go of the arm and backing away from the woman who had once been his wife. 

 

                Jason hadn’t meant to bite her. As the horror of events crashed over him. The wolf Instinct had taken over for a second and that bite carried the poison of lycanthropy. Sarah clutched at her arm trying to contain the blood pouring out, looking at the wound and knowing in her heart that she was one of them now. They circled each other again, one in shock and horror and the other in pain and hate. Sarah, seeing her hopes of fortune fading, made a quick grab for the rifle it but Jason launched himself in at her, the knife in his shoulder slowing him only slightly.  He knocked Sarah to the ground and sprung away, running to the edge of the clearing and disappearing into the undergrowth. Jason didn’t hear any pursuit and just kept running until he heard that final shot echo across the forest.

 

****

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                Sarah crawled over to rest her back against a tree and looked at the blood pouring from her arm start to ease. Already the curse of the werewolf had begun to take hold. Her hopes and dreams were all ash now as she realised that she would never be able to have children. That much understanding she shared with Jason. Tears began to stream down her face as she clawed with her uninjured arm for the rifle. Lodging it under her chin she looked up into the sky and thinking about the life she could have had, pulled the trigger.

 

****

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                Jason eased back to the clearing and saw Sarah dead against the tree. The bullet had made its way through her neck and out the back of her head. Her face remained untouched and apart from dirt and tears, nearly looked normal except for the eyes. They were open and staring at the canopy above. No hate glared from them now.   Jason raised his head and howled his grief at the sky.

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THE END

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