Serene sat there night after long, quiet night awaiting Gabriel's return. She went to the same place each time. The exact place where Gabriel broke up with her.

    It was a dreadful evening when it all took place. He didn't break up with Serene because he didn't like her anymore, no he loved her. He loved Serene with such ferocity that at times it scared even himself. Everyone who knew Gabriel or came into contact with him knew it as well.

    The reason they broke up was because his family had found out that Serene was not human. They had saw her true self. Her true identity and form of existence. A monster no one has seen since the late 16th century. A horrifying creature that originated in the eastern hemisphere of the world. She is what the Native Americans used to worship, a shape shifter. Terrifying and disgusting to Gabriel’s family but, remarkable, beautiful, and mesmerizing to him.

    Serene’s thoughts shifted to the day she met Gabriel. She met him at a park in Oklahoma. It was on a late July day. The temperature was over 100 degrees fahrenheit and there was not even the slightest of breezes. She was sitting under the shaded area of a tree trying to cool off from the run she had just finished when a guy caught her attention.

    He was about 6’1” and had tanned skin. The type of skin that made people think he was a Greek god. His hair was black and his eyes appeared to be a deep brown. His body was well toned. The guy’s abs could have easily been a washboard for clothes in the old days. The chest on him was big and his shoulders were broad. His arms were perfect and muscular along with his legs. Everything about this guy was amazingly right, just right. Serene watched him play football with his friends. His movements were effortless as he ran for the ball and avoided the boys trying to tackle him. She could hear his friends call him Gabe, short for Gabriel she imagined.

    All of the guys lined up and in a matter of seconds the ball was being snapped backed to the quarterback. Gabriel was running as fast as he could to break away from the cornerback. The quarterback got away from the defensive tackle and ended up throwing the football past his target. Whomp! The ball landed on Serene’s head. Gabriel kept up his pace until he got to where Serene was sitting.

    “Are you okay,” he asked with a concerned looked on his face.

    “Yea, I’m fine,” Serene snapped.

    “Really? ‘Cause you have a big bump on your forehead,” he said while touching the spot where the football hit her.     “You’re going to need some ice for it.”

    She winced at his touch. It had been so long since anyone had touch her with such care. It scared her.

    She took a quick breath and said, “I heal quickly so there’s no need for ice.”

    Gabriel gave her a dubious look that said he thinks she’s lying.

    “Hold tight and I’ll be right back,” was all he said as he ran off towards his friends with the football in his hands. He threw the football to his friends and kept heading towards an ice-chest that was by everyone’s bags. He opened it to get a few things out of it.

    Serene was just about to leave when Gabriel turned his back on her. Before she could go through with the plan he came running back. In his hands were two bottles of water and an ice-pack for Serene’s head.

    “Here,” he said handing her a bottled water and the ice-pack.

    “Thanks but I don’t need the ice-pack,” she said handing it back to him.

    Gabe took the ice-pack from her hand and stared at it for a minute contemplating on what he should do with it. Then he put it on her head and said, “There much better. Don’t you agree?” He said while smiling at her. His teeth were perfectly white and straight. He had the sexiest dimples she had ever seen.

    “Yea, I guess,” was all she could say. Serene was transfixed on Gabriel. He had no flaws in her opinion.

    Later that night Gabriel was on the balcony attached to his bedroom on the upper level of his house. He was laying on a beach chair staring at the night sky. The moon was full and yellow and the stars were bright and sparkling.

    This was the perfect time to contemplate what he was going to do after high school. But that was not what he was thinking about. No not even close. His mind was on the girl he met at the park earlier today. He could tell there was something different about her. Maybe it was her eyes. They were a mixture of green and brown with streaks of black. He had never known anyone whose eyes looked like that, they were hypnotic. Her hair was a caramel color with black hi-lights. It was wavy and came down to the middle of her back. Her skin was a little darker than fair with freckles here and there. Her body was spectacular. She had curves in all the right places.

    “I hope I see you again soon,” he said aloud to the night world. Gabriel got up from where he was laying down and noticed it was fogging up between his house and the edge of the trees. In the fog he could see a pair of red, glowing eyes looking at him. For some reason he was not scared. At least he was not until another pair of glowing eyes showed up. Then after what seemed an eternity.

    Even though the animals were out of sight he could still feel their eyes on him. That thought alone made him go inside. He made sure his windows and doors were locked before he went to sleep.

    Serene could not believe she was at his house. Well she wasn’t really at his house but she found where he lives. It wasn’t all that hard. All she did was follow Gabriel’s scent. Serene picked his scent up at the park when they met that afternoon. Gabriel’s scent surprised her. It made her feel unusual emotions that she never knew existed inside her. Lust. Happiness. Obsession. Jealousy. Confusion. It filled her scents completely making her drunk on the smell of Gabriel. It was addictive yet frightful.

    Serene figured she should turn around when she heard small twigs and leaves break under pressure from behind her. It was Zebulon, one of the main enforcers of the pack. His spirit was that of an ancient warrior’s; fierce. His body was spectacular. Muscles cut and toned to make him look extremely dangerous and the truth was she could is dangerous. In more ways than just fighting. He scared the hell out of her because she knows that she is supposed to mate him and be the queen of the pack. Zeb is unbelievably sexy but she could not be that to him. Being his mate and the queen would mean Serene could not live her life the way she wanted to. She could not take on that responsibility because she knew she would fail her people and everyone she loved.

    Zebulon transformed from his wolf form into his human body. He was gorgeous. His long black hair was moving in the slight breeze the night had brought. Z was of Native American descent. He comes from a long line of shamans and healers. The upper half of his body was showing in the moonlight. A tribal wolf was tattooed on the left side of ribs going down past the hem of his jeans. The eyes of the wolf were a striking red with the rest of its' body black.

    His body was truly and exquisitely sinful. Serene would think bad thoughts every time she saw his body. Zeb was considered a bad boy. If only they really knew. He was a sex god among all the women in the pack. Hell even the women outside of the pack knew of Zebulon. It made Serene wonder what it would be like to be with him in such a way.

    “What are you doing here Serene?”

    “Just out for a run. What are you doing following me here?” she asked with suspicion in her voice.

    Zebulon just stared her in her eyes and took a moment to construct the words he wanted to say into sentences that made since. It was Serene’s fault. She made him lose every thought he had. That was not normal for him. He always knew what to say when it came to someone else. He just kept his cool and pretended she did not do anything to him. In reality she did a lot to him. Serene made him want to fuck her so hard, so good that she never stops screaming. He shook his head to get that out of his mind but it did not work. The thought of taking her right here in the woods made him harder than he already was. It was to the point of pain.

    “Z are you gonna answer me?”

    “Your dad was worried about you and so he wanted me to check on you. I ran around this whole damned city until I picked up on your scent,” his scorn was terrifying. “Now what are you doing here Serene?”

    She did not want to tell him. She knew if she did the whole pack would have to move and she loved it here so far. Serene loved Oklahoma’s freezing winters, blazing summers, and the gorgeous spring and fall seasons. Everyone here knows when the fall season is starts because the trees’ leaves begin to change to beautiful reds, entrancing oranges, and mesmerizing yellows. The red clay dirt here helped her make distinguishing pottery and even jewelry. She sold most of the art work at the fairs and festivals held every year during the spring to help pay for food and clothes for the pack. Over 50 people in the pack and only a few had jobs in outside society. They all had to keep a low profile because there are people out in this world that would capture them and use their bodies for experimentation and research to better the ordinary human life. Only the most discreet could get a job and keep it without revealing anything to the humans.

    “I was just getting some exercise Zeb, that’s all.”

    “Then what are you doing in front of this house staring at that human boy?”

    “I came across this house when I was running through the woods. I saw him standing there talking to himself. I was just curious so I stayed to listen.”

   Serene was taken by surprise when Zebulon took her by the waist and pressed her petite form against his body and with full possession he claimed her lips.  Serene was taken away by pure ecstasy. The taste of him was all she needed to go on. The scent radiating off of him filled her senses and drove her crazy with immediate need. He tasted of pure male dominance with a hint of sweet, passion-filled lust.

    His lips were full and soft against hers. The kiss turned hard and needy as soon as whispered moans escaped her lips. Tongues danced, hands explored, and bodies pressed tightly together.Raw, uncensored pleasure was just moments away. Who would have thought that a mere kiss would make her his forever? Serene sure as hell did not.

    But in the end she knew she could not keep him here for much longer. His dreams were becoming his reality, which meant he would be seeing the wonders of the world living life to the fullest with the most exquisite women.

    Even though Serene was very proud of him and his glorious accomplishments, she was saddened by his future departure.

    As their bodies drifted apart, it took everything she had to not confess to him what she felt. The way she saw it, it was for the best. Serene was too terrified of being rejected again, especially when the man was not hers to begin with. Having feelings for someone like that hurt. You know, that feeling you get when you know you can’t be with the person you want because you’re not their type. So in every waking moment you spend you contemplate the number of ways you can change who you are so that they will actually recognize your feelings for them and want to be with you.

       Shaking her head to clear the thoughts that created most of clutter in her mind. She returned her attention to Gabriel. Serene was astonished, he was already gone. Disappointed, Serene began to make her way back to the compound the pack had set up a few months ago. The moon was the only light she had for guidance, and luckily it was all she needed. On the plus side, if she got lost, she all she had to do was Zebulon's scent until she recognized the surroundings of the compound.

    Sitting atop of a decent sized hill, Serene found her way home just in time to be amazed by the beginnings of dawn. Beautiful purples and pinks covered the heavens accompanied by ever-so-light twinkling stars.

   The moon looked to be retreating behind the hills of the west.

   Familiar reds and oranges now covered the sky as the light of the sun graced the world's presence. Flowers began to unveil their magnificent petals all the while birds began to wake up and sing! 

   The forest and all of its inhabitants came to life in one glorifying moment.

    "You couldn't find this kind of view anywhere else," said a strong masculine voice. Stepping out from the tree line behind her, Zebulon took a nice deep breath and slowly let it out with a nice "Aah," at the end of it.