Chapter 1
Darkness. That was all Evan could see as he quietly maneuvered his way through the Valley of the Black Mountains. Every night, Evan Gray would wander this forest in search of his next victim. Not every night was a success; like tonight. As Evan reached an opening in the tree line, the dim light of the dawning sun shone through. The bear instincts inside him told him it was time to get home. He was at least 20 furlongs away; if he did n’ t get home now, he ran the risk of being spotted.
Evan Gray was of the BlackStock Clan, a clan of WereBears from south of Black Mountains. Evan had wandered up this way by himself after he was cast out of the clan. Hi s“ urging s” were unnatural, the clan leaders said and, because of that, he was considered to be an outcast. So now, for the last five years, Evan has lived in a cabin he built, along with his animal friends.
His animal friends were the only friends he had. He liked them because they could n’ t talk back to him. He could tell them anything and they could n’ t tell a soul. They knew of his desire to change. They knew how that, every morning after a kill, he would sob and pray to the gods to take his curse away. But every night, thos e“ urging s” would return and he would wander back out into the woods.
By day, Evan was a normal man that had excessive strength. During the day, he could wander into the human village and pretend to be one of them. He could mingle with the villagers, buy and sell goods, and even had developed friendships with some of them. They did n’ t know who he really was.
When he would go into the village, he would hear them tell stories of a WereBear lurking in the woods. Each morning, after he had a successful night the night before, he would walk into the village and see another mother or father sobbing over their little girl being killed. The villagers had tried to find this murderer, but they never could spot him.
As Evan walked back to his cabin, slowly changing back into his human form, he found comfort in knowing a family would n’ t have to suffer today. Slowly, all of the long black hair fell off, leaving only a full beard and long, black hair on his head. In his human form, he was six foot, five inches tall. His whole body was lean and muscular due to his diet; he was a vegetarian.
His arms were so muscular that any shirt he wore would rip to shreds. Tha t’ s the reason he chose to go without a shirt most of the time. His only attire was a pair of black pants that were specially made for him by his mother, back home. They were made to transform with him as he changed forms each night.
He strolled onto his self-proclaimed property just as the morning sun peaked over the trees. Now he could go about his normal morning routine; the routine that kept him from going insane and gave him something to look forward to.
He grew his own food, so his first stop was to check on his garden and see if any critters had been able to get through his barricades. Luckily, he found none. He picked a few tomatoes off the vine before going inside.
When he opened the door to his cabin, he was greeted first by his canine friend, George. In these parts of the world, canines were considered to be dangerous because they were n’ t domesticated. But Evan had found George on his trek this way after leaving the clan. George had been attacked and was laying against a tree, dying. Evan was able to nurse him back to health and, since then, he and George had been best of friends.
“ Hey buddy ,” Evan called out as his canine licked his hands .“ Did you miss me ?” Georg e’ s bark was his answer.
After washing up and trimming his beard back, (something he had to do every morning), Evan let George outside to run and do whatever it was canines did. He knew his friend would
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