The Awakening by Alexx Andria

THE AWAKENING
    (The Breeding Prophecy 1)
    By Alexx Andria
    Copyright 2012 by Alexx Andria
     
    Smashwords edition
     
    *This naughty bit of a story is intended for
mature readers only. If you’re not 18 years or older, find
something else to read.
    The following short story of approx. 4,000
words is an original work of fiction.
     
    Cassidy couldn’t escape the feeling she was
being watched.
    A shiver of apprehension crawled up her spine
and rattled her skull as she hurriedly walked home. The walking
path was illuminated by the barest of street lamps — budget
cuts within the city had eliminated bulb replacement — and it
was her bad luck that she didn’t own a car and so had to walk home
from the university.
    Normally, she enjoyed the time to herself to
walk home. But lately, she couldn’t shake the feeling that eyes
were on her, watching her every move.
    Of course, the dreams didn’t help either.
    For the past week, she’d woken out of a deep,
almost drugged sleep, sweat-soaked and achy as if eaten by a fever,
and oddly, aroused. It was disconcerting and a bit embarrassing
considering the men in her dreams weren’t exactly men but
more like beasts. Thank God she lived alone. She’d hate to have to
explain her behavior when she didn’t have a clue what was going on
with her body or her mind.
    The bite in the air signaled snow was coming
and she pulled her scarf tighter around her neck to ward off the
cold. Almost home, she noted with relief, when the old apartment
building loomed in the darkness.
    A sound, much like that of a coyote or wolf,
echoed in the night and she startled at the mournful sound. What
the hell? She quickened her step, her heart thundering in her
chest. Probably someone’s dog, she told herself when her
imagination threatened to run away with her. It’s not like there
were actual wolves running around the city. The idea was
ridiculous.
    So stop freaking out.
    But even as the stern advice seemed rational,
she continued to jump at the shadows from the moving foliage, until
when she stepped onto the paved parking lot of her building, she
broke out into a run, slamming into her front door and fumbling
with the keys to let herself in.
    She slid the bolt and leaned against her door
to release a shaky laugh. God, Cassidy…get a grip. No one is out
there.
    Willing her heart to slow down, she took
several deep, calming breaths and when she was sufficiently
recovered, she tossed her backpack to the table and went straight
to the kitchen. She was starved. No, she was beyond starved. She
was ravenous. Cassidy cracked her fridge and peered inside, her
eyes lighting on the package of raw hamburger she’d purchased
yesterday on impulse. For a weird moment, she pictured herself
ripping into the package and devouring the raw meat, slurping the
blood as it ran in rivulets down her forearms. Shocked and
disgusted at the errant thought, she deliberately shut the door and
grabbed a box of Cheeze-Its.
    Maybe she had the bird flu or something, she
thought as she munched on the crackers and tried to ignore how the
cheesy taste was starting to make her a little nauseous.
    She wanted meat, not wheat.
    Damn it, she thought, returning the box to
the cupboard. Her stomach cramped from hunger and she almost
doubled over from the pain. Fuck! What was wrong with her? The pain
shot spikes of red-hot agony twisting through her body and she
collapsed with a cry to the tiled kitchen floor. She writhed,
knowing she needed a hospital, but she couldn’t reach her cell
phone. Oh God, she was going to die on her kitchen floor. Cassidy
struggled to rise to her feet, or at least climb to her knees, but
she blacked out before she succeeded.
     
    “She needs meat,” a sharp voice sounded from
a distance. “She will not survive the mating if she does not
eat.”
    “She is in no shape to mate, Koris,” another
voice snapped. “She knows nothing of her heritage and has had no
one to teach her our ways.”
    “That is unfortunate,