I finished my donut and took my coffee with me into the cat’s room. I checked on all the cats and the kittens. I cleaned out the litter boxes and changed out their water. Once I was done in the cat’s area, I moved back into the dog’s room. I was calling the dogs back in and getting them in their kennels when I heard the door open and shut. I turned and froze when I spotted Ryan standing in the doorway.
Ryan hadn’t stopped in since his last visit. He hadn’t bothered me, and I thought maybe he was finally going to leave me alone, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“Well, it’s the crazy witch,” he said as he stood in the doorway.
I rolled my eyes. “What do you want, Ryan?”
“I was looking for my father.”
“He’s out walking Frank.”
Just then, there was a loud growl, but it didn’t sound correct. Ryan turned his attention to the cage he was standing next to. It was Chili’s kennel.
Ryan looked nervous as he took a step back. “What’s wrong with that dog?”
Chili had never made a sound like that before. Sure, he was having a hard time adjusting, but this was different. I looked into his kennel, noticing that his eyes had darkened. He was foaming at the mouth, and I felt fear take over my body.
I felt a dark energy coming from him. I knew that Ryan was already uncomfortable with dogs, but even I felt something was off. “Ryan, you should call your dad. I don’t think Chili is okay.”
But before Ryan could even move, Chili started to howl. I watched as his fur began to drop off in clumps, followed by his skin. It was like he was melting away right in front of us. I felt my stomach plummet as this animal shifted into a human.
A man soon crouched where Chili had been. He looked up at us with those same dark eyes, and I watched as fangs poked out of his lips.
I clicked. Chili was never a dog but a hybrid in disguise. I didn’t even understand how it was even possible. They shifted but into a huge beast, not into animals like this. There was no way this was happening.
Ryan was horrified next to me. “What the…”
The man slowly pulled himself up, a smile pulled at his lips. I could feel waves of dark energy coating off of him, enough to make me sick. “Hello, Nora.” My name came out like ice, and I took a step back into Ryan.
“Nora?” Ryan’s voice shook in fear.
“Ryan, run,” I said, not breaking eye contact with the man in front of us. “Run and get help.”
The man smirked, grabbed the kennel door, and shoved it open. The lock gave way, tumbling to the ground.
“Run!” I screamed at Ryan, shoving him toward the door. Ryan hardly caught himself as he fumbled forward, running for the door. I moved after him, blocking the door, making sure the man didn’t follow him. At least one of us needed to get out of this.
“He can run, but he won’t be able to stop what’s going to happen here, Nora.”
I hated how he said my name. I’d taken care of him without even knowing the truth. I spent hours sitting with him, telling him things about the pack and my life. “What do you want?”
The man shrugged, taking a step outside the kennel. “What I want is what our group wants. We want blood to be drawn, people to scream, and full control.”
The smile he gave me made my blood run cold. I reached for my magic, feeling it tingling in my fingertips. But I didn’t use it. Not yet.
“How did you do that?” I asked. “How did you remain in that form like that?”
He looked at the other dogs, which were now all backing away in fear. Not a single one of them made a sound. “Since you’re dying anyway, I guess I can share that secret.” He stepped out of the kennel, and I took another step back. “We have connections. We offered some witches what they wanted, and in return, they offered us help. A spell to bind us in a different form for a while.”
I didn’t understand. Why would witches help the hybrids? What would they get out of it?
“Why would they do that?”
He looked at me. “Because they have been treated like less. They want blood to be drawn just like us, but for other reasons.”
I swallowed. “So, they help you?”
He shrugged. “In a way. They are just pawns in a game. Once we are done using them, we will get rid of them as well.”
