Galatea Story Submission

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<<audio mainsong play>> [[I run.|Clothes]]

I run. Leaving it all behind me - my clothes, my home, my family. [[I run.]]

My human body - supple skin and awkward, gangly limbs - has been replaced by a lean, muscular form that stretches out fast and powerful. My crimson mane rolls across my back in waves of auburn fire as I sprint recklessly into the forest. [[I run.|Smell]]

The smell of the suburbs vanishes behind me. All I smell now is the scent of the earth, of pine trees and fresh water... And them. [[The Males.]]

There are five of them--I can smell them on the air. My tongue hangs loosely from my jaws and I taste their flesh on the thick, humid night air. Their powerful musk spurs me on and drives me forward, hungry, starving for their taste, burning with a white hot powerful desire. Two to the left and three to the right. They're closing in and I run faster - this won't be any fun [[without a chase.]]

But, do I want them to catch me? A flicker of doubt breaks through the red sexual mist of The Haze. My pace slows and I try to get myself under control... But the desire is too much! I want them to pounce on me from the darkness, press me down into the wet, cool earth and have their way with me. I want them to nip at the tips of my ears and hold me down in the dirt, so I can feel the hot, hard insistence of their sex [[press against mine.]]

No, a part of my screams from the darkness, not like this! Not yet! But something animal inside me snaps and snarls at this human annoyance, and pushes it deep down. I quickly get back up to full speed, burning through the woods faster than ever before. The 5 males are so close now: I see trees rattle in the distance and flocks of birds scatter into the sky, screeching in protest, as they close the trap. I feel a shudder run down my spine as I realize [[I am being hunted for my body.]]

Ahead, the wood splits into two paths. To the left, the tree branches bow forward and create a narrow tunnel. On the other end of it, I can smell rushing water. To the right, a fallen tree trunk rises up from the forest floor, covered in moss and wildflowers, whose soft scent stands in stark contrast to the predatory musk of the males and the sharp taste of fear on my tongue. I hesitate, my strong wolf heart pounding in my chest, trying to decide which way to go. The sound of the males crashing through the underbrush tells me I don't have much time. Do I go left, towards the [[water]]? Or to the right, up the tree [[trunk]]?

I leap forward towards the tangle of branches that have formed a tunnel. It's narrower than I first thought and I have to slink right down low to the ground to squeeze through. When my body is fully encased by the branches, I hear a snarl from behind me. I can just turn my head to look and see one of the males trying to force himself into the thicket. Our eyes meet and his burn with amber fire, his pupils sharp as razors. He snaps at me and I feel his hot breath on the pads of my feet. The heat travels up and flashes between my leg. Even in the heat of the chase, I notice something about his smell: there's something strange about it. It has a salty, almost briney tang, like the ocean. The males I know don't smell like that. He snaps at my feet again and I force myself through the thick bramble. The tunnel gets tighter and tighter. I'm going much slower now and I can catch glimpses of two of the other males leaping from tree to tree outside the tunnel. Their braying howls taunt me, for they can see what I now realize: The tunnel ends and gives way to a wide clearing with nothing but a large boulder in the middle. When I run out of tunnel, I'll have to enter that clearing. [[I'll be at their mercy.|mercy]]

I surge forward and scramble up the natural ramp of the fallen tree, crushing delicate wildflowers beneath my feet as I go. I hear a roar and look to my right: one of the males has leapt forward out of the darkness, jaw spread wide and claws grasping hungrily. He's so close I can see the whiskers on his snout and see the wild hunger in his eyes. I flatten myself onto the trunk and he sails overhead where he crashes into the bushes. His scent lingers in the air where he passed over me and I pause. It's strange: he doesn't smell like the other wolves in my pack. There is a saltiness to his smell, almost like brine. Like the ocean. From the bushes, he howls with rage and it drives me forward, up the trunk. I get to the end of the fallen tree and slide to a halt, my claws sending curls of bark up into the air. I've got nowhere to go but down, into a wide clearing dominated by a tall boulder. Below the tree trunk, the other four males are waiting for me. [[And they're smiling.|mercy]]

My mind races. I'm trapped: if I go back, I'll be running right into the one behind me; if I go forward, the other four are waiting. I know what else is behind me: my house, my parents, the shame of who I am and what I'm not. In front of me: hungry males who are driven mad by the thought of my taste, who rushed into this forest just for the privilege of [[taking me.]]

I look down at the males as if to say "Who's first?" I don't wait long for an answer. The lead male, with tawny brown fur and emerald eyes, leaps forward and quickly closes the distance up the rock. He is closely followed by two of his friends. As he gets nearer, I see he has a thin braid next to his right ear, within which he has strung up three coloured beads: red, blue, and yellow. Then, he's on me, and the force of his desire knocks me right off the boulder. Again, I'm overwhelmed by the intoxicating smell of male and sea spray, so different from the males I know, [[so exotic.]]

We land on the grass with a thud and tumble together. He snaps at my neck playfully and I get my feet under him, using the momentum of our roll to toss him away. I get up onto my feet but not for long: his friends leap from the boulder and one of them lands squarely on my back. He puts his front paws on my shoulders and presses me down onto the ground. He's got his whole body pressed against me and my desire goes wild. I press my body back up against him and he brings his face down close to mine, our breath mixing in the cool night air. I see he has a braid too, with the same coloured beads. Cute. Then his weight is gone too, thrown away by another male. His fur is an off-white, almost beige, and as he flips me over onto my back I see his eyes are two different colours, red and white, but with that same beaded braid. He holds me down with his front paws and grinds my hips into the ground with his. I press up to meet him. "This is it..." I think, even as the small voice in my head screams at me to get control of myself. The male astride me brings his face close to mine and snarls, "Now you will never bring the Packs together, Unclaimed One." [[Sorry, what?]]

I don't have time to think about it, as a coal-black missile slams into the side of my would-be lover and the two werewolves tumble, snarling and gnashing, off to my right. My mind is racing. Unclaimed? Join the Packs? What the hell was he talking about? I'm just getting my bearings when I'm body slammed to the left and pinned against the boulder by the wolf with the emerald eyes. His eyes flash with unchecked passion and triumph but they quickly change - his pupils narrow to cruel pinpricks, and his lips curl back to reveal massive, terrifying jaws. He lunges for my neck with blinding speed and I barely manage to slide away from his strike. My saviour, the black furred one, is on him then and in one swoop tears my attacker off me and launches him into the forest with only his jaws. The other four werewolves, each with that same beaded braid in their hair and smelling of a distant sea, circle us. We're surrounded. Hostile wolves before us, our backs to a giant rock. Real fear pierces my Haze-driven desire: These wolves are not here to mate with me--they're here to kill me! I cower behind my mysterious saviour and notice a symbol burned onto the flesh under the fur of his right shoulder: The Royal Brand. He looks over his shoulder to ask me if I'm okay. [[It's Aiden.]]

<<audio howl play>> My eyes cloud over and my desire rushes up from the very core of my being. It bursts from my lips in a feral, powerful howl. The males all join me and our sound crescendos above the wilderness. I leap forward into the clearing and sprint up the boulder, mounting it like a queen on her throne. I turn at the top to face the clearing, the silvery light of the moon bathing me in its beauty. I howl again and the males, now joined by the fifth, howl with me in orchestra. My snout points to the stars and I unleash the full power of my passion at the moon. Somewhere deep in my mind, a tiny voice whispers, "Not like this..." [[But I don't listen.]]

<<cacheaudio "mainsong" "sound/ChaseMusic.mp3">> <<cacheaudio "howl" "sound/Howl.mp3">> <<cacheaudio "Aiden" "sound/Aiden.mp3">> <<cacheaudio "Sax" "sound/Sax.mp3">>

<<audio Aiden stop>> <<audio Sax play>> Oh hey, thanks so much for reading my writing test, I hope you liked it! I had a RIDICULOUSLY FUN TIME writing this so, even if we don't end up working together, thanks for the opportunity. I taught myself how to write interactive fiction in Twine for this test so #SmarterEveryDay!