After pulling the move her little brother taught her, Sarah turned and ran. She could do it, she had to do it. These people, these things, wanted to lock her away somewhere. She didn’t believe for a second they’re doing this for her own good, they kidnapped her for God’s sake.

  As fortunate as her quick escape was, she didn’t know what to do next. She couldn’t go to the cops. She had apparently just met one of the richest men on the planet and she’d seen too many corruption cases on the news to trust the LA Police Department. She could try the FBI, they’re much harder to buy off. If she told them there’s a massive underground structure filled with armed things, they’d definitely be interested.

  The first thing she needed to do was get somewhere with a lot of people. Unfortunately, all she saw between towering hangars was a whole load of nothing. Was it too much to ask for a few workers walking around? She’d take a supervisor at that point. As she was losing hope two men in neon vests and hard hats appeared from around the bunker she was about to pass. Her heart soared at seeing other people.

  Hah! Take that you magical bastards!

  She dodged them with her new agility and was going to ask for help when she saw the one walking behind them. Her heart sank when she saw the woman wearing the same damn grey uniform she had seen in the changing room followed them with a clipboard.

  Of course she had to run into more nutjobs. Are insane people in an organization considered cultists if they have magic? Nah, Scientology is a business and a cult without magic, at least she was pretty sure they didn’t have magic.

  “Damn it,” she said.

  With another spike of adrenaline she kept running. Her escape had a lot more desperation in it than before she had a run in with crushed hope. She heard the thumping of boots catching up with her. She knew she couldn’t outrun whoever was following her. Sure her body was being shaped into one that looked like a fitness nut, that didn’t mean she was one yet. She cursed at her college self and their overly cup ramen and pizza reliant diet. If running didn’t work then she had to hide and figure out what to do next.

  While her heart almost thudded through her chest, the strange feeling was demanding her to fight. What kind of coward was she? A living one, she pushed back. She then realized how insane she must be turning since she literally just told herself off. She suppressed the feeling and focused on escape.

  Thinking she would be caught any second, she found what looked like some sort of miniature terminal for private planes. It looked to be only one story high, had mostly glass walls leading into the passenger’s area and a few doors reading “employees only.” Sarah aimed for one of the employee doors and prayed it wasn’t locked.

  Choosing the destination, she ducked her head and ran, her heart and muscles yelling at her louder and louder with every step. Her pumping limbs and rapid breathing continued at peak performance even when she reached the small building. With a silent prayer she tried the nearest door. She nearly cheered when she turned the handle and the door opened. Without a second thought she dashed through the now open door.

  The door slammed shut as she heaved. The room she entered was filled with cleaning supplies, snacks, and other small items. She couldn’t tell if it was a storage or break room and didn’t care as long as she got a moment to think. She put her back to the door and tried to focus on her next step. How could they do this to her? She was the predator, not the prey. The only reason she was running was because she couldn’t win, right?

  A rumbling started growing in Sarah’s chest. It was humiliating to be subjected to this treatment. She was done running. She clenched her teeth as her muscles began to tense. She felt the power within her grow and reminded her that she wasn’t the weak scholar she was before, she had power now.

  She was a tiger. A tiger would never lose to a self-impressed fox and an overgrown dog. Her teeth and claws could easily rip both apart. Their lives would be the recompense for destroying her life. She would tear them apart and show them who is the true predator.

  Sarah was shocked at her line of thought. She had never been literally bloodthirsty before. She tried to take a breath and re-orient, but her anger only grew. She started to hunch forward as her body stretched. It felt like she was being filled with strength, power, and potential. As this power grew, a disconnect began.

  The separation didn’t take long as the change became more and more pronounced, and pain became everything. She felt like her bones were being shattered and reformed, her limbs torn apart, and was being burned in a bonfire. As her scream became a roar her muscles grew, her bones shifted, a tail sprouted, and thick hair began growing from all over her body.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  As the pain dissipated Sarah regained her senses but for some reason couldn’t do anything. Her initial panic intensified when her body began moving under something else’s control. She felt it as her muscles tensed and relaxed to shift her weight. It only got worse when her eyes also opened and started looking around without her commands. How the hell was she a passenger in her own body?

  Her body crouched and began stalking on all fours like an animal. Her body began sniffing the air and pacing around the room. She was no longer under the bloodthirsty influence of her power but was still panicking. She had no control over anything, not even the smallest of twitches or the shifting of an eye.

  Of course that was the moment she remembered Logan’s warning. She was turning into a blood-hungry beast. No, she refused. She fought with everything she had. She wanted to stop her furred and clawed hand from taking another step forward. Putting every bit of focus and will she had left, she tried to pull it back or at least remain still. Even with all of her struggle, nothing changed. She was still an animal and forced to watch with absolutely no control.

  Sarah could feel her body’s hunger growing and knew it would attack the first thing it perceived as prey. Her body was craving meat like a starving man in a desert. It wanted to tear flesh apart and feed on the still living blood. She struggled futilely, screaming for someone to stop her. She didn’t want to kill anyone.

  She wanted to apologize to Logan and beg for his help. He was right, she was nothing but a beast. She was trapped in a hell she couldn’t have imagined in her worst nightmares. She didn’t care that she would be locked up forever if that was the other option. If it cost never seeing her family again to protect them from the monster, she would do it. No matter how much it would hurt to do nothing but watch them from afar, they would be safe from what she had become.

  She begged for it to stop before the beast satisfied its urges. She would never be able to live with herself if she killed anyone. Her internal screaming and pleading paused when she heard a door starting to open.

  Her terror intensified, she flailed desperately in a final attempt. She watched as her body turned and prepared to pounce on its unwary prey. As the door opened, she tried to shout a warning, but all that came out was a roar. Her body pounced and she was forced to watch as her claws descended to rip and tear. Except, they didn’t.

  While it was still midair, pouncing toward the now open door, a massive force crashed into its chest. The force was enough to send her increased body mass backward into a rack of shelves. She was only able to see the silhouette of a huge man looking down on her. Since her body was still dazed Sarah was able to recognize Logan walking toward her.

  The beast quickly recovered and leapt up to try another attack. It tried pouncing again in which he side-stepped and brought a solid fist into its gut. As the breath was blasted out of the beast’s lungs she wanted to thank him. He would be able to stop her, to stop the rampage before she killed someone.

  “Sorry about this, but you need a nap,” he said as he turned the beast over and grabbed it by the neck. She felt him inject her with some sort of energy. The beast yowled as it fought back against the energy.

  She thought whatever controlling her body was strong, but what she was shown was horrifying. In her mind’s eye she suddenly saw a massive black wolf bearing down on her. The predator was the size of a large horse with white teeth bared in a hostile snarl. She felt her beast recoil at the true predator suppressing it. It was weak before the apex predator pushed it down.

  With an almost euphoric rush of relief, she could feel herself regaining control. As the beast retreated so did the changes. Although nowhere near as painful as the first shift, the pain of her muscles and bones reforming was unpleasant. As she shifted back, waves of weakness and exhaustion crashed into her. The more she was in control the closer she became to unconsciousness.

  All she could do was give him a small “thank you” before falling asleep.

  ***************************************************

  Logan bent down and scooped up the unconscious Sarah. With a huff, he put her in a fireman’s carry and started walking back to the others. It didn’t take long to return to the cars and guards.

  The Guardian-class security was waiting obediently for Logan’s return. When he reached a comfortable speaking distance the head of the team stepped forward.

  “Sir, do we need to send a clean-up squad?”

  Logan shook his head. “Fortunately, no. I got to her before she hurt anyone.”

  “Did she shift?” Miyuki asked when she reached his side, both of their bags over her shoulders and Sarah’s sword in her hand.

  “Yes, and I was fortunately able to stop her before she did anything.”

  “Do you think she’ll be more open to listening?”

  “She’s experienced her curse when it’s not under control. Hopefully she now sees how much of a danger she is to everyone around her. She even thanked me when I suppressed the transformation”

  Miyuki sighed, “That’s something at least. Come on, we got a flight trapped with an unstable tiger to get to. ”