Theo-

"Hey, Adam," I say with a fake smile. He and I don't talk a lot outside of the Gender and Sexuality club, at least not since Danny and I started dating.

"You ok?" He asks quietly and looks concerned. He's carrying a bag from the local bookstore. So he's just Down here for fun.

"Ummm, kind of," I say and walk closer to him. "I got in a fight with my uncle. Went for a walk and saw that giant bear. I panicked and ran here."

Adam jumps on this information, "you saw the creature? Where?"

"I don't know street names, but back there," I say with a point down the road I ran down.

"Oh damn," he says, looking over my shoulder. "Uhh, we should go someplace. You can wait with me. My Mom should be here soon."

I nod and fall in line with Adam as he heads to Main Street.

"Was it scary?" asks Adam.

I nod, "it was big. I was like 20 feet from it."

"Wow," says Adam. "I'm glad I found you."

Just as I'm about to say I'm glad to, the power goes out. I turn back And see a power line fall over in the distance.

"Oh god. What was that?" Groans Adam.

He seems really nervous. The intersection lights are all flashing yellow, and the stores are emptying out.

Adam grabs his phone from his pocket. "Let me call my Mom. We need to leave."

"I'm sure someone just hit the pole," I say calmly.

Adam turns to me, and he looks like he's about to panic. Maybe the wind is stressing him out. "No. We need to go. My Mom texted me that the powers out at the house. I'm supposed to meet her by the Fort."

I nod and gesture, "lead the way."

As we head to the Main Street and make a left, I notice some of the crowd seems nervous, like Adam. They seem to be trying to get people back inside. Adam and I cross the street and head to the park entrance. He fidgeting like crazy.

"Adam, what's wrong?" I ask quietly.

"I'm nervous. That monster thing's killed like 9 people," he says and pushes his hair back off his face. The wind is really picking up. He looks at his phone, "Mom just left the house. She'll come down 15th street." He sighs and points to the other end of the park when I don't recognize the street.

We start walking on the pathway that cuts through the park. Well, it's a fort from years ago, part of their history. We aren't alone. A couple of other people are walking in our general direction.

He's looking around and causing me to get nervous. We're about halfway through the park when a lady ahead of us lets out a scream. The people around her look around and ask what's wrong, and all she does is point to the south end of the park.

It takes a second to see what she's pointing at, but suddenly the bear is there. Of course, it's not really a bear; it's standing on its hind legs, 8 feet tall, and has scary red eyes.

"Theo....run," shouts Adam, and he sprints away faster than Danny. I'm right behind him, but he dropped his bag, and I slip on the plastic. My good arm catches me, and just as I start to get up, I hear a loud howl that chills my body.

I know I shouldn't look...but I do.

The creature runs at me and is on me in under ten seconds. I close my eyes and hope for a quick death, but it just scopes me up and throws me over its shoulder.

I see Adam turning back, and the other people are all running, causing a panic. All I can do is scream his name, "Adammmmmmmmm!!!!" As the creature bounds off down a side street and into the woods that connect to my house.

*********
Danny-

"What the heck's happening?" Groans Sheriff Collins as we hit part of Main Street without power. "This whole part of town is blacked out."

Dad grabs his CB radio, "dispatch. This is Deputy Madison with the Sheriff. What's happening?"

"Dispatch here. Down power lines in a couple neighborhoods. All of downtown's out," says Carlos Lopez. He's working a Friday night dispatch cause he's the low man on the force.

"Damn it. Just what we need," groans the Sheriff, and Dad nods.

Just as I open my mouth, we hear a scream and then a crowd of people running from the area with the Old Fort.

Dad stops the car, and he and the Sheriff climb out. They're still in uniform, so people recognize them right away.

Sheriff Collins puts his hands up to stop the crowd, "what's happening. Calm down. What's happening?"

Some lady shouts, "the bears back there. It got a kid!"

The Sheriff looks at Dad, who nods.

My heart stops for a second. "Theo, where are you?" I say to myself from the back seat.

Dad reaches back into the car, "This is Deputy Madison to all units. The creature's been sighted by the old Fort. Circle in on my location. Duane and 15th."

The rest of the force confirms, and he pulls his head out of the car, just in time for me to hear a young voice push through the crowd.

"Sheriff. Sheriff," shouts the little deer shifter with a crush on Theo. "Sheriff, it got Theo. It grabbed him and ran off."

The crowds part as the Sheriff runs through them towards the park. I'm out of the car following him. Unfortunately, most of the crowd's continued to run away, so I'm fighting against the current.

Dad's right behind me, shouting for me to stop.

When I get to the Fort, I can hear Sheriff Collins shouting. "Theoooooooo. Theo!!! are you ok?"

I can smell him. He was here. The creature was here too. I start to run in that direction when Dad grabs me. "Danny! Go back to the car."

"No," I shout, and even I hear the rage and strength in my voice. He actually steps back. A few pack members are on the street and see the exchange, but I don't care. "I can't leave him. I can't. He has to be ok. .....he has.....to be ....ok."

My shouting has turned into a breathy moan as I feel my body start to shake.

I see Dad looking at me with a concerned face. "Danny. What's wrong. Talk to me."

"I....need...Theo. I have to save him. I can't let that asshole hurt him," I groan. My eyes hurt. My head hurts. I look at my hands, and my fingers are claws. Not paws like normal.

I open my eyes for a second to see 5 deputies and other pack members nearby. All watching the exchange. That's when I hear a voice that pulls me back to earth for a second.

"Uhhhh....what the fuck's happening here?" Asks the Sheriff.

I hear someone mutter "shit" and feel Dad pull me behind him.

"If you aren't a deputy go home NOW," growls Dad to the pack. I see Adam backing away. One of the coyotes is here too, but she books it.

Dad waits for an extra beat for the wolves to leave. The whole time I'm trying to calm down. I watch the claw disappear back into fingernails.

When Dad speaks, it's in a low and controlled voice.

"Remember what I told you all those years ago?" He asks. The Sheriff must've nodded cause he doesn't speak, but Dad continues, "well....this is like that."

"Wait...does the Sheriff know about us?" I think to myself and then get a whiff of Theo again, and I'm in pain all over again.

"I...thought that was just you," says the Sheriff. "I didn't know it was Danny too."

Debbie Pierce steps up. She's one of Dad's enforcers. Helping to keep the pack in line and a great deputy, "not just Danny, sheriff."

I hear him sigh out before he speaks, "I have a lot of questions, but I won't push for answers right now. We need to find it and save Theo before it kills him."

Just the mention of Theo sends me back into the shaking pain. I feel someone's hand on my back, and I know it's not Dad. I manage to look and see it's Mr. Thomas, Brenden's Dad. He steps back a bit when I make eye contact, but he holds strong after that.

Dad looks around at the group, 5 deputies. All shifters. "He won't kill Theo. Theo's his target."

Sheriff Mason steps up to Dad in a way that no pack member would dream of and growls out a quick, "what the fuck does that mean, Owen?"

I sense the tension in the group. The Sheriff never swears. Never. I've heard him swear more tonight than in my whole life.

Dad sighs out, "the shifter's been prowling around your neighborhood more than any other. It was following the boys on a hike once. Danny told me."The Sheriff looks at me, and I nod. But, dad keeps going, "it's never carried anyone off like this before. It would only do that if he was part of the plan."

That's when something clicks in my head....a smell that I'd been picking up for months, but it was always faint....covered up. "Sheriff. That's the reason Theo's window was being left open. The shifter was in his room. I could smell something, but I couldn't figure it out."

"Ok. So it wanted Theo, but why. Why would it want my nephew who just moved here?" Asks the Sheriff.

Dad looks at me for a second before he speaks, "until this moment, I only had a theory, but I think it's the right one now. I think it's his ex-boyfriend from Seattle. The guy has a rough history and zero family that I can find. Which is why he blended in up there."

I want to ask him more, but I hear a faint scream off in the distance at that moment. I start to shake again because it's Theo. He's far away, but I can hear him still. His scream was cut off. Without thinking, I start to head in that direction. My eyes feel strange, my body feels bigger, my hands are claws again...I think Megan was right.

"Danny," says the Sheriff, and he reaches out for me, but Dad pulls him back.

"Daniel. Stop," growls Dad in a voice that brings the pack to heel.

I stop and turn to look at him. The pack members all step back. Their faces are nothing but shocked at what's happening, but I don't care. The only two people that don't step back are Dad, who stands his ground, and the Sheriff actually steps forward. He's a brave man.

The voice I hear comes out of me, but I don't recognize it, "I can hear him. I have to go."

Dad starts to open his mouth, but the Sheriff interrupts him, "Danny. Go."

And I'm gone. I hear the Sheriff telling Dad to follow me and help. I assume the pack will be in the woods helping, but I need to get Theo.
*******