My Pack

When the moon is full and the night sky lit, you'll hear my pack, and I howl. My name is

Zare, and I am a werewolf. Chetan, Dev, Kiara, me, and Ajay is Alpha; that's my pack. A year ago, we all changed suddenly when the presence of zombies set off the wolf inside us. We are wolves because of inherited genes from our descendants. The zombies activate the wolf inside us. The wolf pack is responsible for destroying the zombies, which hasn't been easy when many zombies appear each night. It started with our local cemetery, and now many others are reporting zombies as well. Is this the start of a zombie apocalypse? We don't have those answers, but it's up to the pack to defend Sandy Shores for now.

Sandy Shores is a forest. It used to be an ordinary tourist spot; many people visited the

beautiful woods and surrounding beaches and rivers. The guests died down once wolves took over the forest again. I shouldn't even say "take over" because our ancestors and previous packs always looked over and protected Sandy Shores.

Sandy Shores was never meant to be a vacation spot. With the cemetery at the end of it, the forest is only full of animal guests these days. Sandy Shores has eighty square miles of trees, swamps, and many water sources, so the chances we know of every wolf pack are slim.

Sometimes I wondered if there were other wolves besides our pack.

Getting food in the forest can be tricky. Ajay changes into his wolf form and runs to the

nearest grocery store in a small city outside of Sandy Shores to get food and needed supplies once a month. And then we hunt for food and pick berries off the trees. Many nights we enjoy fish from the rivers.

My feet flew across the ground as my inner wolf had me racing. I volunteered to check

the cemetery for new zombies. To describe how I was feeling isn't an easy task. Each wolf has a Mark mate. It's deeper than love for a boyfriend. I would say it's more profound than true love itself. You would die for your Mark mate, be their best friend, or their soulmate, or anything they need you to be just to be next to them. Chetan, out of every human on the planet, has to be my Mark mate. I struggle to figure out why because he has been dating my sister Kiara for years.

Kiara isn't just my sister; she's my twin, so she also has a mark on my soul, only in a

different way. Every thought I have around Chetan is about him. I think about him kissing me ,touching me, and just being with me. All his movements aggravate me because they are not towards me. I want his touch, his kiss, but he's with my twin. Kiara has no idea Chetan is my Mark mate. I could never tell her; I know in my heart that wouldn't be fair.

Finally, reaching the cemetery, I look around. Letting the minutes pass, I just admire

nature. Relief rushes through me as my eyes see familiar surroundings. Changing back into my human form, I take a seat on the bench. I will take guard and watch for zombies for a while. The crows are crowing, and the rustling leaves fill my ear. It was peaceful not to watch Chetan and Kiara kiss. Hearing a howl in the night sky, I know it's time for me to return to the pack. I change back into a wolf, and my feet fly over the ground, not even having time to feel the earth beneath me.

"Where have you been?" Ajay demands.

"Sorry, I lost track of time. Alpha."

"I was worried sick about you, Zare."

"There are no zombies". I stare at my feet like they are the most exciting thing in the

world.

"Thanks."

He dropped my absence quickly; what was wrong with him?

"You okay?" Chetan asks.

"Yea, I am fine," I did my best to lie.

"If you think this is easy for me you are wrong. I want you just as bad as you want me,

Zare, but I can't hurt Kiara," he says.

"And I don't want you to." Giving him my best smile, I charge off into the woods where I

usually, race off to be alone instead of roaming with the pack.