Ferocious Desire: Werebear Romance (Stand-alone Fiction Book 1)

Ferocious Desire

✻ ✻ ✻
a werebear romance

by Reese Sanchez

FEROCIOUS DESIRE is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the autho
r’
s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

WARNING:
This Ebook contains mature themes and language.
Intended for 18+ readers only!

Table Of Contents

Chapter 1             

Chapter 2             

Chapter 3             

Chapter 4             

Chapter 5             

Chapter 1

Darkness. That was all Evan could see as he quietly maneuvered his way through the Valley of the Black Mountains. Every night, Evan Gray would wander this forest in search of his next victim. Not every night was a success; like tonight. As Evan reached an opening in the tree line, the dim light of the dawning sun shone through.  The bear instincts inside him told him it was time to get home. He was at least 20 furlongs away; if he did
n’
t get home now, he ran the risk of being spotted.

              Evan Gray was of the BlackStock Clan, a clan of WereBears from south of Black Mountains. Evan had wandered up this way by himself after he was cast out of the clan. Hi
s“
urging
s”
were unnatural, the clan leaders said and, because of that, he was considered to be an outcast. So now, for the last five years, Evan has lived in a cabin he built, along with his animal friends.

              His animal friends were the only friends he had. He liked them because they could
n’
t talk back to him. He could tell them anything and they could
n’
t tell a soul. They knew of his desire to change. They knew how that, every morning after a kill, he would sob and pray to the gods to take his curse away. But every night, thos
e“
urging
s”
would return and he would wander back out into the woods.

              By day, Evan was a normal man that had excessive strength. During the day, he could wander into the human village and pretend to be one of them. He could mingle with the villagers, buy and sell goods, and even had developed friendships with some of them. They did
n’
t know who he really was.

              When he would go into the village, he would hear them tell stories of a WereBear lurking in the woods. Each morning, after he had a successful night the night before, he would walk into the village and see another mother or father sobbing over their little girl being killed. The villagers had tried to find this murderer, but they never could spot him.

              As Evan walked back to his cabin, slowly changing back into his human form, he found comfort in knowing a family would
n’
t have to suffer today. Slowly, all of the long black hair fell off, leaving only a full beard and long, black hair on his head. In his human form, he was six foot, five inches tall. His whole body was lean and muscular due to his diet; he was a vegetarian.

His arms were so muscular that any shirt he wore would rip to shreds. Tha
t’
s the reason he chose to go without a shirt most of the time. His only attire was a pair of black pants that were specially made for him by his mother, back home. They were made to transform with him as he changed forms each night.

He strolled onto his self-proclaimed property just as the morning sun peaked over the trees. Now he could go about his normal morning routine; the routine that kept him from going insane and gave him something to look forward to.

He grew his own food, so his first stop was to check on his garden and see if any critters had been able to get through his barricades. Luckily, he found none. He picked a few tomatoes off the vine before going inside.

When he opened the door to his cabin, he was greeted first by his canine friend, George. In these parts of the world, canines were considered to be dangerous because they were
n’
t domesticated. But Evan had found George on his trek this way after leaving the clan. George had been attacked and was laying against a tree, dying. Evan was able to nurse him back to health and, since then, he and George had been best of friends.

“
Hey buddy
,”
Evan called out as his canine licked his hands
.“
Did you miss me
?”
Georg
e’
s bark was his answer.

              After washing up and trimming his beard back, (something he had to do every morning), Evan let George outside to run and do whatever it was canines did. He knew his friend would come back when he was tired.

              As Evan wondered back outside, it was as if the forest had awoken. As if on cue, animals started coming out of every hole imaginable, all to get their time with their friend. These animals did
n’
t have names, at least not that Evan had given them, but each one had grown special to him.

              There were the two squirrels who always seemed to be first in line. Evan always had some nuts to give them. Then would come the rabbit family, which seemed to be getting bigger by the day. Then there were raccoons and possums, a deer and even an old owl, all of which came out to greet him. If he did
n’
t know any better he would say the animals knew what he became at night and came every morning to make sure he was alright. 

              Every morning, a new animal would appear. They never once fought another animal, nor did they try to bite at Evan. As he went about his daily routine, they would follow him around camp. Some were even able to help him out on occasion. For instance, yesterday, he was struggling to hold a piece of the fence up so that he could fix it. Out of nowhere, his deer friend nuzzled his nose against the board and held it in place so Evan could fix it. He knew some would think he was crazy, but if that was all they knew about him, he was fine with that.

              It came time for him to go into the village to get some supplies and food. The animals never came with him there. It was
n’
t a far walk, maybe 20 furlongs, but he enjoyed the time it gave him in the woods. He loved being in the woods during the day time. He could smell the tree sap, hear the birds chirping, all of the sounds one comes to listen for when walking through the woods. At night, it was different. The only smell that came into his nostrils was that of prey. The only sounds he heard were screams of agony.

              He held on to the hope that one day, he might change. That one day, the gods would no longer frown upon him and give him his humanity back. Until that day, he had to endure.

Chapter 2

         The village was busier than normal as he strode through the village gates. The guards knew him by name now and would let him in without any questions asked. They exchanged greetings as he walked through, carrying his empty sacks.

              He wondered why it was so busy. Off in the distance, he heard music playing and decided he would check it out before going to the market. As he walked closer to the music, the crowd got bigger. People were dressed in fancy outfits with their faces painted. A few people he thought he had recognized but the paint hid who they really were.

              A few would call out to him by name. Recognizing the voice, he would call back out. He was
n’
t sure what was going on and the music made it hard to hear what anyone was saying. Finally, he got to the source of it. Around a blazing fire danced a group of women that hardly had any clothes on. There was just enough cloth to cover their breast and private areas. But as that danced, the cloth would move with them, giving the on lookers small glimpses of their breast.

              Each woman had a different instrument she was playing as she danced around the fire. One had a pair of tambourines. Another had a drum she would bang on periodically. The others had instruments he had never seen before, but the sound they were making together was beautiful to his ears; almost as beautiful as the women that were holding them. He was mesmerized as he stood there watching; careful not to let his animal side creep up.

              He was suddenly shaken out of his trance by a familiar voice that belonged to the merchant director.

            
 “
Hey there, Evan. How are you this fine Hallows Eve day
?
”

              Hey Driek
,”
Evan replied to the man the voice belonged too. Though the voice was familiar, the outfit was
n’
t. Driek had attached long strands of hair all over his body and was wearing a mask that appeared to be of a wolf
.“
What is Hallows Eve day
?
”

            
 “
I
t’
s a day that comes once a year where we celebrate our ancestors who have passed one
,”
Driek explained, pulling Evan off to the side so they could hear each other better.

            
 “
Ok. So why the stupid outfit
?
”

            
 “
Oh
,”
Driek laughed out loud
.“
I honestly do
n’
t know why this tradition started, or when, but on Hallows eve day, everyone dresses up in crazy outfits for the day
.
”

Suddenly, Evan realized why the faces of those familiar voices had been painted. He did
n’
t understand it. But it did
n’
t affect him. He just needed to get his supplies and get out of town before his animal side took over and his urge forced him to deflower one of those dancing women.

“
Ok. Tha
t’
s crazy. But to each his own. Can you help me get my supplies and get out of town before this gets any crazier
?
”

“
Sure
,”
Driek said as he pulled his mask off, aware of how uncomfortable it had made his friend.

Driek led him to the market quietly as the music dwindled down to just a faint sound in the distance. Now that the music was
n’
t a problem, the two friends could hear each other without having to speak loudly.

“
So did you hear about the sighting early this morning
?”
Driek asked, looking over Eva
n’
s list of supplies.

“
No. What sighting
?”
Evan was looking through some of the fresh fruit that had arrived that morning, thinking about what he could get for his animal friends.

“
Yea. Someone sighted the creature tha
t’
s been killing all of the girls
.
”

That peaked Eva
n’
s attention. He knew he was out longer than normal, but he did
n’
t think he had been sighted. Evan shot the merchant a quizzical look.

“
Yea. They said that he was walking down through the valley right as the sun was coming up
.
”

This could
n’
t be. If he was seen, did they follow him? Did they know where he lived? Did they know who he was? Evan could
n’
t risk being discovered. He had to leave. He had to leave now.

He took a breath, realizing he needed to find out more information. Maybe there was nothing to be worried about.

“
Tha
t’
s good
.”
Evan tried to sound excited instead of terrified
.“
Did they follow him
?
”

“
I do
n’
t think so
.”
Evan let out a long sigh
.“
The person said that he was alone and did
n’
t want to risk the creature seeing him
.”
Evan cringed at the word, creature. He hated being called that.

“
So what are they planning on doing
?
”

“
Well, the man is in with the village elders right now. They are talking about forming a search group and going after him tonight
.
”

Evan had to hurry up. He had to do something. One glimpse toward the sky told him that it would be night fall soon and he had just enough time to get back to his cabin.

He hurriedly grabbed the full sacks out of the merchan
t’
s hand and through him a few coins; more than enough to pay for the supplies.

“
Wha
t’
s your hurry, Evan
?”
The merchant asked as he picked up his coins
.“
You should stay and see these girls dance after the
y’
ve had some ale. I
t’
s going to be quite a show
.
”

Evan knew that the merchant was referring to the girls stripping off what little cloths they had on and then having their way with each other as the whole town looked on; tha
t’
s what happened with every festival in town. And Evan knew that, if he stayed, his animal side would take over and he would be discovered. He could
n’
t let that happen.