Inspired from the song I'm Still Here by Goo Goo Dolls

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In the stillness of the night, a fire shot echoed through the silence of the forest. Brave men of the town melded together in a hunt to track him down.

Looking down at his filthy clawed hands, covered in blood, Caleb deserted the dead body of his enemy on the ground with a torn neck, his blood still freshly dripping from his aggression.

Dawn was fast approaching as Caleb ran to escape and fought his way through the wilderness of the forest, cutting into the trees to find someplace where he could be safe. But with those wolf hunters circling the forest, he knew he couldn't possibly get out without risking a shot of a sliver bullet— the only poison that could end him. Soon enough, the sun will cut through the darkness of the sky, and the only way he could survive tonight was to hide.

He paused for a moment to listen. His ears perked, his nose flaring, sensing any human flesh nearby. With his heightened senses, he could distinctly hear movements and smell scents kilometers away from him— an inherited ability he had gained many years ago, when he was changed. And from where he rested, Caleb knew he lost them.

Safe and uninjured, he disappeared deep into the forest— only to be arrested.

A familiar woman stood few meters away from him.

His eyes flared in surprise as he took in her form, standing in the darkness of the forest fearless and alone.

She shouldn't be here, Caleb thought. As if hearing him, the woman turned to where he was and jerked back with a gasp at the sight of him— exactly what he was expecting. Nothing was surprising there. Not even the stinging twinge inside him.

This was why he hated being seen.

The scared expression on their faces. The snarling disgust and murderous glare people gave him just because he was different. No. He was not surprised at all.

His golden eyes gleamed in an angry expression and his lips curled back, baring his fangs. He was clearly unwanted here, so he decided to leave and find another place to hide.

"Wait!"

Caleb stopped at her soft voice, and turned.

The appalled look on her face was gone and in place was a sudden curiosity. He snarled when she walked closer, slowly, but not stopping.

His pelt bristled to appear larger and more threatening, warning her not to come near him. But the woman didn't even faze. He couldn't even sense fear from her, and yet she should be. She doesn't know him.

He should leave and run far away from here. From her. But...

He growled from the familiar pain shooting in his chest through his vertebrae. Streaks of sunlight was beginning to illuminate the sky. Instinctively, Caleb knew what was about to take place. But he must not be here if that happen.

He couldn't change right in front of her— to the woman he once loved. Caleb would never reveal himself to her, even if that was the only thing he wanted to do— to tell her that inside this black furred beast, he was the man she once knew.

But fate was playing an evil trick on him when he needed it the least.

His fur started disappearing, uncovering a bare human skin. His fangs shrank back, his claws changed into human hands and legs and all the while, he was screaming from the tearing agony of his transition with the forest muffling the racking noise.

When his voice could no longer utter a sound, Caleb laid on the cold wet mud, weak, powerless, and naked as a jaybird.

"Caleb." Her worried voice sank in and reality snapped him.

She just saw everything.

His dark ebony eyes opened, colliding straight at a pair of tender hazel eyes. Vanessa was looking at him with warmth and longing. No trace of disgust and horror.

"Get away from me," he warned urgently as she attempted to go near him. But she had always been stubborn.

She dropped her knees beside him, shaking off her sweater from her shoulder. "You need this," she murmured as she wrapped it around him, covering his nakedness.

He got a whiff of her feminine essence and it smelled almost nice, but he caught another scent—human blood, thick in the air. Almost immediately, his mind fell into a whirlwind of images. Awful and gruesome.

He buried his face in his blood-filled hands as if that could stop the vision flashing back in his head. But the beast in himself wanted to deny him peace.

He killed someone again.

He was far more sensitive right now, especially after learning what he had done last night, so when Vanessa tried to comfort him, he avoided her touch and moved away.

She might have sensed his trouble so she stood and took his hand. "Come."

He refused. But as hard as he might wanted to be, Vanessa would only defy him. She helped him to stand, ignoring his protest. His strength was starting to desert him and he knew he needed help. Stubborn or not, he only got Vanessa. And right now, he just wanted to hide and rest. Wolf hunters were still out there looking for him.

As they walked, he had to lean half of his weigh on her and she didn't say a single protest as she held him delicately. He was half-dosing and half-conscious from weakness but even that didn't distract him from recognizing where they were heading.

They were in Vanessa's house. The neighborhood was a close community like a wolf pack and he knows that for a fact, because he was once a part of this town. And he doubted if he could stay here unfounded.

Still weary and doubtful, his trust for this woman won him.

Vanessa asked him to get inside the house, but he shook his head, refusing to go inside when she opened the door. Instead, he nodded to where the empty stable was.

He hated being inside a close-spaced places ever since that night. His chest burned at the thought of being trapped again.

"Do you need anything?" Vanessa asked when she returned after securing the place. "Do you need water?"

He didn't answer. Staying quiet and distant was a better choice than indulging into a dream of comfort and kindness. Because as far as he was concerned, the world he knew was cruel and vicious.

When he hit the pile of cold hay, pain embraced him and soon, his eyes shut off.

Movements woke him up.

It was already dark outside and Caleb realized where he was. No trees, no wild grasses. Just a small stable with the smell hays and dry grass around him. Nothing similar to home.

Alarmed, he moved and felt the itchy clothes sticking to his sensitized skin. Vanessa must've put them on him.

A waste of effort, he thought as he growled in his chest and ripped the shirt off irritably. He had to leave before the full moon strikes again. And with the crescent moon shining like silver against the night sky, it looked like he only had a few minutes left.

He bolted outside the first chance he saw the ground was clear and empty and sprang with his bare feet.

"Caleb!" Vanessa called before he had the chance to escape. "You're not yet safe to go."

Safe, he snorted as the logic taunted him. It was her who wouldn't be safe if he stayed and let her get to him.

"Caleb!" she called again when he ignored her and turned away. "Please, I'm worried about you."

His lips flattened into a snarl, chest tightening, when her voice cracked. But he stood rigid, his fist clenching.

God knows how much he wanted to hold her right now. Feel her. Touch her. Smell her— all the things he wanted to do that remind him he was a human too. That he belong to this world and that he was not a monster as people drew him to be.

God knows how much he wanted... needed her to help him feel human again.

But a beast is always a beast. No matter how much he denied the truth, he'd still be different.

"Please..." she whispered behind him. "Stay."

Caleb closed his eyes tight. "Don't ask for danger, Vanessa."

"I'm not. I'm asking for your safety. Please... just..." she trailed.

"You shouldn't be afraid of me, Vanessa," he said without looking back. "You know what I am. You've seen it. I'm a beast. And right now, you're alone with a monster."

"You're not a monster, Caleb," she argued with conviction and grabbed his arm to face her. "You won't hurt me."

Caleb wished he had no heart, because he could feel it twisting inside him as he looked into her eyes. She held so much trust in him that he wanted to run to her and hold her for a while. Believe in her.

But she doesn't know him. His other side. The one who is dark and empty. Hungry.

His lips curled and bitterness was all he could taste. "You don't know that. You don't know me," he said darkly.

"I know you, Caleb, human or not. I believe in the goodness inside you. You are not a monster."

"I killed a man last night!" The rope around his anger snapped and cracked, remembering what he had done.

"You just defended yourself from them!" The truth rang in her voice. But it was more than that.

Those neck he ripped last night, the red blood running in his hands, the sweet taste of revenge... The beast in him liked that, and even if he felt it was all wrong, his conscience was weaker than him.

How could she understand?

He was out to kill people who slaughtered his whole family. He was a beast hungry for revenge. And he won't stop. He will kill many more.

"I get it, Caleb," Vanessa continued, her voice softer now, taming his wild anger. "You wanted revenge, that's why. You wanted to get even, avenge your family. But can't you see? That anger inside you will blind you, Caleb. Your hunger for revenge will ruin you."

"They slaughtered my family, burned my home, and left me with nothing! They left me suffocating, gasping for air! They tried to burn me," he drawled with so much hatred.

Caleb could still hear the haunting howls and whines of his family as those murderers set their village into flame, burning them alive. His parents were killed, his relatives were all dead. He was the only one left— and that was their mistake. They should have killed him together with his family.

People assumed they know them and they were quick to judge. Just because they're different, strange and unnatural— they murdered them. His family don't harm human. They hunt animals. But did they understand that? They all thought they were monsters. Dangerous.

"I can't defend their behavior, Caleb. They hurt you in the most painful way," she said sincerely. "But you have to stop this. You have to give yourself a chance to live and feel normal again. To be happy. You don't have to be as bad as what they think you are. You're a good man, Caleb. You know that."

These, coming from the girl who never left his heart. She was seeing the real man trapped in the anger that fed the beast. The man hiding inside, chained with revenge. She still believed in the goodness that was left in him. Caleb could see the mirror of himself in her eyes— and he wanted to be that man.

But reality was sad and painful. He could never change who he was.

But could she help him be a good monster?

Was there even a good monster? He thought bitterly.

"Vanessa. I'm sorry. But I can't stay. I'll never be happy again..." Because his heart was full of painful shadow. "I can never be the man you think I am." He said his final words and ran towards the forest, hiding again. Hunting.

Caleb looked at the sky and saw the moon was at its full circle.

He breathed roughly and closed his eyes as he felt his heart pumping, twisting and shrinking inside his chest, and then pain began to rack his brain. Under the light of the full moon, he let the beast take over him.

A harsh groan escaped his throat as his own skin ripped off revealing jet black hair that covered every inch of his body. His face contorted as his bones cracked, the excruciating pain was too much for him to bear. His teeth grew into fangs, his pitch dark eyes turning fiery amber. He could feel his skull changing and his face started to elongate. Pain shot down his spine as it pushed back out. And when the racking pain started to subside, he watched his finger and toenails grow into razor sharp claws.

The beast stood, huge and menacing, and let out a long howl.

His senses stirred and sniffed a human flesh nearby. With his ravishing appetite, the scent was awfully mouth-watering. The beast in him feasted at the wonderful meal tonight.

He lurked, waiting for his prey. Hunger was overwhelming him. He had never tasted human blood. But tonight, he will. Very soon.

Behind a giant oak tree, he hid like a dark shadow. A girl emerged in his view, fear and worry was tangible in the air.

As if sensing him, she turned to his direction. "Caleb? Are you there?"

He knew she couldn't see him with those human eyes. Slowly, he revealed himself. His amber eyes shone like a twin golden orbs in the dark, his fangs bared.

But she didn't seem frightened. Then he realized the fear was not for him. It was coming from inside him.

"Calm down," she said putting out a hand. "It's me."

Strangely, he felt himself calming down. His hunger was dousing off. But then an intruder suddenly appeared and shouted, "Here!"

"Don't!" The woman screamed, but too late.

A bullet went through his shoulder, making him growl bestially, and everything went red.

He pounced and slaughtered men with weapons that came his view. Blood spilled everywhere, gun fired, and agonizing scream filled the forest. He leaped, his claws lashing out, his fangs biting flesh. He was blinded with fury and he wanted more blood.

"Caleb! Stop!" the girl shouted.

He turned and glared at her. He sprang and landed on top of her. His pelt raised, his mouth wet with bile as he loomed above her.

"Caleb..." her voice shook with fright. He bared his fangs but stopped when she murmured something.

"I love you... always, even if you kill me now."

Vanessa.

Terror froze him and the realization that he almost killed her.

"Kill that beast!" a man yelled behind him.

Caleb looked back and saw dozens of man lying lifeless on the ground. He did that, and pretty soon, he would be adding another pile of dead man.

He wanted revenge for his family. But this people he just killed were innocent. They're not the one who he should be killing.

"Run," a feminine whispered.

Caleb looked at Vanessa who was still lying underneath him. Her eyes, wide and panic-stricken. He put that in there. He scared her.

He whimpered in pain when an arrow pierced his back.

"Run, Caleb! Run!" Vanessa pushed him and forced him to run. His heart clenched as he remembered how her mother cried telling him to run for his life that night.

A loud howl ripped from his throat as he fled. This time, he was running away not to be saved, but to keep her alive.

Vanessa was no longer safe with him. He felt the beast's hunger for her. He wanted her.

He ran and ran, far away where he could never return back.

But even if he ran away, he'd still be here, in this world full of harsh people— unchanging. He will forever be a wolf. A shapeshifter. A murderer, no less like those people who killed his entire family.

But he wouldn't let the society change him. He knows himself now because a person saw there was still goodness in him, and it was enough for him. Despite the black furred creature with clawed hands, he's still a man who once had a family.

A man who loved a woman.

A human.

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All of the characters in this story have no existence whatsoever outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation to anyone having the same name or names. All the incidents are merely invention.

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