Page 2 of The Secret Mate Society

There, at the edge of the clearing, was a figure.Tall and broad-shouldered, it stood motionless, half-hidden behind a tree.I froze, my breath catching in my throat.The figure didn't move, but I could feel its eyes on me, watching.

"Hello?"I called out, my voice barely above a whisper."Who’s there?”

The figure shifted slightly, and I caught a glimpse of gleaming golden eyes in the darkness.My heart pounded so hard I could hear it in my ears.I took a hesitant step forward, the iron poker shaking in my grip.

"Who are you?"I demanded, trying to sound braver than I felt."What do you want?"

A low growl rumbled through the air, raising the hair on the back of my neck.The figure emerged from behind the tree, moving with an eerie grace that was decidedly inhuman.As it stepped into the beam of my flashlight, I gasped.

It was a man...sort of.He was tall and muscular, with shaggy dark hair that cascaded over his entire body.His limbs were too long and his legs looked almost… broken.My gaze lifted to the glowing eyes, expecting to see a face.Instead I saw nothing but dark fur and a long muzzle filled with gleaming yellow teeth.But those eyes weren’t just animal… something about the way they moved, the way they studied me… it felt… human.As I watched, frozen in shock, his lips curled back into a snarl, the growl reverberating from his chest rattling me down to my very bones.

"Oh my God," I whispered."You're real.You're actually real."

The creature - the werewolf - tilted its head, regarding me with an unsettling intelligence.It didn’t speak, but only stood taller, its claw-tipped fingers reaching up to pull the fur away from the left side of its chest.There, shining in the flashlight beam, was a long jagged scar.

My heart nearly stopped.It was the same place my father had cut with his hunting knife when he was attacked right in front of me.Suddenly I was transported back a decade, my father screaming for me to run as his throat was torn out by some dark monster that I couldn’t explain.Nobody believed me, not the police and not even my own mother.When they found my father’s body half eaten in the woods, they said it was a bear attack and closed the case.But here the monster was, standing before me with a cruel grin on its lips.And it sure as fuck wasn’t a bear.

Fear filled me from head to toe, the flashlight shaking harder than ever before.

"You...you killed my father," I whispered, my voice trembling with a mix of fear and rage.

The werewolf's grin widened, revealing more of its razor-sharp teeth.It took a step towards me, its massive form casting a long shadow across the porch.I stumbled backward, my back hitting the cabin wall.The iron poker slipped from my sweaty grip, clattering to the wooden boards at my feet.

"Stay back!"I shouted, but my voice cracked, betraying my terror.

The creature paused, tilting its head as if considering me.Then, with another low growl that sounded far too much like laughter, it tipped its head back and let out a long, low howl.

My blood went cold in an instant.I knew, should the creature want to kill me here and now, it could.I stood no chance against it.My hand slipped down to my pocket, searching for my phone.I wasn’t sure if I wanted to call the police, my mother, or try to snap a picture of the beast.Either way, my fingers found nothing.I realized, with sinking dread, that my phone was still on the kitchen table.I was all on my own with nothing but a flashlight to defend myself.

The long howl came to an end and the creature’s vicious gaze settled on me once more.It’s body tensed and for half a moment I thought it was going to spring forward and rip my throat out just like my father.But, with another cruel chuckle, it turned toward the woods, and cantered away on all fours, leaves crunching underfoot.

As soon as it was gone, I dropped down to my knees, the fear draining all the energy I had left from my body.I collapsed onto the front porch, my heart pounding so hard I thought I would die.Gasping for air, I stared out at the darkening woods, the wind chilling me to the bone.

I’d seen a werewolf.The same one that killed my father.He was out there still.I hadn’t been making it up after all.

Despite all the fear and the exhaustion, I felt a warm sense of pride flow through me.The werewolf was real and I wasn’t crazy.

And I was going to catch that motherfucker if it was the last thing I did.

THE ADIRONDACK HERALD: Wednesday, August 2nd, 1995

Father Killed in Apparent Bear Attack During Adirondack Hike

-Carla Jensen, Staff Reporter

ADIRONDACK STATE PARK A summer hiking trip turned tragic over the weekend after David E.Murphy, 42, of Saratoga Springs, was found dead in a remote section of the Adirondack Mountains, the apparent victim of a wild animal attack.His 14-year-old son, Ethan Murphy, was found alive but visibly shaken after surviving alone overnight in the forest.3

According to reports from the New York State Police and the Department of Environmental Conservation, the father and son had set out Friday morning on a planned two-day hike along a lesser-traveled route off the Bear Hollow Trail Loop, in a dense and rugged area of the park roughly 15 miles north of Indian Lake.

"They signed in at the register, had the proper permits, and were well-prepared from what we can tell," said Ranger Thomas Belson, one of the first responders to the scene."There was no indication anything was out of the ordinary."That changed late Saturday afternoon when several kayakers on nearby Bear Hollow Creek encountered a distressed and barefoot Ethan Murphy, waving for help from the shoreline.The boy had a gash on his arm and minor scrapes but was otherwise unharmed.He was airlifted to Albany Medical Center for evaluation and reunited with his family early Sunday morning.

"He was in shock," said Belson."But coherent.He kept insisting that what attacked them wasn't a bear."

According to Belson and medical staff, Ethan described the attacker as "a monster that stood on two legs," over six feet tall, "with glowing eyes, long claws, and black fur."He claimed the creature emerged from the trees after dark and "grabbed his dad before he could run."The boy said he fled and hid until morning.

Law enforcement officials have been cautious in responding to the claim.

"At this time, all physical evidence points to a large black bear," said Lt.Gregory Niles of the New York State Police."We're treating the boy's account as the words of a traumatized teen who witnessed a horrifying event.It's not uncommon for memory to distort under extreme stress."