Roses and Fangs: ch. 1. Blood and Fangs

It was late fall and the leaves that were still in the trees had long since turned colors and were hanging on only by the grace of God. It was a little chilly, the breeze cutting through Houston Woods feeling like ice against the skin. Still, the place brought comfort to Kara, which was good cause she needed all the comfort she could get.
"Sam, we've been over this before. Please drop it," she sighed pushing past him wanting to be back on the trial.
He reached out and grabbed her arm spinning her back towards him. "It's the homecoming dance, and I need a date or they may not let me into the fraternity. It doesn't have to be a real date, but please Kara, there's no one else I can ask."
"There's plenty you could ask. Alicia from CORE, Kristin from geology, Denice from Physics. I'd ask Alicia if I were you. She has a real thing for you, you know," Kara turned to face him, trying to shrug out of his grasp. "The answer is still no. It will always be no. It has to be no." She sighed again looking at the ground, her frustration building.
"I don't even like Alicia. I can't ask someone I don't like. And I have never understood why we can't even go to a dance as friends let alone do anything remotely close to a date," Sam looked at her, running his free hand through his brown hair, frustrated himself.
"You know why," she replied.
"No I don't. Ever since that time we kissed in middle school you've kept me at a distance, pushing me away every time we somehow cross some line or other you've set without even bothering to tell me what that line is." He paused briefly, lowering his voice a bit. "That kiss is still the best I ever had."
"That's not fair," Kara blinked at the tears that came from the unexpected reference and revelation that blindsided her. "That's not fair. You can't use that kiss that way."
"Why not? Hell ever since that kiss you have barely looked at me, and we have been best friends since kindergarten." He reached for her chin gently trying to lift her face so he could look into her eyes. "Can you really look me in the eyes and tell me that kiss meant nothing to you?"
Kara closed her eyes as she felt her chin being lifted. Her heart raced and she began shaking in fear. She had known this moment would eventually come, but she still wasn't ready for it and it terrified her. "No, I can't," she said softly.
"Then please tell me, what changed... tell me why you keep pushing me away," his voice was soft, pleading and it tore through her.
"You already know," she said softly, tears dripping from her face onto his hands.
"No, I don't, but I want to," he answered, softly, firmly, but still a hint of pleading in his voice. He could smell her frustration, and worse her terror, the terror that always came when he seemed to get to close to her. He never understood this terror and his frustration had reached the breaking point.
She hesitated. Maybe he really didn't know. She considered this for a few seconds and decided that it explained some things about the way he had behaved over the years. "Alright, maybe you don't know. You're better off not knowing then."
"No, I am not better off not knowing, I'm tired of trying to guess what lines you've set, and why you've set them. I'm tired of my best friend unable or unwilling to look me in the eyes and tell me what the hell is wrong with me that she has to push me away." Sam realized he was squeezing her chin a bit with his frustration and anger and let go. "Sorry."
"Are you really sure you want to know? Everything will change. Everything." She gripped his hand as it dropped for a second squeezing it to show she accepted his apology before slowly stepping back one step to give herself room. Gently but firmly she brushed away the hand that still held her arm. She opened her eyes partway looking at him from beneath lashes covered with now clumpy black mascara.
With his "yes" she swallowed and opened her eyes looking directly into his for the first time in nearly six years. It took every bit of willpower to overcome the instinctive terror that accompanied the moment when their eyes locked and for a split second his blue eyes turned golden and the pupil narrowed to a cat-like slit. She braced herself to run as she watched his reaction as her own eyes answered with a flash of their own.
Sam stared in shock as Kara's eyes momentarily turned from green to golden, her pupils dilating and seeming to swallow all but a slim sliver of color before returning to their normal state. He rocked back, sucking in his breath as dormant instincts surfaced for a second bringing both a rage and a fear intrinsic to his very being. He pushed those feelings back as fast as they rose, letting his breath out in a long slow burst.
He looked at her, and recognized she was about to run. A small part of him, cried for him to attack her, but he shoved that aside and his next instinct was to pull her in for a kiss. He dismissed that idea quickly, as well.
Instead reached out gently taking her hands gently but firmly. "So?"
Kara was prepared to run, prepared to die, even resigned to the fact she probably would die. However, his taking her hands the way he did confused her and through her off guard. "What do you mean 'so'?" she snapped. "You're a vampire, and I'm a werewolf. I'm worse then nothing to your kind. A beast to put down before I have the chance to become dangerous." The words poured from her with more venom then she intended. The moment both more terrifying and more heart-wrenching then she had expected. She tried to pull away.
"You are not a beast," Sam felt her start to pull away again, and used his strength to pull her into a hug instead. "You are not a beast. You are my best friend."
Before she could reply, distant noises caught both of their attention. The sounds of heavy breathing; twigs, brush, and branches snapping; the rustling of two very different kinds of clothing rustling.
Kara and Sam pulled apart and turned as a young woman came crashing through the the thickest part of the woods, heedless of the branches that got in her way stinging her legs, arms and face. She wasn't dressed for the woods, instead looking more like she was dressed for an office job or a class, but her blouse and skirt were disheveled.
Behind her trailed a young man in jeans and denim jacket over a t-shirt. "Get back here bitch!" he yelled as he chased after her.
The woman spotted Kara and Sam only when she was within a dozen yards of them. "Please help me, he tried to rape me!" She panted, as she fell into Kara's waiting arms.
Kara quickly spun the girl around behind her and let her down next to a tree before turning herself to face the oncoming man as Sam moved to intercept him.
"Outta the way, the bitch is mine," the man growled attempting to push past Sam.
"Oh really, is that why she's running from you?" Sam asked as he moved directly to block the man again as he stepped onto the path.
"She's running from me because she's been a bad girl. It's time for her to go home where she belongs. Come on baby, lets go home," the man called over to the girl looking over Sam's shoulder.
"He's lying, I don't live with him. This was supposed to be our first date but he drove us out here and tried to rape me," the girl countered.
"Don't worry, you're safe," Kara tried to reassure the girl, not taking her eyes off the man.
"Leave. Now." Sam reached out, turned the man around and shoved him a good ten feet back into the woods. The man took thirty or so steps then suddenly turned around and started running toward Sam even as Sam started walking back toward the women.
"Sam he's got a knife!" Kara screamed, as she saw the man closing in on Sam. She ran a few steps then jumped. Her shoes, and jeans slid off as her legs thinned and shortened. The rest of her clothes managed to somehow stay on even as she landed as a reddish haired wolf but tangled and dragged on the ground as she ran, nearly tripping her as she leaped at the man.
It was a close moment. He was drawing back his right arm as he lunged at Sam with his left. Her muzzle closed around the man's forearm shattering the bone as she clamped down. She felt other bones dislocate and snap even as she let go landing and rolling out of the way as Sam reached out grabbed the man and tossed him. She watched the man's look of horror as he sailed twenty feet through the air and crashed into a tree head first. She heard the sound of his neck breaking.