A Beast Among Gods (The Mac Tire Chronicles) by Garnet Davenport (big screen ebook reader txt) 📗

them all, the guards, the council, my father, the Commander, and the other boys. I had a plan set in motion. Jamie and I were days away from leaving this hell. I had talked to him about the plan in secret. No one else knew anything about it. No one could. They’d stop me from leaving and punish me by torturing Jamie.

They had already taken him to beat several times when I had not done exactly what was asked of me. I had growled and told them no. The first time they came in the middle of the night, it took six guards to hold me down while they took him. It had been three days before they brought him back to me. My only friend in the entire world.

He hadn’t blamed me, even though I blamed myself. I worked harder to find a way out from that day.

When they returned him to me, his face was swollen, he could barely see through his black and purple swollen eyes, and there were cuts all over his body. They had beaten and whipped him until I did exactly what they had wanted and then some. I had made a decision that day to follow everything they had wanted to spare Jamie from his fate.

There was a brief time period between dinner and lights out when we would talk about our lives before we met. His parents were killed in an automobile accident when he was young. He had been here ever since. They had called him péiste. He had told me it meant worm. He wasn’t pure-blood. His mother was human.

He couldn’t grow the same muscle as us. Even I developed differently as we trained. While the other boys had built muscle and became slower, I had kept my agility and gained speed with my muscle. I was faster, stronger, and deadlier.

When my first full moon came, I felt a pull to run in my mac tire form. I needed the transition. I had seen my wolf only a handful of times. Most of the time, my ogre had risen. My skin turns an unnatural green, mossy color as my muscles grow larger and golden brown hairs cover my body. More on my back, arms and chest. I needed to let my wolf out; he was close to the surface and pleading with me.

I asked to leave the walls that day. The guard had told me he would have to get permission from my father to let me leave. I had waited the entire day, feeling the urge to run and be free.

I had been sitting with Jamie in our room, waiting to find out if I’d be able to let my mac tire free for the full moon. Jamie had wanted to see my wolf, wanted to meet him, and my wolf had wanted to meet him for a while at that point. We had been sitting and waiting, talking about my wolf. I could feel him pacing inside.

“I can’t wait,” he had said, inching closer to me.

I could feel his nervousness. It had been eight months locked inside the walls with nowhere to run.

I felt his hand as he placed his over mine. I looked up into his eyes. The same eyes I had fallen in love with. He leaned forward, hesitant, but I leaned in to meet him. Our lips met each other’s. I moved my lips over his. It was our first kiss. A special moment I would always remember. My first kiss and first love.

We had pulled back, his hand still over mine, a slight smile on both of our faces. He felt it too. I had known it wasn’t right to love another boy. Not in an ogre clan. But I hadn’t listened to my gut. I hadn’t stayed away.

There was a knock at the door. Jamie jerked away from me. The guard was standing in the doorway.

“The Commander has decided to give you permission to leave the walls tonight,” he said.

“We get to go?” Jamie asked.

“No, only him. With eight guards.”

“That’s something,” he said to me.

“I wanted you to meet my mac tire.”

“I know. But one day. Take this and let your wolf out,” he said.

“You must come now. You will only get thirty minutes,” the guard said.

“Go,” Jamie said.

“I’ll be back,” I said and got up to go with the guards already positioned outside our door.

I had seen them before. They were the ones who had held me down while they took Jamie the first time I disobeyed.

“Follow us,” the largest one said.

I turned and looked back at Jamie. He gave me a warm, yet nervous smile.

We walked down the corridors toward the door that led to the outside. I stood in front of it as they radioed for the door to be opened. The first clicking sound made me wince. It had been sharp and piercing. But within a few moments, there was moonlight. My mac tire howled.

“There is an outer wall you will not be able to go past, and if you attack any of the guards, you will be punished. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” I said.

“Go,” he said.

I took a step from the compound. The first step into the moonlight made my skin start to transition into fur. My clothes ripped, I bent down onto my knees, and bones popped and broke as everything shifted and my wolf appeared. The browns and grays blended together, making me camouflage as I moved onto the dirt.

I let my mac tire run. I found the edge of the trees and followed the outer wall all the way around. I felt the dry dirt move and kick up from between my toes. My paws dug in, and I breathed hard as I weaved through the old trees.

A sharp pinch hit my chest, making me trip and fall to the ground. I tried to get up but felt weak. I pushed myself up, feeling a physical pull toward the compound. Another pain ripped at me.