Page 86 of My Monster’s Keeper

What makes her this afraid?

I will kill it first just to get rid of the stench, and then I will eat her.

I shuffle my scales, and she abruptly settles down with a sigh.

I narrow my eyes and shuffle them again.

Is she comforted by me? How ridiculous. This species is desperate to be eaten.

When everyone has gone back to sleep, I slip into the shadows, using a method I rarely use, and pull myself out of the building.

The confusion over why I can’t just eat the thing that is annoying me is making me angry. Worse than angry, the more I want to attack her and can’t, the angrier I get at myself.

I stalk through the shadows, following the slightly acrid stench of something that shouldn’t belong here.

When I find it, it’s staring at two women sleeping on a park bench. The predator hasn’t even realised that it’s being hunted.

Suddenly, it stiffens and lifts its head. It’s got a long muzzle with grey fur. It lets out a trilling sound as it looks in my direction.

“Omega?”

It lets out a peep and runs.

Rage turns my vision red, and I pull the shadows around me, darting at and guiding, driving this creature further into the park. Once I have it in the dark with no one else around, I reveal myself.

It lets out a shrill squeal and darts away.

I cut it off, arching my back, the scales shifting in a death rattle.

It turns and flees, but I cut it off again and again.

It finally sits back, exhausted and trembling. Its whiskers shiver, and I get a distinct loss of my appetite.

It looks pathetic and pitiful and not worthy of me eating it.

“You said omega. Tell me about omegas,” I hiss slow and sibilant.

“I don’t know much, just that they are here, hidden. Everyone is coming to get themselves one if they can before they are all killed.”

I snarl.

It recoils but doesn’t run.

Smart.

“Okay, okay, okay. There are a faction who are trying to get rid of them. They say the Earth is ripe for the plucking. Anyone can rule here. The strongest and smartest can own this world.”

I watch the enthusiasm on its face. “What about the demon?”

The creature wrinkles its nose. “They can’t win, just a small band of fighters against everyone here? The only way they can win is if they…have…an omega,” it whispers with dawning horror.

I lunge before it can run, snapping my jaws down on its neck. The thick, rich blood fills my mouth, but I’m not hungry. I want to get back and make sure she’s okay.

I consume the body as quickly as I can and find myself, much to my dismay, racing back to the hotel. I try to stop myself; I try to fight this need to see her, but I can’t.

She needs to be safe. I need to know she’s safe.

And if that creature could smell her…who else can?