Monsters Once More

Amina tapped her perfectly manicured nails on her flawless mahogany desk in her impeccably decorated corner office. Her floor-to-ceiling grand windows were perfectly styled; the curtains, complementing the Persian rug, were currently covered in preparation for the full moon. Plaque after plaque hung on the walls: diplomas, certificates. She had shelves filled with trophies and awards, ribbons and medals. Her pack-mates had reached the highest human standards, and yet...

Vampires.

Amina flung the magazine she had been reading with the newest vampire heartthrob half-naked on the cover into the trash. Vampires were the bane of her existence. They tainted what it was to be a monster. She envied them; she wanted to be seen like them. " What is it about them?" Amina mused out loud. Her erstwhile assistant Xian, who had been standing near her desk awaiting orders, answered, "The humans find them sexy." He said, a blush creeping up his neck.

"Sexy and pale," Amina mocked, "more like derpy and prone to sunburn."

"The mystery and glamour of it all," he said.

"The non-consent," Amina replied.

"Pack master, remember your blood pressure."

"I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth. "Xian, when is the last time you truly felt the moon on your skin?"

He looked at her, puzzled. The answer was never. He never had. It had been centuries since any of them had. They locked themselves up every full moon to keep the Wolf in check, trying to appease the humans.

The grandfather clock that had stood in that same office for 8 generations of Pack masters chimed the hour. Amina hurried to the mirror next to the office door, checking her appearance and fixing a curl that had wandered out of place.

"What do the Vampires have that we don't? Good PR," she said with a clap of her hands. "And I have hired the best. Mary J. Jones. Public relations to the Mythical. She rehabilitated the Fae." Xain nodded his approval. Amina turned to face the mirror again. Smoothing her clothes, "It's time for the wolf," she said.

Amina's speaker buzzed.

"Packmaster," Her second attendant's voice rang, "Your 9 o'clock is here"

"Send them in," she commanded Xian.

Xian had barely opened the door to Mary J. Jones. When she sailed into the room, followed by two men, each carrying four notebooks. Without introducing themselves, they all folded themselves down, without invitation, onto the overstuffed leather couches. Amina bristled at the disrespect. Xian's mouth hung open in disbelief, but he quickly recovered when he noticed Amina letting it go.

Three hours later, Indian food littered the deep oak table. Amina tried not to cringe at the spots of curry landing on the wood. Assistant B (Amina wasn't bothering to remember names) was still chewing little pieces of naan falling from his mouth because he chewed so inelegantly. Assistant A brought Amina back into the conversation,

"Wolves need more visibility," he was saying, his voice low and raspy. Amina liked him. He had a calming demeanor and smelled of old wood and moss. And he hadn't dripped takkia masla on her good oak table.

"It's easy," he said, "to get vampires on the screen. Contacts, plastic teeth? Simple creatures"

Oh yeah, she definitely liked him.

"Werewolves," Assistant A continued, are more complex. effects, masks-"

"Expensive," Assistant B finally contributed.

"So, what you are left with is shadow and screaming," Assistant A said.

"Boring," B said, looking at the last naan and reaching for it.

"Or you could show it, but it's breaking bone, screams of pain."

"Scary," B said, with a piece of naan in his mouth.

"Vampires show plenty of viscera," Amina complained.

A assistant shook his head. "They show sanguine," A said. "It's health; blood is life, its youth-"

"It's cheap to film," Said B.

"They have turned the pain, the chase, the madness into seduction," Mary J. Jones said, finally speaking. "No one is doing that for the Wolves, Packmaster,"

Amina flexed her hands. "I'm not trying to be a sex toy for the humans."

"Sex sells," B said.

Amina rounded on him.

"Packmaster, your blood pressure," Xian whispered. Amina heard his words from across the room as if he were standing next to her.

"You want respect. I understand that, but we must start somewhere." Mary J. Jones said.

B stood up, animatedly. "Picture it, Packmaster. The moonlight, the woods, the stars. How romantic, and the Omega team is already on it; we could team-"

"No," Amina growled. "Shapeshifters aren't wolves,"

"No, they aren't, Packmaster. " Said B, "But they are having a moment -"

"Shapeshifter," she spat, "Weakness! Oh, I have a ring that helps with the change," she said in a mocking voice. " Oh, I'm old enough to overcome the moon's effect. What nonsense!"

"Your blood pressure," the words caressed her ears. Amina lowered her voice but not her passion.

"You can't overcome the Moon; it's a gotdamn comsic body." She paced, "avoiding the pain. We are supposed to feel the pain; it's supposed to be there, reminding us of humanity, reminding us that power is a burden, something that is earned." She huffed, "All these new age monsters, wanting the power and not the sacrifice. "

"Packmaster," Xian practically whined.

"No offense, Packmaster, but when is the last time any of you changed? That's old-fashioned thinking," Mary J. Jones said, voice calm, placating. "You may need to be more flexible."

"With what?" Amina demanded. Refusing to be shamed or pacified. "Those same tired tropes? You want us to be shirtless, running in the woods, growling about how some barely adult woman is "mine" due to some strange Pack law that comes around every 50 years. Well, we don't throw teen girls to grown men, and fun fact: 80 percent of werewolves are female. The trait is passed down from the mother's line! Yet all we've seen is growling men, and now that's all you pitch! Amina's chest heaved. The grandfather clock chimed.

"Packmaster!" Xian warned.

"Fuck my blood pressure!!" She screamed. The room went quiet. "I thought you'd bring me something new, something fresh."

"Packmaster?" Mary J. Jones asked.

Amina ignored her. "I've been chasing respect, but maybe..." She walked over to her desk. To the button. The full moon button. Once pressed, it covered all the windows. Hid them, hid her from the moon. Each wolf had a button like that in their house, and if they didn't, they made their way to an HQ each month to wait out the full moon. Never to change, always remain safe. She pressed it again. Lifting the shades. Amina felt the moon for the first time in decades.

Amina felt the hair on her skin rise. A howl bubbled inside her chest and ripped its way out of her throat.

"Oh, that felt good," she said. She hadn't let loose like that in...she couldn't remember. A grunt caught her attention; Xian was on all fours, growling. His body twisted and morphed as he howled. Aminas' ears perked. She opened the newly uncovered grand windows. The office filled with the sound of her pack answering her alpha howl. Amina smiled, "No more seduction." She said as she turned back to face the three humans in her perfect office, her perfect cage. She cracked her neck, feeling the painful tingle of her body starting the change.

"It's time for monsters to be monsters again," she said. " Run."