Star League 2
Authors: H.J. Harper
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Star League Book 02: Curse of the Werewolf
ePub ISBN 9781742744322
A Random House book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
www.randomhouse.com.au
First published by Random House Australia in 2011
Copyright © H.J. Harper 2011
Illustration copyright © Nahum Ziersch 2011
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the
Australian Copyright Act 1968
), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia.
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National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry
Author: Harper, H. J.
Title: Curse of the werewolf / H.J. Harper; Nahum Ziersch
ISBN: 978 1 86471 867 6 (pbk)
Series: Harper, H. J. Star league; 2
Target Audience: For children
Other Authors/Contributors: Ziersch, Nahum
Dewey Number: A823.4
Cover illustration and design by Nahum Ziersch
To Dad. â H.J.H.
I stare up at the full moon shining in the night sky. As I close my eyes I concentrate on making the Change. My skin itches in patches where the fur pokes through and there's a dull ache as my bones change shape.
In less than a minute my curly brown hair is gone. Thick fur covers my whole body instead. Long black claws split out of the end of my fingers and my nose stretches into a muzzle full of sharp teeth. Anyone looking at me wouldn't be able to tell the difference between me and a regular wolf. With the full moon in the sky I'm able to Change completely into a wolf, instead of the wolfboy form I normally take. I throw back my head and howl. It feels good to be a werewolf!
I crouch on all fours and sniff at the ground. My super sense of smell picks up the trail of a pack of wolves. But this is no ordinary wolf pack. Underneath the sharp canine smell is the scent of human. I know at the end of this scent trail is a pack of werewolves.
Running as fast as I can, I follow the trail over grassy hills and rocky gullies. As I climb over another hill I startle a nest of rabbits. They run off in all directions and my first instinct is to chase after them.
I shake my furry head and tell myself to stay focused. Sometimes it's hard to ignore my wolf instincts when I'm in werewolf form, but I have to. I can't be distracted from tonight's mission. I've been hoping for this moment for weeks and I'm not going to stuff it all up to play chasey with some bunnies.
I race on and as I come up over the top of another gully I spot them: the werewolf pack.
They're resting in the moonlight near a pond. I freeze as a thousand reactions race through my brain: happiness, sadness, hope and anger. But mostly I feel relief.
I sprint towards the pack and as I get closer one of the werewolves spots me. He growls and the other werewolves jump to their feet. I stop in my tracks, confused. I don't know what kind of greeting I was expecting, but it wasn't one like this.
I take one more step forward and the werewolves spring into action. They sprint off in the opposite direction as fast as their powerful legs can carry them. I put my head down and chase after them.
Even though I'm running as fast as I can, I still can't catch up to them. I watch as they get further and further ahead of me until eventually they disappear over a hill. I come to a stop, my lungs burning. I stare at the spot where they disappeared
from sight, expecting them to come back and tell me it was all a joke.
But they don't. My wolf instincts take over again and I start to whimper. I don't understand. Why did they run? They acted like they couldn't wait to get away from me, like I was the enemy. But why would they do that? They're my family!
I can still picture them in my mind, even though they're nowhere to be seen. The small white wolf was my younger sister Lisa. The black wolf was my mum. And the big brown wolf that growled at me was my dad.
I can't believe they just left me here.
I sit back heavily on my haunches as sadness wells up inside me. I throw my head back to the moon and howl long and loud. I try to howl out all the bad feelings inside me but they just keep coming.
Suddenly something grabs my shoulder and
shakes me. I look around but there's nothing there. Then I hear a voice.
âHey, Fleaface! Wake up!'
