Chapter 10 to my werewolf story!

(I really don't like this chapter. Please be kind and help me.)

Chapter Ten

The next day was agonizing. But not as bad as I knew Tuesday would be. Monday, we rested. We slept to save energy, not caring the sun was up. The entire pack descended on my house and didn’t leave. Luna cooked so much I was sure our house was gonna smell like food for years.

But Monday night, when everyone was wrestling in my backyard, Mareck and I planned. We decided to meet at Ayden at ten Tuesday night in my small meadow. It wouldn’t be hard for her to find. Mareck was worried about a path staying after we would make it, because the clouds over my house were starting to look threatening, but I told him we’d work it out.

It was late once we mapped this out, so I made a mental note to call and tell Ayden in the morning.

The pack was heated with excitement and crashed in random places around my house. Mareck ended up on my floor, the couch and Finn’s floor taken.

That night, I couldn’t sleep, and heard a small rapping on my door. I stepped lightly over Mareck and opened my door to see Isaac standing there.

“What?” I whispered, not trusting all the superears in the house.

He crouched down in the hallway beside my door. With a sigh I joined him, sliding down the wall until I was seated comfortably.

“Can’t sleep,” he mumbled, not looking at me.

“So you came to me, how sweet.” I teased, my voice lower than a whisper.

He snickered quietly. “Shhh. I just wanted to see if you were awake too.”

“Okay,” I hedged. “And?”

Isaac closed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. He looked so young in that moment. Like he was only twenty. I scooted away a little bit to avoid getting to close to him.

“And,” he whispered. “I was wondering why you can’t sleep.”

I scratched my arm. “Well…just thinking about Ayden…”

He sighed. “Oh,”

I didn’t see where he was heading. Was this the only reason he’d called me out here?

“Well,” I started to get up to leave, but Isaac’s firm hand reached out and grabbed the bottom of my night shorts.

“Kara,” he blinked up at me, eyes pleading. I looked away. I couldn’t stand to see the longing in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Isaac. I just can’t.” I breathed, then ran back into my room and slammed back onto my bed.

And then it was back to sleep. I was truly amazed at how much we could sleep. In the morning, Isaac avoided me, which was worse than pestering me in my opinion. I found myself following him and immediately started heading out of the room whenever he was around. It was hard.

The pack ate all the food in my kitchen, sending Luna, Marion, and Farrah out on a full blown grocery run. Only to eat most of the food all over again. I was glad Marshall made his money as a mechanic. It paid well. At one point Jack and Brent had this weird brawl over what channel to watch and my couch was ripped in several different places from their claws.

At around three I called Ayden to tell her our plan to meet her at ten in the meadow, to which she agreed, but said she didn’t have the slightest clue as to how to get there. I promised her Mareck and I would clear out a trail and then hung up to track down Mareck.

Once I found him, he and I ran wolf to Ayden’s complex, then started tearing trees and plants out of the way to make a path for her. It took a long time and we kept glancing nervously at the darkening storm clouds overhead.

Because, of course it would rain tonight, right? Only to add to the werewolf-scary-movie like theme we had going plus the fact that we were supposed to be outside most of the night. Fan-tas-tic.

So I was really hoping it wouldn’t rain.

After we’d laid the trail, we raced back to my place and scarfed down the dinner Luna had just prepared for everyone. When the sun went down—finally—and the moon came up I was about to burst with anxiousness.

“Calm down, Kara. Sheesh, girl.” Jack complained to me as I bounced around my living room.

When the clock struck nine, I changed into a simple dress that would be easy to get out of. When it struck nine-thirty, I gripped Mareck’s arm so tight it bruised. When it finally reached nine-fifty, Mareck and I were heading outside, and the pack headed into the woods ahead of us.

So of course the sky chose that moment to open up and release it’s stored up rain.

“Oh, no!” Mareck growled.

I paused briefly then ran to the pack. “We’ll have to find her. Our trail will be erased. I—” I halted my sentence and glanced around. “Where’s Isaac?”

Marshall shuddered as the moon beckoned us. “He ran off when it started pouring. I don’t know.”

I had to yell to be heard over the thunder. “Ugh! Okay! We’ll meet up! Bye!”

I grabbed Mareck’s arm and started sprinting to Ayden’s complex.

“Kara,” Mareck gasped, trailing behind.

It was hard to see through the downpour, but I was managing it okay. I didn’t want Ayden to get lost.

“Come on, Mareck!” I screamed and kept going.

My calves and shins were covered in sticky mud and I was absolutely drenched when I caught the lightest scent of Isaac. I skidded to a stop as I almost hit a tree about a quarter of a mile from Ayden’s apartment.

“What?” Mareck asked, gasping for breath as he stopped beside me.

“Kara,” Isaac’s deep voice called behind me.

I turned to see him standing under an umbrella held by Ayden. I sighed in relief. We weren’t too far from the meadow now.

“Thank goodness. I was so worried.” I rushed toward them and hugged Isaac, who smiled in surprise.

“I found her stumbling away from your trail. It’s still a little followable.” Isaac said.

Thunder boomed in the distance. I groaned. But it was like mother nature knew how important tonight was, because the rain lightened quite a bit and the clouds moved a little faster.

“Oh, great.” I smiled.

“I’m going to find the pack. Be quick you guys.” Isaac said then darted off. I saw him convulse slightly before he was out of my line of sight.

“Okay, let’s do this.” Mareck said, leading the way.

Ayden was strangely silent. She closed her umbrella since the canopy of trees was blocking the drizzle. I watched her as we walked, but her face was completely wiped of emotion. Blank.

The moon still hadn’t broken free from behind the clouds, but I could feel my muscles twitching in expectation and my stomach clenching as the liquid edged its way from my abdomen. I wouldn’t be able to stay human much longer or I would be in immense pain.

When we reached the little meadow, Ayden dropped her umbrella on the ground beside me and strode to one of the little ponds.

The dark clearing around us was beautiful even though it was really dark. The grass and plants were dripping water and they glistened slightly in the tiniest bit of moonlight.

My spine rippled.

“Ayden?” I asked hesitantly, flinching at the sound of crunching leaves under our feet.

She was crouched in front of a little pond, staring at her reflection.

She didn’t look up. Her hair, I noticed, was out of its usual braid. It hung long down her back. She shifted slightly.

“Does it hurt bad? I had a dream last night, and it hurt.” The pain in her voice gripped my heart like a steel trap.

I held my hand out to stop Mareck when we were two feet from her.

“Not like your Attacks, no. It does hurt a little bit, yes, but it turns amazingly sweet almost immediately. It’ll be all right, honey.” I whispered. The rain stopped altogether.

Ayden nodded to herself and stood up to face me. I stared her down when she met my gaze, even though the pain I saw in her eyes made the wolf in me cower.

“I had to sneak out. Mom will be worried. I left a note. I think maybe…after this, maybe I can look for my dad.” She said, hands trembling.

My spine rippled again, and my abdomen screamed as I held it back. I tried not to let it show, but it was hard since my hands stretched into claws. Ayden noticed.

“Oh…we should,” she gulped. “hurry.”

“Yes, you will feel better soon. I swear Ayden.” Mareck said, speaking for the first time. She looked at him with hopelessness.

“Sure,”

“Please,” I said quietly.

Ayden took a deep breath and wiped her hands on her jeans. “Okay, what do I do?” she didn’t sound like she thought this would work.

Mareck stepped closer to her. This was why he was here.

“Okay, Kerza is you. You two are one, only she is locked up. You will need to find the lock and unlock it. But first you need to feel for your inner wolf, no matter how corny that sounds.” He smiled. “She is in your mind, body, heart, and soul. She’s in every cell in your veins. She just needs a little shove. You will know the Change has begun when you—”

I groaned a little as my stomach cramped. I couldn’t take this much longer. Maybe twenty minutes, but that was pushing it to the extreme. My ears grew taller and started to move more up to the top of my head.

Mareck and Ayden were staring at me. Ayden looked a little more hopeful and Mareck looked concerned.

“Never mind me, just hurry.” I grunted.

Mareck continued. “As I was saying, you will know the Change has begun once you feel a burning in your stomach. It will travel from there. But you have to imagine it traveling or it will take longer. Second, you’ll need to expand your mind, which truthfully is the hardest thing to do. The Change will come more naturally once you open your mind. So, you need to learn the mantra. It—”

“Can I tell her? Sorry, I need a distraction.” I mumbled. I clenched my fists. My claws were unsheathed and my palms were rough, but they were still relatively human.

“Of course, you can.” Mareck said, smiling. “I’m only here to help, and you are too.”

I nodded. “Thanks,”

Ayden was watching me intently with a now curious look. “Kara, I really want this.” She whispered.

I grinned then shut my mouth. My teeth were sharp.

“And you’ll get it. Just keep repeating after me, okay? You will be able to tell when your mind expands. Trust me on that one. It’s beautiful.” I said, softening my expression from pain.

Ayden looked at me for a long moment then relaxed. “Thank you so much. Okay, what is the…thing?”

I took a deep breath, ready to recite what I had been taught at age before I could speak.. “Memorize this: May I see through intuitive eyes as the great wolf; may the moon goddess help me embrace my true potential; may I howl in celebration of my transformation; may I feel the wolf’s blood flow through my veins; may I feel the rush of speed as my mind opens to the greatness gifted to us and hear the thoughts of my pack.”

Ayden took a deep breath, then recited it. We kept that up, me, Mareck, then Ayden reciting it, until we were sure she had it down pat.

“Okay…do you…feel it?” Mareck asked as Ayden’s eyes flared blue.

She sucked in a quick breath and blinked. “Yes,”

Mareck nodded. “Good. That’s the start, honey. Keep picturing it flowing through you.”

Ayden ran her hand over her stomach. “Whoa. That…hurts…but doesn’t.” She looked at me, suddenly panicked. “What if I can’t? Ow,”

My hands were trembling into claws again and my spine was really killing me, but I managed a calm smile—I think—and took her shaking hand. “You will, Ayden.”

Marshall howled in the distance. It was time to do this.

Ayden gasped. “Whoa, that’s so weird. Now?”

Mareck sighed. “Yes, Kara?” He smiled at me and headed in a different direction. “You help her there. I’ll go change.”

Ayden watched him leave with mild disappointment.

“C’mon, over here.” I said, leading her behind the cover of a giant oak tree. The bark was rough and soothing against my itching skin.

Ayden stared at me awkwardly until her breathing turned to gasps and she was hyperventilating. Her back rippled, I saw the vertebrae poke through the fabric, and she leaned against the tree.

“Clothes,” I whispered.

She nodded and started slipping them off without hesitation.

The moon broke through the trees then and the silver light prickled my skin. I couldn’t take it anymore. My skin rippled like boiling water and my hands erupted into long claws. Longer than before. Ayden gasped and looked at me with worry. Her lips were moving slightly. I crouched—ah, much better—and listened.

“I-I know it hurts, ple-please, don’t leave me. Not yet.”

So I used every ounce of my will to hold it back. I wouldn’t leave her. Not when the pain in her voice ripped through my head the way it did.

Ayden fell forward on the ground and groaned, her back now to me.

Suddenly, I was confused. She…didn’t look right. The transformation swept over her differently. She whimpered.

“It’s okay,” I whispered, not at all sure.

I watched Ayden take two deep breaths as her now naked body glowed ivory in the full moon light. I kept my eyes on her face, contorted in excruciating pain and drenched in sweat.

She crouched down lower to the ground and coughed blood as her spine made a heart-wrenching crunching sound.

This is so wrong. Why does it hurt them so much this way? Why? But my questions were useless. I had no answers. I could hear Mareck’s voice echo in my head. Something he’d told me when we talked through our plan. “Lead her on. Guide her.”

My voice was hesitant as I watched nearly helpless a few feet from her writhing form. “Ayden, feel for Kerza. Don’t lose her image. Force it through you, honey. Please. You are both the same being.”

She snickered and curled her now bloody fingers around the leaves and dirt scattered around the trees.

“It-it won’t wor—” she choked off with a guttural snapping coming from deep in her throat, the sound of her windpipe tearing I guess, and leaned forward to put her head in her dirty hands.

This was so wrong. The transformation was painful at first, yes, but this was horrible. My own pain at holding my Change back ceased as I watched her. It was supposed to feel extraordinary and liberating, not suffocating and dirty.

Ayden’s back arched skyward, like the full moon was pulling her to it, then she collapsed once again.

“It’s working,” I whispered, hurting to see my best friend in so much pain.

She groaned and shivered as her back legs popped and stretched to the tune of the Change. She whipped her head back and forth, finally resting her gaze on mine.

And I thought my eyes were violent. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Her eyes were that glowing blue, but there was so much in them. I could see images behind the catastrophic swirling of blue. Images of Ayden screaming in pain during one of her Attacks, of her wanting to explode but not knowing how to Change, of her staring in the mirror, only to see the bloody reflection of a half-wolf staring back at her. I could see the danger in her eyes. Her eyes…so blue. The blue that you see in the cleanest parts of the ocean. So light. But her eyes were not light. There was so much pain attached to those eyes. They churned and swirled with horror as she stared into my soul. At least that’s what it felt like.

She had the kind of eyes that, most times, they stayed calm, like the soft lapping of waves at your feet. But when you weren’t looking, they were a massive tidal wave crashing against the shore. She had ocean eyes.

“Kara,” she hissed, then choked for breath. Her hair spread around her body, and she buried her head in her hands.

From there on it was smoother. Her spine stretched and elongated into a tail-like structure as her skin disappeared and short tufts of her sprouted up. Her arms went backward, her legs creaked as her feet pulled in as paws, and in one violent shudder, her entire body convulsed into a massive white wolf.

Kerza had arrived.