by Noelle Marie
Katherine was surprised when it was Nathaniel who broke it. “How could you possibly want that?” the usually quiet boy demanded angrily. He was the only other non-werewolf at the table. “You know the risks! The odds of a girl like you surviving the change are abysmal.”
Katherine winced, but Nathaniel didn’t even glance at her. He quickly snatched up his still half-full plate and marched out of the cafeteria.
A few moments later, Melanie nudged the baffled brunette with her elbow. “You know he wasn’t talking about you when he said that, right? He probably wasn’t even thinking-”
“What was that about?” Katherine demanded, cutting the other girl off.
Melanie sighed and gestured for Katherine to join her in the hallway outside of the small cafeteria. Katherine immediately obliged. Once there, the black-haired girl told her all about how Nathaniel came to live in Haven Falls. Apparently, his older sister was bitten by a werewolf a little over three years ago. She, Nathaniel, and their parents were immediately taken to Haven Falls for their own protection. It was all for not, however, as the girl didn’t survive her first transformation. Regardless, Nathaniel and his parents were stuck at the colony as they already knew of the existence of werewolves.
It was a heartbreaking story. And when Nathaniel approached her later that day to apologize for his thoughtless words, Katherine surprised even herself by pulling him into a tight embrace.
She’d learned how Mack ended up in Haven Falls the Monday immediately after. He’d told her during P.E. It was on the day that Markus, the tyrannical brute he was, had the class playing flag football in the haphazardly mowed grass behind the school.
Katherine had been appalled when Markus announced they’d be playing flag football after she and the rest of her classmates had finished running their daily laps in the gym.
Half an hour into it, however, she was mostly just bored.
Katherine realized quickly that the boys in her class considered football a man’s sport and thus, only allowed other males to ever actually touch the ball. As a result, most of the girls in her class had been reduced to playing defense and pulling on the red or yellow flags hanging from the boys’ hips – usually, in ill-disguised attempts at groping said boys.
Okay, so maybe Katherine was still a little appalled.
“You throw like a girl, Collins!” Mack shouted at the gangly boy currently acting as their team’s quarterback. He’d just thrown two incomplete passes – both of which had landed far short of their intended receivers.
“Excuse me?” Agnes exclaimed from her spot beside Katherine. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
The quarterback – Collins, apparently – turned to her. “What do you think?” he asked snidely. “Girls can’t throw – they shouldn’t even be allowed to play football as far as I’m concerned.”
“I can throw better than you, you dunce.”
Katherine believed it too. Collins really did throw like a girl – a prepubescent girl at that.
“Oh yeah? Let’s see it then,” he taunted, shoving the pigskin into Agnes’s arms.
“Gladly,” she sneered before leaning over slightly to murmur softly to Katherine. “Get open. Twenty yards or so down the field and to the left.”
Katherine grinned and immediately agreed. She was all too happy to help Agnes show Collins and all the other sexist pricks in her class what girls were really made of.
Hint: It wasn’t sugar, spice, and everything nice.
Maybe a little spice, though.
Markus blew his whistle and the two teams quickly lined up. Mack hiked the ball to Agnes. Following the other girl’s instructions, Katherine ran about twenty yards down the grassy field before angling her body slightly to the left. As promised, Agnes threw the ball right at the small brunette. And because no one was covering her, she had no trouble catching it.
Katherine turned to run towards the make-shift touchdown area. She didn’t get five yards, however, before a colossal weight slammed into her. She immediately fell to the ground, whatever – or rather, whoever – had crashed into her landing on top of her back. Oxygen was forced from her lungs and for one terrifying second she couldn’t breathe.
Then a familiar voice whispered into her ear. “You’d better get used to this position, little girl. If you survive the change, you’ll learn to love being under me.”
It was Rip.
And Katherine was disgusted.
Before she could draw a breath and respond, the weight was yanked off her. “This is flag football, you imbecile! What are you doing tackling her? She’s not even a full-fledged werewolf! You could have crushed her!” Markus was furious.
“I tripped. It was an accident,” Rip insisted.
“Get your ass back in the school and wash up. I don’t want to see your face for the rest of the afternoon.” Markus ended his tirade, turning his attention to Katherine. “Are you alright?” he demanded, his eyes still bright with obvious anger.
“I’m fine,” Katherine assured, allowing Mack to help her off the ground. He and her other classmates had gathered around as soon as Markus had begun wailing at Rip.
“You sure?” Markus asked doubtfully.
“Yeah. I’m just a little winded.”
“Whatever then,” he sighed, running a tired hand over his face. “Why don’t you sit on the sidelines for the rest of the game, just in case?”
“I’ll sit with her,” Mack immediately volunteered, surprising Katherine.
Markus grunted in acknowledgement. Katherine and Mack both took it to mean that he approved of Mack’s suggestion.
Minutes later, the football match had resumed. The two friends watched from the shade of a nearby pine tree. Katherine had to fight the urge to roll her eyes when Priscilla started shooting her dirty looks from the field.
“Don’t let them get to you,” Mack advised from his spot to her right.
Katherine furrowed her brows, turning to meet his so-light-blue-that-they-were-almost-gray eyes.
“Those popular jerkoffs, I mean,” he clarified. “You can’t let them get under your skin. Believe me, you’re not the only new kid they’ve tortured.”
Katherine frowned. “You?” she guessed.
“Yeah. I was dropped off here when I was fifteen. Don’t remember my life before I was bitten. Have no idea who bit me. It was… hard when I first got here. People like Rip only made it worse for me. Don’t let them make it worse for you too.”
Katherine had no idea how she was supposed to accomplish that. But Mack’s words had affected her – made her chest swell with compassion for the boy – and she shifted her body so she could sit just that little bit closer to him.
Looking back on that particular day of P.E. class, Katherine was still a little surprised that Markus had reacted so violently to Rip tackling her.
He had actually seemed genuinely concerned for her. He’d even asked her if she was okay.
Perhaps Katherine wasn’t really all that surprised though.
After all, she knew that Markus had it in his head that Bastian would be upset if she got hurt.
And she was beginning to suspect that he was right. Bastian’s behavior over the past two weeks had been odd to say the least. Half the time, he blatantly ignored her – acted like she didn’t even exist – and the other half of the time, the man was completely overbearing.
He was at his worst during meal times when the pack gathered around the dining table to share Caleb’s delicious food. He always inquired about her day at school. Whenever it had been bad, Katherine had simply lied to him about it. She certainly hadn’t told him about Priscilla threatening her on her first day or Rip tackling her the week after. Bastian didn’t seem like he knew she was lying so she could only assumed that Markus hadn’t told him about the difficulties she was experiencing either. Not that the other man knew anything beyond what happened in P.E.
Anyway, after grilling her about her classes, Bastian would proceed to make sure she stuffed herself �
�� practically demanding that she eat twice her weight in food. No matter how much she ate, however, he was never satisfied. He was constantly adding more food – and in particular, meat – to her plate when he thought she wasn’t looking.
She was a little insulted that the man truly thought she was that unobservant. The reality was that Katherine just knew how to pick her battles.
His erratic behavior only worsened as the date of the next full moon grew nearer.
And then, before Katherine knew it, that date – October 29, 2012 – had come.
After spending the morning getting barked at by Bastian to eat her eggs, she’d had to endure Caleb, Sophie, and Zane explaining to her what to expect that night when the full moon rose. Zane had wanted to transform in front of her so she could see exactly what it was that would be happening to her, but Bastian had adamantly refused.
Apparently, he thought it’d freak her out too much.
Which, of course, only served to freak her out.
Funny how that worked.
It wasn’t until late that afternoon that Bastian informed Katherine they’d be hiking to a remote location in the forest for her to experience her first transformation.
Only Bastian and the others in the pack would be around to witness it.
After he’d made the announcement that they’d be traipsing out into the woods, Katherine learned from Zane that the rest of the werewolves of Haven Falls would be going to some monthly celebration called a moon gathering. According to Zane, moon gatherings took place every full moon and were basically how all the packs in the small community stayed connected to each other.
Katherine was glad she didn’t have to attend that at least. She doubted any of the other werewolves in Haven Falls would have wanted her there anyway. The distinct possibility of her dying would have put a bit of a damper on things.
Anyway, within an hour of Bastian notifying Katherine of his plans, they’d left. She found herself trailing slightly behind the rest of the pack as they trekked through the tall grass and avoided the low-hanging branches of the trees in the section of forest behind Bastian’s house. Only Caleb had slowed his pace enough to stay close to her. Bastian would glance back every so often to make sure they were still following the path that he and the others forged as they trudged on ahead of them.
It was just cold enough outside for Katherine to see her breath as it was expelled from her laboring lungs. She pulled her leather jacket a little more snugly around her torso, trying to ignore the way the cotton mittens Bastian had forced onto her hands before they’d left his house largely failed at keeping her fingers warm.
She couldn’t help but wish that she’d prepared herself more for this.
Not for the hiking or the frigid air. But for the distinct possibility of death.
Death.
It was too nice a word for something so inherently frightening. People were right to be afraid of it, Katherine thought. Had every reason to fear it. The pain associated with the act of dying itself. The unknown that came after it.
But even as she thought it, Katherine didn’t feel afraid. She felt almost removed from the situation.
Situation.
Katherine snorted.
Who called what may be imminent death a situation?
She did, apparently.
Probably because the thought if it – that she might very well die tonight, probably in less than an hour from now, in fact, when she felt perfectly fine – seemed absurd.
She couldn’t die. She was only sixteen.
And it was a Tuesday. For God’s sake, who died on a Tuesday?
At least she hadn’t been made to go to school earlier that morning. That’d have been torture.
Katherine was forcibly pulled from her increasingly irrational thoughts when she tripped over an overgrown tree root, nearly losing her balance and pulling Caleb down with her.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine,” Katherine managed to force out between her teeth. She wasn’t about to point out that the only reason she hadn’t been able to see and avoid the root was because it was starting to get dark outside – the gray color of the sky slowly turning a navy blue.
They resumed walking.
What couldn’t have been twenty minutes later, Bastian and the others had ground to a halt ahead of them. Katherine and Caleb quickly caught up. She could see that they had stopped at the edge of a clearing.
The clearing was small and the grass in it so tall that it nearly reached her knees, but the ground seemed stable enough, and it was the first time that Bastian had stopped since they’d began their impromptu hike. Katherine suspected that they’d reached their destination.
She was proven to be correct when he led their small group into the center of the clearing before turning to face them – turning to face her. “Now, we wait.”
So that’s what they did. They waited.
Katherine observed quietly as the blue of the sky darkened into a purple and then a near-black. She didn’t say anything when Caleb placed a hand on her shoulder or when Sophie grabbed her forearm and squeezed. She did nothing to acknowledge the others’ stares.
And then she saw it – the moon. The pale, bright orb was slowly rising in the eastern horizon. Caleb let go of her and Sophie released her arm, but everyone’s eyes remained on Katherine.
That was when she finally felt it. The fear. Within moments, she went from feeling detached to nearly being overwhelmed by such an intense fear that she nearly stopped breathing right then. She could feel her heart jackhammering in her chest, like it wanted to burst free. She knew if she reached her fingers up to the pulse point at her neck, she’d have tangible proof of it. Her racing heart. No amount of sarcasm, anger, or forced apathy could hide it.
She didn’t want to die.
Not even if it meant joining her parents in the afterlife.
If there even was one. Katherine didn’t know for sure. How could she? But she liked to believe there was a God and that there was something that came after life.
For the first time since this crazy situation had befallen her, Katherine contemplated praying.
Then the moon’s light filtered through the towering trees surrounding the clearing where she stood and Katherine could focus on little but the heat.
Her whole body warmed. At first, it was just her chest, but it expanded to the rest of her body. Her freezing fingers were suddenly burning.
Then, the pain.
It wasn’t so terrible right away – a small, but sharp twinge in her lower back. But like the heat, the pain soon spread. And intensified. Her entire body throbbed. Even her bones ached. And Katherine knew it was because they wanted to move around – shift within her.
She instinctually fought it. Was hardly even aware of the movement going on around her – that the places where Markus, Zane, Sophie, and Caleb had once stood were now occupied by massive, four-legged creatures. Was hardly even aware that she was trembling violently and mewing softly in pain.
A large hand encircled the back of her neck and Katherine forced herself to look up and meet blue eyes set in an angular face. Bastian, some still logical part of her brain recognized.
And then he was pulling her close, ramming her face into his expansive chest and holding her there.
A moment later, he hauled her away again, but left his hand on her neck. Katherine dazedly realized that his mouth was moving. He was saying something – yelling something at her, but she couldn’t hear it over the rushing in her ears.
The pain got worse. She was vaguely aware of someone screaming. Was that awful sound coming from her?
Bastian pulled her forward again, crushing her small body to his larger form, but she somehow found the strength to yank herself away.
The man was fighting the moon’s pull, Katherine knew. The same way she was. And he was shaking – must have been hurting as much as she was.
She wanted him to give in – to change.
But somewhere in her, even as the pain
nearly overwhelmed her, she knew.
He’d wait for her. Suffer along with her for as long as it took – for as long as she chose to drag it out.
So she did it. She gave into the infinite pain – felt something inside of her crack. And then, blackness engulfed her.
#
Katherine had no idea how much time had passed before she was jolted back to reality.
She just knew that when she was, the pain had all but disappeared. There was still some lingering discomfort along her spine and her muscles were sore, but for the most part, she felt good.
Different, but good.
Except that something kept nudging her side. And Katherine didn’t like it. She was trying to think – to feel what was different about this new her – before she opened her eyes.
She knew she’d changed – successfully transformed into a wolf – but it was more than that. It was odd. She had to slog through her thoughts, yet they were racing at the same time. She could literally feel the blood – the hormones – running through her body. She felt wild. Downright primitive.
If only whatever was nudging her would stop so she could concentrate!
Katherine snapped her eyes opened and a low growl she wouldn’t have even realized was coming from her if she couldn’t feel it reverberating in her throat broke free. She picked her new body up on shaky legs and turned to face whatever it was that insisted on annoying her.
It was him.
Her dream wolf. Bastian. She’d already seen him in this form twice already, after all. But it was different seeing him this way now that she was a wolf too.
He was much bigger than her – his black fur quite a bit darker than her chocolate brown. He was still handsome. She was still attracted to him. But in addition to that, she felt this strange urge to please him. To make him notice her – like her.
And that pissed Katherine off.
Before she could consider the intelligence of her actions, she found herself growling again – this time at Bastian. Her ears lowered threateningly against her head as she took an offensive stance.
He growled back, the loud rumbling coming from deep within his chest. He took a step towards her with a giant paw.