by Jamie Lake
She whipped around to face her people. The chanting stopped and the crowd stepped back. “Which one of you did this?”
I searched the crowd, the puma faces as confused as mine. I spotted Buck between two puma women, and he smiled.
“Which one of you has denied me my justice!” the queen screamed.
A splitting pain erupted in my gut and I doubled over. It pierced my mind and the inhuman cry of a terrible animal sounded from everywhere and nowhere at once. Every part of my body throbbed and tingled, as though something was trying to get out. I coughed, my lungs on fire.
“Step back!” The queen’s voice garbled in my ears, at once louder and more desperate.
“What’s happening?” I collapsed and writhed on the ground. Was this a magic spell, placed upon me by the queen? Hot razors tore into my skin. Every bone ached, every ligament ripped. The day grew brighter and each being in attendance, even Japheth and Elijah as they watched from afar, impinged on my consciousness. Their unique smells and sounds — their very heartbeats — reaching me as if I’d developed a new sense. The pain peaked and I roared at the injustice of my death, the sound matching the rhythm of the beast within me.
It stopped as quickly as it had come upon me. I pushed myself up onto my feet and rubbed my head. In the distance, Japheth stirred. The queen’s mouth hung open. I looked down at my hands and saw claws where my nails should have been. Dark, sleek fur that resembled a puma’s replaced my skin. No. It couldn’t be.
I groaned and ran my hand across my face. For so long I had been Buck’s, I had been with the wolves, and now I was their greatest enemy. But my nose didn’t feel like a puma’s nose. I caught my reflection in the pool. It wasn’t human, I wasn’t human. I wasn’t a wolf. Nor a puma. I was something else, something more.
“This is not possible!” The queen looked at her people but none stepped forward to speak.
Buck pushed his way through the dumbstruck crowd, Elijah and Japheth supporting his weight. “It is very possible because he is the chosen one. Your pumas marked him when they attacked but I marked him for love before that. It took both of us to fulfill the prophecy.”
For so long there had been tension between the pumas and wolves but I was the chosen one. I was the one who could bring the two packs together. I was no longer a man. Nor was I wolf or puma. I was all three and that gave me my strength.
“Do you see now? Do you see what I am? I never thought I was special but everyone told me I was the chosen one. I didn’t know what that meant until now. I am puma. I am wolf. For too long our two packs have been fighting. Think of the good you can do if we work together. There has been much blood spilled on both sides but, at some point, that must change. All you’re going to do is wipe yourselves out. Let the fighting end. Aren’t you all tired of it? I understand you have your traditions but they’re leading you down a dark path. I still don’t know fully what it means but it shows that wolves and pumas can come together and unite. Let the hate end. Let the fighting be done. We must move forward.”
The puma people chattered to each other and the older warriors crowded around the queen. I sensed that she was thoughtful but, beyond that, she could still do anything, including killing Japheth, Buck, Elijah and I.
Japheth studied me, his face slack. I gestured at my new body and held my hands out, eager to see his reaction.
The queen emerged from her conference and the crowd quieted. She ascended the rock from whence she’d condemned Buck and cleared her throat. “Go. We have much to discuss. Expect an envoy from us tomorrow. For now, consider the peace treaty to be in effect again.” With that, she strode to the great hall, followed by the other pumas.
I ran to Buck and, with my newfound strength, took him in my arms. Japheth and Elijah clapped me on my shoulders.
“I knew you had it in you. And you look fucking sexy.” Buck laid his head against my chest and, for once, I was glad to be his savior rather than the other way around. “All you had to do was believe.”
I laughed and the tears came. I hugged him tighter.
***
I set Buck down onto his bed and the healer went to work, stripping his clothes and applying healing salve.
“Leave us. Don’t worry, he will survive.” The healer smiled at me and nodded.
I passed through the curtain. Japheth waited for me, the other wolves behind him. I think he saw it in my eyes — I’d made my final decision, the one that I’d struggled with since meeting the brothers. They were both special to me and for a long time I didn’t know how I could choose between them.
But Buck was the man I loved. I’d been willing to sacrifice my life for him. He was the one that I knew I wanted to be with. Still, it was going to be a difficult conversation with Japheth. I gestured for him to join me away from the other wolves.
“It’s going to take me awhile to get used to you looking like this.” Japheth tried to grin but the tension in his face turned it into a frown, his eyes sad.
“Hold on.” The change had been so abrupt in me that I hadn’t yet become accustomed to the different abilities I had, or how to transform back to a human. The voices outside were a cacophony in my head. I willed myself back to human form and, exhausted, sat down on Japheth’s bed. “You’ll get the chance. I’ll be sticking around.”
“Good,” he whispered.
“Look, I wanted to tell you myself. I know we’ve been close and it’s been great. I wouldn’t change that for the world. But Buck marked me for love and I think, in a way, I marked him as well. We’ve been talking about the future a lot and we both want the same things, like a family. He’s the man of my dreams and while I think that what you and I had was special, I’m not sure I’m what you want, not in the long term.”
He cocked an eyebrow and shrugged away the obvious pain. Oh, how I wish I found it that easy to deal with my emotional anguish. “I wish you two the best. We’ll have to build you a new hut, you know.” He nodded and turned away.
Elijah peeked through the curtain. “Japheth?” It all clicked for me now, the way Elijah looked at him and how the blond werewolf was so jealous of me. He had more than a passing interest in Japheth and I hoped that something could happen between the two of them.
Japheth exited his room and I slipped into Buck’s chambers once more. The healer was gone and I took a seat next to my love.
“You’re too much.” He grinned up at me, his swollen eye and broken lip breaking my heart.
“I’m your 'too much'.” I leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. He winced and I retreated, but he reached up and held my face close, our lips pressed together.
The curtains shuffled behind me and a ray of light entered the room. “I suppose this means that you’re the alpha,” Japheth said. “The chosen one has chosen you, and that’s the way the prophecy says it’s supposed to go.”
Buck laughed. He propped himself up on one elbow and shook his head. “No, you deserve to be the alpha. You have always cared more about the pack, and all I care about is Nathan. In fact, I might like to travel and see the world, once I’ve recovered.”
It meant a lot to me that Buck would place me above being the alpha, but all this time he had been my alpha, and he always would be. I wasn’t sure what the future held for any of us, especially me with my new abilities, but I was excited to be with Buck. He was my man, my love, and we were going to be utterly devoted to each other.
THE END