Masked SheWolf

by Yara Gharios

  "Because, it's-it's just," she stutters. "No!"

  She doesn't seem to notice that she covers her chest with both hands. And that's when it dawns on me; she hasn't been a girl almost all her life. How can I expect her to be okay with stripping for someone when she's only been taught to be embarrassed of her femininity?

  I soften and try to make up for my insensitivity with a small smile. "I'm sorry Dyl, I don't mean to embarrass you," I reassure her while taking off my jacket. "Here; you can take your clothes off behind the tree and come out covering yourself in this. It's not much, but it's better than being completely exposed. I don't want you to feel self-conscious, but I do want to see the change happening."

  Wordlessly, she stares at me then at the jacket I'm offering her. It's clear that she expected me to put up more of a fight. Normally, I would have, but I'm trying not to give her any more reasons to distrust me again. I want her to be completely herself with me from now on, and she won't come out of her shell so long as she feels threatened.

  For a moment, she just stands there, trying to determine what to make of my gesture. Then, slowly, her facial features begin to relax into a calm determined look.

  Instead of taking the jacket, she steps back and starts taking her hoodie off. I'm very surprise, but I recover quickly and try to reassure her with a smile. When I see what makes her chest looks flat, I can't suppress my amusement. My eyebrows shoot up and I cover my mouth to hide a grin.

  Her face is all red when she takes that off, then her shoes, socks, jeans and boxers, until she's standing sideways without any clothes on in front of me. Her eyes immediately close. She's got a very nice body, slender but firm. No wonder she looks so skinny as a boy. There's only one problem with it.

  "Damn girl, if you just shave, you'd be smoking," I can't help teasing her.

  She chuckles half-heartedly. "That's funny," she comments without humor. "Now let me concentrate."

  I stay quiet so she can focus on changing without any distraction. The change happens slowly, starting with white fur growing from her neck and spreading to her spine, then from there to her limbs until it covers the rest of her body. Slowly, every part of her morphs into her animal shape, and she bends over on all fours when the final moment passes.

  A beautiful white wolf stands before me, shaking its fur. I am so awed that I can't keep the smile off my face. She opens her eyes, and I'm surprised that they've turned blue. Cade's always remained the same the few times he showed me his wolf form.

  When I don't say anything, Dylan cocks her head to the side curiously, as if to ask me if I'm okay. Unable to contain my glee, I squeal and start hopping in place and clapping my hands at the same time. Startled, Dylan jumps back a step.

  "That was so cool!" I cheer.

  She tries to laugh but it comes out as repeated yelps. The child in me suddenly wants to play tag with the cute fluffy animal.

  "Catch me!" I squeak and take off running.

  I don't get very far before Dylan blocks my way. I stumble over her and we fall to the ground together. Overjoyed, I giggle like crazy, while she pins me down under her stomach.

  "I surrender!" I manage to say. "You win! Get off me!"

  She retreats and settles on her stomach next to me, waiting for me to catch my breath. It takes me a moment, but I finally do.

  "That was so awesome," I breathes out.

  Dylan huffs in approval, resting her head on her front paw and watching me with an unmistakable glint of amusement in her big blue eyes.

  We lay there in comfortable silence for a while. But then another idea passes my mind, and I sit up cross-legged and face her. "You think we can race or wrestle?"

  She lifts her head and frantically shakes it.

  I can't help pouting. "Why not?"

  She looks up at the sky, then in the direction of the pack house, and then back at me. She's trying to tell me that it's late, and we should get back.

  I sigh dramatically. "Two more minutes?" I beg. "This is just like having a huge stuffed animal! I just want to cuddle you all day!"

  She barks out a laugh. Out of nowhere, she licks my nose. I laugh again and wrap my arms around her neck.

  "Sadie!"

  Both of us jump and spring apart. I am horrified to find Cade standing there.

  Chapter 21

  Michael

  Cade struggles with words as he stares at us in complete and utter shock. I'm too dumbfounded that he's actually here and I'm once again exposed that I'm frozen in place. The minute he will charge at me, I won't have a way to escape. I can feel it building inside him, but I can't move. Plus, my brain is still working somehow, and it's telling me to keep my pelvic area against the ground no matter what, as long as he's close.

  There were two things I found weird when Sadie told me about her relationship with Cade; first is the fact that they weren't together -in the physical sense- until she was eighteen, when I know they've been together -in the other sense- long before that.

  Second is the fact that Cade still hasn't shifted in front of her. Usually, werewolves are dying to show their mate their wolf form. It's a very meaningful act in our world, because it's like recreating the mate bond. Like letting their mate inside their very soul and showing them that they're theirs forever. It's strange that Cade would still be self conscious over this instead of jumping at the opportunity to express how much she means to him.

  So if shifting in front of your mate is a very meaningful act of love, finding them with another wolf would be a very meaningful act of betrayal, at least at first sight. But I can't really blame the guy for thinking that. I mean, what else is he supposed to think? That I'm a girl and Sadie's not really cheating on him?

  "How could you?" he finally utters, and even I'm moved by how heartbroken he sounds.

  It takes Sadie two seconds after he asks that question to realize how this must look like, jump up and run to him frantically.

  "No, no, baby, I swear, this is not what it looks like," she pleads with him, seeing his expression becoming more and more deflated. "I love you, I would never do anything like that to you!"

  "Did you watch him shift?" he asks again, his tone growing harsher with every word, although his eyes are still fixed on me. Sadie's hesitation causes him to snap his head in her direction and glare at her. "Did you?" he repeats. "Answer me Sadie, or so help me-"

  "Yes, but it's not what you think! Cade, please let me explain!" she begs.

  What?! Explain what? She's not going to tell him is she? I desperately hope.

  Suddenly, it's like she's not even there anymore. Cade slowly faces me again, and there is such hate in his eyes that I would have burst into flames if that were possible.

  "You," he growls.

  That's when he moves Sadie to the side and flies at me. Seriously, for a second there, it actually looks like he's flying. But then he explodes mid-air into a grey wolf and his clothes are ripped to shreds and thrown around him like fireworks. That's when I finally regain the ability to move. There's no point in staying still anymore, unless I want to get beat up and chewed off. There's nothing like a jealous and angry mate to get even the bravest werewolves to tuck their tail between their legs and run away in fear.

  I take off before he can even reach me. Vaguely, I hear Sadie's voice shouting something, probably calling out for us, but I can't think about anything other than fleeing for my life. I hope to God that all those years of beating my brothers at races and bragging about being the fastest even though I'm the smallest pay off right now.

  My heart is beating a mile a minute, both from the fear and from the running. This is the fastest I've ever run in my life, but I can still hear him chasing me. He can't be any more than ten feet behind me. So I push myself even harder until my lungs are about to explode and heat is searing through all four of my legs. I don't know how long it takes him to catch up to me, but it can't be more than two minutes.

  Pain rips through my tail and spreads up my body as he bites down on it. A yelp
escapes from my snout and I double over involuntarily. This is exactly the opening he needs to tackle me. I fight back, and for a moment I succeed in turning him over, but it's only a fraction of a second before he has the upper hand again and pins me to the ground.

  I'm lying on my side staring up at him as he growls and snaps his teeth menacingly. There's nowhere to go anymore; I'm stuck. If I had any idea what he's about to do, I would have stayed there complacently and waited until he left thinking I learned my lesson. But for some reason, Sadie's face pops in my mind, and it haunts me.

  Even if he does leave me alone now, there's no mending that rift in their relationship. I trust her; I know she'd never tell him. But I also love her, and I know she loves him. I would hate myself if I was what ruined their relationship after they're been together so long. More importantly, Cade's the pack beta; Logan may be on my side now, but once word gets out that his right-hand man caught me with his mate in the forest, and I was in wolf form, there'd be no more mercy for me.

  Against all my instincts and my better judgment, I take a deep breath and close my eyes. A couple of seconds later, I've changed back into human form, and I lie still beneath him, completely and utterly exposed. I swallow down my embarrassment and keep my eyes screwed shut as I hear Cade's growl cut off into a shocked yelp. Milliseconds later, he jumps off me abruptly and I hear him back away several steps.

  Tentatively, I open my eyes and sit up, automatically bringing my legs up with me to cover my chest and cross my feet. Cade is standing three feet away from me, still in wolf form. His breathing is heavier than mine but he's frozen just as I was before this whole chase game even began. We take a moment to catch our breaths, never taking our eyes off each other.

  "I don't want to push you or anything," I say in my normal voice when I'm calm enough to talk, "but I'm kind of naked here, and this isn't the most ideal position to be in. So are you going to kill me or what?"

  He blinks and sits back on his hind legs, his front paws holding him up. A moment later, he starts morphing back to human form.

  "Whoa there!" I yell in surprise and cover my eyes. "I didn't mean do that!"

  "How else am I supposed to answer you?" his voice asks, and I'm relieved to hear that it holds no trace of the animosity he always has for me. I don't know whether it's safe to remove my hand or not, so I don't, until he tells me, "You can look now."

  Hesitantly, I do as he says. He's sitting in a similar position only his legs aren't covering his torso as much as mine are, which leaves his chest exposed. He's more buff than I originally thought. But now's not the time to notice that, and it's not as if I like what I'm seeing anyway. Frankly, I've seen more in my brothers. I wait for him to say something, at the very least to answer my question, but he just sits there looking at me. After a while, I can't take it anymore.

  "Are you going to just stare at me all day?" I wonder.

  "I need a moment to process," he tells me.

  "Well, can you not take too long?" I request. "Because, supposedly, the next group going for training will be here any minute, and I don't really feel like being outed in front of the whole world in just one day."

  Cade takes a deep breath and holds it in for a moment before letting it out. "I don't understand how this is possible," he finally says nervously.

  "What? That I'm female? What does it matter? At least now you know I'm not trying to steal your girlfriend," I attempt to joke.

  Regret flashes in his eyes and he frowns uncertainly, though his expression is still clouded by his confusion over this whole thing. "Uh, yeah, sorry about, you know, that. I know I'm a little overprotective, but it's because I care about her."

  I shrug. "Meh, I would have done the same," I reassure him. "Besides, when she finds out what happened here, she's either going to flip out that you saw another woman naked or be happy that she finally saw you shift."

  Suddenly, his eyes widen as what he just did back in the clearing registers. "No! Damn it, this is not how I wanted it to go!" he complains, sounding frustrated.

  This is good; this is distracting him from finding out my secret and not knowing how to handle it. I use this opportunity.

  "What is that about, by the way?" I ask without thinking twice about it. "Why haven't you shifted in front of her, yet?"

  He grimaces and gives me a look. "She told you?"

  I shrug again. "Of course. She's my best friend," I state the obvious, secretly proud.

  He sighs heavily and runs his hands over his face. "I was going to wait until she graduated."

  That's still weird. "But why?" I'm curious to know.

  His eyes meet mine and he gives me a very serious and intense stare. "You won't tell her?"

  Taken aback, I pause before answering him. "Only if you keep my secret."

  He stares flatly at me, his whole expression practically screaming the word 'Duh!' That's a relief.

  "Okay, I won't tell her, or anybody for that matter," I agree.

  He unconsciously rubs his hands together, and I get the feeling that's a nervous habit of his. "I was planning on asking her to marry me on the same day."

  I gasp in surprise. Wow, marriage at eighteen and nineteen? I don't know how I feel about that. But I guess in our world, it doesn't really matter. We all plan to be with one person for the rest of our life, except for me, of course. Cade's lucky enough that he found her.

  However, while in theory, his idea sounds romantic and all, to literally bare his soul to her right before proposing, in practice, it's hard to imagine it being carried out.

  "So... what? You're going to take your clothes off, shift into wolf form, shift back into human form, then get down on one knee, butt naked, and propose?" I question doubtfully.

  He frowns disapprovingly at me. "No, of course that's not how I plan to do it. Never mind."

  I can see that I was a jerk, and I backtrack a little, softening in the process. "Sorry," I say honestly. "I'm sure you have a good plan, and it's really not business, but I know Sadie's going to love it no matter what you do."

  Instead of thanking me the way I imaged he would, Cade just stares at me with a grimace fighting its way onto his face. Finally, it breaks free.

  "I'm sorry, this is just too weird right now," he confesses. "I mean, one second, you're a guy, and the next, you look like, like... that, and you even sound like a girl. How the hell did you manage to keep it a secret for so long?"

  I expected his confusion. I guess not everyone is as open-minded and easy-going as Sadie. "Well, the short version is that I was kept on a very tight leash. I'll tell you the long version when we're not completely naked in the middle of the forest and werewolves might burst in here any moment and find out my secret," I hint.

  He nods guiltily. "Right, sorry, let's go."

  At that moment, before we even begin to shift so we could go back, a figure suddenly bursts into the forest and almost trips on us. For a second, my heart beat speeds up in fear, but then I see that it's actually Sadie and relax again. When she sees us there, she stumbles to a halt and stares back and forth at us incredulously, her breathing labored.

  "Hi," I tentatively say when she keeps quiet, feeling the awkwardness increase by a hundred percent.

  "I... have been... running... all over... looking... for you. What... the hell... happened?" she manages to ask.

  Cade and I exchange a look. "We, uh, came to an understanding," I reply.

  I can't exactly say we bonded, because things are very weird between us right now. But still, it's better than the tension that used to exist, and I'm hoping things will get better now that he knows. I've never had a guy outside my family know my secret, so this should be interesting.

  "What- but-" she stutters. "You saw... her naked?"

  Seriously? This is what she's worried about right now?

  I roll my eyes. "Sadie, come on."

  She glares at me. "I wasn't... talking... to you," she heaves, and then turns to Cade.

  "Baby, can we talk about this when
I'm dressed?" he asks. "You know I love only you, but I'd rather not stay like this any longer than I have to."

  Not ten minutes ago, she was reassuring him that she's not in love with me, and now he's doing the same. Talk about ironic.

  "I second that," I interject.

  Sadie ignores me and takes a moment to catch her breath. Then she nods, going back to her usual self. "Okay. Go on then; shift!"

  Cade's face falls, and he throws me a distressed look. I take the hint.

  "Hey Sadie, want to ride on my wolfy back on the way to get my clothes?" I suggest. "I can run if you want me to."

  My idea works, and Sadie's face immediately lights up with a smile. "Oh yes!" she squeals. "Please?"

  "Alright, then stand back a little," I tell her.

  When she does as I say, I close my eyes and shift quickly. There's no need to take it slow this time. It feels good to change at this speed, like going downwards on a roller coaster really fast. I involuntarily shake my fur when it's done and then open my eyes. Sadie is still staring at me with excitement glowing in her eyes and smiles, and her hands joined together by her heart. With my head, I motion for her to come on up, and she bounces over to me like a child.

  That was the first time I've played with a human in wolf form. If I had thought about it before doing it, I probably would have worried too much about hurting her and not done it. Not that I didn't hold back, but I did enjoy it nonetheless.

  Her weight is bearable on my back, thanks to my strength, and I waste no time running out of there, following the trail Cade and I left behind. Sadie's laugh rings through the air like bells. I sincerely hope this earns me brownie points with her boyfriend, so that I don't regret telling him. He's technically the first person I myself willingly reveal my secret to. And for some reason, I trust that he will keep it.

  Chapter 22

  Mason

  "Last call, boarding to Paris," the voice in the intercom calls.