A loud thump pulled me from my dreams of bloodlust, of fire and ice and monsters in the moonlight. My eyes flew open. My instincts kicked in. In less than two seconds, I was pushing myself to my feet and reaching for my knife.
That’s when I saw the girl. Blonde, tortured…. scared. I could smell the fear on her. I dropped my hand and stumbled backwards, my eyes darting frantically around the small space.
The first thing I registered was the heat. It wasn’t warm, per se, but compared to yesterday? Practically a sauna. The second thing I realized was the absence of the moon. The third, my fractured, horrific memories from the past night. The fourth? I was human. No for, no claws, nothing abnormal except… enhanced senses?
“Who—Who are you?” I demanded, my voice rough, “Where am I?”
My eyes widened in alarm as I took in the man. Rough. Could kill me if he wanted to. I could practically smell his strength on him. Along with that, there was the alarm. The way he sprang up and reached for something—a weapon, maybe?
Another thing I noticed were the scars. I made sure not to stare for too long, despite the aching curiosity drumming in my blood. That, and I was terrified.
And then there was his question. He was new. Just like me, he was new. He had been Turned.
“Zenith,” I breathed out, eyes darting around, trying to find something to get him to stop being on edge. To stop releasing that suffocating aura. “I’m like you.”
Her heart; I could hear it, feel it, pounding in her chest. She was terrified——of me? And her blood, rushing through her veins, it told a story. One that I couldn’t bear to here.
“No,” I breathed, shaking my head vigorously. “No. No. I was out in the woods last night. A—A rabid wolf bit me. I had a vivid hallucination. Where. Am. I.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, remembering how I had reacted when I woke up, too. Scared, terrified out of my wits. Desperately in denial.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly, trying to will my heart into stopping its marathon. Forcing myself to stop being so afraid. “Please calm down. You’ll hurt yourself.”
(So… They're just in a room in the house together?)
(Lol. Yeah. XD Zenith probably had no idea he was there when she fell asleep the other night.)
(Lol. Okay.)
Sierra:
It was the next morning, and I figured that Joe and the other new wolf — Zenith, as I'd learned from Rhys — were probably awake by now. Somehow, they'd both ended up in the same room, but I suppose that was fine. Plus, it would just add more heat to the already-warm room.
So when I stepped into the room, I wasn't surprised at all to see them both on their feet. If they'd been wolves, their hackles would have been bristling while their ears were flattened back on their heads.
"Woah, hey," I started softly, holding my hands out in front of myself. "You're both awake. And human. So that's good… Would you two mind sitting down? I think you'll want to."
I shot my eyes towards the red-haired, freckled that entered the room. I barely heard her footsteps or sensed her presence. Something told me she wasn’t new.
I turned my eyes towards the man before obliging to what the girl said, slowly taking a seat on the floor, my nails digging into my wrists.
I stared, wide-eyed, at the newcomer. Why did she seem so familiar when I’d never seen her before in my life? And why was I hyperventilating? Why were a million different smells and sounds flooding my senses?
I stumbled backwards, pulling a knife from my pocket and pointing it towards both girls. “Don’t touch me,” I growled, “Explain. Now.”
Sierra:
Gosh dang it, Rhys. Why didn't you check him for weapons?
My gaze immediately shot to the knife in his hand, and I looked back up at him with a carefully guarded expression. "Hey, woah… Just sit down, okay? I'm going to explain everything as soon as Rhys, the guy who helped you here, gets back," I started softly. "Okay? So all you need to do is sit down. We're not going to hurt you."
“Bullshit,” I spat, Of course you’re going to hurt me. But her familiar smell, it came rolling off her body in waves, and I couldn’t help but remember the wolf that had bitten me… the one with uncannily bright eyes… I shook the thought away.
But suddenly, an impossible amount of dizziness and exhaustion overwhelmed me. I sat down with a heavy thump, sweat coating my skin. “Explain.”
Sierra:
The man sat, and I nodded slowly. A quick glance toward the door showed that Rhys wasn't here yet, so I needed to stall for a moment.
"Rhys is the better one at explaining all of this. Compared to him, I'm still new," I began. "But we all have something common, though you wouldn't know it just by looks. We've each been bitten by a wolf. I can tell that you both can smell the wolf-scent coming off of me and yourselves and each other."
I gritted my teeth against a fresh wave of pain, wincing at how loud everything was.
“That’s not—That’s not an explanation.” The heat——it repulsed me. I wanted the cold, the moon, just as much as I feared it.
Sierra:
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, looking awake a moment. When I drew my gaze back to the newly turned wolves in front of me, I started again.
"The wolves that bit you weren't normal wolves, as you may have realized. They were… Well, they were werewolves, to put it bluntly." At this point, I had no idea what to say other than to tell the truth straight out.
I let out a cold, hard laugh, despite the dizziness it brought me. “I’m not stupid, you know,” I told her bitterly, “Tell me the truth. What hallucination-inducing drugs did you give me?”
Sierra:
He didn't believe me. Of course he didn't. I hadn't, either, when I first changed. He would realize soon enough that it was the truth. By the looks of it, he was about to shift very soon, even despite the warm room.
"Werewolf DNA is the only thing different in your system," I said, ever calm. "It's changing you. That's why you feel sick and why your senses seem to have increased tenfold. You can hear the blood pumping through my veins, can't you? Smell the wolfscent on me? You couldn't do that with any drugs."
“She’s not lying,” I finally spoke, letting out a sigh, rubbing my forehead. “She’s telling the truth. As hard it is to accept, it’s the truth.”
My eyes narrowed at both of them. They’re lying. They have to be. This isn’t Twilight, goddammit.
“Prove it.”
No sooner had the words left my lips, that I felt an excruciating pain tear up my arms. I fumbled for the zipper of my jacket and threw it aside——And my blood went cold.
For, thick and bristly, pushing through the skin of my arms. I felt my muscles contract, prompting a gasp of pain from my lips.
Sierra:
I winced slightly at the sight of his transformation slowly beginning. "All right, you're about to shift. So I'm taking her—" I gestured to the girl. "—and we're going to leave the room. You're about to become a wolf, and I don't know how he'll react to two half-humans in the room."
I bit down hard on my lip as he began to transform. It must hurt. Of course it did. It felt like someone was tearing me apart just to sew me back together. Why would it be different for him?
I turned my gaze towards the girl, catching the wince.
“So your idea is to just leave him here,” I repeated slowly. “Until he shifts back.”
No. Please no.
What they were saying was insane. Impossible. But the disbelief that had previously dominated every corner of my brain was now fleeing from the threat of unimaginable pain. And to top it all off, the two girls were leaving me alone with this terrifying nightmare that I refused to believe was my new reality.
My bones strained against muscle and sinew, forcing me to my knees. “Please—“ I whimpered, horrified when a guttural growl slipped past my lips. “Don’t—Don’t leave me—alone—“
Sierra:
"That's all we can do, unless we bring him outside. And if we do that, he would probably run off. Who knows where he would end up then?" I sighed. "Unless you have a better idea, that's what we have to do."
His voice, pained and frightened, reached my ears, and I cringed. Maybe I should at least stay with him. Rhys would be back any minute now, and he could take the girl…
“I’m not leaving him like this,” I furrowed my eyebrows. “He’s confused and in pain and lost. You’re supposed to help us, but you’re choosing to leave when it gets a little higher in difficulty?”
