Forgotten

Chapter 11: The Change

Some of my chapters are average length (for me) and some are super long (for me). Unfortunately, this one is one of the average ones.

Alex:

There was a crushing weight on my chest. I squirmed and tried to push it off, but my arms felt heavy. I tried to draw in a deep breath, but it came out more of a whimper. "Lexi Bear?"

I tried to speak, but my mouth felt like cotton. I couldn't figure out what was happening. I blinked, and then yelped as everything came into focus. The entire world seemed different, but I couldn't figure out why.

From what I could tell, I was lying on a black leather couch. There was an unfamiliar matching black chair across the room. I winced as my skin stuck to the couch when I moved. I looked around to see Tucker sitting on the floor in front of the couch. "What-" I licked my lips and tried again, "What happened?"

"Do you remember anything?" he asked softly as he rubbed his eyes.

I started to shake my head, but then stopped myself, "Wait. We were at my house... and then... we were in the woods?" I asked, not completely sure I was remembering things correctly.

Tucker nodded, and then asked, "Anything beyond that?"

"A wolf was following us?" I questioned.

"Coyote." He quickly corrected.

"Okay, so a coyote was following us? Why would a wild animal have been following us?" I felt like nothing was making sense.

He hesitated as he rubbed his jaw with his fingers. "The coyote wasn't exactly a wild animal..." he trailed off, but then jumped up to help me when he saw I was trying to sit up.

"So... where am I? And how did I get here?" I found myself asking. I saw the huge T.V. on the other side of the room, and a large tank of colorful fish against the wall by the door.

"Easy, Lexi Bear. I'm not sure I should be the one to explain what happened." He replied as he helped me sit up. "And we're at Rylan's. He's with his dad right now. Kane just went to the kitchen for something to eat. We've been here with you all night."

"All night?" I glanced at the window behind me and saw a sliver of light shining dimly from under the blinds. It looked more like the light from a street lamp or a high powered flashlight, than the sun.

"It's about three in the morning." Tucker replied to my unasked question.

I heard Kane enter the room behind me, but I wasn't sure how I knew it was him. "I thought I heard you talking." He sat down on the end of the couch next to my feet. "How are you feeling?"

I blinked a couple of times when I turned towards him and realized he was only wearing a pair of black pajama pants. The world sounded like the volume had been turned up, my body ached everywhere, and I was terrified. Apparently I'd passed out and didn't remember things from yesterday. I shrugged, "I've been better." I was feeling grumpy, but it wasn't their fault that I couldn't remember what had happened after that coyote had moved closer to us.

Tucker made me sit up straighter and then sat behind me. He pulled me onto his lap and gently rubbed my hip. I wasn't sure why, but the circular motions he made against the mark on my hip relaxed me enough that I suddenly wasn't in as much pain now.

I frowned when I realized I was no longer in my dress, but a pair of black drawstring pants and a black t-shirt, both of which were way too big. "What happened to the dress I was wearing earlier?"

Tucker's cheeks turned red as he seemed to stammer before finally saying, "It was damaged beyond repair. I'm sorry."

I bit my lip and tried to process what he was saying. "It was damaged? How?"

Tucker shook his head, "I really shouldn't be the one explaining this to you. Once Rylan comes back, he can do it. Or maybe his dad."

I thought that maybe I should try to press the issue, but the truth was, I was too tired and sore to muster up that much indignation about my beautiful dress.

Rylan:

"Rylan, how much do you know about this girl?" My dad's voice was stern as his gaze seemed to bore into me.

I shrugged, "She's just a girl we met in school."

He shook his head, "That's it? You don't know why a stray would be after her? Because I saw the condition her house was left in and it isn't pretty." He crossed his arms over his chest, which made his arms and chest look even more heavily muscled than normal.

I made eye contact with him for only a few seconds before I looked down at the dark red carpet. "I'm sorry, Father. I know you don't want us making mortal friends... she just looked like she desperately needed a friend..."

I trailed off when I ran out of words. "You didn't realize she was a shifter?" he asked.

I shook my head, "No, sir." After a brief pause, it suddenly dawned on me that he'd said she was a shifter. "Wait, what? A shifter?"

My dad nodded, "Yes. How could you not realize this?"

My dad had taught me all about shifters. I knew that instead of being born with the ability to change, like a werewolf, a shifter came into their power on their sixteenth birthday. "Wait... if she's a shifter... Aw, shit. Today was her birthday, Father."

"Today?" He seemed to mull that over for a moment, and then chuckled low in his throat. "That would explain it then. Shifters aren't magical. You wouldn't be able to sniff out a shifter before their first time, which, coincidentally, always happens on their sixteenth birthday. That would explain things." His eyes swept over me as I bounced my leg nervously, just waiting for him to excuse me.

He suddenly smiled at me in a way that made me uncomfortable. "You may go back to your friends and this girl. I'll call the school to let them know that none of you will be attending classes today."

"Thank you, Father." I replied as I started the back out of the office.

Before I could get all the way out of the office, my dad called out, "Rylan, you and your boys are on protection detail until we figure out why someone is after her. I had to claim her to get her to change back, so she's part of our pack now. I had your mother fix her a room in your hallway."

I nodded in understanding. We lived in a large, three story house. Kane and I had a hallway all to ourselves, but there was an empty guest room as well. It was so rarely used that we'd forgotten it was there at times.

I heard Tucker and Kane talking in the living room, along with the low murmur of the T.V. When I stepped into the room, I noticed Alex in Tucker's lap as he lightly rubbed her hip. I narrowed my eyes slightly when I realized he was rubbing her in the same place we had our mate marks. Her shirt had ridden up, and I saw the slight outline of what appeared to be the top of a paw print. "Shit." I muttered.