The Only One

The Change

The full moon was brightly glowing and the sky was littered with stars twinkling delightedly, as they gazed below to the ceremony that was taking place. A crowd of people and wolves stood around a single being, all silently encouraging the girl who was screaming in pain. Her bones were breaking, her body aching, her skin was on fire, and her pores were screaming as fur started to sprout from them. Her screams echoed the silent night, with mumbles of soothing words from the crowd. As she began to be more beast than human, tears escaped her eyes. They were not from the excruciating pain that was flowing throughout her entire being, not that that wasn't a reason to cry about, but rather from the fear that engulfed the girl, the fear she had of what she was becoming.

As her cries turned to howls and her body finished transforming, all that lay was a wolf with deep auburn fur, and a grey underbelly. Her fur was slick with sweat, and her chest was visibly moving up and down, indicating her need for oxygen. As her breathing began to calm, people from the crowd walked up to her and complimented her transformation and how well she took it. She cowered away from their touch and nodded her head at them, slightly acknowledging what they were saying and trying to keep a safe distance from them until someone cleared their throat rather loudly.

The crowd began to part for the man in the back, he was a tall man with mahogany hair, light ginger eyes, and stubble scattered in little patches across his face. He had slight crinkles at the edges of his eyes, telling that he smiled often, a smile gracing his features now. However, he was the alpha of the pack, a man who had an extensive amount of knowledge from all his years as alpha, with a commanding presence, someone who was not to be messed with, no matter what his demeanor showed. He walked up to the wolf cub and stroked her fur, which she flinched slightly at this, and gazed into the onyx colored eyes. Shift. A voice inside her head commanded, which she obeyed willingly, wanting to leave this form as quickly as possible. As she turned, one of the pack wives rushed towards her with a blanket to cover her nude body. She whimpered as she changed, but held back her screams, not wanting them to crowd her once again.

As she finished changing back into her human form, she shivered as the cold air hit her moist skin, grasping the blanket closer to her body. She looked up at the alpha, awaiting his next order. He motioned her to stand and to follow him, he walked away from the crowd, the girl shaking slightly as she followed him, a bit unstable from her transformation. He stopped roughly about thirty feet from the crowd and turned to the girl. He called their attention with a single howl, not that it was needed, he had the crowds attention just with the aura surrounding him.

“Andrea Maria Moone, we are here to begin your initiation into the Eternal Dusk Pack. Belonging to this pack means that you are no longer responsible for just your life, but the whole packs. It means that you will do all that is in your power to protect this pack, to help this pack, and to be one with this pack. It means that your worries will be our worries, your problems are our problems, and that we will be the foundation to your very being. As you enter into this pack, your connection to all of us will begin to form, you wil-”

“Wa-wait!” The girl interrupted, earning her looks of disapproval and surprise from  the people from the crowd. The alpha stopped his speech and stared at her, waiting for her to explain the meaning of the interruption. “Alpha, may I ask a favor from you?” She said, her eyes wide with worry, but determination was clearly evident in them.

“Yes?” He asked curiously.

“I-is it possible for me to n-not join the pack?” She slightly stuttered, gasps surrounding her as she spoke such incredulous words. Mutters of astonishment and confusion erupted from the crowd, all bewildered from the request.

“Of course, we are not forcing you into the pack if that isn’t what you wish for, but you must know that if you are not in the pack, you aren’t allowed on pack lands. You will be considered a rogue.” The alpha said, his voice slightly hardening at the end.

“I know alpha, I will leave as soon as possible.”

“If this is what you truly want, then so be it. The ceremony is over, all members please return to your homes immediately.” The alpha quickly addressed the crowd and made them disperse, not wanting them to hear the conversation that was bound to follow, leaving Andrea, the alpha, and three figures alone in the clearing. Andrea walked towards them as a woman, who looked remarkably like Andrea, ran towards her in both anger and worry, her arms wide to embrace the teenager as Andrea collapsed onto her mother’s chest. Both women had cinnamon hair and ebony eyes, however Andrea’s eyes seemed to be slightly bigger than her mother’s and her hair straighter as well. Both women had lean figures, except Andrea’s mother seemed to have more noticeably curves and a taller height to accompany it.

“What were you thinking?” Her mother asked in desperation and confusion. “Why don't you want to be part of this pack, our pack?"

"Mother, you know I love you, I love this whole pack, but I just can't handle this." Andrea told her mother, as the alpha listened in, as did her father and brother, both who had onyx hair and eyes, and seemed to be exact replicas of one another. The only distinguishing quality was their demeanor, while her father was a stoic man who rarely showed emotions, her brother was a boy who loved to show off and play tricks, always displaying a smirk on his face.

"What is it sweetie? We can fix it right up, and we can talk to the alpha again, tell him that you made a mistake and that you actually want to be a part of the pack." Her mother said in desperation, clinging to her daughter, trying to make her see sense.

"Mom, I-I- I don't want to be a werewolf. I want to be human." She said with finality in her voice.