Reading Between the Lines

Chapter 13: Application

"Wait, are the tattoos painful?"

He shrugs and crinkles his face a little. "Eh, it's a little sting. But you'll get used to the pain soon enough," he puts his shirt back down completely. "Everyone's tattoos are unique. Divya may be my sister, but hers looks way different because we're two different people."

Wow, that is so amazing! Your tattoos are literally a figment of your personality. It's like a diary of your life and your identity.

"Wait, so do these Soulstones help you shift? Can you turn into a werewolf without them?"

Naishal's mouth coils into a smug smirk. He takes off his glasses and sets them on his shelf, making me look up from his necklace to see what he's doing. Before I can even ask what he's doing, he speeds to the bathroom and comes out, and his body is contorting rapidly.

His legs get shorter and more muscular as his front body begins to lean forward, and his fingers spout sharp claws. His face becomes longer with a prominent snout and ears protruding. His dark brown eyes get lighter until they're a bright red wine color and bright gold fur sprouts all over his body. His vivid red eyes stare at me sneakily, the sun's rays making them look blood red from the angle I'm in. Maybe I'm imagining things, but the ends of his mouth look like they're curled up into a smile. His original, straight teeth, are now jagged canines with four long incisors replacing his original canines.

I jump back on the bed in surprise. His wolf is a completely different person from him. Even if Naishal is still human, he can only talk through the wolf. Otherwise, his wolf Jet is his own person. Even in his real form, he looks like he'd reach my chest. His wolf is gigantic. Hell, all of them are gigantic!

His wolf is breathtaking. I feel entranced looking at it, just like how I felt when I saw a werewolf in Fairy Tales and Mysticism. I know I've seen them shift before, but I can never get tired of the view.

His wolf Jet walks towards me, and he holds his paw out for me to touch. I'm still a little apprehensive of werewolves since the guys barely shift in front of me, and I've only seen it once. I just don't want to get accidentally eaten, you know?

I hesitate as I reach my hand towards it, but Naish's fruity voice rings in my head. "Remember. Our wolves are harmless. Jet won't hurt you. I won't let him."

I shift my gaze to Jet, who gives me a sympathetic look. I then hear another voice in my head, but it doesn't sound like Naishal. Instead, it's almost a guttural, husky voice.

"I hate the taste of humans." Huh? Who's that?

Wait.

"Who are you?" I wonder in my head.

"I'm Naishal's wolf, Jet. I can talk to you now since I have a bond with you. Don't be scared! I'm harmless," he introduces himself nonchalantly. He's just like Naish, very easygoing and friendly.

The others' wolves have never talked to me before. They try to a lot, but the others didn't let it happen yet because I was still a bit scared around them. Now that I've seen them more in wolf form and I've seen how they are, I'm way less freaked out around them.

"I'm sorry for being so resistant, it's just that I'm still trying to get used to you. It's a big change. I know you're harmless, but after what happened with the vampires, I just... I want to know what I'm getting into."

"I understand. Once you've been around us long enough, it'll be easier for you to trust. I've been around you long enough through Naishal. Too bad he rarely lets me meet you. But trust me. I won't hurt you. Those vampires are not going to do what they did to you again." He shows me his paw one more time, and I slowly touch its palm and look Jet directly in the eye. The wolf slowly nods, giving me a sympathetic look.