The Moon Phase Trilogy | Protected | Book One | ORIGINAL

Seven

Ericka groaned, holding her head and slowly sitting up from where she laid. She saw nothing but darkness and wondered where she was. She was cold and fog was covering the ground, but she couldn't see her hand in front of her face, even when her eyes were a deep blue. Ericka tried to stand up, but something stopped her. "Bars?" She questioned and felt around. She was trapped...in a dog cage. "What the...? Why the hell am I in a dog cage? And where the hell am I? What the hell happened?"

A woman gracefully glided over to her with an evil grin, bending down to get close to Ericka's face, "You are my pet now, pup," the woman hissed. Ericka took in the scent of the woman and horror took over her body, including her face. She knew it was a vampire's bite on her dead mother's neck, but she didn't think of this scenario.

"Let me go," Ericka demanded with a snarl. The rumbling inside of her grew stronger and her moon phase necklace began to glow a subtle yet pretty deep blue like her eyes.

The woman threw her head back and laughed as her nails tapped the cage, making a loud, but light clinking sound, "You're not getting let go that easily, sweetheart. We are just beginning our little training session. We need to get you to your full power somehow don't we?" She smirked.

Ericka glared at the woman, trying to keep her horrified expressions to a minimum, "What are you talking about? I don't have a full power to reach! I am a plain eighteen year old girl who has nothing special up her sleeves!" She shouted. The rumbling grew as her horror and rage filled her body.

The woman just stared at her and smirked, "I see something different moon child. I see potential in you and it's just waiting to be released."

Ericka looked at the woman confused. She felt her necklace become warm and rage building inside of her. A growl escaped her throat and the rumbling she tried so hard to keep quiet had finally taken over. Her screams could be heard across town as her body changed for the first time.

After a few minutes, but it seemed like hours to Ericka, a beautiful deep red wolf stood in her place in the cage. Her gray blue eyes were angry and she was ready to lunge at the woman, "There's the beauty I was looking for. You have a beast inside of you moonchild that has been wanting to escape for some time now...and it finally has," the woman smiled brightly. "But now, it's time for you to die." The woman held up a gun with a silver bullet in it. She pointed it at Ericka and was about to pull the trigger when something attacked her. Ericka observed and noticed it was the blond wolf again. They still had the necklace on that she had given them when she was human. She looked down at her own and saw it was still around her own neck, glowing a pretty blue. She growled, pulling her lips back and making her ears flat to her skull as she began ramming herself into the cage door trying to escape.

The blond wolf growled at her to stay put and to stop. Ericka cocked her head in confusion, understanding what the wolf indicated. She was panicking on the inside, but the expression in her muzzle didn't show it. She laid down, curled up and whined a little, praying all of this was just a dream.

She must have passed out, because she didn't remember anything after the cage. She woke up, back to normal and in a room she didn't recognize, "Where am I?" She asked herself as she sat up. Ericka hissed and laid back down, "And what happened that I'm this sore?" She heard footsteps coming up the stairs and she took a deep breath in, taking in the scent of the person, "Shaun?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out. Glad you're alright, Ricky. You've been out for about a week, maybe two?" Shaun commented. Ericka was about to freak out when something inside of her stopped her from doing so. "It's your wolf isn't it."

Ericka stared at her best friend confused as all hell, "My what?! I thought that whole thing was just a dream...that was very painful," she shouted. "Are my sisters alright at least? They weren't taken too were they?"

"No, they just wanted you, Rick. I still don't understand why, but they do. Maxie and Alyx are doing just fine. The Connerton's have been taking wonderful care of them while you have been over here by me," she explained.

"So you knew this whole time?! You knew about my parents and what happened to the house?! Why we can't go back there?! That's where I was going to go up until I got knocked out and kidnapped. I need to find answers Shaun! I need to figure out what is going on and why those people want my necklace so bad!" Ericka grew angry and the rumbling calmed her down momentarily.

"Jayden went to get you some lemon water to drink so you can regain your strength back. He may be gone for a bit though, since he had to search for it. It's some special water that helps our species recover quicker. Once you get that in your system, we can go to your home and figure out what's going on."

"What do you mean our species? Are you one too? Is Jayden one?!"

"I am one, but Jayden is not. I couldn't leave you alone to get it, so I had him get it for me," Shaun's posture and attitude changed quickly from a spunky girl to a calm, serious leader. Ericka noticed right away and she grew even more confused.

"I don't understand any of this...how did this happen? Did I get bitten by one after I was knocked out? How are you one Shaun?" Ericka had a million and one questions running through her mind, but decided to not bombard her best friend with questions.

Shaun smirked and lowered her head, "You were not bitten by one. It's in your blood and has been for centuries. Normally, being bitten by one is how you'd turn, but in our case, we were born with it in our blood. Because of that, our families have been close." She looked up at Ericka with foggy green eyes and shifted. In her place was a beautiful blueish black wolf, sitting tall.

Ericka rubbed her eyes, making sure it was real and she stared at her best friend in awe. She was a wolf. Ericka's best friend was a wolf, just like she was. She still couldn't comprehend anything and she still didn't know why she was one, but she didn't have to go through this whole craziness alone. She just hoped her sisters and the Connerton's were alright and nothing bad happened again. "When did you know you were one?"

Shaun shifted back and smiled, "I found out when I was Alyx's age. I could shift by ten and it was quite painful, but it gets better when you get used to it. Your wolf just didn't see fit to come out until now. Does she have a name?"

"What do you mean a name?"

"Your wolf has a name. Mine is Blu because of the hints of blue in her fur and my hair."

Ericka raised her brows confused, "So...what about Red or Redmoon?" She just threw names out and Shaun shook her head.

"She chooses the name, you don't give it to her," Shaun replied.

Ericka sighed and rolled her eyes, "When will she tell me then? This is so damn complicated."

"You just need to have patients, Ricky. She'll tell you her name soon enough. Just bond with her. You should get some more rest though. Jayden will be home soon with the water," Shaun said and left the room.

Ericka sighed and was left with her thoughts. The rumbling inside of her continued and eased her mind a bit. Now that she knew what was going with her body, it calmed her down slowly. "How is my mother alive...and why is she wanting to kill me..." she whined as tears filled her eyes.