Wolfsbane

Planning

I knew that I would need a plan to escape. It couldn't be spur of the moment or I would definitely get caught. Since the pack was one state over, I needed to know how long I could run. Me and Michael headed into the woods to change. We changed  a few nights a week and always together. Lola would join us sometimes if Joel wasn't going to change the same night as her. I never changed in the same place as him. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I saw him waiting for me after our changes. I got low and shot out of the bushes. I blew past him and kept running. I could hear his paws thundering behind me and I picked up the pace. Soon he fell behind but I kept going. I felt like I could have ran forever. I finally slowed enough for Michael to catch up. I was about to take off again when he darted in front of me, forcing me to stop. He tilted his head and whined. An obvious question: why are you running like that? I snorted and pawed the ground. As I tried to go around him, he growled. I took a step back bewildered by his sudden aggression. He wasn't going to let me go forward so I wheeled around and headed back to where I had changed. He followed me and once or twice got close and snapped at my flanks. I growled and dove into the bushes and began my change back. I felt anger and as I put my clothes back on, I almost ripped my shirt. "What the hell is your problem?" I screamed as I stomped up to him. "Me? You're the one running like you're trying to escape!" Hearing him say it seemed like I was trying to escape made my heart speed up in fear but I couldn't let me see it on my face. He doesn't know. "I was just running! Trying to enjoy my change. That's the only thing I enjoy when I'm with you!" His eyes darkened and I knew what was about to happen before he did it. It wasn't a hard hit but it fanned the flames of my anger. An uncontrollable rage came over me and I hit him back. Harder than he hit me. We were both shocked. Time seemed to stand still and neither of us knew what to do. I opened my mouth to say something, I didn't even know what I was going to say, when his fist came flying and hit me. I tasted blood and saw stars. When I opened my eyes, I was on the forest floor with him standing over me. I thought he was going to hit me again but we heard someone gasp through the trees and it broke the moment. He stepped away from me as Lola came towards us. She dropped to her knees next to me and wiped the blood away from my lip. "This is none of your business, Lola." He snarled but he stalked off. Lola helped me to my feet and walked me home. Neither of us said a word.

No one mentioned my busted lip or my bruises the next day but Marissa gave me a smug smile. I ignored her and continued thinking of my escape. I had to change without Michael but I couldn't just tell him to stay home. The commune garden had a small section filled with alchemy plants. Maybe I could use something from there but what? I walked slowly over to the plants and examined them. I reached for one that had purple flowers. Someone grabbed my arm. "You don't want to touch those without gloves." I recognized the voice and breathed a sigh of relief. "Hello Louise." I said with a smile. Louise regarded me as curious instead of suspicious. "This plant is dangerous. It's very poisonous and can kill." She explained. "What's it called?" I asked trying to hide how interested I was. "Wolfsbane." I looked at the helmet shaped flowers and smiled. What a perfect plant for what I needed to do.

I sneaked into the garden and put on gloves. If the wrong person saw me, they would go straight to Marissa. I took one of the flowers and put it in a plastic bag. I cooked dinner for us and I planned on putting some of the wolfsbane in Michael's food tomorrow night. I only wanted to make him sick, killing him would complicate things if he was found while I was trying to leave, so I had to be careful with how much I used. I put the plastic bag into my pocket and put the gloves back. I began to feel lighter as my plan came together.