Chapter Nine
I decided to go home after the cafeteria blowup, school seemed too pointless for me to care. I arrived home and flung open the front door grumpily announcing my presence. Mum walked in looking confused, but let me off when I told her why I was back so early.
I trudged up the stairs and threw myself onto my bed. Now I just had to wait for Sam. Glancing over at the window, I was surprised yet excited to see the grey wolf standing at the edge of the forest partially covered by the pine trees. I sat up abruptly and ran over to look at him. Now I really wanted to know who it was.
I was interrupted by a knock on the door. There Sam stood panting and out of breath.
"Sam what are you doing here so early?" I exclaimed while she placed her bag down and collapsed onto my armchair. I peered over at the window, but the wolf had disappeared, faded into oblivion like he was never there at all.
"Hello?" Sam said, now standing next to me waving a hand in front of my face. "Were you even listening to me?"
"Um sorry, I got a little sidetracked," I replied sheepishly.
"Anyway, as I was saying, I came here as soon as possible. I wasn't going to stay at school without you," she said beaming at me, "plus I wanted to know where the hell all that come from?"
"I don't know... I just felt kind of protective of him for some reason. Don't ask me why," I said nervously while looking around the room. When I saw that her mouth was hanging wide open I panicked.
"It meant nothing Sam, plus I've had it up to here with Cindy this week," I gushed while turning around and sitting down at my vanity. From her reflection in the mirror I saw that Sam was unconvinced.
"I think someone has found their mate," she said in a sing song voice.
"Like hell I have," I retorted, but somewhere deep in my heart I hoped that it was true.
"You know I'm right, you're just embarrassed," she said knowingly while walking over. I pulled out my hair tie and my hair tumbled down in a tangled brown mess. I pulled a hairbrush through it quickly before I grabbing my bag.
"We're going shopping," I announced as I grabbed her hand and whisked her out the door.
******
Later that night, after Sam had gone home, I sat with my mum on the couch and she gave me the rundown on my first transformation.
"Your wolf will guide you," she said while holding my hands in hers. Seeing my worried expression she said "You'll be alright."
I nodded slowly before getting up.
"Hurry along now, the moon will be at its brightest soon." She said ushering me out towards the back door.
"But wait," I said quizzically, "I have to go out the front to get to the forest."
"There's a gate around the back," she said grabbing my hand and leading me outside.
I rolled my eyes, she could have told me that earlier.
"C'mon quickly now," she said as she opened a well hidden gate around the back of the pool shed.
I hugged her tightly taking a deep breath before stepping outside into the unknown.
******
I arrived at the lake just as the silvery full moon appeared above me. I felt an orb of energy form inside me expanding and filling me up with some sort of supernatural power. It was at that moment when the moon was at its brightest that the change began.
I felt my body's configuration shift. My bones buzzed with new found energy under my skin and started enlarge and change place. I couldn't help but gasp at the pain that coursed through me. My mum had told me the first shift would be painful, but the torture that I was feeling couldn't possibly be described with words. Biting my lip until I drew blood, I suppressed an agonised scream as waves of pain wracked my body. I groaned internally as I realised that I had forgotten to take off my clothes before shifting.
As my body contorted into a different form my clothes began to rip and as thick fur began to sprout from my skin the pain started to dissipate.
Panting a bit, with my head down I attempted to calm my racing pulse. Slowly and cautiously I trotted over to the lake to see my reflection. Snow-white fur covered my body and my eyes had changed to a shade of purple. My wolf was clearly happy to have been finally set free.
I heard a rustle behind me and I turned around to see a familiar looking grey wolf staring at me.
As he walked over it was impossible not to feel happy, I was filled with a warm, fuzzy feeling. I smiled internally as I came up with what I thought was a great idea. I tapped him with what was now my muzzle and started to run, I turned around quickly to see him standing there with a puzzled expression before he finally caught on and chased after.
I darted through the trees, jumping over logs and splashing through streams. I relished the feeling of the wind tangling itself in my thick, white fur as I raced through the forest. As I returned to the lake I was suddenly hit with a huge force from behind. Hitting the ground I flipped over onto my back to see the grey wolf standing over me.
We wrestled on the grass for a while till we both gave up and rested on the soft ground. Just as I was preparing myself to go to sleep, I felt a twisting feeling inside my body. As my bones started shifting again I gasped with terror; I was transforming and when I was human again I would be naked! The scraping sound of my bones knotting and grinding against each other almost made me gag, but I couldn't focus on that right now. All I needed to worry about was finding a place to hide. Then without much thought I dove into the icy lake.
I shivered, my body impacting with the icy cold water. I had jumped at a good time because I had now fully changed back into human form, stark naked. The wolf took one last look at me and ran off.
"Great," I muttered to myself, "Now I'm going to have to walk home naked."
Just as I was about to step out of the lake, much too my astonishment, a shirtless Marcus stepped out of the shadows.
I swam back into deeper water to make sure everything was covered. As he came closer I blushed a deep shade of red.
"M-marcus, what are you-" I stuttered as a damp feeling settled in my bones. My eyes widened as I realised that Marcus was the grey wolf all along. I just knew there was something familiar about him.
"Y-you?!" I fumed out of embarrassment and shock.
"I thought you might need a t-shirt," he mumbled as his eyes darted around nervously.
"Don't come any closer," I replied, "Just put the shirt on the ground and turn around."
He did as I told him and I quickly ran out of the water and put it on.
"Finished yet?" he called.
"Yep, you can turn around now," I replied.
He swivelled around slowly, taking in my appearance. The t-shirt only reached mid thigh and I tugged at the hem of it.
"Thanks," I mumbled.
He took a few steps closer until there was only a small space between us.
"Wait what are you-," I began
I was interrupted when he placed a hand on my face and brushed his lips against mine. Electric sparks danced across my skin and warmth spread throughout my body.
He pulled away with a creased brow and he searched my face for any signs of emotion. All I could do was stand there, my feet rooted to the spot.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what-,"
I finished his sentence with a gentle kiss of my own. After his initial shock at my unprecedented move he began to kiss me back. Our lips moved in synch and I smiled as he pulled me impossibly closer. Every inch of my body was pressed flat against his and my wolf howled with joy inside of me. I felt tingles coursing through my body and I willingly accepted as he began to deepen the kiss. After what seemed like an eternity of pure pleasure, I pulled away and stared into his stormy grey eyes.
"See you soon," I whispered breathlessly, before running off back home.
As soon as I was inside the house I instantly ran up and dove on my bed. Slipping my body under the quilt I smiled quietly to myself as I breathed in the woodsy scent of Marcus on the T-shirt he gave to me. My mind drifted back to him and a feeling of warmth settled inside me telling me that my wolf knew he was my mate. Closing my eyes, I let sleep take me away into a world of endless possibilities.