33 BULLETS
"El."
"El."
"Eleanor, you need to wake up. We have to go soon if we're going to make it."
I moaned. "Go where?"
Every part of me was sore like I'd ran eight marathons.
Thann was there and lifted me into his arms, relief fluent around him. "Oh, you're alright. Thank the stars, you're alright."
I sunk into his embrace for only a minute before I remembered what happened. I flew to a sitting position and checked over my shoulder. Only a faint double crescent scar was there.
We were back in the cave, on my bed, and Cane was squatting beside us. He grinned. "You did it."
"Did what?"
"It worked El," Thann spoke. He was softly smiling to where I wasn't sure if he was mad or happy. "You shifted."
"I'm a werewolf?" I asked in astonishment. It couldn't have been real. I didn't feel any different. I looked down to my body and it was just human. I was covered in a thin blanket, but that was it. I still felt human.
But.
I realized, under the blanket.
I was naked.
I was butt freaking naked.
"What the ffuu!" I yelled and wrapped my arms around myself, tugging the thin sheet up. "Who undressed me?!"
I mean, sure, Thann's seen me in my birthday suit plenty, but I shouldn't be naked in front of his brother!
At least my skunk pouch was still on. I twisted it over my hips like it would cover me better under the blanket.
Thann chuckled.
Chuckled.
He had the audacity to chuckle?! When I was there naked!?
"Rude! Get me clothes. I'm going to smack you!"
He grinned and pulled me into a hug like he was happy I was annoyed with him. His large exhale blew through my hair. "I'm so glad you're okay."
Cane's hand was then in my peripheral holding a handful of golden leather. "Here."
"Thanks," I took the articles tentatively and started pulling them on when he moved to the front of the cave and turned away. Luckily with the wide clothes it made it so I didn't look that pregnant.
It was another pair of stretchy shorts and the tank top that Thann had made me. At least I think he made me? I'd have to ask now that we could communicate, but there were better questions for the moment. "Why'd you take off my clothes?"
Creep.
Thann smiled and adjusted the skunk pouch for me to one hip. "When you shifted you tore through them."
"Oh. That makes sense." I seemed to remember a werewolf breaking through his clothes from some show I watched. I leaned in and whispered. "Did your brother see me naked?"
He smirked and rubbed a finger down my cheek. "It was unavoidable. But I took care of it."
Cane spoke from his spot staring outside. "I looked away when I could."
Thann chuckled. "He means he got his lights punched out. ...And werewolves have very good hearing."
My face brightened a shade.
Thann watched over the color change and smirked. "I'm glad that hasn't gone away since you turned."
"What hasn't?"
"Going red."
I giggled embarrassed and twisted away, holding my cheeks. "Thann! Stop. I can't help it."
He held on my arms and tugged to turn me back to him.
"No," I snickered pathetically and held my ground, tearing my arm from his grip.
He dropped his hands. "That's going to take some getting used to though."
I did turn to him in question.
"You're stronger now."
"I am?" I looked down over my body like I'd see 'you are stronger' tattooed across my chest. But instead my hands quickly went to my belly. "The baby!"
"Baby's fine," he smiled and placed a hand there.
"But it's not warm anymore," I fretted, my hands dashing around all sides.
"Stop, stop," he soothed. "You're our temperature now."
"I am?" I moved my hands to my face. I didn't feel any warmer.
He nodded.
"So she's okay then?" I moved back to my belly.
"She?"
I probably went red again. "Oh, I just... I just made up a gender so I didn't have to call it It."
He stepped forward and roamed a hand over my belly too, a giant grin snaking his face. "Well then she is fine."
"Okay." I nodded.
Cane inched over. "Can I come back yet?"
Thann nodded. "Sure."
That's when I noticed Cane had quite the black eye and limp. I gasped. "What happened?"
He shrugged. "Thann beat my ass."
Thann punched him in the arm, voice low and threatening. "You better be glad she survived."
"Aww come on," he complained, rubbing over the spot. "She did better than survive! Look at her. She's perfect!"
I tried not to go red again. "Nn..no I'm not."
He chuckled. "Uh, yeah. You are. No wonder you're the Alpha King's mate." Cane pointed to my leg. "Your shift even completely healed the skunk poisoning. We've never seen that before."
"What?" I bent down and roamed a hand over my shin. It was true. All the muscles had regrown? There wasn't even a hint of a scar. And over my arm where the berries burned me, nothing. No rippled skin. No red bubbled flesh. My skin seemed perfect, almost brand spanking new and flawless. Even the old scar on my knee from a barbed wire fence was cleared. I checked out over my arms then touched at my face.
I twisted to see over my shoulder and even that looked good as new. Moving the shoulder around a bunch, it felt better than new. Strong and powerful. Ready to shoot.
"My gun!" I exclaimed. "Where is it? I need to see if I can shoot again!"
"Your thunder stick?" Thann asked, but pointed to it near the head of the bed, on the ground.
"Yes!" I burst and grabbed it, holding it like it was the key at the end of some Super Mario level.
I was out the cave and across the campsite before I knew it and searching the scope for something to aim at.
Checking over the bullets, I loaded a full round then set the gun to my shoulder. It was like a sigh of relief poured over my body with it back fitting in its spot.
Giving a bit of a stretch out through my shoulders and neck, I turned around the area to find something to target.
A couple hundred yards off was one of those arched green pepper plants. He seemed like a safe spot, greenery and fresh dirt all around him, no loose rocks to have the bullet ricochet off.
My gun was placed, senses stilled, and I zoned into overdrive.
I could see the plant better without the scope even, my glance moving over it. The sounds of the forest thrummed in my ear, wakening the hunter side of my soul. The scent of gunpowder right in my face burned my nose. Every sense came alive like the power dials on a sound board raising.
It was becoming overwhelming.
Sounds.
Sights.
Scents.
Everything came at once overloading me.
I could see individual veins in leaves that I shouldn't be able to see even standing in front of it. Tiny pink bugs with black spots I hadn't seen before shuttled up a tree ten yards away. A hummingbird sped by and I could make out each individual movement of his wing, like he was a butterfly instead. Everything like I could see details that were under a microscope. Colors I didn't have words for from the edge of the rainbow filled in the beauty of the land.
Sounds rushed at me from miles away, each trying to fight their way into my ears. A river. Some animal grazing on grasses. The wind whistling through the treetops raising the unseen hairs of my arms. Birds chirping. Bugs clicking. Heartbeats, breathing, and even blood pumping through the three of our bodies in the small clearing. Noises surrounded me like a cacophony of cicadas screeching their voices to the sky.
Scents that I couldn't identify took over my nose. A thousand all at once. Plants, flowers, animals, soil, everything. Some good, some revolting. But all too much to pick anything out.
Everything was too much. My heartbeat sped and adrenaline released into my bloodstream making my movements dart around in fear.
It was too much!
Too much!
The beginning of a panic attack to rival all panic attacks, flashed through me and I dropped my gun, lowering myself to the ground in a fetal crouch. My eyes shut tight and my hands wrapped my ears, my voice shrieked in pain, trying to drown out any sound.
Thann fell down in front of me and grabbed my shoulders in his own worry. His voice came through my muffled ears. "El. Eleanor! What's wrong?"
I still held on; my eyes shut tight. My head tossed back and forth. "I can't! I can't!"
He reached between my arms and caressed my face. "You can't what? Let me help?"
"The sounds! There's too much! I can't do it!"
"The sounds?"
Cane's reply was like through a bullhorn, no matter how much I tried to shut everything out. "She must be hearing everything. Remember, their senses were terrible. She's not used to it."
Thann was now strong, no scent of anxiety.
I knew anxiety's scent? WTF?
"Eleanor. Focus. Focus down on one thing. Focus on me. Listen just to me."
My shaky breaths slowed as my ears perked on him and him alone.
"That's right," he approved. "Just my voice. Nothing else. Focus on me and breathe. In and out. Deep focused breaths. In. Out."
I started following his command.
"Now look at me. Just me." He lifted my chin and scooted close so we were eye to eye.
I opened my eyes and looked pitifully at him.
"There you go. Just me. Just right here in my eyes. It's just you and me, okay?"
"Okay," I choked out weakly.
He grinned and caught my cheeks in his rough hands. "Good. Now smell. Just me. Just one thing at a time, okay?"
I nodded and brought a tentative breath in.
It was him.
And he was fan-freaking-tastic.
"Whoa," I spoke before I could stop myself.
"Focus," he commanded, thinking I was overdoing myself.
"You smell good," I mentioned before I could filter. The panic attack just starting to fade away.
He chuckled and lifted us to a stand, still gripping me so I wouldn't fall. "I think you smell good too."
A small smile lifted the side of my cheek, and I took a deep breath. He was intoxicating and manly, herby and forest. My usual favorite, fresh lilacs, was tossed to the side like rubbish. I wanted to live in his fragrance.
I looked to his chest and roamed my fingertips over him, tracing along the muscles. Each movement divine as even my sense of touch had heightened. His scent cascaded into me and brought me standing closer as I reveled in it. I really wanted to feel the heightened touch at my lips and lifted to tiptoe to reach his face.
But at the last second, he stepped back.
Rejected.
I sat back on my heels and must have shown the betrayal I felt, because he announced to the area, not looking at me. "You are not my mate."
"Ouch," I stepped back too. I pointed to my expanding belly. "Why not? I mean, this is going to be really tough to explain to a future husband."
He squared his shoulders, face becoming a mask of indifference. "What will be, will be."
"Got it," I grumbled, and my senses started to enlarge again, when my focus was on my inner hurt instead. "Oh no," I placed my hands over my head.
Thann took one hand, but held it platonically. "Focus. Focus on just one thing."
I nodded and tried to focus on his hand.
It was rough. It was large and strong. It was my same temperature.
Darn that. I really liked his heat.
I opened my eyes and took my hand back. My voice was frosty. "I'm okay. I think I can do it."
He nodded and dropped away from me.
Cane inched beside me. "You can do it. Just open a little bigger and bigger as you can handle it. You'll learn to focus soon enough."
I nodded, but not enthusiastically.
Cane handed me my gun. "Here. I want to see how this thing works and then we need to run. Start preparing to run now."
"Okay," I bit my lip and set the rifle back to my eye.
I just needed to focus on one thing. Like being in a crowded party, but still being able to talk to the person next to you. Drain the other noises out. Drain the other sights out.
Looking through the scope, I found the arched hot pepper plant, each point showing off in another direction. My hunter senses zoomed in on it and while I was going to aim on the meaty middle, the scope perfectly sat in the spot I positioned. I was now like a statue. I didn't have to widen my stance an inch to be able to steady myself, and even my breathing seemed to know that my chest shouldn't move.
It was effortless to target.
The pepper could have been two yards away, not two hundred.
So instead of the meaty arch, I aimed at one of the individual peppers.
Fire.
The next pepper in the ark.
Fire.
The next pepper.
Fire.
30 BULLETS
All perfect hits.
"Whoa," Cane exclaimed behind me as my senses broadened. "That is like thunder."
With how well I could see, I adjusted the scope to further than I'd ever tried before.
One mile away.
Fire.
It was a hit.
Adjust again.
Two miles away.
28 BULLETS
The shot was low, so I did the quick calibration and familiarized with the settings while I reloaded.
Again wobbly.
27 BULLETS
It didn't seem the gun liked that distance. But my mind was purring.
My shooting skills had jumped through the roof, by just being able to still myself well enough and set my own sight better. A whole new world of game had opened up.
At least if I ever got home.
"That's amazing," Cane sat in awe. "That contraption really can hit things far away?"
I nodded and set my gun to search something else out to hit.
Then realized, I just burned away a whole load while playing. What if I needed to keep those bullets for later?
Shoot.
Literally.
Shoot.
I did a quick calculation. Twenty-seven. I had twenty-seven left. I swore and threaded the rifle over my shoulder.
I was dumb.
"Ready to go meet your mate?" Cane asked, a new enthusiasm trickling through him.
"Mate-shmate," I muttered.
"You are meant for great things. You can't choose your destiny," Cane offered.
"My destiny was to get nearly poisoned, turned into a werewolf, and knocked up by a different man than my supposed soulmate?" I asked incredulously.
Cane chuckled. "Well, those specific points weren't in the story."
"So maybe I can still choose my own adventure."
Thann spoke with his indifferent grouch, "do not fight your fate. You will be better off with Alpha King Maza."
"Okay, fine," I grumbled.
Maybe this King knows how to get me back to Earth. Suck it up Buttercup. You're a powerful werewolf now...
Oh my gosh.
I'm a werewolf!
I am, right?
Blast.
That didn't really fit into my plans of getting back to Earth. Was I supposed to be a fairytale creature on Earth?
Could I be a fairytale creature on Earth?
Sure. One that could win every Olympic shooting event, even over the men. Take that boys!
I chuckled to myself.
Was I really supposed to be their werewolf queen? Seems like the magic eight ball of my life was saying all signs point to yes.
So I guess we'll see.
With a large exhale, I accepted my future. "Well, guess this Chosen One better go defeat Voldemort then."
"Voldemort?" Thann finally smiled. "Harry Potter?"
"Oh yeah," I grinned at him. "I should tell you that story now that you can understand. It's a good one."
Cane cut in, breaking us up. "Maybe story time after rescuing Mathe? We should get going."
"Right," I agreed. "So werewolf time?"
They both immediately dropped their pants and I spun around.
"Boys!"
Thann chuckled. "We already said we can't shift in clothes. That's why the pouch and inner clothes are on elastic."
"Inner clothes," I huffed. "I don't have any 'inner clothes'."
"We'll make you some, sometime."
"Thanks," I grumbled.
The movement behind me had stopped and after a silent moment, Cane added. "Uh, I'll go wait at the river."
Small creaks and snaps sounded and then pads of feet ran off to the northwest. I listened to his quiet race over the mountain. It was fascinating that my ears could follow his footfall.
Thann touched at my shoulder, and I jumped. "Dude!" I spun around to face him. "Don't do that!"
He smirked and dropped his hand. "It's your turn. You need to undress to shift."
I scowled for a moment, but then just ripped the top off over my head and dropped the shorts to the ground, staring him straight in the face, daring him to say something.
Then I smirked my own sexy tease as his eyes quickly dipped.
He didn't blush, but his feet started shuffling and his eyes trained anywhere but me. He cleared his throat. "Okay, now shift."
'Now shift' he says. I snorted. As if shifting was like taking a step forward and not getting your left ear to grow bigger than your right.
I folded my clothes tight and stuffed them down into the pouch.
"You'll need to leave your gun here," he cautioned as I moved it back to my shoulder.
I snorted again, not giving him any come back. It was not moving.
Plus it was already on a strap. It could go over my wolfie shoulders.
But I did decide to unload it. A rough bounce just might shoot off a wolfie tail and I really liked my hair.
"Shift."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I griped and put my chin to my chest like I'd seen the guys do a few times.
A few throaty breaths as I concentrated.
And concentrated.
Come on, be a wolf!
Come on!
Grrr!
Another minute faded before I relented. "Okay. So how do you shift?"
Thann turned and eyes roved over my body again.
"Focus!" I complained at him and brought my arms over myself.
His glance went back to just my face.
Mine tried to do the same.
"You can't shift?" He asked perplexed.
"Obviously no, if I asked."
He grinned as if I were a little child asking for help to sit on the couch. "Just imagine yourself as a wolf."
"Fine." I put my chin down to my chest and imagined my nose growing and arms turning, back hunching. Me growing wolf hair and howling. Then I pictured one of the images from a nineties teen book my mother had in the front room growing up. It was called Animorphs and had a picture of a girl turning into a cat. All the images between her and the cat morphing into another.
Animorph wolfie power! I yelled in my head and then giggled.
"You're not trying," Thann complained.
"I am." My glare went to him. "You turn into a human!"
He grinned at my outburst.
Jerk.
"Look at your hand." He commanded.
I opened the palm and stared at it. "Wow, look at that. A hand."
He ignored me. "Close to a fist."
Done.
"Now, open it really fast."
I did and startled myself. "Whoa! What was?!... wait no."
"Did you see it?"
I opened and closed a few more times. "I thought I saw claws."
"Right. Keep going. Imagine those claws again."
My movements flicked harder and harder until my fingers were meaty and muscular, hair tips starting to show. "Eww!" I screamed and the hand went back human.
Thann grabbed my hand. "You did it. Just let that feeling keep growing."
I took my hand back from him and stared at it. I didn't throw it open again, I just stared intently like I could make it change with my glance instead and the tips bent and changed, the muscles moved down my fingers, growing and shortening in my palm. Hair starting to sprout.
Thann's voice was quiet and loving. "That's it, keep going."
I closed my eyes and let the heat rush over me like I was walking out into a hundred-degree day after being in the freezing air conditioner. Inch by inch the fire took me over, burning up my arm. Over my shoulder and chest. Consuming my head and body. Rolling down over my feet and suddenly done.
I opened my eyes and felt strong. Powerful.
Proud.
Invincible.
Thann beamed, voice of awe. "You are so beautiful."
Instead of being ashamed, my chin rose, my glance going long over a wide furry nose, and I went cross eyed to see it.
I did it!
I gazed down my body and saw every shade of grey hidden in massive fur. Paws like dinner plates, pressed into the ground making me feel at ease with the land. My wolf toes pressed into the dirt, releasing the earthy scent.
I felt secure. I was comfortable. I was me.
Thann stepped close and stroked over my ears and down my neck and I wanted to purr like my housecat in a ray of sunshine. It was so comforting, like one of his massages after applying my medicine. It felt like he was writing words of compassion through my hair and each letter sent my heart soaring.
When my eyes moved to his, he stared at me, hands now smoothing into the fur at my cheeks. He was trying to see inside me, and I began to knock down some barriers and let myself open when Cane's clear voice surrounded me, jumping me back a few steps.
Good job, El. Cane was close, I could hear him perfectly. But I couldn't put a track on where he had spoken from.
I hopped around on agile legs, looking for him. I yipped a question of where he was.
Cane's laughter came all around as before, an echo in my head. I'm by the river. I told you guys that's where I was going.
Barking another question I wondered how I could hear him then. The river was quite a ways away.
Oh, I get it. Nah. We can communicate with our minds while in this form. Helps the hunt. Humans don't link?
Link? I tested speaking in my mind. No. Mind reading is not one of our talents.
Hmm... Well welcome to the club then.
Thann then transformed and stood in front of me, still muscular and tall even in this form. He was majestic. A heat flashed through my body.
If he was that big, how big was the king?
One of those macho body builders with steroid muscles and fake tans?
Hopefully real at least.
Cane smiled through his thoughts. You two ready to run?
Thann's heavy brown eyes met mine. Are you ready, El?
My wolf gave a single nod. Let's go.