My body ached; all I could feel was pain. My felt foggy; noises were muffled like I was underwater and all I could see was blackness.
Was this what death felt like?
I groaned but all that came out was a whimper. Wait… a whimper? My eyes snapped open and I looked down to where my hand should have been…. but they weren’t hands, they were black paws. A whine escaped my mouth again as I fell backwards.
Suddenly it was like all the sounds, sights and smells were intensified and I could feel a headache coming on. What had happened? Why was I a wolf? This had to be a dream; it had to be!
“Calm down Eve.” I looked up to see both my parents, Griffin and Kade. What was going on? I whined and tried to stand but I couldn’t. I felt tears of frustration and anger welling in my eyes as I searched for answers and came up blank. What had happened? Why was I a wolf?
“Eve calm down; all will be explained.” I had no option but to do what dad ordered and I lay on the bed, taking deep breaths to calm my rapidly beating heart. “Good.” He sighed; probably because newly turned wolves were dangerous, but I wasn’t… well it seems that I am.
As I stared at my parents, they seemed relieved, incredibly so and... sceptical. There was silence until I growled lowly and gave them a hard look; I wanted them to get on with it. I felt like I was forgetting so many things; like when you walk through a door but know that there’s something you’ve got to do.
Everyone but Kade jumped and Hansel cleared his throat. “Right well, what do you remember?” I growled at him and opened my mouth; I can’t talk dumbass! He blinked and then shook his head. “Right you don’t know how to use the pack link yet.” He said almost to himself. “Right well you fell down the stairs and broke a lot of things; your ribs, arm, leg… and back. You hit your head hard and you had brain damage as well as a concussion.”
She growled and glared at me. “Listen here you little skank; Griffin is mine and no pregnant slut is going to get in my way. You have two options; you leave or I kill you and that little bastard in your womb.” She hissed.
I sneered at her and shook my head. “I was here long before you; Griffin is my family and I won’t let you bully me; fuck off. How does it feel to know that I’m having his first child? How does it feel to know that he loves me more than he ever would you?” I hissed. I was a mean thing to say and definitely not the smartest thing to say to an angry werewolf, but I was pretty mad myself and I’d always had a temper. She threatened both me and my child; that I wouldn’t let stand.
She hissed and if looked could kill I would have been six feet under. “You’ll be sorry for that.”
I rolled my eyes and jerked my arm away from her. I said nothing, holding back every nasty word I wanted to say to her, every punch I wanted to throw; I physically bit my tongue to stop myself from lashing out at her. I took another step down the stairs, turning away from her and in that moment I knew what a huge mistake I’d made.
I felt her hand connect with my shoulder and the front of my body jerked forward. My ankle rolled and time seemed to slow down as my body fell forward, crashing into the stairs. My scream was cut short as my head hit the edge of the stairs hard and I saw stars. I couldn’t stop myself and as I tumbled down the long staircase, I felt something in my back snap and intense pain radiated from my entire body.
I screamed again as I felt liquid trickle from between my legs; I couldn’t move though. Pain so much pain. My vision became foggy as I stared up the stairs to where the wolf had disappeared. Then it all became black.
A growl that shook the walls escaped my muzzle as I stood. I was a wolf; pregnant women could not shift… that bitch had killed my child. She would pay.
I jumped from the bed and shot past my dad’s, breaking the door down with my giant mass. Her scent, I remembered clearly; it was like sickly sweet vanilla. There were shouts behind me as I galloped through the house, following the trail of her scent; it was fresh, she was out here somewhere. There were screams as people jumped out of my way. I thundered outside to where many of the guards were training and where a group of girls were ‘stretching’ and watching them.
My gaze zeroed on the girl in the middle of the group; red hair… her. I let out a thunderous roar as I sprinted towards them. They screamed and jumped out of the way as I pounced on her. Her shriek was ear piercing as she hit the ground hard below me. I growled down at her and dug my claws into her arms, raking them through her flesh as ribbons of crimson appeared.
I wanted to wrap my maws around her little neck and snap it but I knew that would be a kinder fate than she deserved; not, I would make sure that her death was painful and slow. I snarled down at her fearful face, covering her in my saliva. I felt myself being pulled off her but I resisted, spinning around and snapping at the wolf who tried to pull me off.
Their blood filled my mouth but they didn’t let go. I looked up to see Kade staring at me stonily with a strong grip on my scruff.
I growled at him and in my mind pictured my human body. My bones cracked and reformed, muscles tearing and popping as my body morphed. I fell to the ground naked as the day I was born but I had bigger fish to fry at the moment. The she-devil had been helped up by enforcers where she was hysterically crying. I pushed Kade away from me and stood, my gaze fixed on her.
All eyes were fixed on me and when she looked up through teary eyes, she froze. I gave her a feral grin, one that promised nothing but pain and suffering. “Missed me?”
I literally heard her heart skip a beat as I took a step towards her before she blinked and screeched. “That bitch attacked me! She’s crazy! Get her away from me! My father will hear of this! I will have her head! Do you have no idea who-,”
“Oh for god’s sake.” I growled, feeling my temper rise as I interrupted her. “Shut your face you fucking skank!” Her mouth fell open at my words and when she took a deep breath I shook my head and grabbed her throat, easily pulling her from the grip of the guards, dangling her out right in front of me; it seemed that being a werewolf had its… advantages.
I dropped her ass to the ground and stood over her, pressing a foot to her neck. She clawed at it but I just gave her a sharp kick in the chin to shut her up. “Now,” I said bending down over her. “We’re going to play a game; it’s called ‘who pushed Eve down the stairs’.” I shrugged and rubbed my chin. “But I guess we already know the answer to that, don’t we? I know; I’ve got another one!” I gave her a feral smile and focused on letting my hand shift into a paw. “It’s called ‘let’s see how loud you can scream’.” With that I swiped my claws down the side of her face. Her scream was loud enough to burst the ear drums of anyone near and I gave a sadistic smirk. “See I don’t think that’s good enough.”
“What is going on here?” A loud voice barked. I looked up to see the crowd part for Jenna who stood there fuming. Her eyes landed on me and widened in utter shock. “Eve?”
I nodded and turned back to the pathetic girl who was trying to squirm away. “Move again and I’ll put your arm through the garbage disposal.” I threatened, instantly making her still.
I turned back to Jenna who stood staring at me. “B- H- Y-you w-were…”
“I woke up as a wolf.” I told her. “I don’t know how or why but I have this weird thing in my head and I can shift and it’s freaking me out; all because this little whore,” I said gesturing to the girl that claimed to be Griffin’s mate. “Pushed me down the stairs.”
There were multiple growls as I looked down at the girl glaring up at me. “You deserve everything you’ve got coming.” I hissed. “Jenna can you lock her up in one of the cells for a while; let her stew over what’s going to happen to her?” I asked, looking over to her.
She nodded and gestured for two enforcers to drag her off. “To my office.” I took a step but was stopped by a thick arm. They held out a shirt for me and I tilted my head up to see Kade’s face. I took his shirt gratefully and when my hand brushed against his, I felt sparks.
Something in my head woke and I growled. My neck began to throb and I raised a hand to itch but instead I came into contact with a set of raised teeth marks. They felt like they’d been there for years but I knew that I hadn’t had them a week ago. My eyes widened and my mouth fell open as I stared at my mate. “Did you mark me?”
He hesitated for a moment before he nodded. I actually had no idea how to feel about it; did he only claim me to try to save me life? Yes I was indeed very grateful, but if you had a mate, wouldn’t you rather them mark you because they loved you; not because if they didn’t, you could die? I swallowed and slipped on his shirt. “Thank you.”
-
I tapped on Jenna’s office door before pushing it open. Everything felt different since I’d woken; I felt more full of energy, stronger, my senses were better and I felt physically tougher. All that faded away when I walked in to see Jenna cradling a bundle in her arms, Klaus standing behind her with another baby. It never occurred to me that Jenna would have had the babies but seeing them was a blow to the gut that physically left me breathless.
I took a step back and closed the door, leaning against it for support as a tear trickled down my cheek; I could’ve had that. I’d grown to love the life inside me but it was savagely ripped away from me all because of one jealous she wolf.
I closed my eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. I would make that bitch pay for what she did to me.
I wiped away that one tear and pushed the door open again. “I want the she wolf dead and I want to be the one to kill her; slowly.”
Jenna passed the child to Klaus who then left the room. Jenna leant forward and stared at me. “She is an alpha’s daughter; if I allow you to kill her, this will start a war. I cannot afford that now as more and more humans catch word of supernaturals; soon there will be an uprising.”
I leant back in the chair and crossed my legs. My eyes widened as I looked down at my thigh where a massive set of teeth marks marred my skin. “What the hell?”
Jenna noticed where my gaze was and cleared her throat. “Ace bit you on your thigh and Hansel on your stomach; to transfer the wolf DNA, I gave blood.”
I licked my lips and looked over to her. “A-and that’s how you turned me?” It was a foreign feeling; I was a wolf now. I guess that I hadn’t fully wrapped my head around it yet. She nodded and I sighed, leaning my head back to look at the ceiling. “Look Jenna, that woman threatened me and then pushed me down the stairs so I and my baby would die; she succeeded. If you try to protect her, I will get to her and I will kill her and anyone in my way.”
“Eve I wouldn’t think of letting her live; I just don’t want a pack war when tensions are so high with the humans.” I looked at her and for the first time I realised how tired she looked. Jenna was one of the strongest people I knew but I guess with the babies, the pack and what happened to me, it had worn her down.
“I’ll do it; I can take out the alpha family and the pack, unless you want them to join you.” For what the girl had done to me, she deserved to watch her whole family die in front of her.
Jenna seemed to consider it for a moment. “They have been causing problems a few problems for me and the alpha is a prick; his daughter proves that so I doubt he can run a pack smoothly.” I agreed whole heartedly. “There are over three hundred pack members though and if you kill the alpha, they will turn on you; if he is challenged for alpha though, they can do jack all.” Jenna chuckled.
I frowned and crossed my arms. “I’m not interested in being alpha and I’ve not got alpha blood.” To challenge an alpha for his pack, the challenger must have alpha blood to ensure that the pack will still have bloodlines; if they didn’t, then the pack could and would kill them for killing their alpha.
Jenna chuckled and shook her head. “How naïve you are Eve.” I raised an eyebrow, silently asking for an explanation. “You were turned by an alpha and two betas, and you are from a strong bloodline; you have to be to survive the change, which hasn’t been done for hundreds of years. As for the position of alpha, I will fight you till submission for it afterwards, because you will win, I’m sure of it.
I nodded and rubbed the scar on my thigh; I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit flattered, after all, Jenna was the strongest alpha of the largest pack and for her to put her faith in me was quite gratifying.
So far I didn’t hate being a wolf, I just wish that my baby hadn’t died because of one jealous, petty little girl. “I’ll do it but I’m not sure if I will be staying any longer afterwards.” There were too many bad memories here and I knew that Griffin, Gunner and Jackson would soon want to move on anyway. The thought of leaving hurt me a little; I did really love Jenna and my dad’s, I just couldn’t stay here. But Kade, what would happen with him?
As I stared at Jenna’s face I knew that she didn’t want me to leave but she really couldn’t make me stay; it was my life, short as it…. wait, I’m immortal now.
Holy shit.
“Yiannis and the warriors I sent are staying with the pack to deal with a rogue situation; which I think is total and utter bullshit because all it is, is a rancher offering jobs and a place to stay to the rogues. Yiannis hasn’t had direct dealings with the rogues yet as he’s trying to scope out the pack.” Jenna sighed and rubbed her forehead. “When you go over there, can you please visit the rogues with Yiannis as the pack’s alpha and assure them that no action will be taken against them?” I agreed and soon after left her office, my hatred and anger simmering just below the surface.
I would make them pay... dearly.