Songs for this chapter:
Human - Christina Perri
A Sky Full Of Stars - Coldplay
"What.... What am I?" I demanded after I had shifted back, my knees pulled in to my chest.
"A shapeshifter. This means you aren't only a werewolf, you can shift into a full wolf. It's very uncommon." Derek explained.
"Why?" I breathed. "Why did this happen to me? I did not ask for this!"
"I don't know who turned you," he told me calmly. "But we can find them."
"So, am I going to go crazy on the full moon and all that shit like in movies?"
"Not exactly. Shapeshifters have more control than werewolves do. You'll still turn on the full moon, but you'll have control."
"This has gotta be a dream..." I assured myself quietly and wrapped Derek's jacket tighter around my shoulders.
"But now that you've turned... There isn't any going back from this. You'll need to learn control." He touched my shoulder and I yanked out of his grip.
"I don't need your help," I hissed. "I, uh, I should go home."
"If that's what you want," I heard him laugh from behind me as I stumbled off, wrapping the jacket even tighter around my naked, shivering body.
I returned home at about five-forty, just in time for me to get ready for school. I would be able to cover my disappearance easily; my father probably didn't even know I was gone. I gripped the sides of the threshold and pushed myself inside. I climbed up quietly and threw myself into the shower right away. I washed all of the pain and dirt from my body that remained from the terrible events of last night. I breathed out and squeezed my eyes shut.
Everything felt so much like a dream. Even Derek felt unreal. Maybe it was all my imagination, maybe it was stress induced. Sounded about right to me. I hopped out of the shower and blow dried my hair before rummaging through my closet for an outfit.
I finally decided on a light blue denim dress with lace trim and white knit tights. I ran a comb through my hair and curled it just a little bit to give it stronger waves around my shoulders and walked into the bathroom to do my makeup. After I finished applying layer after layer of under-eye concealer to cover up the dark crescent circles under my eyes, I was finally satisfied. I smoothed on some light pink lipstick and sucked in a breath before leaving the bathroom. I slung my bag over my shoulder and checked the notifications on my phone in hope that Stiles had called me. To my shock and surprise, there were several texts from him.
*Hey.
*Wanna hang out?
*Hello?
*Hello?
*Can I give you a ride to school?
I grinned at the last text and, hoping it was sent recently, I quickly sent a reply. I dashed downstairs and greeted my dad and sister at the table.
"Morning, Val," my dad muttered from behind the newspaper he was buried in.
"Morning Daddy." I grabbed a banana and chomped it down quickly as I disappeared outside. I smiled at the sight of Stiles parked in front of my house, his feet on top of the dashboard. I walked up to the car and rapped my knuckles against the glass. His head snapped up and he swung his feet down in a spastic action. He grinned as heat flooded his cheeks and opened the door for me.
"H-hey...." he stuttered.
"Hey, Stiles." I grinned and positioned myself on the passenger seat before sliding the seatbelt over my body.
"You look really... p-pretty." He tugged at his hair and blushed again.
"Oh, thanks...." I replied, blushing a bit myself. Our eyes locked momentarily before he blinked and laughed softly.
"I... Let's go, then." I smiled and leaned my forehead against the cool glass. About midway through the drive, I noticed that I was digging my nails into my palms.
"Um, Val? You okay?" I looked down at my bloody nails and crimson streaked palms.
"Oh, um, yeah," I muttered and folded my hands together. "I'm okay."
"You don't look okay." His expression turned dead-serious. He pulled into the parking lot and reached for my wrist. "Why did you do this to yourself? I mean, how did you?"
"I.... I don't... Don't worry about it." He smiled weakly and led me out of the car before we dashed into the school. I made my way to my locker and smiled at Lydia before digging my books out of my locker.
"Val?" She touched my arm and cocked her head to the side, her green eyes open wide. "You alright?"
"Yeah!" I assured her as enthusastically as possible, "I'm fine."
"You sure? You look awfully pale...." I nodded rapidly as Allison walked up behind me and placed her hand on my shoulder. I bit my lip and looked into the concerned faces of my two friends.
"I guess not..." How was I going to tell them? Did they know that this side of Beacon Hills existed?
"Can you tell us?" Stiles asked. I swallowed hard and thought of how to show them. I exhaled and simply showed them my palms. The blood and puncture wounds from my claws had simply vanished before their eyes. Lydia gasped and held her hand to her mouth. She whispered something in Allison's ear, but I could hear it so unnaturally clear.
"We need to find Scott."