Very superstitious, wash your face and hands, Rid me of the problem, do all that you can"

-Superstition, Stevie Wonder

Chapter 4

Three days later, the full moon came and went. Anna hated those three days a month. She preferred PMS to the shift every wolf had to make under a full moon. She didn't like the way it made her ridiculously hungry. She didn't like the way it made her irritable and easier to set off. She hated the actual change. It was painful and took forever. Most of all, she hated the monster she was forced to become.

Having Charles had helped a lot. He made her see the benefits of being a wolf. He helped her hone her senses. Helped her see that it's not all bad. She did get Charles for the rest of her life, which was another perk. She would live as long as her will and her heart allowed. The best part of full moon shifts with Charles for her, was coming home, cleaning up and being able to climb into bed with her husband and help him and herself soothe the most primal of their instincts aside from the hunt. They made love almost every night that week. Unfortunately, after the full moon ended, there were so many rogue wolves , they hardly had time to eat and sleep, nevertheless have sex. Anna calmed the ones she could, Charles or Bran took care of the ones she couldn't. Thankfully, it had only been two that she hadn't helped regain control. At the end of three weeks, she had helped save nineteen wolves.

Time had flown by and by the time she'd slowed down long enough to think about her lack of a love life with Charles, the full moon was upon them again. Dread filled her head and stomach turned in knots. She had to force her lunch back down. She needed to get a hold on herself. One would think that after over three years of doing this once a month, she'd be dealing with it better. She took a few deep breaths and walked upstairs to her husband and father-in-law. They were quietly discussing our issues, though they hadn't come any closer to an answer.

"At least I'll get some time with Charles" she thought to herself. The idea alone had her aroused. Then, as if they'd heard her thoughts, they both looked over, sniffed the air, and realization dawned on their faces. The act was so in sync, it was almost comical. Their expressions following, however, were very different. Bran simply smiled to himself and walked into his office after patting Charles on the shoulder as a gesture of understanding. Charles, on the other hand, appeared as if he was trying to look into her as opposed to at her. The look in his eyes was a hunger bordering on carnal. It made her squirm a bit, which only made his gaze darken with need. The wolf was right on the surface and she knew not to look him directly in the eye.

"Charles.." She turned her head down and to the side, moving her hair with her hand, exposing her throat to him. He stalked towards her and buried his face in her neck, trailing kisses up her neck to her mouth. The kiss was light at first, then deepened into something more primal and desperate. It was only when Anna moaned, that Charles came back to himself. He placed a hand on either side of her face, leaned his forehead to hers, relishing the idea of losing contact with her soft flesh. They were both breathing heavily, trying to compose themselves. Finally, Charles leaned in near her ear and whispered, "Tonight." His one word was laced with so much promise it made Anna's knees weak. He kissed her forehead and finally broke away. They did have more pressing matters, after all.

Charles went back in his father's office. Anna went to the downstairs bathroom to splash water on her face. She had to get her emotions in check. Her emotions and her hormones. But it was impossible when she was around him. Sometimes, he was the weight holding her down; he was the gilded cage protecting her from the outside world. Other times, he was like kerosene thrown on the flames of her soul. It was a surreal feeling. As if he could set her soul on fire and all the while protect her from being burned.

There were days when he made her her feel a little too much like that caged bird. She didn't really mind. She'd rather be overprotected than abused. Charles made her feel cherished and irreplaceable, which was a drastic difference from her being beaten, raped, and controlled. Things were so good with him that when Anna thought of her life before the last year, it was as if someone else had lived it. She couldn't picture any life but this one.

Hours later, the sun was setting and they were out in the woods, disrobing for the full moon's change. "Alright." Bran said, addressing the entire pack. "Everyone try to either pair up or stay within earshot of someone. I want us to keep tabs on each other with all of these rogue wolves running around." He stopped, closed his eyes, and sniffed the air; when he opened them again, his wolf had taken control.

After Bran's wolf surfaced, everyone else slowly started beginning to change. Anna didn't have to answer an alpha's call but even her wolf usually stirred when Bran called. She waited, dreading the change. Before long, she was the last one not in some stage of the change. She waited and waited for it to take her. Within half an hour, she was surrounded by enormous wolves, with her still human.

"Something's wrong" she thought. She could still feel her wolf. She was there. She wasn't nearly as worried as Anna, about not changing. She didn't want to, but she'd never been able to will it away before. Her pack just stared at her, except for Charles who had taken up a spot directly in front of her, staring down the rest of the pack. It suddenly occurred to her that she probably looked a lot like dinner right about now. Anna actually tried to change as opposed to letting the moon take her. Nothing. She couldn't change. Behind her panic, she was thrilled. She had to calm down. These were not healthy emotions to have around a bunch of hungry werewolves. She calmed herself and said, "I can't shift. I don't know why but I can't. I'm going to go get back in the truck and wait for you guys to finish." she said slowly. She bent to pick up her clothes and inched herself backwards towards the truck, not looking directly at any of them. You don't turn your back on or do anything remotely resembling running from a wolf. Charles followed her and she had to shoo him away.

"I'll stay here until you get back, just in case it's a delayed shift or something. Go on." She ruffled his fur and waited on him to move then closed the truck door. She sat there and waited for the wolves to start their hunt somewhere far away from her. Once the wolves dispersed, worry started to settle heavily on her shoulders.

Why can't I shift? Is something wrong with me? Why didn't I even feel the need to shift?

"Calm down." Anna told herself. The last thing she needed was for her panic to seep through to her mate bond and then onto the pack bonds. They would figure it out. She leaned her seat back, covered up with her jacket and closed her eyes. The next thing she knew, daylight was breaking through the clouds and the pack was outside redressing after their run. Charles walked towards her, having only bothered to pull on pants. "How am I going to focus when he's like that?" Anna muttered to herself. A smile played across Charles's face. Of course, he heard me. Charles yanked the truck door open.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"I don't know. I was waiting for the change to take me and it never did. So I tried to shift and I couldn't."

"You can't shift? What do you mean you can't?" Charles demanded, his face stricken with worry.

"Can't probably wasn't the best term for that." she said shyly. Charles cocked his brow at her. "Okay. It was a bad term for that. The better way to describe it would be, wouldn't. Like she just decided not to this time. I'm fine, really." Anna shrugged. Charles eyed her curiously.

"Okay but I still want you to let Samuel look at you." Charles conceded.

"Alright but I'm telling you feel fine." And she did feel pretty normal, aside from the deep, foreboding feeling she had; Telling her that whatever this was, it wasn't in her control.