John didn't even make it to the woods. He dropped to knees, for the second time that day, his fingers grasping at the soft, green grass below him, and began shaking. His spasms came out in spurts, as if he was trying to keep his body from shifting. I dropped down next to him, resting my hand gently against his back. His breathing slowed for a minute before he began gasping for air again. He was trying to resist—trying to force his body to remain in this shape—and, for a moment, it seemed as if he might actually succeed.
"Marina, back away from him," my dad said to me firmly and I immediately scooted back about three feet. "John, listen to me. Don't try to stop it. Don't resist. You need to let it happen. Let your body shift."
"But—I think I—" John gasped. My dad interrupted him,
"No. Your body still needs to get used to the feeling of shifting." John nodded painfully, and then stopped fighting the change. His body shuddered, and, in the next minute, the black wolf I had first seen in the woods only a few hours before stood in my backyard. I couldn't help but smile. My friend was just like me—well, almost just like me. Although, who knows? Maybe John was secretly a marine animal too.
"Come on," I said, pulling my dress over my head, "let's go for a run." I shifted into my wolf form and dashed towards the woods. I could hear John right behind me.
"Wait!" My dad called after us. I looked back, afraid he was going to tell us that we couldn't go—that John had to stay and continue shifting back and forth. "Take the three mile loop," he said, and then gesturing to John, added, "He stills needs to get some practice in before it gets dark." I nodded to show him that I understood and then disappeared into the trees.
I ran on the path for awhile—making sure John was able to keep up with me. He was—with ease. I tried not to be jealous of this. I had always prided myself on being the fastest out of my dad and Cole, but I guess it made sense for John to be as fast as me—as fast, he could never be faster—I wouldn't allow it. I decided to test him. I wanted to see if he could maintain his speed while having to navigate through the dense forest. Taking a sharp left, I strayed from the worn path. John fell behind at first—not expecting the sudden change—but he quickly looped back around and was on my heels once more. I darted in and out of the trees, never slowing down. I have to admit I was slightly disappointed when I noticed that John was keeping up with me—it looked like it was almost easy for him. I sped up, but he matched my pace. The trees began to thin again, and the next thing I knew he was running alongside me. He turned his head toward me and gave me this look that could have only meant "Is this the best you can do?" He grinned at me before he sped up, pulling ahead of me. I let him go ahead until he was about ten feet in front of me. Then I increased my speed—slowly gaining on him. He sensed me catching up and ran faster, but I continued to close the distance between us. As soon as I was right behind him, I cut to the side to pull ahead, but he too moved to the right. I moved to the left instead, but he blocked me again. I let out a soft growl in annoyance. He snorted, chuckling—he was laughing at me. I growled at him again and tried to get past but he wouldn't let me. Reaching my head forward, I took a few snaps at his hind legs. That startled him enough for me to be able to run around the side next to him.
We continued to race through the woods until we came out into the clearing that was my backyard once more. John stopped short when he realized how fast we had ended up back there. My dad was sitting on the back porch, waiting for us.
"That was fast," he said, eyeing me suspiciously. I smiled to myself and looked away—he didn't have to know that we raced the whole trail. My dad stood up and walked over to the two of us. Looking down at John, he said, "And now the real training begins." John-the-wolf sat obediently—as if he was some pet and this was simply a doggy school program. I snorted and he shot me an evil look. I trotted over to the porch to lie in the sun—still mocking him. "What I need you to do first, John, is shift back." I knew he was still watching me. "John? Are you listening to me?" my dad asked. John wasn't—his eyes were still locked on me. I shot him a look that told him "you-better-pay-attention". His head snapped up in the direction of my dad's face. Even from behind him, I knew my dad had his eyebrows raised in his typical amused expression. I watched as John's near-military stance slumped a little. I snorted again.
"Marina, go in the house please," my dad said, not turning around. I immediately shifted back into my human form.
"Dad—"
"Go, Marina," he said firmly.
"Dad, I can help," I said, stepping forward.
"I think you're doing more hurt than help right now."
"And how's that?" I asked.
"You're distracting him," my dad said simply. John's cheeks reddened and he looked away from me.
"Fine." I pouted. I grabbed my dress off the ground and stomped inside. I pulled it over my head as I walked through the kitchen and up the stairs to my bedroom. I went straight to my window, which looked out across the backyard. From there, I watched as my dad coached John through multiple changes. I could tell that John had a lot of difficulty shifting between his human form and his wolf form, but after the first three times it seemed to be getting easier for him. Even from the window I was able to see how natural his shifts were becoming. After about an hour, it looked like John's practice with shifting was over. My dad talked to him for a few minutes before he walked away, back towards the house. I raced down the stairs and almost ran into my dad in the kitchen. I didn't say anything—just looked at him before dashing outside to John. I found him still standing in the middle of the yard, staring out at the surrounding trees. I noticed he was wearing another pair of Cole's old shorts.
"Hey," I said as I approached him.
"Hey," was all he said back. He didn't look at me as I came to stand beside him.
"How do you feel?" I asked. He shrugged.
"Alright, I guess. Kind of tired."
"Do you think you're in control now?"
"Don't know. I hope so," he paused, "your dad said I'm going to need to practice more to make sure." I nodded in understanding. "I saw you watching from the window," he said, this time glancing over at me. It was my turn for my cheeks to redden. I looked at the ground.
"Sorry."
"It's okay. It may sound crazy, but I think I did better knowing you were watching me," he said.
"Really?" I asked. He smiled and nodded.
The slamming of the back door interrupted our moment, causing both of us to jump. It was Cole. As soon as he stepped off the porch he shifted into his massive tiger form. I assumed he would head for the woods but instead he came towards us—his eyes locked on John.
"Cole, what are you doing?" I asked, but Cole ignored me. He just continued to stalk towards John. John took a few steps back. The next couple seconds were a blur—Cole pounced and John dove to the side, landing on the ground a few feet away from where he stood before.
"Cole!" I shouted, but he still paid me no attention. Cole pounced again and John jumped aside—this time shifting into his wolf form as he did. Cole smiled as he circled the black wolf. John stood his ground—even letting out a small growl directed at Cole.
"Cole! Stop it!" I yelled. Cole pounced at John again and again but John avoided him every time. He moved so fast that all I saw was a stream of jet black fur. I didn't understand what Cole was doing, but the next thing I knew he had lunged at me. Before I even got the chance to jump away or shift, the jet black blur collided with the tiger—knocking Cole to the ground. Cole stood up and shifted back into his human form. He was smiling.
"Cole! What the hell did you think you were doing?" I said.
"My own type of training," he said, "if he's going to be one of us then I had to make sure he had the skills and agility to protect himself…and you." John shifted back too. The two boys stared at each other. John nodded to Cole, showing him that he understood what he was getting at.
"I can protect myself thank you very much." Neither my brother nor John acknowledged my comment. Cole turned and walked back into the house. When he disappeared inside I turned to face John, raising my eyebrows and crossing my arms over my chest.
"What?" John asked. Smiling at him, I said,
"Those were some moves, Jet."
