Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all of the characters; setting, ect…but I own Kyrie and the plot.
"You want to do what?!" screamed Sam, both astonished and enraged.
"Kyrie, please be reasonable about this," pleaded Billy. I shook my head obstinately. This was the path I chose and I was determined to follow it. The fire blazed in my soul and this was the type of fire a storm couldn't sway. The fire grew the last two days I trained with Billy.
Jacob entered the room grinning from ear to ear. Quil and Embry strode in behind him with the same stupid facial expression. I rolled my eyes and stared fiercely back at the two men in front of me. Embry tried to sneak up behind me and failed fantastically by knocking the phone over. He wasn't discouraged though. Embry rested his chin on my shoulder comfortably.
"What's up, kitten?" he whispered, his hot breath tickling my ear. I still liked Embry and Quil but I avoided Jacob like the plague.
"Long time no see, Embry," I smiled, petting his head. He kissed the palm of my hand playfully. I flicked his nose in return. Sam stood up and stood before Embry and me. Embry didn't bother straightening up before his alpha. Jacob and Quil mysteriously vanished from the room.
"Embry," said Sam "Kyrie listens to you, doesn't she?"
"Like a good little kitten," Embry said, stroking my hair. I always let Embry close to me, enough for friends but nothing more. We played around and had good clean fun. I loved every last minute of it. There were the occasional kisses on the cheek or palm, in Embry's case. The pack always teased us about being a couple but we always retorted with the finger.
"So please tell her that her new training idea is outrageously unreasonable," groaned Billy, wheeling himself to the kitchen. I was in trouble now. Embry always gave me the most unusual punishments. I still had the marks from Alice's shocker collar which I ripped off after a particularly irksome shock attack Embry dished out, there was another time he persuaded me to wear this sexy maid costume after I smashed his prized figure of a bikini model, then there was another time he hung me by the ankles over the cliff because I drank the last chocolate milk.
"What kind of training, kitty," crooned Embry, sitting me on the couch "Were you planning anything dangerous? Tell big brother Embry." I batted my eyelashes up at him sweetly.
"I was hoping," I said playing my 'sweet angel' trump card "that you would train me as wolves." Embry's eyes shot open and his jaw dropped down.
"Are you insane?!" He growled, balling his hands into fists "Kyrie, you know how dangerous and unstable we are! You could end up dead!"
"But if you just listen-" he put his hands over his ears and walked to the kitchen yelling "La! La! La! I can't hear you!"
I stuck my tongue out at his back. Nobody wanted to hear an insignificant person out. I walked out the front door exasperated.
"These people," I muttered, kicking rocks in every which direction "they promise to help me with this transformation and yet they don't listen to a single word I say! Men are so overrated." I sighed dejectedly.
A strong smell of several native flowers breached my nostrils. It irritated my sensitive nose. My eyes watered as a womanly figure emerged from the woods carrying several bags of food. She had the same sandy hair as Seth; her skin was the same copper color as his as well. Her eyes, however, held spite and impatience; her mouth was turned down in a decided grimace but beneath all that, the native beauty all Quileute women shared radiated like the stars. Her eyes were focused on me and I was reminded of my third grade French teacher who scared me witless. Funny how those times seemed eons and eons away.
"So you're Kyrie, eh?" she said, not even bothering to disguise the contempt. I nodded stiffly, keeping my facial expression carefully blank. She scoffed at me mockingly and dropped the bags. I was starting to dislike this girl.
"You're that werewolf abomination the whole pack's been shirking duties for," she drawled, her eyes studying me closely "I really don't see why they do that. By the looks of it, they're failing fantastically with your 'training sessions'." My eyes flew open. How did she know that I was training with the pack? Better yet, how did she know I was going practically nowhere with the sessions?
"How do you know about that, miss…?" I murmured through my teeth, I didn't like giving respectful prefixes to those who didn't earn it.
"The name's Leah. And I know because you look weak, delicate, and, most of all, incapable of anything." She said these words almost lovingly. It took all my will power not to jump up and claw that imbecilic smirk off her face. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. I chewed on my lower lip and glared at the tree trunk beside me.
"Yeah?" I hissed, unable to keep my words any longer "and what do you suppose I do about it? The entire pack disagrees with my training schemes! The men think women can't do anything dangerous or stressful or…or…!"
"The men think we can't do anything right," whispered Leah.
"Exactly!" I yelled frustrated "Especially that Sam! He's the kind of guy that thinks every single girl should be a feminine Barbie or something!" At the mention of Sam's name, Leah's harsh features gained a cool steel edge. Her eyes narrowed at me, an unknown fire blazed within her dark green eyes. I flinched slightly, expecting more harsh words from her sharp tongue.
"You think so?" she jeered "I'm glad I'm not the only one who hates him." This girl in front of me never ceased to amaze.
"So," I asked, treading in dangerous waters "I'm assuming you're a wolf too?" Leah nodded. "And I'm willing to bet that you can do better than those boys?"
"Of course I can," she sneered "but don't get me wrong, Kyrie. I'm not helping you." A little reverse psychology could fix that.
"Okay," I sighed dejectedly, getting up and brushing dirt off the jeans "I understand. I am an abomination after all… who would ever want to train me?" Leah scoffs in agreement. "It's such a damn shame though, you know, to let the guys have the last laugh at the end of it."
"What do you mean?" snapped Leah. I shrugged nonchalantly.
"It's obvious isn't it?" I started walking away slowly "They give me a training course that sucks ass, I change at the full moon and when I do attack somebody, they'll probably blame it on the entire woman population for not listening to men properly." I gave a huge sigh "kind of depressing when you think about it."
3…2…1…
"Wait," called Leah, jogging up to meet me "So, what you're saying is you'd rather learn from me? You hardly know me."
"It's better than these half-wits who pretend to know what the hell they're doing."
"It won't be easy. I can be very strict."
"I've had worse. Then again… what could you possibly do that's better than Sam and his pack?"
"Everything," growled Leah menacingly.
"Tch, right…and I'm a magical pixie." I scoffed mockingly. Leah stepped in front of me and glared. Her lips were pulled back over her teeth in a snarl.
"You might as well be one with those guys," she barked.
"I'll live." I shrugged
"Don't you want to be stronger?" Leah jeered "You said it yourself! 'They'd probably blame it on the entire woman population for not listening to men.'"
"Yeah, I know but with no one to help-" I hesitated.
"I'll help you! I'll be getting the last laugh, not Sam. I can show him that I could do something right for a change…" Leah uttered, almost inaudibly.
"I don't know," I hesitated. Leah grabbed me by the collar and forced me to stare into her piercing eyes.
"You want to have a spine or not?" she spat.
"Course I do," I said.
"Good," she relinquished her hold on me "Tell Sam you're training with me now. I'll meet you in the forest after an hour. If you're late I'll make you do much more than laps." And with that, she lifted the fallen bags and strode over to the direction of the houses. I smirked and strutted off to Billy's.
Hook, line and sinker.
I burst through the front door with a grin worthy of the Cheshire cat. Jacob, Quil and Embry lounged on the couch, watching some game on T.V. Sam was chatting with Billy animatedly in the kitchen, preparing lunch for the boys. I strode in easily, the grin not fading for a second.
"Hey Sam," I greeted cheerfully "hi Billy. How are you guys doing?" The pot filled with water hissed and frothed madly when Sam accidentally dropped a frozen plastic covered piece of meat into it.
"Not that good," chuckled Billy "But I see that your mood's lightened considerably." My grin became, if possible, even wider.
"Yep," I chirped "Somebody's finally said yes to my ideas!" Sam dropped the pan lid in shock.
"WHO?" He demanded fiercely. His eyes shifted to the three guys laughing heartily in the living room. My grin never faltered.
"Some girl named Leah." I answered sweetly.
Everything stopped at the mention of Leah's name. The trees stopped swaying in the wind, the laughter instantly died out, the T.V. fell silent, the birds stopped singing, the pot stopped frothing, and a bird coincidentally dropped out of a tree, the whole world seemed freeze. Sam's eyes popped open and his jaw fell slack. A warm hand grasped my shoulder. Jacob looked down at me pitifully.
"You made a deal with the devil." He said, looking out the window.
Blood ran down my neck and sweat mingled with pouring rain. Anger and hate pulsed uncontrollably in my veins. The pain Leah alone induced on me drove me to my limits. Some people would call this overkill; others would describe it as pure, mindless carnage, but to my master, she depicted it as training.
Yeah, calling her 'master' was just one of the things I had signed up for. Each and every single morning, I woke up hungry and reported to her on the edge of a secluded cliff. Each and every single day, she would make me do long, arduous tasks that pushed me to the limit. These tasks would include running as far as Seattle and back without a moment to rest nor a drop to drink; climbing up the steep cliffs with weights as heavy as giant boulders strapped to my back; combat training with either my hands tied behind my backside, my senses cut off completely, or my legs secured to the ground. Think that's bad? There's more, every time I got angry and lashed out at her, an incredible searing pain would tranquilize me completely, immobilizing my body. I had no idea what it was or where she got it, so, at a disadvantage, I had to keep as calm as a puppy dog. And finally, I came home with wounds that would have killed even a werewolf. I was glad my family didn't find lycanthrope blood enticing because I nearly flooded the floor with it.
Lycanthropes were supposed to have the highest threshold for pain in the whole world, but leave it to Leah to get past that.
"Faster!" called Leah off the top of the cliff "You expect to become stronger like that?! You disgust me!" I growled menacingly over the thunder. I was rock climbing today since no one in the right mind would come out during a storm like this one. I lost my footing and slid down several feet, grazing my hands against the sharp rocks. Crimson liquid dripped steadily from my palm and on to my face. My muscles ached and throbbed at the effort. My lungs were on fire as I struggled to breath. My bleeding hands slapped noisily over the cliff's edge. With a final heave, I collapsed on the cold, bare rock. Rain pelted my already freezing body and I forced myself to look up at Leah, who was under the shelter of a black umbrella. Fire forced its way up my throat all the way from my lungs. I hacked out a stream of blood as I shakily crawled to the shelter of the forest.
"That was pathetic," spat Leah "my grandmother would've made it up faster than you." A stream of swears threatened to spill but I held my tongue, my back sass only brought me more pain.
"I'll… do… better," I moaned, my throat was burning from the inside out "…master." I splashed against the muddy grounds, heaving the confounded weights along with me.
A familiar set of footsteps crunched against the grass and released me of the weights. I looked up into the warm eyes of Jacob. He was usually flanked by Embry during the training. At first they tried to convince me to stop, but I didn't listen to them at all. So they had to satisfy themselves with being my medics after each session. Jacob was kind and that earned him some brownie points occasionally.
"Why must you keep torturing yourself?!" mumbled Jacob, wiping the blood away from my face and lips "Kyrie, you're being an idiot." I shrugged as he disinfected the wounds.
"You guys didn't want to train me," I smiled "properly."
"And this is proper, how?" He growled.
"Jacob," I sighed "you know that tomorrow night's the transformation. I need all the help I can get!"
"How is this," he held my scratched and bleeding up for me to see properly "helping with the transformation?" I sighed annoyed. We'd had this discussion before already but Jacob kept trying to bring me to my senses.
"Billy said-"
"I KNOW WHAT HE SAID!" roared Jacob, pulling on the bandages "I know that it's to prepare your body, I know that it's to make sure you won't attack us but at the rate you're going you'd be dead before the full moon!" I laughed and stretched luxuriously on the soft grass.
"It's better than killing anyone, right?" I closed my eyes and took my time to relax. Leah never really had any tolerance for breaks. Jacob was just about to retort when a thin hand pinched my ear and yanked me up by it none too gently. So much for relaxation…
The day passed on much more slowly than the rest. It was official; some bug had crawled up Leah's ass then keeled over and died. The training I went through nearly killed me. She forced me to do each of the twisted exercises I had done in the right order. Every time I messed up, the burning pain would spill over me until I screamed and writhed in pain. The sun simply refused to set at the right time and I slaved away, carrying out my master's tasks. Jacob and Embry tagged around, trying to help me with the tasks Leah set me. Being the stupid, naïve little creature I was, I blatantly refused their interference.
Another set of fresh wounds mutilated my pale skin. Blood ran down to the floor like a young mountain stream. I was snuggled up cozily against Embry's chest while Jacob opened the door of his Volkswagen Rabbit. We were headed over to Forks to drop me off at my place. The pain I felt was a mere throb although if I were a normal human I probably would've breathed my last from overexposure to pain. Crimson splotches started to stain Embry's shirt and jeans. I looked up at him sheepishly to find his auburn brown eyes gazing down at me with what seemed to be worry. Embry slid into the back seat, still cradling me against his unnaturally warm torso.
"Embry," I whispered shyly "you can put me down, I'm not an invalid." He shrugged and bounced me good-naturedly in his arms.
"You're too much of a baby for me to put down," he taunted "besides, Jake would hate it if you got blood on the seats."
"So you'd rather have my blood on your shirt?" I raised an eyebrow. Embry gave me a charming grin before the car revved up and shot out of La Push.
"Does it hurt?" He asked, running a forefinger down one of the deeper wounds on the collarbone. Heat rushed up my cheeks and I bit my lip.
"Not much…" I mumbled, Embry's finger continued to run back and forth on that particular wound, a sly grin forming on his handsome Quileute features.
"You look flushed," he murmured, placing his lips next to my ear "Are you sure you're alright?" his warm breath caressed my ear tenderly; his lips squeezed the tip of my ear. My face burned scarlet while I diverted my eyes to the back of Jacob's head. He seemed to have tightened his grip on the steering wheel. I saw the tendons on the back of his hands faintly jutted out. He seemed pissed about something. Embry hung onto me for the rest of the ride, without relinquishing his iron grip on me. Jacob's hands didn't seem to relax as well.
My family swarmed me once Embry stepped over the threshold. They bombarded me with the usual questions and overprotective gestures, the usual death threats, against Leah. They hardly seemed to mind that I brought two werewolves back home with me. Carlisle swept me from Embry's warm body and gently laid me on the couch, taking care of the wounds. Lycanthrope didn't heal as fast as werewolves so if it takes werewolves ten minutes to heal from a deep three-foot cut it takes lycanthrope three times longer but the pain is hardly felt at all.
"Fascinating," said Carlisle as he probed a gash for rock fragments "simply astounding. And you say you don't feel this at all, Kyrie?"
"Nope," I smiled "not one bit."
"Imagine what you're able to do once you transform." wondered Carlisle. I winced. I had less than twenty hours until the transformation. This was my last twenty hours as a semi-human being.
"I just hope that I won't kill anyone…" I muttered offhandedly. My father smiled and kissed my forehead with his unusually cold lips.
"You'll be fine Kyrie," he murmured soothingly "I know you will." My body abruptly felt drained and lethargic. Jasper wasn't in the vicinity so it wasn't him doing it. I stretched against the bandages and ice pack smoothed out against my head. My eyelids began to droop slowly out of my control.
"Oh yea!" chimed Alice, bonking her head "I did some research on lycanthrope from a local library up in Seattle. They rest an entire day in preparation for the first transformation. Apparently, this type of phasing needs much more energy."
"How do you know that what you read is fact?" growled Jacob skeptically. This guy really couldn't play nice.
"My sources," replied Alice icily. I gave a massive yawn and turned over to the side so I'd get comfortable. I hated sleeping on cool leather but I was so tired I couldn't find it in myself to stand up and walk to my room. The noise soon became an incoherent buzz and colors swam lazily in and out of focus. A warm cloud suddenly picked me up and swept me away to my room. My senses became dull and I was unable to decipher whether it was Embry or Jacob holding me. They both smelled so similar. I closed my eyes and snuggled closer to the warmth.
The cloud dropped me on a soft, squashy surface. A blanket enveloped my body and something warm touched my cheek so affectionately I almost couldn't feel it. I moaned and clumsily threw my arm over whoever was beside me. I gave him a hug as a thank you because my lips were too tired to form words. Something soft ran up and down the length of my back. A warm set of lips delicately touched my ear. My spine tingled.
"Night, Kyrie," whispered a deep, husky voice "Sweet dreams." That familiar musky forest scent… I moaned inaudibly before falling into a peaceful, dreamless slumber.
The sun was setting over the horizon ominously. My hand was intertwined with my mother and father's as we made our way into the large clearing. The entire Cullen coven and the pack followed behind us apprehensively. Fear and anxiety bubbled uncomfortably within my abdomen. My hands and feet were as cold as arctic glaciers as we all watched the sun set behind the horizon.
Everyone was quiet and statuesque. The cloudy night seemed intimidating and the usual breeze that blew in Forks had an unpleasant feel to it tonight; it was as if the weather could taste the ill-fated event that was soon to occur. A warm, thin hand clasped my shoulder tightly.
"Kyrie," said Leah, staring at the dark purple sky "just remember 'mind over matter'. You listen to that and you'll be fine." She phased and slunk back into her rank beside Jacob and Paul. I nodded mutely at her words. My mouth had become too dry for words and a giant clump formed at my throat. It was really only a matter of minutes now. The stars began to materialize in the cloud covered night sky. The Cullens, including my mom and dad, backed away from me slowly. The enormous wolves retreated into the forest where they gazed at me unblinkingly. I felt cold and alone.
For the very first second I woke up, I knew I was alone. I was a hybrid; not vampire but not exactly werewolf either. Everybody tried to help me, they tried to help me fit into either group but Leah made it clear that I couldn't be either one of them. The werewolves were able to shift anytime they wanted, they weren't forced to do so once every month and they looked like normal creatures that wouldn't cause much suspicion. The vampires, though undead, were as beautiful as Grecian gods; they even had these remarkable powers! I on the other hand was as ugly as a door mat covered in mud; I had nothing special about me except this transforming thing. I was the weakest link in the chain of life. No matter how hard I tried the scales would never tip. I would be alone on the top, looking down for someone to reach up to me and rescue me.
The moon peered out from behind the clouds, casting strings of silver light onto me. My skin seemed to glow as the light wrapped my skin in a cocoon. The glow started from my fingertips upwards. The light snaked up to my shoulders and made its way down, beneath my clothing, trapping my midriff and my legs in a pearly sparkle. Once my body was fully encased in the glowing silver light, the luminescent glow snaked its way around my neck, across my face and down each and every single strand of hair. I gazed at my silver-covered skin. It sparkled and shone with every flex of a muscle.
I was so enraptured by the beauty of the sparkling skin that I was completely caught off guard once it started.
I fell to the floor, the world going in and out of focus. A wolf howled in anger somewhere in the distance.
A horrible pain pooled into my chest, right at the very centre of my heart. I doubled over and clutched my heart. It felt like it was pumping magma instead of blood. Every second a new part of my body filled with the angry burning. I shut my eyes tight, refusing to let the tears spill. The flame was extinguished by an unnatural cold. It burst like a dam from the centre outwards. My bones then started to expand; it stretched my skin and muscles painfully. I screamed in agony, the bones in both my legs broke on their own accord. They started to rearrange themselves into animal legs. My fingers lengthened and my nails protruded as sharp, black claws. My face lengthened torturously into a muzzle filled with fangs. My ears repositioned themselves onto the top of my head. My tailbone elongated as I shrieked and writhed in agony. Fur burst out from every crevice of my body, shielding me in the place of clothes. The fur thickened as the pain stopped.
I laid there panting and whimpering like an animal. My senses were much sharper than when I was human, I smelled several figures cautiously encircling me. They all smelled familiar. I opened my eyes and stood on two legs. I was much farther from the ground. A twig snapped and my head snapped up to see a figure with untidy bronze hair approaching me with his arms up. The hackles on my neck and spine rose; I crouched down, my arms and legs pressed against the grass.
Will Kyrie recognize Edward? What was Jacob's reaction to seeing Kyrie squirm in pain? Will Kyrie's dream come true and will she kill Seth? How will they subdue the beast Kyrie had become!? Tune in to the next chapter to find out.
Sorry it took long to update, I had a mountain of work to dig through. I'll work hard to update soon! From now on, if I have six or more reviews, the next chapter would appear the next day, five or less then it would be out in two or more days. I just really want to know what you guys think or would want in the story. Thanks everyone!
Fable
