Chapter Seventeen

The transformation

Sakura opened her eyes and saw an amber glow fixed on her. She closed them again and continued kissing Syaoran, pressing herself tighter against him until they both gasped at the same time. Then she broke the kiss, cupping his face with both hands.

"We've been stuck in here for almost a whole day now. It's about time we go out... don't you think?"

He looked into her eyes, noticing how his heart was racing and his muscles were tensing again. He'd never wanted her so badly, and he couldn't possibly tire of her.

"I don't know if I'll ever get enough of you," he admitted in a whisper.

"You have to get used to all these new sensations, though I wouldn't mind if we went on like this for another day," she replied, laughing softly.

"Then let's get on with it," Syaoran growled, lunging at her to attack the area of her neck where her new mark was.

Sakura flinched and used her arms to push him a few inches away from her.

"If you want to get back to your normal life soon... we need to start your training as soon as possible, and it's better now that it's nighttime," she said, raising an eyebrow.

He snorted in annoyance.

"All right, but I'm not finished with you," he growled under his breath.

"You know I want us to keep tearing up the house together, but you need to learn how to transform."

Syaoran blinked several times in confusion and looked around.

They were both lying on the floor, surrounded by pieces of wood. The bed was completely broken, there were a couple of smashed chairs, and to his right he saw that the table was shattered. There were even some holes in one of the walls.

He gasped, paling.

"Sakura, I... I didn't notice, I'm sorry," he muttered, looking back at her.

She was smiling.

"Don't worry about it. Eriol and Tomoyo almost tore their house down the first time they slept together. Besides... I liked it too."

"That's the worst part, feeling everything you felt has driven me crazy... and I can feel that you're still hungry for more," he whispered, staring at her with dilated pupils.

"You wanted to mark me and know what I felt, didn't you? Well, you know," she replied, giving him a smirk.

"Did it hurt?"

Sakura shook her head.

"It was weird, but I didn't feel any pain... and there are other advantages to both of us having the mark."

"Like what?" he asked curiously.

Syaoran tensed as he heard Sakura's voice in his mind.

Like this.

He opened his eyes wide in surprise.

Can you hear my thoughts?

No, but I can hear whatever you want me to hear. Now we can communicate like this even if we're miles apart.

Can we do this with the rest of the pack? - he asked telepathically.

We can all communicate like this when we are wolves, but in our human form we can only do it with our mate, as long as we both have the mark.

"It's amazing," Syaoran admitted quietly.

She smiled.

"And you still have the best part left... knowing what it feels like to be a wolf."

He raised an eyebrow.

"By the way, you did hold back every time we were together and I was human," he murmured, arching an eyebrow.

He remembered perfectly well everything she had done with him in the past few hours. Sakura's smile widened.

"I had to, or you would have ended up like that furniture," she replied, pointing to the shattered chairs.

The two walked through the snowy, stony streets of their small town, heading towards the forest.

Syaoran was amazed to realise that, even though it was night, he could see everything perfectly. He was also impressed to discover the range of smells he could now pick up, he could even smell the water of the river in the middle of the forest, a couple of kilometres away.

Another thing he noticed was that he didn't feel cold, even though he was wearing only a shirt, it was winter and everything was covered in snow.

He stopped suddenly and Sakura took a few steps towards him.

"I've been told that it can be a bit overwhelming at first, so take it easy," she said, taking his hand so that he continued walking beside her.

"Who told you that?"

"The humans in the pack who became werewolves are always telling how it feels," she replied, shrugging.

"It wasn't like that for you?"

Sakura shook her head.

"I was born this way, my senses were fully developed from the start. The only thing that changed when I turned eighteen is that from then on I was able to transform and detect my mate's scent."

Syaoran nodded thoughtfully and they walked on in silence.

They walked deeper into the forest, and when he saw the moonlight leaving silvery reflections on Sakura's hair and skin, a new wave of desire ran through his body and he couldn't stop himself.

He lunged at her and pushed her against a tree trunk, attacking her lips and kissing her furiously.

Sakura gasped in surprise and used all her strength to push him.

"Don't get carried away by desire, Syaoran. We need to train, you need to transform and start now."

Syaoran growled and she grinned.

"When we get home I'll be all yours, I promise."

He snorted heavily, but took a couple of steps back.

A few minutes later, they reached the river and there they met Tomoyo and Eriol, who were waiting for them.

"I asked them to come and help me control you," she said, meeting Syaoran's curious gaze.

He blinked, slightly confused.

"You're stronger than me now. If you get out of control, I won't be able to stop you just by myself," Sakura murmured, smiling.

"I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the idea that you can't take me now," Syaoran replied, sighing.

"That won't last long. In a few weeks, Sakura's venom will be out of your system and you'll be just as strong as me," Eriol commented, raising his eyebrows.

"Venom?" he repeated, frowning.

"I injected you with the venom from my fangs. It's the only way to turn a human, only their mate's venom can do that. Other werewolves' venom would have killed you."

Syaoran shuddered.

"And, once the venom wears off... Will I still be stronger than you?" he asked, looking Sakura in the eye.

"I don't think so. Being a man, you have a bit of an advantage... but I'm an Alpha, so I'm stronger than normal," she replied, a smirk on her lips.

"I guess in a month's time we'll have to have a fight to see which one of you is stronger," Tomoyo commented with a giggle.

Sakura's eyes sparkled.

"That's a great idea."

"And you, Tomoyo? Are you stronger than Eriol?" Syaoran asked curiously.

She tilted her head to one side, putting a hand to her chin.

"You could say we have the same strength," she replied, smiling and looking at Eriol out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, that's enough talk. Let's start with the bad stuff," Eriol said, turning serious.

"Is it going to be that bad?" Syaoran asked, a little scared.

"It's quite painful the first few times, until you get used to transforming. Remember what I told you, Syaoran. Your animal instinct will come over you, but you have to control it with all your might," Sakura explained, standing next to him and taking one of his hands.

Syaoran nodded and turned his head, looking up over the treetops, where the crescent moon could be seen in the middle of the night sky.

"Let it wash over you, Syaoran," Sakura whispered close to his ear.

He let himself go, not taking his eyes off the moon. He could feel its rays on his skin, as if it were the sun. Suddenly, a strange feeling ran through his body and something animalistic was born inside him, like when he had marked Sakura.

He let the feeling wash over him and he cringed as he felt intense pain, falling to his knees in the snow.

Cracking sounds surrounded him and Syaoran was horrified to notice that it was his own bones, snapping in half. He writhed on the ground and screamed as his bones relocated and his skin covered in thick fur.

Sakura, Tomoyo and Eriol watched him with a serious look on their faces. All three of them knew how much he was suffering, and Sakura could feel it.

A minute later, Syaoran was a huge brown wolf with bright amber eyes.

He sat up and saw that Tomoyo, Eriol and Sakura were also transforming into wolves. His whole being was telling him to run with all his might.

Run, Syaoran. Enjoy this feeling - Sakura said telepathically.

Yes, but try not to go crazy - Eriol added.

Syaoran started running and the other three wolves joined him. They picked up the pace and he howled as he felt the adrenaline rushing through his veins. It was a wonderful feeling, he had never felt so powerful.

Halfway through the race, he caught a delicious scent and turned right without warning.

Syaoran! Don't!

He heard Sakura's voice, but he ignored her and kept running at full speed, losing himself in the trees.