CHAPTER TWO

Zora rarely lost her temper, but the day she shifted, she was angry on an entirely new level.

Thanks to an abysmal grade on her algebra test – it was a B+, but math was her best (and favorite) subject – and her tardiness to another class meant that she was in a state of vexation, her irritation steadily rising. She had been looking forward to lunch that day as a treat; the cafeteria was going to serve slices of chocolate cake, and being a lover of all things chocolate, Zora was filled with excitement. She practically ran for the lunch line, disregarding the mash of potatoes and oddly-colored meat placed on her tray. A couple of students in front of her were being served their slices, and she eyed the creamy frosting with a rumbling stomach and a watering mouth. When it was finally her turn, the lunch lady gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, hun," the older woman said. "We just ran out."

Zora looked from the woman to the boy in front of her. He was tall – taller than her, surprisingly enough – with a broad back and cropped black hair. Even without seeing his face, Zora knew he was a member of the "La Push Gang" – a group of the rez's finest male specimens tasked with "keeping the peace," whatever that meant. Staring at him caused a strange heat to erupt within her, an angry hotness suddenly surging through her bones.

He looked back at her with a smug smile, cake already in his teeth. "My bad."

She watched as he walked back to his seat, slapped his tray full of food on the table, and devoured the rest of the cake slice in one bite.

The heat in her bones intensified, every muscle in her body aching, and it was that moment that she realized something was horribly, horribly wrong. She inhaled and exhaled large, uneven breaths, trying to calm the quivering of her body and the pounding of her heart and the rage-filled thoughts thundering in her mind, but the heat was nearly unbearable now.

The more effort she put forth to fight it, the more she felt like she was going to explode.

She threw her tray to the ground and rushed from the cafeteria, her trembling hands soon finding the doors of the school's main entrance. With a hard and powerful shove, she was outside and sprinting towards the forest, not registering where she was headed or why.

As the density of trees thickened, the pain swallowing her tripled. Her bones were on fire now, a white-hot flame spreading through ligaments and tendons as quickly as it would through a dry forest. Finally, she stopped running, her body trembling so intensely that she could no longer push herself forward. She wanted to tear the skin from her limbs, rip herself apart as the fire consumed her. She let out a howl of a scream, her bones snapping loudly, shifting grotesquely beneath the flesh that was quickly receding from her body.

I'm dying.

I'm dying.

I'm dying.

Then, everything stopped.

And for a handful of seconds, she thought she was dead, but the thought vanished once she realized she could still hear and smell and feel. She opened her eyes, now noticing she was splayed out on the ground, only everything was ten times clearer. She could hear a stream several miles away, small fish jumping in and out of the water. She could hear the faint rustle of an engine on the road, a gruff voice singing along with a song on the radio. And she could sense all of the movement around her - the worms in the ground, the soft pulsing of a rabbit's hop, the flapping of a dragonfly's wings.

She was amazed…and then horrified when she saw fur-covered paws beneath her. Another round of panicked, headache-inducing thoughts flooded her mind, but one was especially difficult to believe.

The legends are actually true?

She howled again, disturbed by her own distraught noise, and launched herself further into the forest.


The voices started soon after.

Zora wasn't sure how much running she'd done, but by the time she finally slowed down, the sun had set and she was met with a night sky devoid of its moon. She was also unsure of where she was as her surroundings looked the same: giant evergreens and darkness. She sighed, convinced she would never make it home or even turn into a human again.

Turn into a human…

She barked a laugh. How crazy that sounded – a friend-less, teenage girl who could now transform into a wolf, and who had not the slightest idea of how to get back to her normal self. She sank to the ground with a sad whimper, ready to accept her fate when she heard a curious voice.

"Who the hell are you?"

Her ears perked up and she jumped to her feet. She knew she heard someone speak, but as she swiveled her head back and forth, she couldn't find the source.

"In your head. We're sharing thoughts."

"You're in my head?" she responded. "Great. Now, I'm crazy."

The voice laughed. "Yeah, we're all pretty crazy around here. What's your name?"

"Zora. I just—this happened to me today." She thought of school, of her skin itching and bones burning, and that damn cake. She could feel her anger growing again, but it paused as the voice began cackling.

"You shifted…because you were mad…about cake?" he stammered between laughs.

"I was looking forward to it all day!"

"That's a new one," the voice said. "The other guys are gonna get a kick out of this."

Zora, tensed and ready to spring, began growling. "This isn't a joke."

"You're right," the voice said, still trying to stifle his laughter. "It's not." Though the effort was lost as another voice entered her mind, the two mystery voices cackling and snorting together.

"Jesus Christ," Zora complained, her eyes rolling. "Who are you guys anyway?"

"The name's Jared."

"And Paul," the newer voice said. "I'm the reason you turned, and I feel so honored."

Zora immediately pictured the guy with cake in his teeth and let out a cry of frustration. "You're him? The one who ate the last slice?" She was up now, ears flat as she paced in the darkness. "Now I'm a fucking werewolf because of you, and you don't even have the decency to stop laughing at me or get out of my head!"

"Just turn back," Jared said.

She rolled her eyes again, glowering at no one in particular. "If you haven't gathered from my thoughts already, that's what I've been trying to do for hours."

"It's simple," Paul said. "First, you have to stop being so mad."

"Then?" she growled impatiently.

"Then you have to feel it, feel that you no longer wanna be the wolf. Feel your humanity."

Zora huffed in annoyance, the low, breathy rumble startling her. How was she supposed to "feel her humanity" when all she could feel was the fur covering her body? Unconvinced by Paul's advice, she began thinking of her mom and dad, and like a drop of ink in water, a distant memory unfurled.

It was simple – a sleepy Sunday morning filled with lulls of her mother Autumn's singing as she flipped pancakes; her father, Russell, sitting beside his daughter at the kitchen table stirring large spoonfuls of sugar into his black coffee. He moved from his chair to stand beside his wife, one arm hugging her waist as the other reached to steal a pancake from the tall stack beside her. He held it in his mouth as her mom playfully swatted him.

"Be patient," Autumn said, all smiles and laughter.

Russell laughed as well, a joyful, muffled noise as he held the pancake between his teeth. He tore the portion that wasn't in his mouth and handed it to a young Zora.

"For you, my love."

With a wide grin, she happily accepted his offering, chewing on her piece of breakfast as her dad placed a kiss on her forehead.

A wave of warmth billowed across her body and mind. She closed her eyes, and slowly, slowly felt her wolf body disappearing.

Despite the change – which had been painful, but not as painful as earlier – her senses were still sharp. She could feel everything – the air's moisture on her skin, the cool breeze of the night ruffling her hair, the gazes of two strangers standing before her…

She opened her eyes abruptly. Before her stood two incredibly tall males, both with identical haircuts, tribal tattoos adorning their left shoulders, and muscled physiques. The only difference was their facial expressions. The taller of the two was staring into her eyes with an extreme intensity, as if he were afraid to look anywhere else. And the other, the one who she immediately recognized as the cake thief, wore a sly grin as his eyes traveled down, and down, and down—

Zora realized she was stark naked. Immediately, her hands and arms moved to shield her body.

"This is what happens after turning human again?" she shouted incredulously. "I end up naked?"

"Happens to all of us," Jared said nonchalantly. "When we phase, we usually remove all of our clothes or else it ends up ripped to shreds." He pointed to the remnants of her clothing strewn about.

"That's why we brought you this," Paul added, motioning towards the t-shirt dangling from his hand. "But first…" his voice trailed off as his eyes began to roam her body once more.

They didn't get very far, however, as Zora's fist smashed into his nose. She heard the cartilage break and smiled. "That's for violating me with your creepy stare." She snatched the shirt from his grip, pulling it over her torso in one, quick motion. Then, another hit, causing blood to spill. "That's for making me turn into a mythical creature."

And one final hit to the jaw. She crouched over him, grinning as he swore and cupped his bloody face.

"And that was for eating the last slice of chocolate cake."


(Revised 1/3/2021)