Wolfblood
Chapter 15
I perch lazily on the countertop, a bowl of fruit loops cradled in my lap as my brother shuffles in and out of the kitchen. I absently spoon a scoop into my mouth as he once again enters and dumps almost the entirety of his knapsack over the table.
"I'm going to tell Leah about wolfbloods," I tell Noah as he shuffles through his papers with jerky irritated movements. "Once she gets up the courage to telling me what she is."
"She's been trying to for over two weeks," he grumbles.
"She'll get around to it," I shrug, spooning some more breakfast into my mouth. I idly watch as my brother once again rubs harshly at his temples and glares at his empty knapsack.
"What are you looking for?" I ask, tilting my bowl to my lips and gulping down the last dregs of milk.
"My homework," he growls, fisting his books and papers back into his bag agitatedly.
I glance down to my left, blankly looking at a worksheet that Noah had been working on yesterday, his name scrawled across the top.
I slowly pick it up and wave it at him. "This one?" I ask slowly, eyebrows creeping up towards my hairline.
He blinks at the paper for a moment before flopping tiredly into a bar stool and dropping his head into his hands with a long miserable sigh. His fingers harshly rub at his temples once more, and I wearily slide off the counter to place his missing homework beside him.
"What up?" I ask, suspicion and a bit of excitement creeping into my expression.
"Nothing. Just… I guess I don't feel well."
"How so?" I ask, reaching out to touch his forehead. He cringes away, but I felt it enough to know he isn't running a fever.
"I can't concentrate," he grouses, leaning back to look up at me in irritation, gesturing wildly. "My feet hurt. And my hands. And my head is killing me."
"Your gums throbbing too?" I ask, gesturing to my mouth. When he nods, I can't help grinning wide.
"Your body is getting ready to change," I say, moving immediately to one of the cabinets. "This will be your first full moon that you'll turn wolf. You have less than a week until then, which is good. Until then," I find the small bottle I was looking for and turn to face my suddenly more attentive brother, "use this whenever you start feeling stressed or overwhelmed. Just one drop on the tongue. It will keep you calm." I pass over the red solution, and Noah takes it readily.
"Thanks," he says, immediately moving to unscrew the cap.
"No problem, bro. I went through it too. You'll see; it's going to be great."
"I know," he smiles slightly at me before moving to more calmly reassemble his knapsack for school. His homework finds its way into the proper folder before the bag zips shut.
…..
When I exit school on Friday, I pull up short when I spot my girlfriend leaning against the wall and a smile easily spreads across my face.
"I don't believe that I've been ignoring you this time. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
When Leah looks up, a huge grin splits her face and she immediately pushes away from the wall to come closer. When she gets just a foot away, she lifts her hand to present me a cupcake.
"I heard a rumor from a little bird that today was your birthday. So, happy birthday." To my surprise, I feel my cheeks flush when she leans down slightly to press a chaste kiss against my lips.
"Noah," I sigh, shaking my head ruefully.
"In a roundabout way," she nods. "Claire told me."
"So, you have spies," I smirk, accepting the small cake and guiding her further from the school doors.
"Only a few," she teases, walking close enough to bump my shoulder with every swayed step. "So, since you didn't give me a heads up and I had to figure out your birthday through my spies, you are going out with me tonight. I was thinking going to the movies; there's this new one out… what's wrong?" she trails off when she catches sight of my grimace.
"I can't today," I clear my throat awkwardly, bouncing on the tips of my toes slightly in excess energy. I briefly consider spouting off a lie about my dad coming back into town today, before discarding the thought. It's probably best not to lie when I don't have to since I plan on bringing her into the know anyway. "I have a thing tonight."
"A thing," she says slowly, lips dipping down in a slight frown. "Well, if it's later tonight, would you be able to come out for just a few hours?"
"I.." I know I should turn her down. I should ask to do it another day. But the words stick in my throat when I look over and catch sight of her hopeful expression. "I have to be home before 7:50."
"Deal," Leah grins, and some of my anxiety of going out today melts away.
A body suddenly crashes into me a full speed, throwing me forward as they rebound in another direction.
"Noah," I curse, staggering, as my brother bursts into loud energetic laughter.
"Come on, Sis; ditch lover girl and lets go run," He bounces on the tops of his toes, a wild air that he's never had surrounding him.
"You go ahead," I say, suddenly feeling very guilty. Tonight is my brother's first full moon that he'll come into his birthright. But it's not like I won't be there when the sun goes down, so I shake off the regret and reach out for my girlfriend's hand. "Leah's taking me out for my birthday for a little bit."
Noah's expression drops the slightest bit, his energy waning just enough for his body to become vaguely still. "You know tonight is…"
"I know," I reassure him. I can already feel the pull in my veins. "It'll just be for a few hours. I'll be back in time."
"Okay," he says wearily, hesitating until I offer him an exasperated smile and shove him in the direction of the woods.
"Go run," I laugh, and he takes off towards to trees with a large smile once again splitting his face in half.
"You're in a good mood today," Leah observes. Affection oozes from her voice, and I feel my cheeks once again warm.
"Well, it is my birthday," I deflect as she leads me to the car she often borrows from Jacob.
"Are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with your 'thing' later tonight?" She teases, opening the passenger door for me with a teasing smile.
"That's top-secret information," I tell her with a straight face. "Hush, hush." My stoicism breaks when she gives a short laugh before shutting my door and rounding to the driver's side.
"I bet I can find a way to get the information from you," she says as she climbs in behind the wheel, and I almost choke before a slow smirk crawls across my lips. Her voice was heavy with insinuation, a deeper gravelly sound that has anticipation tingling in my fingertips. She's never teased in this way before. She's very good at it.
"Will I get to wear handcuffs to this interrogation?" I ask, intentionally making my voice sound as innocent as possible. Because I'm looking at her so intently, I notice the exact moment she stops breathing. It's within the same moment her eyes widen and her hands clench around the steering wheel hard enough for me to hear the plastic creak.
I can't imagine Jacob will be happy about that.
After a few moments of me just grinning unrepentantly at her, because she's the one who started it and it's not like she had pulled out into traffic yet, she clears her throat and pulls out of the parking lot.
"So, movies," she says, continuing a conversation we weren't even having, and I'm only slightly disappointed. Watching her squirm, though, is so worth it.
…..
After seeing all my excess energy, Leah abandons the idea of the movies and takes me ice skating instead. I'm very glad for this, because I don't think I could have sat through an entire movie without completely aggravating everyone around me with my fidgeting.
The first two hours of ice skating is fun, but the closer to sundown it gets, the more anxiety creeps into my chest until I'm checking the time every two minutes.
"You think we should head back?" Leah asks, drawing my attention from my phone screen, and I smile sheepishly at once again getting caught looking at the time. I guiltily shove it into my back pocket before taking the offered ice cream cone she's holding out for me.
"I'm sorry," I apologize, "it's just that it's getting a bit late and I really need to be home on time. I guess I'm feeling a bit anxious."
"Okay, well, let's go ahead and head back early," she says, immediately taking up my free hand and guiding me toward the car. There is no judgment or resentment in her expression. It's open with unquestioning understanding.
"Thanks," I sigh, still feeling slightly guilty, but also immensely relieved. Leaving now, we should get there in plenty of time before the moon rises fully in the sky. I can already feel it's call getting stronger, even though it's hidden behind a layer of thick clouds.
But then, just twenty minutes from Forks, a jolt of anxiety shoots through me as the car slows to a stop in the middle of the highway. A long line of cars stretches out as far as I can see the road, and I breathe out sharply.
Leah's eyes dart over to me. "It's alright, we still have time," she soothes. "Remember, we left early?"
I do calm slightly, but even with Leah's running commentary as distraction, I can feel the time ticking away by the pull in my veins. As the minutes pass, the car continues a maddening stop and go crawl for almost two miles before traffic thins again and Leah gets back up to the speed limit.
We pass the skeleton of a car that still has flickering orange flames past the shattered windows. I can feel the heat still coming off it as we pass.
My phone suddenly rings, breaking the momentary silence that Leah had fallen into, and I immediately pick up.
"Ryan, where are you?" Noah asks, tension laced in his voice.
"I'm.." I glance out the window at the blurring green outside, and then at my girlfriend. "I'm almost home."
"Aren't you pushing it just a bit? The sun is going down."
"I know," I say, throat feeling tight. The wolf cells in my body are already taking over the human ones. Black veins rise to the surface on my neck and arms like spiderwebs, and I clench my fists tightly. "Look, get into the den. Don't worry about me, I'll find you soon. Alright?"
"Alright, Ryan. See you soon," he sighs and, when the connection goes dead, I stuff my phone into my pockets and keep my hands there.
"I'm sorry," Leah says softly after a few moments of silence drag on with only the quiet hum of the engine to break it.
"It's not your fault," I say quickly, not daring to turn my head away from the window in case she happens to glance over and see my yellow eyes. "How much longer?" I ask, becoming more and more tense- and the sound leaks into my voice.
The car is suddenly too small. The seat under me, the door brushing my elbow on one side, and the windshield blocking my exit. My instincts flare enough for me to panic in the small space.
"About five minutes," Leah's voice comes low and alarmed. From the corner of my eye I see her head keep turning in my direction, the road and her concern for me fighting for her attention.
"Pull over," I gasp. The car is too small. It's stifling. We won't make it in time anyway.
Leah immediately and smoothly slows to a stop on the shoulder of the road. I'm out before the car comes to a complete stop, moving into the woods, and a moment later my girlfriend is following after me.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Now she sounds alarmed, coming right up behind me.
"I'm sorry," I blurt, clenching my fists at my sides as my veins bulge Changing doesn't hurt. It's a completely natural process as the wolf genes completely engulf the human. The most I feel in my pulse race and my skin feels like it's being pulled taught. "I was going to tell you, but I was waiting for you to go first."
"What are you talking about?" her hand closes gently around my upper shoulder and tugs. "Ryan, look at me."
I allow myself to be turned and look up apologetically to meet her fearful gaze. Her eyes widen as she catches sight of the yellow of the wolf.
"Don't freak out, okay?" I feel the moment the moon's pull completely takes hold of my wolfblood genes, and then I'm suddenly looking up at my girlfriend from a completely different angle.
I let my tongue lull out the side of my mouth, panting happily as my girlfriend seems to completely detach from reality.
An echoing howl splits through the forest, seeming to riverbed and bounce from every direction through the trees, and it immediately pulls my attention from my frozen girlfriend.
I let the return howl burst powerfully from my chest in answer before taking off into the underbrush without hesitation or a glance back. My brother is waiting in the twisting maze of tunnels, but a wolf can always find its pack.
A/N: Well, there we go- the big reveal. Thoughts?
Please review!
~Silver
