(Emily POV)

I stretched awake to find myself laying on a cloud. Soft and warm, I wanted nothing more than to curl up and stay put forever. But my bliss was short lived as soon as my memories came crashing back down on me. The house in the woods. The pain. The fear. I sat straight up to take in my surroundings, tears pouring from my face as I tried to will myself to calm down before the itching in my arms traveled up my body and caused a level of pain I can't even describe. I could barely see anything through my teary blurred vision, my breaths coming in short sporadic bursts. I began to panic trying to get the covers off myself when I heard the most incredible voice.

"Calm down love. Em, it's okay. You're safe I've got you" I felt warm strong arms wrap around me and his scent pulled my panic down into a whisper. Reese. He found me last night. He saved me.

I took a deep breath and turned to see my savior. He looked tired and worried. Like he hasn't slept much. Although I'm guessing after being kept as a prisoner for who knows how long I probably don't look like America's next top model either. As I shifted I realized my wounds had all been cleaned and bandaged. I was wearing a soft t-shirt that smelled like Reese. Before I could stop myself I was in his arms, grabbing onto him for dear life. He didn't seem to mind though, he held on to me so tight that it hurt a little, but in that moment I didn't care. He stroked my hair and kissed my forehead. "I thought I had lost you love. You have no idea how hard I've been looking trying to find you." He pulled my chin up to look deep into his eyes. Without even thinking I grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him. Trying to shove every emotion I had into that moment, with Reese, to thank him for saving me.

We heard a light knock on the door and Reese stood up and walked over. He seemed a bit nervous as he opened the door to reveal an man with almost black hair, and sharp blue grey eyes who introduced himself as Jeremy. He seemed kind, he explained to me all of the wounds he had found, and the medical care he had provided. For some reason I couldn't look him in the eyes. I tried, I mean my parents taught me to look someone in the eyes when you're talking to them, but I couldn't look at him for more than a minute before I needed to look down. He asked if I was hungry, to which my stomach replied a very loud, very embarrassing series of grumbles. "Yes sir" I answered him quietly. He smiled warmly at me as he patted my knee "Please call me Jeremy, Emily". He told Reese to help me dress and bring me down for dinner. Wait. Dinner? How long was I asleep for?

Reese was so patient with me as I tried my hardest to get out of bed. My head was swimming and I was so weak that I almost fell once I got both of my feet on the floor. He lightly pushed me back to sit as he kneeled down and helped me put on a pair of sweatpants. They looked new and they were my size, except that i wasn't the same size I was anymore. No I was much too skinny. I looked sick. He helped me remove his shirt and put on a sports bra. I was slightly embarrassed, he had never seen me even close to naked before, but his mind was focused on helping me. I stood up slowly and waited for another round of dizziness to pass. Noticing Reese watching me from only a few steps away incase I should need his help again. His eyes raked over my body and a look of sadness crossed his face before he quickly looked back up and smiled a warm smile for me. Geez I must really look like hell. He waited for me to slip some socks over my feet before scooping me up in his arms to carry me downstairs, making a small giggle escape my lips. It sounded foreign to me after spending weeks screaming in pain.

As we made our way down the stairs I couldn't help but notice we weren't just in a house, we were in some kind of luxury mansion. I looked around in awe as Reese gently sat my feet on the floor once we'd made it to the bottom of the stairs.

"So you might have forgotten to tell me you live in a palace Reese. If I would have known this is where you lived I would have suggested we hang out here more often" I teased. He took my hand in his and smiled his heart stopping smile. "Well lucky for you that you'll be staying here for a little while. I know this is all pretty overwhelming for you, but I promise I'm going to be here to help you through everything okay?" He reassured me as we made our way slowly toward a room filled with voices. Suddenly I was nervous. I stopped and hesitated before Reese gave me a small squeeze on my hand letting me know he was right here.

We walked into the room and found a large table filled with people. I've never seen so much food in one place in my life. The atmosphere was warm and friendly as we watched the people laughing and talking amongst each other. They look like such a happy family. My heart tightened as I pushed away the thought that my family was gone, I would never get the chance to have a family meal with them again.

The only other girl in the room aside from myself looked up and met my gaze. She was beautiful. With pale blue eyes and silvery blonde hair. She has an athletic build and a warm inviting smile. It only took the others a few seconds before they noticed us too. Reese pulled out a chair for me and plopped down beside me. Everyone had food on their plates already, but nobody was eating. It seemed they were waiting for Jeremy to say something as all eyes fell on him. He slowly took a bite of some steak on his plate, then looked up and nodded at everyone else before they also dug into their food. That's a bit strange. I was so caught up in watching the interaction around me that I failed to notice just how much food Reese had put on my plate. It was heaping. I gave him an incredulous look as he chucked at me. "Go on and eat, you might just surprise yourself" he said between bites of food. The table had gotten pretty quiet as everyone shoveled food into their mouths. The food tasted like heaven in my mouth. Looking back on it, I can't remember the last time I was given anything but a sandwich to eat. And even then I only got one every few days.

As I ate I could feel the burning sensation in my hands and feet again, but I tried to push it off. Ignore it and maybe it'll go away. I couldn't let them see me have a mental breakdown. This always happened before I thought I turned into a dog. As I began to lose myself to the panic of what they would think of me the feeling of pins and needles started to spread. Up my legs, up my arms. Every inch of pain bringing a fresh wave of panic, every wave of panic pushing the pain further into my body. My hands started to shake and I realized that I needed to get out of here. Without any warning I dropped my utensils and stood up, knocking my chair over behind me. Everyone froze to look at me. I could see concern on their faces as I tried to stumble to the door. Every move making my skin crawl. I need to be outside, I need to get these clothes off my body. I rushed to the back door by the kitchen and ran out into the grass. The first wave of excruciating pain took over my body as I felt my knees give out. I jerked my shirt off in seconds. I got up to head closer to the wood line when I heard everyone come running outside behind me. I didn't care, I needed to go before I hurt someone. I tried fighting the pain and it came back ten times worse. As I got my pants off I felt myself crumble to the ground. Tears streaming down my face as I felt my bones start to break. I could hear screams, we're those coming from me?

I looked up to see Jeremy and another man who I had yet to meet crouching down in front of me. He met my eyes and told me it was going to be okay. I jerked my head to see Reese standing a few feet in the other direction, shirt in his hands stepping out of his jeans. Before I could ask what he was doing a crippling wave swept my body as I threw myself onto my hands and knees, releasing a blood curdling scream. "Please don't come near me! I don't know what's happening to me and I don't want to hurt you. Please stay back. Please." I was pleading with Jeremy now as he started making his way over to me. A look of sadness drawn all over his face. He told me to let the pain take over and I tried. But my panic wouldn't let me go where the pain wanted. In the house in the woods I had barely been aware of what was happening, but here I felt everything. I was lucid and aware of the excruciating pain I was in. More screams. Pain. I don't know how long it went on before Jeremy sent everyone away. He sat with me, encouraging me to keep going. Always staying so calm and reassuring. Like he knew what was happening to me.

I could see his mouth moving, but I couldn't focus on the words as the pain coursed through me. I understood the word transition, wolf, and wait for us. With that he stood up and walked into the woods just down from where I was laying.

I tried to regroup and focus as more pain seized my body. I heard the sickening snap of more bones as I gave out one last scream, followed by a string of profanity. The next scream that came out of my mouth didn't sound like a scream at all. It was more like a growl or a whine. I laid on the ground as the pain finally started to subside. Panting heavily trying to calm my thumping heart. I looked down and there they were. The brown paws is seen in the woods before. I moved my right arm, then my left, the paws moved in accordance. I was thoroughly confused. I looked up to see a large sandy blonde wolf with beautiful blue eyes slowly walk out from behind a tree toward me. I was so frightened that I dropped to my back and put my belly into the air. I'm not sure why I did it, it just felt natural. The large wolf approached cautiously, stopping just short of me as I started to whine. He dropped his nose and began sniffing me, before he stopped and licked my face. I sniffed the wolf and was greeted with a scent I knew well, but how? Reese. The wolf was Reese. I peered down my body to see that I was a wolf too. Tail and all I realized as it began to thump along the ground slightly. Reese nuzzled me and nudged me onto my feet.

Just then another large wolf came into my view. This one was almost solid black with grey blue eyes. Just like with Reese I dropped to the ground and went belly up the moment I saw this new wolf. Reese didn't seem bothered by its presence, so I hoped it was safe. As the wolf came over to sniff me I moved slightly to bare my neck to him, unable to meet his eyes. The wolf did the same path as Reese before nudging me to get up and follow him deeper into the woods. Reese flanked me as we went deeper and deeper, somehow silently communicating the next moves we made. I heard underbrush crashing as something large barreled towards us. I yelped and ran to stand behind the two larger wolves as a silvery blonde wolf came into view. And so went the meetings, all like the one with Reese and Jeremy until I recognized everyone's scent from the room this morning. I sat on my haunches and watched the group of wolves play a game of tag. Suddenly I was it and my human thoughts disappeared as I let the voice in my head take over and show me what to do. And so I was introduced to my wolf, albeit she was much much smaller than all of the others. She felt safe and that was enough for me.