2 in one day- yay!

Chapter 10:

Cara:

"What do you mean it's already done?"

The sight before me was almost too unbelievable. Blood rushed to my head too quickly and I had to lean against the wall or risk collapsing. It couldn't be real, the boxes and duct tape. This was just a nightmare and I'd wake up in Jake's arms, safe and sound and with the thought of moving away far from my mind. I'd be at peace… not about to pass out from fear and anxiety and the sudden intense nausea.

"Cara, sweetheart, it's time we moved on. It's not safe anymore here. I know you have Jacob and your friends but sweetie, we can't risk it" Dad's voice was so frank, so matter of fact I couldn't help but think of her. He was just like her- a perfect match. It made my heart twist and yank in my chest that I hadn't seen it before.

"No" I forced the word out, but it was barely a whisper, my throat aching as I spoke. Dad looked up at me from where he packed the china in the kitchen.

"No?" He asked, as if the meaning of the word were all of a sudden an unknown concept. I pushed off the wall, balled my hands into fists and stood my ground. It wasn't fair, I thought, and ground my teeth with the stubborn will and determinatoin I'd inherited from him.

"No, I'm not leaving" I said through a clenched jaw. Tears stung my eyes, the pressure built in my throat but I refused to cry, I hated crying. But not as much as I hated the only family I'd ever had at that moment... not my only family anymore, I reminded myself.

They say your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die. Well, though I wasn't dying, images were flashing behind my eyes as my heart broke away bit by bit as I furiously fought to keep it all together. Jake mostly. His face, his eyes, his smile… sounds came next. His voice and his laugh. I saw the Pack, felt their presence in my mind as a distant memory, as prominent as my eight birthday or the first time I rode a bike. They meant that much to me now, and he wanted to take that all away.

"We don't have a choice, Ca-"

"Of course we do! We can stay! Why all of a sudden do we have to leave? Do I get a say? It's not fair...and now I'm not leaving" The words burst out before I could stop them, my voice rising with each one, and it took so much control to get my voice back down to moderate. "No way, Dad. I'm not going, not this time"

He opened his mouth- to yell, to scream, to physically force me to stay?- but I was already gone, throwing open the front door and racing back out into the downpour. Barely contained sobs racking my body. I dropped my bag on the steps, kicked off my shoes in the driveway. I heard him calling my name, felt the twinge of guilt in my heart, but kept running, never once looking back. By the time I reached the first layer of forestry, I was pulling off my shirt and the first stages of the phase were taking over as the rain pounded against my shoulders. And I gladly let them.

My bones cracked, joints popped as they re-aligned. A sudden, intense heat washed over my entire body as the full of effects of my werewolf gene settled into my DNA. In seconds, I was a wolf, a flash of white running through the dense, dark forest trying to get away from something I'd have to face eventually… as in tomorrow morning.

I ripped through the trees, whipping past vines and leaves, leaping over rocks and logs without a final destination in mind. I didn't know where I was going, didn't really care. I just needed to run and run fast, so I did. Rain pooled on the forest floor in patches, trickling through the canopies, but I barely noticed. My sensitive eyes picked up things no amount of light would have shown, my ears tuned into sounds miles away, seeming to be right next to me. I let the world take over, nature run its course, so my own thoughts wouldn't…and for a while it worked.

Lost in the world around me, I was able to sort my thoughts, clear my throbbing head. The rain was cool against my fur, plastering it to my body. My feet carried me blindly and for a while, I ran with my eyes closed, letting my senses guide me. I'd never felt so free, so... at ease in my life. It seemed perfect.

Until I felt him in my mind. Like a shark cutting through water, he cut through my thoughts. Soon, he was there running next to me, almost fighting to keep up with my faster pace, despite his longer legs. His dark fur gleamed like an oil slick, the muscles in his back rippling even at a distance. I growled, low and tense, and tried to forget he was there.

You're fast- Yes, leave me alone, I thought at him and lengthened my stride. I felt what he felt and was surprised. Guilt? For what? Did he even have that emotion in him? I shook off my curiosity and focused on getting away from him, getting to the solitude and peace I'd been searching for.

I'm sorry, Cara.

What? I didn't stop running but I was thrown off enough to slow down, just barely. My heart was hammering, my breath panting and wheezing. Running from my problems had been stupid, so stupid. I'd worn out my body, used up my energy. I could feel it dwindling, and now I was stuck with David in a part of the forest I didn't know well… a chill set in as I realized it was like my dream… just like my dream. David's face, Jake's voice. Now my heart hammered in fear, as he kept saying those words over and over, like a mantra in my mind.

I'm sorry, so, so sorry… We crashed through a thick layer of underbrush, flying into a shallow dip in the ground. And that's when I felt them. The others… strangers intruding in my mind, getting closer and closer, circling in on me from all directions. Still David's apologies ringing in my ears, Jake's face, Dad's sadness and the boxes… my mother suddenly came to mind as her pack came toward me.

I skidded to a stop and whipped around, facing David. His glowing eyes seemed so dark, so guilty- now he's sorry? I thought. I backed away from him as he stepped forward, trying to as much futile space between me and him as possible. I could feel them now, all around us. Soon I'd see their eyes, feel their claws and fangs. Oh, god no…

David, please- I won't hurt you, I told you that, Cara. I promised. He hadn't actually if I remembered right, but the words somehow made me feel better. If he wouldn't hurt me, would he get them to? Would they kill me? Leave me for dead? What? I whimpered, my heart hammering against my rib cage, when the first wolves came into view behind David, slowly looping closer. I felt like puking, like crying, like screaming for Jacob but I knew he'd never hear me… I couldn't sense any of my Pack in my mind. Just me and these people I didn't know.

David? I asked and his sad glowing eyes loomed over me. I'm sorry He said and the rest circled around. Huge and bulky and deadly. Their fangs flashed in the dim light, their claws were sharp and ready. I was trapped, alone… Jake. My last thought.

Then everything went black.