Jacob returned his focus to his food, but kept glancing at Cassie. Now that she thought about it, everyone kept glancing at her. They all had anxious, wary looks on their face when they looked at her. Cassie kept her head down and glared at her plate. What the hell was their problem?
She was angry for some reason. She didn't know why, but she knew that their constant glances were pissing her off. She felt a tremor run down her spine and she gasped. Everyone's heads turned to look in her direction.
Cassie couldn't concentrate anymore. The only thing she could feel was the pain that was growing stronger with every second. She pushed her chair back, sending it across the room and stumbled into the foyer. She fumbled with the door and made her way onto the grass only to sink to her knees.
She felt like she was on fire. Everything was burning. She groaned and was two seconds away from screaming. She was only vaguely aware of the voices around her.
"Cassie, it's going to be okay."
"Relax, baby. It'll be fine." Her dad's voice floated around her.
"Daddy, what's happening to me?" She whimpered. That was the first time she had called him Daddy in a long while.
"You're going to change. I'll explain everything to you later, I promise."
She barely managed to choke out an 'okay' when another tremor made it's way down her spine. That's when the pain intensified. Every bone in her body felt like it was realigning. Every joint and muscle was changing – rearranging. To Cassie, it felt like someone was pulling her apart and piecing her back together again. Her body stretched and grew, and she could feel every part of it. What was worse was the fact that she could feel her skull changing. It was like it was being split in half and put back together to form something bigger, more canine like. Her skin no longer felt like skin – she could feel the rustle of the wind move the hairs on her body. She could feel all of the teeth in her mouth, but more specifically the long incisors that took their place in the front section of her jaw. Finally, she felt the ground beneath her paws.
Just like that, it was over. Cassie lifted her head and looked around. Everything was enhanced; she could see dust particles floating in the air, and pieces of a shattered bottle lying in the road. She could smell the scent of the approaching storm and the earth. She could hear the trees rustle in the wind, and the sound of a car on the next road over. She could feel the dirt as it loosened beneath her paws. Paws. She looked down at herself and then she looked around. Behind her, the group was looking at her. Her eyes stopped on another wolf, a massive black wolf.
"Cassie, it's Sam."
"What happened to me? What am I? What are you?"
"You're a werewolf. Once you phase back, we'll explain everything to you in detail. Follow me into the woods. We need to keep you hidden for the time being."
Cassie did as she was told and followed Sam to the back of the house and into the outskirts of the woods. She sat down on the grass and became aware of the thoughts that swarmed her head - thoughts of Emily and Leah and the pack. She realized that she could see inside of Sam's head. Just as soon as she thought about it, it disappeared. She was alone. Sam reappeared in her line of vision, except he was human again.
"I'm going to send your dad out here. Maybe we should just start explaining now."
He turned and began walking towards the group who had now relocated to the backside of the house. Only a few people were there: Jake, Aidan, Leah and Emily.
Soon, Cassie's father made his way over to where she was sitting. He sat down in front of her.
"Okay. So, I'll just tell you what you need to know and if you have questions, you can ask later I guess. Well, remember the legends I used to tell you when you were little?"
He looked to Cassie and she nodded her head once.
"Yeah, well, they're true. All of the guys and Leah can turn into wolves at will. We exist to destroy vampires."
Cassie widened her eyes as a thought occurred to her. It was vampires that killed her mother. She growled. Her dad looked at her in alarm.
"Cassie, calm down. Now, we need to get you to change back. Think about being human. Think of how you look."
Cassie thought of everything human. She thought of how she looked, how her father looked, she even thought of her female body parts. It took her a while, but she finally managed to return to how she was. The only downside was, she was naked.
"What the hell? I'm naked?" She screeched and ran behind a bush. "Dad, get me some clothes will you?"
Cassie's dad looked extremely uncomfortable. "Sure."
He got up and walked to the porch where Jake was standing. She watched with wary eyes as her dad asked Jacob for his shirt. She had been watching Jake's every move. She watched as he lifted his shirt over his head and her eyes trailed up his six-pack, along his chest, across his arms and finally to his face. His eyes met hers and her world stopped, only to start revolving again – around him. She felt as though chains were binding her to him. She couldn't think straight. All she could see was him – Jacob Black. This day just keeps getting stranger and stranger.