Chapter Eight! R&R! Yeah!

CPOV

I could hear Derek getting up. I knew he had to change tonight, so I met him when he walked out of his bedroom. We slipped downstairs, and walked into the living room before we froze. An odd sight met us there. Mason was sitting on the couch, reading a book, glancing up every now and then to make sure Zara was alright. Zara was sitting on the back of a couch, head in her hands, looking neat, but her face was hidden. In the wall, fifty feet in front of Zara, a poster of a target had been tacked to the wall, and knives created a pattern in it, radiating out from the center.

Zara looked up, her face tired, and examined our shocked faces. She smiled, and said, "It's nothing, I was just practicing," She waved her hand, and the knives, target, and holes in the wall disappeared. "You're changing, Derek. I'll come with you guys." She followed us out the door, and led us to a clearing.

Something was off about her. She seemed distracted, but I was more worried about Derek right now. Derek stripped and knelt on all fours, with me massaging his back as the first convulsions took him. Zara was sitting about twenty feet back.

"He will change fully tonight. I can tell. Chloe, massage the base of his skull with your thumbs, and his temples with your fingers."

I did as she said, and Derek seemed to scream less loudly than before. He convulsed one last time and lay panting on the ground as a big black wolf. Zara stood and said, "I'll patrol, and give you two some privacy," as she turned into a sleek, midnight black wolf and slunk away silently.

The big black wolf tried to walk, and fell down. Derek stood again, shakily, and made a few steps before falling again. I hid a smile, and heard a quiet, barking laugh. I guess Zara hadn't gone too far yet. A black panther leaped down from the trees, and turned back into a wolf before demonstrating how to walk. After a few tries, Derek was able to walk, more or less. The wolf Zara gave another barking laugh, and ran off into the woods.

After ten minutes, she came back, holding a dead rabbit in her mouth. She broadcasted into our minds. I went hunting. Derek, you'll need to eat before you change back, or you'll lose your energy and faint. He's going to change in a couple of minutes. It's only painful like this the first time. Afterwards, it's easy. The little wolf dropped the rabbit in front of Derek, and trotted a few steps away, watching him. When he turned his face away, she growled softly, at which he tore into the rabbit and gulped it down. She nodded approvingly, well, as best she could for a wolf and sat down.

After a minute, he started convulsing again. She turned back into a human, (how did her clothes reappear?) and instructed me to massage his head the same way. She conjured a duffel bag, and threw it to me. She watched to make sure Derek was okay as he finished the change, then turned into a panther and trotted away while he changed into the clothes in the duffel bag.

"Are you okay, Derek?" I was worried. He'd been distant for the last couple of days.

"Fine." He grunted. A black panther coughed at the edge of the clearing, then ran back in the direction of the house. He started off after Zara, and I followed. When we got to the house, Zara had already made a boatload of food for Derek.

"You'll be hungry after your change." She left the kitchen after that. I looked at her and realized how tired she looked. She seemed depressed as well. As if she was missing something. And Derek. He seemed distant. Something was going on in this house, something odd. I said goodbye to Derek and trudged back upstairs to bed.

DPOV

God, I was starving, so I was glad that Zara had made food for me. Chloe seemed worried, but went to bed soon after. I heard Mason turn in, after repeatedly asking Zara if she was all right. I finished, and walked quietly through the kitchen back into the living room, where I found Zara hurling knives at the wall, after which she just sat there, her head in her hands. I wanted to comfort her, but I wasn't sure exactly what to do, so I sat down a few feet away from her, just giving her company. I wasn't tired, so it was all right.

"Go to bed, Derek. I'm fine." She murmured, her head still in her hands, her hair hanging in a black curtain, hiding her normally bright face. "Leave, you don't need to see this."

"No, tell me what's wrong." I was curious, and I wanted to comfort her so badly, which was odd, since I barely knew her.

"Nothing, Derek, go away!" Her voice was louder and firmer, yet weary, and it trembled a little.

"Right, and I'm a princess," I said, hoping to make her smile. But her face remained emotionless, and hidden from me.

"Go to bed, you don't need to know this. God, you're worse than Mason."

"Good, and you will tell me."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Shut up and leave, Derek."

"No. Tell me." Why was I being so persistent? The old me would have left her alone, like she obviously wanted me to.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Bloody hell, if it matters so much, then FINE!" she said, and sighed.

I was surprised. One, that I was so persistent, and actually asked her, and two, that she was actually going to tell me. I leaned forward, and listened. She glanced at me and back at the ground, then sighed, her head in her hands. "You know I am part were-creature, right? Because of the blood of all the supernaturals?" When I nodded, she continued. "That means I have to find a mate. And when the mate is within ten miles of me, I have to have physical contact with him before I can fall asleep. So, I sleep once in a long time, and I haven't slept in three months, since I built up my energy back then, and didn't need to sleep. I was going to sleep tonight, but I couldn't, not even with a spell. So, now my mate is within ten miles of me and when I run out of energy, I will literally faint. However, an hour after I faint, my body will sleepwalk, still unconscious, to my mate, and pretty much fall asleep hugging him." She sighed. "That's only because they strengthened my power. I don't have to sleep for two weeks, but then, my mate could be any guy except my brothers and nephew." She put her head back in her hands, and sighed.

"The bad thing is that my mate could be anyone, even a married man. And he will be mated to me no matter what. He might not fall in love with me, but he will lust for me, and I for him. I'll be the only one who can hurt him and I'm scared. I might take him away from his family, his children. I don't want to take that away from anyone. It's what matters most." She ran her hands through her long hair and stood. "Thanks for listening, Derek." And with that, she turned into a tiger and ran out the door.

I heard a sound and turned around to see Mason. "At least I know what the matter is now." He smiled weakly. "I'll take care of my sister, you go to bed." And surprisingly, I did. The changing had taken a lot out of me, so I collapsed on it, and welcomed the darkness that enveloped me.

What do you think? Review review review! Love -Cari