Chapter 2

Alterations

"Chanelle, are you okay? Do you need to go to the clinic?" asked Ms. Gosha. I looked up at the sound of my name. Judging by the look on her face, I must have looked as nauseous as I felt. The rose had started burning nearly halfway through Drama, and I wanted to scream. It wasn't as bad as it had been the first time, but it was still painful as hell. I took a deep breath.

"Actually, yeah, I think I might need to go to the clinic," I said.

She gave me a pass and I walked out of the room as fast as I could without drawing any more attention to myself. I went straight to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I couldn't believe it. The rose really was blooming. It had been almost completely closed just yesterday and now it was wider with more detail. Bottom line, it was growing. The pain slowly subsided as I splashed water on my face. I tried to keep myself from going into hysterics, telling myself that I just had to make it through this class period and I would be able to go home. I needed to get out of here. I needed air. I needed space.

The walls seemed to move closer as the room started to spin and my stomach started to churn. Too thankful that I was in the bathroom by myself, I bolted into the closest stall and felt the coolness of my skin colliding with porcelain. My stomach lurched. I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, so I just sat there dry-heaving, trying to catch my breath. Tears flowed relentlessly as my throat started to throb.

To my surprise, just as quickly as it had come, my queasiness left, leaving me alone on that cold restroom floor.

Carefully and slowly, I forced myself to my feet and went back to the mirror. If I hadn't been so sure that everything involved with the rose had been drawn and not real, then I definitely would've thought that that blood at the tips of the stem was my own.

After rinsing my mouth out repeatedly and chewing a piece of gum, I went back to class and Ms. Gosha kept her eyes on me nearly the entire time.

"Feeling better?" she asked. I nodded and went back to my seat between Sarah and Joseph in the large theatre.

"What was that about? Are you okay?" Sarah asked me quietly. Considering that I had been missing for almost over a day, everyone had heard about it and the stares had been constant the entire day. Eventually, I started ignoring people who asked me what happened. What would be the point in answering them? They wouldn't believe me. I died. How do you explain something like that? I smiled and tried to make it look convincing.

"I'm fine. It wasn't anything serious."

Twenty minutes later, Ms. Gosha had given up on trying to teach us for the day and decided that it would be easier to just let us talk. I sat back as they chatted around me and pretended to not be distracted.

"Did you hear about the new guy?" Ana asked me.

"No I haven't. What about him?"

"How have you not heard about him? The girls here are going crazy over him! Apparently, he's drop-dead gorgeous. But I guess I shouldn't really say anything to you about it. I'm sure Dominic wouldn't appreciate the competition."

"Who says he has any competition?" I asked, raising my eyebrow and smiling.

"You never know. Maybe he will after you see this guy," she said, smirking.

"Have you even seen him yet?" I asked.

"No, but I trust my sources."

"Maybe you shouldn't."

"Yeah, okay. We'll see."

I pulled into my driveway, and my parents' cars weren't the only ones there. A large, red Dodge truck sat in my spot behind my mom's car. I parked beside it and walked in. Laughter hit my ears instantly coming from the living room. A voice boomed loudly that I couldn't recognize, and beside my dad on the couch sat a large boy that couldn't be any older than eighteen. His black hair was cut short and his black eyes were familiar. It took me a second to realize that I was related to this person.

"Damon?"

He looked up at me with quite possibly the most excited grin I had ever seen. He stood up and filled the gap between us in three long strides, picking me up and hugging me tightly.

"Hey Shell, your dad told me. Welcome to the pack!"

He put me down. I stared at him. It was definitely him. He was the only person on the face of the earth who had ever even thought about calling me 'Shell'. He couldn't be talking about what I thought he was talking about though, right?

"What are you talking about?"

He smiled and pushed his sleeve up his arm. There sat a tattoo of an open mouth of jagged teeth, distorted slightly by the lines of his biceps. He moved the collar of my shirt down to look at the rose. He laughed that booming laugh of his. I just watched, perplexed. He had changed so much! I know it had been a few years since I had last seen him, but this was beyond puberty.

"So, you know about…this?" I asked quietly. I didn't think that it was possible, but his smile actually got wider.

"Of course I do. I just can't believe it's hitting you so late. We're only a few months apart. But don't worry; it's really not that bad. It gets better. There are some pretty interesting parts to it though. I can't wait to see if you imprint or not. You're dad's not going to like that part of it too much. You want to go for a ride? I can fill you in."

"Sure," I mumbled, while my brain tried to process all that he had just shot at me.

He turned back to my parents. "I'll have her back before midnight."

"Okay, so where do we start with all of this? I'm still having a hard time believing that this isn't just some weird prank that my dad came up with," I said as he drove down the empty road. He wasn't wearing a coat either. I had to admit, that small fact made me feel a little more comfortable.

"Trust me, it's not. It's in your blood. You're the first girl that this has happened to in a while though. Hopefully, you don't mind being around guys. You never used to when we were younger. "

I smiled at the memories. I was the tomboy of my family. I was the one who was always running around with the boys and refused to dress up. That hadn't completely changed these days.

"It doesn't bother me."

"I didn't think it would. And just for the record, you don't need to share this secret with anyone. No one outside of the family is allowed to know."

"Fine," I replied. The idea of not telling Dominic that I died and came back to life to become some mythical creature that really isn't a myth after all didn't really bother me that much. "So, is this only a family affair?"

"Nope, it's not. We have a few guys in the pack whose ancestors were close with our ancestors. It's all really pretty interesting. Josh just got in not too long before you did actually."

"But he's only thirteen, isn't he?"

"Yep, he's the youngest. And for the history, you'll see how that works soon enough. It's kind of fun. It's like taking history without having to go to class. It'll surprise you. Sometimes, you'll just look at things and they'll trigger flashbacks. It's like a movie in your head almost."

"Okay, what were you talking about with the imprint thing?"

He glanced over at me. "You'll know it when it happens to you. It might not even happen, but it's obvious."

My shoulder started to burn again. I scratched at it automatically. He laughed at me.

"It's irritating as hell, isn't it?"

"I would say you have no idea, but that wouldn't be true. So, when do I get to meet the rest of the 'pack'?"

"When you change for the first time."

"Why do I have to wait until then?"

"It's just a safety precaution. Besides, you'll have a better connection with the guys once you've changed. Oh, I guess I should probably warn you now, there's no privacy."

"What?"

"We're in each other's heads constantly. You'll get it. And you might want to cut your hair, at least a little bit. I'm not exactly sure if that will come into play when you change or not."

He stopped in a clearing that was near nothing but trees. The snow was melting under the hot sun. He got out and I followed him. I leaned against the car as he walked further into the clearing. He pulled of his shirt and shorts leaving on only his boxers. It was pretty awkward moment.

"Ready?" he asked me, keeping his voice low. I nodded. He smiled and started to shake. It looked like somebody had sent an electric shock through him as his entire body started to vibrate. It all happened so fast that it was hard to tell what was happening. It was almost like an explosion as fur sprouted all over. One last growl came from his chest before he went down on his four paws and stared at me with dark eyes. As I watched him, I was more impressed than scared. He walked towards me slowly and laid down a few feet in front of me. He turned his head to the side and waited for my reaction. I sat down beside him and played with his fur. It was so soft! He was like a big, breathing, fluffy pillow! I just wanted to sleep on him.

He jumped up, catching me off guard, and grabbed his clothes in his mouth before running off through the trees. I sat and crossed my arms. I could hear a small popping sound and the rustling of branches. He walked out, still pulling down his shirt.

"It's that quick every time?" I asked as he walked back over to me.

"Well, that takes a little bit of practice, and I'm not gonna lie. The first time hurts. But, by the third time, you don't really feel it. It's just natural by then."

"When am I supposed to change? Is there a time limit on it or something?"

He laughed and sat down beside me. "No, there isn't a time limit. It's different for everyone."

"How long did it take you?"

"It only took me a week, but don't compare yourself to me."

"Why not?"

"You are looking at the current alpha male." He said, raising his arms over his head as if he had just won a competition before putting them back down.

"Why you?"

I couldn't help but to sound surprised.

"It's just one of those things. You can't really control it, you just know."

I shook my head. "This is all too much."

"It is now, but it's just the beginning. The fun starts later. You're gonna love it when the strength and speed kick in. And you might get a little taller, but I don't know. I've never seen this happen to a girl before, so you get to be our experiment."

"I'm flattered."

My sarcasm amused him.

"I should warn you though; the guys aren't always on their best behavior. They can be a bit… immature."

"And you aren't?"

"I'm good when I need to be."

"If you say so. Who are these guys anyway?"

"Well, I already mentioned Josh. Brice changed about a month before him and before him was Lance. One of our newer guys is Keith. You two should get along, he just changed for the first time a few months ago. In fact, I'm pretty sure that he goes to your school. His cousin, Kel, changed about two weeks after him."

I sorted through the names in my head. Lance was a more distant cousin of mine, and Brice was as good as a cousin considering how close his family had always been with ours. Keith and Kel were completely new names though.

"That's it?" I asked.

"Yeah, unless somebody else got tatted after you."

"Tatted?" I asked. He pointed at my shoulder and the rose that was on it.

"Did you ever tell anyone about what happened to you the day that you disappeared?"

I leaned back and stared at the clouds. "No, I didn't."

"Can you tell me? I mean, we don't just get tatted for no reason."

"How'd you get yours?" I asked. I wanted to change the subject, but I really was curious.

"I was in a car crash," he said simply.

"But, your car looks fine."

His face looked perfectly serious as he laid back and stared up just like I had done.

"It wasn't my car. I was with my friend. We got hit by some drunk doing ninety on a quiet street. We both died that night. I got tatted…he didn't. The doctors couldn't explain it. I just kept screaming. They thought that the tattoo had already been there and I was in too much pain to tell them otherwise. I passed out and by the time I woke up, the pain was gone and my dad was there to explain everything."

"I sat up and hugged my legs to my chest. He shook himself out of his trance and looked at me.

"Your turn."

"I was killed by some guy that claimed that he knew me. He moved so fast. He led me outside and I didn't have a coat. He chased me and I died in the cold. I guess I just couldn't fight anymore, but it wasn't too bad, because I died before he had a chance to do anything to me."

"What did he look like?" he asked so quietly that I had to struggle to hear his question.

"Dark hair, really blue eyes, and he was really pale."

He stiffened. "Did he have an accent?"

"I think he did. He was kind of hard to hear."

"And he moved really fast?"

"Freakishly fast."

Damon sat up. "Then you, my dear cousin, have encountered your first leech."

"What?"

"He was a vampire. I don't really get why he didn't pull you apart though."

"You're sure about this?"

"He fits the description of one that's been spotted around lately."

"Oh wow," I breathed for lack of better words.

"The guys are gonna be jealous. They haven't even seen one yet and you got tatted because of one."

"Well, if I could trade the way I died then I would."

"Don't assume that. Getting tatted can be a pretty traumatic thing. You had it pretty easy compared to some."

"So…you only get tatted when you die?"

"Usually it's when you're killed, but that's all we've seen so far. And it depends on your blood line too."

"That's not a very happy observation."

"No it's not, but we were all given a second chance, we just have to live up to it."

"What do you mean 'live up to it'?"

"We weren't given this gift just to mess around, we have a job. But it's getting late. We should start heading back."