He wasn’t making sense. Even if he was, there wasn’t anything I could do. Control was gone and replaced with intense pain.
“Come on, Scout. It’s time to Change. You need wake up now.” The tremors stopped as abruptly as they started. I lay limp in his arms, afraid to move. “Scout, wake up! Now!”
***
My eyes flew open as all my waking world symptoms came back with a vengeance. It was as if I could smell every hidden scent, from the wood of the furniture to the dye in every article of clothing hanging in the closet. My own breathing sounded deafeningly loud to my ears. My stomach churned, and my skin blazed like fire.
The muscle spams were just the cherry on the top of the sundae.
There was no way to get to my walker, so I rolled myself out of the bed, landing on the floor with a bone crushing thud. I crawled to my desk where I managed to pull myself up to a semi-erect position, and then headed out of my room, down the stairs, and to the back door. Every step was pure agony, the inability to do so being the only thing to keep me from screaming out. I was near delirious by the time I collapsed in the back yard. And then the real pain began.
I could hear the bones as they snapped, feel every fiber of muscle that pulled apart. Skin stretched so tight I was certain it was going to rip open. My fingers dug into the ground until I no longer had fingers to grip with. Finally, I reached my pain threshold and passed out.
***
Something was nudging my side. No, not something. Someone. I could smell him. It was a good smell. Dirt and woods and sweat and fur and something else. Something unique. Something indescribable. I liked that smell. A lot.
There was another smell. It was even closer than nice smell, right in front of my nose. It was the smell of blood and death. The smell of food.
My stomach clenched at the realization. Food. I needed food. I had never been so hungry in my entire life.
It was in my mouth before my eyes even opened. My teeth tore through flesh and muscle. It was still warm and this made me happy. Fresh meat was best. I ate until there was nothing left, and then mourned the fact it was gone.
I needed to find something else to eat. I wasn’t picky. The rabbit was good, but a squirrel or opossum would do. As long as it was food, I didn’t care.
I stuck my nose to the ground and sniffed around, trying to pick up on a trail. I thought I found one, only to realize it was the same rabbit I just devoured. It ran along the edge of the woods until it’s trail crossed with another.
The scent was unmistakable. The good smell had swiped the rabbit.
The good smell.
I forgot in the haze of hunger and food, and now he was gone. I cocked my head and listened to the night, hoping to catch a rustling of leaves or movement of a bush, anything that would lead me to where he was.
“Identify yourself.”
I spun around, looking for the woman with the smooth, demanding voice, but no one was there.
“You are trespassing on Hagan Pack territory. Please, identify yourself.”
Hagan Pack territory? My home. My land. My territory.
A growl rumbled in my chest, the sound of it briefly shocking me back to my senses. What the Hades was going on? What happened to me? I looked down at my hands that were no longer hands and felt panic creep into my bones.
“Scout?”
The voice was coming from inside my head, and it knew my name. That couldn’t be good.
I shook my ginormous canine head and screamed, “Leave me alone!” with all my mental might, which was not considerable at the moment. A twig snapped to my left, sending me over the edge. The panic completely consumed me, and I ran.
Direction and time were inconsequential. The only thought in my head was to flee. Occasionally, the reality of the situation threatened to push through my altered consciousness, but I refused to let it. Instead, I ran as far and as hard as I could. The undergrowth whipped past me, briars catching in my fur. My paws ached and my muscles burned, but I kept running. I had to escape, to get far away.
If I was in better possession of my facilities, it may have occurred to me that I had no idea where I was going or where my foe was. I might have considered using my super-sensitive wolf senses to alert me to my surroundings. Unfortunately, the only thing I was thinking about was running, which is why I found myself standing at the edge of a particularly deep and fast-moving creek, contemplating my next move, when the scent of the others reached me.
They slowed just before coming into view. There were two of them, small and red. The younger of the two bared his teeth in a snarl, but the older one stood perfectly still, confusion evident in his green eyes.
Coyotes. They weren’t the two who killed Alex, but they looked similar. I pressed my ears back against my head and growled deep in my throat.
The older coyote snapped at the younger one, but it was too late. He was racing towards me. All I had to do was wait for the perfect moment to spring onto him. He was small and clumsy. I would be able to dispose of him quickly. Just as he was closing in on the perfect distance a flash of fur darted out of the bushes, knocking the young coyote off course. I let out a frustrated snarl at losing my advantage.
The newcomer stood between me and my adversary. If it had been anyone else, I would have knocked him aside to get to the boy.
I barked out a plea, but the wolf remained in front of the boy, protecting him.
I fell back, but then circled around to the right. The wolf realized what I was doing and snapped at me. I moved back and he snapped again, this time stepping towards me.
He was running me off.
All desire to fight vanished as I was overcome with disappointment and humiliation. He didn’t want me. Not like this. I dropped my head, tucked my tail, and ran away.
I spent the rest of the night slinking around, following random paths for a while, but never committing to a hunt. I could feel the sunrise before the first rays broke over the horizon. My muscles began to twitch and I hunkered down onto the ground, praying this time the Change would kill me.
Chapter 3
I lay naked and confused on the dew soaked ground. The bad news was I wasn’t dead. The worse news was the Change back had been just as painful and much longer than the original Change. The worst news was I was conscious for every single second of it.
I think he may have been with me for part of it. Or maybe I was hallucinating. There was really no way to be sure. My brain was on overload, too much shock and pain to function properly. That’s why I didn’t realize someone was next to me until they touched my shoulder, sending a lightning storm of pain across my new, sensitive skin.