Page 158 of Awakened
On my second day with the pack, we followed the river for abit. The wild wolves kept their distance, but the weres included me in their hunt. The older wolf regarded me respectfully and was careful not to startle me. He shared his kills, ensuring I ate even when I just wanted to lie there.
Do they ever shift back to their human form?
My mom had told me bedtime stories about weres who had lost loved ones and lived the rest of their lives out as wolves. These two had none of the behaviors of antisocial wolves, so I was left to assume they were just odd.
We stumbled onto a bear cub, and the old were pushed his daughter away with a nip at her back leg. Sure enough, not a second later, a big ass momma bear sauntered into the clearing, immediately spotting us next to her cub.
A vicious roar tore through the air as she charged at us. We would be lucky to get out of the fight alive. Summoning all the power I had been suppressing, I lunged toward the big bear. I didn’t want to orphan the cub, but I also wanted to keep my fucking life.
Dodging Mama Bear’s enormous paw, I went for her neck from behind. Using all my weight, I pushed her toward the ground, but the big bitch wouldn’t go down.
Growling at my failure, I tapped into the warm energy thrumming through my body. The same blue symbols that had painted Grandma Rose shined from my fur. A gust of power forced the bear to her belly, and she became rigid.
Cautiously, I released her neck, and she stayed down.
The old were watched, his eyes wide as saucers as he lowered himself to his belly and whimpered.
Symbols still burning bright, I tried to pull back, but there was no controlling the power. Heat wrapped around my heart as I panicked, squeezing until I turned tail into the forest. Nothing I tried stopped the eerie glow, so I ran until I collapsed from exhaustion. When I awoke, the she wolf snored at my side. My skin was no longer ablaze, but fuck if it didn’t hurt.
On the third day, I found a grassy patch in the sun and lay there for hours.
Zach should’ve been the one called “Sunshine.”
He had warmed my life for two years, only to be snuffed out in darkness. I hoped he had found Grace on the other side. I dreamed of my beloved friend and a woman I had never met, meeting under the moon and vanishing.
Human laughter interrupted my nap. Inching back into a bush, a woman about my age walked by with two pups nipping at her heels.
She laughed, throwing back her mane of black curls. Her white teeth flashed against her lips. A pink flush colored the sun-kissed skin across her high cheekbones. She was absolutely breathtaking.
What the hell is she doing this deep in the woods?
When her blue-green eyes flashed down to where I hid, I realized she was my were cuddle-buddy.
Her smile dimmed slightly. “Oh, I’m sorry to have woken you. Let me get these pups to their mom.” She dipped her head and left.
The woman felt familiar on a cellular level, like a piece of home I’d been missing.
On the fourth day, I started to miss my human form, even if I wasn’t ready to go back or sure I was ready for the future.
Rubbing against my fellow weres, I went in the opposite direction of the pack. The she wolf released a howl that I answered, sad to leave before I’d made sense of our connection.
After an hour of meandering alone, I felt eyes on me. Stalking backward, I pounced on an unsuspecting Grandma Rose.
“You got me! Get off!”
I inched back, letting her sit up.
She brushed off her knees and stood. “Are you going to shift?”
I snorted into the dirt, still pissed at her.
She squinted, the frown aging her beautiful face. Resting herhands on her hips, she said, “Fine. Then I guess you’ll do the listening.”
I rolled to my side. If I was going to listen to her excuses, I wanted to be comfortable.
“Always so obstinate. I followed you from the memorial to make sure you were safe. Considering how many enemies you have now, that was a very dangerous move, Celeste. Perkins, now Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack, and the rest of the Old Church Packs are keeping quiet about the deaths, but that doesn’t mean they won't seek justice by their own hand.” She readjusted her clothes and leaned against a neighboring tree. Her expression softened, some of the annoyance melting away. “I’m sorry you’re struggling right now, but I’m not sorry for what I did.”
A low growl shook my rib cage, and Grandma Rose swatted my snout. “Just because you have a good chunk of the wolf world at your feet doesn’t mean you can forget your manners.”
