No!
I stopped.
No!
I backed away.
“Bob, you all right out there?”
Danger.
Out.
I loped forward, limping along in the shadows. I spotted a small opening, jumped, and landed with a painful hiss. My back leg buckled beneath me, but I had to keep moving.
Run.
I ran, scooting under the barrier. A scream of alarm rent the air behind me. I ran and ran until I saw only darkness.
Rest.
I crawled beneath a thick canopy of leaves, my body curling in on itself. I licked my wound. There was too much damage. I closed my eyes. Instantly images flashed through my mind one by one.
Man, boy … woman.
I focused on her.
I needed her.
Jessica.
I called her back to me.
She came willingly.
Jessica! Jessica! Honey, can you hear me? Answer me!
Jess, it’s Ty. You have to listen to Dad and wake the hell up!
My brain felt foggy, like a thick layer of moss coated it from the inside.
Jessica, you answer me right now! Jessica. Jessica!
“Dad?”
I squinted into the sunlight filtering through a canopy of branches a few feet above my head. I was human again. I had no idea how that had happened, but I was relieved. I tried to move, but pain snapped me back to reality the instant my leg twitched.
With the pain came everything else.
The change, the escape, the poor farmer. I shuddered as the memories hit me like a flickering film reel, a snippet of my life one sordid frame at a time. I’d been there, I’d seen it, but I hadn’t been in control for any of it—except at the very end. I hoped like hell the farmer was still alive. Saying no had taken so much effort, I couldn’t remember anything at all after that. I had no idea where I was.
From everything I knew about wolves, not being in control was an extremely bad sign. If I couldn’t subdue my wolf—couldn’t master my Dominion over the new beast inside me—I wouldn’t be allowed to live.
Holy shit, I’m a wolf.
I lifted my head and glanced down the length of my very exposed, very naked body. I focused on my injury and watched as my skin slowly knit back together. Incredible. I’d seen it happen before on others, but until now I’d never been in the super healing category myself. Young male wolves gained their abilities after their first shift. My body must still be adjusting, because my hip was still one big mash of ugly muscle. Dried blood stained my entire right side, and the heart of the gunshot wound resembled a plate of raw hamburger.
Thankfully there was no bone showing. If there’d been bone, there would’ve been bile. Now that I was awake and moving, the pain had increased.
I closed my eyes and laid my head back on the ground. My encounter last night better not have been a normal night out for a new werewolf. If it was, I was so screwed.
Jessica!
My head shot up so fast it slammed into a pointy twig. Ow. “Dad?” So it hadn’t been my imagination after all. I knew the Alpha could communicate with his wolves internally, but hearing his voice was new to me. I concentrated on listening. Nothing. I projected a tentative thought outward like I used to do with my brother.
Dad?
Oh my God, Jessica! Are you all right? Answer me!
Yes! I can hear you! I’m fine, er … at least I think I am. I’m in pain, and I can’t really move very well, but I’m alive. My hip looks like it went through a meat grinder, but it’s mending itself slowly.
Stay where you are. We’ll be right there. I lost your scent for a time, but we’re back on your trail now.
Okay. I’m under some thick brush, but I have no idea where. I can’t get out because of my leg.
Snort. You’re not healed yet?
Tyler?
Who else would it be?
Hearing my brother’s voice in my head released a flood of emotion. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed it until right this second. It’s safe to say I wasn’t expecting you back in my brain. We haven’t been able to do this since we were kids, but it’s good to hear you now.
Tyler’s thoughts shifted then, becoming heavier, like a low, thick whisper tugging along the folds of my mind. Jess, I heard you calling me last night. You know, when it first happened. It sounded awful, like you were dying or something. I’m so sorry I didn’t make it there in time. I tried. I was too late.
It’s okay, Tyler. We haven’t been able to communicate like this in so long, I really wasn’t expecting it to work. It was a last-ditch effort on my part to take my mind off the brutal, scary, painful transition process. Don’t worry about it. There wasn’t anything you could’ve done anyway. It happened mind-bogglingly fast. Almost too fast to process. My heart caught for a second remembering it.
I heard, or maybe felt, a stumble and a grunted oath. You’ll get used to it, Tyler said. The change gets easier after you do it a few more times. Hold on, I think we’re almost to you. We lost your scent back at the barn. Jesus, you ripped that place apart. There was blood everywhere.
An ugly replay started in my mind before I could shut it down. I hope the farmer survived. I shifted my body slightly and winced as a bolt of pain shot up my spine. My injuries would’ve killed a regular human. I was clearly going to survive, but it still hurt like hell.
My dad’s anxiety settled in sharp tones in my mind. We’re close, Jessica. By the time we picked up your scent on the other side of the barn, we had to wait for the human police and ambulance to leave. It shouldn’t be long now. Stay right where you are and don’t move. Your scent grows stronger every moment.
Yeah, you smell like a girl. It’s weird.
Maybe that’s because I am one. Or have you forgotten because you haven’t seen me in so long?
Nope, I haven’t forgotten, but you don’t smell like a regular wolf, Tyler said. Wolves smell, I don’t know, kind of rustic and earthy. You smell too female, almost like perfume. It sort of makes me gag. I could feel him give a small cough in the center of my mind, which was totally bizarre.
Then I should be easy for you to find.
Snort.
We’ll be right there, my dad assured me. Don’t worry. We’ve got a car not too far from here waiting to take you back to the Compound.
All this effort to communicate was taking its toll, and my head began to ache in earnest. The pain in my hip flared and a whooshing noise started in my ears. I’m feeling a little woozy all of a sudden …
Hang on—
2
I woke to white walls and the smell of disinfectant, latex, and coffee. The room resembled a typical hospital room, clean, bright, and sterile, except this one catered exclusively to werewolves. It was underground because wolves weren’t known for their calm cool natures, and dirt was damn hard to claw your way out of if you went crazy.
No one else shared the space with me, which made things easier. Newborn wolves meant chaos, and less chaos was preferable, since last night I’d managed to achieve the impossible. I’d become the only living female full-blooded wolf on the entire planet. My new identity was going to rock the supernatural status quo, and the sooner I could prepare for the fallout—which was inevitable—the better. Hauling my ass out of this hospital bed was a good place to start. “Hellooo,” I called. “Is anybody there?”
While I waited for a response, I flexed my leg and tested for pain. A small twinge lingered high on my thigh, but otherwise it felt normal. I couldn’t actually see the wound, since the top of my leg was wrapped with enough gauze to stuff a throw pillow. Recalling the mincemeat it’d been, I was more than happy to go without a visual. I had no idea if I would scar from the ordeal or not. I had a lot to learn about my new body.
A conversation started on the floor above me. My father’s low baritone stood out. I cocked my head, half expecting to hear a bionic beep as I homed in on the conversation. It was amazing how clear it was, like they were in the same room with me. I tested my vision on a tiny container across the room. I could read the fine print on the label, no problem.
Footfalls hit the steps and my father, Callum McClain, the Pack Alpha of the U.S. Northern Territories, stepped into view. “Well, it’s about damn time.” I flashed him a big grin. It’d been a while since I’d seen him and I’d missed him. Since I’d left the Compound seven years ago, we’d only seen each other a handful of times. We’d been extremely cautious about our meetings, because being spotted together would’ve set off alarms in the supernatural community. Any gossip could have compromised my alias, abruptly ending the independent life I’d worked so hard to create for myself.
“Jessica, you scared the hell out of me.” My father strode to my bedside. With a full head of dark hair and no wrinkles in sight, he didn’t appear a day over thirty-five.
“I scared the hell out of myself.” I chuckled. “Shifting into a wolf hadn’t been on the evening’s agenda. Plus I kind of thought I was dying, so that put a serious damper on the whole thing. My limbs felt like they were being sawed apart by a dull blade.”
“The first time is always rough,” my father said. “Especially if I’m not there to guide the transition. It’s much better if you don’t fight the process and stay calm. The tranq would’ve eliminated the pain. Why didn’t you use it?” My father slid a chair over and pulled it next to the bed and sat. “That was our agreed-upon failsafe if you ever started to shift. You were to inject yourself, knock yourself out, and we would find you. No damage to you in the process. You could’ve died jumping out of your apartment and it’s lucky the gunshot didn’t sever your spinal cord. I put my trust into you, into our agreement. I expected you to follow it to the letter.”
“I’m sorry.” I plucked at the bedsheets like an errant child. “I tried to reach the dose, but I didn’t make it. I have no one to blame but myself. I transferred the case from my bedside stand to the bathroom cabinet a few years ago. I thought it was close enough, but honestly, I never thought I’d need it. It’s been over ten years since I hit puberty and we’d always been told I wasn’t genetically coded to shift.” I paused for a second. “I’m sorry. I thought you were being overprotective as usual.”
