PROLOGUE
-Do not pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one -Bruce Lee.
Prologue
Growing up, I knew I was a far cry from normal. Not that anybody treated me so, but I could feel the judgement, the constant stares and the whispers surrounding me almost every single waking minute of the day. I was faster than everyone I knew, had more stamina, more strength than anyone in my class or family. I could hear things that nobody else could and smell the slightest scent in the air. I was different.
I stood there, looking out at the sunset, watching the sky dance with beautiful hues of purple, pink and orange. How do I ask my parents the question that has been floating around in my head for weeks now? How will they react when they realise that I know? Will they reject me as their child? Or will they comfort me and tell me that I’m theirs no matter what?
These are the thoughts racing through my head at a million miles an hour.
I looked up at the sky, now dark but illuminated by the beautiful full moon, the stars shining brightly from beyond. I’d gotten so caught up in my thoughts, I didn’t realise that the sun had fully set and the moon was rising up over the horizon, but I loved nights like these, I always felt at home when the moon shone down on me. It spoke to me in ways that I could never explain.
But something about tonight seemed different. My body felt tense, like something bad was on the horizon. The hair on my arms was standing up and my skin felt warmer than usual. The pain started suddenly, like nothing I had ever felt before. It spread up my spine and pushed all the air out of my lungs, my knees buckled beneath me and I fell to the ground. I couldn’t scream, couldn’t cry out for help, all I could do was try to breathe in the cold night air surrounding me. And then the pain intensified, I felt my fingers getting longer and watched in absolute terror as my nose morphed into what looked like an extremely hairy snout.
As the pain finally subsided, I could once again feel the air entering my lungs, my breathing laboured and gasping. “What is that?” I thought to myself, turning my head around and looking at my behind. “A tail? What’s happening to me?”.
I was clearly no longer a human. I was what appeared to be a rather large, shaggy dog. “I’m a freak”, I thought to myself as a quiet whine escaped through my teeth. Loud footsteps inside the house broke through my panic and someone was approaching the back glass sliding door that I was standing at not ten minutes ago. So, I ran. Not out of fear, but for the embarrassment that I would feel if anyone saw me this way. I had no idea what was happening and I didn’t want to answer any questions until I understood for myself.
I took off so fast that it took my eyes a second to catch up. Trees blurred past me faster than they had ever done before, yet I could see every small detail of every plant, every animal that I passed. My mind was alive with all the new smells and things that I was seeing. I was so caught up in the exhilaration of the run that I wasn’t watching where I was going until I crashed into something and went flying, landing on my back with a loud yelp, before hitting my head on something. And then, everything went dark.
“Is she ok?”
“I don’t know. She hit her head pretty hard, maybe she’s braindead?”
“Don’t be stupid, she’s a wolf, anyone can see that.”
“Doesn’t look like any wolf I’ve seen before”
“She’s special, can’t you feel it?”
“Feel what?”
“That energy resonating from her, she’s not just any wolf... She’s a....”
