Why me?
1104 Words
As I ran through the trees, the familiar scent of home hit me, intensifying with each step. My wolf instincts guided me through the forest, my paws thudding against the earth, crushing twigs and scattering insects as I tore through the forest.
Finally, I glided to a stop in front of the forest line and shifted back into human, gasping for breath. A twig snapped behind me, it was Travis. Shifting back to his human form, he stood naked beside me. We stood still, naked and vulnerable and our eyes were fixed on my home.
“It looks peaceful,” I whispered.
“Yeah… it does look normal,” Travis nodded and shifted his gaze to me, “What made you run?”
I swallowed, my eyes still fixed on my house, “I had this unsettling feeling in my gut like something was wrong. My wolf… she pushed me hard, so hard I didn't even know when I started running, following her direction,” I replied.
Travis's face sharpened, concern written all over, “Let me join you. Let’s go find out if everything’s fine.”
“No, you don't have to. I doubt it's anything serious,” I paused and shifted my gaze to his charming black eyes, “Thanks for today though. It still feels so unreal, it's a lot to take in.”
“Yeah, I know. You'll be fine, I'm just happy I'm the one guiding you through this. You're doing great, you'll eventually get used to it, okay?” Travis whispered, his hand reaching for mine.
Then I frowned, curiosity twisting my face, “But why now? Why didn't I shift before?”
“Well, most people shift on their eighteenth birthday. For some, it takes longer than that. I guess you fall under the category of people that shift once they reach eighteen years of age.”
I exhaled, “That explains it I suppose,” I replied as his words sank in. “A werewolf…the word still sounds unreal, foreign.”
Travis leaned in, “It's okay to feel this way now, you're doing just fine, trust me. Let me head home, see you tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I nodded and our lips touched in a brief kiss. In a flash, he shifted back into his wolf form, Furs and fangs, and vanished into the woods.
The cold night was quiet with only the sound of insects chirping in the background. I jogged towards the back door, my breasts bouncing with each step. The door creaked open and I slipped inside.
“Mum, Dad?…” I called out but silence answered.
A chill ran through my veins as the scent of blood reached my nostrils and my wolf growled softly in my throat. Carefully, I walked down the hallway, my heart pounding with each step.
“Mum… Dad…” I called out again, my voice shaking a bit. The silence was overwhelming and I knew something was wrong.
As I stepped into the parlor, I froze as my world crumbled. There she was, my mother. A broken-soaked figure at the entrance, her chest ripped open by monstrous claws.
Her eyes were wide open, terror-filled and her lips parted in a silent scream. Blood pooled beneath her, thick and glistening.
No. No, no, no….
“Mum!” My legs buckled and I fell beside her, cradling her lifeless body as my tears began dropping onto her tattered nightgown. The smell of werewolves filled the air, musky fur, iron, and brutality.
“Mum please wake up! Wake up!” I cried out, shaking her furiously, hoping she would miraculously stand up but she remained still… dead.
My teary eyes flickered open slightly and landed on a zigzag trail of blood leading to my parent's room.
“Dad,” I gasped and sprinted forward with my blood-soaked body and hands and I almost slipped on blood as my heart raced. Their room door swung open and there he was, slumped against their bed, his shirt soaked in blood…he was barely alive.
“Dad!” I collapsed beside him. “Dad, who did this?!” I cried out.
“Elena…” his breaths were shallow and weak.
“Let me call 881, you need to go to the hospital,” the words came rushing from my mouth as I sprang up.
“No… Elena, it's already late. L-Listen to me…” he managed to mutter, his breath failing him.
“I need to tell you something…” he continued.
“Dad, what’s more important than getting you to the hospital?”
“Please… Just listen to me,” he snapped, coughing out blood.
“Elena…. We are not your real parents. I'm so sorry we didn't tell you this. Your mother made us swear an oath never to tell you we aren't your parents. She brought you to us when you were little and she desperately wanted you to live a normal life,” he muttered, tears streaming down his face.
His words hit me like a knife, my mind racing as I tried to process what he was saying. He stretched out his hand and gave me a crumpled piece of paper, “Your real parents…”
Tears rolled down his eyes as he stared deep into me. “Elena…. Find them, you need them now more than ever. I'm so sorry we won't be able to protect you anymore. Just know that we have always loved you right from the first time we set eyes on you and we will always love you, my child…” Blood rushed out from his mouth as he began to cough furiously.
“No, no… Dad! Please don't leave me, don't leave me all alone in this world!” I wailed as he kept on coughing.
“We love you… always,” his final words, and gradually a final shudder, then stillness.
He was gone.
I almost ran mad. My cries turned to howls, and my wolf growled fiercely inside me in grief. Why me? All this in one day? I lost my parents, became a werewolf, and now I'm discovering that the people I called my parents weren't my real parents.
I wailed and cried, then gradually my grief changed into something feral, angrier. My bones snapped, my skin split, and the shift tore through me, not in pain but in raw rage.
As I stood there, now a werewolf, facing my parent’s mirror, an angry silver-furred beast stared back, its eyes golden with bare sharp fangs.
Then something else began to happen, something that terrified me to my bones.
- Writer
