The Handicapped Luna

Chapter 2 Change

I'm lying on my couch. The pain is so unbearable. My shift started around 3 in the afternoon. It's barely 6. At its worst, the pain makes me black out. I'm soaking wet from sweating so much. But, I feel cold, too. My mother is sitting next to me. In general, she looks frightened. She's got a large bowl of ice water next to her so she can wipe me off and keep me cool.

She calls out for my father and Preston. "When should we take her out for her phase? She's been shifting since 3."

My father, Paul said, "Gloria, I really don't know. Generally, wolves transition in three hours. The biggest wolves have taken six hours to shift. The alpha took seven. They all generally complete shift around thirty minutes before the time they were born. But, Tavie has been shifting since 3."

Preston speaks up but shakes his head. "This is obviously a special case. If she is taking this long to shift, her official transition is likely going to be a special case, too. Maybe even an hour early."

"AHHH!" I shot up. Somewhere in my chest, a rib or two sounded like it snapped. I cried out, but then everything went black...

In the darkness...

I looked around. I'm so confused, even more so cause I realize I am standing. I looked down. My left leg is there. Only it's plastic?

"Hello?" The only thing that answers is an echo. At first... But, I hear what I can only describe as an animal running on all fours. Their long nails tapping the hard floor as they move.

A light appears. It's orange. No yellow... Fire, it's a bond fire! Dark figures of people are dancing around it. A wolf runs by it. A figure seems to stand by the fire. Their posture resembles a female stance. She seems to be celebrating. I start to hear screaming, but it's also in celebration.

"Luna, Luna, Luna, Luna!" The Luna fiddles with her left leg. Something seems to fall. She then shifts into the biggest wolf I've ever seen.

The wolf starts to shine.

"Tavie... Tavie, wake up! I know it hurts. But you need to wake up." What? Who said that?

A loud growl erupts. "Get away from her! Mate! MY MATE! She needs me!"

What? Me...

Light floods into my sight. But, PAIN. Awful and excruciating pain! Every bone in my body seems to be breaking.

"Tavie. My name is Xandra. I am your wolf. Listen to me. Our mate is here. Listen to him, please!"

That growl is terrifying. My eyes try to focus despite the pain. My father is guarding me. "She's not even barely eighteen, and you want to take my daughter?"

"I don't care how old she is. She's my mate and future Luna Queen. I am the future Alpha King Malcolm. You will step DOWN!"

I can't see who this is. But I've heard of the Malcolm family. They are over every pack in North America. Whomever this is, they are too strong. The High-Moon Alpha is even bowing. My dad falls to his knees. A tall, dark-haired man with electric blue eyes looks at me. And his enraged face melts into worry. He runs to me and picks me up.

"What is your name?" This once rough and growling voice has become soft and worrisome.

I realize where his skin is touching me is tingling. And he smells like vanilla and lavendar. "Oc... Oc... Tavia."

"Hello, Octavia. My name is Jalen. I am going to help you complete your shift. But, we will go outside to do it."

I agree. And everyone moves out the way. I see my mother with a look of both fright and worry. Preston is watching with hesitation.

Jalen laid me down on the cool ground. He positioned himself above my head, putting my head on his lap. He softly placed his hands on both sides of my face.

"Okay, my love. Do your best to relax through the pain. Look at my face. Breathe slowly."

I did as I was told. Pain seemed to be replaced with heat. But it was still more bearable.

"Octavia," Xandra said. "I'm coming out. Do what he says. No matter what pain you feel, don't take your eyes off him."

I did what I was told. And it felt as though my bones were boiling away. My body, as though something else started to control me, tossed itself around. Never taking my eyes off Jalen, my right knee supported just enough for me to kneel. And I started to growl. Jalen looked up at me in bewilderment. And when he stood, I realized I had four paws on the ground. But, even my head was reaching his midsection. And everyone in front of my house was staring at me in astonishment. They all shifted immediately. One by one, even the High-Moon Alpha bowed. Jalen shifted into a black wolf and started licking my face. Then I noticed that only Jalen was bigger than me. I looked at my furr. My furr was silver. Not light gray, either. Silver. And all four legs were fully grown wolf legs. I stretched out on all fours. And I don't know why. But all I wanted to do was run! And Xandra did.

She took off, leaving a trail of flying debris behind her. Reading my mind, she ran precisely where I wanted to go. A place I love to be. But, I've gone very few times because the forest floor or the sandy shore of a lake doesn't go well with the wheels of a wheel chair.

Xandra was running so fast that we could feel the wind in our thick silver hair. She could jump over logs and bushes without any difficulty. Freedom. I thought. And I heard Xandra agree.

Some distance behind us, I heard a howling wolf! Xandra stopped dead in our tracks. "It's our mate, Jalen and his wolf Axel."

Axel came out from behind a thick bush panting. He strode up to Xandra and licked her face. And Xandra got excited.

I asked Xandra what was going on. She said Axel wants to run with us. And so we ran. We ran until we got to our lake shore. Both Xandra and Axel walked up to the water till their paws were in it. Axel had what I can only describe as a mischievous look... For a wolf. And he jumped up and slammed his fore paws down, splashing Xandra. She shook off the water and jumped on his back, and started licking his face. And again, they took off. howling at the full moon over our head. At some point, they grew tired and snuggled down. And they fell asleep. Not really knowing what was next, I also fell asleep.

When I woke up... I was Octavia again. All the way down to half of my left leg. I sat up. I'm not sure why. But seeing my leg made me cry.

I had almost forgotten about Axel and Jalen. He sat up and looked at me with concern. I covered my naked body, and Jalen looked as though he had an epiphany.

"Oh, here." Jalen had a sack tied to his leg. Opened it and handed me clothes, I got dressed sitting there. When I was done, I looked up at Jalen. He was dressing in black shorts and a blue shirt.

Jalen looked curious. "Why were you crying, Octavia?"

"I don't know what I expected. But, I loved the feeling of having a complete set of legs to run with. Even if it was Xandra's body. Waking up reminded me I was crippled."

"Why does this sound like a bad thing. There's so much you could still achieve. Where's your prosthetic? Who is your trainer?" He looked down at my leg. I think I saw a flash of anger. His electric blue eyes turned into this bright yellow with blue flecks. But, as quickly as it appeared, they were blue again. "Why are you so frail?"

"Uh?" I sarcastically looked at my leg. "Hello, I'm crippled."

He shook his head and ran his fingers

through his hair. "Alright, it's almost noon. I'm hungry. I'm sure you're famished. And I need to talk with your alpha." Why does he seem so mad now?

So, Jalen stood up and started walking back to my house. I sat there waiting to see how long it would take him to remember I couldn't walk. He looked behind him, and his face became apologetic. He reached down and scooped me up like I was nothing more than a bag of feathers. We talked as we made our way back. "Jalen, what exactly happened last night? How did you come to be...?" I searched for words. "Involved in all this last night."

"I felt your pain around 3 in the afternoon. I'm not just any wolf child. I'm a Lycan. The most pure of Wolf Children. We feel our mates when they change. When your shift started, I put out a message to all packs about someone changing and being my mate. Based on the time you started, your Alpha messaged me that it had to be you."

"Did he tell you anything about me?"

"Just that you were handicapped. He said you might not make the best Luna for this reason. I simply told him I'd be the judge of that because the Moon Goddess knows what she's doing."

Why does this new information make me angry? I told myself to breathe. Xandra said, "Girl, all will explain itself in due time. Don't be mad."

I asked Jalen what would happen now.

"Well, that all depends on you, I guess. I take over from my father in five days. So, I can't stay here. But, I obviously want you with me. But do you want to come with me?"

"Well, how would this work? Would your pack accept me as their Luna?"

"They may be confused. But, in time, we'd show them. However, it's not appropriate to send you to regular school, for now. So, I'll get you a private teacher, and I also need to get you trained up. I see your right leg works. But it's weak. Your wolf seemed strong. Yet you are weak, for now. Once we remedy that..." He shuddered. "Wow, you'd be a Luna for the ages."

I smiled and said, "I do." He looked at me with a raised eye brow. I blushed and said, "I want to go with you. No one's ever allowed me to train. It's always felt like everyone thinks I'm a burden. Everyone except my friend Preston and my mother, anyway. Very few places actually accommodate my needs here. " I saw that flash of yellow and blue in his eyes again, and he growled. Then I realized Axel had surfaced. And Jalen came back.

"Well, a lot is about to change for you, my love. Be ready." I shook my head. And told myself, "Thank the Goddess."