Warrior Luna - Fighting for Survival

Hiding Among Humans

I couldn’t go home because if my brother saw me who knows what might happen. I couldn’t stay at Vicky’s house since it was only a few streets over from Evan’s parents’ house.  So I went to the only other place I had, work.

Charlie owned a state of the art gym; he had a track, free weights, treadmills, bikes, a host of other machines and my favorite, a climbing wall. He was always nice to me, in the last year or so he was a little more teasing and flirty but never pushy or disrespectful. If anything he was one of the only people other than Vicky’s family that made me feel safe, even if he was just human. The other benefit of staying at work was that Evan couldn’t come and hurt me here without involving the human police.

I slept on the office couch. I heard Charlie rummaging through the drawers in the dark and people as they went about their business but thankfully I was left alone to sleep in. I woke up at 10am, and went to get off the couch but my body refused to move. I skipped school for the day; it was mostly exam prep anyway so nothing I didn’t already know and I couldn’t get up to go anywhere anyway.

It was afternoon when I woke again, I heard approaching footsteps, then Charlie opened the door.

“Rise and shine! C’mon Andy it’s already 1:20pm you can’t sleep forever.” He said reaching for the light switch.

“Don’t turn it on!” I croaked sitting up, my head spun and the light blinded me.

“Oh s**t! Andy! What the hell happened to you!?” Charlie asked horrified, panic rising in his voice.

“I told you yesterday, I got my ass handed to me at training…” I rubbed my swollen eye gingerly. “And I couldn’t go home like this.”

“I’m so sorry I didn’t take you seriously yesterday. I swear I didn’t know it was this bad! I just thought you didn’t want to see your brother because of some drama…” He said chewing on his lip, his eyes darting all over the room in panic, unsure of what to do. “Do you want some water? Do you need anything? What can I do?”

I smiled, and then winced from the pain.

“I will be fine I just need an icepack and some food.” Before I could finish my sentence Charlie lunged for the office freezer taking out an ice pack.

“Pizza okay?” He asked knowing it was my junk food of choice.

“Charlie?” I called out, not recognizing my own voice.

“Yes!” He came back panting like he ran to the front door and back.

“Can you help me stand up?” I asked shyly. I hated asking for help but right now I literally couldn’t move without it.

I wrapped my arms around his neck as he lifted me off the couch, and half carried half dragged me to the bathroom. We stood there in a weird embrace for a moment, as my legs started to tingle and finally get some strength back.

“Thank you. “ I muttered into his shoulder, too embarrassed to meet his gaze.

“I’m here for you. Whatever you need Andy. Okay?” He said hugging me gently. “Are you going to be okay on your own in there?” he nodded towards the bathroom.

“Yeah, thank you.” I managed before hobbling away to grab the sink for support. He watched me with concern for a moment before closing the door and most likely running away to get me pizza. I wished more wolves were as kind and loving as Charlie was.

I looked in the mirror for the first time since leaving training and my heart sank. I didn’t even recognize myself. My eye was swollen shut, my eyebrow split, half my face was a deep purple and my lips were cracked and bleeding.

Werewolves healed much faster than humans even before the transition, but these cuts would scar permanently. After the transformation werewolves did not scar from any injuries except those inflicted by another werewolf or silver however any scarring from childhood up to the transformation would stay. I just hoped my face wouldn’t be too ugly after all of this.

I managed to shower and get the remaining blood off me. I also discovered more bruises all over my body which explained why my legs and ribs were so sore. When I came back out the smell of cheese made my mouth water.

“Charlie, you just might be God’s greatest gift.” I sighed with appreciation as I sank my teeth into the pizza slice and gobbled it down.

“You’re pretty cute, you know? Even with the cheese all over your face.” He chuckled, amused by my caveman like manners.

I spent the rest of the day sleeping or watching movies, as Charlie checked on me every few hours. He wanted me to stay over at his place in the spare bedroom, insisting that it was more comfortable but to no avail. I spent another night on the couch in the office.

The next morning I felt much better, the bruises were still there and I was sore, but I could actually move. My face was also noticeably less swollen thought the left side retained its deep purple color, and I could start to see out of my left eye finally.

When I got to school, everyone stared at me and gave me a wide berth. I felt like an alien. I walked through the hall and everyone parted like the red sea, and at the very end I could see one pissed off best friend.

Vicky was beside herself, she lunged herself at me, strangling me with a hug.

“Where the hell were you for the past two days!? Did you not get my texts or calls? Dad told me to go to the car and the next thing I know you’re missing!”

“Vicks slow down, I’m fine. I was at the gym.” I said rubbing my hurting ribs.

“Your eye looks better, but we will see if your eyebrow grows back.”

“Thanks, vanity is exactly what I need. I’m more worried about being able to see.” I huffed annoyed.

“I’m just making a joke Andy, you know that.” She looked at me with concern and wrung her hands together nervously. Then she opened her mouth and promptly closed it.

“If you want to say something, spit it out.” I said more sharply than I intended.

“I’m just worried…” she tucked a strand of dark hair being her ear “…what did dad say to do?”

“To wait till I turn 18 and survive I guess…”

The school bell rang and we streamed into the classroom, tests were laid out on the desks and Mr. Carter was going through the usual instructions, no talking, no cheating, no eating, whatever. I wasn’t the first to finish but I wasn’t the last either, which gave me hope for a decent grade.

The following days went by in a similar manner, final exams and stressing over weather Evan and his buddies were going to come kill me in my sleep. Thankfully that did not happen.  I managed to hide from my brother for another two days until my face looked normal again, and with a bit of makeup he couldn’t tell the difference. Not that it improved his attitude, or made him forget his offer of “helping me through my change”.

Then the day came.

 I woke up to my mom knocking on my door.  She sat down on my bed and wished me happy birthday. But something was different. My mom looked sad, she also smelled sad I realized. The heavy dampness, like it just rained and the coppery minerality was unmistakable.

“Andromeda, honey? You look  confused.” She said  gently caressing my cheek.

“I can smell your” I hesitated “sadness.” I finished hoping she didn’t think I was crazy.

She smiled as her eyes welled up with tears. The saltiness and misty perfume of rain hit my nose with overwhelming strength. But I could also smell the faintest hint of sweet flowers, like lilies.

“What else do you smell and sense?” she asked with a small smile.

“Lilies. Are you happy? But sad at the same time? Why can I smell it?”

“It’s your wolf, your other side waking up. By midnight, under the light of the moon you will discover your new body as well.”

“Mom?”

She looked at me with concern. And I could smell a faded acridity rising in the air. It was coming from me.

“You don’t need to be afraid, what is it?” Her hand gently rubbed my arm in reassurance.

“Cole said he wanted to watch me change.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment, but I could sense the anger and sadness in her rising.

“Let’s go out for dinner and talk about some things. It’s about time you knew.”

“Mom? That doesn’t sound good. What is going on?” It was my turn to be concerned, and my vivid imagination did nothing to help.

“We are going to dinner, put on something comfortable.” She got up off my bed and went to leave, then hesitated. “And Cole, is staying away from you!”

We went out to eat a few hours later at a nice little diner outside of the city, I tried to be patient and not bring up the “it’s about time you knew” conversation from earlier, but I just couldn’t contain myself any longer.

“Mom? You were supposed to tell me something before.” I started hoping she got the hint.

She sighed in resignation, “Dan, wasn’t my mate. Your dad was.”

“WHAT?” I shrieked. “You lied –”

“SHHH! Don’t yell!” she glared at me.

 Everyone in the diner turned to look in our direction. The silence was deafening. After a few moments the usual chatter and clanging of plates and cutlery became audible as the guests’ interest returned to their own tables’ conversation.

“Before you judge me, please listen. Dan was a warrior for the Lone Silver Pack, he lost his mate in a rouge wolf attack almost at the start of their relationship and he never had any children. It was a tragedy. A few years later I turned 18 and well…” She smiled wryly, as she stared into a distant memory “let’s just say after a few fun nights I found out I was pregnant.”

“Ew! Mom!” I gagged, “How could you find that vile monstrosity even remotely attractive!?”

“He was a very different back then. And I really did care for him.”

I rolled my eyes, refusing to even think about the possibility of Dan being anything other than an abusive brute.

“Anyway, my father made us marry. It looked bad for the Beta’s daughter to be pregnant with no mate. Two years later I was at a conference in Kingston, when I felt a –” She motioned with her hands, trying to find the right word “– an electric urge, like my heart was pulling me. I met your father then. He felt it too.” She sighed dreamily.

“What was his name?”

“Raymond. He was the most gorgeous man I had ever met. He was an Alpha’s brother and from what he said they did not get along.” She waved a hand to stop me, “Before you ask no I didn’t ask from what pack. We didn’t see each other for long maybe a few days before Dan called, worried that something happened.”

“Mom? What color was his wolf?” I interrupted her.

She put her hand over mine and smiled. “You remind me so much of him. You have his beautiful hazel eyes, and I suspect you will have his coal black fur too.”

“Is that why Dan and Cole hate me?” I asked swallowing the lump that formed in my throat.

“Yes and no. It’s complicated.” She said rubbing her face. “Yes because you look so much like Ray, you were a constant reminder to Dan that I didn’t love him as much as if we were mates. But I think he hated you because once the pack found out we weren’t mates and that I wasn’t faithful to our marriage, we lost the status of the Beta family and well…” she trailed off

“And we are worse off than an omega. Yeah. I know.”

“Andromeda! Where did you hear that!” she hissed, once again drawing attention to our table.

I shrugged. “Coach said so.”

“Well, that explains why the pack did not accept Cole into the pack despite him completing the trials.”