Unexpected Shift

7

"It's okay," I assured as she pulled me up in a sitting position with my back not touching anything. It was relief from the itchy feeling of dirt. The corners of Elaine's mouth turned upside down, her lips started quivering and tears started spilling from her eyes at an uncontrollable rate.

"I'm sorry," she said in between sobs, and I only frowned in confusion. "You..."

"I'm fine Elaine," I reassured, already feeling better than a minute ago. She shook her head in dismissal—almost like a kid. "Hey, come on. Stop crying." She stopped for a second and looked at me with warmth in her eyes like I was a savior.

"A-Ambulance, I need to call the ambulance. You'll die at this rate, the blood won't stop," she muttered hastily patting around her cracked phone. I tried to protest but Elaine only cried more every time I said anything.

"Listen to me! I don't need an ambulance! I'll heal soon enough. It's just a matter of time," I explained, voice growing softer at the end. "You just saw me turn back and forth from a wolf. Please calm down."

The girl's shoulders slumped and there was a steady pace of her breath but the tears kept streaming on and on from her eyes like I had turned a damn tap on inside her head. I closed my eyes and squeezed while the wounds burnt slightly. They were now starting to heal.

"See! You're in pain! I need to help you," Elaine muttered in a small voice, and hesitantly, her hand brushed my hair away from my forehead with delicacy in her touch. "Oh, God, there's blood everywhere!"

"How are you? what are you feeling? Right now, after seeing everything, do you feel any different?" I asked her.

"What do you mean?", she retorted in confusion, reaching to caress her bare neck and collar with her shirt sliding to the right. There was something different about how she looked and the better I left,, the more I could notice the changes. "Wait!"

My lips parted and I wanted to ask what was wrong but Elaine suddenly jumped up to her feet and started running around the patio before walking around in circles with her eyes trained downwards like she was searching for something. "What's wrong?" I asked finally.

"My necklace," she breathed out in worry. "The black wolf took it."

"What kind of necklace?" I asked in suspicion, brows clashed. I almost lost my balance as I got up to my feet. Elaine came rushing to my side. She slid an arm around my mid-riff and quickly held me up in place despite the difference in our sizes. "You're strong," I giggled.

"Thanks," she muttered distracted, chewing down on her lower lip.

"What did it look like? The necklace, I mean." My question made her go quiet for a moment and in utter silence, Elaine led me to the patio so I was sitting down on the marble.

"It was crescent-shaped, made of silver and I-I always wore it." She then gulped. "My mom gave it to me; it was always with me ever since I was a little kid of just ten years."

"Oh," was all I could manage to say for a minute. Audra had told me about her sister and brother-in-law's mysterious death, which was now getting even more twisted in my eyes. Now, that I had seen for myself just how special Elaine was, there was definitely something wrong with her parents, too. "Did your mom ever say anything about it?"

"No, she just told me that it was hers and now I got to have it but," another gulp. "But without it, I feel restless, strong but anxious and like—never mind, just help me find it if you can?"

"Hey," I started politely. "You know you can trust me, right? I didn't risk my life just like that," my voice had a teasing edge to it, but it made Elaine's eyes even warmer. She continued to stare at me for a hot minute. Then, her ears turned red and eyes moved to her feet.

"I know but it's kind of really difficult when you're all naked," she mumbled, trying to stifle a laugh. I only laughed along. Of course, I was naked, I had just shifted to a whole different species! My clothes weren't going to stay on!

"Oh please, you know why," I complained but she only shrugged. "Seriously though, tell me everything you're feeling. I can't help you if you don't let me."

"Okay," she breathed and then again, rubbed over her throat where the necklace must've been hanging. "I have this weird feeling that something wild and reckless is trying to break free from my body. It feels like I was being held back, and now I need to free myself. It's scaring me."

Chapter Six

Elaine

Asher looked at me like he knew the answers to all my questions and then he smiled gracefully. "I told you, something was clearly preventing you from taking your real form," he told me, then sat upright with all his weight supported by his elbows. "You're free now."

The last three words thrummed through my body at the speed of lightning, my skin felt like it was burning and then an itchy sensation crawled through it. A gasp fell from my mouth when I took in the sight of my limbs. My arms were growing with fur and claws were protruding in place of my nails. I was about to transform, into a wolf.

"A-Asher, I'm scared," were the last words I spoke.

My body had turned to that of a gigantic wolf with silver fur, my clothes had turned to rag and I turned my back to the boy who had told me about my own existence. His mouth fell agape and I internally smiled at the feeling of freedom I had just achieved.

I felt like I had been released from an unknown cage, that some wilder, greater part of my body had awakened. My feet felt weird against the soil. I felt like I was meant to be like this since forever. When I finally walked on all fours in my wolf form, I shivered at how good it felt.

All my life was spent under the pressure of staying home for some reason. My parents would refuse to let me out too much and my grandmother would say she was too weak to take care of me outside the house. Then I entered college and the weight of my degree pushed my shoulders down. I had never even thought a day like this would come in my life. What exactly was going on? Had my family always known my truth? If yes, why would they hide it from me?

An unexpected desire to run freely under the indefinite sky grew. Had the sky always been this beautiful or was I too sullen to take notice of it before? I tipped my head back up and howled at the sky, half expecting Asher to join in and before I could further get lost in the feeling, he finally came back to my mind.

I jumped around for a moment and then when I looked at him, his eyes were already on me. Asher went on staring at me in completely undisguised awe, his eyes shining like I was the one who hung the moon and the stars. It made my heart flip and before I could lose myself in the feeling of freedom, I changed back to my human form.

Even if my body had returned to how I always looked, my heart and soul felt like they were new. Asher stands up and walks towards me, unaware of how much he was affecting me at the moment. His skin shone brightly in the sunlight that made its way in through the tree canopies and I only stared.

Asher's body, his muscles, and his eyes, all of them were full of charm. As he strode further in my direction, my heartbeat picked its pace up and the freshly masculine smell of pine filled the air. My eyes stayed on his naked chest, the ridges of his stomach and the muscles that led to a narrow waist- Wait!

Was I naked too?!