The Moon Goddess’ Slave Daughter

Rude awakening

CAMBRI

"Wake up! It's time. Hurry before anyone wakes back up!" The voice in my head snaps at me. I roll over with a groan and pick my head up off the floor. What do you want? Who are you and how are you in my head, I scream. "My name is Holland, and I'm your wolf. "If you stop being dramatic, I'll show you," the voice says with a cocky tone. You blocked me out before I could explain anything." The image of the wolf from earlier pops back into my head, and it's sitting up, licking its paw in the shadow. "Why does this keep happening?" I whisper as I rub my temple.

"As I was saying," the wolf then prances forward into the front of my mind. "It's me you have been hearing, and I would like to prove that I am not a figment of your imagination, and you're not losing it." I catch the wolf rolling its eyes at me. How do you suppose we do that, I ask quizzically? "I want to show you, but it's going to hurt. I wish we had more time to prepare, but we don't, and we can't do this again until we get out of here. You can't scream, or we are toast."

I think about it for a few moments before rolling my eyes, this is one of the most vivid dreams, yet I silently note. Then I whisper, "Okay, let's do it." Before I can finish the sentence, I feel my skin burning like I'm on fire, and tears start to stream down my face. I wanted to scream so badly, but I remember what she said.

I start sweating, and then I see it. Hair starts to sprout all over my body. The burning keeps getting worse. Then I hear it. Snap! I fall to my knees in agony. I see my right leg has turned into that of a wolf. This is a dream I keep repeating; then, my left leg cracks. I can't do this! I shriek internally. My spine starts to morph, and my ribs are rearranging. I hear popping and cracking and feel my bones snapping under the intense pressure. I can't focus on anything but the pain and how much I want it to stop.

"Almost…there… just let go... quit fighting it," the wolf says in broken breaths. The pain is getting too much, and I see the wolf step forward. My vision blurs, and then the pain subsides a little. I'm in the shadow now, and she's running the show. The rest of my body slowly transforms from my skin into beautiful white fur. Finally, I am standing on four paws, and I shake out my coat. She whispers, "do you believe me now?" I am in shock and astonished at the same time. She pushes me forward, and I take a few wobbly steps in this new form.

Holland is exhausted, and she lays down and naps for a while. I trot around the small room for some time before she finally says time is up; she can hear people sturring above us. "How do we shift back? I say with a little bit of panic. She explains that all I need to do is imagine my human self and push it to the forefront of my mind. I close my eyes and start to focus. I feel the burning, but not so bad this time.

When I open my eyes, I'm standing on my human legs. I pinched myself a few times to ensure I was awake, and this did happen. I see Holland shaking her head, and she lays down and covers her eyes like she is embarrassed. She explains all of this will get easier over time. But it will be a while before we can do that again. No one can ever see us. I want to question everything that just happened. Holland shrugs and says we are special. She looks exhausted, and I decide to save my questions for another time. She goes to the back of my mind and falls asleep. My mind is swirling with thoughts, but I'm too tired to process them. I curl up on the floor in the dark corner of the room and drift off to sleep.