The Intruder

Chapter 6

Zach’s POV

‘Man, come on, I know you had a tough night but please wake up, I need your help.’ I heard Abel’s voice followed by my shoulders being shaken.

I hummed, unwilling to get up. I turned to lie on the other side, escaping the shaking. I heard Abel walking away and went back to sleep.

Shortly after I sprung up, soaked in ice cold water. I looked around to see Abel holding an empty basket.

‘What was that for?’ I shouted, breathing heavily.

‘Told you to wake up, asshole.’ Abel said and turned over. ‘You have 10 minutes. Get ready and come outside.’ He threw a towel at me and left the room.

I dried my face and looked at the time. I was supposed to be leading the young werewolves training for about half an hour now… I thought about Emily who could have joined if she shifted yesterday. The thought of her filled me with energy. In 10 minutes I managed to shower, eat some bread and brush my teeth. I was outside a minute later than Abel gave me but judging from his smile he didn’t expect me to make it that early.

I stood next to Abel, facing the group of werewolves running laps in our stadium. Some of them were full of energy, some were tired already. But all of them looked young and excited to explore their wolf side.

‘Seems like a nice group.’ I told Abel, looking forward to teaching them. ‘I’m so happy to be doing it!’

‘And yet you’re late.’ Abel said and called the group to gather in front of us. ‘I taught them the basics of organization, commands, etc. Make sure all of them are physically exhausted today.’ 

I went back to my first training session. I remember thinking I wouldn’t be able to walk but I healed incredibly quickly and was ready for another session an hour later.

After all of them stood in front of us Abel introduced me.

‘Okay, listen up. This is Zach Wildrage, he is gonna train you from now on. Enjoy.’ 

He walked away and I saw all eyes shifting to me. I felt a smile emerging on my lips. I was going to give them all the tips that weren’t given to me, support them and everything. We needed to train our werewolves well now more than ever and I knew I was gonna do great.

‘Nice to meet you all. I hope the first part was bearable, let’s get to some more exciting stuff now.’

We went through sparing, jumping, lifting and stretching. First shift usually comes naturally but the second one needs to be trained for. It requires werewolves’ bodies to be strong and their minds clear. After the werewolves shift for the second time their first training is finished. Werewolves usually finish their training in a month, sometimes in a week. There are cases where werewolves don’t manage to shift for the second time for months. They continue their training with other young werewolves groups until their second shift. The group I was in charge of was fully made of new werewolves. Abel was a great teacher. He had been teaching for five years and only once had a student who struggled to shift for more than a month. Normally he would continue teaching but with the threat of war he was preparing a more advanced group of werewolves.

‘Good job all, thanks for today.’ I smiled widely looking at my students leaving the stadium. They were tired, some of them walked extremely slowly. I wished Abel saw it.

I didn’t have anything more planned for that day and I was dying to see Emily. I packed my things and went to have a quick shower before driving to her.

Emily’s POV

I was woken up by my own ear-piercing scream. I opened my eyes and felt my face wet from tears that kept coming. The pain in my stomach was unbearable.

‘Emily, don’t worry, it’s gonna be okay.’ I saw my dad crouching in front of me with a tissue and drying my face.

‘It hurts…’ I whispered faintly and curled up even tighter as the pain in my stomach intensified.

My dad handed me a glass of water and some pills. I put the pills in my mouth and took two sips of water, swallowing them.

‘It should help you soon.’ My dad sat next to me. The pain immediately started getting better and soon it was gone almost completely. I sat up and sniffled, wiping the remaining tears away.

‘Thank you…’ I said looking up at my dad. He smiled and hugged me.

‘Emily,’ he started, his voice sounding serious. ‘We need to get you somewhere safe.’

I moved away for the hug and looked at him.

‘Why?’ I asked.

‘You mentioned something about people you met yesterday.’ he started. ‘Did they tell you about werewolves?’

The pain in my stomach hit again but it was much less intense so I answered quickly.

‘They did mention it.’ I explained. ‘They also told me I was one but I couldn’t shift.’

My dad nodded his head.

‘You are a werewolf, Emily. Tonight is your first shift.’

I felt my eyes growing wide as he kept going.

‘We don’t have much time before it happens, you need to leave now.’ He stood up and took my hand, helping me get up as well. He led the way out of the house, still explaining: ‘The woman I’m taking you to is gonna take good care of you. She is our Luna, show her respect but remember she will always help you, whatever you need, just ask her.’

I did my best to remain focused and tell myself this was for the best. However deep inside my heart was breaking, I felt I was being abandoned by my own parents. The pain seemed worse than that from my stomach.

We reached a car I haven’t seen before in this area. My dad kneeled down next to me as he was much higher and sighed.

‘Emily, you are free to choose your own path now. I know you are a smart girl and you are gonna choose wisely. I myself don’t know what the right thing to do is anymore.’ He grabbed both my hands, looked me deep in my eyes and said: ‘All I did was to protect you. You will hear many things about me, you have the right to hate me but I want you to know I love you and no matter what happens, I always will.’

I felt tears gathering up. I didn’t know what it all meant but I could feel how genuine he was. I couldn’t imagine ever hating him.

‘I love you too, dad.’ I responded with my voice breaking.

He gave me a sad smile and got up. I saw some tears shining in the corners of his eyes. At that moment the door in the car we were next to opened and a woman with her face covered with big glasses and a scarf walked out.

‘Aaron.’ She nodded her hair at my dad, him returning the gesture.’She turned to me. ‘You must be Emily. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.’ She reached her hand and I shook it.’Your shifting is gonna start soon, we must leave now.’ She opened the backseat door for me. I gave my dad one last look. He looked heartbroken but he was smiling at me. He probably couldn’t have done anything else than sending me away. I hugged him quickly and ran into the car, avoiding tearing up.

The woman sat in the driving seat and drove off. Even with her face covered she radiated power and comfort.

I couldn’t say anything. I felt heartbroken leaving my house. My mother’s last conversation with me hurt me but my dad’s words cut me deep and left with more questions. I was going to live as a werewolf now. With werewolves that, if Zach was right, were targeted by my dad. Am I gonna have to turn against him?