Emerald

Chapter 5 The Shift

TRIGGER WARNING: Themes of s****l assault in this chapter.

Avril’s POV

After I heard that Tori was planning on separating herself from Aaron, I knew I had about a week to convince them otherwise. At least try to get Aaron to come with us. It’s not right for fated mates to be apart. I mentally formed the argument I would bring up to my brother. Tori seemed set in her decision so it will be more worth my time to persuade Aaron. Not that a male wolf needs a lot of encouragement when it comes to staying close to his mate. It truly consumed my thoughts as I shared my meal with Tori.

I wonder how Shadow Mist would treat me. My wolf says I’m special, but I can’t shake the feeling that I’m a burden. Sure, there’s a lot I can do on my own, but I can’t help but feel like Tori, Aaron and even Wesely are being dragged down by me.

We were his mate. Emerald reminds me. He was supposed to cherish us, no matter our weaknesses, strengths, looks, or whatever ideas he had in his head. The Goddess made us for him, and he threw us out.

I mean technically I rejected him. I object.

Emerald snorts. Semantics. He was going to reject us, even after he mated us.

I guess she was no longer team Wesely as she was when he first got us from the hospital.

Tori interrupts my thoughts. “Interesting conversation with your wolf?” I can hear the amusement in her voice.

“What? Eclipse doesn’t have commentary often?” I tease.

Tori laughs. “I guess so. She certainly has her opinions. We should go to bed. You need to get as much rest as possible before you shift.”

I nod. “You’re right. I’m sure Emerald is excited to finally make an appearance.” I feel Emerald start to spin in circles in my head. “Most likely 12:01 with how she’s acting.” I mutter.

Tori just pats me on the back and leads me to the bedroom. I’m so glad that Tori is here, now that my parents have been pretty much shunning me for rejecting the Alpha’s son. Emerald later showed me that this was always meant to be the arrangement, whether or not I rejected him. I hear Tori click the lights out and we both go to sleep. All I can dream of is those kind brown eyes.

***

Fire. That’s all I can think about. My body is on fire! I sit up and I’m just in pain. Tori is up and ready. She picks me up and takes me out of the cottage.

“You got this girl.” She soothes. “I’m here for you. You just gotta relax and give Emerald control.

“Easy for you to say!” I shriek. Pain is all consuming. I can hardly concentrate on anything else.

You’ve got to breathe past it. Emerald reminded me. I’m not trying to hurt you. With me you will find more strength.

I stop gritting my teeth as much as I can. I hear a howl in the distance. I shake my head and try to focus. Several minutes go by. I’m in agony and something has divided Tori’s attention.

Don’t worry about her. Emerald chided gently. Focus on us. We’re almost done, just imagine yourself becoming a wolf. My bones continue to snap and reform into their wolf shape. It never looked pleasant, but boy it feels even worse than it looks. My skin starts to itch, I’ve always heard this is the last part, skin itching because the fur is about to grow. Finally I stand up and see my paws. I look up. I can see! I look around at the forest surrounding me. It’s beautiful! I turn my head and see a dark gray wolf looking at me and a lighter gray wolf standing protectively in front of me. I intuitively recognize the lighter gray wolf as Eclipse, Tori’s wolf. Emerald recognizes the scent of her formal mate and immediately bristles. She knows he’s untrustworthy and this being her first shift, she knows we’re vulnerable. I’m so thankful that Tori and Eclipse have our back. I’m just sad I don’t get to enjoy this time and find out what Emerald looks like or get to let her run. It seems Wesley has a knack for spoiling big moments in my life.

Tori’s POV

I rush Avril out of the cottage to give her more space. Plus I’ve found that werewolves just do better under the moon, especially when they’re shifting for the first time. I try to soothe as well as I can, but even I know there is no way I can take away the pain she’s feeling. As I stroke her golden hair, I hear a howl in the distance. I know that howl. I glance down at Avril. She appears to be communicating with her wolf. She has a fantastic focus and bond with her wolf spirit. Perhaps being able to talk to her wolf sooner is helping her. Or perhaps her eighteenth birthday being on a full moon was helpful.

I return my attention to the sound of the howl and see my brother’s wolf, Hyde coming towards us. I decide to mind-link my twin’s wolf.

Hyde, what are you doing here? She needs to concentrate.

I need my mate. He snarls at me.

It’s over Hyde. I try to reason with him. Let her go. You know what you and Wesley are doing is wrong.

As he turns to lunge at me, I quickly shift into Eclipse. I know Hyde doesn’t want to hurt his twin spirit. But he wants his mate. I position myself between him and Avril. I know this could be considered a dangerous move to keep an Alpha away from his mate, but I needed to protect my best friend. Alpha’s are notoriously possessive and I’m not sure what Hyde will do. Hyde tries to get around me first, but I continue to block his way. He’s growling furiously at me. He wants to be there for his mate’s shift. I’m not trying to attack or chase him away, just keep him at a respectable distance. I’m not sure if the scent of her former mate will hinder or aid Emerald.

Finally I see a beautiful golden wolf with stunning green eyes looking at me. Avril’s wolf is incredible. I turn back and see lust in Hyde’s eyes at the sight of his mate. He wants her now. He charges at me and knocks me to the side. I feel something hard hit my head, and my vision fades to black.

Avril’s POV

Emerald notices that Eclipse is knocked out and sees that Hyde is coming straight for her. She’s momentarily stunned at the image of her mate, this beautiful charcoal wolf darting towards her.

Emerald! Run! I scream.

She regains her senses and swiftly heads towards the cottage.

After we make it through the door, imagine yourself becoming human. Then you can shift to your human form and lock the door. Emerald instructs me.

What about Tori? I exclaim. We left her back there.

Tori can take care of herself. She might be down, but I don’t count her out. Emerald tells me.

Finally we’re at the cottage. I shift back into a human, surprisingly easily, and shut and lock the door behind me. Emerald lends me her eyes so I can quickly navigate through the cottage. I dart towards my room to get my bag. It looks as if we may need to leave tonight.

The door is broken down too easily. Perhaps I overestimated its sturdiness, or more likely I underestimated Wesley’s strength. He barges into the bedroom with a wicked grin.

“Thought you could get away from me, did you?” He makes his way towards me, his eyes staring at my now naked form. His eyes are dark with lust. He is naked too, after shifting and it is not making this situation any easier. “You can’t now though, now that you know what I want.”

I race to cover myself, and find myself frozen. I try to will my muscles to move away from this man who wants my body. I can’t budge. It must be from the Alpha order. I feel myself unable to push him away as he puts his hands on me. I look into his eyes. They’re a light blue, not the soft brown eyes that I’ve been craving ever since Emerald showed them to me. His touch makes me want to vomit, even though I still feel faint tingles. I feel like I’m outside myself as he leads me towards the bed and lays me down. I hear myself moan as he gently kisses my neck and rubs himself against my core.

“This is where you belong, mate.” Wesley’s voice is mixed with Hyde’s. My guess is that Hyde is tired of waiting for Wesley to make a move again. “I’m gonna make it so good, you’ll never want to leave me again.” My body is betraying me. I can feel my arousal grow as he rubs against me. I’m breathing hard and crying at the same time. This can’t be happening. He leans down and latches on to my breast with his mouth and circles my n****e with his tongue. I see stars and cry out as the pleasure finally forces its way through me. Tears run down my cheeks as I feel him probe at my entrance again. “You will always be mine.” He whispers in my ear. I brace myself for his thrust, but it never happens. I watch as he falls sideways off the bed and I see Tori behind him with a frying pan.