Chapter 4 - No Scent
841 Words
Darkness lifted slowly. Bonnie felt heavy, like sleep was still holding parts of her down. Her body ached from head to toe, and a dull heat still pulsed beneath the mark on her back.
She opened her eyes. Her room. The curtains were half drawn, letting soft afternoon light spill across the floor. Dust floated through the warm light, calm and peaceful, like nothing terrible had happened.
For a moment, Bonnie did not move. Then memory came rushing back. The mark. The pain. Her mother crying.
Her father’s voice. “Call the council.” Bonnie shot upright. Pain stabbed through her back.
“Ouch…”
A hand caught her arm quickly. “Easy.” Sophia.
She sat beside the bed, eyes tired, hair messy, like she had not moved in hours. Her head had clearly rested against the chair at some point, and one side of her hair was flattened.
“You’re awake,” Sophia said softly.
Bonnie stared at her. “How long was I out?”
“Since morning.”
Bonnie blinked. “Morning?”
“It’s almost evening now.”
Bonnie groaned and rubbed her face. “Perfect. I wake up to disaster.”
Sophia smiled faintly. “You always wake up dramatic.”
Bonnie glanced at her. “You stayed?”
Sophia’s smile softened. “Of course I stayed.”
Bonnie looked away quickly before Sophia could notice how much that meant to her. Then she froze. There were sounds everywhere.
Footsteps downstairs. Voices outside the house. Wind moving through trees.
A dog barking somewhere far down the street. Water dripping from a pipe outside. Someone whispering below. Bonnie’s eyes widened.
“What is that?”
Sophia frowned. “What?”
“All the noise.”
Sophia sat straighter. Bonnie inhaled sharply. Rain in the distance. Wood polish. Candles burning somewhere below. Soap. Dust. Fresh bread from a neighbor’s house.
The scents crashed into her all at once. Her hand flew to her nose. “I can smell everything.”
Sophia rose slowly. “Bonnie… maybe your senses are changing.”
“But I didn’t turn.”
Neither of them liked the silence that followed. Bonnie pushed off the bed and stood carefully.
Her legs were weak at first, but steady enough. She walked to the mirror. Same face. Same hair. Same brown eyes.
No claws. No fangs. No wolf. Just Bonnie. “This makes no sense.”
She reached back without thinking and grabbed Sophia’s hand.
The second their skin touched, Sophia went still. Bonnie turned.
“What?”
Sophia stepped closer. Then closer again. Her nose brushed Bonnie’s neck.
Bonnie let out a nervous laugh. “Bold move.”
Sophia didn’t smile. She inhaled near Bonnie’s throat, then her hair, then her wrist.
Then she stepped back. Fear slipped into her face. “No.”
Bonnie frowned. “No what?”
Sophia leaned in again, slower this time, inhaling deeply. Nothing changed. She stared.
“Bonnie…”
“What?”
“I can’t smell you.”
Bonnie blinked. “What do you mean you can’t smell me?”
“I mean nothing.” Sophia’s voice dropped to a whisper. “No perfume. No skin scent. No human scent. No wolf scent.”
Bonnie laughed once, but it sounded weak.
“That’s impossible.”
“I should smell everything about you.”
“Try again.”
Sophia did. Again. Nothing. She stepped back, visibly shaken. “You smell like air.”
Silence filled the room.
Bonnie slowly let go of her hand. “That’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking.”
Bonnie’s breathing quickened. “No scent? What does that even mean?”
Sophia swallowed. “It means no wolf could track you.”
Bonnie stared.
“No wolf?”
Sophia nodded. Bonnie’s mind raced. “No hunter either?”
Sophia looked at her sharply. “Why would you ask that?”
Bonnie looked away. “I don’t know.” But she did know. Because old stories suddenly felt less like stories.The bedroom door opened.
Marcus entered. He looked tired, like he had aged years since morning. The hard authority he always carried now sat heavy on him.
His eyes went straight to Bonnie. “You’re awake.”
Bonnie crossed her arms. “Disappointed?”
Sophia stiffened. Marcus ignored the remark. “How do you feel?”
“Like I died and came back annoyed.”
For a second, Sophia almost smiled. Marcus stepped closer. Then stopped. His brow furrowed. He inhaled sharply. Once. Twice. His face changed. “You have no scent.”
Sophia and Bonnie exchanged a glance.
Marcus took one slow step back. “That is not possible.”
Bonnie’s voice shook despite herself. “People keep saying that.”
Marcus looked at her longer than before, like he no longer knew what stood in front of him. Then he turned toward the door. “We are out of time.”
Bonnie’s chest tightened. “What does that mean?”
He looked back at her grimly. “The council is here.”
- Writer
