A MIRACLE OR A CURSE?
1128 Words
THALIA
Pain.
I had anticipated it, but I still didn’t expect it to feel this way. The full moon was already upon us, but according to Rael, there were still a few minutes left. I still have time to prepare myself… or so I thought.
My skin prickled, and my chest tightened all of a sudden. I could feel Nel’s presence faintly against my consciousness, closer than she had ever been all these years.
I swallowed hard and tried to breathe, but it only hurt even more.
Rael noticed and immediately approached me. “Hey, you okay?”
“It’s starting.” I loudly gasped.
I grasped his arm, desperately trying to keep myself upright, but my knees continued to buckle.
Rael helped me to sit under the nearest tree. “Thalia, look at me.”
“It hurts,” I muttered, tears stinging my eyes in pure anguish.
My vision blurred out, and Rael’s words could barely reach me. All I knew was that I was in pain, and it was too much that I could handle. My fingers dug into the bark of a nearby tree as another wave of agony tore up my spine. My bones felt like they were twisting in two different directions, fighting against each other.
My body wanted to shift, but stops it at the same time. What did I even do to always feel like this? Haven’t I endured enough?
“Thalia!”
My pained thoughts were cut when I felt someone shake me and call my name. I tried hard to focus until my vision finally cleared up and I saw Rael with a determined expression. His eyes were glowing, but it wasn’t anger that I sensed.
His expression softened after seeing sanity in my eyes. “Stay with me. You can do this, Thalia.”
I nodded, but as soon as I slowly felt a pinch of relief, another wave of pain set in. I growled and slapped a hand over my mouth just before a scream escaped my mouth, terrified that even the smallest sound would draw attention. I can’t endanger us. We were too close. I can’t ruin it. We will be torn apart if pack wolves finds us now.
I… I have to survive this. I have to see my son again.
“Eli… I still have to see him.” I chanted over and over again under my breath.
I curled on the ground, pushing myself to stay quiet. Strong arms suddenly pulled me up, wrapping around me from behind. Rael’s scent enveloped me, setting off comfort that still felt beyond reach.
“Thalia… hey, hey,” he whispered in my ear, “I’ve got you. Just breathe through it.”
“Why won’t it stop hurting?” I asked in muffled sobs as I trembled on his arms.
Rael let out a sigh that already sounded like a growl. My eyes darted to the moon, and despite my murky vision, I knew the peak had already occurred, and yet Rael remained in his original form.
He’s also pushing through his shift just to help me through it…
“Thalia, listen to me. Shifting is second nature to us, and it happens naturally, especially since it’s the full moon. If you fight it, it will only hurt you, and your body will weaken even further. I know it’s hard, but don’t panic and let it come. You have to want it, so your wolf can push itself out easier.”
His words slid through the panic clouding my mind, trying to ease up the pain even as another sharp pain wracked my body.
Want it… But I do. I really do. I had begged for it for years, but I was also afraid of going back to the old life that shunned me.
Another sharp pull from inside made me cry silently into his shoulder.
“Thalia,” Rael murmured, “You won’t be alone. I’ll be here with you, I promise. You have nothing to be afraid of. Trust your wolf and let her take over.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, breathing shakily as I reached for Nel.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered in my mind. “I’m sorry, I was weak. I’m sorry I didn’t fight harder for Elias.”
Nel’s presence suddenly pressed closer to me. Warmth slowly enveloped my being.
“We weren’t weak,” she whispered. “We were broken. But now, now that you’ve found him… we can be whole again.”
Him? She meant my son, right?
But before I could ask, the pain vanished and was replaced with a familiar, overwhelming feeling. Somewhere through the haze, I heard Rael growling. He must have completely shifted even as he had been trying to hold himself back for my sake, and finally gave in after sensing that I’d be alright.
My senses heightened first before my body started to shift. My bones shifted smoothly into place, muscles stretched and reshaped. The world became how I used to view it. Vivid and sharp.
I stood on all fours, finally being able to take this form after so long. I let out a small sigh of relief, which came out as a whimper in my current form.
Finally, I was whole again. I lifted my head, eager to thank Rael. He stood a few feet from me and was also in his wolf form.
Our eyes met, and something snapped. A burst of heat surged between us. Something I had only ever felt once before in my life… back when Darius and I happened to meet in a pack gathering.
Something I shouldn’t be feeling for someone else again, but the Goddess seemed to have a different plan.
I’m fated to someone for the second time. Suddenly, everything made sense. The comfort I felt when he’s close, the emotions I couldn’t explain. It was all the mate bond trying to surface all along.
It was the reason why everything in me wanted to trust him despite the complications if Reagan is indeed my missing son. Maybe that was why he kept saying that something about me feels different, too.
Rael was as stunned as I was, but it quickly gave way to understanding. He slowly approached me again while I just stood there, unsure of how I’d face him after knowing the truth, along with a pile of things that happened with it. My wolf returns, my first shift in three years, and a mate bond I didn’t ask for, yet seemed to need so much.
I know things will change, but with our situation and the possible danger ahead, I wasn’t sure if fate was giving me a miracle or trying to break me all over again.
- Writer
