The Shift
1776 Words
BRISEIS
I woke slowly, as though I were floating up from deep water.
At first, I didn’t move. I was afraid that if I did, the memory of the night would crash back into me all at once, the growls, the fear, the way the forest had closed around us. But instead of cold earth or sharp pain, I felt warmth. Soft blankets. A steady, gentle weight against my side.
Lyra.
Her arm was draped over my waist, her small hand fisted in the fabric of my nightdress like she was afraid I might disappear. Her face was pressed against my shoulder, her breath warm and even. The sight of her there, so peaceful and trusting, made something inside my chest tighten painfully.
I closed my eyes for a moment, breathing her in.
I was safe.
The room was quiet, filled with the pale gold of morning light. Thin curtains stirred in the breeze, and the air smelled faintly of lavender. This was not the harsh, dim place I had known in my old pack. This was somewhere gentle. Somewhere that did not expect me to be small and silent.
The memories returned anyway.
The ruins.
The whispers.
The fear in my chest when the rogues appeared.
Orion’s arms around me, strong and steady, holding me when I could no longer stand on my own.
I swallowed hard.
Slowly, I lifted my head.
Orion was sitting in a chair near the door, his large frame half in shadow. He looked as though he hadn’t slept at all. His gaze was fixed on me, not sharp, not cold, but quiet and watchful, like someone guarding something precious.
“You’re awake,” he said softly.
I nodded, suddenly unsure of myself. “I… I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”
“Briseis,” he said gently, “you didn’t.”
There was something in his voice that made my eyes burn.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
“A little sore,” I admitted. “But… okay.”
Lyra stirred, rubbing her face against my shoulder. “Mm…”
A small smile tugged at my lips.
“She wouldn’t leave you,” Orion said quietly. “Not even when I tried.”
“I’m glad she stayed,” I whispered.
He looked at us, and something in his expression softened in a way I didn’t understand.
The room fell into a quiet that felt delicate, like a moment that could be broken by the wrong word. I remembered the way he had carried me through the forest, the way his arms had felt like the only safe place in the world, and my cheeks warmed.
“Thank you,” I said softly. “For protecting me.”
His gaze held mine. “You don’t have to thank me for that.”
But I did.
Because no one ever had.
......
At first, I thought it was just a strange ache.
It started deep in my chest, a warm, unfamiliar pressure that made me draw in a sharp breath. I shifted slightly in the bed, careful not to wake Lyra, but the feeling only grew stronger. It spread through my ribs, my spine, my limbs, not pain, not exactly, but something stretching, something waking.
I pressed a hand to my heart.
The ruins.
I could feel them again.
Not in the forest, not in the stone, but inside me.
My breath came faster. The warmth deepened, twisting into something heavier, tighter. My bones felt… wrong. Like they were trying to remember a shape they had never worn before.
“Lyra…” I whispered, my voice shaking.
She stirred beside me. “Mm?”
“I don’t feel… right.”
The pressure surged, sharp and sudden. A cry tore from my throat before I could stop it. My fingers curled into the sheets, my body arching as heat rippled through me.
Lyra sat up, eyes wide. “Briseis?”
“I think… I think something’s happening to me,” I gasped.
Another wave hit, stronger this time. It felt like my skin was too tight, my bones too long, my breath too small. Tears burned in my eyes as panic flooded me.
Lyra scrambled out of bed. “I’m getting Daddy!”
She ran, small feet pounding down the hall.
I curled in on myself, clutching my stomach as the pain spiked. It wasn’t like any hurt I had ever known, it was deep, powerful, like my body was being pulled apart and put back together at the same time.
My vision blurred.
“Please,” I whispered to no one. “Please make it stop.”
The warmth flared into fire.
My spine arched, a sob ripping from my throat as something inside me shifted, rearranged. I could feel my heartbeat in my ears, fast and wild. The room felt too small, too bright, too loud.
Then the door flew open.
“Briseis!”
Orion was there, Lyra clinging to his leg, her face pale with fear.
“She’s hurting!” Lyra cried.
Orion crossed the room in two strides and dropped to his knees beside the bed. “Look at me,” he said firmly but gently. “Briseis, look at me.”
I tried. I really did. But the pain was too much.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” I sobbed. “It hurts so bad.”
His hand hovered near me, uncertain. “You’re shifting,” he said quietly. “The ruins must have triggered it.”
“I’ve never—” My voice broke. “I’ve never shifted before.”
“I know,” he said. “I’m here.”
Another wave of agony crashed over me. I screamed, my body trembling violently.
Orion gathered me carefully into his arms, holding me upright so I wouldn’t hurt myself. “Breathe. Just breathe.”
I clung to him, my fingers digging into his shirt as the world fractured around me.
It felt like I was breaking apart.
And becoming something new.
.......
Everything inside me felt too big for my body.
The heat burned beneath my skin, racing through my veins like liquid fire. My breath came in sharp, uneven gasps, and no matter how tightly I clung to Orion, the pain didn’t ease.
“I can’t—” I cried. “I can’t make it stop.”
“You don’t have to,” he said softly. “You just have to let it happen.”
Let it happen.
The words terrified me.
Another wave tore through me, stronger than before. My spine arched against Orion’s chest, a sob ripping from my throat as I felt something deep inside me twist and stretch. My bones felt like they were shifting beneath my skin, rearranging themselves into a shape I didn’t understand.
“It hurts,” I whimpered.
“I know,” Orion murmured, holding me tighter. “You’re doing so well. Just stay with me.”
Lyra stood nearby, small hands clenched in her dress, eyes shining with fear and wonder. “Is she going to be okay?”
“Yes,” Orion said gently. “She’s just becoming who she was always meant to be.”
I shook my head weakly. “I don’t want to be anything else. I just want it to stop.”
Orion’s forehead rested against mine. “Sometimes becoming yourself is painful.”
The warmth inside me flared, bursting outward like a tide. I cried out as my senses sharpened all at once, the smell of the room, the sound of Lyra’s breathing, the steady rhythm of Orion’s heart.
Everything felt too bright.
Too loud.
My skin tingled, my fingers trembling as if they no longer belonged to me. I squeezed my eyes shut, tears slipping down my cheeks.
“I’m scared,” I whispered.
“I know,” he said. “But you’re not alone.”
The pain peaked, a blinding, overwhelming force, and then something inside me… gave way.
The fire didn’t disappear.
It changed.
It settled into something deeper, steadier, like a new heartbeat beneath my own.
I sagged against Orion, exhausted, shaking.
“I think…” My voice was barely there. “I think it’s over.”
He didn’t let go. “You did it.”
I didn’t know what I had done.
All I knew was that I was no longer the same girl who had gone to sleep beside Lyra the night before.
Something ancient had woken inside me.
And I could feel it now, quiet, powerful, waiting.
For a long moment, I couldn’t move.
My body felt heavy, like I had run for miles without stopping. Orion’s arms were still around me, warm and steady, holding me upright as though he was afraid I might fall apart again if he let go.
The room felt… different.
Not darker. Not brighter.
Sharper.
I could hear Lyra’s small breaths from across the room. I could smell the faint lavender on the sheets, the wood of the floor, the lingering trace of blood and forest still clinging to Orion’s clothes. Every sound, every scent felt closer, clearer.
“What happened to me?” I whispered.
Orion eased back just enough to look at me. “You shifted.”
I shook my head weakly. “But I didn’t… I didn’t turn into anything.”
“You don’t always,” he said. “Sometimes the wolf wakes before the body changes.”
I closed my eyes.
And that was when I felt her.
A presence.
Not loud. Not violent.
Just… there.
Warm. Quiet. Curious.
She wasn’t separate from me, she was me, just deeper, older, stronger. I gasped softly, a strange ache blooming in my chest that wasn’t pain this time, but something close to wonder.
“She’s here,” I whispered.
Orion’s breath caught. “You can feel her?”
“Yes,” I said, pressing a hand to my heart. “It’s like… like someone is holding me from the inside.”
Lyra stepped closer, her eyes wide. “Do you have a wolf now?”
I nodded slowly. “I think I do.”
Lyra smiled, bright and proud. “I like her already.”
A small, shaky laugh escaped me.
Orion watched me with an expression I couldn’t read, not fear, not anger, something deeper and heavier. As if he had just seen something that changed everything.
“Rest now,” he said gently. “Your body needs time.”
I nodded, exhaustion finally pulling me down.
But even as I lay back against the pillows, Lyra curling against me once more…
I could feel her.
My wolf.
Awake.
Watching.
Waiting.
- Writer
