Chapter 3
1236 Words
Rafe dropped to his knees beside her, pulling her into his arms with a force that knocked the breath from her lungs. His body was warm—too warm—his pulse thrumming hard and fast beneath his skin. Selena felt it in her chest, a steady drumbeat that was not hers but somehow echoed inside her anyway.
She couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t think.
Pain carved through her spine like lightning. Her ribs felt like they were splintering apart, and her fingers clawed at Rafe’s shirt, trying to ground herself in something—anything—solid.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered, voice low and fierce. “Just hold on to me.”
She couldn’t answer. Her throat burned too badly. She arched back with a cry as her bones shifted—shifted—like something ancient and unstoppable was waking inside her.
“Rafe!” she gasped. “What’s happening to me?”
He held her tighter. “Your first shift. The wolf is breaking through.”
“No—no, it’s not supposed to happen like this—” Her words twisted into a scream. Her jaw cracked, bones stretching, reshaping. Her nails split open at the tips, blood streaking her hands. Her vision blurred, then sharpened, every movement in the trees suddenly too loud, every scent too strong.
She smelled the earth. The leaves. The blood under Rafe’s skin. Her own fear. His… guilt?
“I’m not ready,” she choked out.
“No one ever is,” he said. His voice was calm, but his arms around her were iron. “Let it happen. Don’t fight it. Fighting makes it worse.”
But her body didn’t care what she wanted.
It tore itself apart anyway.
Her back bowed violently, a raw, guttural sound ripping from her throat as her skin flushed hot. Sweat soaked her clothes. Her bones cracked again and again in unnatural, impossible ways.
Something was coming. Something primal. Dark. A force she couldn’t control or reason with.
It wasn’t becoming a wolf. It was being unmade and rebuilt from the inside out.
“Please—make it stop—”
“I can’t,” Rafe said, holding her against his chest as she convulsed. “You have to surrender.”
She didn’t want to. She didn’t know how.
But then something inside her gave way—not broke, not shattered, but opened. Like a locked door swinging wide with a violent gust of wind.
And Selena felt her.
The wolf.
Not just rage and instinct. Not just hunger or pain.
Her.
The wolf surged forward with a low, aching growl that came from Selena’s own throat. Her vision went white, then black, then silver as her body finished its terrible, beautiful transformation—and everything went still.
********
She came back to herself slowly.
Not in pain this time, but in silence.
Her skin prickled. Her breathing was shallow. She was on the forest floor, curled into herself, completely bare but covered by Rafe’s jacket. The fabric was warm and heavy over her naked form.
And everything was… different.
The world didn’t just smell, it spoke. She could hear the wind brushing leaves, feel the earth hum beneath her palms. Her heart beat in a new rhythm—one that felt ancient, wild, and whole.
She lifted her head.
Rafe was sitting a few feet away, watching her with unreadable eyes. His jaw was clenched, and there was a scratch running down the side of his neck, already half-healed.
“You’re back,” he said.
Selena’s voice came out hoarse. “Did I hurt you?”
He gave a tight smile. “You got your teeth in me, yeah. Just a scratch. I’ve had worse.”
She blinked, trying to piece together the blurred images in her mind. “I—I shifted. Didn’t I?”
Rafe nodded.
“I don’t remember all of it.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
She struggled to sit up, still shaky. “It felt like I was being ripped in half.”
“That’s the wolf waking. She’s not separate from you, Selena. She is you now.”
Selena swallowed hard, hugging the jacket tighter around herself. “She… I heard her. Inside me. She wanted to take control.”
“She didn’t. You came back. That matters.”
She turned to look at him. “Is it always like that?”
“The first time? Yeah. After that, it gets easier. You’ll learn to shift at will.”
Selena shook her head. “I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want it.”
“I know.”
She stared at the ground. Her hands—no, claws, no—her hands again, trembled slightly. “Is she always going to be there now?”
“Yes. But she’s not your enemy. She’s your other half.”
“And what if I don’t want her?”
Rafe’s voice softened. “Then you’ll spend the rest of your life fighting yourself.”
She looked up at him. “Is that what you do?”
He didn’t answer.
********
Later, when she was cleaned up and dressed in clothes Rafe had stashed nearby—a soft black hoodie, jeans that hung a little loose—he walked with her along the forest edge.
“I should be freaking out,” she said quietly.
“You’re not?”
“Oh, I am,” she said. “But it’s like… it’s muted. Like the part of me that would’ve screamed herself hoarse is sleeping.”
Rafe glanced at her. “That’s the wolf. She steadies you.”
“Or she’s just waiting for a chance to take over.”
“She already did,” he said. “And she gave you back.”
They walked in silence a while.
Then she said, “I saw her.”
Rafe stopped. “Saw who?”
“The wolf. Me. Her. I don’t know. But she looked at me like she knew me. Like she’s always been there.”
“She has.”
Selena looked up at the moon overhead. It was full and bright, washing the trees in silver light.
“Is this why you brought me here?” she asked. “So I could turn into this?”
“I didn’t know when it would happen. Only that it would. You were bitten. It was inevitable.”
“I should hate you,” she whispered.
“You can.”
She turned to him. “But I don’t.”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed. He took a step toward her. “There’s something between us. You felt it before the bite.”
“I didn’t understand it.”
“You still don’t,” he said gently. “And neither do I. But the bond’s real. It chose us. I felt it the moment I touched you.”
Selena’s heart pounded—too fast, too loud. “I’m not ready for whatever this is. The wolf, the bond, you…”
“I’m not asking for anything.”
He stepped back.
“I just want you to know,” he said, “you survived something most don’t. That strength—it’s yours. Not mine. Not hers. Yours.”
Selena watched him fade into the trees.
And for the first time since waking on that rooftop, she didn’t feel alone.
She felt… whole.
Not healed. Not safe.
But whole.
- Writer
