Connor didn't show up at school.
They all knew what that meant.
The Pack was tense, the pack-children was even more tense and Lei was so fear-stricken, worried and frustrated and everything was swirling, festering inside her that she just wanted to go to a quiet place and scream her head off. If only she could see him, but--
“I can help him.”
“No, you can’t! I told you, Mey. What you can do, it needs to be a secret.”
“But he can die, papa. Connor might die.”
“No, he won’t. He’s strong, Mey. He’ll make it.”
“What if he doesn't?” Tears were thick in her voice and her father enveloped her in his arms. But even through the tears, she noticed her father didn't have an answer for her.
She didn't understand why they wouldn't let her help Connor, they had trained her for this, hadn't they? To practice bringing forth the Wolf inside them, to both calm and stop the Wolf from coming out. They had practiced over and over again until she could do it in her dreams.
Well, she decided, if they didn't want to help then that's on them. She was going to help.
Today was her only chance since the parents were off in a Pack meeting. Mey sneaked into their house (she knew where the spare key was) and went down into the basement. She knew the secret code from Connor, they had played there from time to time. She went from room to room to see where he was and finally she found him behind the fourth door. The room was dark but for a small night light at the corner. He was naked but was covered by a blanket, curled up in one of the darkest corners. The room smelled terrible, like puke and urine and sickly sweat. She could hear him wheeze, and see the shine of sweat on his skin.
He was in a cage.
Chills climbed up her skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. She approached the cage.
“Connor?”
He didn’t respond.
“Connor? It’s me, Mey.”
She saw him twitched and she let out a relieved breath. “You okay? I mean, are you feeling better?” What she meant was, was he close to Changing. There was a reason that the First Change was so feared, it wasn't just intense pain for a moment and then you're done. It was continuous pain as your body tried to change itself over a long period of time; sometimes it took weeks, months.
That was the problem, why sometimes the body or the spirit gave up. They said it was Darwinism at work; that only the strong would finish the Change and become werewolves.
Connor had been absent for 3 days. He wasn't even close to the finish. But maybe she could speed it up a little.
She moved closer to where he was lying and saw that his eyes were open. She stilled at the bright amber color of his pupils and at the way he was staring at her; intense and focused in a way that she had never seen before. She gulped. “Do you know who I am?”
His mouth opened and she could see his long canines. He whispered something.
She knelt beside his cage. “What?”
He whispered again.
“What? I can’t hear you.” She moved closer and placed a hand on the bar.
“Stu...pid.”
Mey blinked, relaxed then scoffed. “Well, at least you still have your charming personality.”
His teeth flashed again. His canines seemed to grow longer--
--he was so fast, Mey didn't knew what was happening until he had his hand wrapped around hers and pulled her into the space between bars. She was so skinny, he pulled her whole arm and shoulders between the space, and her head smacked right into the bars. Dizzy, she didn't particularly feel it when his teeth pierce the soft skin of her left shoulder.
She screamed as pain blasted her mind wide open. "Connor! Let go!!"
Instinct wanted her flail and fight and run, but she grew in a Pack, she knew that was the last thing you should do. Even as her muscles tensed, she didn't struggle, Training clamped on instinct and she jerked her other hand to touch his jaw, pressing until he loosened his bite. Dribbles of her blood soaked her T shirt and skin. Her head swam with the copper smell of it. "Connor."
His jaw tightened and he bit down again. Fire seared her arm and shoulder. She pressed his jaw again, putting a little more authority into her voice she called out his name again. "Connor."
It came out as a painful hiss and she felt something inside her ripple. Her stomach started to heat up and fire flared from her belly to all her limbs. "Connor. Listen to me."
He clamped harder on her shoulder but his amber eyes rolled toward her.
Mey pressed her fingers against the side of his face, her voice was lower, smoother. "Connor, listen."
His eyes focused on her, the amber of his eyes glowing brightly until her already watering eyes burned. She jerked as she felt his tongue curled against her skin, lapping up the blood off her skin. A keening sound erupted from his throat.
"Connor Wuithall, listen."
His pupils dilate and what was amber flashed red.
Mey didn't feel the pain anymore, the pain was a distant memory at the back of her head. Everything inside her was burning and she felt sweat trickling down her back but she kept her eyes on Connor. He licked her skin again and then took off his teeth from her to snuggle against the hand at his cheek.
Mey dug into her center and let everything rip. "Change."
Connor's body jerked, his skin rippled, his spine arch and then bowed as he fell to his hand and knees. His bones started to break and the wet, crunching sounds of it made Mey want to hurl but she swallowed her fear down and kept her power focused on Connor, to actually will him to Change.
The First Change was always hard and it had contributed to most of the death of Pack Children. A rank smell pierced her concentration as he lost command of his bladder--you do that when you break every bone in your body over and over again, the body molding and remolding, bones breaking, muscles stretching and contracting. She saw his skin melt and spurt fur, weaving in and out of his skin.
She forced more of her power into him. "Change."
The bones of Connor's face shifted underneath his skin, growing flat in some places and bulge in others, fur grew around his face. He vomited and screamed-howl with pain.
And still Mey pushed at him. "Change."
***
They found both Connor and Mey unconscious in the room, Connor was in wolf form and Mey bloodied and delirious.
Copyright © 2013 by D.F. Jules
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