Dark Side of the Moon (10 page)

I took a deep breath, looking at my hands on my lap.  “I have no idea what’s going to happen.”

“Are you worried about the transformation?”

“That and afterwards.”

“I’m not going to lie, Selina.  The first shift is very painful.  Your bones have to realign and reconfigure to fit the shape of a wolf.  Your hairs elongate, as well as your skull, and you sprout a tail.  But trust me when I say it’s worth it to run free in the woods after you get the hang of everything.  As for afterward, what are you concerned about?”

I still didn’t look at him.  “I don’t want you or anyone bossing me around.  It’s just not in my personality to obey every little command.  And I don’t want you to kick me and my family out of Moonlight Falls if I disobey you.”

He laughed a little.  “I’m not bossy, Selina.  Sure, I do order a couple people around, but it’s usually for their benefit.  But I’ll only kick you out if you constantly disobey me or put the lives of everyone in danger, which is very hard to do.  So for now, you and your family are safe.  Is there anything else?”

I shook my head.

“Alright, now onto what I really wanted to talk to you about.  Remember what I said about mates?”

“Yeah.”

“How it’s usually at first sight, and you’ll be together forever?”

“Yeah.”  Where was he going with this? 
Oh, shit,
I mentally gasped. 
He hasn’t found anyone for me already, has he?

“There was one thing I forgot to mention.”

“What?”

“Have you been feeling…strange?”

Well, yeah, but I wasn’t sure if he was talking about the same thing.  “Strange how?”

He shrugged.  “You tell me.  I already know about your heightened senses.  So is there anything else?”

I thought for a moment about what he could possibly mean.  “Well, I have been feeling this ache in my body that makes me very uncomfortable, to where I can’t sleep.  It goes away while I’m at school, but comes back before I’m about to go to bed.  Is that some weird werewolf thing?”

“In a way, yes.  Your mate is essentially your other half.  Most of us are grossed out by how close Channing and Artemis can be, but everyone can see that they are very happy together.  If they’re apart from each other for longer than a day, their bodies kind of go into shock until they are reunited.  Body aches are usually the first sign.”

My eyes widened.  Shit, I already had a mate?  What the hell?  I didn’t know anyone in this town except London, so how could that happen?  “Who is it?” I asked.

He cocked an eyebrow at me.

“I know what you’re getting at.  I’m guessing that they’re feeling the same way as me at night, so who is it?”

London took a deep breath, his cheeks turning a little pink as he looked away.  “Me.”

“What?” I asked, the blood draining from my face.

“It’s me, Selina.  I’m your mate.”

It took me a moment to speak.  “How the fuck do you know that?”

“I’ve known it since your first day here.  I caught your scent when I sat beside you, and…though I kind of seemed like an ass, I wanted to be around you.  I kind of didn’t like the fact that you were a human, that it hurt to not be around you even though you had no idea what was going on.  But then you were attacked, and….” He sighed.  “Anyways, everyone already knows, they’ve known since you were attacked and my scent kind of latched onto you.”

Though he just dropped a huge bomb on me, that last statement confused me.  If I could get him to explain, it would take my mind off of him saying that he was my other half.  “What?  How?”

“It’s an easy way for others to tell who is mated to whom.  Since you were in the process of being turned into a wolf and I knew you were my mate and we spend four hours a day together in class, my scent has kind of mixed with yours.  You probably can’t smell it because you’re around it all the time, but others can.  The scents will become stronger than others once we go through the ceremony.”

I held a hand up to stop him.  “I thought you and that almost topless girl had a thing going on?”

“Ricky?  No, not anymore.”

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to believe him.  It’s only been a week since I saw her with him.  “Why in the hell are you so calm with this?  You don’t know me, I don’t know you, yet you’re talking about…hell I have no idea?”

“A mating ceremony.  Kind of like a wedding, but with wolves.”

My eyes widened again.  “The fuck we’re getting married,” I said, standing up.  “I’ve known about you for all of one month, so you can just forget it.”  I headed to the door.  I knew he was a weirdo since I first met him.

As I approached the door, I heard him walking toward me.  “Selina, wait,” he said, grabbing my hand to try to stop me.  “I didn’t mean right this second.  I just wanted to tell you about it, let you know why the others would be acting strangely toward you.”

“Let go of me.  And what do you mean acting strangely?” I asked, yanking my hand from his grasp.

He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, his blue eyes darting away from me.  “Well, I’m the alpha, and you’d become my second in command.  They’d have to obey you, too.”

I was quiet for a moment.  “Like I said, that’s not happening any time soon or in the future.”

His face fell.  “Ever?” he whispered.

“Don’t give me puppy-dog eyes.  I don’t know you.  Why would I want to for all intents and purposes marry you?”

“If we got to know each other, would that make you feel better?”

I shrugged, looking away from him.  Out of all the conversations we could have had, he had to bring up this?

“Alright, Selina.  Date me.  Be my girlfriend.”

Was he serious?

“I really don’t want to take no for an answer.”

Oh, no.  This was not going to happen again.  “You’re not going to bully me into dating you, London.  It’s not going to work.”

“I don’t want to bully you, Selina.  Just…please give us a chance,” he said, his eyes pleading with me.

That caught me off guard.  Instead of telling him no again, I said, “I’ll have to think about it, London.”

“Don’t take too long.”

I turned to go, but he stopped me again.  “One more thing before you go, Selina.”

Then, he said five little words that sent a shiver down my spine, and not a good shiver.

“It’s the full moon tonight.”

Chapter 12

My heart pounded in complete and utter fear.  The full moon was tonight?  Tonight as in a few hours?  What was going to happen?  I wasn’t ready for this.

London spoke then.  “It’s going to be okay, Selina.  We won’t let anything happen to you.  You’re only scared of it because it’s an unknown to you.”  He took me into his arms, pressing my head against his chest.

His scent assaulted my nose, but I found myself closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.  His heart beat evenly in his chest, and I listened to it for a moment.  Though he was trying to soothe me, it didn’t really work.  I couldn’t stop my thoughts from racing around in my mind.

“What am I going to do?” I whispered.

Somehow, London heard me.  “You’re going to go home, tell your parents you don’t feel well, retreat to your room, and wait until twenty minutes to sunset to sneak out of your room.”

Oh yeah, werewolf hearing.  I gave him a confused look.

“That’s probably going to be your only way without telling your parents.  And once you sneak out, Channing and I will be just behind the tree line, waiting for you.  We’ll oversee your transformation before joining the others.”

“In the woods?”

He nodded.  “Go ahead and get going.  We’re losing daylight.”

As I turned to go out the door, I saw London pull his phone out of his pocket.  Was he telling Channing about the plan?  I was not looking forward to this.

When I opened the door, I found a group of people standing in the driveway.  They were talking, laughing, and didn’t notice me.

A whistle from behind me cut through the chatter, and everyone went silent.  London stood beside me.  “Hey, guys, this is Selina.  She’ll be joining the pack tonight.  So tomorrow, we’ll have the initiation.  Stay here until we return, and make sure everyone gets here on time,” he said to them.

They all nodded with the exception of Ricky.  She stood off to the side with another girl, her arms crossed over her chest.  She stared daggers at me for some reason; I hadn’t done anything to her to warrant such hatred.  If she was seeing London, then she needed to direct her anger toward him; he was the one that left her to tell me we were supposedly mates.

London broke me out of my thoughts when he said, “Go ahead and go home, Selina.  We’ll be there shortly.”

“What if I can’t get out of my room?”

“You’ll find a way unless you want to shift in front of your family.”

I really didn’t want that to happen.

Nodding, I descended the stairs.  As I made my way to my car, I tried to not look at the others staring at me.  I was the new kid again.

Once inside my car, I quickly headed home.  So much was going on, and I wasn’t quite sure how to handle it all.  I was petrified about what was going to happen once the full moon made its ascent into the sky, and didn’t know how to go about being a wolf.

And on top of that, London said that he wanted to marry me.

I mean, who does that?  Normal people don’t get married at first sight, especially when they know absolutely nothing about the other person.  That ended with arranged marriages.

When I arrived home, I had somewhat calmed down my nerves.  But before I walked inside, I tried to look sick, putting frown on my face and moving slowly, holding my stomach.  If I was going to lie to them, I had to make it believable.

“How was your study date, Selina?” Mom asked after I walked through the door.

“Okay, but we made some snacks, and they must not agree with my stomach.”

“Oh.  Do you want some medicine?”

I shook my head.  “I’m just going to lie down for a while, see if it passes.”

“Alright.  Let me know if you need anything.”

I was almost to my room when Dan came out of his room, leaning against the doorframe with a smirk on his face.  “Have fun with your boyfriend?”

“Shut up, Dan.  He’s not my boyfriend.”

Before he could respond, I retreated to my room.  So they wouldn’t hear anything later, I turned my MP3 on, and set it to a long playlist that would shut off around midnight.  It was so they wouldn’t come into my room to tell me to turn it down or off and discover that I wasn’t there.

Then, my anxiety came back.  When London had shifted in front of me the other day, I heard something snapping.  It had to have been his bones breaking.  Being attacked by that rogue had been extremely painful, and I really didn’t want to go through that again.

I paced around my room, thinking about everything.  London wanted me in his pack, as his partner, his mate.  Did I want that?  Did I want to date him?  He’s been nothing but nice to me since my first question about werewolves—the first question I think I had asked him was probably something in our Chemistry lab, and he had been an ass then—and he honestly wasn’t hard to look at.  He didn’t seem like a jerk now, which was something I didn’t want to go through again.

But then my eyes landed on the drawing.  London had said he knew we were mates from the moment he first saw me.  Wouldn’t he have told the others?  Was there someone in the pack who wanted to try to oppose London?  Should I even mention the drawing to him?

I probably shouldn’t.  I didn’t want to get anyone in trouble.

Glancing out my window, I found the sun to be lower on the horizon.  I couldn’t see it over the trees behind the house.  Should I leave now?

Movement on the tree line caught my attention.  London and who I assumed was Channing stayed just behind the trees.  I guess it was time.  Since I didn’t need anything, I turned my phone off, and set it on my bed.  Then, I slowly and carefully raised my window.  I didn’t want to make a sound and alert my parents.

After I swung a leg over the sill, I faced a dilemma.  How was I going to shut my window once I was out?  Looking to the guys, I tried to wave them over.  When they were in front of me, slight confusion on their faces, I told them, “Help me down while I close the window.”

London grabbed my legs, and held tight.  I trusted him to hold me as I pulled the window down.  He was actually pretty strong, and seemed to hold me with little effort.  I guess those toned muscles I saw last week weren’t just for show.  Afterward, he gently set me on my feet.  “Ready to go?” he asked.

I took a deep breath.  There was no avoiding this now.  “I guess.”

“Alright.  This is Channing.  You’ll be seeing him around a lot.”

I nodded to Channing, and he gave me a smile.  He had short dirty blond hair and gray eyes, and was the same guy from the porch that had been holding the girl.  I think London said her name was Artemis.  They were the betas, the second in command.

Without a word, London headed into the woods.  Channing quickly followed him.  So I made my way to the tree line, too.  I guess this was the best cover from wandering eyes.

But as soon as we breached the trees, we found the girl from the porch, Artemis.  She was dressed warmly, with a black knit hat covering her long blonde hair.  “What are you doing here?” London asked her.

“I told you that she’s not going to like it and that it’s better if I’m here, too,” she responded, her gloved hands on her hips.

London groaned and I asked, “Why is it better if you’re here?”

She gave me a warm smile.  “Hi, Selina.  I never properly introduced myself the other day.  I’m Artemis.  And the reason I’m here is to help with your transition.  Do you want to get naked in front of them before you shift?”

My eyes widened.  Was she serious and always so blunt?  “Uh, no.”

“Told you,” she said to London.  Turning back to me, she explained, “If you shift in your clothes, you have a chance of ripping them, sometimes to the point of where they’re completely unsalvageable.  So it’s better to shed all of your clothes before you shift.”

“But it’s freezing.”

“You’ll be fine, Selina.  You won’t even feel the cold once you’re about to shift.  Come on, we only have a few more minutes.”

“Gee, Artemis, why don’t you just completely take over the alpha position from me,” London playfully said.  I knew it was playful because even though he rolled his eyes, he had a smirk on his lips.

She just gave him a smile before walking further into the woods.

London and Channing followed her, so I did, too.  Were they always like this?  I wouldn’t mind being around them all the time if they were playful with each other.

For a few minutes, we walked further into the woods in silence.  My heart pounded in fear and anticipation.  I was afraid at what was going to happen, and just wanted to go ahead and get it over with.

But then something made me freeze.  Looking to the others, I tried to call out to them, to tell them that something was wrong.  I couldn’t move any part of my body.  What was going on?  Was this part of it?

My right leg snapped, earning the attention of the others.  I didn’t really feel it, which I was thankful for, but I knew more was to come.  “Shit,” London muttered as Artemis approached me.

“Come on, Selina.  It’ll happen faster now that it’s started.  Guys, give her some privacy.”

I glanced at London and Channing, who turned their backs.  And though I couldn’t move my body, I was somehow able to move my mouth just enough to tell Artemis, “Can’t move.”

“It’s okay.  It’s normal for the first transition.  Your body is going to go into shock.  But we need to remove your clothes unless you want them destroyed.”

Since I couldn’t move, Artemis had to remove my clothes for me.  Was she just going to leave them on the ground?  How was I supposed to find them later?  Like I could ask her right now.  As she removed her own clothes, my legs snapped again, trying to bend backwards.  It felt uncomfortable, but didn’t really hurt.  It still frightened me.

Then, my other leg snapped and tried to reform.  With both of my legs trying to bend to that of a wolf’s, I lost my balance and fell to the ground.  My stomach churned and my ears and nose burned.  But when my tailbone elongated to form a tail, I screamed.  My skin was stretching beyond its limit, my bones breaking and rearranging in my body.  The pain was excruciating and unbearable.  My screams ripped through the silent forest.

My jaw elongated, as well as my ears.  My fingers and hands shrunk in size.  White fur appeared on my arms and I’m sure the rest of my body.  My screams deepened in pitch before turning into a howl.  Did that mean it was almost over?

The pain in my body lessened, but it still felt strange.  I was in a new form that I never thought was real or possible.  Breathing heavily through the remaining burning sensations, I observed my surroundings.

My eyesight was almost the same, just a little sharper.  And I could smell so much more.  There were birds and squirrels and whatnot all around us, getting ready to turn in for the night.  They were actually kind of loud with my new ears.

Movement to my right caught my attention.  They had shifted into wolves as well.  Channing was gray in color while Artemis was a light brown.  Channing’s eyes blended in with his fur, as well as Artemis’.  Channing was larger in size than his mate, but London was almost twice her size.

He approached me, and I wasn’t sure what he was going to do.  I stayed on the ground, mostly because I didn’t know what to do.  He was the alpha, the leader of the pack, and I didn’t want to cross him.  Standing over me, London sniffed at me, his nose burying into my fur.  I wanted to ask what he was doing, but couldn’t unless I shifted back into a human somehow.

Then, London rubbed the side of his body against mine, whining as he did so.  He startled me by licking my head and nose.  What the hell?  Was that necessary?  I get that he was marking me with his scent, but did he really have to lick me?

Before I could stop myself, a growl came out of my mouth.  Shit, what was he going to do?  Thankfully, instead of getting mad, London just nudged me with his head, whining some more.

It took me a moment to stand.  My legs were wobbly and unsteady, but I knew I’d get the hang of it soon.  London continued to rub his body against mine, and his whining was becoming annoying.

Channing thought so, too, and growled a little.  London snapped his head to look at him and growled back and louder.  Channing’s ears lowered, and his tail curled between his legs.  London stopped growling and looked to me before walking off.  Channing and Artemis didn’t move, so I wasn’t sure if I should follow London or not.  Or were they going to follow me?

Artemis nodded her head, so I followed London.  It was weird walking on all fours.  And my tail was the strangest part because I could control it.  London was going at a slow pace, probably for my benefit.  I had to look for places to step with four feet instead of two.  How did they do this all the time?

It took me a couple minutes to get the hang of walking.  London never visually became impatient with me, but I wasn’t sure if Channing or Artemis were.  I didn’t want to look behind me and lose my footing.  I just stared at the black wolf in front of me.

After a few moments, London picked up the pace.  He did so every so often until we were running.  I didn’t have time to think about where I was stepping because we were running so fast.  I guess we had to hurry to meet up with the rest of the pack.