Chapter 5: Wolves Don't Hesitate

Elara

I withheld from everyone details of the eyes in the forest.

Not Chloe. Not my mother. Not even myself, not completely. Looking at it too closely could cut me open, like something too sharp to touch, so I folded the memory away.

But my body kept recall of things.

I was unbalanced all day as though gravity had slightly altered. My heart beat faster than normal, my patience was shorter, and my emotions rose faster than normal. Every noise seemed to touch too near to my skin. Every smell stayed.

Through it all, too, he was there.

Thorne, Adrian. I sensed him before I could see him.

It occurred in the third and fourth period hallway. The bell had just rung, lockers closing with a thud, and voices blending together in a cacophony. I froze as I exited the science wing.

Talking to another teacher, he was at the far end of the corridor.

Our eyes came together as his head raised. The planet grew smaller.

Though it was subtle, there was no question about it—a tug, like an invisible thread tightening between us. My breath snatched. He straightened his stance. Something primal flashed over his face for a portion of a second, then faded behind that cool, unreadable mask.

I first avoided eye contact. My heart would not decelerated.

This is absurd, I told myself. He is your instructor. Once you kissed him. There it is.

My body, however, rejected my words.

English lesson was worse than normal.

Aware of the surroundings, I sat down. Standing in the front of the room, Adrian's eyes scanned the class as his hands rested gently on the desk. As they passed over me, they hung just a beat too long.

To me, it seemed like a touch.

There is pressure in my chest. A warmth that emanated outward, burying itself into my bones.

He said flatly, "Today we will be talking about themes of identity in gothic literature."

The word identity struck harder than it ought to have.

I found myself answering questions without raising my hand as the class went on; words flowed freely. I saw subtleties in the text I had never noticed before, links developing with amazing clarity.

Adrian kept a keen eye on me. Not really.

deliberately. I shot to my feet and fled before he could speak anything as the bell rang.

During lunch, Chloe cornered me.

"All right," she muttered, settling into the chair across from me. You are formally making me panic.

I reached out to poke at my food. "I'm good."

She said, nodding to my hand, "You just crushed a plastic fork.

I glanced downward. The fork was bent almost in half.

Heat shot to my face. I let it like it burned me. "I didn't intend to."

Chloe stared. "Elara... what's happening?"

I stopped myself. The truth strained at my teeth, eager to escape but how could I convey it without seeming insane?

Slowly, I said, "I think something is wrong with me."

Her face turned lighter. Hello. We will find out whatever it is.

I hoped to believe that. It rained once more that afternoon.

The sky was a dark slate gray when I arrived home, and the air felt dense and heavy. Straight to my room, I slammed the door behind me after dropping my bag near the door.

I walked about.

My skin was too tight. Energy danced under it, erratic and thirsty. Usually my retreat, I experimented with drawing, but my hands trembled and lines came out jagged and crazy.

Angry, I threw the sketchbook away. That was the time I smelled it.

Ground soaked with rain. Pine.

Underneath it all, something cozy and known.

My heart fluttered. I reached the window.

Adrian was across the street.

He lacked an umbrella. Rain saturated his black hair and clung to his wide shoulders. He turned up to face my eyes.

My heart pounded. He raised a hand little, not waving. Querying.

I couldn't recall making the choice to go outside. One minute I was peering through glass, the next I was rushing out the front door in a hoodie.

We met halfway at the edge of my yard, among the bony branches of the old oak.

"You shouldn't be here," I muttered.

"I know," he said back.

Usually deep, his voice was rough around the edges. 

Rain fell around us as we stood there, the air thick with unspoken words.

I murmured, "I'm not picturing this, am I?" "Whatever is happening to me."

"No," he responded.

The word fell like a stone thrown into calm water.

My breath caught in my throat. "Then share with me."

He seemed torn, jaw tightened, hands gripping at his sides as though holding himself back.

Slowly he added, "There are things that once known, cannot be undone."

"I couldn't give a damn."

"There is the issue," he stated, a flash of anguish crossing his features. "I care."

Overhead, thunder boomed near enough to shake the earth.

"Last night," I continued, shoving, "there was something in the woods."

His eyes flashed.

"What did you see?" he inquired tersely.

I told eyes, "Watching me."

His shoulders relaxed a little. "You were not in danger."

"How do you find out?"

"Because I was there."

The earth flipped.

You—what?

He approached nearer. He emanated heat, overwhelming but also grounding.

He murmured "Elara," my name sounding like a confession, "you're not human."

The phrases made no sense at all.

I laughed—a brief, shaky noise. “That's not funny.”

“I'm not kidding.”

My heart beat so violently it hurt. "What am I then?"

Before he could respond, a sound interrupted the downpour.

One voice. "Elara!"

I twirled.

Mark stood soaked and enraged at the end of the driveway, his eyes flashing between Adrian and me.

He demanded: "What the hell is going on?"

Adrian jumped in front of me quickly.

territorial. defensive.

The air changed. Mark realized.

His eyes tightened. "Get away from her."

"No," Adrian retorted coolly. "You should."

Mark chuckled sharply. “You are not at liberty to direct me.”

Adrian's skin had something low and hazardous churning under it. I sensed it like a wave of pressure, my own heart synchronizing to it.

"Mark," I exclaimed anxiously, "just go."

"Not till I get answers," he snapped. "Why do you always pick him?"

When I opened my mouth, the earth shook.

Not quite as thunder. Something else, too.

The sound behind us burst out: howls, deep and layered, reverberating among the rain-drenched trees.

Mark's face lost all pigment.

He questioned sotto voce, "What...what is that?"

Under his breath, Adrian muttered curses. He said, "They're here."

I said, "Who are they?"

He swiveled toward me, eyes obviously gold. "My pack."

Before I could make sense of that, forms appeared from the treeline.

Tall. Unnatural.

Eyes shining in the darkness.

One came forward, bigger than the rest, eyes focused on me with searing passion.

A woman's voice cut through the silence, loud and clear.

She said, her eyes shifting from Adrian to me, "So, this is the girl."

My knees became weak.

Adrian's tone sank to a hushed reverence.

“My Luna.”

The woman then grinned and shook her head.

She corrected quietly, "No. She's not yours."

She turned to me with a sharp glance.

She belongs to something far older.

And then...