Chapter 9

Krewe ended up coming to practice. He sat in the bleachers, and I waved to him as I ran towards the cheer squad.

"I don't think Tom's going to be too happy seeing that guy here," Cassandra said with a sneer.

"Why would Tom care?" I scanned the field for Tom. His jersey number was 22, but I hadn't caught sight of him yet.

"Why!?" She scoffed, "Maybe because that guy hit him." She folded her arms across her chest.

"I didn't know about any of that."

"Yea, because you're always leaving your man for others to take care of. Where were you later that night when that went down?"

"I had gone home. I wasn't feeling well."

"Mhmm. Anyways, girls, let's get started."

I looked up to Krewe sitting on the bleachers and wondered why he would have done such a thing. He smiled, so I politely waved back before beginning practice.

"Hey babe! How's it going?" Tom put his arm around me after practice ended.

"Where did you come from? I didn't see you when I got here?"

"I was probably still in the locker room or something," he said as he leaned in for a kiss.

Before he did, I looked over to the bleachers to see if Krewe was watching. I don't know why it would have mattered anyway, but he wasn't there. Tom planted the kiss on my lips, and then I searched around. I couldn't spot him, and weirdly enough, I couldn't feel him either.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Probably her new lover!" Cassandra said.

"Haha, and who would that be,"

"That new guy from the party who smoked you!"

"You're hanging out with him!?"

"He helped me out earlier, so I invited him to watch practice. It wasn't anything."

"Sure," Tom said as he stormed off for the locker rooms. Shawn ran after him, giving me a sad look as he went.

"Thanks a lot, Cassandra. It wasn't like that and you know it."

I stormed off to the locker room myself. I couldn't believe she did that. She already has Shawn, but that's just not good enough.

"Hey! Sawyer! Hang on."

"What do you want, Shawn?"

"I'm sorry about Cassandra. I know you wouldn't do anything to Tom. You have a big heart and care about people. You're too good to do anything bad."

"Is that what everyone thinks? Is that why Tom cheats on me? And don't pretend you don't know. Everyone knows. I'm just a big joke to all of you."

"Then why are you with him?"

"Because I can't be with you!"

I don't know what came over me, but after hearing him say I was too good, I knew I needed to change. I grabbed Shawn's face and kissed him. At first, he didn't kiss back, but then he grabbed me firmly by the waist and held me as he gave into the kiss. He turned us around and pushed me up against the wall. He pulled my one leg up and around him as his hand caressed up to my butt.

A low growl came from the hall, and we broke apart to look around, but we didn't see anyone.

"He saw you," my wolf said into my head.

"Who?"

"Our mate," she said, sounding sad and disappointed.

"I need to go!" I grabbed my bag and ran off heading towards home.

"Sawyer! Wait!" Shawn called after me. But I kept running.

What did I do? Who had I become in that moment? And why did I care so much that Krewe saw me?

"Evelyn, what is happening?"

"So now you want my help?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't control my emotions! I've never done something like that."

"Our emotions are stronger than humans. We sometimes act on impulse if we can't learn to control our emotions."

"So how do I learn!?"

"By listening to me silly! I will guide you and help you. You are a newly shifted wolf. You have suppressed me and haven't grown up in a pack. It will take time."

"I feel too fired up right now. Like, like...like, I want to punch something!"

"Then let me out, and let's go for a run."

"Will that help? Will it hurt again?"

"Each time it will get easier, I promise, Sawyer."

As I ran, I shifted my direction to the woods. As I entered them, I dropped my bag behind a tree.

"Now remove your clothing."

"But!"

"No buts, Sawyer. Do you want to destroy your clothing?"

"No."

"Then take off your clothes. No one is around to see you."

I undressed, trying to trust my wolf. I stood there naked, waiting for something to happen.

"Well, now what?"

Suddenly, I felt the bones shifting inside me. It hurt, and it kept getting worse. I felt my bones breaking everywhere.

"Breathe, Sawyer. It's almost done."

I calmed myself and breathed in and out, focusing on my breath. The next thing I knew, I was looking at everything from someone elses eyes and viewpoint.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?"

Then Evelyn took off running. It felt so freeing and scary all at the same time. She ran and ran, and I could feel the wind flowing through her hair.

"Where are we going?"

"To see our mate, of course!"

"What! No!"

"I'm a great tracker and can sniff him. He isn't far."

I shut myself out and just believed in her. She ran all the way to a lake house. We stalked it from the shadows of the woods. We could smell him. The scent was stronger around back. That's when I saw him. He was sitting on the dock with his feet in the water. He had no shirt on, and his jeans hung low on his waist.

"He's so handsome."

I didn't respond as I didn't want to admit that I thought he was handsome. I couldn't help but look at him. Then, he looked in our direction as if he knew we were there. We stared at each other.

"Run! Take me back now!"

"What? Why?"

"Now, Evelyn, please!"

So she ran us all the way back to the backpack where we shifted and got dressed again. My body felt sore and tired. I picked my backpack up and ran for home.

"Sawyer, is that you?" Ma said.

"Yes." I responded as I took off my runners and headed up to my room.

"There's dinner on the table."

"I'm not hungry," I called back.

I raced up to my room and shut the door. I laid down on the bed and, for the first time in a long time, fell fast asleep.