The Hunted { old version }

The Shift

I know I said I would stay out of trouble but did he really expect to stay alone in that house after vampire attacked me in? He was straight crazy if he thought that was going to happen. I borrow a shirt from Mikhail again and decided it was long enough to be a dress since it hit me on mid thigh. I make my way through the house to the front door trying to sneak through when I was about to exit the house I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I froze and the spun around quickly to find Sasha standing there, “And where do you think you’re going?” She asks me with a raised brow. 

“Uh—for a walk?” I say and then look smile sheepishly, “Do you want to come?” 

She stared at me for a minute and then a smile cracked across her lips, “Well I guess since I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on you if you happened to go out for a walk I’d have to come too.” Sasha always found a loophole to everything. She came forward and opened the door for me, “After you princess.” She bows mockingly. I roll my eyes and walk out of the house breathing in the fresh night air. Sasha came to stand next to me and I looked over at her, “Did he really ask you to keep an eye on me?” She chuckled a little, “Yeah, which I told him was stupid if he thought I was going to try and keep you locked up. He insisted it, said he knew he could trust me to keep you safe because I wouldn’t betray you.” She looks at me, “He’s a weird guy but it’s clear that he really lo—“ She doesn’t finish what she was going to say because I start walking away in a hurry. 

For some reason my wolf was freaking out telling me that I needed to go somewhere. I didn’t know where exactly but I let her lead me since she seemed pretty intent on it. Sasha chased after me, “Elena, what the heck?” She grabbed onto my shoulder to slow me down but I shook it off, “I have to—“ I mumble as I continue to follow the leading of my wolf. Sasha heaved a sigh, “Is this some weird wolf shit?” She asks keeping pace next to me. I nod my head but don’t answer her. My wolf was leading us away from the compound toward the woods and I was starting to feel anxious about why. Sasha must have been thinking the same thing looking around quickly, “Elena, I don’t think we should be out here.” She whispers to me. 

That’s when I sound of screaming hits my ears and I freeze. It sounds like the person is in terrible pain and it send my wolf into a frenzy. I start to take a step towards the woods and Sasha grabs my arm tightly, “Tell me your not really thinking about heading into the creepy woods where someone may or may not be getting murdered?” I rip my arm from her hold and glare at her for a second, “No one is being murdered. It’s someone shifting for the first time.” I reply I know cause I remember how painful the first shift was and I remember screaming like that myself except I had shifted at a very young age unlike what most people did. Sixteen was the age of maturity for werewolves and it was often the first time they would shift. 

“All the more reason to not go in there. What if they try to rip our faces off? Personally I like my face the way it is right now.” She comments. I open my mouth to say something sarcastic but another scream of agony echoed through the night. I bit my lip feeling conflicted about what I should do but finally I decided and took off running into the woods. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me following the pulsing feeling that I kept getting. The closer I got the stronger the feeling got I slowed myself when I got to a small wooded area that was  a little more open and I looked around cautiously until I noticed a small frame of a boy hunched over near a tree. 

“Elena!” I could hear Sasha yelling for as she searched for me in the nearby area, “I swear to god Elena if you get yourself killed I will bring you back to life and then kill you again myself!” 

I roll my eyes at her statement and walked slowly into the open. The boys head snapped up and he turn his face toward me and I froze. His eyes were glowing a bright yellow color and they looked at me with suspicion and then recognition, “Elena?” He gasped out as another wave of pain hit him making me tense up and moan a little in pain. I quickly made my way towards him, “Is this your first shift?” I ask him quickly. He looks up at me biting hard into his lip as more tremors ran through his body, he nod his head briefly. I knelt down in front of him and put my hands out onto his shoulders. Thats when the weirdest thing happened, where my hands touched him I watched his skin glow for a second. He sagged as if in relief, falling forward a bit. I stared down in amazement trying to figure out what just happened but I had nothing to explain it. When I felt his muscles ripple under my hands I was brought back into what was happening right now. 

“Okay, listen to me. When I was on the run I ran into a small pack of ro—wolves like us and one of them told me the secret about how to make the first shift go faster. You need to not fight it. If you let it happen it won’t be as painful. I know it’s kind of scary but trust me there is nothing to be afraid of.” I say down to him. He looks up at me with a tense expression but doesn’t say anything. “Do you trust me?” I ask him looking him directly into his eyes. He looked back into my eyes and nod his head. I smiled gently, “Good, then I want you relax and let the shift happen. Don’t worry I’ll stay with you.” 

I pull my hand back off of him and he suddenly was tense all over and it was clear he was back in pain again. His bones started cracking and snapping as they re-aligned. He dug his hands into the dirt and pulled his head back and let out a loud yell that slowly turned into a howl. Sasha came crashing through some trees near us with wide eyes as she watched the boy shift into a wolf right before her eyes. His wolf was quite large, definitely a fighter for sure. I smiled at him like a proud mother. The wolf was panting and looking me in my eyes. I reached out slowly and touched his soft brown fur. His wolf purred and nudged me playfully and I couldn’t help but feel the excitement. My own wolf was begging for release to join him on his first run but I pushed her back. 

“You did good, kid.” I whispered into his ear as I stroked his fur some more before I stood up. I turned to leave and he let out a tiny whimper which seemed strange coming from such a large wolf but I reminded myself it was just I kid inside. I smirked, “Well go on! Go run and enjoy the freedom!” I shout at him playfully giving him a tiny wink. He stared at me for a minute conflicted and then he bark before he took of running disappearing into the woods. He let out a howl that sounded so light and happy that I smiled brightly thinking this must be the first time he’s felt so free. 

“Well glad to see that he didn’t rip your face off, but I am still deciding if I’m going to or not.” Sasha says with a tone of annoyance. I look back to her with a sheepish grin. She is shooting tiny daggers at me with her eyes, “Now can we please get out of the creepy forest or are there any other creatures of the night in distress that need saving, wolf girl?” She asks but I can tell she is being facetious. I roll my eyes, “Okay mom.” I say with sarcasm as I come to her side. She gives me another glare before she grabs onto my arm and throws me onto her back, “hey!” 

“Shut up! You’ve lost your walking privileges little missy. Now hang on to me or I’ll drop you flat on your ass.” She snaps as she speeds of through the trees. I forgot how fast it felt to move like Sasha and I felt a wave of excitement as everything whizzed by us. She didn’t stop until we were away from the woods and back in the compound. She dropped me off her back, letting me fall on my butt. I looked up at her with a glare as I stood up and she shot me a cheeky grin, “You deserved that for running off on me.”

I open my mouth to respond when I see something out of the corner of my eye that has my whole body freezing. The enforcers are talking with some people who look important but that’s not what has my wolf bristling up and seeing red. One of the people is a woman who has her hands all over my Mate. My body starts to shake and Sasha turns with curiosity to see what I’m looking at but I’m already marching away from her towards the scene. My wolf is telling me to rip the woman apart for touching what is ours and I couldn’t agree more with that thought.