3.1 | Animal Instinct ✓

06 | dread

0 6

d r e a d

THE SECONDS THAT ticked by seemed to last an eternity.

Then Jed exhaled. He fell a step back, keeping a good distance between the two of us. Suddenly, he seemed to fold in on himself, lowering into a crouching position, but the shift was so simultaneous that I almost didn't catch it. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I registered the reason he constantly wore his hoodies unzipped – because it aided for a far smoother transition.

But that was peripheral, and all I could fixate on at that moment was the way his body seemed to curl and distort in odd angles and positions, bones cracking and the sifting sounds of fur over skin. It looked like it hurt, but the change was so fluid that it seemed almost beautiful to watch. I'd already prepared myself for this but what unfolded before my eyes was still far more fascinating than anything I'd ever expected to see.

And I couldn't take my eyes off him, until Jed was replaced – or turned – into a frighteningly familiar black wolf with piercing green eyes, the same one that had haunted my dreams ever since I first saw it.

And then I smiled. "I knew it! I knew you were a werewolf. Okay, maybe it took me awhile to believe because your kind's supposed to be mythological, but – wow." My smile widened and I admired the way the dim light from the hall seemed to reflect off its fur. His fur? I was going to have to get accustomed to considering Jed in his werewolf form too.

Shaking my head in amusement, I took a step forward and tentatively reached out a hand. But Jed quickly fell a step back, and even in his wolf form, I could see that every inch of him looked braced for an attack. Eyes watchful, ears pricked, tail tucked between his hind legs.

"Okay, no touching," I held up a hand in a placating manner, the other hand still clutching the book tightly. "Got it." Stepping aside, I pulled the door open for him. "You need to get out, don't you?"

He stepped past me, heading out into the clearing ahead. But then he paused, head tilted as he glanced at me over his shoulder. It took a moment or two before I finally realised what he wanted me to do.

"Oh, you want me to go with you?" I laughed when he simply waited. Human or wolf, Jed seemed to have infinite ways in attempting to communicate with me. "Okay, just let me change into something warmer."

I changed quickly, pulling a warm jumper over and grabbed another blanket just in case it got cold out. It tended to be around here, maybe because we were so close to a forested area and so far from the city, but I didn't want to catch a chill. Taking my book and phone with me, I headed downstairs and realised that Jed was patiently waiting for me outside.

I locked the door and smiled at him. "Lead the way."

It turned out that the place he wanted to bring me to wasn't far off at all. It required a bit of climbing, up a small hill some distance behind his house. There was a canopy of trees behind us, but the moonlight bathed the clearing in a sweet glow, and I could see the rest of the houses from our vantage point.

But what stole my breath was the werewolves running in the distance. Some were farther in the valley, but others were wandering around the houses.

"So, this is like a community of wolves?" I glanced at Jed, watching his ears prick up as he heard everything I said, even as he kept his gaze fixed on the other werewolves up ahead. "Or a pack? That's what it's called, right?" He looked at me and I nodded. "Pack it is."