Left To The Wolves [On Hold]

Chapter 23

Hi peoples! I finished packing early, so I was able to do this chapter! But I move into my dorm tomorrow, so now I really don't know when I'll be able update again...🙁😭

***Clara's POV***

I wake up with a major headache. I groan and sit up, then come to the realization that I'm in a hospital room. It's eerily quiet, and I don't want to just sit here and do nothing, since I'm perfectly fine now, so I take the wires off myself and stand up. I'm still in my normal clothes, which I'm grateful for, and I walk out of the room.

Literally no one is around, and I continue walking around aimlessly. I come to a stop at a door and slowly push it open. It reveals a big open area, with nothing but grass, which eventually leads into the trees of the forest. It's already getting dark, and I see the moon peeking low in the sky, wanting to come up.

I take a deep breath of fresh air, but my ears catch movement to my left, and that's the direction my head turns to.

I gasp in shock when I see it's none other than my mom standing before me.

"Clara, you need to come with me. It's urgent."

I follow her immediately, and she leads me to a sleek black car. As soon as we're both inside, it takes off, and goes like a hundred miles an hour.

We end up leaving the pack's territory, but we don't go far. The car stops in what seems to be a random area of the forest, the trees only like five feet apart all around.

"Quickly. Follow me." She gets out of the car, and I follow silently. We walk through a few of the trees, and up to a small cabin that was hidden behind them. We walk inside, and she immediately sits down on a couch in what I guess is the living room, and gestures for me to do the same.

"Okay, I have bad news, Clara. Zach was caught by some people, I don't know who, and he's now dead."

"What?!"

"Yes. I know he didn't reveal any information to them, but now I am in more danger. I'm growing weaker everyday, mainly since I don't have my mate with me. So you are going to shift. Like right now."

"Uh..."

"We need to get you ready. Come."

I stand up wordlessly and follow her through the house and through a back door. It's a huge clearing, with trees surrounding it. A lot of big buff dudes, like the ones I fought when I was first taken, are making a huge circle, and Mom leads us to the middle of it.

"I need to give you this so we can start the process." Without warning, she sticks a huge needle in my arm, and I feel the liquid, whatever it is, flowing through my system.

"The first thing you will feel is dizziness. And of course because of that, you'll feel light-headed. I think it's best if you get on your knees now before it kicks in. And then the pain will come. It's different for every person, but I have a feeling yours will be bad. Just remember, you can do this. If you ever feel like giving up, just...don't."

"Wow, thanks for the words of encouragement," I say sarcastically. I close my eyes and take a deep breath before I get down on my knees.

"Yeah well, you know I was never good at that. I'll be off to the side with the others watching the whole thing. I also don't know how long it will it take. Like I said, it's different for everyone."

"Okay."

In what feels like seconds, I start to feel the dizziness. I keep calm, knowing it's supposed to happen, and I let it. I don't try to fight it. I keep my eyes closed, feeling the eyes of everyone on me.

It gets worse, and I start to sway. My eyes are still closed, and I drop so I'm on my hands and knees. The pain happens so suddenly, and then I'm screaming out in pain. My back arches as I continue screaming. My fingers dig into the grass and then the dirt under them, and I squeeze my eyes shut even tighter.

My heart is pounding in my chest, and it's loud in my ears, along with the sound of my bones cracking.

The pain becomes too intense, and I drop to the floor completely, curling into a ball. I hear nothing except my heart pounding and cracking bones. Besides that, a ringing in my ears is starting to hurt my brain.

I start to believe I won't make it. That I wasn't ready. My eyes stay closed, unable to open them. I mentally apologize to Mom for starting to give up.

But then suddenly, I feel a tingling sensation start to override the pain. It dulls it immensely, but it's definitely still there. I try to force my eyes open, and they do, but the tears blur my vision so much that I can't see anything.

"Clara! Can you hear me? You have to keep going! Your almost there!" I faintly hear a voice say. It sounds melodic, music to my ears, and it motivates me to keep going.

The pain continues to get worse, but with whoever or whatever is causing the tingling sensation, it continues to dull the pain.

Soon, I just become too exhausted, and then the ringing in my ears stop. My hearing becomes a lot more sharp, and my sense of smell has also intensified. I open my eyes slowly, only to have them not blurry anymore, but I can see in the dark.

And Isaac is staring right at me.

"Clara..." He whispers. I open my mouth to say something, but a small squeak comes out instead. I try again, and this time it's a clear, loud bark.

Wait, a bark?

Does...does that mean...

I look down, and instead of seeing hands, I see paws. I hadn't realized I was standing until I walk forward to Isaac, as if it's completely normal to start walking right after your first shift.

I don't know, is it?

Isaac reaches out with his hand and pets my fur.

"Clara," he whispers again. "Your wolf...it's beautiful."

I look down again at my paws, and that's when I see it.

At first, I only saw white fur, but now that I'm actually looking, I see that my fur has golden tips.