Chapter 7 VII

As soon as Freya closed the door, I ran up the stairs and into my room, locking the door behind me. I didn't want to hear any of her questions, nor Maia's. What would I say? I couldn't tell them why I was so sad. And it had nothing to do with them calling me a thief. It was because I now knew, without a doubt, that Alpha Felix didn't want me.

"Elodie, don't cry... He does want you. He just doesn't want to accept it." Ayla says in my thoughts, trying to make me feel better.

But all I could do was cry non-stop.

"Elodie! Come on, Elodie. Open up. What's going on?" Maia speaks from the other side of the door.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on, honey. Don't cry. It was nothing serious. Everyone understood it was just a mistake." Freya also speaks. "Please open up. I hate to see you like this."

"Go away... Leave me alone." Screaming with a broken heart, I hear Freya sigh.

"I think you should go home, Maia." Freya says, moving away from the door.

"Call me when you feel better, Elodie, okay? I'm here for you." Maia says, before walking away.

I don't know how much time passes, but in the meantime, I end up falling asleep.

When I wake up, it's almost dark, so I get up and decide to take a walk to clear my head. Coming downstairs, I see my stepmother fast asleep on the living room sofa.

Not wanting to wake her, I quietly leave the house and go down to the park where my father used to take me to play when I was a kid.

As soon as I got there, the sun was gone and the moon shone brightly over my head. I sat on one of the swings and thought about everything that had happened today. The way Alpha Felix treated me, the things he said about me.

The sadness was soon replaced by anger, and my body boiled with hate. I felt like I could explode at any minute.

"It's time for your transformation, Elodie. Since it's your first time, it will hurt a little." Ayla breaks the silence inside my head. "I recommend you run into the forest, take off your clothes and hide them somewhere. As soon as we complete the transformation, they'll rip off, and you'll be naked when you return to your human form."

I vaguely remember my father making jokes about running out of clothes after transforming and having to return home covering himself with whatever leaves or pieces of cardboard he could find.

I look around and see that I am completely alone. Getting up, I run into the woods just beyond the playground and hide behind a tree. I look around once more, just to make sure I was alone, then quickly take off my clothes.

I hide them behind a bush and waited for further instructions from Ayla.

"Okay, now concentrate. Feel the aura I'm sending you. You will feel the warmth emanate from your chest and spread throughout your body. Don't fight it. Just let this feeling take over." I do as she tells me and feel a tingling in my chest. Slowly, it starts to get stronger, then an explosion of pain erupts inside me as if every bone in my body is breaking in two.

"Aaah!" I grab my arms as the pain intensifies.

"Don't fight it. Let it take care of you." Ayla tries to reassure me.

I did my best not to hold back.

The pain spread to my arms and legs, fingers and toes. I could feel every bone inside me stretching. Legs bending backward in a way that I fall to the ground, I watch my hands slowly turning into paws with sharp claws. A thick fur spreads over me, covering my nakedness. My mouth elongates, turning into a snout, as sharp fangs replace my teeth. I look up at the moon and feel all my senses intensify. My eyesight was sharp like a cat's, I could see a small ladybug flying over a bush a few kilometers from where I was.

My sense of smell also became stronger, allowing me to smell the dew that was just beginning to land on the grass. I could smell rabbits scurrying past the tree nearby, I could smell everything from miles away.

"You did it, Elodie! You've transformed. How does it feel?" Ayla asks excitedly.

"I feel... I feel like running!" I say to my inner she-wolf, who gives a sweet giggle in response.

"Then run! What are you waiting for?" I don't think twice, I just run like a wild dog. I run so fast that my vision got blurry, I felt so free, so alive.

A few kilometers later, I reach a clearing with a huge lake, I was thirsty, so I went to the water and lowered my head to drink it. But I stopped when I saw my reflection.

My fur was white as snow and my purple eyes shone, like an amethyst. I had never seen or heard of a transformation like mine before.

"Maybe you are unique." Ayla says mysteriously.

I snort and drink water. I lay down in the clearing, resting after all that running.

"You're special, Elodie. Only you don't see that yet."

"I'm not special, Ayla. I'm useless. You heard the alpha himself say that. He won't accept me as his mate because I'm weak. A useless wolf."

As he spoke, I remember his painful words. I couldn't help the groan that escaped from inside me. "This is useless, there's nothing good in this town for me. Maybe I should pack my things and leave." I think to myself.

I could go to the village where my mother grew up, in the east. Furthermore, I had always dreamed of going there one day.

I was immersed in my thoughts when I hear a twig snap.

I get up suddenly, go into a state of alertness, and look at the place where the sound came from. And bumped into a huge black wolf with icy blue eyes. They looked so familiar, but I couldn't tell where I had seen them before.

The wolf comes menacingly toward me.

It growls, showing its fangs.

Shit.

~~

Felix runs through the forest, trying to erase everything that happened in the afternoon from his mind.

And trying to shut up Cedric, who was still barking about him ruining his chance at love.

I decided to take up patrol duty tonight to get Elodie out of my head, but I couldn't stop thinking about those beautiful gray eyes staring at me sadly.

"She's out here! I can feel her!" Cedric starts yelling in my head.

"What the fuck are you talking about, you old fleabag?" I question my wolf.

Then a sweet smell entered my nostrils, I would recognize that smell anywhere. It was her... Elodie was here. But what was she doing so far from home at this time of night? It wasn't safe to run without protection.

Anger grew inside me. What the fuck was she doing out here in the woods, near the border, alone?

"Who cares! Find her before something happens to her!" Cedric shouts in my head.

I run in the direction of her scent - anxiety rising as I realize the scent was stronger near our pack's border.

I reach a clearing.

And right next to the lake, there sat a beautiful she-wolf with snow-white fur and eyes that shone like amethysts. Who was this she-wolf? She was beautiful, but I had never seen such a transformation before.

Usually, a wolf's true form resembled its human features. The fur would be similar to the color of human hair, the eyes remained the same shade. But this specimen was completely different. White fir and purple eyes... What did that mean? I read something about it before, but I couldn't remember what it was.

I was struck by her beauty.

"That's useless. There's nothing good in this town for me, maybe I should pack my things and leave."

That was Elodie's voice, ringing in my head. Was that Elodie's wolf?

Was she planning to leave?

"I could go to the village where my mother grew up, in the east. I've always dreamed of going there one day." It was Elodie.

Why had her she-wolf taken that form? But I couldn't think about that now. She was considering leaving the village. It would be best for both of us, especially me, but...

Why does it make me so angry that she wants to leave?

Unconsciously, I took a step towards her, stepping on a branch, which snapped, alerting her to my presence. She stood up, on guard and ready to receive the attacker. I had no choice. I advanced from where I was hiding and snarled at her, showing my superiority, I wanted to mark her so badly now.

"Shit." Was all I heard her say - and my wolf reacted with another growl.