Chapter 4 Lila's POV

The ache is all around. It's odd, unlike the hurt I knew. Like my bones drip down then build up fast. I fall down hard, knees hitting the cold floor, trying to breathe. My nails look black now, so long, so sharp too. They seem like strange claws.

"No way, no way," I say quietly again. This can't be real life. This isn't even true.

The steps out there get louder and loud. I hear some voices, deep, so full of mad. One of those is Caleb. "She now morphs," he says. "The strain makes it start. She needs our aid."

One voice spoke, one that's new to my ears: "Let her just hurt. Let her now find what she is."

I hold my arms tight around my big tummy, to save the kid in me. But my own arms feel wrong. My skin now feels rough and odd. I glance down and see dark fuzz growing fast on my arms. Shadow dark fuzz, so thick.

This can't be true. Werewolves can't be real. Just made up tales told. But my own form shifts to things unreal, I can't make it end.

My door now shakes hard. Someone breaks right in. The chain clinks loud, the lock sounds weak. I'm stuck now. I can't just flee. I can't even hide. I watch my form turn to strange things.

Then the bad ache stops. Everything just halts.

I'm on the floor here, breathing so hard. My hands stay here, with black and long nails, but the dark fuzz goes. My skin feels real now. I touch my face, sweat. Feel like me. Like me, almost. New feelings come now. Something deep changed me.

A big bang echoed as my door blew inward. Caleb came in ahead, palms up like a mime showing harmlessness. But strange faces shadowed him, faces unknown to my sight. They seemed tough and tall, like primed for brawling stuff.

"Easy does it," Caleb breathed with soft air. "What hit you was the beast coming alive. It means your insides know what they are."

"No way a wolf," I said, voice doing the shaky thing. "Wolves aren't true things in this plain world."

"But we are," Caleb says. He steps near, but I dance back. "Ethan is like us. His kid is like us. You are turning just like us 'cause you hold his babe."

My brain did cartwheels. "That's bonkers. All quite mad."

"It is so," some voice rings. I spun to see that scary scary dude. He stood inside my hall, smiling a blade smile once more. "Now you are owned by the pack of Marcus. Ethan can't keep you safe."

"No," I said sharply. "I don't belong to anyone."

Marcus strolled in. His eyes glared oddly. They were not manly eyes. Gold and blank, like a wolf stares by night. "But you do now. You hold a baby with blood so key. It makes you worthy. Now you are mine."

Dread pierced right through like an icy drink. "Leave my flat now."

Marcus steps again. The other dudes spread, plugging the doorframe. They mean to grab me. They mean to grab my baby. I sensed it brewing.

Then glass flew in.

Glass shatters all around me. I yell, hands over my face. A form takes shape in the shards, a dark blur that moves too quick to follow. It strikes Marcus, sending him soaring across my own front room. He slams hard into the wall, making a sound like the sky's roar.

Ethan.

He's standing right in my place, but he isn't really a person now. His eyes glow with wild, green light. His fangs are way too pointy. His form seems too large, like he might burst at any moment. He's staring at Marcus with such strong rage that I can almost feel the heat.

"Go now," Ethan tells me. He won't stop watching Marcus. "Use the back steps. Leave this place quickly."

"I won't leave you here," I say, without thinking first.

"This isn't a choice," Ethan replies. His tone sounds changed now, rough and risky. "My group is below. Caleb will guide you to safety."

Marcus rises, chuckling low. His own form begins to shift too. His bones snap loud as they reshape. His skin goes thick, becoming dark. He's turning to something else, a scary and huge thing. By the time his change is done, he's not human at all. He's a big wolf now, with gold eyes and scars across his dark fur.

Caleb takes my arm tight. "Move now. We have to leave now."

"No way," I say. I tug my arm from his grip. "Just tell me what's going on. Tell everything now."

"No time now," Caleb tells me. He pulls me toward our hallway.

But before we move, Ethan shifts too. His own form bursts into new shape. Now he's a wolf too, but much bigger than Marcus. His fur is dark red now, like fresh blood. His eyes stay green still, and they're watching me for only a moment before he strikes hard at Marcus.

Folks slam into one another hard. They move crazy fast, hard to glimpse them. They wreck my flat, busting up chairs and walls. I notice angry rumbles and snarls, sounds of a fight.

Caleb tugs me from the flat, down the hall. Others climb the steps, many of them. "Keep going," Caleb speaks. "We must get you away now."

"Where do we go now?" I speak up.

"A place of safety," Caleb tells me. "But get this, things have changed now. You are not just Lila these days. You're the strongest alpha's chosen one in town. Now they want to get at you because of this."

We run out the back door to the dark street. The cool night wind smacks my face. I hear Ethan and Marcus fighting inside my flat, wrecking it. I notice other wolves run up the steps to join this mess.

"Get in the auto," Caleb speaks. A black auto waits in the street, the engine on. A lady sits at the wheel, eyes also that wolf gold hue.

"What of Ethan then?" I speak now.

"He does fine on his own," Caleb speaks up. "But you and the child matter now. They are fighting for you at this point."

I hop in the auto and Caleb sits next to me. The lady drives very fast, out of the street and onto the road. I look back, seeing smoke rise from the flats.

My cell vibrates once. It's a note from Vanessa: "You hid once, you know. Ethan will pick now. You or his dear pack."

I do not get that idea. Though I sense it is not good. Just being alive, holding Ethan's kid inside, has made a fight I cannot end.

The ride speeds on dark roads in New York. I touch my tummy, feel the kid move. This kid brought danger here. This kid that all folks desire. A baby, but how do I guard it?

"Where do we travel?" I ask Caleb then.

He waits before he replies to me. He views his phone, reads the notes he gets. His face seems dark and quite grim now.

"Far from the city," he says at last. "Where Marcus can't find you now. A spot to learn what you must be."

"And just what's that?" I spoke to him then.

He stares at me with strange golden eyes. "The mom of all who come after. The girl who might turn all around."

The ride turns and heads to the road. I see town lights grow tiny behind. And I know what may happen now, my life won't be the same once more.