Liam shook his head. 'If I have to carry you the whole way, I'm going to have to start charging.'
'Very funny.'
Liam grinned.
The other wolves started closer to us and I felt the Earth tip. I grabbed onto Liam's arm. He chuckled.
Where was that stick again?
'So is it true?' Steve's voice asked from behind us. He sounded amused. Great, everyone go ahead and laugh. Yes, I'm afraid of canines. I turned from the three large wolves to glare at the youngest pack member, in human form. I should have been grateful for that fact, but the beaming grin on his face kind of ruined it.
'So is what true?' Liam asked, turning around.
Steve shrugged. 'You scared her so badly she passed out, yet Byron walked right up to her and plopped himself in her lap? At least that's what Byron's saying.'
Startled that this wasn't directly about me, and speechless, my face twisted with guilt. That did look kind of bad.
Liam fidgeted, his cheeks darkening. I struggled with the urge of giggling, his embarrassment, cute. Of course, it was my fault, but I hadn't seen someone turn into a wolf before. It does things to the nervous system.
'Oh, is that what he's saying?' Liam asked, turning to the wolf form of Byron. Liam's eyes flashed gold. 'You want to challenge me?'
Byron's lips lifted over his sharp canine teeth, mocking a human chuckle at Liam's retort. Liam dropped down on all fours, taking a runner's stance. Byron pawed at the ground.
'Liam, what are you doing?' I asked with a gasp.
A loud crackling snarl ripped from his human throat, and Byron hunched down on his hinds legs, ready to spring.
'Somebody, do something,' I said, but no one paid attention to me.
The two sprang for each other in mirrored time. Liam's skin rippled and I heard his bones crack as his wolf form pushed through in midair. Dumbfounded, I stared as the two wolves slammed into each other with a mass of snarls. Teeth embedded in fur as they toppled to the dusty ground, rolling, only to get back up to do it again.
I couldn't tell who had the upper hand.
Liam's jowls clamped down on Byron's shoulder, and with a shake, tossed the large black wolf several feet. Byron skidded into the edge of the trees, and then scrambled back to his feet with a snarl. He leapt for Liam, flipping him into the dirt. They both rolled, growling, and clawing. I jumped out of the way, as they tussled too close, then they took off again.
My heart felt close to exploding.
Flynt and Eldridge paced the edge of the 'battle field' yelping with quick barks, edging Liam and Byron on.
I groaned.
'It's okay,' Steve said.
The sound of a human voice amongst the wolves startled me.
'They're not going to kill each other. They do this all the time. They're best friends.'
'What?' I asked. 'You mean they're just messing around? They're playing?' This ticked me off. How dare they scare me like this?
'Yup,' Steve said. 'Liam always wins though.' He looked like a little kid envying the big boys' game. 'It's great isn't it?'
'No. It's not great.' My hands found my hips. 'Tell them to stop.'
Steve looked at me like I had lost my mind. 'Uh uh. If you want them to stop, you'll have to tell them yourself. Are you crazy?'
Fine, someone needed to put a rein on this nonsense. We needed to find Ty. Had everyone forgotten that little factor? Turning to the snarling mass of teeth, I mustered up my strength to overcome my fear. 'Stop this now!'
Something in me stirred. Heat burned through me and my body trembled. I lifted my gaze to the wolves and everything cut through my line of vision with crystal clarity. Defined and punctuated, the hair on Liam's thick coat moved with his breath, and the veins of the autumn leaves screamed to life. Even my hearing became amplified.
The snarls waned and I realized everyone stared at me. Liam and Byron had stopped fighting. All of the wolves stood frozen, watching, and then in unison, they let out a long piercing howl of pain. Their bodies twisted and they scratched at the ground.
I held my ears in horror. Trembling and shaking, they continued to whimper, and then human hands broke through the wolves' paws. The hairs along their arms retracted revealing fit, lean skin and muscle. The long jowls shrank back through gritted human teeth, and their dull green, brown, and blue hues cooled their gold gazes.
Four naked, human guys, on all fours, stared at me in shock.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
With a gasp, I turned around, covering my face with my arm.
'I...I'll get the bag,' Steve said.
He fidgeted, and then took off into the shrubbery. Returning, he tossed a small leather bag behind me. I hoped that contained what I thought - clothes.
'Charlotte?' Liam said. I didn't look.
'Are you dressed?' I asked. My voice shook.
'Yes.'
I turned around, peeking from behind my fingers. Everyone had clothes on. I exhaled, dropping my hand.
'How did you do that?' Liam asked.
'Do what?' I asked, swallowing. I wished everyone would stop staring.
'Charlotte, your words,' he said. 'The wolf part of me listened to your command. It obeyed and withdrew at your wishes. I tried to fight it. It hurt. I think we all did.'
The others nodded without a word.
'We didn't have control of ourselves. You did,' Liam said.
I didn't know what to say. I felt dizzy. 'Wait, are you saying I made you guys shift back to your human form?' A tight laugh escaped my throat.
'Yes.'
I waited for that smirk of his to tell me he joked, but it didn't come. My stomach dropped.
'That's impossible,' I said.
'As impossible as werewolves?' Flynt said, tilting his head.
Could it be true? Creatures I had believed to be fiction stood in front of me. Jaws ripped into my shoulder, as I lay, five, in the woods. All of it had happened. My mind spun. What did this mean? I shook as tears stung my eyes. I didn't want it to be real.
'Charlotte,' Liam said, moving closer. He took my hand and I snapped it from him, stumbling back a step.
'Please,' I said. 'I can't do this.'
'Charlotte,' Liam said. 'It's not a bad thing. I know this is a lot, but I think you have a rare gift.'
'Gift?' I said with a chortled laugh. 'You call this,' I motioned my hand around the clearing, 'a gift?' I couldn't breathe right. I needed to think clearly.
'Charlotte, please,' Liam said. He reached out again.
'Don't touch me!' I regretted the words as soon as I said them. 'Just don't,' I said, softer. 'Just don't.' I fisted my hands at my sides. I had to stay together.
'I think it's why you never shifted,' Liam said, his words continuing like a dream. I couldn't see. 'You have the markings of a bite, Charlotte. You smell like a wolf. I've even seen your eyes shift. We all did just now.'
The others nodded.
No. It couldn't be true, but my vision had seemed different moments before they started shifting.
'Oh, my God,' I said.
