The Wolf Heir

Chapter Five: The Shift

My body was burning, it felt as if it were literally on fire. I had never felt pain like this before and I couldn’t understand what was happening. I couldn’t be sick, was I on the verge of dying? I hadn’t expected an answer but the silence in my room was killing me. My mind was racing, trying to find an answer to what was happening.

I tried to stand up but my muscles and bones felt as if they were made of paper. The fire inside of me was only becoming stronger, igniting itself with my life force. My labored breathing filled the small room and even though I was taking in big breaths, it wasn’t enough, I needed fresh air. I needed to go outside.

I looked at the open door in front of me and suddenly I was very grateful to have my room on the first floor of our house. Gathering all the strength I could muster, I rolled on my back and let my feet touch the ground. The coldness of the floor sent a shiver through me and it felt like a relief. I let out a sigh and let the briefness of peace engulf me. But it was gone as soon as it came.

My body once again regained its burning temperature, and this time, it felt stronger, more alive. I tried to put weight on my feet, trying to walk, but I was too weak. The weight of my body tumbled down to the ground and I almost didn’t register the impact of my body on the ground, it almost passed unnoticeable due to the pain inside my body.

I was now on the ground, my body weak and covered with sweat as the fire inside of me coursed even stronger. With my arms, I tried to crawl my way to the front door. Every move I made only made it worse, shock waves of pain ran through every muscle in my body and I had to bite my lip tightly to prevent myself from screaming and alerting my parents. If they saw me, they would probably think I was on my last hours.

No, Katherine get it together and head outside. Now! The voice inside my head screamed and I pushed through the pain, through my blurry vision filled with tears and dark spots that wanted me to blackout.

With every crawl, my body protested but the door was only a meter away now.

I reached for the door handle with my right hand and with all my strength, I pulled myself to my feet. I couldn’t help it, I let out a cry of pain but quickly covered my mouth to stop myself from screaming anymore. I eyed the stairs and tried to listen to any sign of movement coming from the second floor, but there was none. I was alone in the quiet night.

With my right hand, I opened the door, sweat was running down my face and all I wanted was to run outside. But I couldn’t, I took one shaky step at a time and reached for the handrail and let my weight fall on a post, next to the stairs of the porch.

The night was quiet, calm, and the feeling of a gentle breeze flowing around me made me feel better. I closed my eyes, taking deep, long breaths, and began to calm down as the pain slowly subsided. Once it was gone, I opened my eyes once again and gripped the post tightly between my arm, I looked up at the sky in awe and wonder. For some reason, I had always enjoyed looking up at the sky and, especially, at the moon.

It was dumb, but since I was a child, I always had the idea that the moon called to me. Something inside of me tugged myself to the moon, to the sky, to the stars. Others may be scared of the dark but to me, there was something beautiful, intriguing, magical about it that left me in awe.

A soft smile appeared on my lips as I looked at the bright orb handing from the sky. Something about this night felt different. I couldn’t place my finger on it, it was just a feeling in my mind. Suddenly, I heard the crack before I registered the pain.

A cry of pain left me, and I fell to the ground as my leg cracked inside of me. Dirt and sweat covered me as I fell to the ground, down the steps. I could feel small scratches stinging on my arms and legs but that was nothing compared to the pain of my paper-thin bones breaking.

I crawled towards the grass, where my cries of pain wouldn’t be so close to the house for my parents to hear. My bones snapped, one by one, with each rupture, began to slow down until I could no longer move. The horses were neighing, frighten, in the barn but they sounded so distant, so far away.

The only thing I could do now was try to wrap my body with my eyes closed and teeth quenched together as I waited for the torture to be over. I didn’t know what was happening nor did I pretend I would come out of this alive, but I hoped my parents got over the pain of losing me quickly. They had always wanted a child and now, it was being taken away.

Katherine, a voice spoke in the darkness, but I was too weak to answer and soon, it was gone.

…

My eyes fluttered open slowly. I had to blink a few times to clear my vision until I was able to see clearly, in some way, clearer than before. My thoughts were all jumbled up in my head and I could hear someone speaking inside, maybe my subconscious, but it wouldn’t stop.

I groaned in frustration and got up. My confusion only grew more when I realized I was no longer as tall as I had been when I came out here. Something’s off, I thought to myself and slowly, as if dreading it, I looked at the ground. I expected to see my bare feet on the soft green grass but to my horror, my feet were no longer there.

In fact, there was no longer anything human about the aspect of my feet and around me, I could see torn pieces of cloth scattered on the ground. My eyes widened and my breathing became more labored as I looked at the paws under me.

They were both white, but the trail of white fur ended almost at the middle of my leg and black fur began to take its place. In a way, the white spots looked like socks or in this case, gloves since I was staring at the front paws of the creature I had transformed to.

Not transformed but shifted into, Katherine, said the soft voice I had heard before blacking out.

My eyes widened and I jumped, startled by the unknown voice that sounded so close and yet, there was no one near me. I must be dreaming. Yes, that’s it, this is all a dream and tomorrow I’ll wake up in my bed, in my normal body and all of this will be forgotten, I said on my mind, trying to calm my racing heart.

You are not dreaming child, this is your destiny, the voice responded even firmer now.

I gulped and took in my surroundings; I was still alone. That’s the moment I realized; the voice had been responding to comments that I had only thought of in my head.

Who are you? I demanded, if I was trapped in an animal’s body it only made sense that the voice was coming from inside me.

There was a light chuckle and then a moment of silence before the voice spoke again, I am you and yet, I am not. I am part of you, and I have always been here but now it was my time to emerge.

A shiver of discomfort and fear ran through me and a low whine left the animal’s muzzle. Are you- Are we a wolf? I asked slowly as I looked at my hind paws and the black bushy tail behind me.

There was a slight chuckle on my mind before the animal inside of me spoke, why don’t you find out?

Before I had time to think things again, I ran towards the trees, deep into the forest. I had never passed through the woods so fast and for a moment, I was amazed by the speed of my body and all the different sensations caused by my surroundings.

The scents of different animals and plants filled my nostrils, there was something different about smells now, they seemed fresher and almost as if I could see them with my eyes. My sight had also improved as well, I had never been able to see so clearly at night than now, it was very dark and yet, I could see the figures of the trees, branches and bushes clearly. It was kind of… amazing being in this form.

Unconsciously, I had run for the forest but now that I was more conscious of my actions, I realized I was heading for the river. My paws landed softly and quietly on the ground as I moved and when the river came to view at the edge of the forest, I began to slow down.

The full moon overhead was shinning brightly in the sky, providing enough light to see a clear image reflecting on the clear water. Hesitantly, my paws led me closer to the flowing water, the current was slow, as if waiting for me to look at my reflection.

When I finally reached the end, my eyes widened at what I saw. There was a grey wolf with shinning honey-colored eyes staring back at me. This was the biggest wolf I had ever seen.

Once when I was resting by this river, a pack of wolves ran through the forest without noticing at me. I saw the wolves run with the pups trailing behind them and at the end of the group, was a big black wolf. He was walking further away from the group with a watchful and alert expression on his face. He was a big wolf and by his actions, I could only guess he was the alpha of the pack.

He had looked at me intently, his eyes fixed on me, not in a threatening manner, neither did he seem scared, instead, he looked curious. As if he could see or sense something inside of me that I couldn’t. After a couple of moments, the black wolf rejoined his pack without looking back. I had never told my parents about my experience, I knew that if I did, it would only endanger the pack that was probably passing through and I wouldn’t be able to live with their deaths in my conscious. Instead, I kept that memory buried deeply in my mind, but I never forgot those wild eyes staring back at me and the furry face staring at me intently.

Just like the wolf in front of me was doing now. I moved my big, furry head from one side to another, it was strange and yet, thrilling to be a wolf. I can feel you’re very satisfied with what you see, but I can also tell there’s some confusion inside of you.

I let out a sigh and nodded my big head as if I were a human. Will I be a wolf from now and on? What about my parents? They’re going to be so worried and sad to find me missing. What happened to me, anyway? There were so many questions in my mind, but I had to prioritize them according to urgency.

You are not a wolf. You are a werewolf; you have been since birth. I cannot say anything else about your past because I don’t remember, I just know we have to find others of our kind and search for the High Witch; Morgan. She has all the answers to your questions. What I can tell you is this, you have the capability of shifting between bodies. And before you become frightened, not all will hurt as badly as this one, you have not shifted in years and that’s why your body didn’t know how to respond. Next time you shift to your wolf form it won’t hurt, neither does it hurt shifting back to your human form. All you have to do is think of which form you want to be in. It’s very easy. But I wouldn’t try it here, it’s a cold night.

I nodded my head and looked at my reflection once again. This time I walked back home calmly, neither me nor the wolf said anything, and I was too tired to care. All I wanted to do was get back home to my bed.

The crickets rang through the night as I walked and I even managed to see a couple of grasshoppers bouncing from one side to another, running from my paw steps. I couldn’t help but chuckle as I watched and soon, I was back to the place I had shifted for the first time.

From the looks of things, my dress was ruined as it laid on the damp grass, ripped and torn. It saddened me to see it like that, it was the dress my mother had made for special occasions and now I had to come up with an excuse as to why it was covered in blood, dirt and ripped apart.

In my muzzle, I began to pick up the pieces of fabric and place them on the porch for me to take once I headed inside. It took shorter than I expected but soon, I was standing in front of the stairs, looking at the front door thoughtfully. I had no explanation for tonight’s events nor was I sure I wanted to know more, sometimes it was best to let things be. But a name rang in my mind, loud and powerful, I knew it was my destiny to find the witch Morgan, but how? And what was I getting into?

For the first time I wished I could be normal, like I had been the day before, but I knew that wasn’t possible any longer. I had to face the facts; somehow, someway, I was a werewolf. A shiver ran through me as I thought of the books I had read throughout my life, Dracula was one of them and at this time, I didn’t like how they portrayed the werewolf, like a feral beast. I couldn’t imagine myself like that, nor did I want to think that was actually real.

I let out a sigh and closed my eyes, time to go back inside, I murmured in my mind as I imagined my body, my young, strong, human body. A gentle breeze seemed to surround me and the wolf inside of me was right, it didn’t hurt, it just felt like stretching your muscles after a long, sore day.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to being me.