by Laura Ryles
Once she had cried out most of her tears, Tala began to relay the whole story to Drew as they settled in for the two-hour drive back home. She was able to tell the entire story pretty quickly, only stopping to answer questions like, “He did what? He took you where? You’re a what?” and finally, “Is he dead?”
At this last question, Tala's eyes filled with tears once more. “I’m afraid so. There was too much blood. He’s dead because of me. Because he saved me.”
“Yeah, but if he hadn’t taken you in the first place, none of this would have happened. None of this is your fault.” Drew tried to reassure her.
It felt good to have someone on her side. She was glad that it was Drew that Ander had called to come pick her up. She needed her best friend. The drive home was mostly uneventful, but they hit some traffic on the south side of Atlanta that slowed their journey down by almost an hour. By the time they reached Tala’s house, it was nearly ten o’clock at night. She couldn’t wait to see her mom. She wanted to hug her and tell her she was sorry for being so bull-headed and that she could have a party if she wanted to. She and Drew hopped out of the car and headed inside.
She opened the door and walked straight in. “Mom!” Tala yelled. “I’m home.” She made her way down the hall and into the living room with Drew right behind her. Her mother was sitting in a chair from the dining room with her hands and feet tied up and a gag in her mouth. She was struggling to yell around the gag.
“Mom!” Tala and Drew ran towards her. Before they could even get the tape off of her mouth, Tala could feel another presence enter the room.
“Hello, Tala. Drew.” They turned to see Mr. Forburg, the new calculus teacher. standing in the doorway with a pistol pointed right at them. “Tala, could you do me a favor and get these ropes and tie up our dear Mr. Drew next to your mom.”
“Mr. Forburg, what are you doing?” Tala countered. “Why are you here? What do you want?”
“Unfortunately for you, I owe Dag a favor, so I’m here to make sure you get back to the Alpha. He called several hours ago to say you were headed back this way and that I should detain you until he could get down here.”
“The Alpha is coming here? When?”
“Shouldn’t be too long now. Now tie your friend up as I asked.”
“Please, if this is about me, just let them go, you don’t need them.”
“You can tie him up, or I can shoot him. It’s that simple. I think having them here might make you a little more cooperative, don’t you?” He raised the gun to point it at Drew.
“Okay, okay,” Tala said. Taking the rope from Mr. Forburg she tied Drew up next to her mom.
“Gag him, too.” Tala did as she was told. “Good job, now sit down, it’s your turn.”
Chapter 14
Tala sat down on the other side of Drew, and Mr. Forburg secured her arms and legs, but he didn’t gag her like the others. Then he took out a cell phone and made a call. She couldn’t hear the voice on the other end of the line, but she could guess who he was speaking to.
“Yes, that’s right... I have her... She’s tied up along with her mom and her little friend inside of her home... Yes, sir, I’ll await further instructions.” He hung up the phone and looked at his hostages, particularly Tala. “You sure don’t look like much. Have you even turned yet?”
Tala didn’t answer. She just stared at him like she was trying to burn holes through his forehead.
He laughed. “That’s all right, we don’t have to talk. I can tell by your smell that you haven’t wolfed out yet. I can also tell that you’re not going to be much of a wolf. You don’t have the eyes of a wolf. Alpha or not, you’re weak, I don’t understand why he even wants to be mated to you.”
“He doesn’t,” Tala snapped back. “He wants to kill me.” When Tala said this, her mother jerked at her ropes. Even though she was still gagged, Tala could tell that the word she was trying to scream now was “What?”
At that, Mr. Forburg grinned, understanding finally reaching his mind. “I see. Leader of both packs. Not a bad idea. He just has to marry you, then get rid of you.”
“If you can smell me enough to know that I haven’t turned, how come Ander didn’t smell you that first day in class?”
“Who’s to say he didn’t? He probably did smell me, but he’s still too young to trust his nose. That’s probably why he took you back to his dad in the first place. If he could smell what I smell, he’d never have taken you up there.” He smiled a sleazy smile and sat back on the couch.
Tala looked away as well. What did that mean? Was he trying to scare her? She couldn’t help herself; she had to ask. “Okay, fine. What do you smell?”
Dr. Forburg leaned forward. “I smell...Ander.”
“What? I don’t get it. I don’t understand. What do you mean you smell him? On me? Well, I guess that’s not that surprising, I was with him for two days.”
“No, not just his scent lingering around you. You smell like him. The two of you smell the same. When you turn, you’ll be able to feel it. All wolves can hear one another. It’s called “pack think”.
But there’s something more going on with you two. You’ll be able to hear Ander and feel him. You’ll know where he is without having to look for him. Eventually, you’ll even be able to feel it when he’s hurt, or sad. You might have been promised to the old Alpha, but you’re meant for the young one. I can smell it. It doesn’t happen often anymore, the real Mate Bond, and only someone who has seen and smelled it before would know what it means. I just happen to come from a pack where the Alpha and his wife, the Luna, were true mates. Wolves perform the ritual to become mated all the time, but when a real mate bond is already there, no ritual is necessary. They are linked for life already. They say that true mates are much more powerful together than wolves who just decided to get married. Some even say that the bond is magical. Not even I know the extent of what a true Mate Bond really entails.”
“So, you’re saying that Ander and I were supposed to have ended up together?”
“Perhaps. I guess it won’t matter soon. The Alpha is on his way, and he is not a forgiving man.”
Tala’s mind started churning. What was she going to do? Her mom and Drew were in danger. She had to get them out of here before the Alpha got there. If he was willing to kill her, the half-blooded Alpha of a wolf pack, then he would have no problem at all with killing full-blooded humans. Tala could tell that she was starting to hyperventilate from the stress. She didn’t know what to do. Her breathing started to get more and more ragged. Her face and hands and feet were getting hot. It felt like the room was spinning. She thought that she might pass out.
Mr. Forburg noticed that her breathing was labored. “What’s wrong?” he asked her.
“I don’t know. This has never happened before. I think I might be having a panic attack.”
“Great.” Mr. Forburg rose from the couch and crossed the living room floor to where Tala was seated. He reached down and grabbed her chin to lift her face towards him. Her eyes were glowing bright green. “Ahh, is it your birthday?”
“No, not until tomorrow.”
“News flash, it’s midnight. Don’t worry about it, you’re just changing. The first time is a little rough, but it’ll be over before you know it.”
“Shouldn’t you untie me or something?”
“What for?”
“Don’t I need room? I feel like I’m on fire.” Tala breathed at him. She couldn’t make the words come any more forcefully than that. She felt like she wasn’t getting enough oxygen into her lungs.
“Nah, a little pup like you, you won’t do much changing really, especially since you’re only half. You may not even be a complete wolf.”
Tala could feel the composition of her body changing. Her insides were rearranging themselves to meet their needs. The pain was getting worse and worse, but it wasn’t like regular pain when she burned herself or cut herself accidently. This pain was leading somewhere. It was as if her body knew
that this pain would make her what she was supposed to be, and so it didn’t let her feel it the way her body usually felt pain. It was like being in a tunnel and seeing the light at the end. Every twist and crack and pop that she felt in her body was moving her towards the light - , and towards freedom. And then, she was there. In the next few minutes, several things happened.
Chapter 15
First, the chair that Tala was sitting in crunched under her weight. Second, the ropes that were holding her stretched until they frayed apart. Third, she noticed Drew’s and her mom's faces as they watched her grow into a wolf right in front of them. Astonishment was evident in their wide eyes.
Then her focus shifted toward Mr. Forburg, who had leapt behind the couch and was staring up at her from his human body. He must have been in shock, because it took a minute for his reflexes to catch up with his eyesight, and then he transformed. He came bounding toward her, and she dodged his attack. When he slid past her, she ran for the sliding glass door that led to their backyard. She hit the door with all the force she could muster. The glass shattered, and she was outside. Mr. Forburg had gotten his bearings and came galloping after her. Turning around, she looked up just in time to see him coming through the doorway.
Tala wasn’t sure what to do, but her body seemed to take control of itself, and when Mr. Forburg reached her, she lashed out at his paws, causing him to misstep. He turned around to come again, and this time she grabbed the back of his left ear and part of his neck and pulled him to the ground. When she let go, he stood up and backed away a couple of feet. He stared at her for a few seconds before he made one more attempt to take her down. This time, Tala latched on to his neck and didn’t let go until he yielded the fight and turned back into his human self. She placed a huge paw on his back to be sure that he was really giving up.
“I submit, I submit,” he yelled and she took her paw off him, allowing him to sit up. He tried to catch his breath and looked up at her with awe and admiration, but mostly fear. “That’s amazing. I’ve never met a fresh wolf that could best me. I especially didn’t think you would be able to. I figured your human blood would make you weak. If anything, I’d say you’re the strongest pup I’ve ever fought.”
“You're weak!” A new but familiar voice called from the broken door. “She’s not strong, you’re just weak, you idiot.” Dag, the Alpha of the Tundra pack, was standing in the doorway, staring at the two of them, Mr. Forburg, submissive on the ground, and Tala in her wolf form for the first time. Tala was stunned. She knew he was coming but hadn’t expected him to get there so quickly. She straightened up to look at him. Suddenly, she felt something inside her mind shift, as if she had become aware of another presence inside her mind. She started seeing images of her town. First, it was in the middle of town square, then another image of the end of her road, then the end of her driveway. She didn’t have time to think about this, as Dag startled her with his booming voice.
“You’re pretty big, I’ll grant you that. It must be the Alpha blood from your father. But I’ll bet you got your strength from your mom. I’ll make you submit. You’re mine,” Dag said as he stepped through the doorway onto the shattered glass. With his teeth clenched together, he began to take off his clothing, and Tala knew that he was about to shift and make her pay for making his man submit to her. He transformed before her eyes, and she didn’t even have time to blink before he had taken hold of her throat and pushed her down.
“Tala.” There was a man’s voice in her head. Dag put his paw on her neck and waited for her to say the word that she had given up.
“Tala, can you hear me?” It was Ander’s voice inside her mind. Great, now I can hear the dead.
“I’m not dead, Tala. I’m coming.” She could hear him in her mind. Then she had a vision of the side of her house. Was that Ander? Could she see his location? How was that possible? Must be the lack of oxygen to my brain.
“Come on then, boy! You’ll never make it in time to save her.” Now she could hear Dag’s voice in her mind, too. She could barely breathe anymore. She was about to surrender when out of the corner of her eye, she saw something white flash from the side of the house. Her breath caught, and Dag turned his head to see what she was looking at.
Chapter 16
“I’m here!” Ander slammed into his father, knocking him off Tala’s neck and into the dirt. He was gorgeous. The brilliance of his white coat shone even in the dark. Dag growled and jumped back up to his feet. Ander transformed back into his human form, just long enough to say “I challenge you, Dag, Alpha of the Tundra pack. I challenge you for Alpha.” When he was human, the bruises and scrapes that the pack had left on him were more prominent. Tala could tell he was hurt and probably in a lot of pain. The Alpha snapped his jaws and growled again. Ander turned back into his immaculate wolf form and the battle began.
The two of them were evenly matched. Dag was older and had more experience, but Ander was young and had more strength behind his blows. Every couple of moves, the upper hand would shift from one to the other, while Tala looked on in horror. At one point, Mr. Forburg looked as if he might join in, but one snap from Tala, and he bowed his head and sat back down.
Finally, Dag had Ander by the scruff of his neck with a paw pressing down onto his back. The older Alpha kept pushing and pushing, and Tala could hear Ander’s ribs cracking under the pressure. His lungs were being crushed by his father’s weight.
“What do you want me to do?” She thought towards Ander. There was no answer. It was almost too late.
“I challenge!” Tala thought as loud as she could. “I challenge you, Dag, Alpha of the Tundra pack. I challenge you for Alpha!” There was an outburst of riotous laughter inside her head. It was so loud it made her jump, even though it was only inside her head.
“No.” Even Ander’s voice inside her head was so weak that she could barely hear it over the raucous laughter coming from Dag in waves.
“You challenge me, sweetheart?” Dag’s voice protruded into her mind once again, making every piece of fur on her body stand on end.
She stood as tall as she could and pushed her lupine chest out as far as it would go to show her strength as she thought, “Yes!” She leaped at Dag, who removed his paw from Ander’s back. Dag ducked to avoid her attack, then turned to snap at one of her feet. They were standing paw to paw, and Tala realized that she was as big as the Alpha. He lunged for her throat, but her reflexes kicked in, and she was able to go under and around him.
They were muzzle to muzzle again. She could tell that he was going to lunge again, but this time, she thought about Drew in the hallway a few days ago. When Dag lunged, she didn’t run or jump out of the way. She let him come toward her and she stood her ground, waiting for her chance. As he lunged for her neck again, she twisted her body so that his snout just missed her throat, and all he got was a mouthful of fur. Just as she had hoped, he was forced forward by his own weight, and once his head was past her, she flung herself the rest of the way around and caught him by the nape of his neck and held fast. He wriggled and fought, but she refused to let go. He scratched and snapped, but eventually he grew tired, and when he did, Tala’s alpha instincts seemed to kick into high gear. She put her paw on his shoulder.
“Submit,” Tala thought.
He jerked one last time before, “I submit to you, Tala, Alpha of the Timber pack and Alpha of the Tundra pack.”
Tala took her paw off him, and he stood up. Tala noticed that he already seemed visibly weaker; somehow, he looked smaller already. It was as if having Alpha status taken from him somehow diminished his physical attributes. Dag didn’t even look at Tala or Ander, just tucked his tail between his legs and ran off through the woods behind the house.
Tala turned to look at Ander. He had turned back into his human self and was just barely beginning to lift himself off the ground. Tala walked over, picking up Dag’s clothes from the ground along the way to bring them to Ander so he could get dressed. She dropped the clothes beside him a
nd nudged him with the tip of her nose. She could smell it now. It wasn’t like Mr. Forburg or Dag. Something was different with Ander, and when she finally breathed his scent in deep enough, it was like a light switch was turned on in her mind. She hadn’t even realized that she wasn’t complete on her own until this moment. She could smell him, yes, but she could feel him as well. His heartbeat, the air moving in and out of his lungs, the dirt beneath him. She breathed him in again. He smelled like home. He felt like home. Not like her house, but it was as if when she smelled him, there was no other place on earth that she could be. This was where she belonged. This was where she was safe. He would be her shelter, and she would be his sanctuary. She wondered if he could feel it too.
Chapter 17
“You know, you can change back into your human self now too,” Ander said as he petted her on the nose, which broke through her musings and her newfound wholeness.
Tala stared down at him. Ander chuckled at her.
“Oh, you don’t know how, do you? It’s pretty simple; you just think of your human body. Try to think about seeing your human shape in a mirror and imagine being in your body in your mind.”
Tala nodded and ran off back into the house through the broken glass door and up the stairs toward her bedroom. She knew that she would be naked when she turned back, and she didn’t want Ander to see her. She walked into her room as carefully as she could, but her wolf body was so big that she knocked several pictures off the wall as she walked down the hallway.
Tala looked at herself in the mirror and was amazed by her size. Staring back at her was a beautiful tawny brown wolf, roughly the size of a horse. Her eyes were a honey brown with a bright green ring around the outside and golden flakes throughout. She was a pretty wolf. She thought about her human self and could feel the change rippling through her body. It started in her middle and flowed out through her arms and legs and then to her hands and feet. Finally, she looked up and saw herself as a human again. It was amazing. She leaned in to look at herself more closely. Her eyes hadn’t changed back to her plain old brown human eyes--- wolf eyes were staring back at her. Wow. I wonder if they’ll stay like this. She took a few steps back to take in her entire reflection. She was still beautiful. She giggled. She had never thought of herself like that before. Beautiful, she laughed again and turned around to find some clothes. She threw a pair of pants on and a t-shirt over her head and then remembered...her mother was still tied up in the living room, along with Drew. Tala ran out of her room and back down the stairs, embarrassed that she had forgotten about the two people who had always been there for her.
