Luminous

by Noelle Marie

  * * *

  Katherine awoke to the unpleasant sensation of something hard poking into her lower back. It wasn’t a fun sort of hard something either. In fact, it felt remarkably like a... rock?

  Oh.

  Right.

  Memories of last night came flooding back to her.

  As she recalled the panic that had threatened to overtake her when she’d realized that she couldn’t shift – not even with the aid of the full moon – Katherine was tempted to feign sleep for longer. She wanted to be able to pretend – at least for a few more minutes – that last night hadn’t happened the way she remembered, that she hadn’t failed to transform into her wolf form.

  But it had happened that way, and the more prudent side of Katherine realized that pretending wouldn’t get her anywhere – certainly not any closer to the answers she so desperately needed. With that thought in mind, she forced her eyes open, blinking the bleariness from them before taking in her surroundings.

  It was still dark outside, only the faintest hints of orange and pink peeking through the trees to indicate the fact that dawn was indeed upon them. Or, upon her at least. A frown pulled at the corners of her mouth when she realized that Sophie was nowhere in sight.

  Katherine wriggled halfway out of her sleeping bag, using her hands to push herself up into a sitting position. She scanned the small clearing again, too concerned to appreciate the sound of a family of sparrows chirping above her or the feeling of the cool breeze blowing against her flushed skin.

  “Sophie?” she called out hesitantly.

  The tension gathered in her shoulders fled when the girl in question immediately emerged from the thick of trees to Katherine’s right. Because the sun had begun to rise, she was no longer stuck in her wolf form, and was very much human as she busied herself buttoning up the spare shirt she’d packed herself for the morning. Sophie appeared remarkably well-kempt – not a single one of her blonde hairs out of place – considering the fact that she spent most of the night lying on the ground next to Katherine as a wolf.

  Katherine was sure Sophie looked more put together than she did at any rate. She was still wearing the shirt she’d been donning last night – the one with the gaping hole in the collar – and it was wrinkled enough to resemble an elephant’s skin. She could also feel hair sticking to the back of her sweaty neck.

  “Good morning,” Sophie greeted, sounding irritatingly chipper all things considered. “Did you sleep okay?” she asked, but didn’t wait for an answer before plowing onward. “You seemed to rest peacefully enough considering the circumstances-”

  Speaking of said circumstances...

  “Sophie,” Katherine interjected sharply. “What is going on?”

  Sophie stared searchingly at Katherine for a solid minute, exhaling once before running a hand through her annoyingly perfect hair. “Well, I’m not completely sure.”

  Katherine blinked in disbelief. “Sure enough to pack me a sleeping bag!” she refuted. “I mean, did you know that I wouldn’t shift?” She shook her head. “What am I saying? You had to have known. I’m sure it’s also why you insisted I not go to the moon gathering!”

  Sophie’s eyes guiltily flitted away. “Like I said, I suspected that something like this might happen, but-”

  “But what, Sophie?” Katherine demanded, angrily kicking off what little of the sleeping bag remained on her legs before standing and taking a step towards the other girl. “I need to know what’s going on!”

  “You will,” Sophie assured, sounding completely calm, more like she was attempting to sooth a disgruntled dog than a human girl with very real concerns.

  Oh, the irony.

  “You’ll learn everything at Gabriela’s,” she insisted, wrapping a gentle hand around Katherine’s elbow. “Come on, let’s go.”

  What?

  Katherine jerked her arm out of Sophie’s grasp.

  “Sophie,” she protested, the other girl’s name bursting forth from her mouth in a near soprano in her distress. “If you know what’s going on, why I’m not shifting like I should, you have an obligation to tell me.” She took a deep breath, forcing her racing heart to slow. “I’m freaking out here,” she added more quietly. “I... I mean, what if I’m somehow losing my inner wolf? Becoming ‘normal’ again?” Who knew the idea of that would ever be so horrifying? “Please, if you have any idea-”

  Sophie abruptly interrupted what was undoubtedly going to turn into a hysterical rant by pulling Katherine in for a fierce hug. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she scolded softly before loosening her grip so Katherine could pull away enough to look her in the eyes. “You are not losing your werewolf abilities. Lycanthropy doesn’t work that way. As far as I know, there are no known cases of the condition miraculously reversing itself.”

  Katherine resisted the urge to point out that there was a first time for everything. “Then what’s wrong with me?” she asked instead.

  Sophie sighed, tucking a piece of wavy hair behind one of Katherine’s ears in a gesture that reminded the girl sorely of Bastian. It was absurdly comforting. “Nothing is wrong, I swear. I just... I don’t want to be wrong about this.” She finally released Katherine completely from the one-sided hug. “Come on, we can get to the clinic before Bastian even gets back from the moon gathering.”

  Katherine narrowed her eyes. It was an incredibly odd suggestion for Sophie to make considering how well they both knew Bastian’s temperament, and she realized nearly immediately that it was a ploy to get her to agree.

  Katherine hesitated.

  She was sure that Bastian meant to come with her to visit Gabriela in the morning. That didn’t necessarily mean that she wanted him there, however. Just the thought of his overprotectiveness when he found out that she hadn’t shifted last night stressed her out. There was no way she wanted to worry him unnecessarily.

  Katherine sighed. “Fine,” she agreed, helping Sophie pack up the sleeping bag before they began the short trek back to the house. When they reached the brick building, Katherine quickly ducked into her room to change into something decent while Sophie started the SUV. She stripped and pulled on a pair of black leggings and a plain, dark green sweater before reluctantly making her way to the running vehicle.

  Gabriela Atkins and her pack only lived a handful of miles to the north of them, and it was a mere five minutes before they arrived at their residence. Sophie threw the SUV into park before killing the engine and daring a glance at Katherine. For her part, Katherine knew she was pouting, but she couldn’t bring herself to care about her petulance as she slouched into her seat, arms remaining stubbornly folded across her chest.

  Sophie frowned. “We might have to wait a while for them to get back from the gathering-” she cut herself off mid-sentence, however, as she caught sight of the same scene as Katherine out of the corner of her eye.

  A gaggle of dirt-streaked, near-naked women were making their way out of a section of forest near Gabriela’s house. Sophie’s frown immediately transformed into a blinding grin – which, honestly, Katherine thought rather inappropriate considering the circumstances. “Perfect.”

  Sophie wasted no time hopping out of the vehicle, impatiently gesturing for Katherine to do the same. Releasing a put upon sigh, Katherine reluctantly followed suit.

  Gabriela spotted them immediately. She seemed perturbed, but not unhappy to see them, and Katherine anxiously toed the dewy grass as the redheaded woman approached them. As Gabriela made her way across the lawn, Katherine allowed herself to eye the group of woman who were unabashedly watching them from Gabriela’s large, wrap-around porch. The all-female Atkins pack. Some of Katherine’s nerves fled, a tiny uptick of a smile pulling at her mouth even, when she spotted her friend Agnes amongst the group. The girl enthusiastically waved when she caught Katherine’s eye, and Katherine allowed herself to wave back.

  Then Gabriela was upon them.

  “Sophie, Katherine,” she greeted them. “What can I do for you? Does Bastian need something?�
��

  Katherine fought to conceal the unreasonable flash of jealousy that burned hot in her belly at the obvious warmth in the woman’s voice when she said Bastian’s name.

  “No, no, nothing like that,” Sophie assured, batting her concerns away with a wave of her hand. “Katherine just needs to be looked at.”

  Gabriela’s brow crinkled, a frown pulling at her mouth as she turned careful eyes onto Katherine, searching her for any sign of visible injury – and finding none. “Okay,” she agreed, a bit of confusion in her voice, “just let me-”

  “It’s urgent,” Sophie stressed, interrupting Gabriela and shooting her a peculiar look that Katherine didn’t have even the tiniest hope of deciphering.

  Instead of attempting to figure it out, Katherine merely glared at the blonde. After all, her lack of shifting ability certainly hadn’t seemed all that “urgent” a half hour ago when Sophie had outright refused to tell her what was going on.

  “Alright, sure,” Gabriela agreed despite her lengthening frown. “I’ll shoo the girls inside and get dressed. Then I’ll meet you in the clinic.”

  Sophie offered her a relieved smile. “Thanks.”

  “Clinic?” Katherine asked once Gabriela was out of earshot. She’d just assumed that the woman would be checking her out in the pack house.

  “It’s in the back,” Sophie explained, beginning to make her way around the left side of the building and gesturing for Katherine to follow. “Come on.”

  Katherine begrudgingly trudged along after Sophie, the green grass they were walking on soon giving way to a narrow dirt path. As soon as they turned the corner of Gabriela’s house, the clinic was revealed to Katherine.

  She couldn’t help but find the sight lackluster at best.

  The “clinic” looked more like an oversized shed than anything else. Like most of the residences of Haven Falls, the small building was made of brick. It also had a warped steel roof that looked like it’d seen better days, and two tiny windows.

  Katherine couldn’t quite decide if it was anxiety or relief she was feeling as she stared at it.

  When they reached the building, and Sophie unceremoniously pushed open its wooden door, Katherine realized it had been relief. Unfortunately, that feeling all but fled as the inside of the shed-like building was revealed.

  It gave off a much more “clinic-y” vibe than the outside. The floors were gray, the walls painted a pale blue, and the smell that all medical establishments seemed to reek of lingered in the air.

  The small space contained two beds that had the option of being separated by a single curtain, and a small desk and chair located in the corner of the room that seemed to be a staple of every doctor’s office that Katherine had ever visited. There were also three mismatched chairs pushed up against the wall near where they had entered.

  Sophie took a seat on one of them – the wooden dining chair – and gestured for Katherine to sit next to her in the more comfortable-looking, cushioned chair, but the brunette ignored her and the chairs in favor of exploring the room a bit more.

  There were only two other doors besides the one they had entered in, and when Sophie didn’t protest her obvious snooping, Katherine took a peek inside both of them. The first mystery room revealed itself to be a standard-looking bathroom. It had white walls, a dark blue tiled floor, and was adorned with a toilet, sink, and shower. The second room was a bit more interesting. And intimidating. It was a closet jam-packed full of scary-looking, probably outdated medical equipment. She recognized some of the smaller devices, such as the collection of stethoscopes hanging along the wall in an almost decorative design. Most of the equipment, however, she didn’t know the names of or what they could possibly be used for.

  Curiosity sated, and more than a little unsettled by the pile of machines in front of her, Katherine closed the closet door and wandered back over to Sophie, where instead of sitting, she rested her back against the wall.

  “Why don’t you sit?” Sophie asked, once again gesturing towards the seat to her right.

  Katherine shook her head. “I’m fine here,” she assured. Truthfully, she was just feeling too jittery to sit still as they waited for Gabriela to arrive.

  Luckily, she didn’t have to wait for long. True to her word, Gabriela breezed through the clinic’s front door a minute later. She’d changed into a pair of plain jeans and a t-shirt, and had pulled her long, red hair back into an efficient bun. She only took two full steps into the room before turning to confront Katherine and Sophie, hands placed strategically on her hips as she looked back and forth between the two of them. She seemed to come to the rightful conclusion that the former didn’t know what was going on any better than she did, and settled her attention on the latter. “Alright, what’s the problem?”

  Katherine opened her mouth to answer despite the fact that the question hadn’t been aimed at her. “Well...”

  “Katherine didn’t shift last night.”

  The betrayed look she shot Sophie went largely ignored. It was only a small consolation that when she turned back to take in Gabriela’s reaction, she had the pleasure of seeing true surprise flicker across the woman’s face. “Really? Are you sure?”

  Katherine felt her thinly contained annoyance surge forth at the ridiculous question. After all, how could they not be sure? Was there a way they could not know whether or not she’d transformed into a giant, hairy werewolf the night before?

  Instead of offering a scathingly witty response, however, Sophie just nodded... excitedly?

  Wait.

  What?

  “Yes,” the blonde confirmed distractedly before prattling on. “Her appetite has been absolute crap as well. She even threw up last night after supper, and I’m sure you heard about how she fainted in town the other day. She’s been tired and irritable. Plus, I’m pretty sure her overall scent has change.”

  It was disorienting for Katherine to hear her quasi-sister eagerly jabber on about every little thing she’d been so concerned about the past few weeks, and something stronger than mere irritation began building in her belly when the blonde was nearly breathless by the end of her enthusiastic explanation.

  The red hot anger she could feel brewing beneath the surface must have been obvious enough because Gabriela frowned in concern when she finally – finally! – turned to look at Katherine. “Does she know what it means?”

  Sophie shot Katherine a glance, wincing at the undoubtedly stormy expression on her face. “No. I mean, I don’t think she does. I wanted to be sure before saying-”

  And that was all it took to spark Katherine’s ire beyond containment. “In case you haven’t noticed,” she spat, “the she that you two are talking about is right here.”

  Sophie winced, and Gabriela flashed her a contrite smile. “You’re right, of course. Sorry about that,” the redhead offered, but she hardly seemed properly chastised in Katherine’s opinion.

  Katherine stiffened when the healer took a step forward and placed an uninvited hand on her forehead. “So why don’t you tell me how you’re feeling?”

  “I think Sophie just about covered everything,” she replied brusquely, pushing herself off the wall and side-stepping so that she was out of Gabriela’s reach.

  The redhead didn’t seem offended. In fact, Katherine was pretty sure it was amusement pulling at the corners of her mouth as she observed her. “Well, let’s get right down to it then, shall we?” Gabriela headed over to her desk where she promptly sat. She seemed content to let Katherine remain standing, and Katherine wondered if it was done in a conscious effort to make her feel like she had at least some power over her situation – namely, being effectively sandwiched between two powerful women. “When was your last period?”

  Katherine blinked.

  What?

  “What?”

  “When was your last period?” Gabriela repeated calmly.

  Katherine glowered, folding her arms defensively across her chest. “What does that have to do with anything?” sh
e demanded.

  Gabriela released a put upon sigh like she was the one whose patience was being tested. “Just answer the question. Please.”

  Katherine’s glare hardened. “I would if you would answer mine.”

  Gabriela shot an exasperated look at Sophie, who merely offered her a helpless shrug in return. Pursing her lips, the redhead redirected her attention back at Katherine. “You’re what? Seventeen, eighteen? Do I really need to explain this to you?” At Katherine’s blank look, she threw her hands into the air in exasperation. “What’s the metaphor I’m looking for? Oh, right. The birds and the bees. Well, sweetie, you see, when a man and woman love each other, they might decide to let him have a go at pollenating her flower-”

  “S-stop,” Katherine said, choking on her spit, all too aware of the furious red flush she could feel crawling up her neck.

  “Well?” Gabriela asked after giving her a moment to compose herself. “Your period?”

  “I guess...” Katherine mumbled as she fought to remember, “I mean... I don’t know for sure...” she trailed off. As that particular realization dawned, and Katherine took in the expectant twin looks the two women were giving her, she finally realized exactly what it was that Gabriela was getting at. Fierce denial of the possibility of something she didn’t even want to mentally acknowledge, however, had her quickly adding, “Though I hardly know why you’re asking.”

  But Katherine did know, and as panic threatened to well in her throat, she desperately wished she was as ignorant as she was a few seconds ago and didn’t.

  Her sudden knowledge must have been obvious enough, however. “I think you know exactly why,” Gabriela gently contradicted.

  Katherine sent a desperate glance in Sophie’s direction, but the blonde only gave her an encouraging nod. Feeling suddenly too exhausted to stand, Katherine finally took a seat next to the other girl. “But... that’s impossible,” she pointed out. “I mean, I’m a bitten wolf!”