Wolfsbane: The Wolf Within

by Bethany Shay Porteous

  I knew that I needed to remain focused. My family would only be felt, not seen or heard. I would have to feel the magic through the earth, like a magnetic pull that would indicate where they were. While I had to maintain visual focus, I needed to still be connected to the Earth and wait for their inevitable strike and I knew they were due soon—I’d already made it almost two miles into the track.

  Seeing Aiden in front of me threw my focus and I stumbled. I’d been so intent on focusing on my family—and telling myself how important it was to be focused that I’d completely lost all concentration!

  Facing off against Aiden was always tough because I could never beat him, and I hated even the thought of hurting him, even a little. I had to remind myself that he swore to go hard on me and that I had to go hard on him. I suppose if you could hurt your mate to protect yourself you could do it to anyone, right?

  I knew there was only one way I could drop him quickly and I hoped it wouldn’t affect any future offspring.

  I coiled myself as he ran at me and just when he was ten feet away I sprinted headlong at him, curling my hands together and at the last minute, darting to his left startling him enough to get in a clean shot of his crotch. He cried out so loudly and dropped to his knees that I screamed in shock, before I realized I had to make him tap out.

  Despising every minute, I got him into a headlock and he wasted no time in tapping out.

  “I’m sorry!” I told him frantically.

  He nodded mutely and doubled over, and I hesitantly left him, hoping he would still love me later.

  The further away I got from his agonized groans the more I could concentrate. I knew now it was down to my father, Sienna and Hannah. This was the part I was really looking forward to. I had gotten past Aiden, my biggest obstacle and now I would get past the three of them. I had to get past them, otherwise what hope in hell did I have against Danyeela and Tatiana?

  I slowed my run to a walk and crunched through the fallen leaves in the forest. Summer was truly on its way, everything was starting to brown and look dead. I took the moment to catch my breath and try to gather my thoughts.

  It was to my left when I felt this sudden heat, it wasn’t close, but it wasn’t far away. It was not natural. Just as I raised my hands to defend myself a flash of orange light shot out at me and I deflected quickly, startling when it bounced into a tree and split it straight down the middle, landing so hard the earth shook beneath my feet.

  I came face to face with Hannah who wasted no time in launching more and more of her magic at me, designed to knock me out for at least two hours if I were to be hit.

  To make you feel like you did actually die, my father explained.

  I did not want to get hit by that!

  Fighting magic with magic was new for me, dueling was strange, and it sent tingles all through my body. You could feel the weight of their magic forcing itself against yours and whoever broke first would receive the fatal blow. I had to maintain concentration, if I could just get her… something hit me hard in the back and everything went black.

  “She’s awake,” someone announced loudly, and my ears rang painfully.

  “Don’t shout you idiot,” someone hissed. “Her hearing will be super sensitive.”

  “What happened?” I croaked as I slowly opened my eyes to find I was lying on the couch in the living room.

  “Sienna got you from behind,” Hannah explained. “You were too focused on me.”

  “Then you died,” Sienna said. “Remember Evelyn, split your focus. This is so important.”

  “I know,” I groaned.

  “But,” Grace stepped in. “You did make it through the entire course which is something you’ve never been able to do before. I mean, so what if you and Aiden can’t have children later on?”

  “I’m so sorry!” I gasped as I met Aiden’s eyes.

  “It’s fine,” he laughed. “I can breathe again, we’re good.”

  “You did well Evelyn,” my father told me. “Considering you just ran that course and then stopped Hannah before she could even hit you—that was really good.”

  I felt myself flushing with pride and Aiden squeezed my hand.

  “Having your wolf will make it easier,” Sienna said. “You’ll have a set of eyes in the back of your head essentially. So, it’s important we work on some triggers for her as well, that’s a really important factor.”

  “We’ve been working on some stuff actually,” Trey announced as he nudged Josh. “Stuff to rile her wolf up and bring her forward.”

  “Such as?” Aiden asked.

  “Well,” Trey started. “One was to risk your life Aiden—”

  “What?” I demanded.

  “No listen,” Josh said quickly. “Just to make your wolf panic. Once your mate bond is being threatened, your wolf would be more inclined to show up again in your head. The problem is we don’t know how much damage you did to her when you tried removing that thing out of your mind. We don’t know how much of your wolf you tore at.”

  I swallowed deeply, and Hannah tried to discreetly shove Josh in the arm.

  “Let’s not focus too much on all that,” Grace said quickly and Sienna nodded. “What we need are some techniques to bring your wolf forward and that’s what we’ll all go away and work on. Everyone come back with an idea tomorrow and we can go from there.”

  “Good idea,’” my father said. “I think that’s enough for today.”

  “Excellent,” The Luna announced. “Because I’ve just set up afternoon tea on the back deck, we could all use some time to just relax for a little bit.”

  Everyone followed The Luna and I hung back, feeling a restlessness inside of me. Aiden looked at me in question and I shook my head.

  “I need to use the bathroom,” I said. “I’ll be out in a second.”

  “Okay,” he smiled at me before pressing a quick kiss to my lips. “I’ll make sure Trey doesn’t eat all the sandwiches.”

  “He would too,” I said dryly.

  Aiden went out back and I went into the powder room off the living room, locking myself in and staring dead into the mirror.

  The position mirrored one I had stood in for a while when Salem had been tormenting my mind but this time it was me tormenting myself.

  I had hurt my wolf and no doubt drained some of her life force when I went on my solo mission of removing Salem and I wasn’t sure if I would even be able to bring her back or connect with her again. If I couldn’t what was I going to do? I couldn’t do this without her, I needed that extra being to make it an even fight…

  Morgana would have told me if I wasn’t going to get her back, surely…. she was the one who said I needed my wolf, so I had to obviously be able to bring her out again.

  I splashed some cold water on my face and quickly pat it dry, just as I heard Grace calling my name.

  “I’m coming!” I called back.

  I could feel myself starting to feel overwhelmed and that wasn’t good, because the moment that happened I could truly lose it, but what was I meant to do? I was part of some prophecy against my wishes and I had to kill two of my powerful ancestors. At the same time, I still had to continue with my training, reconnect with my wolf, graduate high school and go to college.

  My stomach twisted in knots and I put my face in my hands.

  Morgana help me.

  ∞

  “Evelyn!” Grace called from her room. “Come here!”

  “Why?” I called back loudly, comfortable resting on Aiden’s chest. “Why does she do this to me?” I asked more quietly, and he sniggered.

  “Just come!” she shouted. “Now!”

  “Ugh!” I groaned and pulled myself from the bed, looking down at Aiden sadly. “I’d say wait here but with her who knows how long I’ll be.”

  “It’s okay,” he laughed and got up. “I have to get ready for a patrol anyway.”

  “Okay,” I mumbled. “When will you be back in?”

  “Probably after midnight,” Aiden
told me, and I pouted. I’d have to try and fall asleep without him and that was always hard. “Hey,” he grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips. “Not much more of this, remember? Soon it’ll be just me and you and a whole heap of humans.”

  “That’s true,” I sighed.

  He leaned down and kissed me softly and I relished in the feeling of his hand cupping my cheek and the way he slightly squeezed my waist.

  “I love you,” he told me as he pulled back.

  “I love you too,” I said with a flush.

  “Ev-ah-len!” Grace over pronounced impatiently.

  “Morgana!” I huffed, and Aiden snickered as I walked from the room and toward Grace’s, not surprised to find it was completely trashed with clothing thrown everywhere.

  “Finally!” she groaned. “I have something for you.”

  “Oh?” I asked in surprise.

  “Yes ‘oh’,” she laughed. “I think you’re going to love it too!”

  She shuffled around in her wardrobe before coming out from behind the doors, a silvery material draped spectacularly over her arm and she beamed at me.

  “What is that?” I asked her.

  “What is it?” Grace sighed dramatically before she held the garment properly and my eyes widened at the familiar looking dress, with its high neck and shimmery tones. “Remember it now?”

  “The dress from the shop?” I asked in surprise, taking a hesitant step forward.

  “I know there was a lot of drama that day,” Grace started. “But I could not leave that dress behind, it was made for you. You’re wearing it to Prom.”

  “I can’t believe you picked it up,” I said amazed.

  She shrugged and sat on the foot of her bed. “It’ll look amazing, when you tried it with the low bun it looked beautiful. I think if you did that for the night it would be stunning.”

  “Can you believe that it’s prom?” I asked and found myself finally feeling the sincere overwhelmed feelings that everyone else had been feeling for weeks before me. High school was very nearly over, and the rest of our lives were starting.

  I just had to fulfill a prophecy and then I could start planning my future.

  “I know!” Grace gushed. “So much is going to happen! We’ll have one final summer before we’re all split up and going places. I can’t wait to get out of here for a while, it will be amazing!”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” I admitted. “To be away from…”

  “Wolves, magic and life or death decisions?” Grace filled in and I nodded.

  “I can’t wait until my only problem is whether or not I can make it an extra day without washing my hair,” I sighed, and Grace laughed.

  “How are you coping with everything?” she asked me soberly.

  “It’s fine,” I shrugged. “It definitely worries me, but I mean, I can’t do anything about it so there’s no point dwelling on how much it scares me. I just need to keep practicing and wait for my wolf to show up or them. Whatever comes first I guess.”

  “We’re all working on ideas still,” Grace promised. “None of us will leave you in the lurch. We will get your wolf to come forward.”

  “I know you all will, I trust you guys to do that.” I looked down at the dress absentmindedly and ran my hands through the soft material. I couldn’t believe they had picked it up—I knew prom was coming but to be honest, I hadn’t even thought about the dress again or even what I’d be wearing to the event.

  “So, Trey is apparently planning some big Promposal for me,” Grace said with glee.

  “Promposal?” I questioned with a frown.

  “You know,” she rushed. “Like, an extravagant way to ask someone to Prom, like you’re proposing to them kind of thing. You’ve never heard of it? Flash mobs? Red carpets? Bad puns?”

  I shook my head with a frown. I hoped Aiden wouldn’t do anything like that, it was a known fact I would go with him anyway.

  “Interesting,” Grace mumbled. “Very.”

  “So, what is Trey going to do then?” I asked.

  “Who knows,” she waved her hands. “It’s Trey so it could be anything!”

  “Ow!” I growled as something sharp stabbed my gum. It sent spasms of pain shooting through my body and I cupped my jaw, groaning as I dropped to my knees.

  “Evie?” Grace worried. “Are you okay?”

  “Oh Morgana,” I groaned. “My mouth!”

  “Let me see,” she said quickly, trying to remove my hands from my face. Painfully, I allowed her to examine my mouth and her eyes widened. “It’s your canines Evelyn, they’re trying to extend. They’re actually poking down longer.”

  “It hurts!” I garbled, and tears stung my eyes.

  “Have you had any other symptoms?” she questioned quickly. “High fever? Body aches?”

  “Body aches,” I told her. “But I put that down to all the intense training we were doing!”

  “How’s you temper been?”

  “I’ve felt a little irritated over nothing every now and then… not as bad as I was when Salem was in me though,” I said. “You think my wolf is trying to come through? I can’t even hear her!”

  “Yes, but if she’s trying to push through physically….” Grace bit her lip. “Your mouth is bleeding, go rinse it out and then meet me in the kitchen. We’ve got some really good pain relief stuff for that—we’ve all been through it.”

  “What if they stay stuck down forever?” I gasped as I poked at them, wincing as they stung.

  “They won’t,” Grace snorted. “Do you think I’d leave the house if my canines were on full display?”

  That was true, I thought.

  “Go wash your mouth,” Grace ordered again.

  Doing as I was told, I stumbled into the bathroom and winced at the sight of myself. The teeth looked sharp, but I didn’t want to touch them again—they ached ferociously. The bleeding gums were enough to turn my stomach and I quickly rinsed my mouth out, watching and waiting until the water ran clear before I switched off and began making my way to the kitchen.

  I wished Aiden were here.

  “Evie,” Grace called from the kitchen as I made my way downstairs. “Mom wants to take your temperature.”

  I walked into the kitchen nodding, cupping my mouth as a mean headache began to set in.

  “Head sore?” The Luna asked sympathetically. “It’ll be because of how the teeth pushed through your gums like that. No doubt they’ve been making their way down over the last few days. Take some of this,” she handed me two orange colored tablets. “Then put this in your mouth for me for three minutes.”

  I did as I was told, downing the tablets and sticking the thermometer in my mouth. I didn’t feel hot or anything, but my mouth ached like something I’d never felt before.

  “Your father is out with Sienna and Phoenix,” The Luna told me. “Patching things up with those two, hopefully.”

  I raised my eyebrows in response, unable to talk.

  “So, someone is getting their wolf then,” The Luna beamed.

  “She can’t hear her though,” Grace chewed her thumbnail. “What do you think of that?”

  “Her wolf did go through a traumatic experience,” The Luna murmured. “If she’s choosing to come through in a more physical way, it could be she’s trying to preserve her mental protection. The only problem, is we don’t know what kind of temperament she’ll have now. We won’t know until she fully comes through to us.”

  “Well at least she’s got the symptoms,” Grace said in relief. “That was worrying me to be honest.”

  The thermometer beeped, and The Luna took it from my mouth and I waited patiently for the verdict.

  “You’ve got a low-grade fever Evelyn,” The Luna said. “You might not feel all the symptoms just yet, but it does look like something is building.”

  “I don’t feel feverish,” I countered.

  “You won’t,” Grace explained. “We never did either. It just hits you out of nowhere. I went to school one day with a
low fever and I fainted in the middle of the hallway with a tail starting to sprout out of my back! Try hiding that.”

  “I’m not shifting, am I?” I asked in a panic.

  “No,” The Luna said. “You’re not shifting yet. Your wolf is very different from a regular transition. You’re going to have these symptoms on and off until she fully comes through for you, but it’s going to take longer unfortunately, which means more discomfort for you.”

  “Great,” I murmured as I rubbed my sore head.

  “I’d suggest going and having a shower Evelyn, or a lay down,” Grace said. “That always helped me when I was going through this.”

  “I think that’s a great idea,” I mumbled feeling suddenly tired. “I’ll do that.”

  “I’ll check on you for dinner sweetheart,” The Luna said while she rubbed my back. “Do you need anything?”

  I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. I’ll be upstairs.”

  Making my way from the kitchen, the headache only seemed to get worse, and my gums felt overly wet again, so I knew they were bleeding. I grabbed myself a towel from the bathroom and stumbled into my room and threw myself onto the bed, putting the towel on my face.

  The bed didn’t need to look like a crime scene.

  I must have been laying there for a second before I felt the comforting darkness of sleep lulling me into its embrace.

  ∞

  I was running.

  Fast.

  The scenery around me seemed to fly by in such a blur, I wondered if it even existed. My feet hardly even touched the floor, I just hurtled through the forest like I was some sort of pocket rocket. I didn’t know why I was running or what from, was I even running from anyone?

  I could smell everything.

  The richness of the earth on the floor, the crispness of the forest and the trees, other animals… even other people… I was scenting people?

  My running slowed to a point where I could take shape of my surroundings and I found myself being able to recognize the forest of our pack, there were certain spots I’d been running here on the training course, so I knew where I was… but how had I gotten out here in the first place? Hadn’t I gone to take a nap?