They ran.

Small, stubby legs unsteady and unsure pushed them onwards. Hands linked together they struggled to go faster. The world was dark around them, shadows closing in and snapping at their heels.

Eyes alight with tears, they pressed on. Their chests stuttered with sobs as howls broke through the night around them. The shadows became fangs that latched onto their ankles and jerked them from their feet.

They were ripped backwards, dragged along the dirt as their nails ripped into the earth to get away. Their dark hair fell over their eyes and the eldest gripped his younger brothers hand tightly. The air stank with the scent of their blood and though he trembled and cried, he silently held onto his brother.

The fangs were replaced with hands and the boys were torn away from each other. Now the older brother began to wail like his sibling. He thrashed in his captures hands as glowing amber eyes leered down at him.

Their voices shattered the night as they screamed out.

“Mommy!”

Something was lodged in my throat and my body jerked awake. Flopping to the floor, I heaved in lungful’s of air and shuddered. Their voices echoed in my head and I pressed my forehead to the floor. Fingers trembling, I gagged and a low whimper poured out from my lips.

Flashes of earlier slipped through my mind. The boy’s body contorting into that wolf and then the wolf that became a man. The sounds of their bones snapping and skin shredding blended into the nightmare of my sons and soon I was having vivid images of Damon and Ryan transforming into beasts too.

“No, no, no, no,” I moaned, hefting my body back onto my knees as my hands found their way into my hair. They fisted there and tugged on the strands as if it could pull the visions from my mind. “This can’t be real. Please, oh god, please no!”

“Mommy!”

“No!” I cried out, shying back against the sound of Ryan’s scream in my mind. I’d never heard him cry out like that, he’d never shouted my name in that horror, agony filled tone. It sent shivers down my spine and pulled their hairs around my body upright.

“No, no, it’s just a dream!”

It has to be! Please don’t let this be real! Werewolves were real! And …and…

My hands flopped into my lap as my thoughts drifted off and I opened my eyes. Yet I couldn’t see anything. Tears pooled against the lower lid before slipping free and trickling down my cheeks.

“Werewolves took my sons.”

The declaration was a whisper, a breath from my lips. It slipped free and wove it’s way upwards into my head where it battered all the logic, rationalisation and denial from my brain. Next it pooled in my throat and clogged my airways before finally slipping into my stomach where it stomped on my insides and churned up the acid that went racing towards my throat.

This time I didn’t just gag. Instead I jerked forward and vomited onto the plush navy carpet. My shoulders curved inwards as I puked a second time and my tears splashed into the disgusting bile mix. It seeped into the carpet before spreading slightly.

I stumbled back, swiping my hand across my mouth and stumbled, crashing into the desk. My eyes wavered around the room and I noted that I was back in that office. I slumped against the desk, my body shuddering as my legs buckled and I caught myself on a chair.

“I’m only going to be checking on…oh dear.”

The door pushed in and an older woman pushed in the gap. Her eyes took in the mess on the floor then drifted over my slumped form, watching me silently pant for breath and my hands twitch as they failed to grip the chair.

Her dark hair was sprinkled with white streams and was pulled back from her slightly lined face but her eyes were soft as she pursed her lips and glanced back out into the hall. “Sandra, get a bucket, dear.”

“Now then,” she continued, stepping in and shutting the door. She eased around the vomit and didn’t give me a chance to shy away as she hauled me to my feet and guided my stumbling body back to the couch.

From the depts of her skirts she pulled a napkin and dabbed at my eyes before wiping my mouth. “Oh you poor thing, they have done it all wrong.”

“Werewolves,” I mumbled out. It was the only word on my mind. It was boiling in my stomach and echoing in the beat of my heart.

They were real.

Fucking werewolves.

“Yes dear, we are werewolves,” She soothed, her hands gently pulling my hair from my face. “Though technically, Wolf Shifters would be more adept as we have control and are not fully ruled by the moon. Don’t get me wrong, the goddess calls to us on the full moon but we are not like our cousins who are the famous Wolfmen of lore.”

“What?”

“Oh nothing to be discussed now,” She gushed, patting my cheek with a soft hand before she tossed the napkin into the vomit. “I’m Melinda, my dear. I’m Dean’s mother. And I’ve just found out, you are the mother of his sons.”

She looked to me expectantly and I gazed into her eyes that were a similar blue to Deans and my sons but hers were clouded with white in some parts. Could wolves be blind?

“Dean..?” My voice trailed off but the thought continued in my mind, Dean…is a werewolf? I…fucked a werewolf…

The thought was accompanied by unhealthy images of his body ripping apart as we were being intimate and fangs, not teeth, biting into my neck. Only this time they shredded skin and ripped through muscle.

Pushing away from Melinda, I collapsed to my knees once again and more bile rose from my stomach to try bleach the carpet with it’s unique colour. Melinda pulled my hair from my face, making soothing sounds as her other hand patted my back.

I remained knelt over the mess, my eyes squeeze tightly shut. There was no way this could be real. It couldn’t be. Maybe I was drugged?

“Dean is a werewolf,” I summarised, reclining back to my knees as my head fell back to stare at the ceiling.

“Yes, an Alpha dear. Top of the pack,” She answered, her voice oozing motherly pride.

“My sons are werewolves,” I continued, slowly. The words numbed my mouth and forming them was difficult.

“Why, yes, yes they are. The symptoms you described to the boys all show that your boys are in the midst of their first transition,” She nodded, her fingers combing through my hair. “And it’s the most important one as it creates the pack bond and establishes their nature and place within the pack.”

“They took my sons…all because of Dean.”