CHAPTER THREE – SHE-WOLF

Cassi’s consciousness slowly returned with all her senses. She could hear the crackling embers of a controlled fire and the light tapping of rain against a wooden roof and glass windows. She felt the softness of a mattress beneath her, felt the threads of the warm blanket thrown over her body.

Then she smelt the blood.

Startled by the metallic, cloying scent, she sat upright fast. Her heart was hammering in terror as the memory of the wolf attack crashed into her almost like a physical force. She looked around wildly for danger. She could still smell the blood and it had her alert in a way she never had been before. It forced everything around her out of focus.

Hands appeared in the haze and gripped her shoulder’s. They guided her back into the mattress with soothing words Cassi couldn’t yet make out. She could smell blood on them and tried to bat them away, but the person was strong.

“Easy now, easy. Try to calm down. You’re going to lose control if you don’t.”

Cassi was confused. Lose control? It was a strange thing to say, but she didn’t like the sound of it. She forced herself to breathe slower, ignoring the obvious smell wafting around her that had such a severe effect on her body. The hand lightened their hold and the person in front of Cassi began to come into focus.

She was a tall, butch woman with very short dark blonde hair and a sharp face. She had a nose ring that glinted in the firelight, and when she smiled toothily, Cassi noticed animalistic canines in her mouth.

Cassi felt like she should be afraid of this woman. Common sense told her that this was a stranger, but she didn’t feel like it. Strangely enough, Cassi felt safe around this woman, almost as though she were family. Cassi wanted to be as close to her as she could, suddenly, and had to stop herself from moving right up to the woman.

‘What the hell is wrong with me?’ Cassi wondered. There was no denying the stranger was gorgeous in a strong, masculine way, but Cassi’s need to press up against her and even inhale her scent? It wasn’t normal. For a moment, Cassi wondered if she had been drugged.

The woman seemed to sense Cassi’s discomfort and shifted away from her a little, sitting on the end of the bed now but still facing Cassi.

“My name is Lora,” the woman explained. “And this is my cabin. It’s outside of the reserve, but not far from the edge of it. It’s well hidden, so no one can stumble across it.”

Cassi felt her heart speed up. This woman had kidnapped her, then? “So no one will find me,” she said, not forming it as a question.

Lora looked shocked. “Is… is that what you think is happening here?” A smile spread across her face and she chuckled. “Oh, sweetheart, you couldn’t have misread this any worse.”

Lora rose to her feet and started to pace, her arms crossed over her chest. “How do I explain this…” she mumbled to herself. Cassi took the opportunity to take in this woman. She was tall and well-muscled, but not over the top like a bodybuilder. She was tanned from the sun and Cassi spotted more studs in her left ear as the woman continued to pace.

Finally, Lora stopped and turned to Cassi. “Okay, I guess I’ll just come out with it.” She kneeled before Cassi and put a hand gently on her knee. Cassi almost bucked with surprise, and perhaps something else, but managed to control her body.

Lora’s next words were met with a heavy silence. “I’m a werewolf, and I saved your life.”

Cassi stared back at Lora, into her deep green eyes and felt herself frowning at the ridiculousness of the lie. She studied Lora, looked for signs of obvious insanity. There were none, but it couldn’t possibly be true anyway. As Cassi opened her mouth to speak, Lora shook her head and raised a hand.

“Not done yet, not by a long shot. Jus t hear me out, okay?”

Cassi closed her mouth and motioned for this obviously delirious or mentally challenged woman to continue.

Lora stayed in that spot but had removed her hand from Cassi’s knee. Cassi found herself missing the contact.

“Like I said, I’m a werewolf,” Lora continued. “That white wolf you saw kill the other one? That was me. The other wolf was a werewolf too, but not a nice one.” She sighed. “I’d been tracking him for days in the reserve to take him out before he killed someone. I was lucky to find you in time, or rather… unlucky, considering the circumstances.”

Cassi was afraid to humor the woman, but wanted to know how far this rabbit hole went. “What do you mean? What circumstances?” she dared to ask.

Lora sighed and stood. The fire burned brightly behind her and in the darkness of the cabin, the embers giving off the only light, she looked different. Wild. Something about her was not human. Cassi dared, in that moment, in something impossible.

“I bit you, Cassi, and it turned you into my kind. You’re a werewolf now.”

Cassi swallowed hard, her heart rate rising again. It was hot suddenly, too hot. She remembered the attack perfectly well in her mind. She remembered the terror, the pain. She looked down at herself, noticing for the first time that there was no longer any pain. The blood remained, dried on her clothes, but as she lifted her shirt she was shocked to see no wounds. Clean, unblemished pale skin was all she saw. Her eyes drifted to her arms, also free of any evidence of the attack, and then… she saw it.

A bitemark on her wrist.

It was the only wound remaining on her body.

Could Lora be telling the truth?

Darkness crept into Cassi’s vision and she felt herself sliding from the bed. Her name was shouted in a panic and strong arms circled her body, lifting her back onto the mattress. Lora was there, her earthy scent mixed with a spicy cologne of some kind. Cassi drank in her scent, no longer fighting it. Her body responded and she reached out to the woman in front of her, the woman whose scent called to her in ways no woman had ever before. Lora’s hand took Cassi’s and gently held it to her own chest.

“Easy, Cass. I’ve got you.” Lora’s voice was husky, different. She was fighting something inside her that Cassi knew wanted her as much as she wanted Lora.

Moments of the two women breathing deeply and fighting their impulses passed, and Cassi became aware of tears running down her face. She swiped at them, self-conscious, but they kept coming. She couldn’t deny it. She knew it her heart that every word Lora spoke was true.

She was no longer human.

Lora held Cassi as she cried, rubbing circles on her back and holding her head to her chest. Lora let Cassi breathe in her scent, knowing it would calm the woman. Cassi did, holding onto Lora like a lifeline and pressing her nose to Lora’s collar to breathe her in. Lora felt like safety, like home. Like family. Cassi needed all of those things now.

It took some time for Cassi to collect herself again. She gently began to pull herself from Lora’s hold and the woman released her but stayed beside her on the bed.

“You know my name,” Cassi said. Everything was a whirlwind around her, but that small realization stood out in the storm.

Lora nodded and smiled weakly. “When a werewolf bites a human to turn them, they see their soul. I saw you Cassi, the life you’ve lived, the emotions in your heart, everything that makes you Cassi Wakeland.”

Cassi felt herself go red. Lora knew everything about her now. There was so much she had to hide from the world, and this woman had learned it all in an instant.

Lora touched her hand and gently held it in her own larger one. “It’s alright, Cassi. You have nothing to be afraid of. In face…” Lora’s face went red this time. She looked away bashfully. “Your soul, it was beautiful. There wasn’t anything about it that wasn’t perfect. There wasn’t a single crack or blemish.”

Cassi smiled despite herself. “Bit of a poet, then, are you?” she laughed, knowing it was rude but unable to help it. She needed to lighten the situation.

Lore bumped her with her shoulder, cheeks still red. “Hey, come on! That came right from the heart, you know.”

Cassi giggled, then Lora began to laugh. Before long the pair were in hysterics. It felt good to let it all go and they did so, laughing at the top of their lungs before they both collapsed backwards onto the mattress.

Lying together, Cassi realized that this woman across from her, Lora, felt like a friend lost in the past she had finally found again. But was there more? She felt it, the tug inside of her heart, the urge to seek out more from Lora. As Lora’s green eyes searched Cassi’s, she knew the feeling was mutual. It was too early, though. It was too soon to jump into anything. Though Lora had seen Cassi’s soul, inside and out, Cassi had yet to learn about Lora. She shook her head gently at Lora, and Lora received the message loud and clear. She nodded, then sat up, helping Cassi up with her.

“So,” Cassi began. “Now that I’m a werewolf… what happens next?”

Lora stretched her long arms and sighed. “Being the first human I’ve turned, I’m not so sure myself, but I do know that the change is permanent, and I’m afraid that the wolf inside of you is going to want to leave it’s cage. The next few weeks are going to rough, Cassi, I won’t lie.”

Cassi nodded slowly. “I’ll need to change into the wolf,” she realized aloud.

“I’ll be here with you the whole time,” Lora assured her. “I’ll walk you through it, teach you everything I was taught.” Her hand cupped Cassi’s jaw, her thumb stroking her cheek. “You’re not alone, Cassi.”

For the first time in Cassi Wakefield’s life, she believed those words completely. She no longer felt like she was battling the world alone.

Lora was there with her.