N/A- Here is It!!! Enjoy my lovelies❤️❤️
___________________________________________

~Aithne Pov~

When I was 14, I had a particular conversation with my mother. I asked her what it felt like to turn. To experience the change from human to wolf for the first time. I wanted to know if the feeling of the wind blowing through your fur as you ran fast and free, as others said through the forest, was true or an exaggeration. 

Curiosity had taken over. I needed to hear what my mother had to say about her experience. Second, I wanted to see if her answer was the same as everyone else's. 

But the answer she gave was one I never forgot. 

"The memory I have of shifting for the first time is terrifying. Shifting for the first time almost killed me. My screams of agony, the sound of my bones breaking while they altered to my second form, left me dancing on the edge of death for hours. I wanted death. I prayed for it." 

I remember being motionless. I used to hear everyone's answer about shifting. A glorified front. It was a shock to hear it wasn't peaches and rainbows. 

"So it wasn't amazing? I asked her, fear slipping into my voice as I did. 

"Not exactly, baby girl. It was terrifying and horrific at first. Then, of course, it kills most at first, but when you finally shift, what follows after is an unforgettable experience."

Thinking back on her words, I sure hope she's right.

"It's time, Aithne."

I took a deep breath. "Lead the way."

Darius and my mother led me to the secluded area in the woods. The moon slowly but surely peaked through clouds. Rising to her full potential, signaling it was almost time. 

There were blankets, a medical kit, and anything else I could need for my shift. 

My shift. I was shifting tonight. When the moon hit its highest peak, every bone in my body would break. Damn near destroying itself in an attempt to reshape my second form. 

A form I wasn't even sure I would survive to see. 

"Stop." 

I look up. "Stop what?"

Darius doesn't take his eyes off his task of double-checking our inventory for tonight. "Stop trailing down the path of fear. Fear brings doubt, and doubt brings death." 

I scoffed. "Death is already at my front door, watching."

"Tonight, you will be closer to death than ever before, Aithne." Darius's eyes meet mine. "Of course, she'll be watching. It's up to you to ensure that's all she does."

I sighed. "I'll try my best." My heart was heavy to even think about what I would face in the next few hours. 

"No, Aithne, you won't just try. You will. You will survive." Darius grabs my face, directing my eyes to his night sky-blue ones. "You'll have Owen and me tonight to support and guide you through every step." 

"We're a team, Aithne. Meant to rule the pack as one."

I remain silent for a while at that. 

I was shocked. The look in Darius's eyes and the genuineness in his voice told me he was serious. I couldn't detect any hint of a lie. 

I scoff, then laugh. "You give serious whiplash, my guy. I thought you hated me. So now we're meant to rule as one? Make up your mind." 

"I never hated you," Darius started but paused. "I don't hate you. I hate how you act, and I will fix it if I need to." 

"Hmmm." I shrugged. I could argue, but it would get me nowhere, and it certainly wasn't the time for it. 

At least I know he's still a dick, even when trying to be helpful.

"All done," Amanda interjected. She was so quiet I forgot she was here. 

"You're all set. Everything you could need is here." 

"Thank you."

Amanda swallowed, then nervously smiled. "Do..do you need anything else?" 

I shook my head. "No. You're good. You can leave."

She deflated. Her eyes become glossy, and her breath stutters. "Are you sure? I can stay with you an—"

I raise my hand, stopping her mid-speech. "I'm good. Once Owen gets here, I'll be okay for the night."

"Do you even trust them?" 

"I don't trust anymore, but I won't have a choice tonight." 

"I– okay." 

I exhaled in relief. I wasn't going to have to fight her on this. "Thank you. Do you know your way back from here?"

She nodded. "Yes, I know these woods like the back of my hand."

"Okay, text Owen when you get home."

Nodding again, she turns and starts heading toward a more dense part of the woods. I stood there for a while, watching until I could no longer see her. 

"She will be okay."

"I know that, Darius." I sighed. "I'm not worried about her in the slightest. I know she'll be okay. I'm just worried about...."

"About what?"

"Nothing." I shake my head. "It's nothing."

"You're a terrible liar, Anie," a new voice said.

I raise a brow. "And you're still bad at nicknames Owen."

"I'm great at nicknames." Owen laughed. "But we're not here to debate my choice of words."

It went silent after that. My mind found it to be the perfect opportunity to dwell on the inevitable. Why me? Why did it have to be me? 

How was any of this fair? It wasn't fair. I didn't ask for this, yet it was forced upon me anyway. It was–

"Do you like the color purple?"

"What?"

"Do you like the color purple?"

"The movie or the actual color?" Darius asked. "Because both are very questionable things to like."

Owen side-eyes, Darius. "I wasn't asking you, but thanks for the unwanted input."

"If it wasn't for me, you should've been more direct in who you were talking to."

"How about you eat my ass?" Owen threw his hands out. "No? Okay, shut up then."

"Don't tell me what to d—"

"Boys, boys, boys," I interrupt. "Let's not fight. You both can bitch later." 

They both stopped and stared at me, eyebrows raised. 

No words were needed to describe what they wanted to say. Instead, their facial expressions said it all. 

I sucked my teeth in and rolled my eyes. "To answer your question, Owen, purple perse is not my favorite color. Magenta is."

Darius snorted. "So purple in a different shade?" 

"How the fuck does that make sense, Darius?"

"I wasn't talking to you."

"If the question wasn't for me, then you should have been more direct in who you were talking to." Owen mocked. Throwing Darius's earlier words back in his face.

Darius growled. "Don't mock me."

"Don't mock me."

Darius growled again. "I will hurt yo-"

"Is this pretty much how you guys interact with each other?"

Without hesitation, they both answer the same. "Yes."

"Hmm, lovely." I was stuck with a pair of dumbasses.

I took a deep breath and rubbed the back of my neck before rolling my head side to side, trying to slow my racing heart.

It's usually chilly at night, but tonight it was hot. 

Owen eyed me. "Won't be much longer now. "

"What? What do you mean?" my eyes widened. Panic tried to creep its back in. We had just got here. 

"Notice how your breath is speeding up, how uncomfortable you're becoming in your own skin, how it feels like a hot night, and it's mid-November?"

"That could mean anything. It is hot out right now." I tried to bargain. 

How did he know that? I took another deep breath. I knew deep down he was right. The time was nearing. The moon was nearly entirely visible.

The progress of shifting would start soon.

"I'm not ready." I spoke.

It was true I wasn't. I wasn't ready to lay in agony as my body tore itself down. All while fighting for my life in the process. 

I wasn't ready to face that reality. But most of all, I wasn't prepared for what possibly came after if I survived, the responsibility that would be placed on me.

Could I even protect so many people who call our pack home? To defend and avenge them.

Could I even lead them?

"How did you know?" I said, looking at both Darius and Owen. "How did you know you could lead and protect the people of our pack?"

"Instinct," Darius answered. 

Owen stepped in front of Darius. Blocking my view of anything but him. "Yes, Darius is right, Instinct, but when the time comes, you'll know how to lead." 

That didn't make it any less terrifying.

I gulped. "I'm scared." 

"It's okay to be scared, Aithne. We all were at one point." 

Owen shot me a smile before he leaned and hugged me. I hugged him back. His warmth and smell calmed a part of mine. Bringing me a moment of peace within the chaos. "Thank you." I whispered. "For staying with me."

Owen said no words and instead squeezed me a bit tighter. "We may not have grown up together, but after tonight it'll feel like we've known each other for centuries." Owen pulled back to look me in the eyes. "I will always stand by your side, for you are me, and I am you."

I tilted my head to the side. "What do you mean?" 

"You'll understand after tonight."

I sighed and scratched my brow. "Very helpful." 

"Okay, how does this work?" I threw my hands in the air. "Do we just wait it out or...or what."

A look crossed Darius's and Owen's faces, making my stomach drop. Whatever they had to say wasn't going to be good. 

"We have to trigger the chance." Darius spoke after a long-awaited moment. 

I took a step back. "What do you mean you have to trigger the chance."

The atmosphere changed after that. Darius and Owen stood up straight. They watched me after I took a back like they were preparing for the worst. 

"What do you mean to trigger the chance?!" I demanded this time. 

Darius spoke first. "Because you are human-born, your transition will differ from a blood-born werewolf."

"Explain all of it now." I didn't have patience for partial answers.

"When werewolves are born, they are born with magic in their blood." Darius starts. 

"I know that Darius, that textbook history gets to the part where my shifting will be different."

"Because you are not born a werewolf, you don't have the magic, and without your shift, it is virtually impossible to do without it, so Owen and I will have to manually....give it to you."

"And just how the fuck are you guys going to accomplish that!" I snapped. Fuck this man and his need to draw shit out. 

"We..." Darius started but hesitated. "We will have to take turns feeding you our blood."

I laughed. "So we're fucking vampires now."

Owen sucks His teeth. "We serious, Aithne."

"It's not a lot. Just a couple drops here and there until you shift." Darius tried to offer, but I knew he was full of shit. 

I was starting to understand the connection between Owen and Darius now. Bullshit files from their month like diarrhea from the ass. 

"What else?" 

"What?" Owen asked.

"There's more to it, or you guys wouldn't be so on guard about my reaction."

Silence followed again as Darius and Owen stood there with constipated looks. 

It was a long while before any of them spoke. The suspense builds tension like a building block waiting to tip. 

"We will have to bite you again."

The pit of dread in my stomach made sense now. "No."

Cold raw dread spreads through my body. The flashes of agonizing pain from the venom of my mother's bite burning its way through my veins come in hot. 

"No. No. No. No." I shake my head. I couldn't go through that again. I couldn't. Fear had overwhelmed my body entirely. 

I did the only thing my body could allow me to process. 

Run.

I whipped around and ran with speed so powerful. It caught the two alphas before me off guard. 

It wasn't for long. 

I didn't make it long before I was tackled to the ground and restrained. 

"No, please! No!!" I screamed and thrashed, trying to break their hold, but I was pinned.

Owen grunted. "Bite her."

"We need to calm her down first!" Darius hissed back. 

"We don't have time. The moon has already fully risen."

"Fuck!"

"Bite her! Bite her now, Darius, or she dies!"

Darius growled and clenched his jaw. "I'm sorry, Aithne. I didn't want it to happen like this, but we longer have a choice."

I sobbed hard at his words. "Darius, please, please, please don't do this!"

His jaw stayed clenched, and he maneuvered his grip, bringing my arm close to his mouth.

I fought harder. "No! No! Please! No! Please, Darius, please!"

But my pleas fell silent, and Darius bit down.

I let out a blood-curdling scream. 

The pain from his venom was ten times worse than my mother's. 

It's burned like hellfire. Spreading to every inch of my body, leaving nothing untouched. 

All I could do was scream while paralyzed in white-hot agony. 

I screamed again as a horrible disfiguring crack sounded through the air. 

The worst had finally come. 

The first bone broke.

____________________________________________

I hope you all enjoyed 

Tell me what you thinkkkk 

Kazzy out!!!