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Chapter 2: The Awakening

I gaze down and see paws that startle me at first. I gasp at the closeness, realizing they are mine—where my hands should be, flat on the ground. Large, clawed, but strong paws; larger than I thought they would be. I lift one and shake it, almost as if I need to convince myself that I can use and control this limb, that it’s truly connected to my body. My legs are solid, with thick silver-grey fur, and all the way up my muscular chest, I have a streak of the purest snow-white that travels as far as I can see. I stare at it, lean back, and pull my chin in tight to follow it until I can't strain any further. I have very little memory of my mother in her true form, but I know this is from her. She was a white, and my father was a silver; it's rare to combine both in such a way. Most wolves are brown or grey—white is a mutation that's almost unheard of, and my mother used to try and hide herself because it only brought stares.

I shake my head, the unfamiliar weight of a different form pulling me from side to side. I’m not fully in control of my limbs or movements just yet, but I’m aware it's so much bigger than my human skull. I stagger on strange legs and fall down flat, splaying out and bumping my undercarriage as I collide with the stone. I’m suddenly aware of the scene around me, coming back into focus, and I realize we are still being watched. I sober up fast as my new metabolism pushes the last of the drugs out of my system and cleanses my blood. The atmosphere is charged, and I'm surrounded by newly changed wolves of all shades of grey and brown, although I'm the only one with white in my coat.

I turn as the Shaman’s chants draw my eyes back to him, but I trip over my own uncoordinated self as I try to right myself and get up. It's hard to use my hands as front legs, and I instinctively rear backwards too far onto my haunches, losing my balance. I reel forward again to correct it, before tumbling face-forward to the ground once more, meeting the dust with a lower jaw clunk.

"It gets easier. Try to stay on your feet. All four of them."

The voice above me pulls my head to tilt towards it, and I recoil as I realize Colton Santo is standing right by me, watching as I make a spectacle of myself by falling flat on my new legs. I don't know if I'm shocked that he spoke to me or wary that he did. I've never trusted anything about him or any of his motives, and I wonder when he got over here—so close. Avoiding looking directly at him, I keep my eyes averted and attempt to get to grips with this weird body, focusing on learning to use it. All I can do is whimper back, realizing I have no ability to form words this way, and I instinctively go into my own head-link.

Wolves in the same pack have a mental connection, so they can communicate without talking—which is admittedly impossible as a wolf, since we don’t have the vocal cords for human speech. It's also possible to talk to one not from your own pack if they are close enough and willing to hear you. It feels strange. I attempt to link with him, weirded out by this new, almost natural ability I didn’t have before. I'm overwhelmed by all of this and not sure if I am still heavily drugged in this form, or if this surreal new way to experience everything is "wolf sense." Things affect us differently as humans, and this disorientation might just be something I have to adjust to.

Yeah well, walk it off. Learn fast.

He links me back, a husky familiarity to his voice inside my head that does strange things to my stomach. It's hardly a polite response, and the tone tells me he doesn't really want to have any sort of communication with me, especially not in a head-link. I'm not one of his pack, and I'm not even on the same level as him. It's disrespectful to try. As if to further demonstrate the point, he walks off towards his father, and I flop down to get to grips with everything that just hit me. I'm heavy, and I'm not sure how to navigate my dog-body when I've spent my life walking on two legs. I must weigh four times my usual weight for sure, although the size of my paws suggests maybe even more.

"The turning will not last... only fleeting moments for your first time. When you come out, you will be awoken, and your path will lead you to your destiny. Pay attention, be alert. You are now on the other side."

The Shaman states it loudly, and it echoes around the mountain like a sort of prophetic song. It’s one I have heard so many times, but yet this time, it finally means something to me. I get up on unsure legs once more, slowly, like Bambi on newborn limbs, and lift my head as I know I'm meant to. In unison with all around me, we stretch our necks out, lift our noses to the heavens, and howl at the moon for the first time in our lives, as one united pack. No matter who we are, where we are from, whatever our bloodline or our past.

It’s long, soulful, and filled with meaning. A sound that echoes around us, through us, and is joined by the hundreds who watch until we fill the night sky with a somber, eerie hum that will reverberate around the mountains and put the fear of God into the wildlife. We are united in one song that finalizes our transformation. It feels strange at first—my throat vibrates, it aches and rasps my vocal cords—but as my belly empties, my air departs, and the longest yowl comes cascading out of me. Until it scratches my throat and makes me breathless, I feel alive. Like I have been holding my breath and waiting for this my whole life. I guess I have. This is what I was born to be, and with the Awakening comes freedom. I can leave. I can run. I can live off the land and hunt to survive. I'm no longer bound by the confines of humans in terms of getting by. Wolves can live anywhere as long as they can hunt, and although we are pack animals in mentality, I've heard stories of isolated wolves doing fine on their own. That is what I have planned, longed, and waited for, and I know where I'm heading. I can finally realize my dream of leaving all of this behind and finding my solitary peace somewhere out there—as far away from these mountains and people as I can—and never looking back.

As soon as I relax, our call stops and the energy in me fades fast. I’m overcome with fatigue that makes me slump back down and flake out on my belly, sighing as my body tingles and itches with a thousand little tremors. Glancing down in time to watch as everything changes back faster than I thought it would. Fur that was keeping me warm, on paws instead of hands... it all begins to recede. Unlike my transformation to beast, the reversal is not painful at all. It's fast, almost instant, and before I can blink or even get to grips with what is happening, I am nakedly human.

I’m smeared in my own blood and flat out in a huddled heap on the floor, which saves me some of my dignity by shielding my body. I scramble to pull myself into a ball, aware I am completely uncovered and exposed to the hundreds of eyes around us. I jump when my blanket is tossed towards me by the nearby Damon. He smirks as his eyes devour my nudity, and I recoil, embarrassed and ashamed at being naked in front of everyone. I'm mad as hell that he made sure I would have to cross eight feet to get the blanket. I glare at him, forgetting myself for a moment, and then ponder not going to get it and just huddling up to cover myself instead. Others were tossed theirs directly, and looking around, I realize I am the only one who has to go crawling for hers like an animal. He is trying to humiliate me, and I move fast to catch it.

I’m shocked when the slightest movement sends me shooting towards him at lightning speed, and I end up almost at his feet in the blink of an eye.

"Wow."

I blurt it out loud and get laughed at by someone nearby as they realize how naive I am about the speed and power we all just inherited. It's another change in me I have to get used to. I grab the blanket and try to crawl backwards while pulling it over me, but I fall onto my back as it's jerked tight and yanked taut, sending my head crashing on the smooth stone below me, bouncing my skull painfully. Damon sniggers, his foot on the edge of it as he looks down at me with complete disdain. He’s laughing at how much he is enjoying making a show of me, and I have no choice but to try and pull the blanket from him once more.

My face is reddening with heat, and I’m aware of many more muffled sniggers and laughs at my expense; I can't conceal the shame washing over me. I know others are watching—my senses are hitched up real high, and my body is goosebumping all over in response. I can feel their eyes on me from all over, and I want to sink into the ground and disappear. I yank, but the blanket begins to tear from the pressure near my end, and I have no choice but to stop or be left with a scrap that will cover nothing.

"For God's sake, Damon. This isn't the time or place. My father is staring at you. Pack it in."

Colton snarls at him, pushes him from behind, and comes into view. He shoves Damon off the blanket and swoops down to pick it up with speed. He walks forward in two confident strides and hands it straight to me, bending slightly as he does so to make sure I get it without any more interference. I know he’s only doing it to save face, exert his dominance in front of his father, and save Damon from punishment later. Either way, for the first time ever, I'm thankful for him and relieved he is an Alpha in the making.

I reach out and take it gratefully, quickly pulling it around me and hiding what's on show. I'm afraid to really look at him, but it's almost impulsive as his hand—still attached to the corner—briefly touches my shoulder in passing because of how speedy I am. A hot, searing flash runs through my body alarmingly, igniting something tingly inside of me that I can't identify. It's like being zapped by a low-strength taser, and I gasp at the contact, glancing up at him as he attempts to rise to standing, seemingly also recoiling from what was maybe just an electric shock.

For one brief millisecond of synchronized surprise, our eyes lock... It's all it takes. One second of direct focus, a meeting of eyes I have never dared to look into before, and the worst thing in the world happens to me. We connect; visions, images, and projections start flowing through my mind at neck-breaking speed that fries my brain, and I cannot break his gaze or look away. I’m startled into silence, locked in, and unable to fight what happens. My body is rigid and paralyzed, controlled by this higher force as we're forcefully held, trapped in an intense staredown while his dark, almost black eyes eat into my soul.

His memories, my memories, his fears, my fears—they become a jumbling mass of zooming information, flooding, invading my mind, and overtaking me. I'm body-slammed with an overwhelming amount of emotions in literal seconds that could potentially zap your brain to death. My body, my heart, my soul, all pulled into this flash of breath, which completely spins my world on tilt and changes everything instantaneously. I’m rooted to the spot, aware only of the darkest chocolate eyes on mine, unable to break free, yet marooned as if I suddenly found home. His gaze goes from "sworn enemy" to "lifeline" in my darkness. Neither of us can do anything in our paralyzed state but let it happen, until the wild ride of transferring all we are, all we know, and all we feel is done, and we are left shell-shocked from the fallout.

Breathless, reeling from the invasion of his life, his memories, and his history pouring into my shocked memory banks, I finally snap out of it and fall backwards in a slump. I’m released from whatever the hell that was and momentarily dazed. I’m fully incapable of any kind of movement as I lay on the ground, startled into silence and lightheaded from what felt like a physical assault.

"Holy shit."

Colton’s voice waves my way, sounding equally shocked and as breathless as me, and I strain up to see him—also on the ground, but on his knees, looking like someone just sucker-punched him in the stomach. He falls forward to drop his palms on the ground to hold himself steady. His eyes are wide, and his skin is pale, which is unusual for his normal tanned hue. He looks like someone just told him the worst news he ever wanted to hear in his life, and he's reeling in the aftermath. Around us is complete and utter silence, like a pin could drop and be heard right now, and I have no idea what to think.

"They just imprinted," one solo voice squeaks out, and it echoes around us like someone announcing a death sentence.

"No, that can’t have happened..." another says moments later... and then another, and another. The voices blend and blur as my fingers find my skull and I start scrubbing my head to get my brain to start functioning. To figure out what just happened to me. The mutterings of one or two become many, deafening as they all begin to verbalize their questions at what they just saw. Me? I did what?... No. It can't be.

I lay here, dumbfounded, trying to pull my thoughts together—unsure why I now know how he likes his coffee, or his favorite song, or why I suddenly can't get the strong scent of him out of my nostrils, or the need to get up and go hug him out of my brain. The crazy, primal urge to get up and go sit on him and do things I never wanted to do before, or even a few seconds ago. It's like every part of my soul is suddenly attuned to him, even though he’s feet away. I lay back down and try to breathe through the oncoming panic, trying to rationalize what this was as I draw in air with shallow breaths and try to let my body recover from the huge zap he gave me.

"Silence!"

Juan Santo demands with a venomous tone, echoing around the mountain. Like a sudden clap of thunder, his voice halts the rest of the chaotic noise, giving me some relief before my brain explodes. He storms towards us and physically drags his son up by the shoulder from his slumped position. Gripping and hauling him like a madman, he angrily turns to face him once on his feet, raw anger erupting all over.

"Tell me you didn't!" he demands in a cruel tone, but Colton seems as spangled as me. He’s knocked sideways and unsure what the hell just happened to us. His normally confident stance is loose, and he seems unsteady on his own legs.

"I don't know what that was... I've never... I don't know!"

His cocky, dominant tone is lacking too, and I can feel his eyes back on me as I struggle to sit up, pulling myself into a sitting ball. I finally have the courage to stare at them. As soon as I meet Colton’s eyes again, that same jolt hits me in my heart and stomach like a massive thud, and I know this isn't anything else. I’ve heard enough about it to know what it is. I’ve seen it happen to others. The need to go over and wrap myself in his arms, the longing way we stop and gaze at one another as urge blots out sense and beast overtakes human reasoning.

He stares at me with the same instinctual longing I find myself throwing his way, the unspoken need to walk towards him and touch each other. We just imprinted, and the Fates gave me my mate. Colton Santo is my destined Alpha, the wolf that I'm meant to spend eternity with and follow wherever he goes—until the end of time. He's my path set in stone, my lover, my life, the father to my future offspring.

And I can't imagine anything worse.