Wolf Country

Chapter 9- Activated

When I come to, I don't open my eyes at first. My hands are the first things that seem to come alive as I feel the soft sheets that I'm lying on. There's a warm blanket over me and fluffy pillows supporting my head. One of my hands is being held by someone; I don't know who it is, but their hands are smooth and warm. There's a dull ache in my ankle and my whole body feels sore. I breathe in deeply through my nose, taking in the familiar scent of lavender that fills my mother's room.

"Mom?" I rasp, opening my eyes. My mouth feels like it's full of cotton and my throat is as dry as a desert, but seeing my mother sitting by the bed and holding my hand makes me feel a lot better. "What happened?"

"You were bitten," she says softly, stroking my head gently. "You've been out for three days."

"Three days?" I repeat in disbelief. How is this even possible? How could I have been unconscious for three whole days? "I...where's Adam? I need to talk to him."

My mom's face darkens and she lets go of my hand, leaning back in her chair. "You're not going anywhere near him Scarlett. He gave you that bite and I almost lost you."

"But you didn't," I protest, furrowing my eyebrows. "I'm fine now, and I would like to--"

"Don't you get it Scarlett?" she snaps. "Your blood is no longer dormant. You can turn now!"

I freeze and look up at her, my eyes widening. My heart starts to pound in my chest as I think of what this means for me. I don't feel exceptionally different; I still feel like a normal person. "I know I said I wanted you to be closer to your father's pack, but this was supposed to be your choice. Now what? We have no clue how you react during the full moon, and who's supposed to help you through your first turn? How dare he rely on you to--?"

"I'm going to his house," I interrupt, sliding off the bed and only wincing slightly when my hurt leg hits the floor. "Like you said, who's supposed to help me with that stuff? You certainly can't."

Absolutely furious now, my mom follows me as I stride out of her room and into mine to get some clothes to wear. "You walk out of this house and there will be hell to pay. Sleeping over there is what got you into this situation in the first place!" she says angrily as I pull off the pajamas she apparently put on me and change into some jeans and a sweater. I ignore her and go downstairs, grabbing her car keys off the counter. I know she'll be mad at me but at the moment I don't care. I need answers about this new situation. Before I knew I had this option, but now I have no choice. I need to learn as much as I can.

I go outside to her car as she storms after me, yelling at me to come back into the house. Slamming the car door closed, I back out quickly and speed down the long driveway to the road. The whole drive to the Norwood house I'm fuming at the fact that she can't understand why I need to do this. Why can't she see that if I hadn't locked Adam up, there would've been a whole lot more to answer for? But then my mind starts churning my thoughts more and more in my head and a new revelation crops up: I wouldn't be in this situation at all if Adam had remembered the full moon. How do you forget something that's that big of a deal? How do you not have months and months of full moons memorized for that very reason?

By the time I pull up to his house and see his truck parked outside, all my anger towards my mom has disappeared, replaced with anger towards Adam instead. I climb out of the car and slam the door closed, storming up onto the porch and opening the usually unlocked door. There are people on the couch, a few of the teenagers of the pack sitting around and watching television. Adam is seated in the armchair, drinking from a bottle of Coke. He looks up and his eyes widen as I stalk over to him, my blood boiling.