From The Ashes.

Chapter 4

The scream ripped through the air, echoing through the forest, the most pure sound of pain I had ever heard. Llewellyn and Zak, still in wolf form, shuffled in the snow, looking around as though trying to locate the sound. I raced to the trunk of the tree, looking up through the leaves and branches in search of the source of the scream. But found nothing. No sign of coal black hair or a dark blue jumper. I could see right through the branches and into the sky. My eyebrows furrowed as I pushed myself against the trunk, trying to see if the boy had climbed around the tree so as not to be seen. But it wasn't a mistake. He wasn't there. Silence swirled around us, my heart racing in my ears, as anticipation crushed down around me. Something was very wrong, and it wasn't just people turning into wolves. After a few moments, I went to turn away, thinking he must have climbed down and was hiding in the undergrowth, when another heart wrenching screamed tore through the air. And then there he was, black hair and blue jumper all, clinging to the trunk of the tree, his face screwed up in pain, sitting exactly where I'd just been looking. 

His hands were trembling against the trunk, his body wrapped into a ball as he sobbed, the little sounds so quiet I almost couldn't hear them above the sound of the trees. I didn't hesitate, grabbing onto the closest branch, I pulled myself up into the tree and quickly found my way over to him. I was lucky he'd chosen one of the largest branches on the tree as I climbed my way around so I was sitting behind him.

"Hey Monkey, I got you, I got you." I said, wrapping my arms around his waist. He didn't respond, continuing to shake in my arms. I leaned over to find Llewellyn and Zak looking up at me, still in that damned wolf form.

"Would you mind turning human? I need help getting him down!" I shouted. The boy screamed again and I flinched, my ears throbbing as I pulled him closer to me when Zak pranced below me, jumping on his forelegs as though trying to tell me something.

"Will you just change back?" Glaring at the stupid wolf, I started trying to detach the boys hands from the tree bark when Zak shook his head, snorting into the snow. I paused, frowning at the wolf when he pointed with his snout at the sky. I frowned and twisted in my new vantage point of the tree, when the snow surrounding us suddenly lit up silver and a large orb began to rise through the branches. I blinked, looking down to find Zak pacing beneath us, Llewellyn gone from sight. I could see his concern in the way his tilted his head, the frustration in the way he couldn't sit still. 

"The full moon made you shift?" I asked and the wolf nodded, his fur looking like a wave of black as he moved. I swallowed, looking at the boy in front of me, only to almost fall out of the tree. Because the boy wasn't there, but he was. I could still feel him, trembling in my arms but he was no where to be seen. I froze, every muscle tensing in place, as I was too scared to move until he appeared again. What if he moved and I couldn't tell? For a fleeting moment, the thought that all of this was impossible creeped into my mind but I pushed it away. Now was not the time to have an existential crisis.

For a few moments, I held my breath, terrified to even breathe when something strange happened beneath my hands. I could feel the boys waist, too skinny and wrapped in a jumper, even though I couldn't see him but for a moment, just for a fleeting moment, I thought I felt the waist of an animal, the fur soft beneath my fingers. And then, like nothing had happened, the boy was straight back in front of me. I exhaled in relief before untangling his fingers from the tree.

"Come on Monkey, I need you to work with me. We gotta get you off this tree but I can't climb with you in my arms. You gotta turn around and hold onto me. Can you do that, Monkey?" I asked, loosening my grip on his waist. I swallowed, watching, waiting, for him to hopefully do something. I didn't know how else to get him down if he didn't respond but slowly, slowly, the trembling boy managed to pull one leg over the branch and reach for me. I grabbed his arms, looping his hands around my neck so he could hang on, hooking his legs around my waist I kissed the top of his head.