Brotherhood

Chapter 34

Amy starting coming to oh so slowly, and even though her mind felt hazy, she could hear voices. Far, distant voices.

"She's been like this for far too long," one of the voices said. "I'm worried. What if she didn't survive?"

Another voice said, "She had to have survived. Her heart is still beating and it's getting stronger each minute."

Amy slowly opened her eyes and had to squeeze them shut again when everything looked too clear, too focused. What had happened to her?

She tried again and both her father and Geric came into focus, peering down at her with worried expressions. Where was she?

"Amy!" her father cried, starting to rush toward her when Geric held him back roughly with his arm.

"Don't go near her," Geric growled. "She might accidentally lash out."

When Amy got her bearings just enough, she opened her mouth to ask Geric what he meant by that, but the only sound passing through her mouth was a wolfish whine. Her eyes widened as she glanced down at herself, her heart missing a beat when all she saw was brown, grey, and white fur. Furry body. Furry arms. Furry tail.

Amy leapt to her feet in fright and in her haste knocked several items in the tent to the floor. She let out another frightened whine as she stumbled backwards, knocking over even more things to the ground. Everything was too clear, too sharp, and noises bombarded her ears in an overwhelming array of chaos.

Both Geric and her father tried saying something to her, but she felt too frightened to listen. She caught sight of the open tent flap behind them and bolted right past Geric and into the light. Another panicked whine escaped her as the bright light blinded her, and then all she could see were the stares. Stares from her soldiers. Stares from the werewolves. All eyes in the camp were on her.

Involuntarily, her distress caused her tail to tuck between her legs and her ears to lie flat against her head, and then she couldn't take their stares any longer. She started to back up slowly, and then without another moment's hesitation, Amy hurtled toward the cover of the forest, running faster and faster, light footfall after light footfall. Her feet kept stumbling on fallen trees and roots, not used to running on all fours, until she couldn't run anymore. Her chest hurt. Her chest hurt so badly.

Finally, she collapsed next to a small lake, her breathing heavy and ragged. She was a werewolf. She was a werewolf. She was a werewolf.

She tried crying, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was small, heartbreaking whines. What was going on? Why on earth was she a werewolf? How was she supposed to change back?

Amy flopped over onto her side exhaustedly, letting out a huff from her nose. Her wolf nose. She could see her nose. Oh, her poor little soul. She could see her nose.

Once again, her shoulders began shaking, and then she just gave up entirely. It wasn't the same. As a werewolf, she couldn't express herself in the way that she wanted to. How on earth had this happened? Could this be a dream?

A couple minutes later, her ears pricked up as she heard a sound behind her in the brush, and exhaustedly she sat up to find Geric standing just yards away in his wolf form, his movements cautious and calculated. He let out a whine, but this time she could understand him.

Amy, everything is okay. I'm here for you.

More than anything, she wished she could speak, but human language wouldn't come out of her mouth, so she had to hope that her words came across without sounding stupid.