Goodnight

20

My mouth is dry. I never usually have a dry mouth when I wake up. Then again, I never usually donate large amounts of blood before going to sleep.

I can't move, Ash is still sleeping and I don't want to wake him, but he does look better. His colour is back, the dark circles gone, he looks nowhere near as breakable as he did before. I smile then, small and to myself. I did that, he shut up and I saved his life. It feels good to know someone is alive because of me.

The door creaks open, much too loudly. My grip on the knife in my hand tightens. Mac pokes his head through the door, having clearly just been awoken. His shaggy brown hair hangs over his eyes and sticks up in strange tufts. His brown eyes are half closed, as he peers into the room.

"What are you doing?" My voice is a harsh whisper.

"I was on watch last night. You want anything?" He sounds as sleep clouded as he looks. I skip over the fact that they have watches on me and ask for water. Mac nods and leaves, closing the door with a hushed click.

"I hope you were suffering from temporary insanity last night" Why is Ash so good at just speaking out of the blue? It would be annoying if I wasn't thrilled to hear him healthy. "You could have killed yourself" He sits up, leaning against the wall next to me.

"You're alive aren't you? That's all that matters" I don't look at him, I look at the pebble collection on the shelf opposite the bed, one for each of us for every summer we spent here.

"If thats all that matters, you wouldn't have left in the first place." He is emotionless.

"I had my reasons" I am equally as emotionless.

Mac enters with a glass of water, looking like he interrupted something. I thank him as he leaves.

"Surely the fact that I even saved you would prove something" Slowly sipping at my water makes me feel oddly relaxed.

"I just don't understand. I thought you were happy" He looks at me now, hurt and confusion swirling in his eyes.

"I don't know what I felt but, Ash, I need you to help me understand what I am now" My own eyes plead with him and his gaze darts down, he breaths out a long breath before looking up at me.

"My kind are half animal, in brains more than looks. Yours are half animal in looks rather than brains. By marking you, I woke up the part of your brain that is animal, that is like us. You are becoming more like us, hence the..raw meat" He is honest, I'll give him that.

"So, I'm becoming more like my spirit animal, more like a wolf? What if I become fully wolf? Will I?" Curiosity fuels my questions more than fear.

Ash only gives me a sympathetic look. "I don't know"

"I'm...I'm gonna go see if the others are here yet. It's best if you stay where you are" Ash nods and I leave, wiping away the sleep in my eyes as I make my way into the sitting area. I put the knife into the sink and wash all of the dishes that surround. If the others hate Ash already, I don't want to give them more to fuel that hate. The first aid kit has a thick layer of dust coating the green box, which makes me cough as I pull it down from the top of the cupboards. Nothing in that box can help. Great. I settle for just cleaning the cut and grab a bottle of water, as I settle myself on the old sofa.

Mac comes to sit with me after a while, he is now fully awake and sits almost anxiously on the edge of his seat.

"What's wrong with you?" He looks at me quickly, as if he had forgotten I was here, then looks towards to door.

"It makes me nervous to have him here and we need to figure out what to do about him" He speaks fast, like he shouldn't be speaking at all.

"What-" The door opening cuts me off. Mac immediately stands up and reaches Bade and the others in a few steps, as they walk through the door. "Don't whisper again, just tell me what's going on"

They all look at each other, then hesitantly come to sit with me.

"We need to decide what we are going to do with him" Bade speaks. Bade is always the one to speak, maybe the others just don't like to bear bad news.

"Would you listen to yourself. You sound like you're considering killing him" Bade opens his mouth, closes it then looks down, his thumbs spinning. "You're considering killing him...Who are you?" I don't recognise this person, Bade would never even think of doing this. This isn't Bade, this isn't any of them.

"Oh crap" We all look at Ash, standing in the doorway with a nervous smile. Idiot. He just made a bad situation worse. I skip over being mad at him and watch the others, looking for any slight change, listening for anything. The smells of the cabin fill my nose, the dusty woody smell of the place, the forest mossy smells of Bade and the artificial apple smell of Mirabel. It surprises me that I can't pinpoint who the other smells belong to, I've known these people all my life yet they appear different now.

I need to keep a check on this, I don't realise that I have half turned again until I notice everyone staring at me.

"Don't do anything stupid" Ash whispers this, in a voice so hushed that I'm sure it is impossible for anyone else to hear him.

"Zev, what..." Mirabel can't seem to wrap her head around why I would be half turned, she is so innocent.

"She's making sure we aren't threats" It hard to ignore the disgusted tone in which Bade says this.

"Well you can see why I would be on edge" My tone is equally as disgusted, my gaze fixed on Bade. His eyes slip down to my arm, to the fresh cut that I cannot hide. The bitter scent of rage begins to roll off of him, catching the back of my throat and his eyes flash the dark brown of a bear. I lunge for him but my fingers only touch Bades shirt before he is running after Ash, who has already left the cabin and is noisily running through forest.

A growl of frustration escapes me as my body reshapes and I take off running after Ash and Bade.

A pained cry seeps through the trees, ringing in the morning air. A howl.