Darkness of the Moon

C8: Changing and Attacking

"Come on, Harper. Concentrate!" Alec yells at me again. I've been at this for hours, why is it so damn hard to change?

I just collapse in a heap, exhausted. Alec shifts back to wolf form, "come on, Harp, you'll get it eventually," he sighs, "come on, let's try again."

He stands and goes through the motions again; calm the mind. Imagine yourself changing, every little thing from the form of your body structure, to the colour of your eyes. Finally, feel the warmth flow through your body as you shift back to your human form.

He has repeated this numerous times already, changing from wolf to human and back several times, but I just can't seem to get it.

I watch him do it again, his back to me. His fur glows and slowly changes to skin, his hair forming perfectly of his head, his arms and legs morphing and straightening, the muscles in his back flexing and relaxing. He completes the formation and quickly puts his shorts back on.

I rest my head on my paws, "I give up. I'll just stay like this forever," I complain.

He sighs and sits by my head, letting his hands run through my fur, "take a break, we'll try again in a little while," he replies in my head.

I nod my head and lay back down.

"I'll be back, I will get some water for you," he says, out loud this time.

He stands back up and heads into the house. I sit there and paw at the grass, being a wolf is tiring.

No it's not, your just lazy, Lisa says. Yes, Lisa, I don't know where that came from, she just made it up I think. It's better than calling her 'my wolf' all the time so I just went with it.

Shut up. I am not lazy, I have been on the run since I was twelve, I'm pretty used to running and climbing and stuff, I'm just not experienced in changing my entire body from wolf to human in a matter of seconds, I shoot back.

I hear a rustling in the bushes, probably a bird or something. Alec comes out with a Bork of water and a glass for himself. He puts the bowl in front of me, I lap it up, soothing my dry mouth. A twig snaps somewhere behind me. I dismiss it and continue drinking.

Alec stands up beside me and I look up at him with wide eyes. He puts his finger to his lips without looking down at me. He treads lightly across the grass, silently moving towards the sounds. Daniel steps out of the trees.

"What have you done to her?" He demands Alec.

"Nothing compared to what I will do if you don't leave," he growls in the back of his throat.

Jake walks out, "you said... Never mind," he trails off as he sees the stand off between my brother and Alec.

"I almost killed you once, what makes you think I won't do it again?" Alec questions. I stand and try desperately to change back to my human form.

"Because is you try to kill me, she will die," as if on queue, a knife presses itself against my throat, small tufts of fur falling as it is slit.

"I told you we would find you, dear sister," he steps past Alec, "you are going to cooperate eventually, if not, well I already told you that. You will suffer,"

I see Alec's black wolf in my peripheral vision. I concentrate harder and suddenly warmth flows through me, changing me back to my human form. My father loses his grip on me as I shrink back to my normal size, quickly sprinting out of the way as Alec leaps on him. I run to where Jason was standing and chuck on a random oversized shirt.

Cristina and a few more members of the pack, including Aaron, walk out to the scene. Alec is currently wrestling my father and Jason is in his wolf form, pinning Daniel to the ground.

A few more males change and help pin my father and brother down, trapping them beneath a heap of paws. Cristina runs forward with two pairs of handcuffs, where the hell did they come from? Anyway, she quickly cuffs each of their hands together then Aaron and some other males, that weren't yet changed, drags them off around the back of the house.

I realise I'm trembling, I rub my hands over my arms, trying to clam myself. Alec comes up behind me and hugs me, I was so scared of what just happened that I didn't even notice that he changed back. I turn to face him and sink into his arms, trembling, tears running down my cheeks. Memories of when I was younger flood my brain, claiming me in a whirlwind of memories and emotions. And finally I break down, sobbing into Alec's shirt, letting him hold and comfort me.

The screams of my mother on the night she was murdered fills my head. Daniel's lifeless body as he lies in a pool of his own blood. My cheek stings at the memory of being slapped by the one I used to call daddy.

He lifts me in his arms and takes me to his room I assume, gently settling me on the bed. He wraps the covers around me and settles down beside me, wrapping his arms around me and letting me cry myself to sleep.