Torie

Chapter 2

Torie POV

A few days later

I woke up disoriented and with a burning pain on my left arm and my head. I groaned and rolled on my back, barely opening my eyes to look around.

I could see the light of the sun shining through the branches of the tree I was apparently sleeping under.

My head was killing me and when I tried lift my left arm a sharp pain went through my whole body.

Had I crashed while trying to land?... Wait, crash? Landing?... Oh right! flying! I could fly! As a swan.

Why was I having a hard time remembering this? I had always been a swan… no wait I was a human who turned swan… or was it the other way around?

Something was wrong but I couldn't put my finger on what I was, my thoughts were all jumbled and kinda muddy and slow.

I laid there for a while trying to make sense of anything but the more I tried the worst my headache got.

Eventually I managed to push myself up to sit against the tree. I looked around to find a beautiful lake in front of me. I was in awe of how clear the water look and of how the whole place just evoked peace and calm in me.

Peace and calm, I felt my other half telling me that's what we needed, what we had been looking for.

I sat there looking around in complete silence, just listening as a soft breeze swayed the branches of the trees around me.

I must have dozed off because the sound of splashing water startled me awake. I looked up to my right and a few yards away I could see a group of boys walking down the shore of the lake. They looked about my age and seemed harmless.

Ok this might be good, maybe they could help me. Wait… why do I need help? Oh right, my arm and my head hurt a lot.

I was about to try and call out when suddenly one of the boys jumped on top of another but instead of a boy there was suddenly a huge tan wolf pinning the other boy down.

The pinned boy laughed and I stared in a mix of wonder and horror. The tan wolf growled and I gasped pressing myself hard against the tree trying to hide.

Wolves are predators and swans are prey if they found me they would eat me.

Logically, both me and my other half knew better, people don't eat other people but we were hurt and tired and my thoughts still felt sluggish.

I must have made a noise or something because not a minute later the big tan wolf was suddenly standing right in front of me. We stared at each other as the other three boys came up to where I was.

I heard gasps as their eyes found me but I didn't dare take my eyes off the wolf. My other half was on high alert and if the wolf decided to attack I had to shift and try to make it to the water.   

I could only imagine what I looked like to them. I was wearing a black tee shirt with a pink hoodie and a pair of jeans. I had mud all over me and I was pretty sure my long white hair was a complete mess.

After a few minutes of stunned silence one of the boys cleared his throat and moved closer to the wolf putting his hand on it's head. The wolf whimpered softly and laid down on the floor but it's eyes stayed on me.

Then the boy moved between us and I was forced to stop looking at the wolf and look at him.

My eyes started on his boots, up his dirty blue jeans and to his black tee shirt that hugged his muscled chest like a second skin. Broad shoulders guided me to his face and holy shit, this boy was handsome with a capital “H”. Not to mention tall as hell, my neck was going to start hurting if I had to look up at him from where I sat.

As if he could tell what I was thinking he crouched down making it easier for me to stare at his handsome face.

Piercing blue eyes started back at me a few strands of his long black hair tied that was tied back into a man bun were loose around his face. He looked every bit male and I thought he might be older than I what I had first thought.

I swallowed nervously and stared at him. He seemed to be waiting for something but I had no idea what. After a few minutes he frowned and tilted his head to the side.

“Hi” he said in a deep voice. “Sorry if our dog scared you, we didn't expect to see anyone out here so we didn't bring the leash.”

Said “dog” huffed and handsome gave me a tiny smirk altho he was frowning. When it was obvious I wasn't going to say anything he kept on talking.

“My name is Romeo and my dogs name is Peter Pan.” He said and I almost smiled.

One of the other boys cleared his throat which made Romeo turn to them.

“Those are Adrian and Gustav.” He pointed respectively and I couldn't help but notice how good looking they all were, heavens had I died and woken up in paradise?!

Adrian had curly blond hair that was all over the place and clear light blue eyes. He seemed leaner than Romeo but still in very good shape. He was wearing a dirty grey tee-shirt and black jeans. He gave me a tight smile. “Hey there.” He said softly.

However Adrian looked almost small compared to Gustav. He was huge with massive shoulders and arms. He was at least a head taller than Adrian and with short black hair and was looking at me with cold grey eyes that seemed to be looking into my soul. He also was frowning.

I quickly looked back to Romeo who was studying me. He pointed at my left arm. “Are you ok?”

I looked down and gasped at the sight of blood. My arm had been hurting since I had woken up but I hadn't looked down at it until now.

There was a big stain of blood on the sleeve of my hoodie over my bicep. The blood looked dried but my arm still hurt too much to move.

I was about to answer when the sound of a gunshot rang through the forest behind me. My body jerked and before I could even think about it, I shifted.