Shadow of the Day (Wolf Moon Sequel)

Chapter 2: Adjust

"Lila!" Matt cried, relief washing over his face as I sat down at the lunch table, Tuesday afternoon. Mirah had given me a similar warm greeting when she'd run into me that morning.

"Hey Matt!" I said, equally as excited. For some reason I had been severely missing my pack, way more than usual. I figured maybe it was because there was more wolf in me now so now pack life was more important.

"Jeez, someone's in a good mood," Jared remarked, raising his eyebrows at me as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I countered, raising my eyebrows right back at him. Why wouldn't I be in a good mood? I had my life back on track, I got rid of Caleb for good, I Changed, I had my family, I had my pack, and best of all I had my mate. My life was good, no, amazing. My life has never ever been so great.

Matt, who was sitting next to me like usual was silent, but he was sniffing me, leaning closer as he inhaled, a frown clear on his face, "Lila why do you smell different? You smell like..." he paused, looking for a word, "A forest...like outdoors."

A grin flashed across my face, "Guess."

Now everyone at my table was leaning closer and sniffing me, all with the same curious and slightly puzzled expressions on their faces.

"You Changed!" Dakota blurted.

I nodded my head earnestly, grinning so broadly my cheeks hurt.

"Seriously?" Mirah's jaw dropped.

"Seriously!" I said.

"How was it?"

"Did it hurt?"

"Was it hard?"

"Was it weird?"

"What was it like?"

"HOW?!"

A waterfall of questions landed on me and I couldn't help but laugh, "Guys come on. My hearing may have improved but it's still not good enough to hear all four of you at the same time."

"Sorry!" they all chorused before Jared leaned forward, "Did it hurt?"

"Like a bitch," I said honestly.

"Yikes," Dakota said, brown eyes wide.

"Yeah, but once you finish Changing and you're a wolf..." my lips tugged up in a smile as I remembered how free and powerful I felt, "It's the best feeling in the world."

"And Changing back?" Mirah prodded.

I dropped my gaze to the fake wood table top, following the grain pattern. "I don't know," I admitted, "The first time I Changed back I passed out and woke up human. Ditto for the second time."

Concern washed over Dakota's face, "Was it scary? Not being able to Change back?"

"You have no idea," I shook my head grimly, "I just panicked. I kept thinking about all the 'ifs' and..." I took a breath, "Never mind. It's something I have to work on."

"What did it feel like as a wolf?" Jared asked curiously, blue eyes bright.

"It was...strange at first. It took me a while to figure out how to even walk properly," I chuckled, "Add snow and that just made it worse."

"Why? Were you a short wolf? No offence but you're kind of tiny...." Mirah said, grinning impishly.

"Actually I was surprisingly kind of big; bigger than normal wolves," I said, remembering how I came up almost to Wyatt's shoulders.

"You should be happy about that then, for once you're tall," Jared cracked.

"Watch it Jared, when you Change I'm going to kick your furry butt," I said, kicking him under the table hard to illustrate my point.