Restless Waves

Chapter 26

I'm not sure if many of you know this, but I sell drawings full time now that uni is finished, so this week I had two really important deadlines on commissions, and I've only had time to draw and give myself a few hours to relax at the beach among the chaos. I would honestly update every day if I could, so don't think I'm updating slow because I have writer's block or I'm unmotivated etc. I've just been a lil busy ;)

Recently, life has been a surge of quite big waves, and I've just had to push past them to get to calmer water! I love you guys, I love this book, and I hope you enjoy!

- Sian

"Let's just get on with the deal," Rowan said before the werewolf's words made any effect.

The Alpha's lips curled disapprovingly. She clicked her fingers, and another female scrambled to her from the back of the room. "Shift," the Alpha demanded.

Kaerius edged closer to Rowan when the woman started to strip off her clothes. Their shoulders touched, and Rowan decided to focus on the flutter of his heart instead of awkwardly watching someone getting naked.

The woman got onto her hands and knees and started to tense. Her movements were like watching a bug shed its skin.

Rowan felt Kaerius move a little closer when the skin on the woman started to peel. Her toes curled, and her hands turned to fists. She screwed her face tightly as if she tasted something sour.

The werewolves were amused by Kaerius's horrified expression. They thought he would have seen weirder things in the depth of the ocean, but that was Kaerius's normality. Land, however, was a completely different world.

Rowan was more fascinated than disgusted, though he felt sorry for the werewolf. The shifting process looked extremely painful.

Rowan could feel Kaerius squirming next to him. When the werewolf, who had the head of a wolf and the body of a deformed human, started growling, Kaerius's hand brushed Rowan's. Rowan tried to pay attention to the strange hairless creature, but he couldn't stop thinking about the tingling on the back of his hand.

When the transformation was complete, Rowan and Kaerius found themselves looking at a disfigured wolf. The legs were too long, therefore, too bent. The back arched like a threatened cat. The head was too big for its body and had an unusually long snout.

There was one thing about the wolf that confused Rowan the most. "Why does it- she have no fur?" It was like looking at an overgrown sphynx cat with sharper teeth.

"Omegas are ugly," the Alpha said like her words were the least bit hurtful because she thought it was true.

"I think it's- she's beautiful," Rowan said, and everyone's eyes fell on the human. Even Kaerius turned and stared with a frown. "Just because she's... different doesn't make her ugly."

The Alpha frowned harder. "Fish boy, is your human okay?"

"No," Kaerius said, and it was Rowan's turn to stare at him with a frown.

"Anyway," Rowan shouted, "give us the claw, and we'll give you the poison."

"Rowan Solar, I hope you know that for us to get the poison, you have to be poisoned."

"What?" Rowan and Kaerius said in unison.

"Well, your veins will get infected. We can take it from your blood. Thalassic Mortal poison only works on humans, after all."

Rowan turned to Kaerius. His skin hurt from the simple thought of having the poison rushing around his body. "There has to be another way."

"Sorry Solar, this is the only way. You have the antidote. We saw it in your bag."