Surreptitious

Chapter 23: Transformations

"What do you mean she's gone?!" Ric bellowed loudly at the collection of people gathered in his office.

There had been a plan in place that had been laid out perfectly over the past few days. The gang was well aware that the full moon was finally upon them and that no one had any idea what would happen with Josie. Lizzie was supposed to stay by her side all day long, and Josie was supposed to have been taken to her own comfy shifting-cell by the time dusk arose. Hope would see her through whatever awaited her, but there would be the safety of the cell and there would be backup and extra measures in place just in case.

But by the time it was late afternoon, Josie had slipped away and off of everyone's radar. Hope had warned them that she would grow wilder as the day grew long and that instinctually she would do everything in her power to be free of any and all confines. Hope was almost proud of the resourcefulness that Josie had shown in escaping her so-called captors.

"Look, all we can do now is damage control." Hope stepped forward and warned urgently. "I'll find her, I promise, and I'll take care of her. Dr. Saltzman, you need to take care of the rest."

And so, they divided their efforts: Kaleb and MG would see to all of the vampires staying in their rooms for the night, needing a strict curfew in order to keep them safe from the wolves. As for the wolves, Dorian would oversee them as they remained locked up in the shifting cells for the night, including Rafael. Emma was tasked with making sure that all the witches also remained indoors and out of harm's way, while Lizzie was given the responsibility of keeping an eye on Landon (which she desperately resented). Alaric would assume overall command, while Hope went after the wayward Josie.

(...)

"Are you in love with her?"

The words Lizzie had asked kept echoing through Josie's mind throughout the following days. While she was desperately avoiding Hope, as well as mostly everyone else, she had to face the truth of the situation. Was she, or wasn't she?

And in there lay the crux of their problem. Was the bond simply a connection established between Hope's wolf and the wolf-presence it had awoken within Josie? Was there an actual conscious emotional attachment between her and Hope, or was it all instinctually driven by their inner-animals? And if that was the case... was that really so bad?

Josie had never considered herself primal, but ever since Hope marked her she knew she had become thus. And there was something utterly intoxicating about the primordial. Josie wanted more of it and she wanted to live it. She wanted the wolf inside of her and it was difficult to imagine it being gone. However, she knew, should she break the bond with Hope that she would lose her wolf.

When she had spoken to Hope in the clearing and the tribrid had asked Josie why she felt like a freak, she was horrified at the thought of being violent and aggressive should she shift into a wolf. But the more she thought about it, the more Hope's words inside her mindscape came back to her.

"Your subconscious made a fairytale: that the good you is weak, and the powerful you is evil. Tell yourself a different story."

This was so very much the same. Why could she not be powerful and still maintain control? If Hope was sharing her wolf curse with Josie through the unification, then wouldn't that mean she'd be an evolved wolf like Hope as well? She'd be able to shift and be in control. She'd be able to perform magic without having to siphon it first. She'd be a rarity. She'd be special. Why did she have to feel bad about that?

And then she felt anger overwhelm her. Intense, unbearable anger. Josie lifted her hand where she stood alone in the old mill, and with her rising hand she levitated a ceramic lantern that had been resting on a tree stump to one side. She suddenly balled her hand into a fist and the lantern exploded into nothing but dust. A strangled noise escaped her throat as her eyes started watering.