Moonlit Refuge (The Moon series)

Chapter Eight

I've been at this boarding school for a month, and today I have to shift. I hurried through class and finally got to lunch. I sat down next to Luca and stole one of his cookies. He glared at me but let me have it. 

"I can't play video games with you after school today." I sigh. 

"Why?" Luca asks. 

"I have to do something." I say vaguely before I stuff my face with meat. 

"What do you need to do?" Erik presses. I sigh after I swallow my food. 

"I'm going for a run!" I blurt. 

"Can we come?" Miles questions. 

"No!" I say too quickly. They exchange glances and I look down. 

"I mean, I want to go for a run alone." I rephrase. 

"Okay." Miles sighs after a moment of silence. I nod and we eat lunch in a comfortable silence. 

After school, I race to my dorm and put my things away. I pack a small bag with a change of clothes and a brush. I leave my building and head into the forest after I look around. 

The trees arch above my head and the cold sun falls through the bare branches. It should start growing leaves in a couple more months. I feel like someone is following me, but I shrug it off. I walk deeper into the woods and find a small clearing with a small boulder to hide my bag. I put my bag behind it and kick my shoes off. 

I feel my bones slowly start to pop and break, I gasp from the pain and fall to all fours just as my wolf erupts from my skin. I shake my fur off and stretch. That's when screams are heard. I whip around and tackle the people screaming. 

I look down and growl lowly at who I see. Luca, Miles, and Erik are staring at me with scared eyes. 

"Please! Don't kill us!" Miles whimpers, I roll my eyes. I lick their faces to calm them down. I step away and watch as they sit up. I circle them and growl quietly. 

"We'll wait here." Luca whispers, I nod and race off. I sprint through the trees for about ten minutes before I race back. I prance in happily and practice a couple fighting moves. They watch as I fight an invisible opponent. 

I trot behind the boulder and shift. I quickly change and walk out while brushing my hair. I have my bag swinging from my shoulder and I stalk towards my friends. 

"Why couldn't you have just stayed in your dorm!" I exclaim, they flinch away from me. I stop five feet away from them with a small frown. I take my phone out and call Kiko. 

"Hello?" He answers, I growl quietly. 

"We have a problem." I say with a grimace. 

"Hold on, I'm putting you on speaker phone." He says, so I do the same. 

"What's the problem?" Mark asks. 

"So, I made three friends on the first day of class. We've been playing video games after school and today I needed to shift." I begin, they stay silent so I push on. 

"I tell them I need to go on a run alone and they follow me! They saw me shift, painfully might I add, and now think I'm going to eat them." I finish, I hear the boys laugh on the other end. 

"I would too." Aunt Khloe points out, making the boys laugh even harder.

"Boy or girl?" Blade asks. 

"Boys." I sigh. 

"We'll be there in twenty." Uncle Cody informs me, I smile softly to myself before hanging up.