Quiver

12

What felt like a million games of Smash Bros later and lunch, dinner time was finally called and we all stood to head up the stairs. As I stood I felt a wave of pain crash into me, it was startling and I staggered a bit. Roman was by my side in an instant, his hands gripping me. I looked up into his concerned blue eyes and gave him a small smile.

"What's wrong, love?" He asked, worry dripping from his tone.

"I.. I don't know. I just felt a bit of pain for a second. Maybe I was sitting too long? Playing too many games?.. I'm not sure," I answered truthfully, worry making me shaky.

"Well.. are you okay now?"

I nodded, though I wasn't sure if I'd stay okay. Roman released his grip on my body to hold my hand tightly and motioned for the others, Cole, Trevor and Cody to head upstairs. The hungry boys didn't need to be told twice, though Cole was a bit hesitant to leave me alone until he seen how attentive Roman was being and I reassured him.

Roman and I walked up the stairs slowly and with each step I felt better, but the second I got upstairs, the scents of all the pack members flooded my nose. I instantly felt dizzy again and my body felt weird. I swayed and Roman grabbed me up again.

"Yorik? Annalise?" He called, worry once again coming back to his voice. I wished I could make myself better to go on the run so Roman wouldn't sound so worried about me.

Both leaders rushed over and took in my pale state with concern. Annalise fussed and told Roman it was fine that I didn't attend, there was leftovers in the fridge for both of us and that they would look out for Cole just fine. She said I was probably overwhelmed from all the events and I thought she might be right. It had been a long time since I did pack life things.

With another reassurance to my brother to go with the pack and learn how to eat raw, Roman scooped me up into his arms as another wave of dizziness overcame me. I clung to him, groaning the entire way to the room and just could not figure out what was wrong. As he laid me on the bed, crawling in beside me, I began to relax enough for the spinning to stop. Minutes later I was encased in Roman's arms and fading fast into sleep.

**

Steel.

I could smell the metallic scent of steel and feel it's coldness beneath me before I even opened my eyes. I went to move my wrists, but found the biting coldness there as well. My eyes flew open, panicky, and I winced at the brightness of sudden light. My eyes watered, struggling to adjust while I took in the fact I was restrained to a steel table. Worriedly, my eyes traveled from my prone form on the table to everything around it.

Tools...all which appeared rather sharp were lying off to the side on a long, steel table too. It seemed everything in the room was steel and for reasons I didn't know, that too made me anxious. I seen cupboards lining the walls and a wide sink for scrubbing complete with an endless supply of blue rubber gloves.

My eyes continued searching around the room and landed upon a glass cabinet full of vials, round labelled bottles and needles of various sizes. The cabinet had a biohazard sticker on it along with a lock. My heart squeezed in my chest as panic began to become all consuming and just as I felt I would hyperventilate and pass out, someone appeared before me.

This person, woman, was too familiar for me not to know. A snarl of hatred appeared upon my face and I struggled against the restraints.

"Claire," I spat, venom almost physically leaking from my mouth.

"Rori," she answered smoothly, calmly and I hated her more.

"What are you doing with me!" I growled, struggling still.

"I'm going to make you less of a beast, Rori dear. I'm going to try and make you better. Make you human," she said, grinning like the Chesire Cat.

I flinched, deflating a bit as fear settled in. "Make me human? But you can't do that..."

"I'm going to try," she smiled wider, the grin looking as though it would split her plastic face.

I thought of everything that could go wrong immediately and it made me want to cry, but I wasn't going to give Claire the satisfaction. She wasn't going to see she'd gotten to me.

"Now then, let's begin!"

A mask was placed over me, dragging me under and into a forceful sleep despite me trying not to breathe in.

I awoke.. and felt incredibly weird. My bones sore, my body humming and my senses incredibly heightened. I went to stand, no longer on an operating table, and collasped as my heart rate began to speed up like I was about to shift. The tell tale aching was the only warning I had. My bones snapped and reformed so quickly I actually puked from the pain.

When it was over and I actually felt my stomach settle, I went to stand and found my balance excellent. I stood with an ease that wasn't normal if I were human. And if I were wolf, I'd have been on all fours. Instead, I was on two and as I checked myself over.. I found I had clawed hands and feet, long fur and a bushy tail...

I wasn't normal anymore.

I.. I was... Like Elliere.

A scream tore out of my mouth that morphed instantly to a howl.