A Friend To The Elements

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

I got down on my knees beside Lily and ran my hands through the fur at her neck. I placed my forehead against hers and marveled at her size.

A fair amount of wolf shifters were about the same size as a regular wolf, but the longer an alpha line remained in power the larger their descendants were. She rivaled my size and might even be slightly bigger which for a she-wolf was unheard of. I could only imagine the size her brother was.

I pressed my lips against the top of her snout and closed my eyes. If she didn't regain her energy, then I would never see her as a human again. Her paw twitched causing me to jump back and scramble across the floor.

Her eyes twitched open and began scanning the room. Doctor Cassidy stepped forward with a syringe in his hand, but I grabbed his ankle to stop him. The man glared back at me for a split second before hiding his emotion.

The wolf began to stir and open her eyes.

"She will be lethargic and slow for a few minutes, but after that if she can't shift, we will need to sedate her again. It's too dangerous for us all."

I waved him off and moved onto all fours then flat on my stomach to be at eye level with her again. Her eyes darted around, but there wasn't any spark of recognition in them. She growled curling up her lips to show the large teeth. I reached my hand out to place it on the side of her face.

"Lily...it's me. I know you're in there. We need you to shift." The wolf's lips quivered then snapped at my arm. Luckily, she was still slowed down from the sedation and I was able to move away in time. "Lily please!" My words came out almost as a sob, but the wolf just growled and moved its paws trying to find her footing to stand.

Before she could get into a standing position the doctor pressed the needle into her hind end causing her to yelp and try and whip her head around. Within a few seconds she began to sway slightly. Her eyes darted to mine in panic and then she was limp again.

"What the hell was that? That's not just having the energy to shift."

Dr. Cassidy sighed and returned to his chair. "That's what I feared the most. There's a crucial balance that happens in the body of a shifter. Stop shifting and the human will take over completely. Stay in animal form too long and the wolf takes over."

I nodded and remained looking up at him from the floor. I felt like a child sitting on the rug at circle time. "We have an alpha to force us to shift if we refuse one way or the other. It seems as though there could be a combination of things in this instance. By the amount of blood and missing fur on her body there was substantial trauma to her human form. Her wolf is taking over. The human side is probably too weak to surface or gone altogether.

'Your Dad has already tried to use his Alpha energy to force a shift and it did nothing. From what I have been told she has been denounced from her father's pack so for all intents and purposes she is without an alpha that would have the authority to force a shift.

'The last piece to the puzzle is one that I can't prove but would make the most sense. If she was held captive, I assume she would have not been allowed to shift. Being a wolf would strengthen the bond you too have because the wolf side is what allows her energy to pull you in and vice versa. The longer she is not a wolf the weaker that side becomes. When shifting and using all of her energy the wolf is holding on for life just as much as the human side is now. It doesn't want to give up being the primary or share it, because it fears that it will not be used again."

A rock formed in my stomach, and I glanced between the doctor and my family. "So, what do we do?"

Dr. Cassidy leaned his head forward and scratched the back of his neck. "I can't tell you what to do with a rogue wolf. That is not my place within the pack. I can tell you that if we can't get her to shift in the next forty-eight hours, she will most likely not ever be human again. At that point she might be more comfortable to be released into the wild."