The Alpha's Goddess

Chapter Two: The Shift

Anna's POV

Pain. White hot searing pain. Worse than anything I've ever felt, worse than the kicks to the stomach, the cracked ribs, the punches to the face, everything I have ever endured is nothing compared to this pain. My skin is on fire, I would not be surprised if my blood is boiling, it burns so bad, my bones feel as if they are breaking over and over, this has to be an awful nightmare, I have to wake up, I need to wake up. I let out a gut wrenching scream, that I could have sworn turned into a dog like whimper. And just like that the pain is gone, I open my eyes focusing on my surroundings. The trees seem greener, the dirt smells earthier, the air feels amazing. The boys are standing over me in amazement. I tried to speak but nothing came out, confused. I looked down at my body, but in place of my legs were paws, giant white paws. I shuffled back, bewildered when the paws moved with me. I started to panic.

"Anna, you need to calm down, look me in the eyes, and breathe," Ezra says, grabbing my face. I just shake my head.

"Okay, Anna, here is what you are going to do, close your eyes, take deep breaths, think of your body, your arms, every finger and toe, think of your skin, do it now." He ordered.

I close my eyes thinking of my legs, thinking about wiggling my toes, about every bruise, scrape, cut that littered my body. My eyes flutter open again, and I pull my hands to my face, happy to see my fingers. What I was not happy about was that my clothes were now shreds under me. I quickly scramble, pulling my legs to my chest.

"Ahh, please turn around," I yelp. They quickly do as I ask, Jake pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it back to me.

"Here Luna, I have another in my car, you can use this till we can get you more clothes." I quickly covered myself with it, the shirt basically being a dress on me, thankfully covered everything it needed to.

"What the hell just happened." I shriek, completely confused about what I saw, and what happened to me.

"It's a lot to explain, but please bear with us as we try to make it make sense," Ezra pleaded, obviously sensing how terrified I am about everything going on. I simply nodded, showing that I intended to hear him out.

"My name is Ezra Rivers, I am Alpha of Ember Falls Pack, Jake is my Beta, and we are werewolves, and as you may have figured out, so are you. Most wolves shift for the first time at thirteen, but obviously that did not happen for you, seeing as you had no idea what we were talking about earlier and your reaction to seeing me in my wolf form. The reason you may have had such a delayed first shift may have something to do with your wolf, you see your wolf was solid white, in our world such wolves do not exist, or at least they haven't been documented. Another thing that may have pulled your wolf forward, was being close to me in wolf form." his voice drifting off at that last part.

Werewolves are real, not only are werewolves real, but I am a werewolf. How the hell am I supposed to accept this and not admit myself to a looney bin?

"So, you are saying, the both of you are werewolves, and not only are you werewolves but the top of the hierarchy of werewolves, and that I am also a werewolf, but I can't just be a regular werewolf, I am some rare white one?" I repeat back to them.

"Yes, Luna." Jake nods. Why does he keep calling me that? What is a Luna?

I furrow my brow, "why do you keep calling me Luna? And wait, why would being close to you in wolf form trigger my wolf?" I question turning back to Ezra.

He rubs the back of his neck, "Another thing, you are my mate as in my soulmate. Wolves mate for life with their other half, the moon goddess pairs us together and there are certain signs that tell you who that person is. The sparks you feel when I touch you, that is a sign, also now that your wolf has come forward, your scent is the most pleasant smell my nose has ever come across.
You may have noticed that being around me feels right, even if we only just met, don't you?"

Soulmates, who would've thought that was real too, what he is saying makes sense, I feel safe around him, he feels like home. I take in a big whiff of air, he does smell amazing, like oak trees, seasalt, and smoke.

"I don't know what to say, you do realize everything you have just said sounds absurd, right?" I stutter out. How do I accept any of this, what do I do now?

"I know it's a lot to handle, but it is all true, Anna." Ezra smiled calmly, resting his hand under my elbow to help me stand. There are the sparks again, it must be true. I hear a sharp intake of breath, my eyes quickly meet Ezras, and again they are solid black. His grip on my arm tightens, but not enough to hurt. I realize just how exposed I am the bruises that litter my arms and legs are out for the world to see. I gulp. I did not want this to come up, He will probably toss me to the side after realizing how weak and pathetic I am. I can't even defend myself. Both of the boys are intently staring at me. How do I explain, do I lie, do I tell the truth, what good would come from telling these two strangers about what goes on when I go home? It'll just end in more pain.

"What happened," They both growled. I step back, worried they may try to attack. They notice my fear and quickly back off, their eyes turning back to their normal color.

"Anna, who did this," Ezra asked softly, but I could feel the anger rolling off him, was that towards me, or to what was done to me? Can I trust these two, I feel safe with them, Ezra is meant to be my soulmate after all. I feel the tidal wave rush over me, and I finally crumble. Ezra catches me in his arms as I sob. The years of abuse and pushing it all down, compartmentalizing it to get through the day, finally erupted, my walls falling down. I let it all out.

"My... my foster parents..." I hiccup out. Trying to muster up the courage to tell them my story.

"It's alright, that's all we need to know for now, you are not going back there, you are coming with us do you understand. You can explain later, if you feel comfortable, okay?" Ezra whispered, running his hands through my hair. He picks me up bridal style and we walk back towards the school, Jake following closely behind. We make it to the parking lot, and Ezra puts me in the passenger seat of his car, stating he has to go grab our stuff from inside and will be right back. Jake climbing in the back, rummaging around, finding a new shirt to put on.

I sniffle. "Thank you for the shirt, Jake," I give a small smile, trying to show him the appreciation I am feeling.

"No problem, Luna," he smiles back. There it is again, that word, Luna.

"You never explained what a Luna is," I piped up. Turning fully around in my seat to face him.

"Well, Ezra is an Alpha, and his mate would be the Luna of our pack, basically the female version of the Alpha," He explained. Wow, I don't think I would be fit as Luna, I didn't even know werewolves existed before this afternoon.

"Oh, well please call me Anna," I said, instead of voicing my worries about being a Luna, let alone a werewolf.

"Anna, don't you worry, you will be a great Luna, everyone has to learn their duties if they aren't born into the Alpha family, it's expected you wouldn't know much about the role, and just give it time you'll figure out this wolf thing." he tries to tell me to help calm my nerves, and for some reason it kind of works. Ezra makes it back to the car, putting our things in the trunk, and getting in the driver's seat.

"Okay, are you guys ready to go?" He asks us. I nod, turning back the right way and fastening my seat belt. I start to think about all of the things I've learned in the past few hours on the drive to wherever we are going, I realize one thing that I still haven't asked about.

"Wait, if you are my mate, why do I also feel a bond with Jake, why do I feel so safe around him?" I turn towards Ezra, raising my eyebrow. I notice he makes eye contact with Jake in the rearview mirror. There is obviously more that I haven't been told yet. Before another word can be spoken, the car stops and we are at what I assume is their house.

"Come on, we will explain inside," Ezra states, stepping out of the car. I follow them inside, preparing myself for what I am about to hear next.