Complications

One

As I walked out of my parent house, closing the chipped blue door roughy behind me, I felt the pull of the rising full moon. I quickly dismissed it, I was already 16, and was not a shifter. You see, if someone from a family of shifters- in my case, wolves- comes to puberty without having shifted into their animal counterpart, they won't shift. If it doesn't happen by then, you go through the rest of your life as normal- mundane even, when you've grown up with a pack of wolves. I shrug, waving off the pull of the moon as nothing more than birthday jitters. The moon couldn't be calling to me. I wasn't a shifter, I had my first period when I was twelve. It's been years, and I'm still just me.
I turned the corner around my house, the yellowing paint still managing to reflect a bit of the moons' glow. I push thoughts of the moon to the back of my mind, thinking of taking the shortcut through the trees to get to my best friends house. Mom wouldn't care, and Dad's been dead for six years now, my older brother Jim, who is a shifter, is mated and has a family of his own. He and his daughters are probably playing a board game on the living room floor while his mate reads quietly in her armchair.
I step onto the forest path. It's dimly lit by only moonlight, but I know it by heart. I've taken it near daily for as long as I can remember. I sigh as the tall trees welcome me, their branches swaying softly as I traverse the well worn trail that led to Jayme's. She would likely be holed up in her room, binge watching Netflix and downing tubs of ice cream to make it through the full moon without letting her wolf out. She describes holding her wolf in like bad period cramps, and I don't really know why she doesn't shift more often, unless it's because she hates to leave me behind when she does.
Yes, Jayme is a shifter- a wolf. Nearly everyone here is. Mom, Jim, Jayme, the whole town, pretty much. Just not me.
It was a little weird, to be honest. I was born to two shifter parents and end up being a human. My mind wanders I walk to Jayme's: exploring the past- my brothers first shift into his adorable black wolf, reveling in the present- the earthy smell of the trees and the earth that churns gently beneath my sneakers, yearning for the future- I wonder what college I'll choose once I graduate high school.
I cut off the reminiscing as I leave the trees, coming out in Jayme's backyard and climbing the slightly wobbly ladder to her balcony. Yeah, kind of weird, I know, but that's what I love about Jayme. I don't bother knocking as I know she heard me approach. I pull open the sliding door of mirrored plexiglass and there she is, wrapping me in a hug. "Damn Alekx! Sixteen already?!" She greets me and I laugh, returning her embrace. I smile at her "Yeah, and on a full moon too! How you holdin' up?" I ask her and she smiles "This moon's pull is surprisingly low, almost like it doesn't want me to change." I laugh, wishing that I could say the same, I can feel the moon, caressing me, calling me, but I ignore it. I'm not a shifter. This call isn't for me.
I look around Jayme's wolf-proof room (she had it built like this incase she couldn't control a shift) and sigh, somewhat content. Supernatural is playing on the flatscreen she has mounted to her ceiling and I smile. A favorite of mine, and she knows it. She motions for me to join her in the pile of blankets on the floor and I do, burying myself deep within the plot of the current episode.
Still, the moon pulls at my skin, an uncomfortable sensation and I hear it's seductive whisper in my ear "Alekxandrya...come...join me my child." The pull becomes more insistent and I can feel something within me trying to claw it's way out, but I'm not a shifter, this can't happen. I take a deep breath, trying to ignore it.
A sharp pain rips through me and I cry out, Jayme's eyes instantly slam onto me, catching mine in a worried stare. "Alekx, are you okay?!" She asks and when I open my mouth to speak all that comes out are half-human sounds. She looks alarmed "But...how...you aren't a shifter?" She says and I realize what is happening. I am changing, into what I don't know but I can hear the moon, it's mantra ever present through my pain. "Alekxandrya, Alekxandrya, Join me, Join me, My child, My child....." Over and over in my head. I feel my bones begin to break, to reform, and I cry out in pain. The yelp that reaches my ears belongs to me, but it is not human-at least not entirely. If only I had known! It's said that shifters transform so young because their bones need to adjust to the shift. The pain becomes a sharp jab then and I blink through it, my eyes watering. Jayme is standing over me, yelling something, her face horrified despite the fact that she herself had gone through this transition so many times herself. My skin felt like it was being punctured with a thousand tiny needles and I collapsed. My thoughts were panicked and I couldn't control the thrashing of my body...no it wasn't my body, not any longer, I had no control over it and finally succumbed to the pain only to fade into blackness.

I can feel vibrations in the air as I slowly lift the heavy lids of my eyes. I can see Jayme above me, hovering with a worried look on her face and talking on the phone to someone, though I couldn't hear her. It was probably my mother. I try to sit up but soon realize that my body doesn't work the way a humans' would so I tried a different strategy, I try to stand on my hands and knees, on all fours as an animal would. It worked- I was standing, but what was I? My mom and my brother are both wolves, but dad was a different type of shifter. Mom didn't tell me what kind, and I was too young to remember his animal form. I sit then, like an animal would, as I had seen my brother Jim do so many times in his wolf form, and waited. Jayme got off the phone and approached me slowly, her lips moving but making no sounds. I could feel the vibrations drifting from her but couldn't hear her. Come to think of it, I couldn't hear at all. I attempted to speak (make some kind of sound) to her but couldn't hear myself either, I only felt a slight rumbling from within. Confusion and horror washed over her face and I couldn't help but wonder what I sounded like. I could smell, see and feel, but I couldn't hear. Was I deaf? Was something wrong with me (other than my shifting some kind of animal so long after I hit puberty)? I began to panic again, and could feel my body start to shake. Jayme slunk inches closer, the soundless words still pouring from her lips. The vibrations of those words were comforting and I in turn, lowered myself to my belly and slunk towards her, wanting her to comfort me. She seemed to understand this and opened her arms slowly, so as not to frighten me. I crawled into them and buried my face into her shoulder, trying to calm myself with her familiar presence, covering myself with her familiar scent, it permeating my nostrils in a manner I wasn't used to, but it was a scent that was unmistakably hers. After awhile of this, me burrowed into her side, a new scent drifts to my nostrils, this one no less familiar. Mother is on the balcony and pushes the door open (Jayme keeps her other door bolted shut during moons, so the balcony is the easiest access point). I can see that Jayme told her what happened but she still looks shocked. Her lips begin to flap but I can't hear her either, only feel the vibrations of the words. I need a new strategy. I stare at my mother's lips, and can see the words spilling from them. I am able to make out a few words. -Jayme, happened? Alekx. Okay?- I am not sure how to respond so I try again to speak, the rumbling deep within coming out in a short burst. Jayme flinches, releasing me and mother looks startled. Jayme stands and walks towards my mother I can barely see her mouth to make out what they are saying -Wrong with her Jayme?- I think my mother says and Jayme responds -Don't know.......Ryker?- my mother nods and Jayme pulls out her phone, dialing a number. Ryker? Shit. The last thing I need is to have Alpha Ryker up here, I can't hear anything and he is an easy one to piss off. I back into the corner in Jayme's room in an attempt to disappear. Two pairs of shifter eyes follow me, then look at each other. I bury myself in Jayme's dirty clothes and can feel the vibrations from them speaking. I sneak a look in Jayme direction, she is on the phone. -Ryker...help...Aleks....shifted....wrong....hiding...thanks...soon.- Dammit! That must've been Ryker. She said she needed help, something wrong with my shift, he will be here soon. Shit. I need to get out of here. I can't just lay here when the Alpha of Silver Moon pack is on his way. But what choice do I have? Jayme's room is wolf-proof. I am trapped. I guess I'll just have to deal with Ryker when he gets here.