The Changing

Chapter Eleven

Wyatt hissed at Jake as he jumped at him but didn't move. Instead he swiped his hand in front of him as Jake got closer, slicing Jake's chest. I smelled blood in the air now as Jake clawed Wyatt's leg. Riley, Vanessa, and Fawn who appeared out of nowhere started advancing on Wyatt and Jake's fight.

       I stepped forward as well and snarled in warning at them and as they looked up they froze. Their eyes moving to look behind me. I twisted my head far enough to see that Aiden, Ethan, Carter, Kidd, Alyssa, and Serina had stepped up too and were flanking me. "There is eight of us and four of you, you're outnumbered, back off!" I shouted into everyone's head and snarled at the same time. Not knowing if Riley, Vanessa, and Fawn could hear me but trusting that Wyatt would translate the message.

    Wyatt pushed Jake away and dropped his hands, causing Jake to stop snarling and stand up out of his fighting stance. Wyatt turned to Riley, Vanessa, and Fawn and translated the message I'd said. He didn't look too happy about it. "This isn't over, if she's more vampire then she's coming with us," Wyatt said before all four of them disappeared in a blur of motion.
I turned to look at Jake and the others behind him. I wasn't sure what was going to happen to me now. When I looked back towards where Wyatt had gone it was almost as if I could see a transparent trail that lead to them. When I looked back at the others they were all in human form.
"You've got a lot of fight in you," Jake said and I shrugged the best I could as a wolf.
        I looked out at the creek and decided that it was best if I went home now. "Can I go home?" I asked quietly, wondering if it was still safe for Emily and Kyle.
       "It's best if you didn't. We don't know if you got the blood lusting trait from the vampires. We know you don't want to hurt any humans here," Jake explained.
      "How do I change back?" I asked.
       "Focus on your human side. Imagine your body and think of it as transferring over," Kidd said.
      I nodded and did as he said. All of a sudden I felt like the world was spinning and I fell down. I opened my eyes to see human arms softening my fall. I looked down at my torn and ragged clothes. I looked up at Jake who was looking down at me.
       "That happened during your changing. When you change too many times it does take a blow on your body and it can be a physical blow half the time. That's why we don't wear too much when we change," Jake explained.
      "Here," Alyssa said, now beside me, handing me some clothes. "It should fit," she finished.
       "Thank you," I responded and while everyone turned around I quickly changed into the jean shorts and a tank top. It surprisingly did fit and I was thankful.
       "I'm done," I said awkwardly and then they all turned around back around again.
       "You can stay with us tonight. We all stay in one house. There's an extra room meant for you there anyway," Jake said and I looked at him in question.
       "It's kind of like a pack house. Each pack is given one so we can all stay together. Since there's supposed to be eight of us there are eight rooms. You weren't here to claim it so we left it for you until you returned." Jake explained.
       "Okay, what do I tell Emily and Kyle when I go back?" I asked.
       "You could say you stayed at a friend's house," Aiden suggested.
       "They'll be mad I didn't tell them first but it'll work," I said.
       "We should be getting home now before Wyatt and them decide to come back," Serina said.
         "Alright, let's go," Jake said authoritatively. Something in his voice made me want to follow him. When he changed he howled and it was almost like I was forced to change along with him.
        When I was back in wolf form it felt almost natural. Like I was free of holding my wolf in. My wolf soul seemed to have a mind of her own and she liked to be in charge and to be freed instead of me staying in my human form.
      I ran along after the pack and I was surprised to find myself catching up with them quickly. I was eventually up beside Jake and running with him. He gave me a curious look and moved his head up, indicating that I should go on ahead of them.
      I ran forward and as fast as I could and within seconds I was far ahead of them. I stopped and waiting about thirty seconds before they caught up. I started running along side them again. Pacing myself. I was almost certain I'd gotten vampire speed.
      When Jake suddenly took a sharp curve I almost ran ahead. I planted my paws in the dirt and lunged to the side so I would take the curve with them. By the time we got to an old-looking, two story, Victorian house we stopped.
       We changed back into human form and it felt like I was putting my wolf in a cage. We walked up the front doorsteps silently and then through the French front doors. The house was very spacious and had high ceilings so when you talked it echoed.
        "Your room is this way," Jake said as the rest of the pack spread out and either went to their rooms, the living room to watch TV, or the kitchen to get something to eat.
        I looked at everyone who went into the kitchen. "You'll find that your appetite increases now that your... Mostly a werewolf. Werewolves need to eat a lot since they burn off so many calories," Jake added.
      I nodded as we continued to walk up the stairs to my room. "Your bedroom is beside mine. Kidd's is in front of you. Carter's is beside his. Across from Carter is Aiden's. Beside Aiden is Ethan's. Across from Ethan is Serina's. And beside Serina is Alyssa's. All the bedrooms are upstairs.
      In front of my room is the bathroom. I put my room at the very end of the hall so I could get to all of you more easily if anything should happen," Jake explained and I nodded. I was mentally etching out whose room was whose so I wouldn't make a mistake.
      When I walked into my room Jake walked in behind me. It was beautiful. There was a four-post bed with black furnishing. There was also a black dresser and a black wardrobe to match it. There was a window beside my bed in case I needed a quick escape, I noted. I spotted a closet on the wall in front of my bed. It was similar to the setting up of my room at Lily and Kyle's.
      "Thank you," I said, looking at Jake.
      "You can come stay whenever you'd like to or need to," Jake said and stopped. "You should get some rest, you need it," he finished.
       "I will," I said and he nodded.
        He turned around and as he reached my door he turned his head to look at me and acted like he wanted to add something but thought against it. He gave me a small smile before he left and shut the door behind him. I looked around the room once more before I got into the bed. It took me less than a minute to drift into sleep.