Unseen Falsehoods

Chapter 4 - Alter-ego

“Really?  What part of ‘the Venari might kill us’ don’t you understand?”  I said in defeat.

My wolf had lead me to the edge of the woods, persisting me non-stop to change.  Sighing inwardly, I stepped into the shade of the trees and stripped down, hiding my clothes in the hollows of a nearby tree.  Closing my eyes I searched for the light and bathed myself in it, letting myself change from human to wolf.

Even after I’ve been shifting for years, I still find it fascinating the way it happens.  As the light washes over me, my nails lengthen to claws, my teeth change into canines and all of the bones in my body break and form a wolf’s.  A very painful process, but the outcome is worth it.

I stepped forward with two legs, and the next minute I landed on four.  Run, run, run…

No, my human voice peeked through my mind and I whined in frustration.

Why not?  I demanded, my fur bristling.

The Venari! She screeched at me, and just then I caught a scent of the wind.

We’re not afraid of them, I said, crouching down low, hiding in the bushes.

Yes, we are!  They killed our family, our pack, our whole bloody species!  She yelled, pushed into my thoughts and trying to transform back to human, but I stayed put.

And they will pay for it with their lives, I growled, my eyes focused on the form that had just appeared a few meters away.  It was Marcus Helwyr.

I stood up so that he could see me, and he pointed his rifle, aiming for my head.  He was visibly surprised, but he quickly hid it with a look that promised pain.

“I’ve finally found you,” he said, holding his gun steady.  Unfortunately I couldn’t talk to him, but I growled, showing him that I understood what he was saying.

“Alessia, the last of the lycanthrope.  I’ve been trying to find you for five years, and here you are,” I blinked in surprise when he said my real name.  No one has called me that in years.  “Show me your other face,” he said, indicating that I shift back into human form.

Shaking my head I grinned.  Well, as much as a wolf can grin.

Kate!  Stop this, run!  He’ll kill us!  She pleaded me.

Alessia Kate Diaz.  That’s my full name.  In the lycanthrope community we call our children’s human side by their first name, and their wolf side by their middle.  Alessia and I are the same, but not in a way.  I want to stay a wolf forever, but Alessia wants to swap between human and wolf all the time.

“How does it feel to be the only one of your kind?” Marcus seethed, standing his ground as I stalked closer, twigs snapping underneath my paws.  “To have no parents, no friends, no pack, no place where you belong,” I growled menacingly at him, my lips pulled back to show my teeth.

“This world is not for abominations like you.  That is why the Venari set out five years ago to terminate you all, to rid the earth of unnatural beings that seek only to kill and destroy.  I don’t know how you survived, but I can tell you this.  The Venari will finally be free from this curse that has haunted us for years, for you will die, and the lycanthrope will be no more,” and with that, he pulled the trigger.

Pain.  That’s all I feel.

Marcus had left as soon as he’d shot me, not caring if I was dead yet or not.  I guess he assumed I would die either way.  The bullet was lodged in between my ribs and I could feel it grinding against the bone which made me cringe.

As soon as Marcus was clear of the area I stripped Kate away, leaving me in my human form.  Rolling onto my back I reached for a stick and grabbed one, panting slightly from the effort.  Placing one hand on the wound I spread it open and stuck the stick in, jabbing at the skin so it wouldn’t heal.

Biting my lip to keep from crying out, I dropped the stick and proceeded to fish the bullet out with my fingers.  I found it, grabbed hold of it and yanked, letting out a cry of pain and relief.  The skin started to heal and I stood up, walking over to where I left my clothes, putting them on.

I realized then that I was still covered in blood from being shot, and now my shirt was soaked in red.

“Seriously?” I said in disbelief.

Looking back into the woods, I sighed, turning around and made my way home.

My chest was still in agony when I got home.  Lifting up my shirt to have a look at the now-healed bullet wound, I stopped short and breathed in a sharp breath.

Where there should have been smooth, tanned, undamaged skin instead was the wound, but worse than it had been when I was shot.  The veins surround it were black and shiny, as if dirtied silver was in my blood.

“Damn it!”  I screeched, punching a hole in the wall.  “This is all your fault Kate!”

We’re the same person!  How can it be my fault and not yours as well?  She replied icily.

“Because I didn’t want to pick a fight the Venari, I wanted to stay hidden!”

What are we going to do?  We have to do something, or we’ll die, she pointed out.

“Really?  I didn’t know,” I said sarcastically, looking back down at the injury in despair.

She’s right though, we have to do something or we’ll die.  The bullet that Marcus had shot me with was laced with something, something that is lethal and in a lycanthropes case, fatal.

Wolfsbane.