Beasts of The North

Chapter Three

I'm on fire. I'm burning from the inside out. I can see Kai's eyes looking down at me in worry but I can't make out what he's saying to me. Everything sounds muffled, like I'm underwater. Color and light starts to blend together to create a welcoming abyss that begins to envelop me. I can't breathe. I can't focus. There is no world around me, and no sounds other than my inner voice screaming. I embrace the darkness as the pain starts to lessen. I'm slowly drifting away until a new pain hits me. It's sharp and sudden right along my cheek. The world zooms back out into focus and I'm met with Kai and Oliver's concerned gazes once again. Kai mutters an oath that I hear just barely as I'm brought back to reality.

"Thank the moon, stay with me, love."

I want to let myself be swept back into the darkness. The pain is unbearable.

"Should I slap her again, Kai?"

Ah, so that explains the pain that brought me back. I almost wish it hadn't. The fire inside of me is only growing hotter. I don't know how to help it. It's scorching across my limbs like a river of lava that continues to travel, creating it's own path of destruction. I hear Kai again.

"I don't know, I can't get her eyes to focus on me. She has to focus. She can't let the pain consume her."

"Giselle, your father wouldn't want you to die here. You have to be strong, come on, you have to embrace the change. Look at Kai, let him guide you. You have to do this if you want to survive. Don't let the pain control you, it's up to you to take control."

Oliver doesn't know it, but he's said the magic words. I have to be strong. I don't know what my father's intentions were, maybe he knew about what I was and was preparing me for what was to come and maybe he never wanted this for me, but I know that he wanted me to live. He begged me to be strong and happy. I don't know how or why but I can feel a happiness in Kai's arms and I feel a deep strength inside of me just waiting to burst free. I turn and use every ounce of energy I can muster to focus into Kai's swirling eyes.

"There we are, love. Stay focused on me. Can you hear me?"

I gave a quick, sharp nod just as another wave of pain overtook me. I cried out again and struggled to keep focus.

"No! Don't give up! I know it hurts, Giselle, but you have to do this. I'm going to keep hold of you and I need you to watch Oliver. Keep your eyes on him and don't forget that he is your Beta. It doesn't make sense but I need you to tell yourself that you are in the arms of your mate and Alpha and are being watched over by your Beta. It will help you ease the change."

Somehow, Kai is right, and though those small admissions to myself don't make any sense to me it does somehow lessen the pain. It helps me enough that I can hold it in and stop screaming. I take a deep breath and look at Oliver, as he instructed. I can see him changing into his beast.

"Watch him change. Watch how his bones are shifting and snapping into their new shape. See how the fur comes in through the skin? Pay close attention to how his snout and teeth are forming."

Kai's words align with each of Oliver's motions. First his bones bend and crack, then his fur bursts forth covering his body in a little brown color. His snout then pushes itself forward, and sharp teeth pierce through his gums. It looks absolutely excruciating, and all of my human instincts are begging me not to go through with it. I have other instincts, though. They are bursting through the seams inside of myself trying to take control. They crave the change. There is a part of me that welcomes this with excitement and joy. I have next to no choice but to listen to these new instincts, and I am not looking forward to it in the slightest. My thoughts are interrupted as Kai begins coaching me yet again, as I hadn't even realized that getting lost in my thoughts was bringing me back into the darkness.