Twenty Five

A strong wind howled, causing the frail body it had surrounded to tremble. The wolves, which had been growling deeply into that dark, thick forest, growled even louder, their soft paws creating small holes on the soily ground as they rushed towards the faint scent of different preys carried to their nostrils by the wind. Their dark appearances hidden within the darkness made their hunting easy because they pounced on their prey much easier.

A few cunning preys tried to escape them, but because of the wolves larger bodies and flexibility, they got them much easier. The poor prey didn't even get much time to fight for their lives because one pounce made them lose their breath forever. A frail figure lying beneath a tree with a white sheet covering its body groaned when a voice called out at it. Sneezing, the figure groaned at the voice as if it were stopping it from reaching something. In its dreams, a beautiful woman who introduced herself as her mother was giving it her hands and asking her to go with her on the other side. The figure shifted, as seen from under the sheets, as it raised its thin hand to give it to the beautiful woman smiling at her, who had long claw-like nails compared to normal people.

"Don't." The voice that had been calling her faintly shouted, pulling her away from that darkness. The figure sneezed, shifted on the uncomfortable ground, and started wondering what was going on. The woman wasn't there anymore, and the darkness that had covered her was not as thick as before. She felt herself getting pulled away, far away from that place. The faint voice that had been calling her for so long was now getting clear. She sneezed again and flickered her eyes open.

"Wake up, Camila; I am sorry I am late." The voice whisped louder than before, making her blink her eyes repeatedly. She wasn't sure if she was hearing that voice or if she was just daydreaming. She had a chuckle, and she pulled herself upright, trying to sit, but pain shot through her body, causing her to fall back to the grass with her back. A stick pricked her ass, and she pulled it away with trembling fingers, relaxing when the pain started to disappear. She opened her eyes, which she had subconsciously closed because of the pain, and she saw something as white as paper covering her. She flipped the sheet from her body, threw it aside, and started looking for the voice, thinking it belonged to whoever had covered her up.

Camila taking the cover away from her body, which was covered with peeled skin and blood, attracted the wolves attention because her scent didn't take a second before reaching them. With their tongues flicking out of their open, long mouths, they ran towards her, the scent being their tracker.

"Camila, I am right here." The voice called again. Still in her sleeping position, a smile crawled on her face as she whispered, "Ash, I knew you would find me. I missed you, Ash."

"Silly!" The voice chuckled. "I don't know if I missed you, but what I know is that I am happy now that I am here with you."

"Silly you!" She responded in a weak voice. "Hurry up; help me stand from here before the wolves will attack me." She told the voice

"You can stand on yourself." The voice came again.

"What? Nay, I can't, Ash; please help me get up from here, she asked him once again.

"You can, Camila; wake up. Try, you believe me, right, stand up." The voice nudged her. Sighing, Camila pulled the white sheet away, which was now covering her legs, and taking one last breath, she stood. She swayed for a while but stood firmly a second later. Camila looked around her, looking for Ash, but she couldn't see him anywhere. She squinted her eyes and tried to sniff around, but gave up.

"Ash, can you walk closer? I can't see you because of this thick darkness." She told him, using her hands as sensers by slapping around in the air to see if she could touch him.

"Wait, I thought Ash was my name? Are you expecting someone?" The voice asked again and then chuckled, "But anyway, I like that name because I am Ash from now on."

"Ash, please don't joke around like this. We need to get out of here before the rogues smell us, and why did you cover me with a white sheet? It'll only make them spot us easily." She stomped her feet on the ground like a kid. "Ash, please. I am begging you, come out!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, making the rogue wolves howl back at her. Scared, she pressed herself against the tree bark and sobbed softly. Images of what had been done to her by Alpha Killan guards came flooding back to her mind. "He banished me, Ash. He says that I killed Grandpa. You believe that I didn't do it, right?" She asked, sniffing. A twig broke not far from her; she looked around in fear, covering her mouth so that she wouldn't scream.

"Ash, no more hiding; tell me where you are, and we'll get out of here. Listen, I know that you don't see well at night, but I can trace you. Just talk much louder so that I can know where you are because I think this rogue wolf has seen us." She whisphered.

"I am in your head, Camila." The voice sighed. "I am sorry I came late. I know it's because of me that you had to go through all this," the voice said again, causing Camila to gasp. In head? Did that mean... no? "I am a human," she said to herself.

"Ash, there is no need to try to make me feel better. I accepted the fact that I am a human long ago. Please, let's get out of here because I need to save Beta Steven's and Elder Peter's lives. I gave them my word, and I can't break that promise." She said this while losing patience. "Fine, don't come out; I'll go on my own." She pouted against the darkness, stomped her feet one last time, and walked out of there. The moment she stepped onto the cleared ground, a loud growl echoed behind her, causing her to stumble backwards and fall on her buttocks.

"Leave me alone!" She screamed when the wolf started sniffing her and licking her wounds. As if to scare her even more, the moon shown above her brought the wolf into her sight; it was as black as the night with clear eyes like the moon. The wolf sniffed her torn pants and growled to attract more of them. They did that the moment they found their prey. Calling out their families so that they can share the meal.

"lemme go!" She screamed, trying to slap its claws away from her tattered pants, but she angered the wolf. He growled, trying to sink his claws into her flesh. A cloud of dust appeared, with thousands of wolves appearing behind it. Her eyes widened in shock, and she let out a loud scream. The wolf attacking her looked behind them and grinned at the coming wolves. She took that chance to run away. She was barefooted; thorns pricked her skin; the sand below her lagging her, but she pushed herself forward. She looked over her shoulders to see if the wolves were following her or not, but she tripped on an overlying stone, and before she could wake up and run again, two wolves jumped in front of her, and the rest surrounded her, panting and looking at her in a mocking way.

"This is all Ash's fault!" She complained inwardly, trying to look for a way to escape those wolves.

"It's not!" The reply came closer to her than the previous one.

"Uh, Ash, are you in my head? Oh, stupid me. You are midlinking me. If you were surrounded by wolves, what would you do?" She asked, hoping that Ash would help her out.

"You just let me out, and I'll take care of them." Came the reply.

"What? Stop kidding me, Ash. They are moving closer." She screamed when one of the wolves grabbed her hand. The others charged, some holding her legs while others held her remaining hand. Some had already bitten her neck, ready to sink their long fangs into her veins and drain every single drop of blood from her.

"Let me out, Camila, please. I am your wolf." The voice came again, irritated.

"Yes, yes. Come out! On my god, it's paining, it's paining!" Camila screamed when the skin from one of her legs was ripped out of her, taking out the only one that had survived the guards whipping back at the palace.

"Focus Camila. Focus. If you want me out, you have to focus. Don't focus on the pain or the wolves. Close your eyes, Camila; you trust me, right?" The voice asked her

"Mmh!" She hummed, closing her eyes.

Well, breathe in."

She did.

"Breath out."

She did.

"Now focus on me. Where do you think I am talking to you from?" She was asked.

After listening carefully for a while, Camila responded with a smile on her face, at the back of my head. Is it really you, my wolf? I thought I was human. My father told me, "She started narrating.

"Do you want to survive or not?" The voice cut her off. "Don't forget you're surrounded by wolves who are now licking your blood." She was reminded.

"I want to survive, please. Help me out." She begged.

"Good. Now silent. Do you see the moon above you. It has shone with purpose. Tilt your heads upward and look at it.

She did as she was told.

"Take another deep breath and focus on me. Don't forget, you said you wanted to help some people. If you can't focus, think of them. They need your help. They are in trouble. They are in pain. They will suffer the same fate as you if you don't go to them at the perfect time. You survived because you are the chosen daughter of the moon gods. Mother Nature didn't like the way you were treated, and that's why when she sent the rain to wash away your blood and torn flesh, the gods heard her plea. They took you and saved you, but your friends are not chosen; they'll die, Camila. I see their suffering. They are getting whipped, mocked at, and doing heavy jobs. Oh, Elder Peter's at his seventy years; I see him scrubbing toilets, and Alina? She is behind him and about to pour a little hot water on his..."

"Stop it! I say stop it! Nothing can happen to Elder Peter's. I gave him my word." She screamed, causing the wolves to move backward, stabbing at her in shock. They all moved backwards once again and charged at her with speed, with the intention of ripping out the part any of them could get hold of.

"Let me out!" Her wolf screamed one last time, and she did. Her bones raptured, causing a pain she had never experienced in her life to wash over her body. Her legs turned into limbs, growing flesh, which turned into muscles, and skin covered them. Black, soft fur grew over the skin, hiding it from the hungry wolves. The growth of the limbs made her stand on her feet, which were now like her back feet, and while thinking of opening her eyes to see what was happening, another bone broke on her back, causing her to fall on her knees. Her hands, which were now gripping the ground because of the pain, turned into another pair of limbs, claws elongating from her nails digging deeper into the soil.

"Calm down. Everything will be okay. Just take a deep breath, Camila. Now that I am here, I'll take over and help you get rid of this pain." The voice echoed, now softer than earlier, and it carried some calming effects. She screamed one last time, this time with a deeper voice like that of a lion. It was a roar. Never heard before, causing the birds to fly away, the moon to hide behind the clouds, leaving only a faint light behind, snakes to hiss away, the wolves surrounding her to growl in fear and run away, and the whole forest became silent, and she roared more loudly and louder. Many black furs covered her entire body, with paws forming beneath her feet to shield her from thorns; her nose protruded with strong inhaling features; sharp fangs elongated from her teeth; a long tail with a few strands of white at the end grew; and her ears stretched. They were a different color from the rest of her body. They were white, and finally, her brown eyes took on a red glow that she could see from miles away.

She released another loud roar, which shook the neighborhood packs, and a calm, excited voice came into her head. "O yes! Open your eyes, my Camila. The pain is no more. Your Ash is now here."