Chapter 11

I stretched, yawned, and shook my fur to get used to the wolf form, then nosed the door open and padded quietly down the carpeted hall. I kept my eyes on Grace when I entered the room, but my sharp ears caught the small intakes of breath at my dark red coat. I glanced at Jaze and took a small breath of relief at the lack of judgment on his face. His eyes met mine and he merely nodded. I went to Grace’s side.

She still sat on the couch, one hand hanging casually over the side. I touched her hand with my nose and sent her the image I saw of the room. She gasped, straightened up, then bent and put her arms around my neck. “It’s so nice to see again,” she said softly, her voice catching.

“So it really works?” Mr. Davies asked, his voice a touch tighter than before.

Grace nodded. “It’s amazing. He can show me everything he’s seeing. It’s like- it’s like a miracle.” Her voice trembled when I lifted my gaze and looked slowly around the room. I met Jaze’s eyes once more, then looked at Nikki, Taye, Jet, Brock, Mouse, Mrs. Carso, and the Davies. “I can finally see you,” she whispered. Something soft splashed on top of my head.

“Oh, honey,” Mrs. Carso said. She gave Grace a big hug, then let her go and dropped to her knees in front of me. “I don’t know how you do it,” she said, her eyes bright. “But I’m glad it works.” She gave me a hug as well and ruffled my fur in a way that would be demeaning as a human, but that as a wolf I actually enjoyed. I decided to take a chance and sent her what I saw. She gasped and sat back quickly on her heels. “He showed me,” she said, her voice higher than usual. “I saw what he was looking at!”

“Can I see?” Jaze asked. When I nodded, he put a hand on my shoulder. I sent him my view of the room. He dropped his hand and stared at me. “It really works!”

The others crowded around me and I sent them all the same image. I felt embarrassed by the sudden attention, but glad they didn’t see me as an outcast. When each of them saw what I sent, their responses were the same. They dropped their hands and stared at me, a look of surprise and respect in their eyes.

“That’s amazing,” Nikki said.

“Really neat,” Taye agreed.

“We’ve got to get you in a girl’s locker room,” Brock said.

Jaze shoved his shoulder. “It doesn’t work like that,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You’d have to be there with him because it only seems to work on contact.”

“It was just a thought,” Brock replied, chagrined.

“He’s red,” Cassie’s small voice came from behind Jet. “Is that okay?”

“Definitely,” Jet replied. He knelt and pulled her to stand in front of him. She clung to his shirt, her little hands white. “Hold out your hand. It’s just Kaynan. He’s nice, remember?”

She held out her little fingers and I stuck out my nose. She felt my muzzle, then giggled when I licked her hand.

“He’s cool,” Alex exclaimed, leaving his dad’s side to put his face in my fur. His breath tickled the rough guard hairs and sent a rush of warmth through me at the trust of their parents.

“Shall we join him?” Taye asked.

Jet, Jaze, and Mouse phased quickly in the spare bedroom and came back into the living room. The two Alphas’ black coats made them look more menacing than Mouse’s gray pelt. Jet had a strange symbol that looked like a seven on his shoulder in white fur. He caught me staring at it and held my gaze until I looked away.

Taye and Grace returned a few minutes later. Taye looked beautiful with her pure white coat and blue-gray eyes, but Grace’s light gray fur and lithe body reminded me of our run from the laboratories. She walked with her shoulder next to Taye’s for guidance, her ears twitching back and forth as she blinked her sightless blue eyes. I wanted to protect her from everything, to keep her safe and sheltered; I settled for trotting to meet her and leaning against her to show her what I saw. She sat next to me and sighed, clearly enjoying being able to see again if only by proxy.

“Why don’t you guys go out and enjoy the night?” Mr. Davies invited. “If the children phase, we’ll call you back. Otherwise, Mrs. Carso, Nikki, and Brock have offered to keep them company while we go for a run. Have fun and we’ll catch up.” He gave Mrs. Carso a grateful smile.

Mrs. Davies opened the door and let us out, telling us to be safe and to stay away from the cows. Grace gave a snort of laughter that I echoed. Staying away from cows was certainly something I had never been told before. Moonlight spilled around us, putting to shame the puny lamp that stood near the Davies’ front porch. I took a deep breath of the night air and the scents of the country filled me with anticipation.

Jaze gave a bark of invitation and loped off through an alfalfa field with Mouse close behind. We kept pace with them but stayed behind. Grace’s paws fell in time with mine as though we had run shoulder to shoulder our whole lives. It felt so natural to have her next to me, and I felt a pang of longing for Renee and the way we completed each other. We had been together since our first class in high school; we knew each other’s secrets, hopes, dreams, and fears, and we had planned to enroll in the same college next year so that we could major together.

Thoughts of Renee’s blond hair and sparkling blue eyes made my heart clench and my pace slowed. Grace slowed with me until we were walking through long grass that reached almost to our shoulders and waved gently in the midnight breeze. Her expression matched the ache in my heart and I wondered if she was thinking about Gabe.

I climbed a small rise and we sat and watched the land below come alive with the moonlight. A brook behind us danced with laugher as the water made its way over rocks and under bridges. An owl asked its ageless question from a tree to our right, while mice scurried through the underbrush in the hopes of staying out of its sight. A fox barked and birds, startled from sleep, rose into the air crying their outrage until they disappeared into a new stand of trees.

The breeze tickled my fur; I closed my eyes to fully feel the soft touch of moonlight along my back and shoulders. I took a deep breath and held it, then let it out slowly. Everything felt so new, so fresh and alive. Smells, my vision, and sounds were crisp and crystal clear, as though I had been walking around with blinders until the accident and never knew it.

It felt as though the moonlight soaked through my skin and muscles. The scent of the clean water in the brook mixed with the green reeds that pulled at the breeze and made it whistle. I glanced at Grace and the ache of Renee’s absence faded when I saw Grace’s eyes close and face turn to the moonlight as though she felt it as deeply as I did. She opened her eyes and leaned back against me. I rose to continue our run when a howl sounded.

My ears pricked at the joy and welcome of the sound. A lighter voice joined it, and then two high-pitched voices echoed the first. Grace gave a short yip of answer and we loped down the hill at top speed. It amazed me how effortless it was for us to run together now, how seamless my sight and Grace’s pace matched. She truly lived up to her name in wolf form.

Taye met us near the house, her eyes bright and tail wagging. She led us to the back field where two Alphas, Jet and Mr. Davies, rolled around with a small dark gray cub and a small light gray one. Mrs. Davies, now an elegant white wolf, looked on proudly from the edge of the field. We joined them and I could practically feel Grace’s excitement radiating from her. Her paws danced as she sat and I could feel her longing to join the twins in play.

Jaze and Mouse stopped near us and the twins bounced over with all the enthusiasm of twenty puppies. They tackled Grace, then pounced on me, no longer afraid of my red fur and eyes. I nipped softly at their paws and they attacked with mock growls of anger and tiny, needle-sharp teeth. Jet bounced in, acting like a puppy himself, and saved me from his young siblings.

We played tag and raced through the fields until the early hours of the morning stole away the power of the moon. I felt the need to be a wolf fade until we stayed in our wolf forms out of choice. I was exhausted by the time we filed into the house, but my heart still ran in the fields with Cassie and Alex chasing me, and my soul soared with the freedom of the wolf.

I led Grace to the room and waited courteously while she and Taye phased and changed into their clothes. It was my turn to phase after them, but a reluctance to take on my human form again ran so sharply through my body that it was hard to push away the paws and the simplified animal thoughts and take on my now-gangly feeling form and never-ending guilt. I sighed and pulled on my clothes, tying shoes over feet that yearned for long grass and soft earth.

“Newly phased cubs have to be the cutest things in the world,” Taye was exclaiming when I came into the room.

“They’re amazing,” Grace agreed.

Mrs. Davies gave them both a warm smile. “Thank you. We’re honored that you were here for it.”

Mrs. Carso came from the kitchen carrying a plate of cookies. Brock and Nikki followed close behind with cups of milk. “Eat up,” Mrs. Carso invited, offering a cookie to me before setting the plate on the coffee table. “Phasing always makes wolves hungry.”

I couldn’t argue against the answering pangs in my stomach, and made sure Grace had a cup and a cookie before devouring my own.

Jet entered the room in his human form followed a few minutes later by Jaze and then Mouse. “They’re perfect,” Jet said quietly.

Mr. Davies nodded. “I couldn’t be prouder of all of my children.” He smiled at Jet and the werewolf dropped his eyes, his cheeks touched with red.

Mrs. Davies handed him a cookie and he took it without saying anything. Taye hooked her arm in his. “Where’s Cassie and Alex?” she asked.

“Fast asleep,” Mr. Davies replied with a laugh. “They were pretty worn out.”

The Davies exchanged fond looks and I couldn’t help but wonder how they made being werewolves look so easy. The acceptance, understanding, and the way they embraced being a family of werewolves felt so natural. I wondered if it would ever feel the same way for me. My heart throbbed at the thought of my family, of Renee, and of my sister.