Heart of a Wolf

Ash told me I was the first human to shift in over one hundred years. Waking up to my new reality was something I’d had a hard time with ever since I’d arrived. I could never put Val through that much less ask her to share a fate such as my own.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t be in my life. She was still my sister, after all, and no matter how scary it was to confront her and explain my absence, the thought of never seeing her again was worse.

Against my wolf’s instincts and the fear that continued to pull me back, I steeled myself for what was to come and went in search of Val. Close to dusk, there was only one place I knew she’d go.

Home.

The scent of raw sewage and the urine from homeless drunks were enough to make my stomach turn. The deeper into the city I went, the stronger my senses became. Car exhaust filled the air, burning at my eyes and lungs as I tried to breathe as little as possible.

The spark of electricity through wires was louder than ever before and practically unnoticeable under the rumble of cars.

Even the ground beneath my feet felt different, not because of the asphalt but because of the vibrations running through it.

My pulse raced, then stopped, starting up again moments later when a very sweet, familiar scent reached my nose.

Val. My mind swam at the thought of finally being able to see her and comfort her again.

Rounding the corner of a brick building, I spotted her silhouette under one of the street lamps in front of her

apartment complex. Her shoulders bunched with tension, a twinge of bitterness filling the air, one I could easily identify as hers beneath all of the other smells in the city.

Oh Val, what have I done to you? I should’ve called her the first chance I got. Instead, I let her go through this hell alone.

She might’ve yelled at me, she might’ve fought me over the phone, but anything would’ve been better than this.

She looked older somehow. Her hair was pulled back in a ragged mess, her clothes hanging loosely around her more feminine form. I’d never seen someone go through a drastic change after the loss of a loved one, not even after our folks passed away. But here? Now?

Val looked like a completely different person.

And just wait until she gets a load of me. I laughed at that, a small laugh that was equal parts anxious and excited.

My wolf wasn’t interested, bristling under my skin as I slowly closed the distance between us.

What is she doing? I wondered, eying my sister as she continued to stand out on the sidewalk. Did she know I was here? Could she sense me the same way I’d sense her?

My heart skipped when she looked my way, at the shadows around me. She met my gaze, but if she recognized me, I couldn’t be sure.

Taking another step, I moved into the light, my mouth open even though no words came out. I wanted to call her name. I wanted to run to her and take her in my arms.

Instead, a guttural growl made its way up my throat, an oncoming shift throwing me down onto my hands and knees before I could do anything else.

“Jo?” Val asked, a sense of uncertainty in her voice. “Is…

is that you?” She stepped off the sidewalk, making her way toward me.

Fighting back the shift, I retreated behind a parked car sitting in the lot across from her. If I didn’t respond, maybe she’d go away. A part of me insisted it was safe and that

everything was fine, but the aggression I sensed coming from my wolf made me think otherwise.

So I hid in the shadows, covering my mouth with a hand when another growl slowly made its way up my throat.

She’s a friend, I tried to tell my wolf. Family. If my wolf could only see who Val was, then maybe…

“No,” I chided myself.

Ash was right. I wasn’t ready. I never should’ve come here.

“Jo?” Tears made their way into Val’s voice, pulling at my instinct to take her in my arms and comfort her the way she’d done for me so many times before.