Page 8 of True North

“I will,” I promise, opening my door to take whatever verbal whipping my sister has prepared for me.

She meets me halfway down the walkway that leads to the house. I brace for the lecture, but Tasha doesn’t say a word. She wraps her arms around me and hugs me the way she always does, like she’s thanking the universe for me. And in a way, I know she is. She’s thanking the universe for keeping me alive when it had the chance to steal me away.

I shake my head slightly to try to clear the memory of the accident away. Now isn’t the time for a trip down memory lane.

Tasha pulls away, keeping her hands on my arms as she looks me over. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry,” I mutter.

“No. No, it’s alright. I’m just glad you’re okay. I thought…” She trails off, and I can only imagine what she was thinking.

“I’m okay,” I reassure her again.

She nods slowly, maybe not completely believing me. “You have ten minutes to get to the woods, but try not to stray too far from home. You don’t want to draw anyone’s attention your first time.” She gives me a meaningful look as her nose twitches. The wolves at school aren’t the only ones who have noticed my new scent.

There are woods just behind the house, shallow ones, but it’s enough cover for my first shift. We’re not supposed to overdo it the first time.

“Love you, Tash,” I tell her, leaning in to squeeze her in another hug. I’ve missed her; I don’t think I realized how much until she was here. As much as I know Jimmy and her are perfect for each other, there’s a part of me that will always wish her mate was from North Summit, so she could have stayed with us. Stayed with me.

I love my brother too, but it isn’t the same.

“Be safe!” Tasha calls after me as I start toward the backyard.

I scoff at that particular request. There’s nothing exactlysafeabout my body rearranging itself into wolf form. I grew up hearing the stories. About the pain. The transition. And yesterday, I got a preview of the pain to come. The inevitable is going to hurt.

It’s almost time, my wolf whines, prancing where she’s currently trapped in my mind. At least one of us is ready for what’s to come.

I walk a path around the side of the house and then cut across the backyard, the threshold into the woods calling out to me. I feel like I’m in a trance as I walk toward it, the line of trees that I disappear into moments later. The foliage wraps around me like an embrace, welcoming me.

For the first time in years, something feels like home.

I shed my party dress, a birthday present to myself. The smooth black material slips through my fingers easily. I meant to fold it, but a sudden searing pain in my calf makes me fold in half.

“Ah,” I groan as I clutch at my leg, desperately trying to soothe the pain.

A cracking sound comes from my other leg. It doesn’t matter how much the pack talks us through our first shift—nothing could prepare a person for this.

My whole body crumples to the ground in agony, the air filled with sounds of my bones cracking as they rearrange themselves into something less human. I roll to my back and let my head fall against the damp ground. I can only imagine what I’m doing to the hair Morgan so painstakingly fixed for the party, but no one is out here to see anyway.

I haven’t gotten out of my underwear yet, and I know I only have seconds left to get them off before they’re torn to shreds and lost for good. I will my body to move to finish undressing, but it’s impossible.

Yesterday’s pain had nothing on this.

My sobs bounce off the trees as my nose finally cracks. I squeeze my eyes shut as tightly as I can, not wanting to see the moment my human nose starts to morph into a snout. The very idea of it makes my stomach turn.

I can’t tell if the pain lasts hours or minutes. Time seems to stop existing as my body contorts in every direction, my entire physicality changing to suit the shift. Every piece of me is realigning itself, becoming wolf.

Shifting and shifting until I don’t remember where my human form ends and wolf form begins.

Open your eyes.

“It hurts too bad,” I whimper.

Someone is coming.

My wolf’s words make my eyes fly open. No one should be out here this time of day. This is a residential area. A no hunting zone. Outside of the normal pack grounds. There’s no reason for humans or wolves to be here.

I grunt through the pain to stand—on paws now rather than feet—and try to hold back louder sounds as my body finishes its change for the first time. The last thing is my tail, my spine snapping and cracking as the thick appendage grows.

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