CHAPTER 5

I was shoved hard from behind.

I raised my elbows as I hit the concrete, but that barely cushioned my fall. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my journal go flying, its loose papers spreading everywhere.

I heard laughter. And then footsteps, coming at me.

Heart pounding in my chest, my adrenaline kicked in. I managed to roll and scramble to my feet just before they reached me. I took off at a sprint down the alleyway, running for my life.

They followed close behind.

At one of my many schools, back when I thought I would have a long future somewhere, I took up track, and realized I was good at it. The best on the team, actually. Not in long-distance, but in the 100-yard sprint. I could even outrun most of the guys. And now, it came flooding back to me.

I ran for my life, and the guys couldn’t catch me.

I glanced back and saw how far behind they were and felt optimistic that I could outrun them all. I just had to make the right turns.

The alleyway ended in a T, and I could either turn left or right. I wouldn’t have time to change my decision if I wanted to maintain my lead, and I’d have to choose quick. I couldn’t see what was around each corner, though. Blindly, I turned left.

I prayed it was the right choice. Come on. Please!

My heart stopped as I made a sharp left and saw the dead end before me.

Wrong move.

A dead end. I ran right up to the wall, scanning for an exit, any exit. Realizing there was none, I turned to face my approaching attackers.

Out of breath, I watched them turn the corner and approach. I could see over their shoulders that if I had turned right, I would have been home free. Of course. Just my luck.

“All right, bitch,” one of them said, “you’re gonna suffer now.”

Realizing I had no way out, they walked slowly towards me, breathing hard, grinning, and relishing the violence to come.

I closed my eyes and breathed deep. I tried to will Jonah to wake up, to appear around the corner, awake and all-powerful, ready to save me. But I opened my eyes and he wasn’t there. Only my attackers. Getting closer.

I thought of my mom, of how I hated her, of all the places I’d been forced to live. I thought of my brother Sam. I thought of what my life would be like after this day.

I thought of my whole life, of how I’d always been treated, of how no one understood me, of how nothing ever went my way. And something clicked. Somehow, I had had enough.

I don’t deserve this. I DON’T deserve this!

And then, suddenly, I felt it.

It was a wave, something unlike anything I had ever experienced. It was a wave of rage, flooding through me, flushing my blood. It centered in my stomach and spread from there. I could feel my feet rooted to the ground, as if I and the concrete were one, and could then feel a primal strength overcome me, course through my wrists, up my arms, into my shoulders.

I let out a primal roar that surprised and scared even me.

I felt my body stretch in every direction. Felt paws hit the ground. The pain was excruciating. I felt as if I were being pulled and stretched in every direction.

Finally, it stopped.

I breathed deep, my heart slamming, aghast.

I couldn’t process what was happening.

What had I become?

Was I becoming….a wolf?

And then, just as quickly, I reverted back to myself. A human. Standing there. Just another girl.

As if somehow, the process didn’t work.

As if somehow, I was only partly a wolf.

And yet, still, I didn’t feel the same anymore.

I felt a power coursing through me.

A strength, unlike anything I had ever felt before.

I felt, for the first time, invincible.

And filled with rage.

As the first kid approached me and laid his beefy hand on my wrist, I watched as my hand reacted on its own, grabbing hold of my attacker’s wrist and twisting it backwards at a right angle. The kid’s face contorted in shock as his wrist, and then arm, were snapped in two.

He dropped to his knees, screaming.

The three other boys’ eyes opened wide in surprise.

The largest of the three charged right at me.

“You fuc—”

Before he could finish, I had jumped up in the air and planted my two feet squarely in his chest, sending him flying back about ten feet and slamming into a stack of metal garbage cans.

He lay there, not moving.

The other two kids looked at each other, shocked. And truly scared.

I stepped up and, feeling an inhuman strength course through me, and heard myself snarl as I picked up the two kids (each twice my size), hoisting each several feet off the ground with a single hand.

As they hung dangling in the air, I swung them back, then swung them together, crushing each into the other with an incredible force. They both collapsed to the ground.

I stood there, breathing, foaming with rage.

All four boys were not moving.

I didn’t feel relieved. On the contrary, I wanted more.

More kids to fight. More bodies to throw.

And I wanted something else.

I suddenly had crystal clear vision, and was able to zoom in on their necks, exposed. I could see down to the tenth of an inch, and I could see, from where I stood, the veins pulsing in each. I wanted to bite. To feed.

Not understanding what was happening to me, I tossed my head back and let out an unearthly shriek, echoing off the buildings and down the block. It was a primal shriek of victory, and of unfulfilled rage.

It was the shriek of an animal that wanted more.