Chapter 2

Zelda.

Brenda's hands tightened on my shoulders. "Remember what I said? It ends here," she hissed.

I swallowed hard and fretfully turned back to look behind me, I wanted to push her off me but I also knew that any wrong move from me would make the situation worse.

Suddenly, A car screeched loudly to a halt nearby, distracting Brenda momentarily. As she turned, a stranger emerged—a man with blazing golden eyes. My gazes locked on his, and a surge of energy coursed through me. Strength I'd never known surged through my limbs.

Brenda spun back, I could see haste in her eyes. And just before she could regain her grip on me, In an instant, I channeled my newfound energy, hurling it at her. She flew backward, her brows furrowed in shock as she hit the ground.

The power within me grew with every passing second, unabating and unstoppable. With my heart pounding heavily, the world around me blurred. Brenda and the stranger froze, watching in disbelief.

Something strange stirred beneath my skin—a prickling heat that spread like wildfire through my veins, My body went into spams,

My vision blurred as I stumbled to my knees, it seemed as though the world was tilting dangerously around me, my bones cracking and reshaping with agonizing intensity. Fur sprouted from my skin, coarse and pearly white, my limbs contorting into a new form.

And then I shocked myself, a raspy snarl tore from my throat, My fingers curled into claws, I could feel my senses sharpened, the world now painted in stark contrasts of light and shadow from the normal colours I was used to.

What the heck!

I struggled to my feet, my body still reeling from the sudden transformation. My vision cleared a little just in time to see Brenda shift into a wolf form, her fur dark and sleek, her eyes shinning with anger.

I slowly turned to the strange looking but oddly familiar guy where he stood, he was now a massive grey wolf, he stood protectively between us, his stance very aggressive and ready for battle. What in the world was going on here, what is this? What does this make me?

Brenda wasted no time. With a furious snarl, she lunged at me, her claws extended.

He met her attack head-on, their bodies colliding with a thunderous impact that echoed across the dark, quiet and cold night. They fought fiercely, a battle of teeth and fur, each trying to gain the upper hand.

I tried to move, to help, to atleast fight but my limbs were still unsteady and weak from the transformation. Despite the scary fight going on infront of me, my mind managed to be swamped with many other things, different smells began to hit my nose and the thoughts bothering me were quite unclear.

He managed to throw Brenda off balance, sending her sprawling across the ground. He pounced on her, his powerful jaws snapping dangerously close to her throat. Brenda growled and twisted, she twisted free and lashed out, catching him off guard. She took advantage of the momentary lapse, darting away from him and towards the edge of the cliff. She paused, her eyes locking onto mine, filled with a mix of hatred and something else—fear, perhaps?

"This isn't over," she growled, her voice rough and menacing, she didn’t say it in human language but somehow I could understand her growl. Then, with a powerful leap, she disappeared over the edge, vanishing into the dark waters below.

The grey wolf slowly turned to me approaching cautiously and as he got closer, I slowly began to shift back into a normal human form, the process was agonizing and slow.

And by the time I had transformed back fully I was stark naked, I slumped on the floor, my knees curled up my body in a foetal position.

Still in his wolf nature, this oddly familiar stranger bent towards me rubbing his fur against my face.

Even if I was scared of the whole thing that just happened, I had no energy to fight back, I just laid there in the floor in a foetal position, with his fur rubbing softly against my skin, and then the weirdest thing happened, as if enough weird things hadn’t already happened , I clearly heard his voice in my head,

“Zelda, it’s time to come home!”

Home?! Which home?! Or is this my head playing mind games with me, I wanted to fully discern what is going on with me but I really could not.

He slowly transformed back to his human shape also. He was stark naked also, I wanted to take my eyes off his surprisingly very perfect body in front of me. Now that I see him more closely I realized I know why I found him oddly familiar. He was my next door neighbor. I wanted to worry about how he found me, or what he was or what this makes me but one thing was more important to me.

“Please take me to my mom,” I muttered completely drained out of life.

Meanwhile …..

Three Hours Earlier ….

Novan.

Seated behind my study desk, I ran my hands through my hair with frustrations I could barely contain, I had being trying to get across to Micheal - My Beta wolf, for hours now and I wasn’t able to reach him.

For the past few weeks, Micheal had been pissing me off by always responding to me late, why then did he put him in charge if he cannot answer to me promptly.

My phone rang, I glanced at it, I rolled my eyes to the back of my head as soon as I saw “Ashley”, I swiped down on the answer button and placed it on my ear.

“Novan!” She called, her voice frantic over the phone. Only her and Micheal had the audacity to address me by my first name. I sat up straight immediately I heard the urgency of her voice,

“Zelda has been kidnapped, and Brenda is heading back to pinefalls,” She blurted out, I became alert immediately and I felt my wolf jump in agitation and this time it took extra effort to suppress his voice in my head.

“It’s not looking good!” She added.

“Know where she’s headed?!” I asked already pushing my chair backwards and rising to her feet.

“As soon as I get the coordinates I’ll send them to you!” She responded swiftly. I ended the call and carelessly tossed it on the desk. I had no time to waste, I grabbed any coat I could lay my hands on and slipped into it.

“It wouldn’t have gotten to this if you had just listened to me!” Gerald, my wolf, nagged as I grabbed my car keys and dashed out of the house.

“It’s been a year now. If you had told her about it the moment you arrived, our mate wouldn’t be in this great danger!” His growl echoed through me, I could literally feel the heat of his anger as he spoke. I shut him out almost immediately, the last thing I want right now was for him to lecture me on the things I should have or should not have done.

Zelda's safety was more, and I needed to channel all my thoughts to saving her.

If Brenda was making her move, there was only one place she’d go: Pinefalls Border.

I slammed my foot on the accelerator, the engine roaring, the roads blurred past as I drive at full speed. My phone beeped, and with one hand on the wheel, still trying to keep my eyes on the road, I glanced at the message from Ashley. Shit! Zelda wasn’t at the border. I quickly transferred the coordinates to the GPS, as soon as I got the exact location, I floored the brake, tires screeching and I turned the car around.

Driving well past the speed limit, my heart pounded with urgency. Brenda must already be there and I really could not trust her alone with Zelda at this time. I had no time to waste.

I drove onto the vast plain land, my tire screeching loudly as I came to an halt. From a distance, I saw them—Brenda’s hands clamped tightly on Zelda’s shoulders, her face was knotted in fear and terror. Rage bubbled within me seeing her in that state, my jaw clenching and unclenching as I stepped out of the car.

“Put me in charge!” Gerald's voice pounded behind the mental wall I created between us. He was right. I needed him. The barrier between us dissolved, and he took control.

As I approached them, Brenda’s eyes shone with a sinister smirk. She turned, preparing to shove Zelda off the cliff. Zelda’s gaze locked onto mine, and in that moment, her eyes flashed to a brilliant golden yellow. Then the mist shocking thing happened, with a sudden, fierce strength, she hurled Brenda far away from where she stood,

I stood frozen as Zelda staggered away from the edge of the cliff, her going into spams. White fur sprouted from underneath her skin, it kept growing longer until she was covered in them.

In a matter of seconds, she had transformed into the most magnificent, pearly white wolf I had ever seen. She stood before us, powerful and radiant under the full moon’s glow. Although she seemed a bit weak, that was expected as it was her first transformation.

For a heartbeat, time stood still. Then, a low growl erupted from her. I turned to see Brenda had already transformed into her wolf form also, black and sleek, I also did not waste time letting Gerald take charge of my body.

Brenda wasted no time. With a furious snarl, she lunged at Zelda, her claws extended.

I met her attack head-on, our bodies colliding with a thunderous impact.