Twenty-two

I wasn't terrified. I was horrified. More than horrified.

My world had turned upside down in just a matter of minutes. Harper had stood almost naked in front of me, in nothing but his black boxers, which clung to his waist so well, by the way, and then, in a few minutes, a 6 feet tall, white wolf stood in his place, and looked at me with piercing green eyes. The same green eyes I had started to associate with Harper.

Nothing made sense in my head right now. But somehow, I knew that my suspicions were correct, that Harper had indeed changed into a white wolf. How, I didn't know! 

The tattered remains of the black boxers Harper had been wearing before he transformed were lying on the ground. The piece of the garment must have been shredded to pieces because it couldn't accommodate the large body of the wolf Harper had changed into. And that fact brought me to my other dangerous train of thought.

Harper must be going commando right now. I glanced at Harper from the corner of my eyes, a blush rising to my cheeks. My imagination went wild at the notion that he was just wearing his jeans.

I immediately stopped my traitorous thoughts, silently thanking the universe that Harper couldn't hear them. At least, I hoped he didn't. God help me if she was a mind reader or had some other superpowers!

Out of all the things I imagined Harper would tell me, showing me that he could turn into a wolf wasn't something I had in mind. Or could have in my mind in a million years. My mind was having a hard time coping with everything. I had considered the fact that I could be hallucinating too. I wanted to believe that I was hallucinating, otherwise I would just suffer from a panic attack right now.

I had to be sure, though. I needed to be sure and then, I could just blame whatever I saw on low blood glucose or something as the cause of the hallucination. 

"Did you just turn into a wolf?" I had not spoken since we had seated ourselves in the car and had started the journey towards my house. I didn't want to speak to him and yet I wanted to hear his voice. I hated myself for feeling this way. I was torn between wanting to run away from him and snuggling closer to him and resting my head on his firm chest.

Harper had been quiet too and I was grateful for that. The way I recoiled from his touch earlier must have hurt him but I was in no way going to apologize for that. What the hell was he even thinking, he could have maybe eased everything on me, by maybe telling me everything first?! What did he even expect of me, that I would jump up and down like a giddy six-year-old that my potential boyfriend had a crazy birthday party trick up his sleeve and could change into a wolf at his whim?! Did he expect me to snuggle into his fur and demand that we go for a piggyback ride in the woods?!

He sighed. His posture had been tensing ever since we had started on our journey. I didn't blame him; I was practically giving him the cold shoulder because I just couldn't grasp what happened. 

It was normal, right?! I mean it would happen with everyone.

"Yes, I did." I could see him grip the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white from the pressure.

"Are you cursed?" It was a stupid question, I know. But I was grasping at straws here. What other explanation could be there about all of this? This was simply unreal. 

He chuckled. I liked the sound and I wanted to hear more of it. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, I needed to concentrate here. "No, Um, you can think of us like a different species." He said as an afterthought.

A different species?

What the fucking hell does he mean by that?

I twiddled my thumbs and took a few deep breaths to calm down my nerves and control the panic attack that I could feel coming. I had to control my bearings at least till I got home and then, I could have a mental breakdown in the confines of my room, unseen by anyone.

"Species? Are there more of, um your, um type?" I had no idea what to call him. What do you call a person who could transform into a wolf any time he wanted?

He grimaced at my use of words and shifted uncomfortably in the leather seat of the driver's seat. "Yes," he gulped nervously, drawing my attention to his Adam's apple, "there are quite many of us."

I slinked back in the leather seat, hoping it would cocoon me from the conversation I was having with Harper. My mind had stopped trying to process and instead just chose to store information, which would later be dissected and reviewed, while I would be snuggled in my sheets.

The thought of people who could change into animals, and the same people living with me and around me was preposterous. It was unbelievable and sounded straight out of a fantasy novel. It sounded dangerous and unsafe.

"Can you change into some other animals or is it just wolves?" Harper was under my metaphorical microscope now. The fact that his alter ego was a wolf, who could just snap his jaws and remove my head from the rest of my body, did nothing to reduce the pull I felt toward Harper. It was crazy how my body was choosing to ignore all the logical facts concerning Harper and just focus on his glorious body, which looked downright amazing in the boxers he was wearing.

Keep a grip on yourself, Zara!

He chuckled and his shoulders relaxed the first time we had started this weird conversation. "No, we just changed into wolves." He turned his head to look at me. I turned my head the other way to avoid eye contact with him, he sensed it and returned his attention to the front, steering the car on the familiar road of my house.

I hated myself for bringing back the weird silence in the car but I couldn't help it. This was a huge matter that I had to absorb and I think I was doing a pretty good job. Harper would prove as a distraction from the matter at hand and I couldn't afford that.

"What's your species called?" Those words that came out of my mouth cemented everything. I knew Harper and I were different but I had no idea how different we were. We were practically different species.

"We aren't exactly different species per se. You could just say, we are an advanced version of humans." I cringed at the way he said the word human like he wasn't one. "We are called werewolves." He glanced at me from the corner of his eyes before taking a right turn.

"Do I know anyone who, um, can change into a wolf too?" I asked tentatively. The words sounded absurd to my ears and I couldn't believe that they were coming out of my mouth.

"You do." He sounded nervous all of a sudden. He had been pretty forthcoming about this matter, patiently answering any questions that I had about him and his species. I could imagine how it would feel if someone would ask me how I lived and behaved as a human, it wouldn't only be weird but unnatural for me to explain such basic and everyday topics to anyone. This was probably the first time that he was reluctant to answer a particular question.

"Well, who are they?" I asked eagerly. 

"There are many people in the school and around you that are werewolves, Zara." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

I groaned impatiently. Why was he censoring answers and keeping the truth from me now? Surely, if I knew he could change into a wolf, it didn't matter if I knew other people could do it too. "I meant, if I knew anyone personally." I glanced to look at him but he was carefully avoiding eye contact with me. "Tell me." I urged again.

"Your best friends." His voice was small and completely unlike his usual confident and booming voice that could control the whole room. It was unsure and it looked like he was hoping that I didn't hear him. But I did!

"My friends?" I chuckled nervously, hoping he would join in and tell me what he said was a joke and that the only people who were werewolves were just a couple of boys he hung out with, at school. But, he didn't. He turned the ignition off and I realized that we had very conveniently arrived back at my house. Convenient because I could now get away from him.

There was simply no way that my friends were werewolves. The idea of them changing into wolves on a whim was laughable. And if it was true, they would have told me that years ago, right?! We were best friends, for heaven's sake and we shared everything. I had even seen them naked so many times. 

"You're kidding, right?!" I asked him, turning my body to face him, giving him my full attention but he kept looking forward as if he would give almost anything to not be here, with me, having this conversation.

He shook his head slowly and then turned his head to look at me, his eyes apologetic that I had not been privy to this information before and that I had to know about it from him. "I'm sorry." His voice was somber and he was sincere, I could feel it.

The betrayal stung. A lot. In a few hours, my life had been thrown into a new light and I wasn't sure I liked it. I could feel tears prick my eyes and the thought that over all these years, we three had been together, they had kept everything from me. They kept their true nature from me when I felt guilty whenever I tried to hide anything from either of them. I sniffed and bit my lip to choke back a sob.

Everything was just too much for me to handle.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and ran into my house without looking back at Harper. I could feel his heated gaze at the back of my head till the time it took for me to run to my front door.

Nobody was home at this time. It was early morning after all. I was supposed to be at school and so was my fourteen-year-old brother, Cody. At least, one of us was exactly where were supposed to be. My parents had already left for their respective jobs and I couldn't be happier by the fact.

I just ran up the stairs and into my room. The bed had never felt so inviting as it did to me then.

I hastily got out of my flats and snuggled deep into the covers. I breathed in a few deep breaths before the tears streamed down my face and the reality of what I had just seen and come to know about, crashed down on me. 

It was time that I let loose and had the mental breakdown I rightfully deserved.

I screamed for hours after that, my screams of frustration muffled by the pillow while tears streamed down my face.