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I woke up screaming Joseph’s name, and bolted upright on the couch. I quickly held out my hands turning them over, looking at both sides. Tears filled my eyes after I frantically scanned the room. Small puddles of blood and pieces of flesh lined the floor and blood spatters dotted the walls. Luna had a bloody cloth in her hand.
“What in the hell just happened to me?” Luna, Joshua, and James stood beside the couch, but I didn’t see Joseph.
“You turned.” Luna said softly. “How do you feel?” She wiped at my neck with the cloth.
“I’m fine. Everything’s just a little fuzzy.” I narrowed my eyes a bit and tilted my head to one side. “Where’s Joseph? Oh no, Is he…dead-”
“Of course I’m not dead.” My heart rose and fell all at the same time, and relief filled me as Joseph walked into the room, shirtless, towel drying his hair. “I hear you kicked ass.” He grinned broadly, causing his siblings to smile, too.
I tilted my head and chewed at the inside of my lip. “But…you were shot.” I trailed off while my gaze shifted from Joseph to Luna. “Wait a minute. You were shot, too.” I stared at her bloody shoulder, bewildered.
“I hate to break up the party, but we’ve got to get the hell out of here.” Joshua said severely.
I promptly remembered that I had gone after Joshua. I stood up and followed him into the kitchen. “I’m sorry, Joshua.” I put my hand on his arm when he reached for the fridge, but he jerked it away. “I didn’t mean to-”
“I know you didn’t.” He spun around to face me. “I just forgot what it’s like the first time someone turns. Just a little unnerving, that’s all.” He smiled thinly and patted my shoulder. “You and Luna go through the house and take anything you think we might need. Tell James and Joseph to look for the keys to those four-wheelers.” He nodded toward the back door. “I’m going to get what food and drinks we can carry.”
Luna came downstairs dragging a duffel bag. She obviously found a lot more upstairs than I did downstairs. I heard Joseph calling us from the back door.
“Come on. We gotta go now.” Joseph was holding the screen door when me and Luna came trotting through the kitchen. James and Joshua were under the carport topping of the gas tanks and firing up the four-wheelers one after another.
Joseph promptly tied down our gear on the ones that had cargo bars on the back, and James was the lookout, crouched down by the side of the house where he could spot anyone as soon as they turned off the highway.
Joseph looked at me. “How are you at driving one of these?”
“Um, not too great I’m afraid. I mean I can drive one, I just…” I trailed off.
He laughed. “Hop on. You can ride with me.”
James came running and started yelling before reaching us. Let’s go! Let’s go! Headlights just turned onto the driveway,” he said, jumping onto one of the atv’s. Luna and Joshua followed suit, and we took off through the back of the property.
Even though it was completely dark, we rode without our lights off. I promptly realized I could see just like it was day time, something I couldn’t do a week earlier. We hit a small gulley, and I flew up off the seat, but quickly wrapped my arms tighter around Joseph. He took his left hand and placed it over my interlaced fingers. His hand felt warm and strong, helping me to relax a bit. I scooted closer to him and rested my chin on his shoulder.
We rode for hours until finally stopping once we made it to the mountains. Nobody wasted any time climbing off the atv’s and stretching our aching muscles. James and Joshua went for firewood, while Joseph, Luna and I made camp.
Luna seemed nervous and fidgety. She rambled about stuff that had absolutely nothing to do with anything.
I kneeled on my knees right next to where she was sitting. “Did what I think happened earlier tonight, really happen?” I asked earnestly.
She looked through one of the bags, taking out three large cans of beef stew, and sodas. I didn’t think she was going to answer me.
“Luna?” I gently placed my hand on her arm.
“You turned.” Her reply was flat, emotionless, and she’d said it without even looking at me.
“Why now? Why not the night I was about to be attacked in the woods, or the other day when I was with William?” I searched her eyes for an answer, but she didn’t seem to have one.
She didn’t get a chance to answer because James and Joshua approached us with two armloads of firewood. Joseph had spread out the only two sleeping bags we’d found back at Walters house. I cringed when I thought about his house.
If we hadn’t gotten in J.D’s truck, none of this would have happened. I told them I’d had a bad feeling about that old man, and I had been right.
That was all water under the bridge now. I’d turned into a monster and almost killed one of my friends. Fresh tears stood in my eyes. I promptly turned away from the fire James had gotten roaring, and tried to blink away my tears.
“Here, Gen.”
I turned around, and Joseph had sat down on his knees next to me, waiting to share one of the cans of stew. We didn’t have dishes, so we would all be eating out of the same cans.
I took a few small bites and gave it back. “Thanks, but I’m not hungry,” I said quietly, and stood.
“I know why your upset,” Joseph called after me. When I didn’t answer, he rose and followed me. “Hey.” He gently grabbed at my shoulder, but I jerked away. “Gen, you need to talk to me.”
I spun around to face him, my face wet with confused tears. “I don’t understand why this had to happen to me! I was a perfectly normal, confused teenager. And now I’m a…a werewolf princess.”
“I can’t pretend to know how your feeling. I could only imagine the horrific thoughts that would be racing through my mind if I suddenly found out I was a princess.” Joseph laughed light-heartedly and I couldn’t help but laugh a little, too.
He reached out and gently wiped at one of the tears running down my cheek. “See, it’s not the end of the world. You have so many people who believe in you and a pack to fight with you.”
“It’s just all too overwhelming. I’m supposed to be doing normal teenager stuff. This is not what I had in mind.” I paused and sighed heavily. “My life’s never going to be the same again, is it?”
Joseph pulled me close to him, wrapping his arms tightly around me, and I broke down, sobbing into his chest. I felt his heart beating against my face, strong and erratic, and I felt a nervous pit growing in my stomach. He pushed me back just enough to look at me. I trembled as he lifted my chin and fixed his gaze on me. I stared silently into his big soft eyes.
Joseph suddenly tensed and loosened his hold when soft footsteps approached behind me. I quickly dropped my arms. Adrenaline rushed through my veins, and my body began to shake violently. It was happening again and I didn’t know how stop it.