Kierra

I think the wolf catches on to that, I can hear and feel his low chuckle in my head. Clenching my teeth and ignoring the flutters in my belly, I get to the reason I called him out in the first place. Or will when my treacherous thought patterns stop going wonky.

"The Clans and Packs you mentioned earlier, how many are around here? Are they the same now as they were back then?"

"Clans are shape-shifters, or Shifters, they're born, not made. More often than not they are made up of several different families. Getting married off to a different clan to keep the bloodlines from spoiling by inbreeding. Packs are Were-animals that have grouped together. Almost always by breed, but sometimes by common interests. If one of their own turns another, then they are usually brought in. The one that bit you, I did not recognize his scent as being from either of the Packs in this area. He's more than likely Rogue, which is bad. There are Rogues and there are Lone Wolves. Rogues are those that have been cast out, shamed. It's the same for both Weres and Shifters. Loners are those that have struck out on their own, to either form their own pack or just don't do well in a pack structure. To form their own though, they have to have permission from the council."

Well, that was a mouthful of useful information, but not exactly what I was going for. He sits on the porch between me and Bastion, able to look at us both. At the moment he's looking at Bastion to make sure he was following along. And he is indeed, looking eager to learn more. Can't say I blame him, so far the set up of the different factions is interesting. Looking over to me, Asher continues.

"As for your question of how many there are... Ever since I was cursed, I've been wandering from place to place in search of the Vampire that caused my wife's death. I have yet to find him or the Witch, but in my travels, I've found Packs here and there. Loves Park, Rockford, and some feline Clans in Machesney. Those are the closest ones. In the southernmost part of the state, there is a wolf Clan that owns and runs a state park. The Pack here in Loves Park are the owners of the Rock Cut State Park. Both parks are claimed in public records as state-owned, but the animals own them. There's one in Chicago that I know of, they run businesses up and down Lake Michigan. I've briefly visited each one, hearing about one from another group and so on. I always return here though. Almost stayed to the south, but I felt pulled back here, even with the horrid memories. If they are the same now as they were back then, I don't really know. After being denied help, I became a loner. Council be damned. I doubt they even know of me since I've not heard anything from them for twenty-five years."

I look at him a little warily.

"Council?"

He nods, blinking a few times as he gathers what he knows into a cohesive thought. Impressions form in my head of leaders. A group of individuals, leaders of their factions coming together to make heavy decisions. I get the feeling that they don't meet often, only when something big is going on, like preventing war between the races and such.

"I see. Well, from what I've learned of them so far, I don't care to have anything to do with them either. So I have to find my sister myself. In that case, I guess it's better, means I can't break rules I don't know about, the whole plausible deniability thing."

I nod to myself, rubbing my hands along my arms. I still have to find something to do with Bastion though while I'm out looking. As young as he is, I don't particularly want to leave him by himself.

Thinking about it, we still have some time before we have to worry about that. Since I don't know where she is, it's not like I can just run off and get her. I need to plan, to find information. Not to mention there's no telling the situation she's in, rushing headlong into anything could get me and her killed.

My hands go through my hair, most of it dry now, only a little dampness on the underside close to my neck. Feeling frustrated, both hands scratch across my scalp, ruffling my hair and poofing it out.

"Your hair is different."

Startled, I look up to Asher and his observation, pulling my hair over my shoulders to see it. Sure enough, those streaks are still there. But what I thought was gray is actually an almost metallic silver. The color my fur is when I change?

The effect is startling with the backdrop of the darker hair. Doesn't look real, but it feels just like the rest of the mop on my head. I sigh heavily. The weight on my shoulders feeling like it's steadily increasing with each new piece of information I get.

"For now Bastion, you can have Faline's room. She won't mind, as long as you don't mess with any of the notebooks. Girl goes nuts if they're touched."

I give him a small smile as I head back into the house. At some point I'm going to have to take him out for some clothes. He might fit into a lot of my sibling's things, but I doubt he wants to be in girl's clothing all the time. Not to mention he needs at least a toothbrush.

Closing up the bread and putting it on the counter, the empty meat packages get thrown away. My eyes land on my phone, wallet, and keys next to it, as well as a small plastic chip. I'm confused for a second before I remember where I got it. My heart thumps harshly against my ribs. I can't deal with it right now. I slip it into a sandwich bag and take it to my room, putting it on one of my many shelves littering the walls.

Coming back out to the living room, both Asher and Bastion have come in. Both looking a bit lost as they stand in the middle of my house. I need the wolf to tell me more about Werewolves. How I can fight as one, how to track. Hell, how to Werewolf period.

I clear my throat and look around, nibbling at my lip. I'd usually be playing with my tongue ring, but since it's MIA at the moment, and I don't feel like going back to my room for another, my lip takes the brunt of my random idiosyncrasies.

Think about doing this in the basement, but that gets tossed out real quick. Pushing the couch further into the living room, I create a bigger space to work in between the large rooms. Outside would probably be better for this as a whole, but can't chance on being seen.

Pushing the L shaped couch up against the table holding the TV, hopefully that will be enough protection for it. For now anyway. The boys looking at me with similar looks have me snickering a bit. Their heads cocked to the side, curiosity plain to see, as well as a wondering thought if I've lost it since I haven't told them what I've got planned. A last glance around to make sure there's nothing serious or important that can be knocked into or damaged, and I'm ready.

I motion for Bastion to either take a seat on the couch or at the table as I push it and the chairs further into the kitchen. He climbs onto the couch, moving to the middle, elbows bracing on the back of it as he looks back at me with a question.

"Okay, Asher. Tell me how to shift."

He blinks at me, sitting off to the side of a bookshelf. His ears twitch before pricking forward. Surely even after twenty-five years of being frozen, he remembers how to do it. He'd told me how to turn back to human back at the house, it just hadn't worked. A frown crosses my face as I remember him saying something about eight hours.

"You said something before about an eight hour wait time, but I went human hours before I should have."

He nods, tail moving around to his side, sitting all regally.

"For everyone's first change, it's always very painful. No getting around that, as your body is literally changing at a cellular level. After that, there will be no pain, just an inner shifting of self. The eight hours is a grace period your body needs to transition and get used to the new changes in morphing form. I'm guessing the reason you reverted so soon has something to do with when you connected to your sister. The stress of it caused you to literally chase off the wolf within you."

He pauses a moment, looking like he's thought of something new. My stomach starts to cramp in unease.

"With this next shift, you may experience pain from the delayed process. So instead of going into full Were mode, I want you to go wolf first. All Were-animals have three forms, a fourth one only being a partial change. You have your human form, your Were; which is the giant killing machine, and true animal. We'll have you go wolf first to finish the transition and go from there."

Nervous, I lean from one foot to the other. I'm no stranger to pain, even a bit of a masochist, as all the scars, piercings, and tattoos can attest to, but this is a whole new ball game.

"You will it from within you, seeing it in your mind and drawing it forward. Will it into being. It's a bit difficult to explain since I've never had to before, but I'll be with you the whole way. You'll feel the wrenching of pain more than likely, just rise above it, let it take you. Whatever you do, don't fight it. That will make things much worse."

I think I was nodding for the whole latter half of what he said, a compulsive thing my head just kind of fell into. Shaking out of it, I shake out all my limbs as well. Trying to prepare for something that no one can really prepare for. His being here already helps tremendously, not all alone this time, and actually knowing what's going on.

Standing in the middle of the open area, I close my eyes, my mind pulling up an image of a natural wolf. It already has its color and shape without me trying to detail it. Automatic. I picture myself reaching for it, cajoling it to join me. The image in my head turns and looks right at me, my heart thumps hard, but I stick to Asher's words, repeating them several times in my head.

The canine starts running towards me, full out. Even as unnerving as it is, the animal is beautiful. It jumps into me, my actual body literally jerks as it fills me.

Saying it's painful is a major understatement.

I drop to the floor, clenching my teeth hard to keep from crying out. Whimpers still escape as the remembered fire starts flowing through me, filling my veins and traveling throughout my body, which is contorting on the floor. Asher hovers close-by while Bastion looks on, fear and worry on his face.

My legs break and feel like they're folding in on themselves. I can't not scream aloud. A thought carries over from what Asher said, that it will be so much worse than it would have been originally just because it had been pushed back. Being pushed back has made the wolf angry, so it's going to take its pound of flesh from me in retaliation.

I doubt that's how it works, but that's how it feels as my head whips back, long hair flying out before slowly receding, hands and feet contorting to take on a new shape. My head pounds unmercifully as it feels like it's being submerged in ice, the kind of cold that feels hot. I feel my skin splitting low on my back as my spine pushes through, elongating as muscle and tissue form around it before skin and fur enclose it.

The whole process feels like my volcanic blood should be exploding everywhere and puddling beneath me as I thrash around, melting the floor below me. My screams change pitch as my throat contorts, insides feel like they're bursting, being wrapped in molten lead as they change shape and move within my body.

My skin tears, can hear it ripping before it registers that what I'm hearing is my clothing. The jeans at my hips and the flimsy shirt ripping from both my morphing body and me pulling at it. The weight and confines of it hurting and cutting into me.

I press my heated cheek to the floor, or what was my cheek at one point, it feels like my face has broken as it changes as well. I try to bring in my limbs to curl up, but they feel all wrong and don't work quite the way I want, and moving them only creates more pain.

Dearly wishing I could pass out and have it finish with me blissfully unaware, but I feel as if I deserve this.

I deserve it for failing my sister so horribly. Tears push through my eyes as my mind of its own accord reaches for her. I pull it back in a panic, not wanting to put her through this pain like I had gone through with her. Not that it matters though, my mind touches on blackness. I'm about to start wailing in despair, thinking her dead, when I realize she's only sleeping.

I pull back hurriedly, not wanting to wake her, but whispering that I will find her, even if I have to tear the whole city apart. I have no business making that promise when I had no guarantees, but I feel it with my whole being. Making a vow to myself right there, writhing in pain on the floor of my home, that I will find and retrieve my sister, even if it means my death to make her safe.