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I wake up in a state of discomfort. I'm far too hot and I instantly feel irritable from the uncomfortable temperature. In the night, I must have kicked my covers off because my duvet is lying on the floor at the foot of my bed. My body feels sticky with sweat and I'm careful to remain in a starfish position so that my limbs don't touch each other. I feel gross.

I walk straight from the bed to the shower. I don't bother waiting for it to get up to temperature, I stand beneath the cold stream of water and let it wash over me. I'm honestly expecting it to turn to steam and evaporate the second it hits my scorching skin.

The cold water does the trick, though. My body returns to a normal temperature, and I wash myself clean of sweat. When I get out, I put scrunch some product into my hair and spend about half an hour diffusing the mane of curls on my head.

I feel more human when I finally go down to the kitchen to get breakfast. I eat my cereal on the sofa while finishing off my mother's first diary. Now that I know what she is talking about, they make easy reading.

I don't know what my plan is going to look like now. Things have changed so much in the space of a couple days. I never expected to meet my soulmate here, let alone actually have one in the first place. I don't know how this is going to affect my schedule, but I don't really want to leave Asper after only just meeting him.

A rush of dizziness hits me when I stand up to take my empty bowl back to the kitchen. I hold onto the wall as I steady myself. Once I've recovered, I go to the kitchen and grab a banana after putting my bowl by the sink. Perhaps my blood sugar is low, that's why I felt faint getting up.

I realise that my joints are aching as I walk back to the sofa. I don't understand because I've been exercising the same amount as I normally do. My muscles ache as though I've done a full workout, which I definitely haven't.

I eat the banana while starting the second diary. A knock on the door makes me jump. I leave the banana skin on the coffee table with the diary face-down next to it so that I don't lose my page. I swing my legs around to place my feet on the floor and stand up.

The rush of light-headedness hits me again and I have to wait for it to pass before I answer the door. I find Satura standing on the welcome mat. She looks me up and down and gives me a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sorry, I came back over when I could, I felt bad for leaving in such a hurry yesterday."

"It's okay, don't worry. Is the baby alright?"

"She is 7lb 4oz and very healthy, thank you for asking. May I come in? I thought we could talk some more."

In all honesty, I've done enough talking for a while, but I feel bad saying no to her. Instead, I let her inside and offer her a drink, which she declines.

"I won't stay long; I know you're probably exhausted from learning about this."

"I'm a little tired," I admit. "But I'd rather keep learning."

"Are you sure? I don't mean to be rude, but you're rather pale. Can I get you a glass of water?"

"I've just felt a bit off since I woke up," I tell her as we walk into the living and take a seat. "I woke up really hot and now I feel faint and achy. I don't know if I've got some kind of stomach bug or something."

Satura looks at me curiously. "Your limbs are aching? Have you had any sharp pains in your back?"

"Yes, why?" Her expression becomes concerned and that worries me. "What is it?"

"I guess it's possible," she whispers to herself. "Felicity, I think you're undergoing a change in your body. All shifters go through it during high school. It's the first shift."

Sharp pains suddenly run down both my legs and I hunch over them on the sofa. "Change? Shift? What do you mean?"

"I think you are undergoing the shift; this is when we turn into wolves."

"What?" I look at her in shock. "But I'm human."

"We all thought you were," she replies sympathetically. "But you have a werewolf mother, so the DNA could have easily been passed on to you. Sometimes, offspring are hybrids, sometimes they are fully human and sometimes they are shifters. There's no predicting how the genes will be inherited or be expressed. I can't think why yours would suddenly be presenting now...unless..."

"Unless?" I gasp out the word.

"You met your mate! Of course. This must be because of being close to Asper and Altus."

"You know they're my mates?" I ask her.

"I've been speaking with Asper, yes. Look, you are going to need someone to guide you through this. I will stay and help you. First, we need to get you outside and in something loose like a t-shirt."

Panic starts to set in. I don't want to shift into a wolf. It sounds traumatic and painful and, frankly, not what I need after three of the most intense days of my life.

"Put a t-shirt on, Felicity," Satura urges. "I'll be by your side the whole time; you're going to be fine."

I manage to get my feet to move. Everything becomes a bit blurry as I stumble up the stairs to my bedroom. I pull open the chest of drawers and grab one of the over-sized t-shirts I brought to sleep in. I peel off my clothes, staggering around the room without balance as I do so. I pull the t-shirt on. It falls to mid-thigh.

Satura is waiting for me downstairs. She ushers me out of the back door and onto the grass behind the house. It's chilly outside but my body seems unaffected by the cold. My feet are bare on the grass but other than registering that it is slightly damp, they don't feel cold.

"I need you to get onto your hands and knees."

I give her a look that says 'You can't be serious'. She gives me one right back, one that tells me that she is deadly serious. I don't say anything as I get onto all fours. She crouches down beside me.

"Close your eyes and picture yourself as a wolf. It doesn't matter what colour your fur is or your size or anything like that. Just hold the image of a wolf in your mind and your body will do the rest."

My throat feels like it is closing, my tongue feels too big for my mouth and my heart is beating so fast, I'm worried I'm going to have a heart attack.

"Do I have to do this?" I ask her in a choked whisper. "Can't you stop it?"

"I'm sorry, Felicity. There is no way to stop the change. I promise, it will be over before you know it."

A ripple of pain flies up my spine and I bend my head back to let out a cry of discomfort.

"Fuck," I curse under my breath and squeeze my eyes shut.

"Resisting will only hurt more. Picture the wolf, Felicity. Close your eyes."

I do as she asks. I squeeze my eyes shut so tight that colours pop in them. I load up the image of the grey wolf in my head, the one I am guessing to be Asper's wolf. It always appeared shortly before him in my dreams.

As I'm picturing its face, the shape of its body, its tail, my body gets even hotter. My arms and legs shake, and I can no longer hold myself up. I fall to the ground on my side and the cold ground is soothing against my skin.

Immense pain shoots up and down my arms and legs. It feels as though someone is pulling every bone out of its socket. I feel like my fingers are being dislocated from my knuckles. I pant through the pain, my eyes still squeezed tightly shut.

"Breathe through it, Felicity," Satura coaches me. "I promise that it will pass. Keep focussing on the wolf."

Somehow, I manage to keep the image loaded up in my mind, even as my body feels as though it is on fire. Every inch of me is protesting in agony. My body lurches around on the grass, limbs being pulled this way and that. My back arches one second yet I'm hunched over the next. To an outsider, I must look like someone having a seizure.

"Make it stop!" I shout out as I feel tears rolling down my face.

"You're almost there, hold on for me."

I focus on Satura's voice as my face throbs painfully. I'm thrown forwards onto my front and the pain miraculously stops. I let out of a sob of joy as my body hums with the receding vibrations of trauma.

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Tomorrow, I will be posting a new story on here.

Why have I chosen to update two books at once? Who knows! Apparently, I like a challenge 😂

See you tomorrow for high school romance ❤️