Chapter 3

SAMANTHA

A laugh burst out of me. Surely, this was all an elaborate prank. It was only when I saw all the other occupants of the room wearing solemn expressions that I sobered and anxiety crept back in.

~Great, I’ve been kidnapped by some kind of crazy cult.~

I could feel a tightness in my chest, making it hard to breathe. “Dad, what the hell is he talking about?”

“Sam, I’m so sorry,” he started. “I did what I had to—to protect you. To protect all of us.”

“Who?” I demanded. Strangely, it seemed to be getting harder to hear him. Like he was speaking underwater. “Luke? Mom and Kate?”

“Your mother and your sister aren’t like us,” Dad said as if pleading with me to understand. “When a werewolf and a human mate, their children can be either as well.

“When Kate was born, I was so relieved that she wasn’t a werewolf. But you…”

I jumped to my feet, but a sudden pain in my stomach made me lurch forward, and I slammed my hand on the table.

Emerick moved to support me before I fell over completely.

“Dammit, Dad, what are you talking about? Werewolves don’t exist!”

My grandfather was shaking his head. “I told you, you should have told her, Elias. I told you it would be worse the longer you waited.”

“Shut your mouth!” my father snapped, his eyes so full of rage I could have sworn they’d turned entirely black for a moment.

I shook the table one more time. “Can someone, please… Ow!”

Something was wrong. My ears were ringing. My heart was racing. My vision was blurring. My back was stiff. My teeth ached.

~Why do my teeth hurt? What is happening?~

“She’s shifting,” I heard someone say.

“But what about the curse?”

“It must be broken.”

“But how? No one has done anything?”

“Is it the call?”

“But how? I thought Luke was the—”

“Clearly, we were wrong.”

It was all too much.

The voices around me, the grain of the table, the stuffiness of the room. All of it was suffocating, and I needed a way out.

And yet, through the chaos, I heard…something.

~“I am here, little one.”~

~Wait, did I hear that or did I…sense it?~

The voice wasn’t muffled the way the others in the room had become, almost as if it were speaking directly in my mind.

I was so confused that I wanted to cry.

~“You are safe, Sam. Let me in. You can trust me.”~

~No, that’s definitely in my head. Oh God, they’ve done something to me. What have they done? How? Why would my dad let them take me?~

I pushed Emerick away by throwing my shoulder into him. I doubt I could’ve moved him if there were three of me, so I can only assume he allowed it to give me space.

I stumbled blindly across the room, using the conference table to support myself.

When I got close to my dad, he reached out but withdrew quickly as though something scared him off.

~Was that a…? Did I just growl at him?~

I slammed my full weight against the double doors, barely able to stay upright. As they burst open, Lefty and Righty—Jonathan and Jackson—turned to look at me.

They held out their palms and shook their heads. Their mouths were moving, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying over the ringing in my ears.

The hallway was spinning. I wanted to throw up, and I felt like my head was splitting open. Nevertheless, I tried to force them aside.

Sure enough, they didn’t budge, and Lefty held my arm to stop me from falling.

~“Tell him to move, Sam. He will listen. He will obey.”~

“What?” I replied to the invisible speaker in my head. “Who are you?”

My voice was distorted, and the twins seemed confused by my question.

~“It’s okay,”~ the calm voice in my head reassured me. ~“I am Ayisha, and we are okay. I know you’re overwhelmed, but trust that everything is as it should be.”~

~“Who are you?”~ I repeated, this time without parting my lips.

~“I am your wolf, but we are one. Think of us as two halves of the same soul.”~

~I’m not a wolf,~ I thought, but sheer panic was setting in.

Even as I thought the words, I knew it wasn’t true. As terrified as I was, on some level, I’d never felt more complete, more at peace.

~“Tell him to let you pass, and he will.”~

“Let…let…” It was getting harder and harder to speak. It felt like my mouth was shrinking…or were my teeth growing? “Let me pass!”

Another growl escaped me, and Lefty suddenly released my arm, a look of fear—or was it awe?—on his face.

I managed only another couple of steps when I felt my legs buckle underneath me.

~“Oh God, Ayisha. I think my bones are snapping. Help me!”~

~“It’s okay, Sam. Trust me. Let me in.”~

I don’t know why, but something told me that she was telling the truth. My connection with her was tangible, like a key fitting into a lock, or the final piece of a puzzle falling into place.

I writhed on the floor as my body twisted and moved of its own accord. Every time a sharp pain shot through me, Ayisha was there to comfort me.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the torment subsided, and I found the strength to stand up.

When I did, a sudden urge compelled me to tilt my head back, open my mouth, and let out a sound that resembled a…howl?

I sensed movement behind me. When I turned, or rather, when Ayisha turned, because I felt like I was only a passenger in my body now, I saw a room full of enormous wolves.

~“What the hell?!”~

I wanted to run for my life, but Ayisha wouldn’t let me.

It was as though she was subtly influencing my movements while also keeping me calm and steady.

From where she kept me in place, I could see the wolves more clearly. None were baring their teeth or threatening to pounce on me with their massive claws.

Rather, they were looking up at me with a sense of expectation in their dark eyes.

~Wait, they’re all looking up.~

I glanced around the room, realizing I was as big, if not bigger, than the other wolves. I thought female wolves were usually smaller than males, but what did I know about werewolves?

~Is that what they are? Is that what I am?~

I looked down at the polished wood beneath my…paws?

~Holy shit! I’m a wolf! I’m a wolf! What the actual…? What’s going on? What’s happening to me?~

~“It’s all right, Sam, I know it’s scary. Just listen to my voice. You are going to be okay.”~

I looked down again and saw a beautiful white coat at the tips of my toes. The long claws made me gulp.

~I must be having a mental breakdown. Is this what they mean by an out-of-body experience?~

My heart was racing at a hundred miles an hour. ~No, no, this is too much.~

I whirled around only to come face to face with two more wolves.

~Jonathan and Jackson?~

I was sure that it couldn’t be, but that was where they had been standing mere moments before.

Both wolves were bowing their heads as low as they could get them so their chins were pressed against the wood.

Ayisha did her best to stop me, but this was my chance.

I bolted down the hall, rounded the corners, and exploded out into the morning sunshine.

~“It’s okay, Sam,”~ Ayisha assured me. ~“We belong in the woods. Go. Run.”~

And that’s what I did.

I ran.

And I ran.

And I ran.