Red

Chapter 45: New Wolf

 Red’s POV

I’m three months along. Now I lay awake in bed. There seemed to be so much time left, but I knew when it came down to it, there really wasn’t that much time left at all.

I’d begun to dose off, when the sound of the window stirred me. It had opened somehow, blowing the cold wind in. I rose to close it when a white hot sensation sparked in the back of my head. Crippling back onto the bed it began to fade, replaced by a smooth voice that was almost motherly. ‘You have a hard battle before you, and you won’t win it alone. Courtney will support you.’ Courtney? Who the hell is Courtney? It happened again, like something was forcing itself into my mind, pushing to the limits, before it was over.

Panting slightly on the bed, I stretched my limbs. ‘Are you alright?’ What the hell was that? Who the hell are you? I demanded in my own head. ‘I’m Courtney.’ Now I really am losing it. ‘Take a deep breath. You aren’t crazy; I promise. I’m a wolf, yours now. The Moon goddess paired us together.’ The who did what?

‘Why?’

Sitting back down on the bed, I leaned back, closing my eyes and trying to understand. ‘You need strength, and that’s me. The Moon goddess gives us strength and order and love, but she has no physical power. She can’t stop the rouges, but you can. That’s why she gave you me.’ Okay. That made sense in a totally weird way.

‘Okay. So I can shift?’

‘Yup.’

‘Okay. I’m going to bed now.’ With that I crawled into bed and passed out.

When I woke up, it was early. The first rays of sun were seeping in through the window and I knew Kylie wouldn’t be awake yet. Oh well.

‘Courtney?’

‘Yeah?’ So last night did happen. Let’s see if I can convince Kylie of this. ‘It won’t be that hard. I was talking with her wolf all night so she’s calm now.’ Oh. Okay.

With that I got up and walked down into the kitchen. Making two cups of coffee, I sat at the island, placing one beside me and taking a sip of mine.

Kylie slid in beside me. She drank her coffee a moment, both of us looking out the window in front of us. “Red, you’re a werewolf now.” I nodded. “Care to explain it to me?”

Setting down my coffee I looked at her and she turned to watch me over her cup. “My window blew open and I got a migraine that turned into a voice of some ‘Moon goddess’” Kylie proceded to choke on her coffee. Stopping I pat her back until she took a deep breath and nodded for me to continue. “she said she’d give me strength for my battle and then a voice came into my head calling itself Courtney and telling me she was my wolf.” Wow that sounded so simple and . . . weird out loud.

After a few minutes Kylie nodded. “Oh-kayyy. So what does this mean for your pregnancy?” I hadn’t thought about that. “Can you shift?”

‘Yes.’ Courtney supplied and I nodded. ‘You want to try don’t you?’ She teased and I bit my lip sheepishly.

Kylie must have assumed the basic conversation because she rolled her eyes. “Come on, let’s go down stairs so no one will be able to see you shift.” Excitedly, I followed her into the basement.

It was a bright room considering it had no windows and the room we entered was padded with gymnastic like mats. She told me to undress and now we stood facing each other, stark naked. We’d reached the point in our friendship we honestly didn’t care that much. This is the woman who’s delivering my baby in a few months’ time.

“Picture a wolf, how you think it would feel to be on all fours, to run faster and see clearer.”

I felt myself steadied on all four limbs and imagined sprinting through the woods, only lower to the ground and being able to dodge quicker, noting each fallen tree and broken branch.

Pain shot up my shoulders leading down my spine in what could only be seconds before it was replaced by a dull throb that covered my entire body.

The next time my eyes opened another wolf stood before me. Kylie’s dark coat was more defined than ever. I thought I had good sight before. The sound of a twig breaking caught my attention to the right before I realized that had to be outside. I could hear that?

‘Cool isn’t it?’ Kylie? She gave me a wolfy grin. ‘I’m your beta now and you have a wolf so you can pack link me.’ My first reaction was the excitement, but didn’t that mean the others would hear me too? She must have read my mind because her head shook. ‘When the rouges attacked your ceremony was never completed. You are the Luna and undoubtedly accepted by the pack even now, but no. You weren’t bound by the blood like all those born and accepted.’ She’d tried to assure me, but there was still a tad of sorrow in her voice at the end.

Shaking it off I focused on the present. ‘Will you teach me to fight? As a wolf.’ Eventually I convinced Kylie and we began.

Needless to say I picked it up quick. Kylie was cussing my name by dinner.

That night I lay awake. ‘Courtney?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Aren’t wolves normally born to their human counter part?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Then what happened to yours? You weren’t born to me where you?’

It was quiet a while and I worried I’d offended her. ‘No Red, I wasn’t. I had a human and her name was Diana. We were faced with rejection from our mate and did not take it well. We did bad things Red. I did bad things. I suppose this, helping you, is meant to be my second chance.’ Oh wow. Thoughts of Ryder flashed through my mind, and for the first time in months, I didn’t push them away.

Instead I reflected on them, glad to have lived them and a pang of sorrow, a result of my missing him, passed through me. It truly was bitter sweet, as I thought instead of my fight and my child. ‘Courtney, I’m glad you’re here. Whatever the reason.’

With that we both drifted off in silence.