Sam didn’t even realize what was happening until it was too late. Too late to help her and too late to get out of the way. The phasing was almost instantaneous, even the first time, once it actually started. There would have been no stopping it, but had he known she even could phase, he would have stepped away in order to phase with her, and help her through it.
The pain was instant, and he could feel each claw penetrate his skin and scratch its way down as if it were trying to scar his bones. It seemed to take longer than the almost instantaneous accident truly did. Sam dropped to his knees, his hand clutching his face, hoping to stop the bleeding. There were four strong, deep lines cut into his cheek, and down to his chest, diagonally falling down as she had turned away from him. Even with the pain, the bleeding, he knew there was one thing he needed to do. He had to find her.
Leah. She’d run into the forest, fleeing from him or attempting to flee from herself, he wasn’t sure, though he suspected the latter. He had to phase, despite how painful that would be in this state. His skin was already starting to heal, although he wasn’t aware of that. He was only aware of where Leah could have gone. His thoughts immediately focused on shifting into the wolf again, something he wanted to avoid doing whenever unecessary from this point on.
Blood still poured from his wounds, though not nearly as heavily or steadily, especially now that he was in wolf form, the black fur masking the injuries slightly. He heard the thoughts from her, something he was unaware could happen. He even considered that it was just a hallucination, but he knew Leah. She had to be feeling guilty about it. He could smell her, he could almost feel where she’d gone.
Bounding through the woods as quickly as he could, he found her in an abandoned shed. The one he had woken up in just days before after phasing back to human form for the first time. Before he started, he knew, somehow, that he could communicate with her.
‘Leah. I’ve been through this. You have to phase back though. It’s possible.’
Sam knew how impossible it felt, to be able to phase back. But Leah had to believe him, had to know it was possible. He wouldn’t let himself shift back until she managed to do so, despite how much pain he was in. He’d scratched himself a few times in the forest while he was out here and it had healed almost instantly, but this was different. Maybe it was the impact, or the fact that it was another wolf, or that he’d been in his human body at the time, but Sam couldn’t focus on that. He had to focus on her.
'You have to concentrate on being you again. Imagine pulling your body back together. Come on Leah.’
Sam knew she could do it. He had complete and total faith in her to be able to do this faster and easier than he’d managed to. It could come more naturally to her, especially if he could manage to help her through it. The first thing he planned to do once they’d phased back was get to the Clearwaters and get some damn answers. They told him it was only male descendents who carried the gene.
Leah should never have had to feel this pain.
The copper smell still stung her paw, and truth be told, it disgusted her. To have human blood on her, and it wasn’t hers, was truly a horrifying image. If she were in her human form, she would have been on the floor, clutching her chest; especially with everything happening so fast, how was she not to have a panic attack?
The sight of Sam managed to relieve her, yet scare her at the same time. His new form was intimidating, and his voice was coaxing; it was almost as if she had no choice but to obey him. Her tail was pushed between her legs, and her body was in a submissive form, almost warning Sam not to come anywhere near her. Because only God knew how much she was afraid of hurting him again.
Wind picked up outside, forcing the small weak shed to shift slightly
Her ears pushed down, her body was in a crouched position down on the plastic floor of the shed. After a few more words from the wolf before her, she found herself standing on all fours, straightening her posture before shooting him a soft glance. Then it hit her, that copper smell; the blood that was dripping from the side of his snout.
She whimpered, stepping forward, then stepping back; remembering very well what she had just done to him. However, it was almost instinctive, the urge to lick his wound clean.
Oh god, did she just think that?
Apart from the fact that she was still freaking out over the fact that they can hear each other’s thoughts, she tried to focus on herself, her human form. She was copper, thin, and lank like. Not very busty, and this was ridiculous.
Instinctively, she placed her palms on her hips.
“This is ridiculous.” Then she heard it, her voice.
Without even feeling it, she had shifted back into her human form. The wind rustled into the shed and made her shiver, so she clutched her chest, covering herself; or what she could. Her lungs rapidly breathed out, and heavily took in. She was confused, and apart from being confused she was terrified.
As her fingertips dug deep into her rib cage, she found herself shaking. Not from the cold, but from the aftershock of everything that had just happened. She was, a wolf? A human wolf, a shifter, as it stated in the stories she would hear as a child. And her father, her father was supposedly this expert on them? As well as Billy? God, she felt as if her head was spinning.
It was a big lie everyone had kept from her, and truth be told, she was furious. As her dark orbs settled on the floor, a pool of blood came into view. It made her mouth open slightly, at the sight of so much blood, and the fact that she did it to him made it all the more horrifying.
“I’m so sorry, Sam.” Leah stepped forward, finding herself less and less afraid of the coal black wolf before her.
“We need to get you back.” Since her mother was a nurse, it was beyond luck for them. She would easily sow up his wound, however hopefully there wouldn’t be too many questions. She didn’t even know if this was supposed to be a secret or not, was it? Surely, because you don’t turn into a six foot dog every day.
Benjamin could tell that she was more awkward than he was. He generally had no problem with the wolves, but — if she wanted one, he could fight back. His hands are moving slightly, playing with the wind as it swifted by
“They are rather big, aren’t they?”
Leah blinked, feeling a thick swallow trickle down the inner of her throat. Vampires, they managed to find compliments in everything. Or in this case, this vampire did.
