Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?

Skulking back to my new home I sighed as I walked up the grey gritted driveway. This was going to suck; big time. My Mom and I moved to La Push only 3 weeks ago, and now I've messed up. Already, but this time, it's kind of a big deal. Well, I haven’t messed up exactly; it’s just something that’s going to take a lot of getting used to.

I got to the front door of the house; my heart pounding inside my ribcage so loud that I'm sure even my Mom heard it from inside. I unlocked the heavy black painted door with my freshly cut, sterling silver key, swinging the door open to reveal the smell of something delicious for dinner.

"Ella? Is that you?" My Mom called from the kitchen, content in what she was cooking. It smelled like mashed potatoes and most likely other random vegetables that Mom had found kept away in the secret greenhouse right at the back of the yard.

"Yeah Mom, it's me." My voice was starting to shake, my throat becoming every the more dry with every step I took; I took my coat off and hung it in the closet - along with my shoes - and paced forward. "Hey, Mom, can I talk to you for a second?" I gulped, swallowing my nerves as I reached the open kitchen door. Mom dried her hands and walked over to me, leaning on the door frame.

"Sure, what is it honey?" She gave me a warm smile, "You not enjoying it here or something?" Her smile faded as I shook my head slowly,

"No. I like it here, it's quiet." That was an understatement. She gave me a confused look, "Mom, I need to tell you something... Really important and... I don't really know how to say it." I took a step back and began to pace. A nervous habit I picked up from my Mom. She crossed her arms and frowned.

"Ellabeth, what's going on?" Ellabeth. What a stupid name. Not Isabella. Not Elizabeth. Ellabeth. Well, at least it's not Excalibur. I chuckled to myself lightly as I thought of that, but now wasn't the time for jokes, this was serious. But I wondered how seriously my Mom would take this.

"Mom...um... This is really hard so, if you wouldn't mind not laughing and... Well... just believe me I guess, 'cos that would be totally sweet." I stuttered. She lightened her frown and stood up straight, ready to listen to what I was about to say. "Okay, so... I don't really know how to say this..." I paced again,

"Ella, just say it for crying out loud." Another trait I picked up from Mom; impatience.

"Mom," I started, thinking over what I was about to say, "I'm... Um..."

"Oh my God," Mom dropped her arms and had a face on that looked like she had just been pushed into a lake full of ice cold water, "You're pregnant aren't you?" Tears in her eyes ready to fall at any second,

"God! No! Mom, why would you even... Just... No. No, I'm not pregnant, Mom." I insisted. Why would I even want a baby? I hate children, all they do is run around and scream like idiots and poop.

Mom seemed convinced enough to calm down but she still had one hand on her hip. The poor woman was probably thinking that if I wasn't pregnant, what other trouble could I possibly get myself into?

"Mom... I'm...” I took a deep breath, throwing away everything I had, just in case this went badly. "I'm a werewolf." I closed my eyes, awaiting the storm. Nothing came. I opened my eyes and looked over at my mother. She was shaking, hard. But why? "Mom, are you okay...?” And then she burst out laughing. Literally burst. I folded my arms and shifted my weight to my other leg.
"Ella, are you serious? Aren't you a little grown up to be playing make-believe?" Mom cooed, obviously trying to soothe me -like when I found out Santa wasn't real- it didn't work, she was still laughing too much.

"Mom, I'm serious" I dropped my arms and stomped one foot, much like a child would do when she wanted a new toy and she wasn't allowed it. Mom wasn't going to give in anytime soon.

"Honey," She straightened up, still chuckling and put a hand on my shoulder, "Werewolves don't exist. They're make-believe; they're only real in scary stories." She raised her eyebrows, like she was trying to convince a mass murderer that killing for fun or revenge wasn't real, even though they'd done it a hundred times. She came over to me and rested a hand on my shoulder, like she used to when I couldn’t have my own way as a child.

"Mom, I'm not kidding. Look I can even show you." I stepped away from her embrace, feeling flushed and a mixture f embarrassed and annoyed.

"Go on then, Ell's. Show me the big bad wolf." She mocked, laughing gently at my madness. Taking a step back, I was ready, I knew how to phase so easily now.

"You're gonna have to stand back a bit more Mom." I pushed her back into the kitchen, but against the counter, so I was still in plain view. I took a few step back myself, knowing what happens from first-hand experience what happens when you phase to close to someone. Especially someone you really love. That's why we had to leave Chicago.

I stepped back and began to take off my clothes; Mom shot a disgusted look, "What?" I asked loudly, "My clothes rip when I phase with them on." She just shook her head, still sceptical about what I was doing. I took another step back, crouching slightly. Bracing myself, I crouched down further, closing my eyes so I wouldn't have to watch my Mom's reaction.

I felt it rip through my entire body, could feel my bones growing and changing, the disks in my spine started to burn as it lengthened to an extortionate size to make room for a tail to be present. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I shook them out to grow. My fingers expanded and grew rough, my nails breaking the skin as they thickened and turned black. Although I knew it literally only took a second, it felt like minutes, hours, especially because I had an audience. I heard heavy breathing at the end of the house. I opened my eyes and saw my Mom. She was sat on the floor with her legs tucked under her chin, her hands covering her eyes. I paced slowly over to her, one paw at a time. A few feet away I led on my stomach and rested my head on my paws. I just looked at her, hoping that she would look up but I got nothing, not even a glance. I whined quietly. That didn't even make her flinch. She probably thought it was one of the dogs we had already. - That was my idea, Mom got her husky, Nanook, that she always wanted, and I insisted that she buy me my own wolf. So she did, and I called it Wolfgang, Wolfie for short. Original, isn’t it? - I shifted forward, closer to Mom, and nudged her foot. That made her jump, and yelp a little bit.
"Ella?" She asked quietly, she too was shaking now. I nodded in reply, the only downside to being wolf was not being able to talk, but I didn’t find it too hard to communicate without speech. Mom reached out to touch me, I gently nudged my muzzle into her hand and she just sat there, with her hand on my nose, frozen again. I licked her hand, soaking it in silver spit, trying to lighten the mood with a goofy grin, lolling my tongue out to the side so that my bare teeth wouldn't look quite so menacing. Mom flinched when I jolted my head back though; I gave her an apologetic look and stumbled to the pantry, grabbing a towel in my mouth on the way. I looked back one last time to Moms scared expression, a wave of guilt swam over me for laying yet another burden on my already weary mother.

I phased back quickly and wrapped the towel around myself. Pacing back into the kitchen, I noticed for the first time how dizzy I felt after phasing back to human. I wasn’t surprised really; my whole body had to go through such a trauma every time it happened. I stumbled past the counter, accidentally bumping into Wolfie on my way. As I reached my mother’s spot on the floor I knelt beside her, trying to offer comfort. She still looked pretty spooked.

"Mom, are you okay?" I asked her smoothly, putting a hand on her back, rubbing it lightly,

"Y...yes, dear." She stuttered "Go get dressed honey." She half-asked, I nodded once, knowing she didn't see it, got up and walked up stairs to my room.

The light mid-summer breeze was cooling on my red-hot skin; I walked over to my walk-in closet and picked out what to wear, sweats and a tank top. That should do nicely. I dropped the towel to my ankles and scrambled into my clothes, after that, I just took a minute to throw my shoulder length auburn hair into a messy ponytail, put some mascara on and jogged back downstairs. My previous clothes were still strewn across the living room floor where I'd taken them off in a hurry; I stuffed them into a backpack and searched for the dogs leashes. I yelled to my Mom -who was back in the kitchen, doing whatever- that I was taking the dogs for a walk and to just call me whenever she wants me back. Although there was one thing she said to me, just as I was about to leave the house; ‘Don't eat anyone.’ Yeah, cos I'm sure humans taste wonderful. Not.