Change

Rowan's POV

I helped May hobble out of the car and into the house, checking on Sebastian's house all the way there. There was no life, no movement, and his car was still gone. Biting my lip, I looked to the sky and saw that it was high noon and the sun was shining brighter than ever. It burned. Where could he be?

My grandmother was in the living room quilting when we stumbled in, her face aghast at what she saw. She stood up, discarding her patterns on the floor and coming to us. We must've been a sight, because her jaw was hanging on the ground. Me, dirty and wet, covered in mud and May, bloodied and also mud covered.

"What happened?" My grandmother screeched, holding her chest, she didn't even bother to ask May's name.

"Gram, this is May, my friend. We went hiking and she tripped and fell over a log, down by the empty housing development." I explained slowly as May shrugged and took her weight off of me.

"Sorry to have to meet you like this." She said apologetically putting a hand out to shake my grandmothers, and then taking it back when she examined her bloody palms.

"Do you need an ambulance?" My grandmother asked helping May sit on the staircase and taking her cellphone out of her pocket. May looked at me, and I shook my head discreetly, we couldn't risk it. We both mutually felt a connection to these wolves, and couldn't let them slip through our grasp again.

"N-no. I'm fine, just a little bit of strain on my leg thats all." May said, a hint of pain in her voice. Gram looked to her in disbelief and then to me.

"Well at least let me get the first aid kit, I know its around here somewhere!" She said stalking to the kitchen with purpose. May looked at me from behind her cracked lenses, dirt stuck in the crevices.

"What now?" She asked, swallowing and resting her elbows behind her and wincing as she flexed her now purple knee. I looked out the window and hugged myself, so that I wouldn't be tempted to even lay a finger on the wound May had.

"We research." I said as my grandmother came in with a frozen steak and antiseptic.

Sebastian's POV

After walking for miles back to where I had abandoned my car (I couldn't remember where that was, so I dodged traffic, trying to hide the fact that I was stark naked...in the woods) I got my clothes and tugged them on successfully, despite the blood curdling pain in my arm. Driving with one hand onto the main road that led to the highway, I knew that this injury would definately slow down my changing process.

"Too many broken cells to transform into other ones." I said as I groaned at the blood soaking my t shirt. The good thing about being who I was? My wounds would heal in a matter of hours. The rate at which my body heats, speeds up the process of cell reconstruction, and hopefully by the end of the night, I would just be left with a shiny pink scar. Hopefully, I thought finally making it into town.

My lab partner from school Becky and her boyfriend were walking hand in hand and spotted my car, waving as I smiled a thin smile back at them. Must act natural. I thought, driving right past the hospital. Back in the woods, it seemed like a good idea to hit there up first, but now I was worried. What if they tried to perform tests? What if they found out that my normal body temperature was of 115? I'd be a medical marvel!

My stomach twisted at the thought. Or maybe it twisted at that fact that I hadn't eaten human food in hours. One of the two. I pulled into my driveway and turned the car off, sighing heavily and leaning my head on the steering wheel. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a car in Rowans driveway and her bedroom light on. I groaned, remembering that I still had to call her back. There was no avoiding it when she lived right next door. I couldn't let her see me like this.

I got out of the car, holding my arm still and dragging myself into the house. Opening the door with my key, I went in to the warm house and slammed the door behind me. I smelled Chanel and looked up to see my mother on the round staircase. She looked down and me and pouted.

"Well, don't look so surprised to see me." She said coming down the stairs in her signature black schmoozing clothes. Her make up was done flawlessly. Could this woman really be part wolf? If I could guess, I'd claim that she was a vampire due to her fluidness and radiating beauty. Her blond curls bounced as she flipped them over her shoulders. I forced a grin as she disapprovingly glanced at my arm.

"Wheres dad?" I asked, walking past her to the kitchen for a sewing kit. My petite mother followed close behind me. No doubt trying to get a closer look at my gash.

"We just got home from our trip remember dear? But our father had to leave for Algeria on business. So it's just you and me kiddo." She said chipperly, worry hiding behind her azure eyes. I looked at her and grunted.

"Hm, well, sounds like...fun." I said, entertaining her as I hopped up on the counter with the sewing kit I got from a junk drawer. My mom chewed on her thumb and looked at me as I hiked my shirt over my head.

"Sebastian what on earth happened to you?" I stopped what I was doing, needle and black twine in midair and scoffed.

"Your guess is as good as mine." I said pursing my lips and sucking in air to hold while I went through this painful ordeal. My mom tapped the toe of her Gucci shoes on the ground and furrowed her brow.

"Well, you didn't...change or anything did you? Because thats a bad idea, especially around these parts. This is the South, Sebastian. There are no-" She froze and closed her eyes. She didn't want to say it.

"Wolves?" I offered, filling in the blanks while she opened her eyes and regained composure.

"Yes. That," She said tightly. I took the needle and dug it through the edge of the wound, cinching the twine and pulling it through the other side. Same as when my mother caught me eating the dead animal, she didn't even bat an eyelash. She looked on, her face stony and not needing my answers. She already knew.

"Nobody saw you...right? Not Rowan, not anyone?" I clenched my teeth as I accidentally stabbed at the wrong place and pulled out. I paused, a bead of feverish sweat dripping from my forehead. Looking at my mother, with her angelic good looks, I saw a woman who was afraid. She was a coward, a woman afraid of her own son. And herself.

"No mom. Your precious secret is safe." I said darkly, ripping through the last seam and tying the knot shut.

0 0 0

Once I had fixed up my wound, I left my mother in the den to watch her Desperate Housewives and went upstairs to my attic room with the atrium glass walls facing the sky and crashed on my minimalist bed. I wan't one for all the glamour and diamonds like my mother was. I was just content with being able to gaze at the stars on my in the floor sunken bed. I was obsessed with architecture, it was one of my hobbies. In fact, thats what I wanted to go to school to study if my parents ever willingly let go of the idea of me being a business man. No way was i going to wear a monkey suit every day.

I took my phone out of my pocket and disregarded the missed calls from girls at school and dialed Rowans number. It rang and then went to voicemail. I listened, hearing her sleepy voice, knowing that she made this voicemail on a whim one early morning and called me to make me listen to it.

This is Rowan and I'm busy pretending to be very, very important. So if you are listening to this, then I am probably having a lunch date with the nephew of the Dali Lama. Leave me a message and I will try my hardest to have my people call your people." *BEEP

I hung up and tossed my phone off of the bed and onto a pile of pillows in the corner. Was she ignoring me? I closed my eyes and let the noon sun bake my skin through the window. My arm itched like hell since it was healing so fast, and I was sleepy. So...fucking tired...

It was black, completely black, a paper moon hanging above a bunch of black cut out trees. I looked around, unsure of where i was. Am I dreaming? Standing up, I realized that I was naked, and cold.

"Why am I not changing?" I asked out loud, turning my hand over and seeing that it was still a human hand and not a paw. My arm was healed and didn't even ache. There was a figure behind one of the trees, paper scraped against it and make an echoing scratch.

"Hello?" I called out walking into the paper forest and following the intruder. There was a laugh behind me, I froze and turned only to hear Rowans voice deeper in the woods.

'Be safe. Come back.'

"Rowan?" I yelled, cupping my hands around my mouth so my voice traveled. The cackling was all around me now. Flooding my ears and creating a ringing in my skull. What if Rowan was in trouble? I had to find her. Stumbling blindly and nakedly through the woods, I heard Rowans voice again, this time quieter and sadder.

'Come back...'

I growled, beating my head with my fist to make this dream stop.

"Having issues wolf boy?" I heard clearly and right in front of me. I opened my eyes and lowered my fists to see a tall man with blonde hair and eyes as dark as the black waters of the sea. Was he Satan? I wondered, tripping backwards away from him. He laughed that laugh I heard at the opening of the forest. A deep and taunting sound.

"Who are you? Where's Rowan?" I asked as the paper moon was replaced with a bright glowing orb of light. I saw the man clearly now, his red lips pulled up into a lurid smile.

"You thought you could 'sweep her off her feet' as you Americans say. Well, she's way out of your league dog. You're just a mutt, a canine." He barked laughing and crossing his arms. My blood was on fire now, but I still couldn't change and rip this motherfuckers face off. My body just wouldn't let me. I breathed heavily through my nose like a bull and clenched my fists, anger building up.

"Considering you can only be a pussy and challenge me in my DREAMS and not in REALITY, I can ALSO say she's out of YOUR league." I said inching foreword as he raised his chin and looked down his nose at me.

"That ALMOST offended me, until realized that you don't even stand a chance Sebastian. I'm so close to getting her back to me, I can almost TASTE the blood on her lips from her last meal."

I was shaking now, so mad and confused I couldn't even see straight.

"Sebastian?" I heard Rowan say, it sounded as if she were in a tunnel. "Sebaaaastian?" I heard again, except this time it was louder. The man looked up to the black sky and grinned. And then he looked back to me, winking.

"Another time then, yes? We don't want to let Rowan in on our little secret." The man disappeared into the black night, leaving behind the scent of...flowers?

"SEBASTIAN!" I heard Rowan yell.

I woke up, shooting right up and swaying because of the headrush. Looking down, I saw Rowan beside my bed and looking at me confusedly.

"I've been trying to wake you up for forever now." She said, her blue eyes worried and hair pulled back away from her face. She was wearing her glasses, which was rare. She never let anyone see her coke bottle lenses except me. I was covered in sweat and my heart was hammering in my chest. Her eyes travelled from my eyes to my naked chest and looked away. I was still in my jeans, which I was thankful for. I took a deep breath and laughed nervously.

"Yeah I...I was really tired from my trip back. My car broke down halfway but I got a jump." Rowan nodded standing up and going to my walk in closet. I shivered looking up to the ceiling and seeing a navy blue night sky. How long had I been asleep? And what did that dream mean? A shirt was tossed at my face.

"Your pecs are staring at me. Put a shirt on." Rowan said, back to her old normal self. But after that dream, I wasn't sure WHAT her normal self was.

I realized that my nipples were hard from my chilly room, and I blushed, beginning to tug my shirt on.

I'm so close to getting her back to me, I can almost TASTE the blood on her lips from her last meal.

Apparently this stranger knew more about Rowan than I did...he even knew more about ME than i did.

Well, she's way out of your league dog. You're just a mutt, a canine.

"Wait!" Rowan said before i put it all the way on. She plugged her nose by pinching her fingers to it. "Take a shower first. You stink, Bastian." I was about to object, but then saw the mud caked stains all over my bed and nodded.

"Yeah...I probably should." I said getting some clean clothes together and heading to the bathroom. Rowan fell to my armchair in front of an old Magnivox TV that I rescued from Goodwill.

"I'll be here when you get out, so you can tell me all about your...adventure." She said turning the TV on and looking to my dirt filled bed. I swallowed, nodding slowly.

"Sure." I squeaked as I closed the door to the bathroom. Before I closed the door, I snuck a glance at her, watching as she stretched like a cat. Her arms flexed above her head and her smooth tan midriff was peeking out from under her green tank top. She looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Today?" She said laughing as I closed the door quickly so she wouldn't see my face on fire. Why was I feeling this way? Rowan was my best friend. And thats it. Right?