Status: Alive and Kicking!

The Ripple Effect

Well, There's Secret Number One

Orion was just as feverish as I was, but he couldn’t stay with me when I heard the one sound that could kill me in seconds. I left him in my dust, scrambling through the trees and heading in the direction my gut decided.

“Rein!” I screamed out again, barreling past the tree line and rushing up to the little boy had clearly been knocked backward.

My feet slowed beneath me, and I paled further.

People were just smiling and laughing as my son was being pinned down by…by…

Dear God, please tell me that is an Alaskan malamute!

“What are you doing!” I screeched, flitting to my son and ignoring the beast that eyed me as I tore my baby boy into my arms. “You’re watching him be attacked!”

Rein wriggled in my arms, trying to speak to me, but his voice was background noise as I examined him for any damage.

“My baby,” I whimpered, holding him tightly to my chest as tears rolled down my cheeks.

“What happened!” Orion demanded. He rushed up behind me, taking me quickly into his arms and eying over Rein. “He’s okay. He’s okay, right?”

I nodded, choking on my sobs… I had never been more scared in my life. My eyes moved to the monster that was still eying us over, drooling at the thought of devouring my precious gem.

“Shoo!” I hissed, glowering at the creature. “He’s not your snack!” I whipped my anger to the crowd.

My heart broke when I saw Orion’s parents standing there, eyes on the ground…

“How could you?” I sobbed, shaking my head fervently. “He may not be Orion’s son, but it’s all the same! He’s just a child!”

Everyone else just stared at me in obvious confusion, blank looks on their faces. Orion tensed behind me, and I slammed my eyes shut.

“Orion… Where did that wolf come from?” My voice trembled as I squeezed Rein tighter.

He stuttered, trying to explain himself, but Rein patted my face and drew my attention to him.

“But, Mama,” he said sheepishly, “it was about to be my turn.”

“What… What do you mean?”

He nodded, blushing still. “Jonathan had a go, and it was my turn to try. They said that usually you have to be older, but we’re special, Mama.”

“Orion,” I hissed, whirling around to face him. There was sweat on his brow, and his hands were clammy against my arms. “What is he talking about?” He was silent. “Damn it, answer me!”

But something cold nudged at my leg, and I whipped around to see the wolf whimpering sadly up at me as he tried to press himself against me. Like he wanted me to hold him.

Those eyes… I choked on the heart that had risen in my throat.

“J-Jonathan?”

He yipped, to my horror, and his tail began wagging slowly.

Oh, dear father in heaven…

I whirled around to Orion, still praying that he would smile and tell me that this was a typical case of “Now, it isn’t what you think, so stop being so panicked.”

His eyes fell to the wolf still nudging at me, begging me to accept it, and then he bit his lip.

“I… I didn’t want you to find out this way, Sophie,” he choked, and it caused a sob to wrack my body from head to toe.

This was it, then. That wolf, that beast, was Jonathan.

And Rein wanted to become the same exact thing, no matter the fact that all colour had fled from my entire body.

“He’d been fighting it for a few months,” Orion explained gently, gripping my arm more tightly. “We had the talk about it, about the voice that kept pestering at him.”

“So you tried to get me away, so he could…do this,” I whimpered, gesturing beside me without daring to look at the creature. “And so Rein could do it, too.”

Orion cleared his throat, and the crowd of people scurried quickly away. His parents, however, hesitated before obeying him. Surely I had just ruined Jonathan’s first…whatever this was, and I had personally impeded on what was clearly a typically joyous occasion.

“I begged him to hold off, but he said he wanted to go with Jonathan. He begged me, Sophie. He said that he wanted…” His voice trailed off as his gaze drifted to the boy who was now tapping gently on my shoulder.

“I wanted you to be proud of me, too, Mama; like how you’d be proud of Jonathan.” His gaze fell. “But… If you’d be afraid of me, I don’t want it anymore.”

Tears welled up in his blue eyes, and he threw his face hastily into my shoulder as tiny sobs shook his body. My heart clenched: I was to protect my children, and here I was the menace to their happiness.

“I’m not afraid of you, baby,” I whimpered, catching his chin and making him look at me. “You are my baby, Rein, my little boy. You hold me when I’m scared at night, and you got me through seven years of what would have been torture without you. I could never be anything but proud of you; I could never feel anything but love for you.”

He sniffled softly, wiping at his face with his sleeves before nodding slowly. The wolf at my feet whimpered sadly as he sat and stared up at me. This was Jonathan. Sure, he had more hair…but this was still Jonathan. I swallowed the apprehension rising in my throat before catching Orion’s silent gaze. My hands fumbled to place Rein in Orion’s care, and my baby’s tiny arms reached around Orion’s neck as the two stared at me.

Orion held Rein tightly, securely. I needed to know he was safe, and now I had that. So I knelt down in front of this…puppy, taking his ear softly in between my fingers as I caressed the soft fur. Jonathan whimpered sadly up at me, but his tail beat softly against the grass.

“Jonathan, you are my baby boy, too,” I murmured gently, my hands running up to his head and rubbing the bump there. “You may not have known you were my little boy, but you’ve always been mine, okay? And you are still my child. I may not have known about…this part of you, but this doesn’t change anything—you are still mine, and I love you with all that I have to give. I was just…startled is all.”

I closed my eyes, trying to clear my head from all this crazy nonsense; however, I was suddenly knocked backwards. My eyes jolted open and I saw that gentle face grinning down at me.

“I love you, Mama!” he shouted in my face, wrapping his arms around my neck.

I held him tightly, glad that the crowd had been dispersed; maybe it would be normal to them to see my child in his birthday suit, but it wasn’t exactly desired in my book.

“Sweetheart,” I murmured, brushing a curl of hair back into place, “you’re naked.”

He grinned wildly at me. “Grandma says I have a cute tushie.”

“Yes, well, let’s not let the whole world know that just yet, hmm? I don’t want to be beating girls away with a stick.” I glanced back to Orion who was now following Rein as he stumbled to reach us. He threw himself into our embrace, grinning cheekily as he waved for Orion to join.

But where was Brian?
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I suppose this one was the confirmation of my recurring love affair with wolf shifters... I'm actually quite excited to see how this one pans out; almost biting my arm off, really!

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