You Be the Anchor That Keeps My Feet on the Ground

As Isaac led her out of the room and down a hall, she became quite aware that she had no idea where they were. She asked, and he explained that they were in a secret room in the back of a veterinarian’s office. She didn’t quite understand why, but she didn’t question it farther.

He led her out of the building and to a maroon 1967 Volkswagen Beetle. She approached it slowly and ran a hand over the slightly chipping paint. As she touched it, memories of it filled her head.

“This car… it’s mine, isn’t it?” she asked him, and he smiled at her and nodded.

“Yeah, it is. You remember it?” he asked, and she nodded back at him.

“Vaguely, yeah,” she said, sliding into the passenger seat as he opened the door for her.

He walked around to the other side and she giggled as he shoved his 6’1” body into the car that was probably about two sizes too small for him. He laughed with her and started the car.

“Yeah, yeah, big werewolf, small car. It’s hilarious, I know. I know you might not remember, but you’re definitely still you, because I’ve known you for five years, and you’ve had this car for four, and you have never once not laughed hysterically every time I squeeze into it,” he said, which only made her laugh harder.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” she gasped a moment later, trying to compose herself.

“No, don’t even worry about it. It’s good to hear you laugh. Amazing, actually. Keep laughing,” he said, smiling and kissing her gently on the forehead.

He pulled out of the parking lot and drove for about ten minutes before pulling into the parking lot of a large complex. He led her inside, up two flights of stairs, and stopped outside of a dark door. He put his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her to him so that he could look in her eyes.

“I feel like I should warn you before we go in there, Derek can be pretty… intimidating when he wants to, and his way of talking to people definitely needs a little work sometimes. Just don’t be scared of him and don’t let him treat you badly and you’ll be okay. Even though it probably won’t seem like it, he cares about you a lot and he’ll just be trying to help you. Basically just don’t let him give you any shit and you’ll be fine,” Isaac said, and Olivia smiled up at him.

“You’re not trying to scare me out of going in there, are you?” she asked, and he smiled back and shook his head.

“Of course not, I just wanted you to be a little prepared because Derek can be a tad… overwhelming sometimes,” he replied, and she shook her head.

“I think I can handle it.”

“I know you can,” he said, bending slightly so that he could kiss her lips.

When they pulled apart, he turned and opened the door to reveal a rather spacious loft. He stepped inside and she followed cautiously.

“Derek?” Isaac called, and there was noise on the stairs. Moments later, a man with thick black hair and mesmerizing green eyes appeared. He greeted Isaac with a nod, and when his eyes landed on Olivia, they widened.

“Liv?” he whispered, and Olivia could’ve sworn she saw his eyes fill with tears, but before she could look closer, he blinked them tightly, and when he opened them again, they were clear.

“Uh… Derek?” she questioned, and Derek shot a confused look at Isaac.

“She doesn’t remember anything. She’s had a few flashes of brief things, but nothing major. She doesn’t even really know who she is,” Isaac explained, and Derek nodded seriously. “I explained the whole wolf thing, and showed her so she’d believe me, but now she wants to know what happened, and she doesn’t remember how to turn so I figured you’d be the best place to bring her,” Isaac continued, and Derek nodded again.

“Okay, well the first thing we’ve got to do is show her how to turn so that she can do it willingly instead of just getting angry and accidentally doing it,” Derek responded, instantly switching into leader mode. He moved into the living room and began pushing all of the furniture to one side of the room. Olivia followed and sat cross-legged on the floor.

“So, um, not to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?” she asked after Isaac had come and sat down beside her. Derek flashed Isaac a look.

“You didn’t tell her who I was?” Derek asked, and Isaac shrugged innocently.

“I thought you would rather do it,” Isaac said, and Derek rolled his eyes.

“I’m your alpha. Both of yours,” Derek said nonchalantly and Isaac could tell that Olivia was severely confused.

“It means he made us what we are. We’re part of his pack,” Isaac clarified, and Olivia nodded.

“He… made us?”

“With a bite,” Derek answered the question she hadn’t asked yet. “I bit you both to turn you into werewolves. And before you ask the next question that I know is coming, you both asked for it. You both came to me and asked for it,” Derek finished, motioning for Olivia to come to where he was standing in the middle of the room.

“How exactly are you going to make her remember how to turn?” Isaac asked, following her.

“I’m going to make her angry and force her to accidentally do it,” Derek said, and Isaac instantly starting shaking his head.

“You better not hurt her,” he said, and Derek scoffed.

“You know I’m not going to hurt her. You’re going to have to back off, though. I am going to have to provoke her, and it’s not going to work with you standing beside her telling her it’s going to be alright,” Derek said, and Isaac -very reluctantly- moved to go sit at the bottom of the stairs. As soon as Isaac sat down, Derek moved his attention to Olivia.

“I’m not going to hurt you. You have to believe that, but I am going to provoke you and you’re probably going to get scared. But don’t get scared; get mad. The more you start to remember about yourself, the more you’ll remember that you’re not some scared-of-her-own-shadow princess. You’re a hothead; you get angry at the smallest things, you swear like a sailor, and you’re a force to be reckoned with when you’re angry. You’re a grade A fighter, and you’re probably more intelligent than Isaac and I combined,” Derek began, and Olivia raised a brow and shot a look at Isaac, who offered a small smile in return. “Now, in a minute I’m going to start pushing you around a little bit. I will not hurt you. I promise you I won’t. I’m also going to show you my wolf, and that might scare you too. But don’t let it scare you; let it make you angry. Let it make you so angry that you think you might burst. And when you feel like you’re as angry as you can possibly get, just let go. Your body will know what to do. Got it?” Derek asked, and Olivia nodded.

After another short glance back at Isaac, she focused all of her attention on Derek and nodded at him again. He nodded back at her and before she’d even had a second to mentally prepare, he shoved her, hard. Hard enough to knock her to the floor. She heard Isaac get up from his seat on the stairs, and raised a hand to stop him. She stood slowly and faced Derek again. He smiled a sinister smile.

“You’re already mad, aren’t you?” he asked, and she pushed a quick breath out through her nose. “Good,” he said, pushing her again. This time, she saved herself before she fell to the floor and pushed him back. She was surprised to see that she held enough force to actually cause him to stumble backwards. She glanced back at Isaac to see that he was clutching the railing of the stairs so tightly that it was bending slightly in his hand. In the second it took her to look back, Derek pushed her again, and when she turned back around she realized that he had turned. There was thick hair up and down both of his cheeks, his ears had changed shape, his fingernails had fashioned themselves into claws, his eyes were glowing a very frightening shade of red, and his fangs were forming a snarl that was directed right at her.

She knew that he’d told her not to be afraid, but it was really hard not to. It took all of her concentration and two deep breaths for her to be able to look him in the eye. In a second, before she knew what was happening, he had picked her up and thrown her to the floor. She heard Isaac call out, and she heard Derek snarl and push Isaac away. In a second, he was reaching to pick her up and throw her again. He growled at her in a way she almost understood, and then he uttered two human words in a guttural voice.

“Turn. Now.” he blurted out, reaching to pick her up again. As his arm got close, she felt herself changing. Hair sprouted on her face, her nails extended, and a set of sharp fangs pushed themselves into her mouth. With an earsplitting growl, she swatted his arm away, and some animalistic part of her was pleased to see that she’d drawn blood.

She pulled herself off the ground to see Isaac standing a few feet away with a wide smile on his face. Derek turned back and smiled at her as well. She visualized herself becoming human again, and a moment later, she felt it happening.

“You didn’t tell me you were going to fucking throw me!” she yelled at Derek as soon as her teeth were human again.

“Yeah, well, you weren’t getting mad enough,” he replied casually, and Isaac handed him the bent remnants of his stairs’ banister.

“I sort of accidentally ripped this out of the wall. Sorry,” he said with a smile. Derek sighed and tossed it into a corner.

“Okay, so now that’s out of the way. I’m a fictional mythical creature and I know how to turn into it. But I still have no idea what happened to me and I’d really like to know,” Olivia said, sitting cross-legged on the floor once again. Isaac sat down beside her and Derek moved across the room and grabbed a lounge chair. He pulled it over to where they were sitting and sat down in it.

“It’s my fault. All of it. I haven’t told Isaac because I knew you’d want to know the second you woke up and I didn’t want to have to tell it twice. I’ll tell you this once and probably only once, so open your ears,” Derek said, and Olivia nodded and leaned in closer.