Butterflies and Hurricanes

Smiling at Zacky, we wandered down to the beach, which was in eyesight from his house. His parents followed us, talking to themselves quietly. I felt under scrutiny in front of them, but Zack only squeezed my hand and smiled at me, reassuring me.

"Don't worry ok?" I looked at him and sighed softly, rubbing my forehead with my hand. It was so hot here, how do people live happily? I think Zack could tell my discontent due to the chuckle that came from him as he glanced at me.

"You'll get used to it," He said with a grin, leaning forward and kissing me quickly. Kirsty does not approve of our show of affections, yet Zack and me feel it's appropriate. I almost lost him; he was seconds from death that puts things into perspective when concerned with love. We only showed physical displays of love because we appreciated each other a lot more now.

Reaching the beach, I noted that there was nobody around. The Baker's certainly did like their privacy, as in, I couldn't see another house, except for a few in the very far distance. I missed Kirsty, I hadn't seen at all today, I wasn't used to this. Although I had Zack and the beautiful beaches of California to contend with, it wasn't enough.

I only noted that Zack had let go of my hand when I heard a growling behind me. Spinning round, I looked down at the overly large dog stood in front of me. He looked up, and gave a whine, dropping his front legs down and wafting his tail excitedly.

My eyebrow rose as I observed his actions. What did he want? I was answered when he jumped forward before jumping back again, and yelping at me. Oh..he wanted to play. I gave out a laugh and shook my head.

"You know Zack, for a 21 year old, you're young at heart huh?" A bark was my answer and I shook my head, continuing to walk forward. Zack bounded ahead of me and I watched him in his wolf form as he raced into the sea, jumping straight into the oncoming waves and playing around in them.

I smiled and sat down on the sand, watching my fiancé play in the water in canine form, and sighed softly. It was hard to believe me, of all people, had him. He was all mine, never to be taken away from me, especially if I had anything to say about it.

He stopped suddenly, and looked in my direction, his tongue lolled out to one side. Somehow it didn't look as appealing like that. In one quick movement he was running straight at me, causing my eyes to widen.

He was incredibly graceful for a dog, and fast. And he was wet. And heading straight for me.

Giving a squeal, I pushed up and ran away from him, only for me to feel him jump into me, causing me to fall over into the sand. Coughing, I sat up and saw Zack sat there, panting heavily as his head cocked to one side.

I gave a laugh and watched as he moved his head closer to where his nose was touching mine. I shuddered at the wetness of it, but looked into his eyes. They were a brilliant green, causing me to smile.

His shape blurred and snapping was heard as he shifted back, his fur retracting back into cloth fibres. I don't know why it did that, and apparently neither did he. H e still had his nose against mine in human form, and I smiled softly, causing him to grin and press his lips to mine.

"I love you," He whispered, leaning his forehead against mine and closing his eyes slightly. I smiled again and repeated the words to him.

He leant back on his knees, and I laughed at him. He was soaking, his hair was flat against his head, and his clothes clung to frame tightly, causing him to scowl as he looked down at himself.

He looked adorable.

"Why do your eyes stay green now?" I asked him as he sat next to me, reaching for my hand and playing with it quietly. Looking up at me, he smiled slightly.

"Normally in wolf form our eyes stay brown, the typical colour of a wolf or any dog. But because we're also human at the same time, if we have an influx of emotions, like sadness or anger, then our eyes reflect this and they turn into our human counterpart colour" I nodded slightly at this, it made sense. A human emotion in a wolf animal.

"What's it like?" I asked softly, leaning back in the sand. He looked at me, a frown evident on his face. I laughed softly, realising he didn't understand my question evidently.

"What does it..feel like? Shifting?" I asked. He sighed and looked back out at the sea, biting his lip.

"It-it hurts. A lot. I mean, your bones are snapping and breaking and shifting and reforming, and then there are bones that grow, bones that become shorter. Your muscles grow larger; your inner organs change so they work better for you. It's awful, but I've got used to it. Admittedly if you punch me in human or wolf form, I hurt, but the shifting is just part of life now. I almost embrace it if you get me?" He said softly.

"When it first happened, none of us knew what the hell was happening you know? I mean, one day I wake up fine, I get out of bed and suddenly I'm on the floor in agony and then I can smell things so easily, I could hear so much, it was so loud it hurt. My eyesight had turned strange. I could see in black and white and grey, but as I got used to it, the colours slowly returned. We think it's because we're so used to seeing in colour, our brains automatically turned it into colour,"

I nodded at this, it sounded logical enough.

"I swear though, there's nothing better than be in wolf form. The freedom you feel you know? It's like, I can run for hours and hours, I mean in human I can run for a while anyway, but in wolf. There's no feeling that beats it. It's so exhilarating and, god I can't explain it. At first we loved it too much and became almost hungry for it. But, you can't do that. It's like, if I don't shift for say, two-three years, I'll stay human. And if I keep turning into a wolf too often, I'll find it harder and harder to shift back into human,"

He was silent for a moment before he looked at me and laughed.

"Well I did think it was the best thing I'd ever felt. As cheesy and mushy and stupid as it sounds, finding you and being with you is the best feeling I could ever have. Just knowing that you love me completes me I suppose. It sounds silly I know, but it's true," He said with a wistful smile.

I lowered my head as emotions rushed over me. It was still hard to believe. I'd found someone who loved me, who gods honestly loved me and was willing to put his life on the line for me, something he had already achieved.

"No-one we know who is a werewolf, which is very few by the way, has ever actually found their soulmate. We always assumed it was legend you know? Something that didn't exist. And then as soon as I talked to you that first time, I felt strange afterwards, like I should go after you. And the feeling increased, until I realised what it was. Especially when I felt all the sadness you were feeling after I, well you know,"

Smiling softly at him, I leant forward, stopping just before I could kiss him. Looking into his eyes, I smiled again.

"Even though I can't feel how strong the bond is unlike you, I know that I love you more than I've ever loved anything. Apart from Kirsty, but I mean as in an 'I never want to let you go' love. I wasn't sure how I'd handle being engaged to marry, but now I'm here, there's no other place I'd rather be,"

He smiled and laughed.

"Good," He whispered softly before pressing his lips to mine again.