Trans-formation Ch. 03

"Ian, calm down! That's impossible, she's human." Michelle said, trying to comfort her older brother.

"I thought so too, but I'm telling you, she has to be one of us! Her scent... It's like nothing I've smelled before, and when our eyes met..." Ian trailed off, getting lost in his thoughts.

"Ian, werewolves are born, not made. She wouldn't have just gone her whole life not noticing shifting at least once a month, or hearing her wolf talk to her. AND, she doesn't smell like a wolf. Not to sound creepy or anything, but I checked her scent when I was changing her. I'll give you this though, she doesn't smell like any other human I've smelled before." she said.

"There are ways to check. Maybe she found some way to disguise her scent from other wolves, I don't know. Wolf or not though, she IS my mate." he replied.

***

Bella was trying, and failing horribly, to fall asleep. After having what felt like a whole bucket of adrenaline dumped into her body, sleep was basically a pipe dream. She sat up and slid over to the side of the bed. Well, if I can't burn any of this energy off, then I may as well check out the view from up here, she thought.

The room was on the third floor of the house, which from what she'd seen so far must have been really big. Carefully standing , she limped/hopped/wobbled to the sliding glass door that lead to the balcony that looked out over the ocean outside. Stepping out and balancing herself on the railing, she quickly found what she was looking for:

The moon.

It was beautiful tonight, casting itself over the gentle ripples of the ocean. Almost completely swollen now, she was sure tomorrow it would be completely full. She got lost in it's white depths, studying every single cliff, crater, and cragg that dotted it's surface. The night sky's so much clearer here than back in Buffalo, she thought. There were no city lights to bleed into the sky out in Alaska. You got the real thing when you looked up at the stars.

Staring at the moon was therapeutic for Bella, all of her worries left her mind when she gazed at it. She had no idea why, but she'd always been obsessed with it.

Slowly, subtly, she felt another presence push forward to the front of her mind.

"Shit..." she whispered out loud. "Cmon, not now, please not now..." she continued.

"Relax, it's just me", a cheery female voice said to her in her mind. "The moon looks so beautiful tonight! I had to come see it." It was strong and hopeful, and Bella knew it better than her own.

"You can't 'see' anything, because you aren't real." Bella replied to the voice, trying to push the other entity back into her subconscious.

"You can keep telling yourself that, but it'll never come true." the voice said, a tinge of sadness apparent in it's tone. "Why can't things be like they used to Bell? We used to be best friends, until those people turned you against me."

Bella sighed heavily. She was only 6 when the voice first started. At first, her parents just thought she has an imaginary friend, but within a year, her father started to take her to every doctor in the city. By eight, she was so heavily drugged she could barely stay awake during the day. The voice never left though, and when her father couldn't medicate it away, he tried beating it away.

At any mention of her friend, Dasani, her father would chain her to a pipe in the basement, and whip her with his belt, stopping only to occasionally grab another beer now and then. After, she'd be left chained down there for hours on end. Her mother was despondent at best, complicit at worst. The only real difference between the two was that her mother preferred wire coat hangers over belts. Eventually, she began to resent the voice for the pain their friendship had brought her; the wounds were so serious at times that even now, nearly two decades later, she continued to bear the scars on her back.

"I know Dasani, I remember. I can't let you out though, not after what happened last time..." she replied sadly.

"They killed Him."

"I know."

"They were going to kill us next."

"I know..."

"Look, we're in the middle of nowhere now, there's no risk. Just five minutes, please!" the voice pleaded, desperation clear in its words.

"I'm sorry Dasani..." Bella replied pushing the voice further and further away, until it's presence was finally no longer felt.

Limping back to the bed, she crawled back on. Struggling to keep memories that were bubbling to the surface in check, she slowly cried herself to sleep.

"I'm so sorry..."

***

After a night of restless sleep, Bella woke up to a gentle knock at the door as Ian walked in with two trays of food.

"Morning Ranger, I thought you-" he stopped mid sentence though, staring at the woman in front of him. Her night gown had come up in he sleep to reveal long, toned legs. Her eyes also caught his attention again, except this time he noticed dried tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Hey... Are you okay? Do you need anything for the pain?" Ian said, setting the trays down on the nightstand and sitting down next to Bella.

"No, I don't really like to use drugs unless it's absolutely necessary. It's not the leg anyways, I was just having a rough night was all..." she replied, inhaling his perfect scent while getting lost in those damn green eyes again.

"Oh okay, well, I brought some breakfast." he said, setting a tray on her lap and handing her a fork.

"Thanks! I was starting to starve up he- ah! FUCK!" she screamed, dropping the fork and examining her hand. It was covered in mild burns and giving off a strong odor of burnt flesh. "Shit, that was silver wasn't it? Yeah, I have a pretty bad allergy to that stuff."

Ian looked at her with a look of shock. "So... You've always had it, even from birth?"

"Yeah." she replied. "Don't worry though, I heal fast, like stupid quick." she said chuckling. "I doubt I'll even have to wear this cast for more than a week... Is something wrong Ian?" she said looking at his obviously troubled face.

"No, it's just... Nothing." He said, standing up. "Listen, things can get pretty rowdy around here on full moons. Lots of parties and stuff. Everyone here is going out for the night, so you'll have the house to yourself after dinner. This is going to sound strange, and please don't take it the wrong way, but please don't leave this house tonight, okay?" he said, looking her in the eyes.

"O-okay... You have my promi-" She stopped mid sentence, looking down at her lap, confused.

"You okay? Bella?" he asked, receiving no response. Bella's pupils started dilating, and her iris went from a dark brown to a sand colored tan.

"What... What's that smell?" she said turning towards Ian, her eyes locking with his and her tone very different.

"It's... me... I guess..." Ian said confused. Wait! It's her wolf! he said, thinking to himself.

"Wolf? I'm just... Dasani. Who are you, and why do you smell like... that...?" she said, looking at him genuinely confused.

"Because Dasani, I'm your mate."