CHAPTERELEVEN
With the spell completed, Sara felt the usual exhaustion that hit her after a long-distance one such as this spell.
She wanted to clean up after herself, but the salt and candles could wait because a wave of dizziness hit her so hard she needed to sit.
There was no chance for that, though, because Sara heard a noise coming from her backyard. It was a loud thump, followed by a large bang. Like something had crashed into her yard. She ran to the back door and pulled open the slider. Stepping out onto the patio, she couldn't see a thing. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a loud hissing sound right next to her.
It was a large cat, like a Lynx, and it was about to attack her!
The earth seemed to tilt on its axis. Everything around Sara spun with abandon. She felt like she was going to throw up as a sick feeling started to climb up her throat. A sharp pain shot through her body, knocking her to her knees. She cried out for help, but no one answered. Just as she thought she would pass out from the pain, it suddenly stopped as quickly as it had begun.
Am I being attacked? Perhaps the lynx knocked her down, and she hit her head.
But as she looked up, she realized the lynx was nowhere to be seen.
She sat up and caught sight of movement on the lawn. It was the lynx, sprinting away toward the road. Then, it shifted into a man’s form before hopping in a nearby car and speeding away.
What the hell? She thought.
She tried to stand and found herself wobbling from side to side. When she looked down at her feet to make sure everything was okay, she nearly passed out when she saw two gray paws where her feet should have been.
“What the actual fuck?” Sara shouted … or at least she tried to, but nothing came out.
Well, that wasn't exactly true. She should have heard her own words. Instead, she heard an animal yipping. It was then that she caught her reflection in the sliding glass door on her back patio. Sara gasped, but again, nothing came out that sounded even remotely human.
Shock tore through her entire body, threatening to consume her mind, body, and soul. Staring back at her was a beautiful grey wolf with white patches and streaks running through her thick fur. But what caught her attention the most was her own eyes staring back at her from the face of a wolf.
* * *
“Do you hear something?”Barbara asked Tristan, who was sitting next to her on the couch.
“Yeah, what the hell is that?” he replied, cocking his head to the side, trying to determine what the noise they were hearing was and where it was coming from.
“I have no idea,” Barbara said, also cocking her head as Tristan had done. “It almost sounds like someone scratching at the door.” Barbara rose from her seat with Tristan following close on her heels in search of an answer.
“It's definitely coming from outside,” Tristan said, taking the lead in front of his wife.
“I think you're right,” Barbara said just as a whining sound started.
Slowly, Tristan pulled open the front door to see what was making all the noise. They gasped in surprise when they saw a beautiful gray wolf with emerald green eyes staring up at them.
“Well, who do we have here?” Barbara asked. They could tell the difference between a regular wolf and a shifter, and this one was clearly a shifter.
“I have no idea,” Tristan replied. “Definitely not someone from our pack.”
Even so, Barbara heard him using the pack link to attempt to communicate with the wolf. Sometimes alphas could get through to strange wolves just because of the magnitude of power they held.
No luck. The wolf whined at them and slinked right past them into their home, clearly showing she was in distress.
“Sure! Come right in and make yourself at home,” Tristan said, his voice confused but kind.
The wolf did just as Tristan had instructed and jumped up on the couch. She walked right over to the end, where the table butted it up against it, and proceeded to lap up the water in the glass that had been sitting on the table.
“I guess she was thirsty,” Barbara mused. “She must have run a long way.”
“This is like the fucking twilight zone. What the hell is going on? You'd think as the alpha, I'd know. But I really don't have a damn clue about anything right now. Do you?” Tristan asked, turning to face his wife.
“Nope. Go fish! You really don't have any idea who this is? Are we being punked by one of our kids or someone else in the pack who thought it would be funny the mess with the alpha?” Barbara shrugged. She acted calm and cool because she had no idea what they were supposed to do with the newcomer.