Page 82 of Chasing The Alpha's Son
Bones crack and muscles tear, the sound reverberating through the valley. Despite trying to suppress it with every ounce of my being, I’m shifting. Fur sprouts all over my body and I drop onto my front paws.
As my wolf takes over, I lift my muzzle to the blood moon and let out a bloodcurdling howl.
MONSTER IN THE MOONLIGHT
I start up in bed, gasping for breath. My forehead is covered in sweat and my heart is racing. The room is spinning around me. I clutch the bedsheets and shut my eyes, trying to steady myself.
“Max, you’re awake.” Katie’s voice feels distant but too loud. “It’s okay, take your time. Slow breaths. You’re okay.”
Eyes closed, I try and steady my breathing as the room gradually stops spinning, and I’m left feeling exhausted and parched—like I’m the most hungover person on the planet.
How strong was the whiskey in that hot chocolate?But it can’t just be Mason’s concoction, because I don’t remember feeling drunk.
Finally, I open my eyes. Sunlight is gently emanating through the curtains. I’m in my room back at the chalet.
“What happened?” I ask, my own voice thumping in my head.
Katie is kneeling at the side of the bed and reaches to take my hand, but I pull it away from her.
“It’s okay, it’s over.”
My jaw trembles. “What’s over?”
“You don’t remember?” she asks, trepidation wobbling in her voice.
“I… I remember…”
The last thing I can remember is Jasper taking my hand as the clouds rolled away to reveal the blood moon, then it was like something inside my head exploded and took control. And then…then…
“You shifted,” Katie says. “Remember?”
Growing increasingly terrified, I shake my head, biting back tears. “What’s going on?”
“Sit back, let me get you some water.” Katie stands and makes to move, but I stop her.
“No! Tell me what happened.”
She turns back to me with fear in her eyes.
“Please,” I say, softening.
Her shoulders rise and fall as she considers her options and sighs, resigned to being the bearer of bad news.
I wince and sit back against the headboard, unable to ignore the ache in my muscles or the pounding in my brain. For a second I feel dizzy and worry I’m about to collapse on the pillows.
“You sure you’re okay?” Katie asks.
Through gritted teeth I try to fake a smile. “Tell me.”
“Okay.” Katie sits on the edge of the bed and for some instinctive reason, I make sure not to let her hand brush against me. “So, the clouds finally went away and the blood moon came out. And for a second nothing was wrong, we were all just taking it in. It was really intense, but beautiful.”
An image flashes in my mind. A giant red moon looming above the mountains. I grunt and clutch the mattress.
“I can stop if you—”
“Keep going.”
“And I’m not sure if it started right away because I was looking at the moon—we all were—but suddenly you were backing away and making all these horrifying sounds, like you were in pain, and then…you shifted. You turned into your wolf form, but it wasn’t like your normal wolf form. You seemed—I don’t know, it’s hard to explain—confused maybe? It was like you weren’t in there anymore. Like your wolf was a separate entity and it had control. Max, you seemed…wild.”
