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There's almost no one else in the park—a couple with a young child at the swings, a jogger who just stopped to do some sit ups—and Elara isn’t sure if she should be worried or relieved. On the one hand, it’s a good thing because if anyone hears what they need to talk about, they’ll think Elara’s crazy. She’s not entirely sure that she isn't, but she’d like to hold onto the pretense of sanity for as long as she can. On the other hand, who the hell is going to help if Denzel attacks her?
The jogger passes by, sweat running down his face and breathing hard.
Denzel leans back, his broad shoulders seeming to grow. He stares ahead as he speaks. “As I said, my name is Denzel,” he says. “And I’m the Alpha of the local werewolf pack.”
Elara’s eyes widen. For all that she’s considered that something might be happening to her because of having been scratched by the wolf, it's still hard to consider that werewolves are real. Her logical mind refuses to believe it, and she can’t fight back a snort. “There's no such thing as a werewolf.”
Denzel turns to look at her, smiling gently, which is a refreshing change from his smirk but somehow concerns her even more. “Have you noticed anything weird happening around you lately?”
Elara swallows hard as she flashes back to the strange events that have been happening lately. Plus, there’s the heightening of her senses, the fast healing, and that’s only the stuff she's able to remember. Unlike waking up naked in the forest. They’re all the reasons she’s here, willing to listen.
And yet…the explanation is too fantastical.
Especially when the suggestion is she could be one of them.
Denzel doesn't wait for an answer before his smile widens even further, clearly trying to put her at ease. “I know you werescratched by an animal on the last full moon. That's when all this started, right?”
Elara nods, not quite sure what he’s getting at, but she has a bad feeling about it. Dread is a cold, hard lump in her gut. The truly terrifying thing is that somehow, inexplicably, impossibly, it makes sense.
Denzel gazes back out onto the street, keeping his voice low. “Under normal circumstances, when humans are scratched, most of them don't survive. A select few do, and they shift at the next full moon.”
Unbidden, memories assault Elara, triggered by Denzel’s words. Last night, her vision turned yellow as she stared up at the full moon through her window. Last night had been a full moon. Then there was the pain. She closes her eyes as images pepper her mind. Claws stretching from her fingertips. Fur breaking through her skin. A mournful howl climbing up her throat.
Shit. Denzel’s words are making a scary amount of sense. She was scratched by a wolf, and the scars had healed remarkably quickly. Strange things have been happening around her, things that she can’t explain. Last night was a full moon, and she woke up the next morning naked in the forest with no memory of how she got there.
Everything is falling into place.
Although Denzel’s still gazing straight ahead, she can feel him watching her. Assessing her reaction. Whatever he senses, it seems to give him the green light to keep talking. “The interesting thing is that werewolves don’t display any other properties apart from the ability to shift on a full moon. But if a werewolf scratches a witch, then that changes everything.”
Elara shifts a little on the bench seat, not sure she’s ready for more interesting information.
“Because if they become a wolf on top of being a witch, then you add a layer of complexity. One that would explain all the strange magical things that are happening around you.” Denzel slides a glance her way. “You were a witch before you were scratched.”
Elara shakes her head, but he doesn't seem to care about the fact that her mind is currently being blown. That she needs to draw a breath…or fifty. Instead, he continues to speak, and she sits numbly, listening.
“But neither of your parents are supernatural. I know, because I've checked.”
Elara frowns. That's creepy, but he’s still talking, so she doesn’t want to interrupt him, even if he’s being just as much of a stalker as Kade.
“Which means I have to be wrong about you being a witch. I think you must have been turned somehow.”
She shakes her head. “What does that even mean?” she asks, not quite sure she understands what he’s saying.
“There are two types of werewolves. Those who are born with the gene—if both of their parents are werewolves, or even just one of them, they will be born a werewolf ninety-nine percent of the time. And then there are turned werewolves, which happens when they're scratched or bitten. Like you. Turned werewolves are a witch or a human and the wolf qualities are just added on. But you're a human with wolf qualities, and somehow witch qualities have been added in there as well.” It’s his turn to shift a little. “It makes no sense. This is uncharted territory. It means that some wolf has managed to add witch abilities to you as well, which shouldn’t be possible.”
Elara feels like she isn't really keeping up her end of the conversation, but she has no idea what to say to any of this. It's all too much. Too impossible. And it makes her weird, even by werewolf standards.
Yet the only thing that could make sense.
Denzel glances at her again and she wonders how pale she is. “We were originally witches who experimented on themselves. They wanted to shift shapes. Some of them decided to tie themselves to the full moon and became werecreatures, drawn to the power of the wolf. And some of them became shifters, which are just like werewolves except they aren't tied to any one species. Nor are they tied to the full moon.”
Elara works hard to process the information. That makes shifters seem more powerful than werewolves. They can shift whenever they want to, into any animal.
“Yet you were scratched by a wolf and somehow have even more enhancements.”
“Who?” Elara asks, the one word scraping past her tight throat. According to Denzel, she’s a werewolf and a witch. A combination that came about in ways that shouldn’t be possible. The one unanswered question is, who? Who did this to her?
As if he can sense the question, Denzel frowns. “I’m fairly sure there’s a rogue wolf roaming around the city and they're responsible for the other animal attacks as well. I checked up on the other victims, but none of them shifted. They’re all humans like you, but you’re the only one who managed to transform. You survived.”
