Kodiak POV

There's a major contrast between wolf and human.

As a human, I had an enhanced sense of smell. I could smell dinner cooking while standing in the driveway, the insecticide sprinkled on the firs on the porch, and sometimes if I focused, the salty sweat dripping from Ronno's forearms whenever he was trying to impress Harley with his weight lifting.

At least that's the action I hoped was happening up in that room.

Anyway.

In my wolf form, my senses were on edge. One sniff and I could smell everything from the leaves on the ground to the ruffling feathers of ravens flying above. The ravens were territorial just like us, they were like us in many ways. Most of the ravens in this forest could change as well, the controversy on what they changed into was different every time I heard the story.

Their beady eyes on me made me nervous, I shouldn't have been nervous, I was in my wolf form. This stare made me whimper slightly, a dozen were blinking at me all at once.

I must be in their territory.

Perhaps I wandered off too far this time. I pivoted on my front paws to turn the way back in which I came but then the scent of human wafted into my nostrils.

I knew this had to mean there was some sort of trouble. Hunters, perhaps. But, stupid curious me wandered towards the scent anyway.

What I found was not what I had expected. A girl, passed out on the ground. Her dark hair shifted over her face, her wrist stained with dried blood dripping from a cut in her palm. I couldn't help but whimper at the sight of her, my human emotions piercing into my head as I felt sympathy, something I rarely felt when I was this way. She looked like she had been tossed around, beaten. I crept up next to her.

I tried to stay as silent as possible, managing to maintain my hunger when I sniffed the blood on her arm. I didn't want to wake her, not yet. I sniffed her wrist, the blood was dry against my nose. She smelled... Human, obviously, but not entirely. There was something else.

I wanted to learn more, but with the scent of blood on my nose, I felt my wolf boil up inside me. It growled and suddenly became territorial. I backed up slowly, not wanting to injure her more than she already was. I decided I would come back for her, when I was calmer. When I was more... me.

I found myself hunting again, looking for something small to satisfy the hunger my wolf was suffering. I turned my head to observe the base of the trees, then I lifted my nose and took in my surroundings. A red squirrel was nearby, a couple of them it seemed, the scent was strong and scattered in different directions.

Before I became a wolf, I had never even thought of eating squirrels. But sometimes, you have to scrounge for the nearest meat, and right now I needed some fresh meat in my belly to keep myself warm and wholesome.

After I found the right prey, it wasn't hard to attain it. I was licking my chops within minutes.

I had been in my form for three days now, the pack was probably out looking for me, my mother included. You've never seen a truly overprotective parent until yours becomes the leader of a pack. She was old in age, but young in spirit, her wisdom was one of the elements that kept the pack sane. I wasn't sure how I was going to live up to her expectations one day. In moments when the subject was brought up it was hard for me not to show my doubt. I knew others saw it, their nostrils would flicker when they sensed the fear emanating off of my skin.

The worst was when Hoss sensed it, his beady eyes hungry with power. I knew the delta could pin me down easily. "Your mommy isn't here to protect you now." He'd probably sneer. Then, well, who knows what he'd do next. Probably whatever he wanted, and I didn't want to know what that would be.

A couple feet away, I heard footsteps, they were coming towards me. I haunched behind a bush, lowering my ears, my lips peeling back in a low growl. I peeked through a gap in the leaves and there she was, the girl from earlier. I shifted as if to move closer, an instant instinct. Strange.

Immediately she responded by turning towards my direction, alarm evident on her face. She had beautiful almost-golden eyes, I noted, and skin like caramel. Even with dirt on her face, I could read her expressions clearly.

Tired of being hidden, I decided to prod out in front of her. It was in that exact moment that her scent, now stronger than ever wafted again into my nostrils. The scent was all too familiar to me.

She's one of us.

I stopped in my tracks, my eyes tracing over her. Her eyes were golden, like mine.

She's in the Changing. So she's a new one, how fabulous.

I heard a small squeak and it took me a moment to realize it was her. Her alarmed expression softened as she began to walk towards me, an arm outstretched like I was some wild animal.

Well, to her I am.

Maybe she's scared because you're snarling, dipshit.

My lips were indeed peeled back in a snarl, must have been instinct.

"I'm so sorry... I didn't realize..." She whimpered, she had knelt down at this point.

I pricked my ears, tilting my head. The snarl disappeared when I saw her in the submissive state, and I mentally sighed in relief. I glanced up, the sun was in the middle of the sky, it was the middle of the day. I needed to get her out of here before night fell, I didn't want her to have to face what was in the woods. Not yet, not in her state.

I nodded my head towards the direction of a den a couple miles away, hopefully there she would be safe. I began to trot in the direction, trying my best to signal for her to follow me.

Luckily, she followed me. I'm not sure what part of her mind decided to, but I hoped she would follow that part more often.

The girl is experiencing something we call the Changing. It's exactly what you think it would be, it's kind of like puberty. But it's more rapid, and you throw up more often and in the end you turn into a wolf. Yes, a wolf. But don't you think for a second that we are werewolves. No, none of that full moon, silver bullet, water melting our souls bull crap. It's more of an illness, and you can control it to a certain extent.

But I'll get to that later.

Yayyyyy another transition chappie. Transiiiitionsssss whooooooooo.

I can't wait to write the next chapter tbh. It's gonna include more characters. So yayyyy

~ Cat out