The Beta's Daughter

EMMA

I stood up. For the first time, I was taller than Jazmine.

Like, by a lot. She was small, but I now stood several feet taller than her.

“What the hell?” I gazed at what I thought was my reflection in the large window of the diner. “Wolf,” I screamed. I rushed to the back of the kitchen to get away from it.

I could hear Jazmine running after me. In fact, I could hear every step and every breath she took. I could hear her heartbeat. Even the blood pumping through my body. I didn’t know it was possible to hear someone’s blood pumping like this. Why couldn’t I also hear the wolf?

“Emma. It’s okay.”

I heard a woman’s voice right behind me. I turned to look but only saw Jazmine far in the distance.

I had made it out the back of the kitchen. Now, I stood further down the back alleyway. That’s when I realized I had no control over my body. It was like someone else was commanding my body to move. It barely felt like my body anymore. My hands were on the ground for some reason.

“We can’t be seen here.” The voice spoke a second time. “No one can see us. At least not like this.”

I don’t know why, but the voice soothed me. I trusted that voice.

“Jazmine,” I told the voice. “I have to go back to her.” I wanted to rush back to her side. I had to save her from that wolf. I should snatch her by the arm and run.

“It’s okay. She’s safe,” the voice said.

Somehow, I believed this voice. I felt like I was completely losing it. I was listening to a voice inside of my head instead of going back for the one person I really cared about. I tried to get control over my body so I could go back for Jazmine.

That was when I noticed that I could see everything in the pitch black of night. It was an hour after midnight. There were no street lights on, or cars going by, but I could see.

I then stared down to the giant hairy black wolf legs. Those were my legs. And there were four of them, ending in giant wolf paws. My body felt weird.

My heart began to race and I dropped to the ground. I couldn’t breathe. One of my panic attacks at a time like this. That’s just all I needed.

“It’s okay,” the voice said.

There it was again. Where was this voice coming from? I couldn’t see anyone nearby, and the voice wasn’t Jazmine’s.

“You’re going to faint.”

My eyes shut, and all my worries subsided.

EMMA

“When do you think she’ll wake up?” I heard Jazmine’s voice. She was panicking but trying to hide it.

My nose twitched as I smelled her sweet perfume. Sweet water lilies. That’s how I always imagined a mom should smell.

“Jaz.” I licked my lips. I blinked. We were still outside, but I couldn’t see much anymore. It was so dark. “Where are you?”

I tried to sit up. A small blanket had been the only thing I was wearing. I could feel the dirt on my bare back. My clothing was gone. “What the hell happened to my clothes?” I grabbed the blanket and hid my bare skin as much as possible.

“Em, do you remember what happened before you passed out?” Jazmine helped me to my feet.

She tightened the blanket around my bare skin. She always told me black is beautiful, but I didn’t feel at all beautiful right now. I felt confused and scared, and like I must be in a lot of trouble.

“I think…well, I think that I saw a wolf.” I felt like I was completely losing it. “But that can’t be right. A wolf that size? In our diner? It’s impossible.”

“Don’t freak out.” Jazmine rubbed the small of my back. “I want you to come and meet someone. She’ll explain everything.”

A small woman in her mid-thirties stood on the sidewalk in front of the diner. She wore a dark gray pants suit with a black undershirt. Her hair was cut in a short bob with a few highlights in her light brown hair. She smelled strange. No, that can’t be her smell. How could I smell someone so far away from me?

Jazmine waved her hand for the woman to come in. This wasn’t one of Jazmine’s regular friends, but they clearly knew each other.

“Hello, Emma. My name is Ann.” The woman stuck her hand out.

I felt something familiar toward the strange woman. She even smelled familiar.

I took her hand. “What’s going on?” I asked. Something was wrong. I must have done something. How much trouble am I in? Was this woman with social services? No, I’m over eighteen. They can’t do anything to me now. My heart had started racing.

“Emma, do you believe in the supernatural?” Anna asked me. She kept her eyes on me. Watching my every move. I knew something was up with her and her weird questions.

“Um, sure.” Who asks something like that? I knew she wanted me to say yes. “We only know 5 percent about the ocean so anything is possible.” I waited for her to continue. Where was this going?

“Good, so with that in mind. Do you believe in witches and werewolves?” Ann asked. She pulled her phone out and took a quick picture of me. “Sorry. It’s just a procedure we have to go through with everyone we find.”

What kind of procedure is there to take a picture of someone?

I didn’t have to think about her question long. There are millions of people who study witchcraft. “Yeah,” I answered. I wasn’t sure about the werewolf part but I let her continue.

“Okay so you know how you saw a wolf in the window behind Jazmine tonight? Tell me everything that happened. Everything you remember.”

“I think maybe my mind might have been playing tricks on me. I am pretty tired from college. That wolf was huge,” I told the woman as I thought back to the memory. Wolves don’t get that large and we don’t even have wolves around here. Nothing was making any sense.

“What else?”

“I warned Jazmine about the wild beast and then ran out the back door. I must have scared her. I ran away and had a panic attack, and I fainted. That’s what happened. I thought I saw a wolf, and I freaked out over nothing. Finals were hard. I think that’s what happened.”

“Is that all you remember?” Ann asked. “Seeing the wolf and then running?”

I looked to Jazmine for support. She nodded.

“I swear I could see in the dark and hear way more than I should be able to.” I laughed at how ridiculous that must have sounded. “I think it might have just been the adrenaline running through my body.”

“No, Emma. You really did see a werewolf,” Ann told me. “I know it must sound crazy, but you did see a werewolf.”

So it wasn’t a dream. But how had a wolf gotten into the diner? “Did someone kill it?” I asked the women before me. I glanced around the diner. There should have been fur on the floor, or footprints, or something if a wolf had been here. Wolves had dirty feet.

“No, no one is allowed to hurt that kind of wolf without probable cause or an order to do so,” Ann explained to me. That made no sense. Wolves were dangerous. There were no laws protecting them that I knew about, unless maybe they were endangered species.

“Emma, that werewolf was you.” Jazmine placed her hand on my shoulder.

I glanced at both women before me and started to laugh. “No. I’m not a wolf.”

“Stop,” Jazmine said before I could argue any more. It was her serious voice. The one she used when I was in trouble. She used the same voice to get me to go to college. It’s what everyone else would call a mom voice.

“Emma, it’s true. You are a werewolf and I am your wolf,” a voice said. It was the same female voice from before.

I spun around searching for that voice.

“Talk to her,” Ann urged me. “I know you can hear her voice. I see your eyes glazing over when she speaks to you. Speak with your wolf. Don’t be afraid.”

“I’m Kari. Ask me anything you want to know and I shall answer,” the voice ordered.

I looked to Jazmine for help. That’s when it hit me. Jazmine knew werewolves, and she’d never even mentioned it.

“It’s okay,” she said. “Talk to her.”

“We’ll give you some privacy.” Ann placed her hand on Jazmine’s arm. They both walked to the back of the diner.

I thought about it for a second. “So, I’m not crazy?” I asked the voice.

She laughed. “Of course not. You’ve already seen what you turned into. You have all the proof you need. It’s the rest of the world that doesn’t understand. Everything that has happened is real,” Kari explained. “You just need some time to wrap your mind around the whole situation.”

“Why did I get my wolf now? How could I not know about any of this?” I asked. “Do people get their wolf at random? I have so many questions.”

Kari sighed. “You know you’ve been pushing yourself to get good grades and work hard. Maybe that’s part of why you’re late to develop. Or maybe the Moon Goddess has plans for you. It’s hard for those not raised in a pack. You didn’t learn or develop your senses the way you should have. A werewolf is supposed to get their wolf on their eighteenth birthday. Some teenagers receive their wolf as early as sixteen. There are rare occasions when some get their wolves late.”

I thought back to the transformation. It had happened after I knew I had the weekend off. I’d been starting to relax. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe if I just stayed busy, I wouldn’t have to transform again.

“Does it always hurt that much to transform?” I asked. The pain was too much. I did not want to do that again. Not if it was going to be so painful.

“The first shift is painful. I’m sorry about that. But after that, no more pain when shifting. You can also shift whenever you want.” Kari’s voice had a calming effect to it. “It doesn’t have to be a full moon.”

“Full moon? So, like the movies? This is going to happen every full moon?” I asked. I had no idea where the moon was in its cycle. My heart started to race. “Next you’re going to tell me we die from silver.”

“No, you don’t have to shift on any full moon if you don’t want to,” Kari told me. “And no, we don’t die from silver. That’s just dumb humans making movies.”

“But you just said—” I started to remind her that she was the one who’d brought up the full moon.

I could tell Kari was losing patience with me. “The only time you would be forced to shift on a full moon is when it’s your first shift. After that the full moon has no effect on you.”

At least I was learning something. I guess there really was a full moon tonight, and that it had helped spark my transformation. I guess I was a werewolf.

But now I had a question I really needed to ask. “Okay, tell me this. Where are my parents? Why did I not grow up with others like me? Did they not want me?”

Asking those questions hurt my soul. I’ve always wanted to know about my parents. The foster system wasn’t going to tell me a damn thing. Maybe now I could find them.

“I’m afraid I don’t know. I’m part of you. Only the Moon Goddess knows where they are.” Her voice softened. “If you do happen to come into contact with them, your instincts would pick up on it.”

“Ann, is there a way for me to find out who my parents are?” I said, loud enough for her to hear me.

Jazmine looked to Ann. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but she always knew that I wanted to know. She had even helped me look, after I turned eighteen. But we never came up with anything.

“Yes, I’ll have to speak with Alpha Jason. More than likely, he will help you. His daughter Raven is around your age. Give me a moment.” Ann took her cell phone out again.

She walked away from us but I could still hear what they said. “She survived the attack. Yes. She’s transformed. I know.”

“Eavesdropping is rude,” Kari said, pulling my attention away.

“So? They’re the ones talking about me behind my back. If anything, that’s rude,” I smarted back.

It was too late. Kari had taken enough of my attention that I had missed the ending.

Ann had already been walking back this way. “Go home and pack some bags. He’ll send a car for you. Since you now have your wolf, it’s too dangerous for you to stay with humans. Alpha Jason has invited you into our pack for the time being. You’ll stay at the pack house.”

I felt both excited and devastated. What about me was so dangerous that I couldn’t be around Jazmine?

I looked to her. “Is that okay?” I didn’t want her to feel as if I were abandoning her. But it didn’t seem like she was invited, either. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“I’m going to miss you, but I think this is for the best. They can teach you things about yourself that I can’t. You need to learn who you are, and maybe the alpha can find your parents.” Jazmine took a seat beside me. “You’ve been wanting to find your parents for a long time. You have a right to know.”

Ann handed a business card to Jazmine. “This is the pack house number, my number and the alpha’s and beta’s numbers are on there as well. Do not hesitate to call.”

I looked at Jazmine with concern. I couldn’t just leave her. Not like this. We had just started our summer together, and I could tell she wanted time with me before college was over. We both knew my life would change. I guess we hadn’t thought it would change like this.

I know she said I could go, but I still didn’t want to. With all of this new weird stuff happening, deep down, I wanted my mother.

“It’s for your safety, Em.” Jazmine held my hand. “I know you don’t want to leave me. But I need you to go. I don’t want you to miss this opportunity.”

I bit the inside of my lip.

“You can call me any time, and it’s not like I’m going to be a million miles away from you. You’re in good hands.”

“Jazmine also has clearance to come onto our territory whenever she wants. She always has,” Ann added.

“Jaz, I need you to tell me how you got into all of this,” I said.

“Later.”

I didn’t want to leave the only home I knew. But it looked like I had to.