Chapter 2

"You'll not die." Callie tried harder to convince herself than Isabella, but the reality of the situation was too great for either of them to ignore.

"Calls, if I couldn't find him in five years, I certainly won't find him in less than ten months. I've to be claimed by my seventeenth birthday."

When a werewolf soul descends to earth, it splits into two halves, each half inhabiting its own body. The union is felt the moment they meet. The union of these individuals creates something beautiful, magical, an attraction that draws a thick line between love and lust. Soulmates complete each other spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Soulmates find themselves in each other. They're the life essence of each other.

It took a moment for Callie to answer, "I know."

Too bad, her bile rose and her eyes narrowed. Too bad, Isabella didn't need Callie's pity. She needed a companion. Damn it.

"Maybe I don't have one." That was a possibility, too, considering how quickly Wendigos killed their own kind. As if Isabella needed another reason to hate them.

"The moon goddess can't be that cruel." Callie smoothed nonexistent wrinkles from her dress and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Dad would have to kill you. If you don't find your mate, your wolf will take over your body, mind, and soul. You'll be untamable, you'll wreak havoc, you'll lose yourself, you'll become aggressive and attack everything you encounter." She paused. "I don't want that for you, and knowing Dad, he'll want to make it as painless as possible himself."

So that was what the old man was hiding. They, too, were losing hope. Callie, it struck Isabella, wasn't talking about ifs and buts, but when. Isabella blinked away the tears.

Smiling, she said, "That's all right. When the day comes, tell him to leave the execution to someone else. I can't do that to him."

"Oh Bella, I'm going to miss you.

Okay, that's it. Isabella had heard enough. It was bad enough that she knew she was going to die.

There were so many things she still wanted to do: go swimming for the first time, graduate high school, play the football game her brother had challenged her to - once I found her partner, once she was strong enough to take him on.

Isabella wanted to see her parents grow old and grey; she wanted that excitement you feel on the first day of work. She half sobbed, half laughed. She wanted a normal life. Was that too much to ask? She didn't even have friends: all the less people to say goodbye to.

Isabella couldn't let her need for normalcy hurt more people. She'd not be selfish.

"Hey, you'll find him."

There it was again: pity, but this time accompanied by sympathy. It made her stomach ache.

"Of course," she said, turning slightly to look at Callie out of the corner of her eye. She hoped she didn't hear the note of exasperation in her voice. "With your unmistakable intelligence, I'm sure you know exactly when."

Callie sighed and narrowed the distance between them, unfazed by her sister's outburst. "Soon, very soon," she gave her an awkward hug from the side.

Isabella winced at her closeness. Would this be the last time she heard Callie's voice? Would these be the last memories she took with her?

"Are you sure you don't want to come down for dinner?" It was neither an invitation nor a question. Callie was hopeful. She didn't want Isabella to join them. Isabella didn't know whether to be angry or relieved.

For a long, silent moment, Isabella stared ahead, biting her nails nervously. She didn't think she could get through dinner without feeling physically sick. She nodded and shook her head; Isabella noticed a smile creep onto Callie's lips.

"I ... uh ...," a wave of uncertainty washed over Isabella. "I don't know what I want."

Callie gave her a forced smile. It was so fake it almost looked like a grimace. "I'll see you tomorrow after school. Mom will take care of the garden, and I've to drive her to work."

Isabella swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. She'd no confidence in her voice.

Callie walked with a grace that would put a Victoria Secret model to shame. She smiled reassuringly before closing the door. Immediate relief spread through Isabella. She could no longer stand Callie's cheerful aura, just as Isabella knew Callie could barely stand the bitterness in hers.

Isabella stared out the window again as the dog stood frozen, muscles tense and a wide, blinking gaze showing the whites of his eyes. He averted his eyes from the outline of the forest, blinked rapidly, and then closed his eyes completely. His ears were laid back, his tail tucked under his body, and his paw raised. All traces of confidence were a distant memory.

He shook himself as if drying himself off, backed away slowly, and then let his head and upper body sink slowly to the ground, emitting a hopeless whimper.

Much of what happened next was a bit of a blur. But Isabella remembered him turning over and exposing his stomach. She remembered that he'd urinated.

Again she could remember the disappointed look he gave her before disappearing around the corner.

The trance was finally broken and reality dawned on her, and with it came a wave of unbearable pain. She'd a hard time accepting the fact that she'd have done the same thing. Part of her wished she'd helped. Isabella consoled herself with the fact that the dog was much stronger than she was and that the darkness of the night seemed to mirror her pain.

Her eyes wandered to where the dog had been staring. Isabella wanted to see what had caused his unbearable fear. She saw a flash - bright, blinding, and mesmerizing. She blinked away the tears and looked closer now - craning her neck one way or the other to get a better look.

At that moment Isabella forgot to breathe, her head felt weak. She held on to the window frame: the wood cracked under her surprised strength. Her chest burned, it took her a while to realize that she'd to exhale.

Her breath came short and unsteady. She didn't know what she'd expected, but she certainly hadn't expected her companion's eyes to stare at her. Isabella had to close her eyes, take a deep breath, and then open them again to make sure her mind wasn't playing some sick, twisted game with her.

His piercing gaze wouldn't let Isabella go, and she felt a thrilling shiver run down her spine as his eyes turned red, his animal eyes.

Isabella froze, and everything around her refused to move. Breathing was an impossible task. Sometimes her heart skipped a beat or two, sometimes three. Her body shook as fast as her heart beat. Impossible - a Wendigo stared back at her.

Isabella peeled herself off the windowsill and yanked it open. She complained bitterly. A minute later, she climbed out and landed with practiced efficiency in her backyard.

At first she kept her distance, her back pressed tightly against the tree outside her window, but the eyes that stared at her were just as wary. It was as if the animal was thinking the same thing she was - it didn't want to scare her.

Danger: That's what her subconscious kept screaming as Isabella approached the forest, but her pace only quickened as she looked forward to it.

The creature stood on its hind legs, was a substantial twelve feet tall, had long limbs and a pronounced chest. It had blood-stained fur and feathery, snow-white hair that shimmered like diamonds under the kiss of the moon.

Its rectangular jaw: long and narrow, the mouth filled with long, needle-like teeth that stood out even more through the thin lips. The forehead straight and connected with the nose, the intelligent and cunning, but also predatory eyes buried deep in their sockets and protruding like those of an owl, only larger and unsettling.

Isabella's body quivered and her eyes widened as she met his hair-raising gaze: yellow eyes playing roller coaster in a pool of blood.

She took a step back and forced her gaze to wander lower. She swallowed and felt a headache forming. A burning sensation spread from her toes to her legs until she could no longer feel them. The sensation of cardiac arrest traveled through her body until she'd no control. She could only move her eyes.

A muscular but emaciated body with massive, paw-like hands that ended in dreaded claws with razor-sharp talons moved toward Isabella.

Run. said Isabella's subconscious. Run. But Isabella couldn't bring herself to turn her back on him. Her heart was up to her neck, begging for release, threatening to break loose at any moment.

The beast took another step toward her, her lips parted and she wanted to scream, but she could only manage a yelp. He took another step and her heart stopped: Those three-foot-long feet, their toes ending in icy, dagger-like nails that could easily pierce a human skull, cut to the bone.

He crouched on all fours, sending goosebumps down her spine. Why couldn't Isabella move? Why wasn't she running? Move, her subconscious pleaded again.

"Don't be afraid," the creature said - breathing out a breath of fresh blood and mushrooms - the sound echoing through the forest. Surely someone would be able to hear it.

Gracefully, he glided across the lake that separated them. When he was close enough to touch her, something rare, something strange stirred inside Isabella. It moved inside her, awakened. It had been half a decade since Isabella had last felt this way. She could barely recognize the feeling, her mind amazed at how natural it felt.

"Arrr," she screamed, her ribs cracking, the eerie sound like a car crash to her sensitive ears. "No."

It seemed as if the pain stopped and Isabella managed to get back on her feet, but it didn't even take a second and she was on her knees, gasping.