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Chapter 3

"Ah." The sound rang through the forest, bouncing off the trees and making the ground shake. Needles prickled on her skin as fur peeked through her pores. Claws with a dangerously painful slowness replaced her nails. The sensation was no different than when she'd trapped her hand between the door and the frame.

Isabella's body had an uncomfortable, boiling temperature as her bones cracked and rearranged themselves.

"What's wrong?" asked Isabella into the dark night. There was no answer, not that she expected one. Maybe this was death, and she closed her eyes to slowly embrace it.

Her body vibrated with panicked pain.

"Shh, sweetheart, it'll be over soon." His velvety, seductive voice enveloped her seductively, making it hard to breathe. He'd to have changed into his human form.

He placed her contorted face on his lap. Isabella was now in her wolf form. The pain was gone, and his warmth wrapped around her like a thick blanket. Her heart was beating wildly now:Her paws were stuck in her shoes, or what was left of them.

She tried not to flinch as he ran his hand over her forehead, wiping away the drops of sweat.

Isabella suddenly felt so tired.

"Sleep, sweetie." Hearing her companion's voice, she was glad she was unconscious.

In the morning, Isabella noticed two things: first, the presence that should have been with her was missing. Second, she was in her bedroom. She opened her eyes and closed them again. The room was so bright. This time she opened them carefully to get used to the light. At the corner where her north and west walls met sat a spider web of three horizontal radii and circular steps. The complex fibers ensured that it refracted light in remarkable fields. The tiny sticky droplets on the trapping treads were multicolored rods in an even mix of all shades of green, blue, purple, and brown, and a color that sometimes appeared as clear as water, but sometimes white, yellow, and red.

Isabella sucked in her breath. It was all so beautiful. She sneezed. Yikes, she really needed to invest in a hypoallergenic house. Air purifiers seemed outdated.

She looked up as the clack of heels sounded just outside her door.

It couldn't have been a dream. Such a thing would never occur to Isabella: that raspy voice, that sinful scent, those eyes - the picture of perfection.

With that thought in mind, she jumped out of bed and got ready for school.

"Maybe he went home to change," she said in whispered anticipation. "Maybe he went home to take a bath." The possibilities were endless.

Isabella slung her backpack over her shoulder and took the stairs two steps at a time. Her father was the only one in the kitchen when she entered. He'd his back to her, his black suit worn casually, a tie dangling from his neck.

"Good morning," Isabella dropped the bag in the doorway and went straight to the refrigerator.

He turned slightly and nodded. "You're up early."

"Yeah, well ..." She shrugged.

There had to be something in her voice, because he turned and looked at her. "What made you bubble?"

A grin that hurt her cheeks spread across her lips, "Nothing."

After a minute, she looked at him from under her lashes. Inez looked exactly like his daughter, with dark hair too light to pass for red but too dark to pass for brown, which matched his wolf fur, gray eyes that turned sun-bleached silver when he was in wolf form, and Isabella had even taken on his naturally tanned skin. The only thing she was grateful for was that she'd adopted her mother's button nose.

He smiled knowingly and turned his attention to the glass in front of him. That green, evil stick again. Ugh. He was in one of those ridiculous detoxes again.

He handed her an empty plastic jar. Isabella nodded her thanks and poured herself chocolate-flavored soy milk. At least she couldn't break it so easily. By the time she sat down, he'd already filled a plate with five slices of bread, eggs, and three sausages.

"Yay, old man," Lee had a half-eaten sausage already within a second in the kitchen. "I'm going to school with the boys." He was wearing dark blue skinny jeans, colorful sneakers, a purple hoodie and a white jacket. His shaggy bronze surfer hair peeked out from under a baseball cap.

"Sure." Said Dad.

Lee straddled the chair next to Isabella and stole her sausage. By the time she realized it, it was too late to get it back: he'd shoved the whole thing in his mouth. She pinched his shoulder.

He laughed, picked up her glass and emptied it.

"Lee!"

"Yes," his innocent voice surprised her. He stood up and refilled her cup, then ruffled her hair, "Nice to have a mini-me."

Ugh, that took forever to tame. Isabella glared at him. "Lee, stop." She combed her fingers through her hair. "And besides, you're only seven minutes older."

Dad straightened up to his full height and stood behind Lee's chair on his way to the sink. He took Lee's cap and casually placed it on his daughter's head.

Isabella smiled wickedly at her brother and stuck her tongue out at him, to which he grumbled.

After Dad put the dishes in the sink, he straightened his tie and tucked his shirt into his pants. On his way to the door, he stopped and ruffled Lee's hair. "Nice to have a mini-me."

Isabella picked up her empty dishes and went to the sink.

Lee leaned against the round kitchen table with his arms folded in front of his chest. "You eat like a man."

Isabella squeezed dishwashing liquid into the water and washed the dishes. When she was done, Lee dried her with a towel and packed her away.

When they were done, she picked up her bag. Lee tossed Isabella a bottle of water, an apple and a granola bar. "I only have two hands," she complained, eyeing the food skeptically. "You can't expect me to eat that for lunch. Do you want me to starve?" she aghast.

"Always the drama queen," Lee pushed Isabellaoff with his shoulder and took the backpack from her hands. He laughed, "Like I said, you eat like a man."

Isabella rolled her eyes, "Daddy."

"Just a second," his whiskey voice replied.

They waited outside for a minute until the car came out of the garage. Lee opened the door for Isabella and tossed the backpack in the back seat. He waved goodbye to them.

Isabella stared out the window as everything rushed past her. She swallowed. They were approaching the school. Her breathing was to the point of hyperventilation.

"Are you okay?" asked Inez.

"Yes, Papa."

Her wolf wanted to run, and the forest, just a few yards away, was more than inviting. Its leaves, a fresh combination of lime and dark green, and the trees an endless castle. Isabella sighed in annoyance; there was no way to avoid it now. Just a few more minutes, she thought to herself. It wouldn't take her long. She put her lunch on the dashboard and got out of the car.

Isabella was only a few feet from the woods, and she kept looking over her shoulder to make sure no one saw her. But she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her.

The wind howled, the birds' songs died away, and the screams began as they flew out of sight. Growls came from somewhere in the forest. Whatever it was, it moved with the wind and the breeze in complete silence. The air filled with an eerie, haunting siren song that caused the last deer in sight to run wild and boisterous into the woods.

Her heart pounded against her chest. So it wasn't a dream. She'd met a wendigo. Part of Isabella hoped it was all a dream, and the other part - the part that rolled its eyes at the dramatic appearances of the beasts - wanted it all to be real.

From its mouth came a wicked hiss that could've caused cardiac arrest, but instead her heart raced in anticipation. Isabella couldn't wait to see him again.

Tree trunks were torn apart, thick branches snapped, the forest died in the wake of the beast, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.

And then everything went dead silent. The only sounds came from her chapped lips as I forced air into her lungs, and the others came from her heart fighting against her rib cage, it felt trapped. Why did she have to come to the forest? The rational part was back.

"Your fear," he said in a bored tone. He was human again. "It's driving my inner demon crazy."

"Yours is irritating." A lie, it was reassuring, enticing. "You're afraid, too." Isabella didn't want to tell him she was afraid - of him turning out to be a dream.

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