Who Are You

Nova decided to not go back to the waterfall the next day either and then it was Monday. The mysterious howler had yet to leave her mind, but she was too nervous to try to figure out who it was. Dawn wanted her to figure it out but at the same time, she was scared as well. Monday came and Nova got to enjoy school again.

Nothing really changed this week and the days passed by until it was suddenly Thursday. Another week gone, and she simply continued to pretend to not pay attention in class while pretending to pay attention to those who chatted seemingly none stop with her. It all felt so fake and Nova was getting tired of it. Maybe she would just stop acting, the rumors and the expectation probably wouldn't stop but did she have to make herself not happy to keep them going? Although, what else would she do and who else would she hang with?

She returned home pondering these questions. Dawn had no advice on the matter and Nova pushed the thoughts aside to do her school work. Sadly, they came right back as soon as the work was done. She tried to distract herself by watching a documentary and then tried even watching a cop show, but it didn't work.

No matter how hard she tried, the thoughts continued circling so she decided to go on a run. Her father was home, so she snuck out of the house and into the forest. Once she shifted, she instantly moved toward the waterfall. She needed to think.

The wind blew through her fur relaxing her. The feel of her large paws pressing into the dirt was very grounding. The smells all around helped her feel at home. Soon, she emerged from the trees at the top of the cliff. She looked down at the lake before laying down to think.

She was alone and had wished for someone to connect to, yet she was afraid to leave what she knew. She wanted to stop acting and yet she was afraid of what the consequences of that would be. She wanted the truth to come out and to stop living a lie, but she already knew that no one would believe it. Then there was the mysterious howler, maybe it was her key to get free from this pit. Of course, it could just lead to pain as well.

'I think you should try for it, Nova,' Dawn suggested.

Nova lifted her head and looked up at the now stary sky, tomorrow will be a full moon. She sighed and stood up, 'You are right Dawn. I need to stop being scared and just go for it. Next time I smell the scent I am going to follow it.' She took a deep breath then turned and left the lake. Not ready to head home, Nova just headed further out into the forest.

As she ran, she came across the scent. It was faint but still stopped her in her tracks. At first, she moved right but when she found the scent getting fainter she turned and ran the other way following the trail. A snapping twig brought her to a stop as she looked around. A large brown wolf emerged from the trees, his head was low and his ears were back.

Nova's eyes went wide as her head and ears perked up, 'Dude! That wolf is a bit bigger than I am!'

'I know! That is crazy, do you think he is...' Dawn responded

Nova gasped as she responded, 'No way! He might be just like us.' She sniffed and recognized the smell. It was the same weird smell that the new kids at school had, in fact, it was similar to the one in my Chemistry class.

'He smells like one of the kids, he has to be like us.' Dawn commented in a daze.

'I thought we were the only ones, I mean it makes sense that we aren't but still this is crazy,' Nova responded in the same daze.

More rustling bushes brought Nova back to the scene in front of her as two more wolves emerged, one black and the other a dark grey. Nova's eyes got even bigger as she stepped back slightly, she wasn't afraid it was just crazy that there wasn't one, but three now. 'Do you think they are all werewolves?' She wondered.

'They have to be, normal wolves are just not that big.' Dawn responded.

'What do you think this means? This is crazy! Wait, do you think I am supposed to do anything?' Nova asked as her eyes remained impossibly large. A growl brought her attention back and she realized that all three wolves had lowered heads, they were threatening her. 'Why are they threatening me? Did I do something wrong?'

'I don't know! I don't know any of the rules of werewolf society.' Dawn panicky responded.

'What do I do? How do I show them that I am no harm?' Nova shifted from one paw to the other repeated as her mind raced to figure out what she was supposed to do. Another growl brought her to a standstill and her eyes back to the three wolves to see that they seemed a bit more relaxed, in fact, the grey wolf had his head tilted slightly as if he was confused about something.

Nova's eyes moved and met the eyes of the massive black wolf. Her head probably only came up to his shoulder. As her eyes met his blue ones, she felt a warmth fill her mind. His eyes widened and then he glanced at the grey wolf on his left before backing into the trees.

'Hey Dawn, do you know what this feeling is? Is it a werewolf thing?' Nova asked as she stared into the shadows.

'I have no clue, but I really like it. I actually feel very drawn to the wolf as well. Do you think it is normal or are we losing our minds?' Dawn responded somewhat excitedly.

'Umm, no offense, but I am talking to you in my head. I think insanity is totally a possibility.' Nova replied. Before Dawn could respond, popping noises filled the night and a boy wearing just shorts walked back out.

He had dark brown almost black hair with electric blue eyes. He was also really built and Nova could clearly see his six-pack. The boy was hot. Nova stared at the boy, 'Hey Dawn, why are those blue eyes so familiar.'

'Didn't the black wolf have those same blue eyes?' Dawn asked uncertainly before perking up a bit as she announced, 'I also still feel the connection with him.'

Nova's ears perked up as she lifted her head and she realized what it meant and spun in a circle in excitement, 'We aren't alone!!'

'This is crazy! They really are werewolves.' Dawn exclaimed in joy with her. The boy cleared his throat and stilled her wagging tail while bringing her attention back to him. He was staring at her with an eyebrow raised.

Her eyes widened she lowered her head slightly. She was suddenly glad to be in wolf form or else she would be a tomato. She probably looked very silly and foolish just then. His voice prevented her from wallowing too much as he commanded, "Shift, we need to talk."