Shifted

Chapter Fourteen - Shifted

After having a filled stomach, the only thing left on Laurel's mind was to train.

"It's been years since I felt the sensation of being in wolf form." she groaned, rubbing her stomach. She left the ground, stretched a bit then sighed. "Let's shift, Elma."

Her wolf, who was at peace, got alarmed. Was she crazy? "If we get caught? Don't feel too confident because you bullied a prison guard!"

Laurel began taking off her dress. It reeked badly of sweat and algae but she had gotten used to it.

For days now, she hadn't taken a bath but it wasn't her problem. She stretched again, wearing only a tiny singlet and shorts, she hid behind a pillar and stooped down.

"Are we seriously doing this?" Elma still had her concerns. If they get caught, it'd be seen as rebelling.

"Are you ready?" Laurel laughed. "We are already in prison? Where else will they take us to if they see us breaking their rules?"

"The afterlife?!" Her wolf replied, sarcastically.

Still, she knew that shifting and training could be the only exercise Laurel could get to be stronger.

Laurel consciously began shifting, giving the control of not just her strength but her body to Elma.

Though her eyes were closed, she could sense the tiny hairs sprouting from her skin. She opened her eyes to take a look and gasped.

Blue? The hair growing from her had a blue hue on her white fur? Elma took control and the hair shot out more quickly.

There was bone breaking and bone displacement sounds; then a four feet tall wolf stood in the wet prison ground. Her size stunned her, she guessed it was because her father was an Alpha wolf.

There was a dark blue hue on the tip of her white tail and the rest of the wolf had a blue tint overlapping the white fur. Elma shook her body vigorously, enjoying the freedom.

She jumped around but froze when she nearly fell on the prison door. It'd surely be noisy and alert the guard. She laid quietly on the wet ground, soiling her fur.

"This feels good but not great. I wish to run and feel the wind." She told Laurel. But that would be asking too much, being able to shift was a blessing already.

Feeling tired of not being able to do anything, Elma returned control back to Laurel and returned to human form.

"That was uneventful." Laurel sighed, wearing her clothes before stretching again. Prison life was so boring.

At least, she got to shift after three years, she'd work on her physical human strength now.

She stooped low again.

"What are you doing now?"

"Push ups!" Laurel replied, making one then two pushups. She hadn't gotten to the tenth one when her body collapsed. "I can't move. I'd sleep."

Elma sighed, disappointed and tried to rest as well.

An hour passed and Laurel had fallen deeply asleep, that she wasn't aware when the prison door slowly creaked open.

Sorren played with the keys to get her attention but she was long gone. He sighed, gripping the keys tightly. "Is she already dead?" He tilted his head.

His eyes went to her legs that had sore wounds. Had she been barefoot all the while in here? She could get sick easily. He bent close to her legs to study the sores but noticed her dress was torn and expanded.

She had surely not been raped or beaten recently since his brother gave strict rules that those were out of the torment options for her. Then how did her clothes get ragged?

"Was the young maiden shifting in here?" Sorren frowned. At such a messy and wet place? What if she tripped and broke her head? Or was she currently exploring different ways to die?

"I'd never understand women." He stood up and made to leave before pausing.

Earlier, he had swiftly sped past the guard, who didn't notice him take the prison keys. Sorren's eyes caught sight of the claw marks on the guards neck.

They seemed to be few hours old but because the guard was hunter ranked, his healing was less impressive. Could it be the maiden's hand work?

A smile crept to his lips. "If she's shifting in here, isn't she planning a prison break?" He returned to her and flipped her dress up to her thighs.

As he speculated, she was without shorts. They must have been torn apart when she shifted.

"So you want to get stronger?" He smirked. "One who wants to get stronger, deserved the means to get stronger."

Laurel rolled towards him and he left her side, dashing out of the prison. He dropped the keys at the feet of the prison guard as he left.

He had to speak with his brother about this. There was barely anything to do around there so he could as well fascinate himself with the princess.

The door to his brother's room was open when he got there, he knocked. "Shall I come in?"

There was a moan and he feared the worst before Stefan sighed. "Yeah, the sleep just flew off."

Sorren exhaled, walking inside and meeting his brother sprawled on the bed. "I'd like to make a request of thee. Concerning the maiden in the prison."

Stefan's eyes were almost shutting back but they popped open. The maiden in the prison was Laurel, wasn't it? Or was there another prisoner?

He laid on his side, his back against his brother. "I'm ordering you, you are one person who isn't allowed to torture her." It'd be too much for Laurel.

His younger brother was a prodigy in torture and torment, especially towards rogues; they were play things to him.

The last batch of rogues he had encountered, he tied them to the trees at his little farm and fed the rogues once a week.

If he got tired of their cries, he would dismember them and gift each body part to the flowers at the nursery as manure.

To him, plants had a tad bit more worth than people he didn't like, especially the violent ones. It was a miracle he hasn't tied Cade to a tree before.

A pile of book fell on Stefan's head and he sprang up. He had been lost in his thoughts that he almost slept off again. "Why are you being violent?"

Apparently, his brother only justified violence when he was the one doing it.

Sorren had an offended expression. "Well, I was speaking with you and you attempted sleeping?" his eyebrows furrowed. "You can as well marry Jade tomorrow so I can have something to speak of the pack matters with, then you can sleep for eternity."

Sleeping for eternity was death, wasn't it? Stefan rubbed his head, then sighed. "Okay then, what do you want to talk about? What about Laurel?"