Not Normal

Charlotte didn't wait for them to get close. She turned on her heels and ran for her dear life.

It's okay, they are family. They won't bite.

She paused when she heard a voice speaking to her in her head.

What the—?

Maybe she imagined it. That was the only reasonable explanation to hearing another voice, that was not yours to tell you it is okay to get ambushed by one hundred wolves in a foreign land.

She nodded her head and decided to just run straight to that creepy cluster of trees in her line of sight. Probably run into Mr. Dark and handsome on the way, and he would do his creepy sorcery again to scare this furious pack of carnivores away from her.

She started to sprint towards her escape route when a giant wolf flew over her shoulder and landed with a heavy thud before her. The wolf suddenly grew defensive and snarled at her to get back.

What the–?

She fell back, not wanting to know what the wolf would do if she dared disobey him…which was really strange as she could understand its body language more than any normal human being could. She turned around and cursed in one breath when she was surrounded by wolves that were big and of different colors of furs.

They had her completely cornered in their middle as they formed a large circle around her. Suddenly, the peaceful fall of snow grew heavier and the crazy aura each of these wolves gave her was insane. It made her want to crawl quickly into a corner and far from them until they all left.

It was strange when none of them were lunging at her for the first bite of her flesh. They all just stood and observed her one by one. Eyes settled in concern at her.

The biggest of all the wolves. It was thrice the size of an average wolf and covered completely in a black fur. It slowly began to approach her with his powerful paws crunching on the snow alongside a gray female wolf that seemed anxious and couldn't wait to be with her.

The two wolves paused after keeping a considerable distance from her. Her mind was blown for the one hundredth time when the sickening sound of bones cracking and rearranging themselves could be heard from the female wolf. Fur disappearing to reveal a set of pale skin, with white locks of hair very similar to hers fell over her shoulders, and all the way to her back as her snout was pushed back from that of an animal to a human with light gray eyes.

And she thought she was beautiful and feminine.

Charlotte's eyes widened in disbelief. Of all things, that were deemed impossible—should shape-shifters even be real?

Well, since it has been partly established that the world she had landed in was far from being right—she should not be surprised if diamonds start falling from the sky in disguise of rain.

She shook her head again in disbelief while taking a small step back. The woman held on to a tiny locket around her neck and a white cloth instantly appeared like magic to cover her nakedness and she rose from standing on all fours to her feet.

Charlotte wanted to be dramatic about this by fainting, but then again she feared fainting and this half-human and half-wolf people would devour her while she was unconscious.

It was not the best way to return to her sane world.

She blinked and found herself enveloped into the warm arms of this woman who was slightly taller than her. She began to sob heavily on her shoulder while tightening her hold around her neck enough to make her pale face bluer.

''Don't you ever do that to us again, Evangeline. You scared me when your Mate mind-linked us that he lost you.''

Charlotte blinked, not one or twice. Not even thrice.

After what felt like an eternity of being in her embrace, she was freed and could then breathe properly. She had the chance to gaze fully into this woman's warm, glossy gray eyes. It suddenly felt too familiar, and the entity alive inside her felt more at peace in her hold.

The most beautiful woman sniffed while caressing her pale, dumbstruck face.

That is mom.

The entity startled her again by speaking softly in her head.

Tell her now that our Mate tried to harm us.

Charlotte blinked from her gaze as her eyes wandered to the rest of the pack, who had surprisingly all shifted to their towering human form except the big black wolf standing behind this woman—watching them both. When her eyes landed on that scary caveman surrounded by three to four similar males that looked just like him, but dirtier in appearance—Charlotte shivered.

The five didn't look like this woman before her or the other perfectly looking humans who were all once wolves. They were all regarding her with concern and pity. Some even released a deep sigh of relief. Which made her wonder if all these were a response to finding her or something else.

She didn't know what to think anymore.

She has been through so much and experienced a lot for one night, and it was tiring trying to keep up and make sense of it all right now.

''What is wrong, my love?''

The woman said in the softest voice that touched even the hardest region of her heart. It had her melting. She held her gaze with so much motherly touch in her eyes that made Charlotte a bit relaxed and not wanting to overthink anything else but to surrender completely under this woman's gaze.

She didn't know when her eyes slowly began to tear up and her lips quivering. Suddenly, her once cloudy mind revealed her bloodied state when she lay breathlessly on the cold concrete floor after being hit by a car. Her eyes slowly begging her to accept this peaceful sleep as she stared at this deep, blue sky she was oddly starting to miss so much.

The woman's gaze softened at the sight of the tears that trickled down her cheeks. A sob escaped her trembling lips when she remembered how she died and all she left behind because she wanted to be with a love she hasn't yet been united with.

It was so frustrating to know.

''Talk to me? Are you hurt?''