Hannah Pole - Silence of the Wolves

She let out an almighty groan and he could only stare as her beautiful black hair slowly began to change colour. The silky dark strands slowly became streaked with red, the colour washing its way down from root to tip until what was left was a myriad of ruby highlights shimmering through the black strands.

For hours, Leyth held her and willed her to get better, to heal from the infection, but her body wasn’t cooperating.

‘Please change, Tamriel, I need you to change, I—’ Tears? Holy shit! His own tears ran down his face as he soothed her, lightly kissing her forehead. ‘I will not let you die. Please change.’

It was dark, the moon called out to her like a lost lover as it started to sink beneath the horizon. The wind whistled past her naked body, making her nipples harden and her heart ache right to the core. The chill running up her spine, however, had nothing to do with the cold night air. She was supposed to find something. Someone? But who? Taking a deep breath, Tamriel took in the scent of the forest around her; it smelt as her father had. Musky wood, fallen autumn leaves.

The damp smell of dew was intoxicating. She could smell rabbits and birds. Listening, she heard the crunch of dead leaves on the floor under tiny feet. Opening her eyes, the world looked different; the woodland seemed to glow under the moonlight, the trees were shining, energy rippling through their spindly branches and roaring out from the remaining leaves at their tips. She drank it all in in great gulps. She felt starved, she needed this, this freedom. It was home.

Something moved in the distance, a mouse? It hadn’t seen her yet and though it was far enough away for it to be unnoticeable, she saw it. She could see each hair on its back, each whisker. Without thinking, she ran silently through the forest towards the mouse. Why? She had no idea. She loved the feel of the wind ripping past her naked body, loved the sounds of the woodland as it surrounded her. As she reached the mouse, she leapt into the air, her body flying higher and further than was naturally possible, but she knew she’d make it; for some reason she was more than aware of what her body was capable of. Coming down fast and hard, she landed with a foot either side of the tiny animal, scooping it into her hands in one fell swoop. The mouse jumped and squeaked, but seemed to gather itself together quickly, looking up at her with big, black eyes. It knew she wouldn’t hurt it; she was only playing after all.

Together, she and the mouse took off once more, running through the forest as far and as fast as her feet would carry her, trees blurring as she passed them by. She knew where she was going; she knew these trees, this woodland. She’d dreamt of this place as a child, every time she went to bed she’d played in this forest, climbed every tree, run through every meadow surrounding it.

Finally, the trees started to lessen, giving way to a large lake.

Without hesitation, she plopped the mouse down on the ground and dived in. The water swirled around her, caressing her body like a hesitant friend, welcoming her home. Coming up for air, she splashed her way back to the surface, marvelling at how the water seemed to sparkle under the moon. Pulling herself up next to the mouse, she lay there, lost in her thoughts, lost in her own personal wilderness, her wonderland. It called to her tonight in a way it never had before. She was utterly at ease.

Finally, after an age, the sun started to rise, and as the first of its rays hit the water, something on the opposite side of the lake caught her eye. Wolf.

She was beautiful; black fur ran down her spine, blending gracefully into the red fur underneath. The wolf and Tamriel stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before, finally, she started trotting around the edge of the lake towards her. Tam returned the gesture, breaking into a jog. The jog became a flat-out run; this was what she was looking for, this beautiful pup was what she’d needed to find. As urgency heated her blood, she quickened her pace, as did the wolf… They ran as fast as they could and, as they rounded the edge of the lake towards one another, neither of them slowed. They came together with a thud; soft fur colliding with her soft, fragile skin. They collapsed into a heap on the floor, entwined; body and soul, wolf and woman together as one. ‘Change. Tamriel, you need to change,’ a voice echoed through the forest. The voice was one she knew, didn’t it belong to the man with the black hair?

‘Please, Tamriel. I can’t lose you. You need to change.’ What was he talking about? What change? Her wolf howled loud and clear, tears running through its fur, or were they her tears?

Blinding pain shot through her, overwhelming her. Then the heat took her over, burning her from the inside out; she fell to her knees, her hands hitting the dirt, just keeping her from toppling head first into the lake. Her wolf was crouched between her arms, staring into the lake as she was, their reflections blurring together as the pain hit once again…

‘Change, Tamriel. Just let go, let the change happen.’

Her bones started to crack, her skin tore apart, her wolf was howling, she was drawing in harsh, ragged breaths. She clutched the thing to her as if it were her life and braced herself against the pain. All at once the woodland screamed, or was that her? As the darkness claimed her once more, she welcomed it.

That was a weird dream, Tamriel thought as she woke with a grin on her face. She stretched out in her bed, wishing she didn’t have to get up. Glancing at her alarm clock, she was surprised it was only 6 a.m.; usually she overslept and had to rush to work, yet she felt like she’d had the best night’s sleep of her life. Still, her limbs ached and her muscles seemed to protest at the slightest of movements, but she put that down to sleeping in an awkward position. Rolling out of the duvet, she wandered across to the bathroom and turned the shower on.

Wrinkling her nose, Tam scowled. Her bathroom stank of bleach; it was like someone had soaked the entire room in the stuff!

Christ, it was as if she could smell every single chemical she’d ever used to clean the place. She’d always had a better than average sense of smell, but this was excessive!

Holding her nose, she wandered into the living room/kitchen area. Had her flat always been this dusty? She’d never noticed quite how much dust covered the place but, hell, how did she miss it?

It was as if her senses had heightened, somehow becoming much stronger than they were before. And that was saying something! Her vision was now so incredibly accurate that, even in the dim morning light, she could clearly see every fibre in the ugly grey carpet.

Someone in the flat beneath hers slammed a door, making her wince. The noise seemed deafening.

What on earth had happened to her senses? Why where they so sensitive?

Shrugging off her confusion and putting the coffee on, she wandered back into the bathroom and stepped under the shower spray with a sharp in-breath as the water hit her skin; it truly felt as though someone had scalded her back. She was so ridiculously sore. Gritting her teeth, she scrubbed some shampoo into her hair, and even that stank, the ‘strawberry’ scent smelt more like chemicals. It had been her favourite shampoo for years, why did it now seem to smell awful? She rubbed the stuff in and washed it out as quickly as she could, using her plain soap bar to wash her skin rather than the scented body wash.

When she’d finally finished, she brushed her teeth and walked naked into her living room, she’d never been one to shy away from being exposed. In fact, she relished the freedom of nudity; after all, it was only natural.