Kylie met his gaze. "Does everyone know what's going on with me?"
"Pretty much." His eyes, now a bright blue, studied her. "It's not bad."
They moved closer to where the ceremony was taking place and she looked up at Perry and gave him credit for his sincere concern for her "I didn't think shape-shifters and werewolves were the same thing."
"We're not," he said. "But we both shift and I've spent a lot of time talking about it with others. They all say the same thing, 'It's not a big deal. Like a muscle cramp.'"
She bit the inside of her cheek and recalled Lucas describing it the same way. Unfortunately, she'd never been fond of muscle cramps. A thousand questions started stirring in her head. Why hadn't she found more answers? She felt her heart stop, start, then flutter like a trapped butterfly.
Swallowing fear, she searched the crowd for Fredericka. "Will I know who I am?" she asked Perry. Her lungs felt too tight to breathe even though she didn't spot the she-wolf.
"Sure you will." His gaze shot over Kylie's shoulder. Kylie feared he saw Fredericka behind her.
"You okay?" Holiday's comforting voice came to her ear. Kylie turned just as Holiday motioned for Perry to move on.
Kylie leaned in and her voice caught as she confessed the truth. "I'm scared out of my gourd. I'm not ready for this." Her eyes stung with the new urge to cry.
"You're going to be fine. I don't even think..." Holiday didn't finish her sentence. Instead, she placed a hand on Kylie's shoulder and the majority of her panic faded. "Come on, I'll stand beside you."
They walked to the crowd and formed another circle much like they had at the vampire ceremony. Luis stood in the middle and in his hands he carried a skull. Not a human skull, it looked to be a wolf. He held up the skull. It seemed to catch the moonlight and glow. He started recounting the story of the first werewolf, and then telling about his kind's many gifts, but Kylie couldn't listen. Nothing felt right. Her gaze shot to the moon, and she could swear she saw the man in the round silver circle wink at her.
Then Kylie noticed that many of the campers were walking off. The werewolves. Kylie glanced at Holiday with questions in her eyes.
"Most prefer not to transform in front of an audience," the camp leader explained.
Kylie didn't blame them. She didn't want to do it, either. Would her clothes fall off? Would they see the hair growing on her skin?
Her only thought was to run, but Luis stopped talking and the sound that came out of his mouth was one of sheer terror. In the background, Kylie could hear what sounded like the screams of the others as they, too, turned. Air caught in her throat again. Her feet felt nailed to the ground.
She didn't want to hear this, didn't want to see it, but like an accident on the side of the road, she couldn't look away.
Luis dropped to the ground, his back arched, and the sounds-half growl, half moan-continued. It was like something out of a horror movie. Kylie watched his body contort in ways no human body should ever twist. He arched his neck back so far it looked as if it would surely break. His jawbone grew, his cheeks became elongated, and where the face of a young man had once been the snout of a wolf appeared. And then came the hair.
Kylie's heart jolted. Her skin started to crawl. Her stomach knotted. Oh, God! Something was happening to her.
Chapter Twenty-six
Kylie felt as if seltzer ran through her veins. She watched Luis, now a complete wolf, run off into the woods. Then everyone there turned and stared at her.
Watching.
Waiting.
She looked at Holiday. "I need to ... be alone." She walked away. She didn't run-didn't want to draw any more attention to herself than she already had-but she walked fast, afraid the sounds of terror would any minute begin to flow from her own throat.
She made it to the woods before the urge to run overtook her. She moved at amazing speeds, dodging trees, jumping over stumps, and ducking under branches. How long she ran, she didn't know. But out of breath, out of energy, she finally collapsed in a heap of trembling muscles.
Stilling gasping, she stared at her hands. She touched her face to make sure she hadn't started the change.
Nothing. No change. She closed her eyes and tried to stop the feeling of her crawling skin. That's when she heard it.
A low, very ominous growl.
Opening her eyes, she saw the wolf lurching toward her. Mostly white with hints of gray and tan, its eyes glowed a bright golden. Its lips curled under and its sharp teeth were bared. This was no ordinary wolf. It was a werewolf.
Kylie tried to stand, but her muscles trembled and refused the command.
The wolf seemed to notice her weakness. Its posture became more aggressive. The coarse hair on its back stood up and when Kylie looked it in the eyes, she knew. Knew with certainty the wolf was Fredericka. The she-wolf's growl deepened and then she charged.
Kylie found the strength to bounce to her feet, ready to run, when another wolf, even larger, crashed between two trees. Fredericka stopped.
At first, Kylie thought she was about to be attacked by two beasts instead of one. But the second wolf, a dark gray in color with eyes that glowed a lighter gold, whipped around and growled at the oncoming wolf.
Kylie heard the competing growls and saw the two converge upon each other. She heard the sound of teeth clicking, and then, recognizing this as a chance to escape, she tore off through the woods. She ran, not as fast as before, for her energy had been spent, but she forced herself forward and didn't stop until she reached her cabin.
Collapsing on the porch steps, she forced air into her lungs. When she looked out at the woods, a pair of light golden eyes stared back Her next intake of air brought recognition. She wasn't sure how she knew, but it came with such clarity that she didn't question it.
Lucas was back.
The next morning, Kylie got her daily wake-up call with the dropping of the room's temperature. She groaned, rolled over, and glared at the clock, not wanting to believe it was dawn. But yep. It was 4:59 a.m. The spirit was right on time.
It didn't seem fair, and not just because she didn't want to face Lucas yet. Hadn't she just put her head on the pillow? She'd never had three hours pass so quickly. It had been two a.m. when she'd collapsed in her own bed.
When Kylie ran inside her cabin after seeing Lucas, Holiday had been waiting on her to make sure she was okay. Della and Miranda were waiting with the camp leader at the kitchen table, all of them looking somber. Her two cabin mates looked shocked when Kylie arrived. No doubt they seriously thought she'd made the change into werewolf. But Holiday hadn't seemed so surprised.