Laina

She walked out the front door and quickly ran down the steps. Hearing her mother yell from inside the house she only began to run faster. Laina knew what her mother had said, they weren’t finished talking, she knew that they would probably never finish.  She headed to the line of trees behind her house and the big boulder next to the stream.  Taking off her shoes she let the cool water run around her ankles and the mud squeeze between her toes.
         “I’ll never be like them,” she said aloud causing the birds to fly into the sky.
         Sliding onto a large boulder, she wrapped her arms around her knees trying to think. Taking off at a run she moved around dead trees and boulders with grace and ease that seemed unnatural.  Turning a bend in the stream she ran into somebody and then fell back into the cold swirling waters.  She was stunned for a few seconds; nobody had ever come into the woods before.
         Water soaked her clothes as a hand moved in front of her line of vision; grabbing it, she was helped up. Her clothes clung to her body as she looked at who she had run into.
         “Are you okay?” she mumbled before looking up into his face. 
         “Yeah, I’m fine, what was the hurry?” he said, shrugging off his jacket.
         She looked away before he could see the embarrassment on her face.  “Nothing,” she mumbled again. 
         “Here, put this on, you’re soaked,” he told her as he handed his jean jacket to her, “it’s not very heavy but you might warm up some.”
         “Thanks” Laina managed to reply before she heard her brother snickering somewhere in the distance. She turned around and saw him move out of the trees for moment, and then he disappeared once again.
         “Look, I really gotta go. I’m sorry for running into you.” Laina began to take off the jacket when she heard her brother again.
         “No you can hold on to it, it’s nice enough out that I don’t need it. By the way, I’m Jason.”
         “Laina,” she shook his extended hand, “look, I really gotta go.” Turning around she ran.
         She kept running until she reached the edge of the small forest and suddenly stopped. The sun had faded and a thin line of pink and purple clouds dotted the horizon. She heard her brother approach, but she didn’t move. The wind blew her hair into her eyes and she brushed it away.
         “What do you want, Andrew?” She asked after the few remaining colors disappeared and the night took hold of the town.
         “Now’s not the time to be making new friends Laina,” the harshness of his voice echoed through her mind. They used to be close, not because they were twins, but because they had had to grow up together and stand by each other. They both had golden brown hair and they both shared the sea green eyes that resided in their family’s DNA, but none of those things set them apart. It was their decisions that made the difference, each had chosen a different path to follow and that’s where they had begun to grow apart.
         “Mother moon, help me,” she whispered as tears began to form in her eyes. Turning around to face him, she stepped closer, “I’m not trying to Andrew, now leave me alone!”
         “You know I can’t do that. Our kind is few, and the pack needs too stick together; You and I need to stick together.”
         Taking a step closer she let the tears she had been holding flow down her cheeks. “Stick together? Like when we stuck together when nearly half the clan was killed by that rogue witch back in Oregon, or how we stuck together when Jimmy was caught by that farmer and was starved to death? I was probably the only one who didn’t fight about whose fault it was. So don’t talk to me about sticking together Andrew. It doesn’t happen, okay. It just doesn’t happen.”
         “Believe what you want, but you know mom’s not going to listen to any of that shit.” His eyes flared and she quickly saw the anger that hid behind his childlike features. Looking him in the eye she challenged “Leave.” With a quick bare of slightly pointed teeth he left within seconds. Laina stood still, staring into the space he had just occupied. Life seemed to be falling apart for her, and she had no way of stopping it.
         Stepping back to the edge of the forest she listened carefully for a sign of humans nearby, but all she heard was the slight breeze moving the last leaves left on the trees. Slowly she slipped off her tennis shoes and moved to her shorts and underwear. Then slipping off the jacket and her pink tank she stood naked, letting the soft glow from the full moon bathe her body.
         Gazing up she felt her palms begin to harden. Bringing her hand up to her face, she watched as her nails grew and golden hair began to grow from her skin. A small smile crept across her face as the change from girl to wolf began.