Chapter 28

Krey didn't dare open his eyes. The transformation sped up. His clothes exchanged with fur, his muscles tore and stretched and reshaped, his hands and feet turned to paws with huge claws, and his face distorted until he had a snout, sharp teeth, and floppy ears, one brown and one black.

He inhaled deeply, waiting for the pain to subside. Francis didn't say a word. Judging by her wide-eyed expression, Pip had seen the whole transformation.

Krey slowly turned his head.

Pip stood a few metres away. He had dropped Krey's phone in the snow.

Krey's red eyes trailed up Pip's tense body, and to his face. Krey's heart shattered. Pip looked horrified. His mouth hung open, and his eyes were wide and unblinking.

Krey could hear Pip's heart smashing in his chest.

Say something, Francis. Say something.

No other sound travelled with the wind, apart from Pip's feet in the snow as he edged back a single step.

If silence could hurt, Krey would be rolling in the snow, whining. Say something, Francis. Krey didn't want to move. Pip paled enough for his skin to match the white ground. He'll faint if I move.

Francis shuffled on her feet behind Krey. Pip didn't like the movement. His hands trembled, and his eyes watered.

I'm making him cry. No. No. No. Krey almost whimpered, but he stayed as silent as he could, and as still as the trees around them.

"Pip," Francis finally said. "Don't be scared." Francis stepped closer. "I know that what you just saw was... strange and-"

Pip turned and ran.

Krey wanted to run after him and pin him down and rub his fluffy head all over him until Pip calmed down. Krey also needed to give Pip space to be alone with his thoughts.

Francis hurried through the snow and Krey growled lowly. Francis stopped immediately, understanding his message to leave the human alone.

Krey lowered his head, listening to the sound of Pip's hurried footsteps fading and fading until he heard nothing at all.

Pip could barely see where he was going. The tears in his eyes made the world blurry. Pip didn't care if he was going in the wrong direction. All he wanted was to get far from what he had seen in the woods.

Pip was soon at his garden fence. He didn't look behind him in case the wolf followed. Pip flung himself over the planks of wood and fell heavily on plant pots.

He didn't stop to catch his breath. Pip weaved quickly through the garden and into the kitchen. Luckily, everyone was in the living room, so Pip could sneak to his room without them seeing his tears, not that they would care.

Pip was teetering on the edge of a breakdown as he shut the door to his bedroom. With his back to the wood, Pip sank to the floor.

His shaking hands tried to dry his eyes.

Pip couldn't get the image of Krey out of his head, kneeling in the snow... changing.

Pip covered his face and sobbed into his knees. Seeing Krey that way had shaken him to the point where Pip thought he would faint or go mad. Pip's entire world turned upside down in seconds.

He pushed his face into his knees until his breakdown came and went.

Pip rocked back and forth, gently soothing himself into a calmer state of mind. When he was ready to stand, he used the door to help his shaking legs. He felt like a mountain on stilts.

Pip edged to his light switch. He pinched himself and looked around his bare room. "I'm not dreaming," he breathed. "How is this not a dream?"

Pip's hands trembled again as he thought about what he saw in the woods. The noises of Krey's bones- Pip scrunched his eyes shut and made it to his bed before his stilt-like legs crumbled.

"It's not possible. It's not possible." Pip shook his head. Krey's limbs cracking and bending was so vibrant in Pip's head, he couldn't stop seeing it, even when he tried hard to think about something else.

The room felt like it was spinning. Pip held his head as the memories played out.

He had seen Krey change. Pip arrived when Krey was sort of Krey, and Pip left when he was something completely different.

Pip had seen Krey transform into a wolf.

A wolf.

Pip waited until the wave of tears dried out and then sat up. "breathe, Pip," he whispered, fearing that he would faint. In... out. In... out.

Pip moved to the windowsill and stared up at the moon; a curved slit watched him from the sky. The silver glow was like a blanket, wrapping him in comfort.

Pip managed to control his breathing and wipe away his tears without more falling down his cheeks. He moved to his desk and sat crossed legged in his swivel chair.

He stared at his wall for a long time.

Pip didn't know what else do to, now that he had regained his stability. Crying always made him feel a little lighter. Pip never knew how heavy his mind was until his stresses left with tears.

Pip always worried about money, his studies, his home life, and what was going to happen after college. Now, Pip's life felt ridiculously average after what he witnessed in the woods. Nothing else mattered.

"I saw Krey turn into a wolf," he said out loud, then slapped a hand over his mouth. Pip scoffed at how strange the sentence sounded, then chuckled, then laughed until tears formed again. He couldn't quite tell if they were tears from laughing, or tears from the shock of witnessing something so unbelievable. "I'm going mad." Pip shook his head. "No, I'm not. I saw it. I saw him do that. Francis saw it too."

* * * * *

Krey didn't go to bed. He prowled the perimeter of the institute, over and over until dawn.

Wolves soon covered the grounds for morning training. Krey leaned against the wall and watched, Scowling, with bags under his eyes, and messy hair.

Makena soon found him, and Krey was not in the mood to talk.

"You're restless," Makena observed, leaning against the wall next to him. Krey was five inches taller than his mother, and she was six foot tall. Human forms of werewolves were big like their wolves.

Krey's wolf was huge like his fathers was, so Krey was very tall and big like him too. Despite having his mother's brown eyes and black hair with the same grey streak, Krey's mannerisms were a lot like his fathers was.

They stood the same, sulked the same, scowled the same, and had a bad habit of gripping their hair when they were stressed.

"I watched you stomp around and around this morning. What's on your mind?"

Krey's silence should have been enough to say that he didn't want a conversation. These days, his silence insulted his mother, rather than be a quality of Krey's that she was used to.

"Krey, I can't read your mind. Talk to me. Did you argue with Francis? Do you have an injury? Are you missing your dad?"

Krey's neck tightened. He couldn't talk openly about his dad, not when his death still hurt so much.

What Krey wanted to say was how he had a human mate, not Francis, and things between him and Pip were going well until last night, when Pip, the most innocent human Krey had ever met, was corrupted by accidentally seeing his transformation.

Sometimes, Krey didn't like to watch the transformation of others, depending on his mood and how tough his stomach felt. A shifting werewolf wasn't pretty, even for his kind. Krey couldn't imagine the turmoil in Pip's head.

"I have a lot going on," he mumbled. "Don't add to that list."

"Is there anything I can help with? You should go to Jordan if I can't help. Your Beta is there for that reason."

"He's not my Beta anymore."

Makena snapped her head up to see his face. "Does he know that? Are you making Sid your Beta?"

Krey shook his head.

"Then, who?"

Krey's eyes followed Francis across the grounds as she ran, carrying someone else on her shoulders. Francis was strong, skilful, thoughtful, kind, and respected Krey as a leader, but also dared to be honest instead of only telling Krey what he wanted to hear.

"Jordan was your father's Beta for twelve years." Makena stood in front of her son and sighed. "He wouldn't be pleased about this, but I've always disliked Jordan."

Krey's brown eyes stopped scowling so hard as they followed his mother walking back along the stone yard. Makena looked just as exhausted as Krey. She's not sleeping either.

Krey had been rough on his mother. She had been harsh on him too. Krey sometimes wished he got his father's calm and collected rational mind, instead of his mother's hot-headed act now think later head.

I am who I am, he reminded himself, thinking about Pip. Krey would have liked to pretend for longer that he wasn't a werewolf, but Pip would have found out at some point. Krey just wished he had been more careful. Pip was fragile. He wanted him to find out in the softest way possible.

Krey looked up to the dull sky. Is this my punishment? A human mate who won't accept me.

"Of fucking course, it is," Krey grumbled under his breath and stormed through the stone yard. Krey had to find Jordan and tell him that he was no longer fit to be Beta. At least Krey's heart of coal was useful for something. He would feel no remorse for him.

Jordan might have served his father well, but he had been nothing but useless to Krey. The time had come for Krey to cut away worthless baggage.