Ethan

I let out a deep sigh and rolled off of Jenny, we’d been going at it for 20 minutes, but it just wasn’t working for me. My dick and my brain wouldn’t cooperate with me.  I fell on my back and tossed an arm across my sweaty face. “Sorry Jenny I’m not sure what’s wrong.” I'd been at her place for two days and we had sex since I arrived, so I wasn’t sure what was going on with me tonight. I knew I was acting like a child, abandoning my pack and hiding out wasn’t the most mature thing to do. I guess I just had too much on my mind.

She rolled on her side propping her head up with one hand and clutching the sheet to her with the other. “You need to stop being so dense, Ethan. You and I both know what the problem is you’re just trying to ignore it.” I was silent which I guess to her meant she should keep talking. “You’ve been achy all day and we know you aren’t sick because wolves don’t get sick. It’s your mate. She’s going through the change ALONE and it’s effecting you.” 

“Jenny…”

“Don’t Jenny me. You are being ridiculous your mate is in pain and alone. You shouldn’t be here with me. I’m not gonna lie I’m only human…. well…mostly and I have a hard time turning you down for sex, so I shouldn’t be doing this either. It’s wrong.”

“She’s not alone. She has my sister, my parents, and Shawn.” I said even though the thought of Shawn being around my mate at a time when she was extremely vulnerable caused an involuntary growl to escape my lips. 

"Ethan, you know I care deeply for you. I am not trying to upset you. I am trying to help you come to your senses before it’s too late. A mate is a gift…a precious gift and you shouldn’t just throw it away like you are."

I didn’t need or want Jenny's advice right at this moment, if I wanted to be nagged then I would have stayed at home and let my mom and sister do that. Right now, all I wanted and needed was to get in a good fuck and go to sleep. But since that wasn't going to happen I guess I had to at least work on putting Jenny to sleep. I ignored her final statement and dipped my head under the covers. There was more than one way to go about this. 

MIA

It had been two days since Ethan had bitten me and things were already starting to change for me. I woke up 24 hours ago and my sight and hearing were enhanced. I could hardly stand the slightest amount of light and couldn’t listen to people talk if they were speaking above a whisper. Fortunately, after a day I was already starting to adjust to it but there was still a learning curve. After that passed I started to get body aches, almost like I was coming down with a cold, but everyone was sure that the change was starting. They moved me back to the hospital to a room I could only assume they kept mental patients in. The entire room was padded including the floors which was strange and there were no windows. 

Beth came by a couple of times to talk to me but honestly, I was still mad at her and didn’t really have much to say to her. Part of me felt like I was being unreasonable but there was a bigger part who felt justified. We were supposed to be close, she could have trusted me with her secret or she could have just taken me somewhere else to unwind. And it further irritated me that I felt like she was still hiding things from me. When I saw her last I asked her what the doctor had found out about humans being changed in the manner that I was. She claimed that the doctor hadn't found anything, but I didn't believe her. Especially not after Shawn showed up this morning with liquor, board games and movies. I had a feeling he was trying to distract me, now it was late afternoon and we were trying to finish a never-ending game of monopoly. 

"It is going to be bad isn't' it?" I asked seemingly out of nowhere but changing had been on my mind constantly.

He sighed, "Yes, I think it is." He said reluctantly.

"Beth knows, doesn’t she?" I asked as I rolled the dice and took my turn.

He sighed, "She is just trying to protect you. She feels like its best if you don’t know how bad it could potentially be. She doesn’t want to worry you.” 

“It’s too late for that, Shawn. I’m changing into a fucking werewolf! Do none of you get that?  I’m worried about everything.”

"I understand that, but she just thought if we told you too much it would stress you out and make the whole thing much worse for you." I stood up to stretch, sitting on the floor was starting to hurt. 

"I don’t accept that. I don’t accept that she thinks its ok to decide what information I get to know and what information gets withheld from me. Please just tell me what I am up against."

Shawn stared at me for a moment as if trying to determine if he wanted to tell me, then he stood up and walked over towards me. "There is no easy way to say this so I'll just get straight to the point. This is going to be painful for you. We aren't even sure if the pain killers we have will help you. The human painkillers won’t be strong enough and the wolf ones will be too strong and would probably kill you. Dr. Anderson is doing everything she can do find something that we can give you but…" He shrugged, "…we aren't very hopeful."

I felt tears starting to well up again, I swear all I had been doing lately was crying. So much for getting to relax out here. I am the most stressed I've ever been. "And you thought bringing liquor would help?" I asked.

He smiled, "Well if you get drunk enough that you don’t remember anything I think we could count that as a win." 

I gave him a weak smile, I was scared and based on what he had just told me all the alcohol in the world probably wasn’t going to help me. He reached over and gave me a tight hug. "Don’t worry about anything I am going to be right here with you through the whole thing I promise." Right at that moment the door opened, and Beth and Ian entered carrying two large pizzas and two 1 liter cokes and some water. Beth frowned at me and Shawn causing him to quickly release me and take a couple of steps away from me.

"We thought you guys might be hungry." Beth said setting her items down on a table. I couldn’t lie I was starving so I dug right in. After we stuffed our faces we started playing some of the games. Although I was still upset with Beth I was also scared so having a few more people in my corner was comforting. We played and drank for a while and the whole time I started to feel worse and worse. Eventually the headache I started with turned into a migraine but it was like a migraine that I could feel over my entire body.

I picked myself up off the floor where I was sitting and drug myself over to the bed to lay down. "Are you ok?" Shawn asked once I laid down. 

I shook my head, "No, I don’t think I am."

Although I appreciated Shawn's efforts the drinks I had didn’t do anything to take away any of the pain I was feeling. Things just went from bad to worse for me after that. It’s one thing to have pain but a totally different thing to have intense pain in every part of your body at the same time. It got to the point where I was sure my bones were hurting.

For a while I was able to still laugh and talk with everyone as a distraction but soon I found myself unable to concentrate on anything but the pain. Shawn walked over and brushed some hair from my sweaty forehead. "What can I do to make you more comfortable?"

"Nothing." I groaned, "Just don’t touch me it hurts. Everything hurts."

Breathing hurt at this point and all of my clothes felt extremely restrictive and were just making me hotter. Before I even thought about it I took off everything. It helped but only a little bit and I was hot and dehydrated. The more time passed the hotter and more uncomfortable I became I was sweating buckets and was so thirsty I could hardly stand it. I must have asked for water because at one point someone held a straw up to my lips.

I started to cry because there was nothing else I really could do. I was no longer focused on anything else in the room the only thing I could think was pain. I couldn’t say how long I laid there crying. I was vaguely aware of Shawn trying to comfort me and trying to cool me off with a cold towel and giving me sips of water every now and then.

Just when I thought things couldn’t possibly get worse I felt an extremely intense pain in my foot. I screamed out in agony. I was pretty positive that my foot had just broken on its own.

“Oh shit!” I heard someone say in the background. I know that there was commotion and conversation around me, but I couldn’t follow it. 

“Please Shawn make it stop I don’t want this.” My voice sounded strange to my ears. I didn’t care what he had to do I just wanted the torture to stop. “Just kill me. Just let me die…please.”  I managed to beg between screams. I’d never broken a bone before but I was more than making up for it now. It felt like everything was happening in slow motion. The sensation of bones and muscles rearranging themselves was like a fire that was lit from within, everything burned. 

“Don’t give up Mia…I promise you it’s almost over. You are stronger than this don’t let it beat you.” Shawn said. 

“I can’t Shawn. Please…I can’t. Just make it stop I want it to be over.”

I was alternating between screaming, crying and begging Shawn to put me out of my misery. I don’t know how long I was in that state but eventually all of the pain started to die down. It didn’t leave completely but I could feel it easing up. Things still didn’t feel right, I didn’t feel like I had full control over my body because despite the fact that I was exhausted, I could feel myself trying to stand against my will. 

I after a couple of failed attempts which involved me falling flat on my butt I was able to stand. But once I was standing everything looked off I wasn’t seeing things at the same eye level that I normally would. I attempted to take a step and promptly fell over.  Shawn, who I hadn’t even realized was still there, scooted next to me and ran his fingers through my hair. 

“It’s ok Mia. You just need to rest now and get use to everything. You’re fine.” He sounded completely drained. 

I opened my mouth to speak but the sound that came out was a high-pitched whine. I kept trying to speak and instead of words I could only whine. Everything was confusing, and I was starting to panic. 

“Shhh…Mia I promise you you’re ok.” He shifted so he was eye level with me. “Calm down. Don’t try to move or speak right now. It’s been a long day and an even longer night just lay here and rest. Please. I promise you the hard part is over.” He pulled my head into his lap and gently rubbed my head. “I’ll stay right here with you while you sleep, and we’ll figure everything out in the morning.” 

I trusted Shawn and despite my utter confusion I did my best to comply with his wishes. After I calmed down I was able to drift off to sleep wondering what my life had in store for me next.