You Rejected Me. Remember?
In Love With My Best Friend Chapter 29

Leo

“What?”

I was barely able to exclaim when a sharp pain jolted throughout my frame. My muscles stiffened and my eyes dilated. I sucked in a breath as I braced myself for the whole process to be completed. I knew it would be tough and there was no one to comfort me. Nevertheless, I couldn’t go to look for help.

Relax, relax!

I told myself. I had heard a lot about the first shift. It was always severe. Since we grew up in our human bodies, we were used to it, and the rearranging of the bones and muscles were excruciating.

I looked at my arms and noticed dark fur sprouting from the skin. I gulped. I knew what to expect. Fur would cover my entire body and my bones would elongate. My muscles would bulge and my face would contort, forming a snout.

Since I was a Lycan, even after the shift, I would stand on my hind legs. Which meant, unlike the wolves, my backbone would remain straight.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I prepared to receive the next wave of distress. A sharp jolt of pain that originated from my spine spread throughout my limbs. It was time for my limbs to change shape.

I grunted in anguish. Lentils of sweat trickled down my face, which was distorted as I tried to withstand the agony. My limbs were slowly and painfully elongating. I felt my muscles stiffen even more than they already were.

My eyes shifted towards my hands. When I saw how my nails adapted themselves to evolve to sharp claws, my eyes widened. My hands changed shape right before my eyes. And so did my structure. Finally, it was time for my face to alter.

I felt waves of pain ripple through my skull as the bones twisted and changed form. My nose stretched, forming my snout and I slowly felt myself being pushed inside.

My senses heightened and the pain subsided until it was no more. After inhaling a couple of breaths, I attempted to speak, but I soon remembered that I wasn’t in control of the body.

“Zoro?” I called him.

“Yeah,” he replied through our link.

A grin spread across my face. “We shifted!”

“Hell yes, we did!” he exclaimed. “Let’s go for a run!” he announced.

“What? A run? In the middle of the night?” I was hesitant.

“Oh come on. Don’t be such a spoilsport!” he mumbled.

“But it’s the middle of the night and who knows if a rogue isn’t hiding in the woods to ambush us?” I pointed out. Nonetheless, Zoro wasn’t ready to listen to me.

“Then, I think it’s time to put them in their places. They have taken our girl! Remember? We are going to finish them off!” He growled.

Sighing, “I wish it was that easy, Zoro. But going into the woods all alone with no backup is dangerous. We want to save her from the bad guys, not get caught and end up becoming their slave,” I tried to explain the severity of the situation.

“I think we can jump from the window,” he mumbled, glancing outside.

Rolling my eyes, “you aren’t listening, are you?” I commented.

He didn’t even bother to reply. The next thing I knew was, the cool night air was ruffling his fur as he landed skilfully on the soft earth.

“I promise I won’t run too far,” he vowed, and took off into the woods. I watched as he ran like a ferocious beast through the thick foliage, carefully weaving through the trees. He ran until we were pretty close to the perimeter. The lookouts were on duty but, thankfully, Zoro didn’t attempt to approach them.

He hid behind a bush and sniffed the air.

“No rogues nearby,” he mumbled.

“Dude, let’s go back. They will suspect us if they realize that we were hiding here,” I hissed through our link.

“Just run away before they start to sense your scent in the air. We just shifted and, though we smell like us, it would be the first time they see you and I am not ready to deal with hogwash. The day hasn’t even started yet!” I sighed.

“Fine!” Zoro grumbled. “But I will replace her!”

A smile curled my lips as he hastily dashed back to the palace.

“We will, Zoro,” I whispered back, feeling hopeful about replaceing her. Now that I had shifted, I would make sure that I wouldn’t leave a stone unturned.

“Do you think we can use our powers in the lycan form?” I voiced my thoughts as he entered the city.

“We should,” he mumbled, halting on his steps. He opened his fists. I felt the energy bubbling in the veins before the familiar flame danced on his palm.

I smirked. It has been quite some time since I started to learn and train my powers. Grandpa had been a great teacher and I had learnt a lot during the past month.

“You know what this means, Zoro,” I felt determined. We will definitely replace her!

“f**k yes! It’s time to burn some rogue asses!” he exclaimed.

Oh, yes. It’s time to make them pay. My smirk widened.

I shifted back as I reached the city and rushed towards the main gate of the palace. When I reached the main gate, I saw that the warriors were rushing on the veranda, apparently going to the open ground in front of the training arena.

Frowning, I stopped a warrior who was rushing past me. I needed to know what the havoc was about.

“What is going on?”

“We received an urgent order from the Queen to fall in. The rogues are approaching us and we don’t have much time before they reach the borders,” he urgently explained before whisking past me.

My breathing hitched. I had just returned from the perimeters but didn’t notice anything absurd. I darted towards the arena to replace someone who could explain the situation better.

“What’s happening?” I asked as soon as I saw Arnold.

“The rogues! They are coming!” He was delirious.

“What?”

Xander patted my back and gestured to Arnold to join the warriors.

“They are about a couple of miles away now. We don’t have time. They might invade the land…”

“But I just came back from the borders…”

“What?” He exclaimed.

“Leo! Why? You could have gotten into a lot of trouble!”

I shrugged. Frowning, he shook his head.

“Never mind that. Stay here…”

“I’ll go,” I stated, cutting him in.

“What? No. You can’t!” He obstructed, staring at me as though I had lost my mind.

“I have shifted, Xander. I just came back from my first run… actually Zoro didn’t heed when I told him to stay. Anyway, I want to join. I need to go and replace her,” I told him and his features slowly softened.

“Then it would be okay, I guess. But let’s meet mom and dad before that.”

We weaved our way through the frantic soldiers to meet the leaders. Sir Elliot was barking out orders to the warriors while the Queen was trying to make sure that the children and the elderly had entered the safety bunkers.

“The infirmary is on standby. Is everything ready?” she was apparently agitated.

Sarah, who was on her right, nodded her head.

“Your highness, I would like to join you. I had shifted,” I knew they were flustered and time was limited. So I told them as promptly as I could.

Placing her hand on my shoulder, “You shifted? That’s good. Because we need everyone and every resource we can use,” she hastily replied, and went back to attend the more urgent work.

My heart soared as I joined the army. Alpha Miles, his mate and my parents were part of it. What surprised me was replaceing my grandpa on the sidelines.

Of course, it was reasonable. We needed to fight against magic.

“Zoro, ready to kick some asses?” I asked my Lycan.

“Oh, hell yes! Let them burn!” He growled.

We were able to arrive at the perimeter barely in time. The stench of burning rubber was prominent in the atmosphere. A massive army of rogues were lined up, prepared to cross the border. If we hadn’t arrived in time, they would have simply murdered the wardens and invaded the land. The army of rogues was huge and they clearly outnumbered the number of patrols at the perimeter.

I narrowed my eyes at the tall figure who was glaring at the Queen. It seemed to me that he was the leader of the rogues. I guessed that was Calvin.

“So we meet again,” he sneered. Clenching my fists, I gritted my teeth, growling under my breath. Arrogance radiated from him and he strolled casually in front of us. In his troops, some of the rogues had shifted to their wolf forms.

“Where is she?” The Queen demanded, in between her written teeth.

He chuckled. “Who? Oh, you mean my chosen bride?”

I felt my anger skyrocket. His chosen bride? The audacity!

“Where is our Astrea? What have you done to her?”

The sound of the Queen’s growls resounded in the forest. The power that radiated from her was enough to make our knees go weak, yet Calvin didn’t seem to care.

He laughed, seemingly amused at her outburst.

“Don’t worry, she is fine. Or maybe, I should say that she has never been better,” he snickered and snapped his fingers.

A familiar girl surrounded by rogue wolves walked forward, wearing her tight combat clothes. My heart skipped a beat. It was her! Her face was void of emotions as she stared straight at us.

My breathing caught in my throat.

“Astrea!” her mother screamed.

I gaped at her expectantly, hoping to see some kind of an acknowledgment. However, there was nothing. She didn’t react.

“Leo… her eyes…” Zoro mumbled. My lips parted. Her eyes were hollow like two pits of desolate gloom. The life that radiated in her wonderful orbs was no more. It was then I realised that she had changed. Perhaps it wasn’t her fault. Maybe they had cast a spell on her.

“I hope she is just pretending to be on their side,” I heard Rafael mumble beside me.

“Me too,” Elena whispered.

“Is this the girl you are speaking of?” Calvin chortled as he wrapped his arms around her shoulder. I winced. I didn’t like it when she didn’t resist his touch. To my dismay, he lícked the side of her face. I had to hold onto every ounce of vigor not to lunge at him in fury.

“She is my chosen bride. Meet the future Queen of the wolves,” Calvin announced, conceit dripping out of every syllable he uttered.

“You have done something to her!” I growled, balling my fists. I couldn’t help it.

Chaos broke as soon as The Queen ordered us to attack them. Unknown to the rogues, she specifically instructed us to make sure that Astrea doesn’t get hurt via mind link.

I fought off the rogues who advanced at us, all the while, keeping an eye on Astrea. Soon, I realized that she seemed to be following Calvin’s orders. She showed no mercy, as she slashed through our warriors. Our friends surrounded her, and tried to face her, careful not to hurt her. She didn’t seem to recognise anyone. They were beaten up, one by one.

After I defeated a group of rogues, I confronted Astrea. She used her skills to fight against me. Even in her human form, she was a skilled combatant.

“Snap out of it, Astrea!” I whispered as I blocked her punches and kicks. Finally, I succeeded in holding her arms firmly so that she couldn’t move. I was shocked to see her pitch black eyes. They were not the usual hazel colour.

“Astrea! It’s me, Leo!” I tried to connect with her. I knew she was in there somewhere. However, she didn’t respond. A ferocious growl flared from her throat as she struggled with all her might in my hold. Meanwhile, my eyes darted to the crook of her neck. What I saw made my b***d boil in anger. There were two puncture marks on her neck. The skin that surrounded the marks was red and swollen and there was a clear fluid oozing from the mark.

“That fucker has bitten her!” Zoro roared in anger.

“Shift!” I heard Clavin’s order.

Astrea took advantage of my distraction and pushed me away. I staggered back, despite the fact that I was shaking in fury. What happened next was beyond my imagination.

Astrea started to shift. Aghast, I helplessly watched as her limbs changed form. Her arms and legs elongated while black fur sprouted all over her body. Her muscles bulged out and soon her shift was completed.

Instead of her midnight black alpha wolf, a black bipedal wolf stood on her hind legs in her place. Nightmare struck us as she lifted her head up to the sky and let out a howl of triumph.

Was this really my Rea?