Kiera Hudson & The Adoring Artist (Kiera Hudson Series Three Book 3) by Tim O'Rourke Page B

changed for the first time into the wolf. It was a private thing, something only to be shared by the wolf and me. So, alone in the shade of the trees, I raised one hand before me. Closing my eyes, I looked into the darkness. I searched for the wolf there. In the dark I saw at first what looked like two hazel coloured slits of light coming toward me. As they grew closer still out of the darkness, the full face of the wolf was revealed. And although I felt scared – more scared than I had ever felt, I couldn’t help but admire the creature’s beauty. Was that really me I was staring at? Was it really me staring back? It sat at the very edge of the darkness in my mind on her hindquarters.
    “Hello?” I whispered, just like I had on the floor of my room the other night.
    Throwing its head back, the wolf howled, then came charging toward me. Snapping open my eyes, I began to rake at my flesh with the razor-sharp claws that had replaced my hands. My flesh fell away in bloody strips to reveal the silky black hair that covered the creature beneath.

 
    Chapter Twenty
     
    I dropped to the ground. It was like my legs had been kicked away from beneath me. I cried out. The pain was excruciating. I clawed at the earth. Sending up a shower of leaves and broken twigs. Throwing back my head I howled and howled, just like the wolf had done inside of me. But the wolf was no longer inside, it was making its way out of me – changing me – turning me into it. What had I done? I looked over at where I’d struck Potter with the rock. He lay sprawled on his back, eyes closed.
    “Pot… Potter !” I howled. My body felt like it was burning up – just like it had the other night in my room. But there was no moonlight now to cool it. I looked down at the jagged opening I’d made down the centre of me. I could see black and blue fur bristle through the bloody opening. Fear gripped me as much as the pain I’d felt. Had it been this painful turning into the Vampyrus? Had I felt just as petrified as I did now?
    Flesh fell away from my legs in thin strips as they stretched and contorted out of shape. It felt like my bones were being yanked on by invisible hands. My toenails grew long and pointed as my feet doubled in size. Why hadn’t Jack told me this is what it would be like? What hadn’t he told me how painful being a wolf would be? My heart pounded in my ears, and the world seemed to stretch in and out of shape all around me. I wanted to stop the change but I didn’t know how to, even if I could. The wolf had hold of me, had control of my claws as I ripped and tore at my own flesh – throwing it clear in bloody shreds. If I had fooled myself that the pain couldn’t have got any worse, then I’d been wrong. A pain so blinding gripped my skull. It felt as if it were being pushed open from the inside.
    “Potter!” I cried out, my voice sounding shrill and broken. Why wouldn’t he wake up and save me? What had I done?
    Throwing my claws to my head, I rolled over, now on all fours. With my head feeling as if it were being repeatedly kicked and punched, I looked back over my shoulder and down the length of my back. My spine twisted like a snake under what little flesh I had left there.
    “Please, I can’t bear it!” I screamed. “Please make it stop!”
    Blood burst into my mouth as a jagged row of teeth pierced my gums. How could that beautiful creature that dwelt inside cause so much pain and anguish? Was this some kind of payback for keeping silent – denying the wolf her freedom for so long? Jutting my chin forward, I felt my tongue stretch inside my mouth. I flicked it back and forth, feeling the soft fur beneath it for the first time. And even through the pain tearing my head apart I could see the look of revulsion on Potter’s face when he’d learnt that female werewolves had a fine coating of hair beneath their tongues.
    It didn’t stop him kissing Eloisa Maddison , a voice as clear as my own whispered inside of me. Was