Thankfully, Sophie was too excited about Sienna and William to notice how freaked out I was about what had happened downstairs with Alpha Alex. I convinced Sophie that I had to go home before one, even though my grandparents said I could spend the night with Sophie for Sienna's birthday, and booked it home as fast as possible. I crawled into bed and mentally turned my brain off so I could sleep without thinking. I woke up for school feeling better but still a little jumpy.

Monday was like any other day...except that William and Sienna were now the ever-loving, doting couple. It was strange seeing Sienna bookless, sitting in William's arms, laughing at something he had whispered into her ear. Never the less, I was happy for them.

The day went on, school came and went. Training came and went. And not once did I see Alpha Alex. I overheard Jason whispering to Sophie about how Alex went on a 'bender' of some sorts. He broke the kitchen door and has been missing since. Only one message was sent out to Andrew and Jason saying, "need break, don't find" and then he was gone. No trail, no scent, nothing to follow. I looked at the back door of the kitchen. Or I should say the hole, because the door was not there anymore.

After training, I went home feeling especially drained. Nate walked me home but did not give me a kiss on the cheek like before, perhaps because he could tell I was dead on my feet. I should be thankful for that because I don't know how I would react to another kiss.

I crawled into bed and fell asleep instantly.

I woke up Tuesday morning feeling exhausted and awful. I was sweating and clammy, even after I climbed out of the shower. I felt my head and found that I was slightly feverish. How is that possible? Werewolves don't get sick, but these were flu like symptoms. I got dressed and went to school anyways, hoping that maybe I would feel better as the day continued.

I was wrong. By the time the school day ended I was moving about -10 miles per hour. Jason and Sophie had asked me about thirty times each if I was ok and Nate was following me around like I was going to pass out any second.

Which really was not that crazy of an idea.

After school, I found Andrew and told him I was going to go home and lay down, which he consented to quickly. Actually, when I walked up to him in the kitchen, he jumped up from his seat and spilt the drink he was holding.

I said hi to my grandma who gasped when she saw me and slowly trudged up the stairs to my room without saying a word. I went in to my bathroom to put on comfortable clothes and saw myself in the mirror. No wonder everyone has been freaking out. My eyes and cheeks were sunken in and my shoulders slumped forward. I was paper white and I had no life to my eyes or hair. I sighed, changed clothes, and crawled into bed, letting sleep take me over.

* * * * * * *

I woke up in the middle of the night panting and dripping in sweat. I looked at my alarm clock.

11:00 p.m.

"It's so hot" I moaned and threw the blankets off myself. "Walk. I need to get outside" I said in a daze went to my closet to put on a sports bra and spandex shorts. That helped a little bit, but not enough. I went to my balcony and jumped over the side. My bare feet landed in the soft grass and I started walking to the forest in a daze.

I don't remember where I was going or why, I just remember stepping over fallen trees and ducking under limbs. I walked for what seemed like forever until I came upon a wall of shrubs. Something inside me told me that this is where I needed to be. My vision was fading, but I pushed through the shrubs and saw a pitch black wolf standing on the edge of precipice that had water flowing over it.

I stared at the wolf, as he seemed vaguely familiar, but before I could take another step, my body gave out on me and I started to fall.

But instead of ground, I hit strong arms. They laid me down and I faintly heard "Terri" and right before everything went black, I saw Alpha Alex's face.

* * * * * * *

I was floating. It felt like I was floating on water.

I tried to move my arm but it was like I had no body. No arm to move. I realized I was in my mind, temporarily trapped.

"Hello?" I thought. "Why can't I move?"...

...

"Because I don't want you to" a mature, female voice with a distinctive accent answered.

If I had had a body, I would have jumped.

"Who are you?"

There was a long pause before she answered. "You know who I am. You just don't realize it yet"

Her accent was so familiar to me, but I could not place it.

"Are we in my head?"

"Yes"

"And I know you, you say. Is that why your accent is so familiar?"

"We have never met. You know my accent from somewhere else. But yes, you know me. You know me because I am you"

"I...don't mean to argue, but you're not me"

"I am" she said sternly, and I heard a very subtle growl, but it was not normal sounding.

"O...k... I'm sorry but I'm not figuring this out very quickly but I am awfully curious. Who are you?" I said, trying to contain my anger. It was crazy enough that I was talking to myself whilst in a coma, if I got angry at myself, I could just take a trip to the looney bin.

"What are you?"

"Uhhh... a person?" I said in confusion.

"Nie! You are not just a person. You are vormverwisselaar, a shape-shifter." she yelled at me.

Afrikaans. She was speaking using Afrikaans words, a language spoken in Southern Africa. That was where I knew her accent from. She was speaking one of the languages my father spoke occasionally. And she shared the same African accent my father had had, the one he picked up because he grew up on the plains of Africa until he started schooling in at the age of twelve in South Africa. He learned a lot and became a scholar. He returned to his tribe occasionally but mainly stayed in South Africa.

"Did you know my father?"

"No. I am much older than your father. Or your father's father. I am older than any lineage you can be traced back to. But I do know of people like your father"

"Like my father?"

"Yours parents chose to never explain to you what he was, but I always knew. And if I had ben free, I would have told them the truth about you"

"The truth about me?" I felt like I was getting no answers and more questions.

"You are shape-shifter. Like your mother and your father"

"Sort of. I don't actually shift, but I do have some gifts" I explained.

"I know what you have! I give it to you. And you do shift, you are just a different kind of shifter. Leave it to you Americans to think there is only on kind of shape-shifter... this 'werewolf'. Nie, this is not true. There are many kinds of shifters. Many different species, just as there are many different races. And just like every different race, there is a different method of aging and maturity. You can shift, you have just matured at your home people's pace"

"I...but... that can't be right, because my father would have known. He would have told me...us..."

"He did know. He did not think it was possible for his child to have the ability. Your father was a very special kind of shifter. He could choose to be any animal in the world whenever he wanted. But such a special gift comes with a price. It is told by the people of your father's tribe that one gifted with such an ability will have children that cannot shift at all. Your father knew this and chose, upon meeting your mother, to tell her he was a wolf shifter and to not bring her into his world. He never strayed, and stayed a wolf once he came here to America. And once he saw that you did not shift at thirteen, like a werewolf, he knew that you were proof of the tale. He traveled to Africa to speak to his tribe and never returned"

"But you just said... I could shift. So they were wrong"

"They were. And your father had no idea that you would shift to be like his people. Even then, you are not quite like 'his people'. You...we...are different. It was destiny that your mother and your father should meet, because they created you. You are a perfect balance of stability and spontaneity. Poise and incoordination. It takes a balanced individual like this to house powers like ours. If you are to tense and tight, the powers will fizzle out and die without any passion to feed it. And if you were to free willed and irresponsible, your powers would consume you whole. You have done well on your own up until now, but you were working with only half of the required knowledge. With my help, I can teach you everything you need"

"How am I different from my father's people?"

"Your father's people are vormverwisselaar leeu, lion shape shifters. Many of the lions you see on the African plains are your father's people in their animal form. They stay in that form to survive the ragged temperatures of Africa. You are swart luiperd, black leopard, not leeu. Swart Luiperd has only happened once before...I have only had a ward once before."

"What happened?" I could hear the sadness in her voice.

"She died before she made it as far as you. She was young and strong, but those that wanted to break her were stronger. They succeeded and her powers consumed her. She was not lucky, like you, for she was gifted with fire, the most violent power, first. That is why I am so proud of you. You have trained yourself well and made good decisions. I have watched in dormancy, hoping that all would go well" she said with pride in her voice.

"So I am a black panther shifter...who should not exist... who probably should have died... but hasn't..."

"I know you are confused, but everything will clear up soon. It's time for you to wake up now"

"Wake up? But you can't leave, I have questions and this is my coma dream so don't I control when I wake up?"

A slight chuckle went through my head, which was definitely a nice sound compared to our previous conversation. " I am not leaving you, this is just the beginning. We are partners now. And no, I put you to sleep, to save you from the pain of your first shift. And now, it's time to wake up"

Before I could finish my sentence, I gasped in pain as a cold sensation ran over my body.

My body!

I ripped my eyes open only to find everything crisper than I was used to. Edges looked sharper and subtle movements, like a blade of grass bending under an ant, seemed more obvious. I looked up in the sky and the sun hurt my eyes...

Not the sun.... the moon. It was just very bright. Everything was bright around me and it was the dead of night. I used my muscles to stand and found that my legs felt different. Everything felt different, my back, my feet, my hands. I looked down at my arms and found paws.

Large, black paws. I was a leopard. A panther. A large cat.

"I told you"

Alright guys, I am sorry I have slowed down on my uploads, but I just moved into college, so its been busy lately! Ok, so for Terri's Panther's voice, I have her sounding something like Neytiri from Avatar. On the side is a picture of a black panther that I imagine Terri looking like and one of my favorite songs that I thought was semi appropriate for this chapter haha. Thank you for reading and voting!