Chapter 15 (Part 1)

Angel could feel the throbbing pain coming from her forehead as she started to regain consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to focus on the ceiling as her eyesight adjusted to her surroundings. Blurry images of the recent events started to form in her memory. She found herself wondering if it had all happened, or if it was just a dream.

Something had happened to cause the pain in her forehead. The last thing she remembered was the image of the black wolf before everything went black. She must have passed out again, she thought to herself. She must have fell and hit her head again just like the day at the diner. She cursed at herself for allowing herself to pass out like that again.

She slowly turned her head to find Ryan sitting next to the couch staring at her. He had a concerned look on his face as he studied her face waiting for a reaction. She stared back at him as she tried to figure out if all of this was real or not. She didn't want to believe all the events that she had just experienced, but they had felt so real to her that she thought there was no way it could have all just been a dream. She reached up to fell her forehead where the throbbing pain was coming from. She felt the large gash across her forehead and winced at the pain as she touched it.

Ryan stared at her trying to judge the reaction she was going to have about the recent events. He traced her face with his eyes looking for any sign of fear or anger. All he could find was a sense of confusion coming from the girl. He watched her as she felt the gash on her forehead and the pain in her face as she touched it.

He didn't know if he should speak to her, or wait for her to speak first. He thought it was best if he let her sort though the things going through her mind. He would wait for her to ask him questions about what happened, and try his best to explain to her what was going on.

He knew that it was going to be a lot for her to take in all at once. He had hoped that he would have time to explain things slowly to her so that she wasn't so overwhelmed, but the male werewolf in the forest had ruined that plan for him.

Angel slowly raised herself to a sitting position on the couch. She sat still as she waited for the room to stop spinning around her. When the room was back in clear focus she began running through the questions in her brain that she needed the answers to. She knew that somehow her body had turned into a wolf in the forest, and she needed to know how it happened. She also knew that Ryan had been a wolf on the forest too, so he should have the answers that she needed.

She patted the couch next to her motioning for Ryan to come and sit there. Ryan slowly raised himself off the floor and sat next to her on the couch. He wanted to reach for her hand, to comfort her and let her know that everything was going to be ok, but he didn't know how she would react to him touching her now that she knew he was a werewolf.

She placed her hand on the side of his face and turned it so that he was facing her. She had so many questions to ask him and wanted to make sure that she had his full attention before she started her interrogation.

"I have so many things that I need the answers to, and don't know where to start" she said in a soft voice.

"I will answer all your questions to the best of my ability. I know this has to be a lot for you to take in all at once. I never meant for it to be this way. I wanted to explain things to you slowly, but we obviously can't do it that way now." he responded.

"I want to think that everything that just happened was a dream. That I am just going to wake up and everything will go back to normal." she frowned as she spoke the words. "I have to find a way to understand and accept the things that I just experienced, but I don't know how to even begin to sort things out in my head."

"I just want to be clear on this. I turned into a wolf today in the forest, and I am pretty sure that you did too. Now I am back to being myself, back to being human. Is that true? If so can you tell me how, and why that happened?" she asked looking at Ryan longing he would have all the answers for her.

"Yes Angel, you did turn into a wolf today, as did I. You are a werewolf and once you become one with your inner wolf you will be able to change from human to wolf and back again at will. You have had the ability to do this since you were probably about 15 years old, but the medication you were taking wasn't allowing your body to fully make the change. The fear that you felt today in the forest when the wolf approached you triggered your instincts and your wolf took over your body to try and defend itself." Ryan informed her.

"Is this something that could happen at any time? Could I be walking down the street and all of a sudden just turn into a wolf?" she asked with a bit of hysteria in her voice. He could sense the fear in her voice as she spoke.

"Once you are in tune with your inner wolf you will be able to decide when you will change. It will take time and practice, and you may not be able to hold back the wolf at times of a full moon for a while. The moon calls to the wolf and it fights to get out. That's what was happening to you when you thought you were having panic attacks each month. Your wolf was fighting for you to let it out, but the medication you took wouldn't allow your body to make the change." he informed her.

"How did you find out that you were a wolf?" she asked next.

"I grew up in a pack; my parents and everyone else that I grew up with are werewolves. We were taught from a young age what to expect. We knew that the changes were going to happen so it didn't come as a surprise to us." he explained.

Ryan spent hours answering all of Angels questions the best that he could. He did his best to reassure her that she was going to be alright, that he was going to be there for her while she adjusted to the changes. He watched as she went through a range of emotions, from anger, to excitement, to sadness.

He explained to her the basics of how phasing work. He tried to give her positive points about being a werewolf. He explained how free she would feel when she allowed her wolf to take over. The fact that all her extra abilities came from the fact that she was a 'were'. He went on to explain how bonding worked in the pack, and how once you found a mate they were your mate for life.

He told her about soul bonding, and how once you soul bonded with your mate you were connected for life. You would be so connected with your mate that you could even her each others thoughts. He explained as much as he could to her, and was sure that her mind had to be overwhelmed with all the additional information it had just consumed.