Chapter 7: Chapter Six

“Leave us,” Oka tells her two apprentices, leaving her and Gabi alone.

“Oka, what’s happening? I didn’t turn. I didn’t turn.” Gabi buries her face in her hands.

Oka stares down at Gabi. With worry in her eyes, she knows what she has to tell Gabi.

The truth about Raura.

“Shh, child. There may be a reason to why all of this is happening.” Oka walks over to Gabi and pulls her up from the ground.

“What is it, Oka?” Gabi asks.

Oka takes a deep breath before responding, “This may all have something to do with your mother.”

Gabi looks at her, confused.

Oka starts to whisper in case other ears are present and lurking. “We only have just a little bit of time, so listen and listen well. Shortly after your mother mated to your father, she decided to run away from the clan and disappear. But after months of being away, Dyrk and your grandfather Rannolf got word that your mother was pregnant and staying in a house a distance away from the pack. They formulated a plan to recover what they believed to be a stolen child from the clan. Your mother was killed for abandoning the clan, and you were taken away from her just shortly after she had given birth to you.”

All the blood from Gabi’s face drains. She tries to speak, but no words are able to come out.

Oka continues. “As an elder of this pack, there is only so much I am able to do for you. I can only give you until the next full moon to figure this out before I have to tell your father and the entire pack that you did not transition into your wolf.”

“Oka, please, there must be something else. Anything else,” Gabi starts to plead with tears brimming in her eyes.

Oka takes her in her arms and whispers, “I am sorry, my child; this is all that I can give you. This next course is something you are going to have to figure out all on your own.” Oka lowers Gabi’s head down and kisses her on the forehead. She turns to leave, leaving Gabi terrified, confused, and alone.

Gabi drops to her knees, not aware of the pain as they hit the hard ground. She is completely numb. Her worst fear came true; she is not a wolf. She doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She has no idea where to go from here.

There is only one place she can think about going to, so she picks herself up from the ground, picks up the robe, wraps herself back up, and makes her way to the only place she knows that can give her some kind of direction.

Mother.

She has to be careful not to be seen by anyone or else... She shivers as a chill runs through her body, as she assumes the worst if she were seen as not a wolf.

Gabi continues her way to her mother’s grave but freezes when she hears some sticks crack. Her heart starts to race as she tries to figure out where to hide. If anyone knew what really happened, she could be dead or a fate worse than death. Her father was cruel and heartless, and she could only imagine his reaction when he found out that she didn’t turn. Besides being disappointed and ashamed of her, this would be an ultimate humiliation to him and all the others.

As the person comes closer, Gabi starts to feel less tense and almost relieved when she senses it is Renn walking through the trees.

Thank the moon. But wait?

What if Renn gets upset because she did not transition. How is she going to tell him that she is not a wolf. Will he hate her? Worry is etched into her face as Renn comes up to her.

“Gabi, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” he asks.

Gabi can see that Renn is confused and worried about her. Her heart softens a bit seeing how much he cares for her. If only it could be more than just a worried friend or, worse, an uncle. She shakes her head to get the thoughts out of her mind. Looking down, she sees she is still wearing the wooden cuffs on her wrists and ankles; she tries to cover herself up and pull away from him so that he is unable to see and make assumptions or, worse, judgements.

“Gabi, what is it? You know you can always talk to me.”

She can hear the hurt in his tone. The last thing Gabi ever wants to do was hurt Renn. Gabi turns around and runs to Renn, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her head into his chest as she lets the tears flow.

Renn is taken back for a moment at this gesture. He tightens his hands into fists as he tries to restrain himself from wrapping his arms around her and breathing in her scent. But in the end, he loses his will and closes their hug with his arms, swaying gently to calm her down, letting her know that no harm would come to her as long as she was in his arms.

After what seemed like forever, Gabi slowly releases her grip from Renn and steps back, confused, all of a sudden, on how he knew where to find her.

“Renn, how did you know where I was?”

“Oka came and found me, asking me to give this to you and sent me in the direction to your mother’s grave,” he says as he pulls out a folded piece of paper.

Oka.

She should have known. As much as that old lady says she does not know everything, she sure knows a lot. Especially where she is typically going to be.

Gabi takes the folded piece of paper and opens it up. On the sheet of paper, it has an address on it and a small map.

“What is it, Gabi?” Renn asks.

She herself doesn’t know exactly what it is. The address is not familiar to her at all. As she continued to look at the small map, she realized that this was located outside the village not too far from the pack but far enough. Was this where my mother gave birth to me?

“Gabi, Gabi.”

She can hear Renn calling out to her, but she just isn’t ready to answer him. She looks at him for a moment, questioning whether or not to tell him everything. If she chooses to pursue this, should she involve him in all this? She would be risking not only her life but his. She shakes her head no; she can’t do that. But if she knew Renn, he would not leave her alone until he knew exactly what was going on.

“Renn, there is something I have to tell you,” she says as she swallows a big gulp down her throat.