Chapter 13

Valentina had fallen into a routine. With only a few days at the mansion. She woke up conveniently at the time she wanted to, she had breakfast with everyone and retreated back into her room, after freshening up she would take a walk or two. Since Mr Chops, the family dog was now allowed back into the main house, she would take him along on her walks too. She napped a lot during the day. Remy, Kale and Marielle were almost never home during the day. Everyone else was and since she was now aware of what she truly was they treated her like some sort of princess. Some of them went as far as bowing whenever they saw her.

Ellen was constantly trying to rope her into doing stuff, but Valentina would decline whenever she wasn't feeling up to it. Especially with the strange call she had gotten two days ago, it had destabilized her.

Something told her that she had a very dark past, one that she had even managed to hide from Remy and everyone else.

She sometimes thought that it was a good thing that she had lost her memories. It probably was. Something or someone was after her, she didn't know who or what it was but till she found out she couldn't t trust anyone. Even Remy was a suspect, after all she had not trusted him enough to tell him whatever was going on with her.

And looking back on all she had learned and heard, their short time together had not exactly been memorable.

Today was a different day though, it was supposed to be a good day.

Marielle would be teaching her how to shift, all over again. They would be spending the whole day in woods, where Marielle promise would be the best way to be connected to her wolf.

She wondered if Remy would be joining them but she had not seen him all day, in fact, his face had been scarce the last couple of days, he seemed to have been really busy and occupied with a lot of things lately.

She wondered if he was trying to avoid her, there had been a lot of things unsaid between the two of them after her heat period.

Marielle told her to dress as comfortably as she could, so she wore a pair of leggings and loose T-shirt.

"We'd be in the woods for a while, it's where you'll feel the most connected to your wolf."

Marielle had said and told her to dress accordingly. She wore a pair of running shoes too, just in case they did any running. And she managed to get her really short hair into a ponytail.

Together they went into the woods, Marielle was surprisingly so quiet for someone who was always so chatty.

She had opted for Jean shorts and from behind, Valentina had a view of her long brown toned legs, it looked like she certainly did a lot of work out.

"So, you said I'm a werewolf, and we're all werewolves, how come I managed to forget that?!"

Valentina asked and Marielle shrugged.

"It's strange. I also don't know. Because regardless of your memory loss you should still be connected to your wolf."

"It should be a fundamental part of who you are."

She added and Valentina pondered on her words.

Marielle's face twisted into concentration as they made their way into the woods. There was a clearing just below the hill where she said they used as a training ground. It was empty for the moment and they had full use of it for the meantime.

She had assured her that.

"So it's not normal that I don't remember I'm a werewolf?!"

Marielle scoffed.

"Sweetie, everything that has happened to you up until this very moment is very far from normal."

When they reached the clearing, Marielle told her to wait while she did a full sweep of their surroundings, ensuring that they were safe and there was no one around them.

One of the abilities of wolves was apparently superhearing and Marielle could pick up a heartbeat half a mile away. She could also tell who it was. If it was a werewolf like her or a human or another kind of unearthly being due to the rhythm of the heartbeat. If it was slow, it was fast, if it sounded different. All of that she could tell.

Her sense of smell was also remarkable too, just like other abilities that they possessed.

Valentina had no idea they had so many abilities. She had barely been able to use any, or even notice that something was different about her.

She felt pretty human.

"Now, I need to know just how disconnected you are with your wolf, that would let me know how fast you can shift."

"What do you mean?!"

Valentina asked as she folded her arms.

"I mean... since it's pretty obvious that you have no idea you're a werewolf, shifting would be a lot harder."

"So I need to connect with your wolf to see if she's still in there somehow."

Valentina raised an eyebrow. She was trying to look interested but she couldn't understand what Marielle was saying, she pretended to care by nodding her head.

"Okay. And how will that happen?"

"I'll shift first."

She said as she started taking of her shorts. In a flash her shorts were down her ankle and Valentina quickly looked away.

"Woahhh!!! You should have told me about that!"

She exclaimed.

"You didn't think I was going to shift with my clothes on were you?!"

Valentina shrugged.

She hesistated.

"I mean I don't know! I kind of thought the clothes go somewhere like in limbo."

"Isn't that more comfortable than having to take them off all the time?!"

Valentina sounded concerned. Taking off clothes before every shift didn't seem comfortable enough. That meant she'd be naked after every shift.

Yikes!

Marielle chuckled.

"We're not magicians. We're simply werewolves. And no we cannot make our clothes go somewhere else."

"You can look."

She added and Valentina slowly turned, she turned her eyes to Marielle's face, fixating on her eyes.

"Besides, you'll grow used to seeing lots of naked bits. Nudity is a pretty normal thing when you're a werewolf."

Oh I think not!

Valentina thought as she forced a smile, she waited for Marielle to make a move.

Marielle crouched on the leafy grass, on all fours with her back curved.

"How long does this take?!"

Valentina asked and Marielle shook her head.

"Not long at all."

She murmured as her ankle twisted.

Valentina jerked at the sudden movement.

Then another ankle, and then more of her bones seemed to start rearranging themselves.

The sound was horrific to hear, the sounds of bones snapping as if they were nothing but twigs on the floor. Valentina looked on in horror and shock, unable to tear her eyes away from the sight.

Her jaw slacked. That was what they expected her to do?!

That?!

That was death!!!

She asked herself as he hands started trembling.

Marielle became a tremendous beast. Hair grew and her coat became a deep muddy brown with patches of white, she was huge, standing at least half her height on all fours.

She had no idea they could be this huge.

She was frozen to her feet in fear, unable to move, unable to tear her eyes away from her.

Marielle's deep black eyes pierced into hers as she took slow steps towards her.

Valentina's breath hitched as she saw that Marielle was moving closer. Closer and closer.

Scratch that, not Marielle, a big freaking wolf.

If she had blinked during the transformation, she might have argued that it was someone else. Something else.

But she didn't blink, her eyes were open all through and yet she couldn't believe the tremendous beast standing in front of her.

Marielle got so close she could see the patchy white fur on her back and how her ears were raised delicately, as if she was trying to listen for something.

She raised a paw and placed it on Valentina's chest. It took all of Valentina's strength and will not to push her paw away and run screaming in the other direction.

She was terrified.

Even with the terrifying form, she could still see the look of confusion on Marielle's face as she twisted her head to the side.

Then in a second she had left her side and walked to the other end of the clearing.

She changed just as quickly as she had transformed, with Valentina transfixed at the same spot.

Still filled with the same wonder and surprise she had before.

"So? What did you find?"

She asked as she saw that she was human again.

Marielle took a moment to answer, she was crouched on the floor, breathing heavily.

Her expression was unreadable as she put back her clothes on.

"Nothing."

She finally murmured as she walked past Valentina.