Iris turned away from Malcolm. She couldn’t let him find out her secret. If he found out it would not only hurt her but it would also affect her sister Dalia, and she would never do anything to hurt Dalia or to put Dalia in any trouble. Malcolm reached out and grabbed Iris’s arm.

“Look at me, Iris.”

Iris pulled away from Malcolm and ran. The tall grass filling the field swayed like the waves of an ocean. She heard Malcolm running after her. She pushed her muscles to the limit, running faster than she ever had as a human. When she was out of Malcolm’s sight, she took in a deep breath and jumped into the air. She felt her bones moving, crunching into a new shape. Her muscles stretched and she yelped in pain. She hit the ground on all fours.



She raced through the forest, her head spinning from all of the scents around her. The air was filled with smells, animal urine, dirt, water from the stream ahead, and worst of all Malcolm’s blood. She pushed her claws into the dirt, trying to push herself away from Malcolm. If she got anywhere near him, she knew she would kill him. She howled in distress up at the full milky moon. She heard Malcolm yell out, his voice filled with pain. She stopped running and listened for him. She heard him moving across the ground. She turned to run again but froze when she heard the howl of a wolf ringing through the woods. ‘Malcolm.’ She turned and ran as fast as she could towards Malcolm. ‘What if I am too late? What if he’s being attacked?’ She saw a huddled shape on the ground and standing over it, a large black wolf.

A snarl ripped from her throat as she leapt into the air and crashed into the wolf, knocking it off of Malcolm’s huddled body.

She growled as she buried her teeth into the other wolf’s shoulder. The black wolf snarled at Iris and took of running.





Iris turned to Malcolm. He shook in terror when he saw her. She slowly walked up to him and lowered her head to his face level. Malcolm looked at Iris,

then jumped up and took of running. Iris looked up, hurt by his reaction. She whined in defeat. She knew she could catch him, but she stayed put. She felt her heart shatter, and tilting up her head, she howled to the moon for comfort… but none came.





THE SECOND ONE!!!

Iris pulled the blanket up over her face when she heard the knock on the door. “GO AWAY!!!!” she yelled. She heard the door crack open and someone come inside.

“Leave me alone.” She whimpered.

“Iris… You can’t let what happened keep you locked up in here for ever.”

She peeked over her blanket shocked to see her brother Ash standing in her room a very concerned look on his face.

“Oh, it’s you… well you are the last person I was expecting.”

“Iris… You need to face what is bothering you.”

“Ash… you know I can’t do that. What am I supposed to do? Go to Malcolm’s house and say ‘hey sorry for leaving so suddenly the other night. If I had stayed I would have killed you. Talk to you later.’ Is that what I am supposed to do?”

“Iris. Just talk to him.”

“He doesn’t want to talk to me Ash.”

Iris sighed in defeat. Ash stood aside and her door opened again. Malcolm walked in slowly, his face fixated on the floor.

“I’ll leave you two alone.” Ash said barely above a whisper, before turning on his heel and leaving the room.



“Malcolm?”

Malcolm looked up at Iris, his face held a soft vulnerability.

“Iris…” he whispered, his voice cracking.

“Come here Malcolm.”

Malcolm walked over to Iris and he sat down next to her on the bed. She buried her face in his chest and let out a sob.

“I missed you so much, honey” Malcolm said.

“I...m-m-missed y-you too.”

Malcolm tilted Iris’s face up to his. He slowly leaned down, stopping when his breath blew across her face. He then gently placed his lips on hers. Iris sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. Malcolm wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her down next to him on the bed. Iris’s hands slid down his neck and rested on his chest. She pulled away and snuggled close to him. She enjoyed feeling the safety that she felt only with him. She closed her eyes and deeply breathed in his scent. Malcolm kissed Iris’s head and closed his eyes. They both fell asleep, wrapped in each others arms.