Moments passed by as my mind processed my father's words -or tried to.

"What?" The word slipped out of my mouth. What on Earth was he talking about? Had everyone all of a sudden gone crazy and I was the only sane one left?

A low, dangerous growl from behind me emitted, causing me to whirl around in fear of what my mind decided to assume was one of the man-eating monsters, but all I saw was a snarling Xander, his teeth bared maliciously at my father like some kind of animal. My eyebrows drew together in a frown at this odd behavior of his. I instantly registered the intriguing glow of his amber eyes, their brilliant radiance shocking.

"We're not monsters, Mr. Richard. You of all people ought to know that. Finish the story quickly or I will; you must leave before sundown," Xander said in a deep, authoritative voice that transmitted a hidden warning toward my father.

Dad's only response was a dirty look he shot at Xander, then his eyes trained on me, softening instantaneously. "You have to believe your mother and I when we tell you there was no other choice, and what we did was to ensure your future. After all, we did what any parents would do if they were in our situation, even if it meant sacrificing your happiness in order for you to live. Those beings are real, but they're not what everyone thinks they are. Only a few people know of the existence of the Evergreen Pack. Only a few humans, that is." He paused to grip my mother's shaking hand, glancing over my shoulder for an instant before continuing, "I know you'll think we're crazy, and we don't blame you, but you will see it soon enough with your own eyes. There are other things out there, other creatures..." Trailing off, his eyes fell to the ground, an expression of contemplation spreading across his face. "I don't even know how to say this." He admitted.

"Dad, you're scaring me." It was true, for throughout his entire speech or explanation or whatever the hell was telling me, my heart had been pounding against my ribcage crazily, my body sweating profusely out of nervousness in spite of the cold weather. Even my birthmark had started tingling. The man-eating beings were real? What nonsense was the man I called my father saying? They couldn't possibly exist!

"The monsters in the story are a pack of wolves, Carly. A pack of werewolves, to be exact, and they're called the Evergreen Pack after this very forest."

Abruptly, my mind conjured up an image of a large, black wolf. I blinked it away.

Silence draped over the clearing like a blanket. Everyone and everything went still as anticipating and anxious eyes awaited my reaction. Another gust of even colder wind blew across the clearing. His words took longer than they should to register into my brain, clashing with every piece of logic, science and truth I had stored in my mind, but when they did, it felt like someone had backhanded me across the face, hard. What would a normal teenage girl such as myself do if she was told werewolves- beings that were only supposed to exist in tales and nightmares- were actually real?

Why, laugh hysterically of course. "Dad, are you drunk? Is this some kind of birthday joke? Werewolves are fictional, dad. I turn eighteen today, you can't expect me to fall for that!" My laughing subsided to soft chuckles as I relaxed a bit, my muscles un-tensing. So this had been a prank all along...!

"How about I prove it to you?" It was said so nonchalantly, so casually that it didn't lead me to believe Xander was serious about it.

How could he possibly prove it?

Humoring him, I said with a smirk, "Go right ahead."

How the hell was I to know that he'd really morph into a massive black wolf with canines as large as daggers and sharper than blades right before my eyes?!

Every cell in my body screamed -begged- for me to run. To escape as fast as humanly possible and never, ever look back at the monstrosity unfurling before my very own eyes in slow motion as if I was watching some horror movie. Any other person would have reached the car parked behind me by now. It seemed that my feet were frozen to the spot, disobeying my brain's frantic and desperate orders to run.

Somehow, by some sorcery perhaps, I was mesmerized, hypnotized. Silent terror and fascination overwhelmed me, taking over my body and soul, its grip vice-like. With eyes as wide as saucers, I watched like a fool as Xander transformed into a beast -a black wolf so massive, so huge I nearly had cardiac arrest  right there on the spot. Fur sprouted out of his follicle until not a patch of naked skin remained, the gruesome sounds and echoes of muscle breaking and reforming drifting to my ears, sending chills up and down my back. Goosebumps invaded the skin of my arms and legs when Xander's hands and feet turned into large paws that were as big as my head with claws that seemed like talons or curved daggers; so sharp I had no doubt they could slice a tree in half. His once human ears vanished to be replaced by pointy, dog-like ears at the top of his head, a muzzle and long white whiskers replacing his mouth and nose.

Once the shift was complete, the giant wolf landed on its feet...er... paws, a loud thud echoing in the clearing.

I had never felt colder in my entire life when its eyes fixated on me. My back wouldn't stop tingling, no, it felt like I was being stabbed in the back by toothpicks. Though still in that strange trance-like state, I managed to back away on shaky legs. I wanted nothing more than to put space between me and him. From the corner of my eye, I saw both my parents back away as well, my father's throat bobbing as he swallowed in fear while my mother clutched at my father's shaking arm till her knuckles colored white. Though they looked just as frightened as I was, they didn't look the least bit surprised.

Come to think of it, not even the strange, scantily-clad party of people behind the wolf seemed surprised, nor even afraid one bit! I even thought I detected smirks and small smiles on their faces, but since the distance was so great between us, I couldn't be sure.

A pack of werewolves. The man-eating monsters.

The words rang in my mind, every tale and story I had ever heard of them coming back to haunt me once again along with my father's allegations. He'd asked me if I was aware of the legends circling the Evergreen Forest and the monsters plaguing it, then he'd said that they were real and claimed Xander was one! Heart battering my ribcage, I forced myself to think clearly when all I wanted to do was scream and shout in terror. I had to be hallucinating or -even better- dreaming! Or maybe this was some sort of illusion. I couldn't have possibly seen what I had just seen, no matter what my parents told me, no matter what my eyes projected to my brain!

But the monster in front of me looked so impossibly real.... Only a few feet away....

"How about I prove it to you?" Those were Xander's words right before he'd ...morphed. Had he really? Everything just didn't make any sense, yet everything -my parents, Xander and even my own eyes- pointed to only one, albeit insane, truth.

My eyes desperately sought my parents'. Their entire focus was on the massive wolf before me, their forms visibly shaking. A sole tear cascaded down my mother's cheek, her eyes glowing with more unshed tears. My heart went out to her, but I was too weak-kneed and stunned to do or say anything at the moment. They had already given me their explanation, but it couldn't possibly be the truth -it wasn't plausible at all! I had gotten lost when I was eleven years old in the Evergreen forest. So why in God's name couldn't I remember something so dramatic, so life-altering? Did I lose my memory?

The thing growled threateningly, a low rumble that came from his throat, as if demanding my undivided attention. Immediately, my eyes snapped back to the wolf and I didn't dare look anywhere else again lest he took me by surprise and sprang.

To my uncontrollable horror, 'Xander' took a large, bold step toward me, then another, then another until he was less than a feet away. I somehow convinced myself moving from my place would enrage the beast and cause him to attack, and so I glued my feet to the ground, willing them to not move even an inch with every ounce of strength in my body. My heart rate soared to new heights as it pounded in tandem with my blurry, distracted mind. Regretting not running the hell away from here when I had the chance, I inwardly cursed myself for being so stupid.

In the wolf's brilliant, amber eyes that were now narrowed into two slits, I saw a challenge. He was daring me to defy him and run -or at least try to. I was loath to admit we both knew I wouldn't be getting very far if I did, and I was scared to think of what he'd do to me when he did catch me. Xander huffed a breath out of his nose straight at my face, causing my short bangs to fly into my eyes. I stifled a startled cry, and then he leaned his head closer and proceeded to sniff me from a distance too little for my liking, practically a hairbreadth away. In fact, Xander's head was so close to mine that his whiskers brushed against my forehead, slightly ticklish and very much alarming.

I suspected he'd open his jaws wide any moment now and devour me whole, the thought nearly giving me a heart attack. Shockingly, his breath didn't smell rotten, bloodied, or of death, but was actually... rather sweet and minty? Just like Xander's...

A sense of deja vu overcame me, sweeping through my troubled mind, followed by sudden recognition. He was the wolf in my house's backyard! I was sure of it; I'd never forget those gorgeous amber eyes that glistened with intelligence akin to a human's.

So who -or what- was I going to believe?

Do you believe us now?

I jumped, startled, and eyed the wolf with a suspicious, baffled gaze, mouth gaping wide open, my face portraying disbelief. Was that Xander's voice I heard in my head just now or was I officially going crazy?

It wouldn't be the strangest thing you've seen or heard all day.

That same voice said matter-of-factly in my head, amusement evident in his tone. A buzz traveled through me. I felt like my personal space had been invaded. Not only could he communicate with me telepathically, he could also hear my own thoughts like I was voicing them on the freakin' radio! Oh, this was all too much to handle in one day! Heck, even if these revelations were revealed to me in the span of years, my poor mind would not be able to accept them all without me going berserk.

Yet how could I continue to deny it when all the evidence pointed to it?

Finally and after what felt like an eternity, my tongue unknotted, and I argued almost childishly, "But this is impossible!"

I know.

This time, Xander's soft voice sounded less amused and more sympathetic, and I felt a strange tug at my heart in response.

Mother moved to me, her arms open, hoping to embrace me, but I stepped away from her thus moving away from Xander. I didn't need a hug or comforting; I needed her or my father or Xander or whoever to finish the rest of her story so I'd know why they were telling me this after all these years, and why on my Goddamn birthday! Wasn't it better to keep this all a secret than tell me and disturb my peace of mind as well as risk exposing the true nature of those beings? Why did I need to know werewolves existed? So they saved me after my parents went to ask them for help and I was extremely grateful, but why was it all of sudden necessary for me to know that when I didn't before? Things just didn't add up.

So with a resolute, surprisingly strong voice, I demanded, my eyes on my mother, "Finish the story." And perhaps then I'd understand better -and maybe even believe.

She hesitated.

"Finish it!" I all but yelled as I glared accusingly at her, my fist clenched as tightly as my heart. Maybe I was being a bit harsh, but I was losing my mind here and could not take this mental torture any longer.

I surreptitiously glanced at the pack of people standing a distance away. Were they werewolves as well?

"The Evergreen Pack demanded a price for saving you." It was my father who spoke, coming to stand next to my mother, but not before shooting me a reproving look for yelling at my mother which I ignored. He placed a hand on her shoulder, visibly squeezing it in reassurance, just like he always did whenever mother was terrified. "Like your mother said, we had no other choice than to give them what they wanted from us, even though we offered them all the money we had and even the house and our cars. We offered them everything, yet no matter how much we pleaded, what they  wanted was..." He trailed off, his brows furrowing and his fist balling tightly.

"What? What did they want?" I questioned demandingly, my heart suddenly beating even harder. The demon that lived at the pit of my stomach reared its ugly head and started clawing at my insides. A part of me didn't want to hear what he was going to say, but the other part would never rest if I didn't find out.

“You.”