Amy starting coming to oh so slowly, and even though her mind felt hazy, she could hear voices. Far, distant voices.

"She's been like this for far too long," one of the voices said. "I'm worried. What if she didn't survive?"

Another voice said, "She had to have survived. Her heart is still beating and it's getting stronger each minute."

Amy slowly opened her eyes and had to squeeze them shut again when everything looked too clear, too focused. What had happened to her?

She tried again and both her father and Geric came into focus, peering down at her with worried expressions. Where was she?

"Amy!" her father cried, starting to rush toward her when Geric held him back roughly with his arm.

"Don't go near her," Geric growled. "She might accidentally lash out."

When Amy got her bearings just enough, she opened her mouth to ask Geric what he meant by that, but the only sound passing through her mouth was a wolfish whine. Her eyes widened as she glanced down at herself, her heart missing a beat when all she saw was brown, grey, and white fur. Furry body. Furry arms. Furry tail.

Amy leapt to her feet in fright and in her haste knocked several items in the tent to the floor. She let out another frightened whine as she stumbled backwards, knocking over even more things to the ground. Everything was too clear, too sharp, and noises bombarded her ears in an overwhelming array of chaos.

Both Geric and her father tried saying something to her, but she felt too frightened to listen. She caught sight of the open tent flap behind them and bolted right past Geric and into the light. Another panicked whine escaped her as the bright light blinded her, and then all she could see were the stares. Stares from her soldiers. Stares from the werewolves. All eyes in the camp were on her.

Involuntarily, her distress caused her tail to tuck between her legs and her ears to lie flat against her head, and then she couldn't take their stares any longer. She started to back up slowly, and then without another moment's hesitation, Amy hurtled toward the cover of the forest, running faster and faster, light footfall after light footfall. Her feet kept stumbling on fallen trees and roots, not used to running on all fours, until she couldn't run anymore. Her chest hurt. Her chest hurt so badly.

Finally, she collapsed next to a small lake, her breathing heavy and ragged. She was a werewolf. She was a werewolf. She was a werewolf.

She tried crying, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was small, heartbreaking whines. What was going on? Why on earth was she a werewolf? How was she supposed to change back?

Amy flopped over onto her side exhaustedly, letting out a huff from her nose. Her wolf nose. She could see her nose. Oh, her poor little soul. She could see her nose.

Once again, her shoulders began shaking, and then she just gave up entirely. It wasn't the same. As a werewolf, she couldn't express herself in the way that she wanted to. How on earth had this happened? Could this be a dream?

A couple minutes later, her ears pricked up as she heard a sound behind her in the brush, and exhaustedly she sat up to find Geric standing just yards away in his wolf form, his movements cautious and calculated. He let out a whine, but this time she could understand him.

Amy, everything is okay. I'm here for you.

More than anything, she wished she could speak, but human language wouldn't come out of her mouth, so she had to hope that her words came across without sounding stupid.

What happened to me? Amy whined back. I'm a werewolf.

Geric approached cautiously before nuzzling her neck and giving her a licking kiss on the side of her mouth. I'm sorry, he replied through the sounds coming from his mouth. I turned you. I didn't have much of a choice. Charles shot you with a silver arrow right in the chest. So in order to save your life, to keep you from dying, I turned you, and your father asked me to do it too. I'm so sorry. I never wished this life on you. But I didn't want to lose you either.

How she could understand such eloquent sentences through the small amount of noise coming out of Geric's mouth, she'd never understand. But now that she thought back to the incident, she remembered Charles shooting her, and then he stood over her as her consciousness faded away. She would have died if it hadn't been for Geric.

What are my people going to think? Amy asked, resting her head on her paw. This felt so strange, being in a wolf's body. Nothing felt the same anymore. I'm a werewolf now. I mean, if I married you, I always suspected that I'd get turned eventually in order to be with you, but never this early. What are my people going to think? I always thought that a human and a werewolf could rule Colmar and maintain peace, but two werewolves?

Geric whined sadly, the little whine holding an immense amount of emotion just in that miniscule noise. He rested his head on top of hers, that small action holding so much meaning behind it. I'm sorry. I never wanted this for you. But for the record, everyone knows what happened and all of your soldiers had been worried. They respect you. They trust you. They adore you, and I don't think you becoming a werewolf is going to change any of that. Your father has been worried sick. I know you'll be welcomed back with open arms.

The two of them stayed silent for the next thirty minutes, just spending time together like this beside the pond until her body stopped trembling. As each minute passed, the pain in her chest became smaller and smaller. This must have been what Geric meant when he said that he healed fast, but for how much her chest hurt, she knew that this wound would probably take days to heal.

As if sensing the direction of her thoughts, Geric said, That arrow is going to leave a scar. Traces of silver still flowed through your blood when you turned. As a human, all who see that scar will be reminded of the sacrifice you made for your kingdom, and no one will be able to forget it.

Amy buried her head deeper into Geric's neck, reveling in the feeling of being engulfed by his fur. It felt so comforting, and she loved the way that she could be so near to him like this without getting squashed.

I don't know how to face them.

Shaking his wolfy head, he replied, Only time will tell, Sweetheart. You gave them a chance, now you need to let them give you a chance.

She nodded. Just the thought of returning to camp as a wolf terrified her, but what terrified her even more was when she'd have to look back at herself in the mirror and see her amber colored eyes.

Can I tell you something? Geric asked as he licked the top of her head endearingly. You are the most beautiful werewolf I've ever seen. Your eyes look the same.

Except for the fact that they're amber, she joked. I'm going to miss my brown eyes.

Geric nudged her up onto her feet and pushed her toward the lake with his nose. Just come look. You're absolutely gorgeous.

Amy took a deep breath before turning her head and meeting her reflection, and she even jumped back a foot at how strange it felt to look at her own reflection and see a wolf staring back at her. But the instant she looked back at herself, she immediately got drawn in by her own eyes. They were a beautiful shade of amber, even different from Geric's eyes. She had a ring of brown around her eyes that had been the color her eyes used to be with brown flecks swirled in with the amber. Her face was a beautiful shade of white with her brown, white, and grey mixed fur engulfing the rest of her and traveling down the length of her snout. But what got her the most were those eyes with a black lining circling the eye and the amber glowing back at her.

She hadn't realized that she had stepped into the water to get a closer look and she leaned in so close that her nose grazed the surface of the water, causing her to sneeze. Once. Twice. Three times.

Beside her, noises flowed from Geric's mouth and only now did she realize it was his wolfy laughter. You're still as adorable as ever, Geric said as he walked around her, rubbing himself against her almost as if to mark his territory. Amy felt incredibly amused, but somehow she liked it, especially as he nuzzled against her neck and gently gnawed on her ear. She loved how he treated her. She wasn't different or alien. Even in her wolf form, she was still just Amy.

Her ears fell back against her head as a thought crossed her mind. Geric, how do I change back? I don't want to stay like this forever.

Geric shook his head. It's not something I can teach you. It's something you need to figure out on your own. You might not be able to change back into a human for days, perhaps even weeks, and even then your transformations will hurt a lot until you get used to it.

Amy whined, rubbing her paw against her face in sorrow. This could not be happening. Her people needed her. Werewolf or not, her people needed her.

He licked her mouth again and brushed his nose against hers, something that felt so intimate and reserved just for her and she loved it. As long as you are a wolf, I will be too. I won't let you go about this alone. I will be with you the entire way.

A mix between agrateful sigh and a grateful whine came out of her mouth as she nuzzled herhead in Geric's fur. This was probably the worst time that she could havepossibly been turned, but at least she was alive. She had Geric to thank forsaving her life, even if that meant that she