Chapter 23: The Morning After

I turned in every direction. Nothing looked familiar. The forest was silent. Too silent. I wasn’t even wearing a shirt.

“What the hell is going on?”

I immediately sat up and looked around. Tall trees surrounded me in every direction. Birds chirped somewhere above, and the morning sun filtered through the leaves.

“This has to be a joke…”

I looked down at myself. My jeans were dirty, my feet were covered in mud, and my shirt was nowhere to be seen. I slowly stood up, turning in circles.

“How did I get here?”

The last thing I remembered was lying on my bed after touching the artifact. After that… nothing.

A strange feeling settled in my stomach. Did someone bring me here? Or… did I walk here myself?

“No…” I rubbed my forehead. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

Then I remembered my phone. I quickly reached into my pocket. To my surprise, it was still there. “Thank God.” I unlocked it and immediately called Mike.

The phone rang twice.

“Jax?” Mike answered almost instantly. “You sound alive.”

“I need help.”

His tone changed immediately. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.”

There was a short silence. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

“Can you come pick me up?”

“…What?” He sounded surprised.

“I’m serious.”

Another pause. “Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Stay where you are.”

“I don’t even know where I am.” I looked around me. It was all leaves.

“Share your location,” he said quickly.

“Oh… right.” I quickly sent it.

“I’ll be there.”

The call ended.

I slipped the phone back into my pocket and leaned against a nearby tree. Nothing about this felt normal. Not even for my life anymore.

Less than fifteen minutes later, I heard the sound of an engine. A Jeep stopped near the edge of the forest. Mike jumped out before the engine had even fully stopped. He looked around frantically.

“Jax!”

“I’m over here.”

He rushed toward me. The moment he saw me standing there shirtless, he froze.

“You weren’t kidding.”

“I told you.”

Mike looked around carefully. “Did someone attack you?”

“No.”

“You don’t remember anything?”

I shook my head. “I went to bed. And woke up here. That’s it.”

Mike stared at me for a long moment before letting out a sharp breath like he had just found out something . “I think I know what’s happening.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You do?”

He nodded. “I stayed up almost the whole night.”

“Doing what?”

“Research.”

I blinked. “Research? About what?”

“About werewolves.” he answered back.

I couldn’t help laughing. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I’m serious.” He folded his arms. “I read a few old stories online.”

I gave him a doubtful look. “Oh, great. Internet experts.”

“I’m serious, Jax.” His expression didn’t change. “They talked about people who were bitten by Alpha werewolves.”

I stopped smiling. “And?”

“They said some of them experienced something called primal wandering.”

“Primal what?”

Mike nodded. “Primal Wandering. An irresistible instinct to seek the forest or wild places as your werewolf nature awakens.”

I stared at him. Then I burst out laughing. “You can’t be serious.”

“I’m serious.” He shrugged. “But considering everything I’ve seen this week… I don’t think anything is impossible anymore.”

I wanted to argue. I really did. But after everything that had happened… I couldn’t.

Mike smiled. “Come on, get into the car.” He looked down at my bare chest.

I looked at myself and sighed. “Let's go.”

Mike’s house wasn’t far from the woods. The drive there was quiet. I kept staring out the window, trying to remember how I had ended up in the forest. Nothing. It was like someone had erased part of my memory. I was starting to believe if what Mike said was true.

Mike glanced at me every now and then. “You are thinking about what I said aren't you?”

“I’ve been trying to remember how I got there.”

“Anything?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“You've got to start believing in me, Jax!"

A few minutes later, he pulled into the driveway of a modest two-story house. “We’re here.”

I climbed out and followed him inside. “My mom’s already at work,” he said as he locked the door behind us. “So we’ve got the place to ourselves.”

“Good,” I replied, looking down at my muddy jeans. “I probably look like I escaped from the jungle.”

Mike laughed. “You actually do.”

He led me upstairs and opened the door to his room. “You can use my bathroom. There are clean towels inside.”

“What about clothes?”

He walked over to his wardrobe and pulled out a black hoodie and a pair of jeans. “They might be a little loose, but they’ll do.”

I caught them with a smile. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

After the bathroom door closed behind me, I turned on the shower. Warm water ran over my body, washing away the dirt and dried blood that still clung to my skin. I looked down at the claw marks across my chest. They were almost gone. Only faint scars remained. The doctor’s medicine really worked.

But the memory of Deucalion’s claws cutting into me still made my body tense. I closed my eyes. Then another image flashed through my mind. The battlefield. The blood. The glowing artifact. Eli… Why had he been standing beside me?

I quickly opened my eyes and splashed water over my face. “I need answers.”

A few minutes later, I stepped out wearing Mike’s clothes. He looked up from his phone. “They actually fit.”

“Barely.”

He grinned. “Good enough.”

I nodded. “Let’s get to school.” I was wondering how the school would be able to cover up all the damages caused by my fight with Deucalion.