Turned Read Online Free Page B

Charlotte said. "We
can't stay here, can we?"
     
    "We'll either be shot as monsters, or taken
back to the werewolf pens," Bernard said. "Such a shame. If I could
contact the Mage Society with my formula, they could perfect the
elixir. It might let people who are werewolves at present regain
their sanity. And perhaps their human bodies."
     
    "Where should we go?" Charlotte's voice
trembled.
     
    Bernard thought for a moment. "To the forest.
We can live out there until this dies down, then I might be able to
contact Kryn."
     
    They sat for a moment longer. Charlotte gazed
at her muscled, white-furred forearms, and her long pink and brown
claws. She raised a clawed hand in an old gesture to where her hair
had been. Instead she touched her pointed ears and whimpered.
     
    Bernard rose to two legs. "Sitting here does
us no good. Let's see if we can salvage any food."
     
    He shambled to the door, and Charlotte
followed him. This body walked on two legs all right, but if
Bernard moved any faster, he fell forward onto all fours, like an
animal.
     
    The house was quiet now. But with their
heightened sense of smell, the mansion reeked of blood, death, and
spoiled food. As they picked their way between the bodies of the
servants, Charlotte whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," to each. So
she did care about them.
     
    The wild werewolves had been in the kitchen.
Food lay trampled and ruined on the floor, but a good deal remained
on the counters and in the pantries. Bernard picked up a box and
began loading food into it, but Charlotte slapped his claws away
and did it herself. Even though her hands were clawed, hers were
daintier, better at handling small objects.
     
    Bernard found a cloth sack that had once held
vegetables, and they shoved the loaded box inside. Charlotte slung
it across her back, and they hurried outdoors. The silence of the
mansion weighed on their nerves, and they expected any moment to
hear the screech of magefire, or the clicking claws of approaching
wolves.
     
    Outdoors it smelled cool and fresh. A
particular tension relaxed inside of Bernard—his animal body
subconsciously feared being indoors, as if it were a trap. "I can
see in the dark," he said in surprise.
     
    Charlotte turned in a circle. "I didn't
expect this. It's like twilight instead of night."
     
    Bernard dropped to all fours. "There are
still werewolves around. Stay close." He bounded across the
grounds, and Charlotte trotted after him. It was the natural way to
run. Natural or not, they had to adjust to their new bodies or
die.
     

Chapter 4: Shelter
     
    The pair crossed the creek that divided their
property from the next, and trotted uphill toward the woods behind
Halfmoon Manor. Their property sat on the edge of the Lyedyn City
limits, backed up against the Blackwood.
     
    Charlotte lagged behind Bernard as they
crested a hill. He stopped to rest, and she did the same, tongue
hanging out. "I'm not used to this."
     
    "Let me take the bag." Bernard held out a
paw. She pulled the strap off gratefully and handed it to him. He
slung it over his own shoulder, where it almost disappeared in the
long fur.
     
    Charlotte's desolation knew no bounds. Had
she been human, she'd have been sobbing, but this body didn't cry
easily. Instead of her throat burning and eyes watering, she had
the impulse to whimper over and over. They were leaving their
beautiful home for--what? The dirty, cold, wet forest with its
briars and ticks. A whine rose in her throat and became the words,
"Where should we go?"
     
    "Away from humans." Bernard's ears flicked
forward and back in time with his thoughts. "Away from werewolves.
Somewhere quiet."
     
    "But what about shelter?" Charlotte pointed
at the semi-cloudy sky with a claw. "What about when it rains?"
     
    "We'll find a cave." Bernard rose to all
fours and loped down the hill.
     
    Charlotte pounded after him, hating every
step she took. She hated the fur on her arms, her long nose, and
the feel of her teeth against