Free Turned by Kessie Carroll Page A

his head and stared at her. His
eyes were shallow and wild.
     
    Charlotte crouched beside him, longing to
take his hand. "My love, it's me. Come back to me!"
     
    He scrambled to his feet and backed away from
her, teeth bared. She moaned. "Please, no! Don't you remember who
you are?"
     
    Bernard whirled and ran.
     
    Charlotte bounded after him. He fled through
the assembled captives, who watched with ears pricked. She followed
him, heart pounding. How could she get through to the man inside
the beast? She had brought him back before, somehow. Perhaps the
key was her voice—the other wolves reacted to it. She must corner
him and talk to him.
     
    ***
     
    Bernard fled in a miasma of terror. A wolf
who spoke like a human? Monster! He sprinted across the floor of
the pen, dodging among other wolves, but always the monster's feet
pattered behind him.
     
    He reached the far wall and turned at bay,
head down and fur bristling. The white monster wolf halted and
cried more human words at him. The rhythm and cadence slid sideways
through his ears and seeped inside him. Somewhere inside him,
something was wrong. Her voice touched it. Somehow it terrified him
worse, and at the same time filled him with loathing. He hated
something—what was it? It must be her!
     
    He lunged forward and snapped at her face,
but she dodged and backed up. She kept speaking, meaningless
syllables cascading into his ears in a never-ending stream. Among
them were a particularly painful pair of sounds: Ber Nard.
     
    Those sounds drilled into him and made him
flinch. The white wolf saw this and stepped toward him again, ears
pricked, eyes bright. Her beauty hurt his core, too. He made a
moaning howl and covered his ears with both paws. But she crept
closer, and he had to swipe at her with his claws. Thankfully she
jumped aside—he didn't want to hurt her, not really. But her voice
frightened and hurt him, deep inside.
     
    His nerve broke and he ran again, following
the edge of their prison. She followed him. He hurled a warning
howl over his shoulder. Other wolves scattered out of his way, but
not the white female. Why did she keep following? Why wouldn't she
leave him to wallow in misery? Her voice stirred the wrongness
inside him and aroused his hatred.
     
    His hatred of himself.
     
    He reached the far end of the pen and another
wall rose before him. A corner. He whirled to face the monster
wolf, snarling to warn her off. If only she would leave him!
     
    She panted, "Bernard, Bernard, Bernard!"
     
    He cried in pain and covered his ears.
Something twisted inside him, struggling toward the surface. It
grappled with his animal instincts, fueled by his loathing of
himself--his claws--his fur--
     
    His cries became words. "Stop it, stop it, it
hurts me! Leave me alone!"
     
    She fell silent. Other wolves shambled away
from them, ears flatted.
     
    Bernard panted, shoulders heaving, and stared
at the white wolf. Charlotte. He knew her name, and he knew
himself. What had happened? He checked his claws for blood. Yet
inside him, the pain and loathing continued. "Charlotte, why are
you here?"
     
    She cautiously stepped toward him. "To bring
you back."
     
    He opened his arms and she rushed into them.
They embraced like humans, standing on two legs with their arms
around each other. "You're beautiful," he whispered into her mane.
"Even as a beast, I didn't want to harm you."
     
    She was the source of his pain-- or rather,
his love for her. Even as a beast, the thought of harming her
tortured him. Even now, the elixir battled the curse, tugging him
between sentience and base instinct.
     
    "Come, quickly." Charlotte's voice was
unsteady and tears wet her muzzle. "We must return you to the mages
so you can give them the formula."
     
    Bernard dropped to all fours and escorted her
back toward the ladder and gate. "The elixir isn't strong enough.
It's why I keep waffling between man and beast. I'll need to make
changes..."
     
    "Yes," she said. "Look at