Shadows creep across the supply room floor, closing in on me. The sun that once shined through the high window has gone gray. Is it almost night? Feels like hours have passed since Miss Chaney left, but I can still smell her lavender perfume in the air. I shake the bars of my cage for the hundredth time. I yell my lungs out again. With all the screaming, my throat feels like I’ve swallowed glass. My raw, raspy voice echoes off the supply room’s walls, but no one comes. I’m truly all alone.

I can’t even sit down and have a real good cry. The basketballs crush me against the cage bars, making me gasp for breath. I hear Ms. Chaney’s words play over and over again in my head.

“If you want to get out, all you need to do is transform,” she had said. It was still daytime and the sun made her yellow dress glow like gold. “Your wolf form could break right through that door.”

“But… It’s still light out. There’s no moon.”

She stared at me… through me. Her eyes had gone as black as eel skin. “You don’t need the moon to turn. You never did. You simply need to embrace the animal deep within you.”

I felt my heart race. Could it be true? Could I really go all wolfy just by thinking about it? If Ms. Chaney was right, my wolf form could break free. Maybe I could outrun her. It was worth a shot. I closed my eyes, concentrating hard. I thought about hair and claws. I thought about raw meat and howling at the moon. A low growl worked its way up my throat. I gripped the bars again, and shook them as hard as I could.

Nothing happened.

I didn’t change at all. Didn’t even grow a long, gross hair like before. I wasn’t a werewolf. I was still just plain, stupid, weak Kat.

“Pathetic,” said Ms. Chaney. “Maybe I’ll have more luck with your sister. I hear she’s camping out with your mom in my forest.”

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“No.” It was the only word my brain would let me say. “No. No, No.”

“I’ll say hello,” said Ms. Chaney. Then she strolled out the door, high heels clicking away. It was the worst thing anyone has ever said to me, and she didn’t even throw a glance my way when she said it. Like I didn’t matter.

Now, in the dark of the supply room, I think about Ms. Chaney and her werewolf pack circling the Sunflower Scouts’ campsite. In my mind, I see my mom and sister hugging each other close, terrified. I see wolves with saliva dripping from their fangs, prowling closer and closer to them.

I taste salt and realize it’s my tears streaming down my cheeks to my lips. Stop crying. I think to myself. Don’t be a baby.

But I can’t stop. The tears keep coming. My body shakes as I sob.

STOP IT!

The words roll out of my throat, a low, angry growl. My hands grip the bars so tightly my knuckles turn pale. Metal screeches as it begins to bend. Then…

KREAAAACH!

I rip the cage doors apart as if they were made of popsicle sticks. Basketballs bounce and roll across the floor as I leap from the cage and dash towards the door.

Mom… Emily… I need to save them. But how?

Ms. Chaney has obviously been a werewolf a long time and she’ll have a whole pack watching her back. I’ll be lucky if I can find Justin.

My pulse pounds. My veins twitch. I sprint through the school hallways, feeling the change coming over me. Then something catches my eye. My sneakers screech against the tile as I stumble to a full stop.

The sign beside the door reads, “Miss Chaney, Art 201.”

I don’t let myself transform. Not yet. Instead, I keep the wolf inside and push my way into Miss Chaney’s classroom. It’s a quiet, lonely place at night. Scents of watercolor paint and magic markers hang in the very air, tickling my nose. The normally cheerful artwork thumbtacked to the walls now looks dark and sad.

I circle around to Miss Chaney’s desk. It takes less than 10 seconds to find what I’m looking for—a bottle of perfume. I slam the bottom drawer shut and slip the bottle into my pocket. Then I rush out of the room and into the corridor.

It’s there I find the big trophy case near the school’s entrance. Through the finger-smudged glass, I gaze at the basketball trophy my dad won when he was a student here.

A sudden realization hits me. I know what I need to do.

My hands shake as I open the case.