Decisions: Kaylid Novellas, #3

By Mel Todd

Turning into a wolverine was fascinating.  It would be better if she could take notes while in wolverine form though.

 

Affected by the strange event sweeping the Earth, Cassandra Borden decides to keep this new ability secret.  None of her family has changed, and it isn't all that relevant to her life, though fascinating.

 

Trying to get a new discovery recognized, something that could save lives, seemed much more important. Though her sister would call her dull, Cass loved what she discovered in her job as a scientist. Stymied by political maneuvering she throws herself into making sure her discoveries are published and patented.

Being kidnapped in her parking lot and then waking up in a jungle with four other naked people is not what she had planned.  Discovering what they need to do and the cost to her loved ones if she doesn't?  Cass will have to decide exactly what she can handle, otherwise her death might be the first.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bad Ash Publishing
• Release date: Jul 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781386699811

Mel Todd

Chasing her dream of being a full-time writer, Mel Todd has 17 stories out, her Kaylid Chronicles, the Blood War series, and more to come.  Owner of Bad Ash Publishing she is creating a book empire full of good stories and good authors.   With over a million words published, she is aiming for another million in the next two years.  All stories that will grab you and make you hunger for more.  With one co-author and more books in the work, her stories can be found on Amazon and other retailers.  You can follow her on Facebook at - https://www.facebook.com/badashbooks/

Book preview

1

SURPRISE!

The solar flare that has been caressing the Earth for the few days, has spawned Aurora Borealis as low as Seattle, and tonight promises to have them be just as spectacular. While we in the Sacramento Valley won’t be so lucky, we do have a gorgeous day ahead, so don’t forget to wear that sunscreen. ~KWAK News

Cass dragged herself from bed, rubbing her head and headed for the kitchen. With a dry throat and pounding headache, water, icy cold water had priority.

Damn, if I'm going to have a hangover, I'd like to have at least drank something last night. She muttered, her voice scratchy, even as she poured water in a glass and drained it. She’d shut off the alarm but didn’t manage to drag herself out of bed until well after nine. Normally she’d be at work before eight.

The water helped with the throat but not the aching pain and headache. Wonderful. How in the world did I catch a virus? I never talk to anyone, well not in person, if I can avoid it. She leaned her head against the cool stainless-steel fridge and moaned with relief. She stood there for far too long before she pulled herself up.

Come on, work remember. You need to get to work. Even if you don't want to. Her voice bounced off the walls in her kitchen and convinced her to get moving. Talking to herself had become a bad habit but she'd lived alone, for so long, and worked in almost total isolation. Sometimes the sound of her voice was the only thing that convinced her she existed.

Cass enjoyed her job, working as a researcher on plant extracts for a local start up lab, Demeter, LTD. Today, she wanted to crawl back into bed. In the bathroom she downed a few ibuprofen and winced as she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Normally her shoulder length dark brown hair lay flat and straight, today it stood up in weird swirls and whirls, and her pale blue eyes were blood shot and felt swollen.

She drew back blinking. Umm, maybe I should stay home? I look like an extra in a zombie movie. This time she took a serious assessment of her body and frowned, achy, fever, bloodshot eyes, headache, but no congestion, no heavy lungs, and where did that ringing in her head come from?

No, I will not admit defeat. she muttered. It sounded weak even to her, but she stripped out of her night shirt and underwear. Shower will help.

She stared at her pale face in the mirror, her sun-kissed skin appeared pasty today. A wave of dizziness gripped her and she grabbed onto the sink trying to shake it off. Her body felt like someone had aimed a flame thrower at her. Catching sight of herself in the mirror, she froze, eyes locked on the being looking back at her. Her eyes weren't her eyes, they had changed shape and color. Knees buckled without her consent and Cass fell to the ground as pain exploded through her body and the world short circuited out of her awareness.

Her eyes flicked open, she lay there frozen, even as her chest heaved to bring in oxygen. Everything looked funny, off, the colors and brightness not quite right. The pretty fleur-de-lis pattern on the tile of her shower should be visible from where she lay, but the pattern seemed blurred for some reason.

Oh god, did I smack my head and damage my ocular nerve?

The thought rippled through and she jerked her hand up to feel the back of her head and a huge paw with six-inch-long claws lifted towards her face.

She shrieked and tried to scramble backwards, but the sound that reverberated in the bathroom freaked her out. She flipped over trying to see who could have made that sound. The claws moved also, clattering against the tile floor as her body twisted in a motion that she shouldn’t have been able to make, shoving her against the glass shower door. Cass scanned every inch of the bathroom trying to focus her eyes, but it still seemed blurry any more than a few feet away. No matter how hard she looked no one was there.

Okay, take a deep breath. She muttered, or she mean to mutter all that came out were weird growls and chirps and she froze again. Her heart beat in her chest so hard she could see it pulsing in her vision and she grew dizzy.

Forcing a lump of fear and stress down she swallowed then closed her eyes and listened. The only sound her own harsh, rapid breathing and a heart that she suspected would explode any second.

Deep breath.

She inhaled slowly through her nose and instantly began choking as scents assaulted her wrapping around her sensitive nose like burr weeds. Cass had always had a sensitive nose, it was one of the reasons she excelled at her job. She could smell differences, recognized chemical compounds, and often let that sense help her make decisions in a lab where one drop could be one drop too many. But that sensitivity had been magnified a thousand times; bleach, coconut, lavender, antiseptic, sweat, mint toothpaste, and urine all battered their way into her mind and she freaked.

Panting, she raced out of the bathroom, part of her noting she was too low, nothing made sense, but all she could do was try to get away. Running from room to room, trying to find a way out, unable to even think about how doors worked, she found herself under her bed, the darkness, the subtle scents of sweat and dust all that surrounded her. She lay her head on the floor eyes closed and just breathed.

Cassandra Elizabeth Borden, use your mind and think. You’re a scientist use your brain and quit reacting like a hormone addled idiot.

Her mental voice sounded like her mom when she did that and perversely it made her feel a little bit better. Another deep breath then she opened her eyes. The darkness under the bed didn’t seem as dark as it should have.

Why am I laying on my belly?

That thought filtered to the top as she registered her odd pose. The dust made her nose itch and she reached up to itch it and froze as claws came into her field of vision. Her heart rate accelerated a bit, but this time she kept a hold of herself and slowly wiggled her finger. The first most index claw went up and down and now that she paid attention, because you didn’t normally pay attention to what it felt like to move your fingers you just did it, she could feel her finger move.

I have claws.

The thought lay stark, like a fact in the lab, something you couldn’t avoid. Facts like that made her feel better. This one didn’t. With slow meticulous precision, a tendency that made her so good in the lab, her gaze traveled up her arm. Well, paw and forearm. Rather than being slightly tan with faint blond hairs, it was covered with dark brown shaggy fur. Experimentally she moved the entire leg.

Yep, I have a paw and am covered with fur.

That fact also lay there, but this time it didn’t seem so awful. More like an interesting fact she’d never encountered before that might change everything. Cass ran her tongue over her teeth – sharp, long teeth in a narrow mouth – and her tongue slipped out to lick her nose, a skill she’d never possessed.

Okay, that implies a lot.

With slow interest, cataloging everything, she went over her whole body; arms, legs, ears, and to her both surprise and not surprise, a tail. By the time she got that far, she’d rather expected the tail, but expecting a tail and having a tail were two different things.

Either I hit my head and this is all a dream the likes of which could fund research papers for years, or I’ve turned into an animal. Badge or wolverine or something like that. Only one way to know for sure.

Conflicting thoughts urged her back into the safety of the dark space under the bed and forward into discovery. An eternity that was mere seconds later, she gazed, mouth ajar and brain absolutely quiet for the first time in a long time. A wolverine reflected back at her in the mirror.

Wolverines don’t normally get above thirty pounds or so.

Her thought seemed abstract, distant, and she slumped down, unable to take her gaze off the dark brown creature with pale stripe along its ribs and across its forehead.

Breathe, you can’t do anything if you’re running around like an idiot.

Again the internal voice came across like her mother stood behind her. It had the effect of putting some starch into her spine.

Data, I need data. I can’t do anything without data.

That thought helped push back the gibbering thought that this couldn’t be possible and Cass started doing what any good scientist did, she gathered data. Weighing herself required her to stand on her hind legs and bend to see the numbers.

Weight 158 pounds. Huh, I lost two pounds since last week. Yay me.

She checked her height as best she could, though she didn't expect to be the same height in this form as in human; on her hind legs she stood five feet, a good five inches shorter. The claws were long, strong, and extremely dexterous.

I'll need to research wolverines when this is done.

Her nose twitched and she realized she was ignoring valuable data. She started to sniff and inspect herself, the wolverine body was flexible in a way that only Olympic athletes normally were. She could smell a strange scent, not unpleasant but slightly musky. It reminded her of what her nose had caught when she'd walked in on a college roommate having sex - rich, sharp, and screaming femininity. This scent had the same base but was more subtle, yet stronger at the same time.

Huh. Better hope I don't run into any male wolverines.

All the data collected, she fretted about not being able to write it down. Sighing, she faced what her initial panic and then fascination had allowed her to push to the back of her mind.

I need my notebook. But I guess the question is why am I a wolverine? Why did I turn into one?

That question burned bright, but she couldn't come up with an idea. Even if she added in mad scientists, weird experiments, and a lab accident gone wrong, of which she didn't know any.

There hadn't been any experiments and nothing had gone wrong in her lab. She didn't know of any way this could work, at least not without magic. And she didn't believe in magic, no matter how much she wanted to some days.

Rising up on her hind legs she peered at the clock and sighed.

Chuck is going to throw a fit and make my life hell. Not only am I hours late, I didn't call. Dammit. Bright side, if I never change back, I never have to deal with Chuck again.

The idea made her snort. She'd never be that lucky. Chuck Werner acted as her lab director. He had two PhD's and yet couldn't get a slide set up properly. The perfect example of promoted to his highest level of incompetence, and she figured