The Alpha: Luna

I sprinted, trying my hardest to keep up with my sister ahead of me. Her blonde ponytail bounced, taunting me. It was as if the hair itself had issued me a challenge. I ran harder, and grabbed the curly locks, pulling back sharply.

"Haha!" I shouted, watching her stumble just enough to take the lead. Her glare was playful and sharp. "See you at the forest, sucker!" I dug deep, and sprinted harder until my feet's pounding was the only thing I heard. The sidewalk quickly wore away to a rocky path. Pebbles crunched underneath my weight, and weeds were crushed mercilessly by my sneakers. I snuck a peek back down the trail, and saw nothing of my sister, Jenna. This didn't concern me, so I just kept racing to the forest ahead.

The deep green trees beckoned me to them. The smell of pine and oak and squirrel and whatever else lived and grew in the forest washed over me immediately.

The trail ended abruptly at the tree line, and I stopped in front of the forest to wait for my sister. The call of a bird made the hair on my arms stand up. It was liberating to be in the wilderness again. Since I'd just graduated high school a week ago, I'd been to busy to come on these runs with my sister. I'm glad I could go today; I guess you could say these runs are a kind of bonding for us. I saw Jenna's figure in the distance, and she gave me a curt nod accompanied by one of her famous smirks.

Normal sisters would probably go to the mall or something to bond, but we aren't normal sisters. No, we are werewolf sisters.

My snowy white fur sprouted from my arms and legs, and my eyes prickled as they turned an even icier blue. The neon pink and yellow jogging clothes I was wearing sagged off of my now canine frame, and I had to carefully use my teeth to pry them off. Once the clothes were safely piled by a pine tree a big dusty yellow wolf prodded up beside me. My sister's wolf was more muscular than mine, and her eyes were a fiery shade of amber.

'Let's go.' She shot me through the mind link that all wolves share.

'Sure thing.' I kept the pace slow at first, but steadily got quicker as we moved through the forest.

My wolf let out a fierce howl of pleasure, and fire coursed through my veins. My muscles screamed for more, so I let them go faster. My wolf began to pant with effort, but I pushed myself faster and faster. Jenna once again disappeared from my view- so much for bonding- but I still went on.

Not a second later, a force slamming against my shoulder and knocked me off of my feet. A scowl of distaste was worn clear across my face as I turned to Jenn- wait. No Jenna. But someone HAD knocked into me, I was sure of it. Then a scent washed over me that was most definitely werewolf. It was sickly sweet with a whiff of vanilla and sugar. I looked for the source of the delightful smell, but found none. Rather than being intrigued by the scent, I was disgusted with the thought that a strange wolf would just come, knock me down, and take off.

"Hey!" I heard Jenn call. "Where'd you go?" She shouted from somewhere not too far away in the trees. It would be like her to get lost and shift back to a human.

I let myself stew a while before answering her. I didn't want to subject my sister with my blind fury right then. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I am the Luna of my pack. Well, actually I'm the Alpha; the Luna; both. My dad was the Alpha, but he never had a son. I was the first-born, so I stepped up when no one else would. I was excited to lead the pack one day, but also scared. How was I supposed to fill a role that a woman never had to fill? I didn't even have a mate to help me watch over the pack. Oh, well.

I smoothed down my black-speckled fur with my tongue before responding to my sister.

'Over here, Jenn.' I said through the mind link.