Guarding Omega

8

The moon was roaming the sky at its top at this late hour of the night. Ivory was sitting curled on the slightly dried mattress, rolled in a ball within the somewhat warm cocoon the weathered blanket could provide. Her body was shaking cold and her lips quivering uncontrollably.

Ivory silently prayed to endure the cold and waited with anticipation until the sun was up to bathe the holes of her tent with its warmth.

Suddenly, her body tightened as she heard a voice whispering her name. The whisper was soft, almost gentle. And was not challenging to find out who was. There's only one person who treats her that way.

Alice's head slowly appears from the cloth of the tent, slightly pushed to the side. Her eyes fall directly on her and when she spots Ivory shaking in her corner she dashes inside, rushing to her side.

Taking off her warm cape, she spreads it on top of Ivory, above her blanket. She knows it couldn't be much, but at least she could be a bit warmer—a gift to her before she departs.

"You're leaving..." Ivory said with a knot of sadness blocking her voice as her eyes turn shiny with unshed tears gathering below them.

Alice - seeing her in tears - felt lost for words. She nods getting a hand out, reaching for Ivory's face, and wiping her tears away with her thumb. "He's here... to take me with him to our new home." she manages to say with a trembling voice.

The separation was devastating for both. Ivory felt like she sees her friend and saviour for the last time. She knows that the moment Alice steps out of the pack's territory, her fate is sealed.

The emotional moment between the two girls brakes abruptly when a wave of pain strikes Ivory, causing her to bend in half, screaming. Alice - shaken with fear - grabs Ivory by the shoulders, helping her turn back on the mattress.

Although feeling cold, Ivory's forehead is gleaming with a layer of sweat. Alice looks around in shock and dashes to fetch a bucket with the used water placed further away. Tearing a piece of cloth from the hem of her dress, she soaks it in the bucket's water and then squeezes it to take most of the water out, she places the cloth on Ivory's forehead, wiping lightly the sweat.

Shaky breaths are coming out of Ivory's mouth as the waves of pain hit her repetitively. A strange and unprecedented feeling inside her tears her apart, like something trying to come out to the surface.

"Please bear with me Ivory" Alice's voice - coated with stress - echoes from above her. "It's finally happening. You're shifting."

There was a mix of happiness and agony in Alice's voice, confusing Ivory as she struggles to endure.

Another wave of pain crushes on her, letting out a scream.

"Don't fight it. The more you do the worse will become. Just let it go and will be over soon."

Though struggling and fearing what will become with her, Ivory tries to let herself to this strange feeling that pushes her to break free. Ear-splitting screams echo in her tent and beyond, accompanied by the bloodcurdling sound of bones breaking and connecting back. Ivory closes her eyes shut tightly and her teeth clench.

After a few moments - that both Alice and Ivory felt like hours - Ivory opens slowly her eyes as the pain is fading away.

Ivory feels strange. Like she has two hearts beating inside her. Her senses are sharper than before but exhaustion beats her. She's lying on her side on the ground.

Her eyes search and find Alice - who's kneeling beside her. Her expression is something between awe and worry.

Ivory pushes herself to sit up but her limbs are feeling weird and wobbly. She wanted to speak but when she attempted to, a strange voice, resembling a mix of growl and groan came out of her mouth.

"Ivory you're amazing" Alice speaks with wide eyes and mouth slightly open. "Your wolf is finally awake!" she lets out a high-pitched whisper.

Her excitement makes Ivory's heart flutter. If she wasn't so weak she would have jumped around from happiness. How proud will her parents be upon witnessing her first shift? That thought made her heart tug.

The first shift is a moment that cannot be missed and yet her parents are not alive to see it. This made Ivory miss them more.

Alice moved quickly standing on her feet and rushing to bring her usual dress as the one she was wearing resulted in various torn pieces on the ground. "Okay, now picture yourself in your human form to be changed back," Alice whispered calmly.

Ivory closed her eyes and tried to picture herself as she remembered to be when she looked at her reflection in the bucket's water. After a few moments, her body was transforming back into her human form.

As soon as the shift was completed, a gust of ice-cold air landed on her naked body, causing a constant shiver to spread through her. Alice helped her put on the dress and also gave her the coat she had given her earlier.

Alice wanted to stay the whole night with her friend, teaching her about her wolf and how to control the shift and many more that she could do, but her time had run out.

A howl tears the silence of the forest in two and Alice freezes in place. That's her cue. Throwing her hands around Ivory she crushes her into a warm hug. Ivory's eyes fill with tears, rolling down her cheeks and soaking Alice's shoulder.

"I'll come back for you." Alice's voice breaks with emotion as she sees her fragile, scared, and weak friend. "Please hold on Ivory, and I'll come back for you as fast as I can."

Ivory's voice seemed to be lost. Opening her mouth no words could be slipped out. Instead, she mouthed a thank you for her angel. The angel that was leaving home, going to a new place creating a bright future. Her home.

Alice helped Ivory lie down on her mattress and covered her with the blanket before she gives a soft kiss on the forehead and walks - with heavy steps - away from the tent.

Ivory remained there, in a whirlwind of emotions. The happiness she was feeling for Alice finding her fated mate was contradicted by the sorrow of losing her and the hell that waited patiently in the corner to be unleashed on her.

She was ready to fall into a slumber when something grabbed her violently and lifted her from the bed. Before she could react, a hand holding a cloth with a strange smell blocked her mouth and nose, silencing her scream.

Unable to fight it, Ivory fell unconscious in the hands of her captor.