My arm felt like it was being ripped out of its socket as Kat pulled me through the crowds. She was like a hound of where shopping was involved. I was in the middle of city square on a beautiful fall day. My best friend Kaitlin and I were searching for dresses to wear to our graduation banquet. It was tradition that when a werewolf reached 19 they "graduated" and officially became full-grown Wolves. In December we would officially become members of the pack. This year we were having a masquerade ball after the graduation ceremony to celebrate. Kat and I were both required to get dressed up and attend, much to my dismay.
The council would not be happy if I both showed up in jeans and t-shirts like we wanted to. The members of the council were the ones that led the northern wolves. It was a group of 11 people voted into office by the pack. The alpha was the 12th member of the council, but an Alpha was born into the position, not voted. The council made the pack laws and helped protect us from outsiders. But more importantly, they protected the outsiders from us.
The pack community was secluded. We didn't want to risk infecting the humans. There was only one other pack that we knew of, but they lived much farther south, and we rarely had contact between the two. Being a wolf was like a plague. When a human gets bitten by a werewolf on a full moon their bodies begin to mold and change. The makeup of every single cell in the body shifts, and they become more animal than human. Eventually the body reaches a point where they are able to shift from a two-legged form into a large wolf. If two infected wolves have a child then the disease is passed through the bloodline, so by now most of the community was pure-bred.
The square sat on the far edge of the community, bordering the eastern woods. It was lined with small shops that the pack has built over the years. Nearly everything we could ever need to survive was made within a 10 mile radius. And everything that isn't made in the city is shipped to a small house about twenty miles south of our fathers borders and carted back into the city limits.
The shops were placed in a large circle surrounding a small playground. Right next to the playground stood a 20-foot-tall dinosaur sculpture. No one seemed to know exactly how Rex had gotten there, most believed it was some intricate teen prank, but he had become a sort of mascot for the pack. The littles only went to school for four hours a day, so by this time in the afternoon the square was swarming with people. Children sat on Rex's tail, and played on the large play set, while the teens hung out on the benches outside of the homegrown stores. We may be quarantined, but it had never felt constricting to me. The pack was home.
"We should head into that one" I turned my head to see where Kat was pointing. It was a quaint little shop with a sign that read Carlee's Boutique.
"Sure" I said. It's not like we had many options. "I think that's where Jessica got her dress last year, and it was gorgeous."
"It was gorgeous! Maybe she would just let me borrow hers."
"Everyone would notice. When you're the only girl in your year, you tend to draw attention."
"She would have been in the spotlight even if she were surrounded by a group of supermodels." Kat giggled. It was true. As the Alpha's daughter Jessica was always the focus. Not to mention she was stunning. It was amazing that she hadn't become shallow after years of fame.
"I wish she were here to help us." Jess was supposed to come with us for moral support, but she had gotten sick. She seemed to be sick a lot these days.
"I know. But at least I have you"
"Yes, but you have no style whatsoever, so who's going to give me opinions?"
I shoved her playfully and she let out a squeal as she regained balance. We laughed all the way into the little store, but we both fell silent as soon as we crossed the threshold. It was amazing how much bigger the shop was on the inside than it had appeared from the outside. There were dresses everywhere. Mannequins lined the walls, and there were a couple isles in the back completely dedicated to high heels.
YOU ARE READING
Phoenix Moon
WerewolfI had heard bedtime stories all my life about mates. Until a wolf found their mate they were incomplete. They were lacking an essential part of their being. A mate was your other half, and no one could take that away. No one. They told me it was a...
