The Rejected Elemental

[7]

"Cut the cake, birthday girl!" laughed Mike as he handed me the knife bound with a ribbon. "Happy fifteenth!"

"Yeah!" shouted Sam beside him, already stuffing his mouth with the cookies Tessie had distributed earlier. I grinned around happily reveling in the attention on me.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" yelled my friends as we distributed the cake, dabbing icing on each other in the process. "Just one more birthday, and you'll transform," Mike smiled down at me excitedly, his blonde hair slightly messy and covered in the glitter one of his friends had dumped on him earlier.

I laugh back at him, caught up in the infectious mood of happiness. "I know!" I shouted back over the music. "It's going to be so much fun!"

Tessie ruffles my hair from behind, startling me slightly. "I'm looking forward to it," she looks at me fondly. "You're gonna be a great werewolf. Just one more year to go, hun."

• • •

Within a minute, the music has been turned up, and everybody's dancing. I don't feel like joining in the chaos, though, so I make my way to the drinks and pick up a cup. Hayley has long since disappeared somewhere with Jason. Cyril is on the dance floor, surprisingly, dancing around wildly with Jamie while Nina is dancing with some of her friends.

"Hey."

I twisted around to see Alpha Cole, a drink in his hand as he gave me a once-over, noting my midnight blue dress and giving me an appreciative look. "Nice dress."

"Thanks," I smiled faintly. He is wearing a tight black shirt with some rock band emblazoned on the front. Surprisingly hot. "You too."

"What's the birthday girl doing alone?" He raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd be the life of the party."

"Normally, yes," I sighed and glanced around at the dancing werewolves. "I just don't feel like dancing today." It was true. I had been feeling queasy all morning, as if something was coiled in my tummy. My hands were tingling slightly with some weird trepidation, and I felt as if I could drop down any second.

I was itching to do something, and I couldn't figure out what it was.

I looked up at Cole to find him staring at me intensely, his nose scrunched, his eyes searching. "Homesick?"

I glance at him, surprised. How did he guess so quickly?

As if reading my mind, he gives me a lop-sided smile and takes another drink. He's cute.

Just as I open my mouth, a loud deafening sound blares over the speakers. The music suddenly goes down, and the werewolves have stopped dancing. I look around confused, before I turn to Alpha. He has a shocked look on his face. "What?!" he shouts, rushing towards the exit. The remaining pack members have started following standard protocol, calm and effective. The younger ones head for the pack house immediately, while the older ones, including Cyril and Jason, speed out after Alpha.

Not knowing what is happening, I falter for a second, unsure of where I should be heading. The pack house, dammit! shouts my rational side, urging me to seek safety. My feet, however, for some reason, remains glued to the ground.

A hand grabbed me from behind. I turned in a daze to find Hayley screaming something at me. Over the din, I can only make out her lips moving frantically. Security breach! Move!

As Hayley drags me towards the pack house, stumbling and tripping, I realize that we are the last ones left vulnerable in the front grounds. The senior werewolves have gone to the borders to investigate, and the rest have retreated into the pack house.

Suddenly there's a deafening shot, and the glass of an outhouse window nearby shatters. Hayley and I change routes, instead diving into a shed nearby for temporary cover. And just in time, for bullets have started raining in. Thankfully, the pack house has top security, and is well-provided for, with bullet-proof windows, and plenty of weaponry. The pack territory is manned by trained werewolves, and the Training Academy is out of bounds for intruders: set high up on rocky territory, it's a metal death trap for any outsider.

I know all this myself, for this is standard protocol for every pack: well-defended gates, and the pack house as well the school/training grounds are invincible.

The only way anyone can get in is through the gates. No loopholes. No error.

A small hand touches my shoulder. I yell and spin around, fists raised, until I realize Miles is behind us...with Brooke.

"Brooke!" hissed Hayley furiously, glaring at her little sister. "What the heck are you doing here, you little-"

"We were lost," the little girl cried immediately, her large eyes beseeching. "We sneaked out earlier to see the adult party...and we heard the alarm, but then we couldn't move because then you would see us, and Mommy would punish me, and Alpha would shout at Miles!"

"Dear god," Hayley groaned. "Brooke!"

"The Alpha is going to be furious," I told Miles crossly. "You guys should not be here!"

Miles, for once, sat silently, his eyes wide in fright. Feeling slightly sorry for the kid, I held his shoulder and crouched close to the other three. "Stick together," I whispered. "We wait until all this blows over, and then run to the pack house when we get a chance, okay?"

"Right," Hayley answered grimly, and between us the two kids nodded. I turned to watch the darkness beyond the shed. A grim thought entered my mind.

This is not how I expected my eighteenth birthday to be like.

An uneasy silence had settled over the four of us. With my survival instincts from the wilderness intact and on full alert, an uncomfortable feeling crept into my skin. Something was going to happen, and I knew it a split second before it did.

I wheeled around to find a strange werewolf creeping towards us, his aim on Hayley. As I turned, however, a look of fleeting surprise crossed his eyes before he turned to me. I stood before him, suddenly calm. Stepping forward, I pushed the two kids behind me cautiously, a slight heat growing in my palms. We were unarmed and vulnerable, without any help for probably hours, since everybody was far away, and this outsider knew it.

We were on the boundaries of pack territory. If I could somehow slowly retreat, we would be within the safe pack territory.

"Don't think about it," snarled the werewolf, baring his fangs slightly. I straightened up. Slowly, as if subconsciously, as if I had been planning this all along, I willed the snow around me to rise up. The ice was breaking, becoming putty in my hands...I could feel it. A blazing in my veins, slowly and steadily growing stronger. I knew now what my body had been trying to signal all day: I had gotten my destined powers at last.

"Well, well," grinned the werewolf, his sights falling on Miles and Brooke. "Two girls, and two kids! Alpha will be pleased-"

Without warning, Hayley drew a sword hidden in the folds of her skirt, and threw it at the werewolf. He dodged, but lunged towards us, enraged, his eyes burning red. "You bitch-"

The ice on the floor between us rose like a cold wall, thundering through the ground and standing tall, lethal spikes facing the attacker. My hands were raised and I was breathing heavily, but a slow smirk grew on my face.

What a nice way to start my eighteenth. This is enough compensation for waiting an additional three years.

Behind me, audible gasps could be heard. Ignoring them, I clenched my fist, and shards of ice rained on the attacking werewolf, cutting and burying themselves mercilessly in the skin. The wall of ice slowly disintegrated, cutting itself into the wolf's skin. Shrieking in pain the werewolf rolled on the ground in agony, howling and groaning.

The blazing heat in my hands slowly faded away, and I found myself staring at my hands. What the fuck did I just do?!