The Emergence

1. The Shifting Ceremony

The night air was frigid on Calissa's skin. Goosebumps arose as she took a deep shuddering breath. This was it. Tonight was the night she and her peers had been training for ever since they could walk. The shifting ceremony; a chance to tame your wolf and attain the battle scars of victory.
Calissa could see her parents among the crowd of the Amethyst pack. They had all come to the Luna temple, their mediator and bridge between the spirit realm and the physical realm. Her eyes went over the runes scattered around the trees that led up to the middle of the temple. The march here from the village had been nauseating. She could feel the eyes of every wolf on her. Realistically, she wasn't the only one being stared at. The other twenty three pups around her were also sweating and nervous too. Everyone was except the Alpha family's son, Nuel Amethyst and the Beta family's son, Athanasius Sinclair. They were in the lead of the march, Nuel before Athanasius and everyone else behind, arranged according to their family hierarchy.  She was at the second to the last line, a seal of a wolf circling the map of their pack on her left breast plate. It showed her family heritage; Delta. She was to be a protector of her people and take over from her parents. Much was expected from her.

Calissa's eyes refrained from drifting back to her parents as her father moved from the crowd and stood beside the Beta of the pack.

He lifted his hand and yelled, "all halt!" His face brimmed with satisfaction when the march came to a stop, the silence louder than their previous stomping. "Salute!"

Calissa slammed a closed fist to her heart, eyes forward and towards their Alpha and Luna but never meeting their eyes. It was considered a huge disrespect and a challenge to look your Alpha dead in the eyes. Her eyes didn't follow the Luna who stepped forward to speak.

"Centuries ago, our ancestors received a gift from the moon goddess. She gave us the power to protect ourselves. She gave us strength, speed, heightened senses, the force of nature, a world far from the reach and decay of the humans. She gave us wolves!" The Luna growled, using her Alpha voice. The pups and the people behind yelled in response. "She gave us sacred spiritual animals that must be contained!"

Calissa, like the others, slammed her fisted hand on her chest once more and yelled with the others in recognition of the words of their queen.

"Tonight, my children, you have a task and one task only. March into the spirit realm, find your wolves, subdue them and emerge victorious!" Another yell. "You must be fast, you must be quick and you must never look your wolf in the eyes! Are you ready?!"

"Yes, Luna!" Came the shouts of fifteen year old voices.

"Are you ready?!"

"Yes, Luna!"

The Luna smiled. "Then let the ceremony begin." She gave way for her husband.

Calissa could feel the pespiration running down the sides of her face and gathering on her palms.

"Pups, attention!" Her father commanded as the Alpha took the position the Luna had previously taken.

"The bowl," the Alpha said. His voice was mellow and simple yet the power that was encased within made Calissa shiver. He didn't need to shout for everyone to know how much authority he held. She stood at attention, hands by her sides as she watched as the sacred bowl was passed from her father to the Beta to the Luna and finally to the Alpha. The Alpha used his canines to rip his wrist open like the others had done and allowed his blood to drip into the bowl. His wound closed up almost immediately.

"May the moon goddess be with you all." That being said, he poured the blood around the huge circle the twenty four pups were in. The circle emitted an eerie glow. First, coppery brown to represent Omega, pure brown for Delta, brown and black for Beta and lastly, night black for Alpha. "Lay down, pups."