Never ownED myself

Welcome party

Now, deep in the northern Canadian wilderness, the signs of their journey were buried beneath the stillness of the forest. Finally the trees thinned, revealing a clearing. Beneath their feet, the forest floor dipped and opened. Carved into the ground were entrances subtlety hidden with moss lead to tunnels below. Like an ant colony, the resistance had built their refuge underground, hidden from the world above.

Relief surged through Annie, but with it came a twist of fear. She had longed for this moment, but now that they'd reached it, her courage frayed.

Phil was the first to shift back. Bones cracked, limbs stretched, fur receded. The wolf became a man again, kneeling in the grass, breathing hard but smiling.

Phil strolled around effortlessly butt naked. Tom walking beside him, couldn't help but glance at him with a mix of curiosity and amusement. They were heading toward the council room, a place that always felt heavy to Tom a mix of tradition and expectation. He hoped that this council was different from the one he was running from. But for now, the weight of it seemed to lift under Phil's lighthearted demeanor.

Annie rolled her eyes, "Please someone get him some boxers!!" Phil chuckled.

Annie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion when Tom suddenly jumped to shield Phil's exposed buttocks. She wanted to ask what was going on, but before she could, a woman appeared. She subtly bowed her head and gesture for her to follow. With a fluid motion, Annie complied, still in her white wolf form, her stride easily outwatched the woman's pace.

The woman in a flowing white robe that cinched at the waist, she walked with grace almost fluttering the ground with each step. She occasionally glanced back, making sure Annie kept up. After all, she rarely hosted wolf. Their kind in fact weren't kin to one another. The actually merged only after getting news of Annie's appearance. She was the one meant to bring the strongest clans to their knees and bring peace between all races. She was the only reason why the elven race had been through such extensive preparations the past 7 years.

To her, she was but a character of fiction. Secretly, the woman glanced back at the chosen trying to figure out what made her so special. He wolf was outstandingly bigger and pitch white. She had the heavens favour. Only royalty and pure bloods had such fur. Still, it hadn't help her father's case. He was caught by Davon and reduced to a pet.

Annie's attention, however didn't noticed the glances. She was mostly caught by the ethereal melody that drifted through the air, sung in a language that Annie couldn't understand but that held a captivating pull. Was it magic? At the end of the path stood a sparkling waterfall, the reflection of the sun was dimming in the sky making the place feel like she wasn't on earth anymore. Annie transformed into human form and shivered in the water. Leah had given up her place, Annie instinctively crouched and walked deeper into the river.

Hands grabbed her arms preventing her to seek refuge in the water. Another was already touching her hair. " Ah oh... there... stop... what are you doing? I can do it, please." She hissed. Annie pressed her toes onto the rocky floor scorching her toe. It would be healed soon enough, but the sting made her jerk painfully.

One of them made the others stop and spoke in a melodious voice. "We've been waiting for you for years. Do you hear them? We honor you and care for you." Her English wasn't perfect, but it was clear enough. Her accent gave her words the rhythm of a song

"But," Annie added. Tom's words echoed in her mind. They were waiting for someone important. Some kind of big shot. And they had mistaken her for that person. Should she say something? The words caught in her throat and died there.

Leah laughed heartily in her head. "You are not a saint after all!"