To Cheat Death

Chapter Seventeen

It was night. Days had pasted since Alecc had kissed me.

Everyone's attitude, even Sirens, had changed towards me.

You could tell it wasn't the norm for Alecc to claim a girl. Every time I saw him, his ever present group of friends would elbow him and his face would turn red.

I was mostly busy with helping Siren with chores. Still, I felt like I had so much free time with nothing to do. They had unlimited supply runs. They had luxuries like soap that wasn't homemade.

A thing called a shower with hot water. The first time I went to the shower house I came out dripping wet, fully clothed, and bashfully asked Siren how it worked.

I had no idea what things my parents gave up to live completely isolated.

We always bathed in ice cold streams that never got warmer no matter what season it was.

There was also this thing called cheese. It was like pure heaven. Somethings I hated on sight but cheese was not one of them.
The first time I tasted cheese I knew I would never get enough to quench my cravings for it.

The annual supply run, for us, didn't include any disposal foodstuff.

After the dance, Alecc hadn't left my side till we went to bed.

"Just because he claimed you by kissing you doesn't mean you have to agree." Siren explained that night.
"He has to woo you. And you don't have to make it easy for him." She glanced at me slyly.
"He made his choice. Now he has to make you agree to be his choice."

Suddenly, he was always there. We would walk around and talk and I would try very hard not to be awkward. He would drag me around the camp for inspections or breaking up disputes or helping someone fix their roof after a tree fell on it.

Since his father was back, he did a fraction of the responsibilities he had before but he was still busy.

It suddenly became uncommon to see him anywhere without me and I became to know his group of friends.

Since Alecc had started paying me way more attention I would catch killer glares from some of the girls. It confused me.
Why would they be mad at me? Alecc did the choosing.

Once when Alecc was just out of earshot, one of them, a blond haired beauty, shot a venomous insult,
"You don't deserve him, outsider." Before turning away as Alecc came back.

This hit me hard. I wasn't an outsider any more. Was I? I was pack. And I had the talisman to prove it.

But it was true and that hit me even harder.

Every time he smiled or had eyes only for me, I felt my heart flip and butterflies roll in my stomach.

But now that thrill was mixed with a sharp stabbing guilt.

How could he trust me? I lied very day about who I was.

I layed in my cot starring out the window up at the stars.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I made a choice.

Sitting up, I stage whispered,
"Siren wake up! Siren!"

She rolled over groaning. Since the chief came back she was released from the watch hour but still she liked to sleep.
I threw my pillow at her.

Pulling a pillow over her head, she muttered,
"This better be important."

"I think I'm in love with Alecc."

In an instant she threw off the blankets and hopped to my bed wide awake.
"You don't say." She said, sounding nonchalant.

"I think I love him. And I think he likes me."

At this she giggled.

"But I don't think this relationship will work if we don't trust each other. Siren? There's something I need to tell you. And I wanted to tell you first because... Well, your the closest thing I have to a sister."

She hugged me.
"And you too. Except that I already have a sister.. but your less annoying, so you can be my best friend."

I pushed her back so I could look in her eyes.
"I'm... a dragkon."

"What? What one earth is that? Your a dragon of old?" She gasped.
"Can you become a dragon?"

"My ancestors could. But no dragons would have to exist for me to change into them... but I can touch any other animal and become it."

"Prove it." She crossed her arms.

Shrugging, I pulled the feather from above my heart and focused.

She gasped as I Changed.
"Its true." She was silent for a breath of time.
"Its so cool! How do you do it?"

Changing back, I smiled, I didn't think Siren would hate me for lying but it was good to be sure.

"I take a transitional from any animal and focus on it then I become it."

"So it's like our talisman."

"To be honest I never really understood the talismans. Why are they so important?"

She pulled the glass stone she had showed me before from over her heart.
"See the string? It's made from wolf hide. All of the talismans have some part of a wolf on it. I choose this one because it is an heirloom, but there all different. It's what makes us shift. Let me see yours."

I pulled the simple bead necklace from over my heart.

She studded it for a moment. Then nodded.
"See? There's a silver hair stuck around each bead. Try focusing on it."

I had been using the brown tuff of fur to Change into a wolf. It was in my bag. I focused on the necklace and to my surprise I felt myself Change.

Changing back, I shook my head.
"To think all that time I had a transitional of a wolf on me."
Then thoughtfully,
"I didn't think shifters worked like like."

"Most don't. There are many clans like us. But there are even more shifter groups that are more like the werewolves. They don't care about us or the werewolves, they are officially a neutral party."

"Do you think your people could be some of a.. a type of branch of dragkon? Have you ever tried to focus on something else?"

She shook her head grimly,
"It's forbidden to focus on anything but your talisman. I knew a boy who tried to shift before he came of age and was given his talisman. He never got his. Banished to a human life. It is a huge deal to try and shift into anything else."

"That's odd. Why would they stop you?"

"One of the grimmer tales that isn't told on midsummer is about a group of shifters that tried to shift into other things. They all died in terrible agony."

I would have pushed her harder but I saw real terror in her eyes. She tried to hide it behind a serious outlook but I saw her eyes.

She was terrified. But of what?