Instinct

Chapter 2

Amber's POV

"Amber your dad found scent marks on the borders!"
Carly and I rolled out eyes. Jake always got excited about this kind of thing, you may have thought it was big deal but in reality it happens all the time.

" Jake, we've been over this" I said internally groaning at the next 3 hours we would have to spend listening to Jake fantasize. " Wolves and rouges pass by all the time, no one wants some tame human territory, my dad isn't gonna fight anyone"

"But Amber the scent was fresh! Annndd there were paw prints a good 20 yards into our territory!" Jake said rambling on. "I mean it's obviously a direct challenge!..."

That made me pause for a second. Usually other wolves never came any closer than a couple feet over the border before carrying on.

'Maybe someone was on our territory.... Stop it Amber, Jake's just making you paranoid'

"Jake!" Carly snapped cutting him off "No one is challenging us, stop getting so worked up you'll loose control"

Jake stopped talking a look of hurt flashing through his eyes. "Whatever Carly just don't fail. I don't want to be stuck in the house with your ugly face again." He turned around and left.

"Carly...." I said " that was a little harsh"

Two years ago Jake had almost completely lost control at school when a certain bully just wouldn't leave him alone. The incident forced us all to pack up and move and Jake's always been sensitive about it.

She sighed "I'll apologize later"

"You better"

We for the rest of evening we worked on homework but I couldn't help noticing my wolf nagging me just a little more than usual. 'Probably just being territorial' I thought.

****
    I looked at the clock.

2:36

I sighed and sat up in my bed. I woke up to my wolf clawing,  trying to break through. I grabbed my head as migraine came on from the stress of trying to keep her back.

    I walked down to kitchen and grab a glass of water. Sipping on it my head started to pound. And whispers from my wolf started to slip into my head.

     Let me in
                        Want ..... free
...  stronger with me
                                         find..... him..... here

I walked to my mom and dads room feeling tempted to just let go. "Mom?" I whispered.

   My mom sat up and looked at me, she always was a light sleeper. " I need..." I mumbled still gripping my head. She jumped up and came over to me. "Come here sweetie" she said leading me to the bathroom. She sat me down on the toilet and reached for a bottle of pills. She plucked one from the container and handed it to me along with a new glass of water.

      "Take this" she said " it'll help " I quickly swallowed the pill and half the glass of water. A few seconds later I could feel my wolf calming and being pushed back. I looked up at my mom. "How'd you know?" I asked.

She chuckled " you forget I was once your age too, I remember those pre-shift episodes"

She reached for my hand. " come on, let's go watch a movie, if I recall correctly that pill makes it quite hard to go back to sleep."

We walked into the living room and I sat down on the couch. Thumbing through our dvd collection I settled on "Indiana Jones Raiders of The Lost Ark "

My mom came in and handed me a cup of hot chocolate.

" It's been a while since we've done something this" my mom said turning towards me "I want you to know I'm proud of you; I know not getting to do everything you want to do is hard."

"Thanks mom"

It was nice to hear that... I mean yeah I knew she was proud of me, I have a pretty good relationship with my parents, unlike some teens, but it had been a while since we had hung out.

I hit play and curled up next to her feeling slightly drowsy but happy that things were peaceful despite what Jake had said earlier.