In The Shadows - Fan Fiction Version by Katydids

The Academy

We sit around the fire for another hour or two.

They tell me about their families, allowing me to learn more about them.

Kota's family, which consists of his parents and younger sister, live near the Academy in Canada.

Gabe's parents and brother died a few years ago while he was attending the Academy. They were murdered. I don't know the circumstances surrounding it and Gabe became very quiet when he told me. When he's ready, I'll listen.

Victor's parents are very wealthy, I guess many shifters are due to their longevity, and they travel the world. His dad married when he started to age, wanting to live out his remaining years with a wife.

Nathan's dad works at the Academy, training students in martial arts. His Mom died in childbirth.

North and Luke's family is a bit complicated. They're actually half brothers of a sort. Luke's biological father abandoned his mother before he was born instead later on choosing as a mate and marrying North's Mom when he was a baby, adopting him. North's biological dad had died in a fight against another shifter.

North and Luke met at the Academy. At first they wanted nothing to do with each other, but something happened there to bring them together. They said it's a long story for another time.

Luke's Mom passed away a couple years ago from an illness. Mr. Taylor had helped to raise him when his brother took off. Luke thinks he loved his Mom, but they never had a romantic relationship. Her heart remained with his father.

Silas and North knew each other before the Academy. North's parents moved to Greece after they married, which is where Silas is from. Their families are close. Silas has an older brother who isn't a shifter. When they became of age, the two were sent together to the Academy in Canada. Luke thinks their father was hoping he and North would meet.

Sean and Owen were best friends and counselors at the Academy. Both lived there for a while. Sean at the age of eight and Owen at the age of ten.

Sean's mother divorced his father when he was little and left Sean with him. His father became a doctor at the Academy and raised his son there, teaching him to be a doctor too.

Owen's father lost control of his temper one day and accidentally killed his mother. Severely distraught over what he had done, he left Owen and a large sum of money at the Academy at the age of ten to be raised there. His father took off and he hasn't been seen or heard from since. Sean and Owen quickly became inseparable.

Some packs are formed at a young age as theirs was. The bond was very strong between them. Last year they left the Academy to go out on their own. Mr. Taylor found a place for them all to live here, wanting to be with them.

"So shifters start attending the Academy when they're fourteen, and go through their awakening?" I ask.

"It's like a high school for shifters but with very high standards, and it involves more than education." Owen says.

"Why not finish your schooling there?"

Sean answers, "Owen and I did, but the Academy doesn't like to have formed packs attending the school. It could cause problems as a pack immediately wants its own territory. Most aren't formed until after graduation. The connection we had and pull to each other was so strong though, we formed one early."

"What about the teachers? Are they a pack?"

"Yes," Kota says. "And the Academy is their territory. It's the same with the other Academies too. Other packs can visit, but not for extended periods of time. Individual shifters are welcome."