Games [The Electro Cosmos Book 2]

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Mila woke to the soft, wet lick of a tongue. She grumbled and gave a little growl of annoyance, but he continued, nibbling at the tip of her ear. Finally she turned over onto her back so her belly showed and opened her eyes. Azil looked down at her, his head perked to the side with curiosity and a playful grin on his face. She groaned, her eyes heavy with sleep as he began to lick her neck.

"What," she growled. He turned his head the other way, watching her sit up, her front paws tucked up to her chest. He moved towards her, rubbing his forehead against her chin and wagging his tail submissively. Then he began to lick her muzzle. She tried speaking to him in the wolf language again. "Tell me what you want already."

"He's asking you for permission to go hunting," Mykai spoke up. Unlike Mila, she spoke in the human language. Lillianna and Leroy helped her finish learning the night before. She wasn't fluent yet, but she knew what she was saying. "He's begged the rest of us to go but we wanted to wait until you woke up."

"So you gave him permission to wake me," Mila growled at her. She ignored it, her face filled with the same annoyance and grogginess. Mila looked at him, his expression showing no sign of guilt but eagerness in his place. Mila grunted, looking away angrily. He began to shift uncomfortably.

"He did that on his own," she spread her reddish wings, stretching after a long sleep. She yawned all of her long canines showing, one of the great powers of a wolf. "I'm not his alpha, you are. I can't stop him from doing as he pleases. But you give the orders around here. It's as simple as that."

Mila licked her fur, cleaning the dirt caked into it in the night's rest. Though she looked almost identical to Mykai now, Mila's fur was darker, with more red and brown coloring while Mykai had red and white with yellow flecks. Towards the beginning of her change, Mila was lighter and had the fur of a puppy. Now, a few weeks had passed and she was the size of an adult, bigger than Mykai and Azil. She was roughly the size of Kobo, but he still had the thicker build. Now Leroy was the smallest. Azil was only slightly taller, but leaner and still had the looks of an adolescent.

"Where do you plan to find food? We can't walk too far and there isn't much in the way of animals that could feed all of us so close to human civilization," Mila questioned all of them. Mila looked around for Lillianna. Her horse, wolf, and her belongings were all gone. She left before anyone woke, silent as a fox.

"We were thinking of splitting," Leroy stated. "A few of us can stay and wait for Lillianna and a few can go hunting up to the north."

Mila thought about his suggestion for a moment before agreeing. "Leroy and Kobo, you can go with Agni. Mykai, Azil and I will stay. I want to train with both of them more." Azil whimpered, wanting to hunt. "I want to practice fighting and fleeing with Mykai and Azil for a while, so we all can test our strength. Besides, I have a feeling I won't be changing back any time soon and would like to prepare for any changes that may continue to come with this form."

"Alright," Leroy replied, jumping from the tree. He gave Mila a quick head rub against the shoulder before passing and walking into the thick of the woods beyond. She watched his yellow eyes as he momentarily looked back, Kobo beside him. "If we aren't back by morning come find us."

Mila gave a grunt of understanding before standing up and walking towards the small field as the group parted. Mykai and Azil followed her silently. When they reached the center, Mila turned and sat in front of the two adolescents. She watched the two of them carefully.