Bonded

Chapter 3: Scents

The next day I woke up on the forest floor. To my surprise two other bodies laid in the forest with mine, one of a girl and the other a guy. The girl had raven black hair and a caramel complexion while the guy had white hair with an olive toned complexion. Both of them had huge markings all over their bodies but one of them stuck out among them. On both their backs was a marking of a fox, leopard, and jaguar huddled together, the three animals were huddled under a Japanese cherry tree. 

The mark was beautiful, somehow I knew I had the same marking. The girl started to stir with a groan as she gently stretched out. The guy sat up abruptly and proceed to rub his eyes. We all just stared at each other with looks of confusion, amazement, and something resembling a pack love. Reaching out to them I slowly grazed my hand on each of their arms, the nudity completely forgotten. A cooling sensation spread across my body as I touched the girl and guy with my hands.

"Woah." I said a hint of hoarseness in my voice.

The guy looked at my hand and then his arm before sighing softly "Your my kin." The girl looked down shyly, a trait that seemed to fit her, "Hello." She'd said softly.

"I'm Sedona." I'd said in a low tone. The tone was unfamiliar to me but I'd taken it on to let the girl know that I wasn't a threat. The guy smiled a light sort and introduced himself "I'm Icarus." The girl followed suit as a moment later she'd said her name "I'm Wren."

We'd all sat there for what seemed like hours; not saying anything but revealing in the kinship connection we shared. The school bell broke us out of our thoughts. Shit the ceremony was today. We all looked at ourselves then smiled apologetically and took off towards our houses.

***

Running home I quickly took a shower before rushing to put on clothes. Digging through my dresser I pulled out some black jeans, grey shirt, and a leather jacket. Running late for school wasn't a good thing, especially when the picking ceremony was today. At the ceremony the Alphas, Betas, and Thirds were present to decide which teen had their packs mark. After the pack confirms that the mark is theirs the teen then goes and stands with the correct pack. Just as I was about the leave the house I stopped abruptly. Looking into the mirror I felt a sense of loneliness.

I missed my kin. Funnily enough I'd only known those two for a short amount of time, and for a person who's always been alone, being with them took away all of my pain. Other than my markings I couldn't tell what was different about me. My hair was the same fiery, coarse, curly, natural red hair. My complexion was the same ivory tone, a pale that I'd noticed not many people have in Lafayette.

Then I noticed the difference. My EYES. The two balls used to be green and grey but now that the awakening had happened they'd changed. My eyes were now a pale grey, the color being so pale that it was almost white. My hair and pupils contrasted deeply with my skin and eyes.

Shaking my head I grabbed my school bag and rushed out of the house towards the school. My fox was going wild, chanting/screaming 'Kin, Kin, KIN, KIN!!!!!!' repeatedly in my mind. A tugging at my heart pulled me into a full on sprint towards the school entrance. I needed my pack, my family. Wren and Icarus had been in my life for less than twenty-four hours and I needed them like air.

I was so busy trying to find my kin that I'd slammed into what felt like a wall. The air had been knock out of me resulting in a very embarrassing reply "Sorry." The gesture was short but I was on a mission to find my kin and no one was going to be in my way.

Running away I crashed through the school doors, the hallway was crowded with students. Well I wasn't the only one that was late. That's a plus. Scanning the crowd I quickly found the two people I was looking for. Wren was talking to Icarus and tugging on his shirt, probably wanting to go look for me. Icarus; however, tilted his head around before making eye contact with me. Wren immediately sensed my presence and pleadingly said in my mind 'We miss you. Come here.'

Those words had me sprinting over to them, Icarus had his arms open catching me in a hug. Sighing I let the tension leave my body as the cooling sensation spread over my body from the interaction with my kin. Fresh air and sage was what Icarus smelled like while Wren smelled of oranges and chocolate. How I missed their scents. Looking up at them I realized that our eyes all changed to be the same color.

Before asking them what was on my mind the teachers announced that the ceremony was about the begin. I had a weird feeling about this.....