Mutatio

Chapter 1 NightSky

I turn my nose to the air, the rain dripping down my muzzle. I blink water out of my iridescent eyes and shake it out of my black fur. I can't catch a scent through all the rain. Thunder claps and lightning shoots across the sky.

"Mikalitso is angry." Mom says. My tail twitches irritably and I snap at the air.

"Mom you are the only one who believes in that crap." I snarl. She growls at me, placing a foot forward in my direction, but QuickStep pushes in between us. He barks angrily, his eyes glowing, and we both take a step back.

"Cut it out, both of you. WillowTail, she's right. Everyone knows that Mikalitso is a myth. There are no Great Alphas, okay?" He snaps. Mom huffs indignantly and I give a smug smile. QuickStep turns on me. "But that was no way to approach it, NightSky. You know how worried your mother is. And this is no time to be fighting amongst ourselves. Especially with the Hawk Mutatio so close. They have been on edge since FrostDapple went missing." He says. I snort and shake out my fur again. Then with a flash of my eyes, I am a human. I pull my hood up over my face to block out the rain.

"NightSky? Where are you going?" Mom asks. I turn away and begin to walk out of the forest.

"I have school in thirty minutes. I can't be late!" I say. Then I break into a sprint, dashing away at inhuman speeds. Not as fast as a cheetah or a jaguar, maybe, but definitely faster than the normal wolf. I don't actually go to school, I never do. What I do for eight hours of my day is search. But today, I think I won't search, due to the pouring down rain. Before I go into town, I change back into a wolf. I walk around downtown, relishing in the feel of the rain sliding down my fur. A scream brings me back to the present. My head snaps around, thinking that I am the subject of the terror, and see a hawk. It has swooped down and is wrestling with a little girl for her jacket. I can tell by the glowing eyes that the hawk is a Mutatio. I growl and jump at the hawk. I pin it to the ground.

"This is our territory!" I snarl. The hawk Mutatio snaps at me with it's beak before worming it's way out of my grip and back into the air.

"Not for long!" He chirps as he flies away.

"Get out and stay out!" I bark at him, jumping up onto one of the stone park benches to get a better view of him. I'm starting to gather attention now, so I shake out my fur and sprint off into the forest. My teeth are on edge, my claws are itching. My fur is raised and I growl at every movement. The Hawk Mutatio are going to try and take over our territory. Even though going back to the pack may reveal that I don't, in fact, go to school, I couldn't go the rest of the day without warning them. I sprint back to camp. Inside, my mother, WillowTail, is talking with GingerFoot, our pack Gamma. BurntLeaf, FrostDapple's Socius, paces impatiently around his den, waiting for good news about his mate. Each Mutatio is given a Socius, or their mate to be. You are given your Socius on your second full moon, and you can love no other until you have be joined in Nuptias. After your Nuptias, you are partners with that person for life. ShadowChirp, the Zeta and my Socius, walks forward and rubs his head against mine when I walk into the camp.

"NightSky, I have missed you. I knew you didn't go to school everyday." He says with a smile. His eyes are a glowing grey, his fur is almost as dark as mine. Only difference in color is that mine is more of a deep ink, midnight looking color. I twitch my ear at him.

"ShadowChirp, is Alpha here?" I ask. ShadowChirp motions towards the Alpha Den on the hill in the back of the camp. I give ShadowChirp a smile, my tail running down his back as I pass. On the way to Alpha's den, I almost stumble over JunePup and WinterPup as they wrestle and play fight their way across the camp, HollyScratch dutifully chasing after them. HollyScratch is the Omega, but she is also the Phi. She is tasked with watching over the pups as well as making sure the rest of the pack is comfortable. In a normal pack, the Omega is looked down upon, usually picked on, but in this pack, she gladly does her jobs, and we don't harp on the fact she is an Omega. She keeps our pups entertained and alive. HollyScratch dips her head to me as she passes and I return the gesture. CrowTail runs into the camp, his hackles raised, his brown fur on edge. At first I am alarmed until I see KindlePaw trailing behind him, her head bowed, tail tucked. CrowTail is KindlePaw's mentor. He also has a very short temper. FoxFeather, CrowTail's Nuptias, steps forward and calms him before whispering to KindlePaw to go do something. I force my attention back to my destination just in time to collide with Beta. Beta spins around and growls at me. I immediately let myself drop to the floor, my ears pressed against my head, my tail tucked tightly in between my legs.