The Lupine Necklace

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The first step to this process would be teaching Xena, Nate, Li and Ian how to communicate with the wolves. They wouldn't be able to keep up in wolf form if they didn't know what was going on. I had a plan for that, and hopefully they were fast learners, because we didn't have much time to spend on teaching them a new language.

I led them to the pack in wolf form and greeted the alpha. He gave me until tomorrow morning, sunrise, to get them up to speed and communicating, stating that if they didn't know enough by then, they'd be stumbling through training like idiots. I thanked him.

Turning to my friends, I shifted and ordered them to do the same. "Alright, you have until sunrise to learn how to effectively communicate with the wolf pack. That's all the time that the alpha has given me to train you and so you're going to have to learn fast."

They all nodded, letting me know they could do it and I smiled.

"This is what we're going to do," I told them. "I'm going to be in wolf form, while you're in human. I will teach you to communicate by telling Ian what I'm saying through our mental link, and then he will relay it to you. I might have some other wolves help me once you start catching on, and when I feel that you're ready, you'll shift and practice communicating with the pack. At that point, I'll be in human form so that I can let you know if you mess up."

They all nodded again. "That's actually a great plan, Layla," Nate told me.

I gave him a smile. "Thank you. It took some planning, but I think it will work. Now it's up to you guys to catch on so you don't look like idiots during training. My goal is going to be to teach you what you'll need for training first, and then, once you've got that, we'll move on to the rest at night after training sessions."

They were all grinning, excited to learn. Li was probably the most excited, but that was to be expected. He may not agree with our reasons for being here, but he'd been begging for this for years. I couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?" Ian asked me.

I shook my head. "Li. He's been begging for this for years and look at his face."

Li rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to let you picking on me ruin this experience," he told me, raising his chin in the air.

Now I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, Li," I teased him. "Now, let's get down to business."

I shifted into wolf form and the "foreign language" lesson began. I would give them a basic sentence, telling Ian what I was saying, then I would break it down and explain what each motion told them. It was a lot like sign language, just in wolf form. As I taught them, I was very proud. They were picking up the language very well and it wasn't long before I called over another wolf.

I explained to her that I wanted her to pretend to train me and that my friends were going to repeat everything she was ordering me to do. If they were wrong, I would relay that through Ian. The she-wolf was more than happy to help.

I took the training seriously. Whatever she ordered me to do, I did, while the others were translating. It was a good work out and sometimes, the action helped them understand when they were a little iffy about their translation. I knew the she-wolf was having a great time ordering me around. She was young and it was probably making her feel like she had some power.

Every now and then, the alpha would come over and observe. He was very amused watching the she-wolf train me. He also let me know that it was nice of me to allow one of his younger pack members to do this and have some fun. Apparently, she was one of the wolves that he'd been watching. He was trying to decide if he wanted her to be a training leader when she was a little older.