Glinting Silver

Chapter 1

My paws churned the earth as I melted through the shadows. Beside me, three shapes stood by me with ears pricked and muzzles raised to the icy wind. Light blue eyes flashed in the darkness as we watched the scene unfold in the clearing before us.

A wolf, no bigger than a pup, was being pinned to the ground by two bigger wolves. One of them bit down on the pups leg and she yelped in pain. I snarled and stepped forward. The full moon came out from behind a cloud and shone brightly. The moonlight reflected off the pup's grey fur, making her stand out against the brown wolves above her.

Attack! I shouted. The wolves flanking me howled and followed as I raced into the clearing. The minute I came out of shadow my fur sparkled with silver light.

I launched myself at a brown wolf, feeling my claws sink deep into mud-dried fur. He yelped and backed away. Beside me, a silvery wolf was helping the pup to her paws. I waved him away with my tail and turned back to the brown wolf. He snarled, his ice coloured eyes glittering with determination and lunged.

Juniper, help! the other brown wolf yelped suddenly. I sidestepped the first one and looked over. The mud had dried like glue on the smaller wolf's fur, and now he was stuck upside down in a bramble bush like a fly in a cobweb.

Domino was pawing at him, trying to pull him down. I darted towards them, and sniffed around. The other wolves, three silvers and one brown, flanked me. I pulled on the terrified wolf's fur.

Go human everyone. I ordered. A melting, grinding sound rustled through the grass, the only sound in the stillness of midnight. In front of me, caught in the brambles, was a freckly boy of fifteen, wearing bike shorts and a sheepish grin. He was covered in brown mud, spiking his tawny hair.

"Idiot." someone scoffed. Domino's hand wrapped around mine, his black hair still shining dimly. He squatted and took Starling's hand. I stepped back to stand behind two girls of sixteen. They both had brown hair and a silvers' blue eyes.

"Bliss, Belle, he will be scratched badly." I whispered. Bliss started sifting through her bag, looking for a first aid kit. Belle's face started to elongate so I turned away, not knowing what she was up to. Domino turned to a lanky man next to him. Younger than us at sixteen, Max was tall, thin with crazy red hair stuffed into a blue beanie.

"Max get some water, it'll liquefy the mud and make it easier to pull him out."

Max nodded and hurried away with a small bucket. I kneeled down next to Domino. The tiny silver wolf was inside the bramble bush, nosing Starling's arm. Aurora, deaf to the alpha's orders, was only seven. She barked softly, flattening her ears and staring at me.

"Human, Roar. Now." I said firmly. The tiny wolf rolled her eyes and grumbled. I glared as she drew herself out of the bush with half human hands and stood up. I will never get used to Aurora. She constantly got distracted while changing, sometimes trying to walk out in public with a tail or covered in silver fur. It was annoying. And weird.

There was a tearing noise and a yelp of pain. I looked over to see Starling face down on the ground, moaning. His mud covered skin was pricked with the occasional line of red. The idiots hadn't waited for the water.

I grabbed a stick and started scraping the mud off him.
"Idiot. What would your mother say if we took you home like this?" I scolded him. He scowled and headed off to the river to clean himself. A faint 'Argh!' and evil laughter told us that he had collided with- and scared the fur off- Max.

By the time my brother came into view, we were howling with laughter. The look on his face was so frazzled and confused it was just too funny. Bliss whispered something to Belle, and the twins started edging off into the woods. I could hear them changing if I strained.

June, we are going to scare the pants off of Max. Bliss whispered so only I could hear. I nodded, unable to answer and only just suppressing my maniacal laughter. Max sat down on a fallen log across from us. He seemed to know something was up, but just started eating his way through a s'more.

Four bright blue eyes flashed in the pitch black forest. White claws and teeth sparkled as Belle and Bliss moved closer until they were sitting less than a paw length from his back. Bliss threw back her head and howled to the moon.

Max jumped with fright. He whirled around, balling his fists only to meet two silver wolves, rolling around on their backs and howling with laughter. He reached out tentatively and stroked Bliss, who wagged her tail as if she was a dog. I got up, still shaking with silent laughter, and went to find Starling.

The river bank was cool and quiet. I switched to wolf form to look for Starling. With my sense of hearing and scent, it was easier than being human. I raised my muzzle to the sky, my breath plumes of smoke in the cold air. In the middle of the river, the silhouette of a wolf was diving in the water. I watched for a while until he came up with a fish and stared at me with fiery green eyes.

Alarm bells rang in my head. I was stupid, going into wolf. This person would see my sparkly grey fur and see me as a target, a mutation, a thing to be kept in a zoo. The wolf dropped the fish in surprise and started swimming to the bank. I was rooted to the spot, glaring at the big black brute. He looked me up and down curiously.

Another one! he exclaimed, surprised. How many of you are there?

I stayed silent. Another one, he'd said. Where was Starling? Was he okay? There was no blood or scent of my wolf on this creature. The big black wolf tipped his head, eyes friendly if not amused.

The other one just ran as soon as he saw me. There was no way I had any hope of catching him. He informed me. I swayed on my paws and turned away, growling. The big wolf stayed where he was, and I could feel his gaze boring holes into my pelt as I turned tail and fled.

The branches of the trees whipped my face as I ran, following he sound and scent of my pack. Up ahead, Domino, Max, Aurora, Bliss and Belle were sitting on half logs around the little campfire. I kept going, lurching towards them on uneven legs. Silver fur shrank into my paws, fingers uncurling from stubby hands. I burst through the trees and fell, tripping over my half formed feet, and slammed into the ground.

Belle screamed and Domino yelled. I felt myself shrink, and as the coarse fur melted, the sharp stones hit my face. I moaned quietly.

Rough hands grabbed my shoulders and wrenched me back. I blinked and put a hand to my face, tracing the scratches from the rocks and twigs. Domino's face came into view, furious, scared, ready to fight.

"June what happened? Where's Starling? What the hell June?" he snarled. I could see his teeth getting sharper and his eyes bigger. I pushed him away, letting him go.

Starling. The bigger wolf hadn't reeked of blood, hadn't smelled of my wolf. But he may not have been telling the whole truth. I fell forward, the palms of my hands turning to rough, cracked skin. Domino let go and backed away, not stopping me as I raced through the forest.

Something stepped out of the trees and I attacked in a whirlwind of claws and fury. A familiar voice screamed and started slamming me with weak human fists, but I was already backing away, spitting blood into the dirt.

Something was growing, silver fur bursting in all directions. I backed away, ears flat as the half formed abomination started snarling.

Starling relax, it's me. I barked. Starling visibly relaxed, but kept darting his gaze around. I was already making the change back to human, and hugged him tight with furry arms. He made a tiny noise that sounded like 'I can't breathe', so I let go.

"Starling your alive!" I shrieked. He opened his mouth to say something but was silent and still. He crumpled like paper, collapsing in my arms with a barely audible cry. Then I saw the dart sticking out of his neck.

"Domino!" I howled, changing as fast as possible. A sting erupted on the back of my neck, but I kept changing. I ran through the forest, Starling on my back, sharp jabs o pain stabbing my body everywhere. My movements grew slow and my paws wavered.

I howled one more time and fell, the world a black tunnel and then gone.