No Longer Yours

Ribs

I woke up from the sounds of my pack howling outside my window. Rolling over and covering my head with a pillow I tried to ignore their restlessness and return to my dream. I couldn't remember what it was but I knew I wanted to go back, something was there I needed to return to or somebody. My eyes remained closed but I knew I wouldn't be able to return to sleep, my wolf had been quiet at the back of my mind but I knew what she wanted and so did I. Groaning I sloppily got out of bed, running down the stairs out the back door I was able to make out a goodbye to my sister Lindsay before I shifted and followed into the forest.

I knew I wasn't headed anywhere in particular, so I let my wolf take the lead. Explore what she wanted and get a sense for her physical body. Although she had been introduced to my body at the age of 6, our bodies wouldn't allow us to fully shift until we were fully developed which for normal wolves occurred between the ages of 18-22. I was lucky enough to have my first shift the week following my 18th birthday whereas I was turning 20 within the next month and many of peers continued to struggle with shifting.

My wolf stretched her legs further as she dodged over logs and between the thick brush, we were fast and I wanted to keep that up. I slowed down as I instinctively felt the presence of my fellow pack members gathered in a clearing nearby. I slowed as the brush began to thin, I didn't want my peers to hear or feel my presence as they trained. Around twenty wolves stood together encircling our Beta and Delta, listening attentively to whatever they were saying.

All of a sudden there was movement, the warrior wolves moved in sync and began their trainings. In the small clearing I had made for myself my wolf began to mirror the movement, following every instruction the wolves were given. We had a couple hundred in the pack and these were the best of the best, I was pleased to be able to keep up with them. As the session was coming to a close, I masked my scent a secret talent I had been able to develop the past couple years, falling back into the tree line I waited for the clearing to empty.

It emptied as the tired wolves ran home following their training. However, one wolf remained and he turned his head in my direction and easily found my eyes and beckoned me towards him. He turned his head back away from me allowing me to shift back, I grabbed a large sweater and a pair of basketball shorts from the bag. Throwing on the clothes, I came up from under the hole in the sweater to be greeted by a smiling Beta

Jax laughed at my annoyed expression, "you were almost able to get away with that entire training session without anybody knowing you were here, but you stink. A minute or two and you would have gone unnoticed." He said as he threw the water bottle he had almost finished in his hand at me. I scoffed but grateful for the water chugged it down my dry throat, settling myself down into the grass. Jax followed my suit, but turned last minute to rub his dampened dark curly locks into my face. Disgusting.

"I am getting better at my masking and you know it," I jostled back at him. "Not to mention I am keeping and I think I could even take a few of them in a challenge and you know it" the confidence radiating through my voice. He couldn't help but nod in agreement, my wolf delighted with the recognition of our power. Jax had been around since Lindsay and I joined the pack, at 10 and 12 Jax as son of the Beta took the opportunity to take us under the wing. He was a big part of creating our comfort into the transition of the pack, helping us create solid relationships throughout the Blue Dusk pack especially with the Alpha and Beta families, which earned us high respect and trust within the pack. It came to no surprise to everyone when my sister and Jax shifted that they discovered they were mates. They effortlessly balanced each other out, he had an ability to calm the stress right out of my sister, it took no convincing when Jax had asked my sister and I to move into his house when he became Beta this past year as him and the alpha had turned of age to take over the pack.