The looming mountain before us made me feel extremely small compared to anything else I have ever seen. I hope we don’t need to trek up there, because I know I am not equipped to do anything like that! Even walking through the forest was hard enough! As I continue to gaze up at the gigantic mass of earth, Jay places his hand on the small of my back in comfort.
“Don’t worry. We should be able to find his cabin on the ground easily enough. It won’t be up there,” he tells me and then looks at me with the usual dopey grin plastered all over his face. I can tell he is about to either crack a joke or flirt with me, so before he gets the chance, I tap him on the nose.
“I know that. Why don’t you find the cabin instead of whatever you’re suddenly plotting in that mind of yours?” I tell him with a disapproving glance. I’m not upset with him, but I am tired and want to find the cabin so I can fina
While Jay and I wait for Bucky to pour us some tea from the pot, I look around the inside of the cabin. I now understand why he tends to not stay in one place for very long, and why he seems to prefer being away from people. It must be hard to be constantly on edge with thoughts that a hunter might shoot you, thinking you’re a normal stag, or for a werewolf to think you are food. He isn’t completely safe in the Shrine, as only the Elders of each pack know of his true existence. He probably has a lot of the younger ones chase him down often, assuming he isn’t something similar to them. How he has stayed alive so long already, I haven’t figured it out. Maybe it is as Jay said? That he is merely reborn after he dies? Placing the two cups on the table in front of me and Jay, the Sorcerer sits down in his chair and stares at the two of us for a long time in silence. I almost feel like he is peering into my very subconsciousnes
“So which will it be?” Bucky asks me with a tilt of his head. “It is completely up to you, and both come with advantages and disadvantages. I can help awaken either side, without the risk of your mind turning to mush, but I’ll need to know so that I can prepare. Or the witch-blood will need that. Werewolf one… is more about awakening the wolf within, so less of a hassle…” he trails on and on to where I have to shoot him a look that tells him to be quiet for five seconds so that I can think. “Being stronger is better, but I won’t have to look ugly and fly broomsticks, would I?” I ask, cutting him off as he is still rambling on to me about this and that. Bucky pauses and looks at me in thought. “Why? Do you have some kind of skin disease?” He questions. I shoot him a glaring look before he holds up his hands innocently to me. “You will not change in appearance if you become a witch and broomsticks are optional, though they don’t help you fly.”
Walking around for a bit feels disorienting, as it doesn’t feel like I’m going anywhere at all. I frown a little and continue to look around for something, or someone, that might explain where I am and what I’m doing here. However, I see and hear nothing at all. This place is completely desolated. It feels like everything around me has just effectively vanished into thin air.“H-hello?” I called out, hoping to have someone respond. When I get no reply, I sigh and continue to walk. I gaze my gaze here, there and everywhere, but no matter where I think I am going, it all looks exactly the same. I almost want to give up, but when I turn around to head back the way I came, I realise I do not know if I’m going back the same way as everything looks so similar.I bite my lower lip nervously. I bet I can walk up or down if I tried, b
Opening my eyes, I can hear the fighting going on outside of the cabin is still going on. I am also still standing in the same place as when the ritual started. Bucky looks tired, but he offers me a brief smile. With him succeeding in waking up my wolf and us joining as one, it is no surprise that he is pleased with himself. A sudden slam against the side of the building snaps my attention to the fight outside again.I do not know how shifting works, let alone how to fight, but I can feel something is different about me. I can’t quite place what that something is, though. Looking at my hands and then my reflection in the window, I see nothing physically different about my body. I glance back at Bucky and shrug helplessly.Just as I am about to say something to him, a familiar voice echoes in my mind, ‘our first shift might hurt a bit, but I will fig
“Why won’t she accept me!?” Jay whines, now that the two of us have returned to our human forms and gotten ourselves into decent clothes. He hasn’t stopped since everything calmed down and Bucky agreed to let us stay the night. He thankfully has a spare room in the cabin, so there is no need for us to fight a bed or anything. And luckily he has a double bed.After I made the bed up for us, I shoot Jay a soft look and shake my head in amusement. “Because you’re whining too much,” I tease him. He pouts at me and looks so sad that I almost want to give in and tell him the truth. However, Lumi rejects my thoughts, letting me know to play it out a little longer.‘Let him suffer until bedtime. We are still getting used to things. Mating now might be too much for you,’ Lumi tells me with a wag of her tail. She seem
When Bucky had said male werewolves go crazy during those moments around their mate, I hadn’t fully understood the level into which the mating process would drop. Last night had been… something else. It was late in the afternoon now, and Jay was finally asleep. Had I known, it would have been such a long and involved process, I would have tried to make him wait until we had gotten home. Though thinking about it, I doubt I could have held off that long, either.With a soft sigh, I turned over onto my side and laid there, watching his sleeping face for a while. I wanted to sleep too, but if I did, I was sure we would be up all night again. It wasn’t like me to sleep away the day like this. Though it would be understandable if I did. With a yawn, I decided leaving Jay’s side would not make me feel any more alert, so I opted to cuddle into him instead.
Finally, the two of us reached the familiar buildings of the place I now called home. So much had changed in such a small amount of time that I wasn’t even sure this was the right place. The truth was, nothing in appearances had changed. It was merely my perspective on the place that had. Then there were the new emotions, smells and not forgetting that sense of belonging and family.Jay had given me advice on how to connect through the mindlink and how to keep people out if I wished to block certain people and only communicate with him or Darnell. He suggested not keeping my mind open to everyone until I was more comfortable with it, but that the pack usually did if they were on alert, just so it was easier to get the word out if something or someone strange was spotted.As the two of us headed back to the packhouse, Darnell came to greet us with a smile
“So!” Blu had said hours before, and in a voice louder than she probably needed to speak, “when are we to expect the soft patter of little pups, Luna Gwen?”That question had my face burning for what seemed like forever, but finally, I had settled down enough to get over the horror of her asking such a thing in front of half the pack. I tried to not let it bother me, but I couldn’t help but flee in embarrassment after everyone stared at me expectantly.I sat in the bedroom, face planted firmly in my hands while trying to hide how awkward I now felt. I didn’t plan on fleeing the scene, but I just couldn’t handle the expectations of being a mother so soon. There was no way on Earth that I was ready for that! I had only just now accepted Jay as my mate and husband, and the feelings for him were growing still.