Chapter 6

I kept my headphones in for the rest of the journey. We arrived at the cottage late in the afternoon. The golden light of late afternoon was streaming through the gaps in the trees. It was beautiful, like something from a postcard. 

The cottage was set in the middle of the forest, miles away from the nearest town. The perfect place for someone to get away from the rest of the world. It was also the perfect place to make sure that nobody saw me change into my wolf. 

Christian and Ryker dropped me and Kerry off at the cottage before heading off to forage for some food at the nearest fast food outlet. I followed Kerry into the house. We walked around the house removing the dust covers from all the furniture and storing them in the cupboard under the stairs. 

We still came to the cottage a few times a year for weekend trips but the last time was almost six months ago. The cottage had that slightly musky smell that houses get when they are empty for a long time. Kerry went to the shed to get some logs for the burner. In a few hours the smell of food and burning wood will have replaced the musky smell completely. 

While she was busy I went into my old room. I pulled my keepsake box from under the bed. I had to leave everything that could tie me back to my family here. That included all the pictures of my parents and any reference to my real surname. Everyone thinks that Diana Quintrell died when her parents did and we couldn’t afford to give them any reason to doubt that fact. 

To the pack and the rest of the world I was Diana Demont. The child that Kerry and Christian found wandering in the woods after my parents were killed by rogues. According to our official story I had no other family so Christian and Kerry adopted me as their own.

I laid on the floor of my old room and started flicking through pictures of my parents. There were some pictures of them together from when they were younger but most of them were pictures of us as a family. 

I picked up a picture of my mom holding me in her arms while my dad looked at us lovingly. I leaned it against the lamp on my bedside table. I sat with me back against the bed smiling, imagining the family we were and the family we could have been if things were different.

I must have sat there for a while daydreaming. The next thing I remember was hearing Ryker coming into the cottage and announcing that they had a successful ‘hunting trip’. I stuffed the rest of the photos back into the box and replaced the box under the bed. My legs were slightly stiff as I walked back into the living room. We spent the rest of the evening eating and playing card games at the small wooden kitchen table. 

Everyone kept asking me questions about what I wanted to do once I left school. I could tell that they were trying to distract me but nothing they were doing was working. I felt jittery and nervous. I lost at every game we played and I was barely able to string a sentence together. 

“So, do you want to continue to help me with the training? Maybe you could take over from me one day?” Christian asked. Ryker looked a bit offended. I was a stronger fighter than him but he had always assumed that he would get the position. 

I honestly hadn’t given much thought to what I would do in the future. Sometimes I had fantasies about going to college or doing something important within the pack but most of the time I just avoided thinking about it.

“There is no need to look so wounded Ryker. In a pack this size there is more than enough work for both of you.” He continued.

“I like the sound of working with Diana everyday.” Ryker said. 

He put his hand on my leg under the table. I could feel his fingers brushing the inside of my thigh. 

“I ermmm.” I started to talk but I was distracted by a weird sensation in my fingers. It felt as though there was static electricity running over them and making its way slowly up my arm. 

“What’s wrong?” Kerry asked. She stood up so abruptly that the chair tumbled to the floor behind her.

“I don’t know. My hand feels tingly.” I said. 

Kerry and Chirstian looked at each other for a moment. They may have been communicating with each other through mindlink but I couldn’t be sure.

“What’s going on, is something wrong?” I asked. 

I could feel the cold chill of panic creeping over me. Christian and Kerry didn’t normally keep things from us, why would they start now.

“Nothing to worry about, it is just a little earlier than we were expecting.” Christian said.

How could I not worry about that. Was there something wrong with me or my wolf? Was that why my skin was starting to feel warm and tingly?

“Let’s get you outside.” Kerry said. 

She took hold of my arm and we started walking together towards the door. Christian quickly overtook us and darted out of the door. Once we were outside I saw him in wolf form running away. Was something seriously wrong with me? Was he leaving us? 

“He is just checking that there is nobody nearby.” Kerry said, sensing how tense I was. 

The static electricity feeling had spread to most of my body now and was becoming more intense, almost painfully so. I kept walking although every step was becoming more and more difficult.

I stumbled and fell to the floor. This didn’t feel right, there must be something wrong with me. Surely people would have told me if it was meant to feel this bad to shift for the first time?