Ocean Breeze

Marvel Hala

My father grumbled something under his breath, clearly not happy about my mother’s assertion. He wasn’t ready for his little girl to move on and be mated despite my age.

He often chastised me for growing up too quickly. I always responded with a laugh and informed him that there was nothing I could really do to stop it. He always responded with, “Try harder.”

“Don’t worry, mom. I’ll keep a lookout for my mate. I promise.”

This time a small growl escaped from my father’s lips, his wolf in full disagreement.

“Oh, you hush now, Jonas. Every wolf must find their mate sometime. The sooner the better,” she lectured.

My friends and I merely giggled at the exchange before heading out towards the back of the packhouse. It was just a short walk through the garden that led to the tree line. And once we were safely tucked into the trees, we shed our clothing and shifted into our wolf forms.

Our bones cracked and reformed. Our limbs shifted. Our teeth became fangs, and our nails turned to claws. Fur sprouted across our flesh as our ears reshaped and moved to the tops of our heads.

It used to be a rather uncomfortable process, but over time you grew used to it. After a while, it became just as natural as being human.

I shook out my shaggy, midnight black coat and stretched my limbs. It felt good to be in my wolf-form again. It hadn’t been long. But there was something about being in our wolf forms that was so freeing.

We were stronger as wolves. We were faster. Our senses were heightened. We were one with nature. One with the earth. One with the moon. Our place in the world making sense in a way that nothing else could.

I looked to my friends. Kiara with her copper-colored fur and Aida with her chocolate-brown coat. And I knew they felt much the same way I did. That’s why we never missed a run. Why we never gave up the opportunity to feel this way.

We took off deeper into the forest, running as fast as our legs could carry us. Yipping for joy as we went, weaving in and out of the trees. We ran for what seemed like miles without a care in the world. Wind whipping through our fur. Dirt under our paws. Plants left trampled under our escapades.

This was how life was meant to be, enjoying time with your friends, immersed in nature. Simply free.

I tried not to think about the whole mate situation while we were out there. I wanted to be completely in the moment. Wild and without a care.

That was until I caught a strange scent on the wind. The intoxicating aroma causing me to suddenly skid to a stop and sniff at the air.

The unexpected smell of a cool breeze blowing over the sea – just a hint of salt in the air.

It’d been years since I’d smelt something similar. We’d taken a family trip to the beach and rented a small yacht to spend a few days out on the ocean. I loved the smell of the fresh ocean air; it’d stuck with me long after we’d returned home like a tangible memory that I carried. I often thought about that trip and had longed to return to the seaside to feel that way again.

Now, suddenly, miles and miles away from any possible source, I inhaled it just as clearly as I had when we’d stayed out on that yacht. I couldn’t explain it. Didn’t understand how it was possible. But it was.

I found myself drawn to the scent. Desperate to find the source. To inhale it as though it were the air I needed to breathe. The only source of my survival. I needed it. Depended on it. Was intoxicated by it like a drug.

I began running after it before I even knew what I was doing. Not that I could’ve stopped myself even if I had.

“Marvel, where are you going?” Kiara questioned through the mindlink.

 “I have to find where that scent is coming from,” I explained, and no more words were needed; they simply began to follow.

This was crazy. We were only in the very early hours of my birthday. It was extremely rare to find one’s mate so soon, and I’d be astonished if I had. It’d barely make sense. Especially out here, in the middle of the woods. I know that we were wolves, but that seemed a little too on the nose.

I continued to track the scent in silence. Until I suddenly realized that we were coming back around toward the packhouse. We were drifting closer and closer to the main pack lands, and I was certain we were closing in on it – closing in on my mate.

When suddenly it was gone. Disappearing as quickly as it came.

“It’s gone,” I whimpered.

“What?! What do you mean it’s gone?” Aida questioned, clearly as confused as I was.

“I don’t know. It was there a minute ago. Clear as day. But now I can’t find it. It’s like he suddenly vanished.”

I turned and began walking home without another word. I didn’t want to talk about what happened. My mind was reeling. I needed time to process.

“Maybe it was a rogue,” Kiara suddenly remarked after we’d finished shifting and tossed on our clothes.

“What?”

“What if it was a rogue, passing through our territory that you smelled?”

“Maybe,” I shrugged dismissively. “I’m not going to worry about it too much.”

That’s what I said out loud, but the truth was that I was worried, very worried. My emotions were all over the place, a complete whirlwind assaulting my mind, as I attempted to hold it together. If that scent belonged to a rogue, then that would mean that my mate is a rogue.

And that would be a big problem.

Our pack didn’t take kindly to rogues, and it would be difficult to gain their acceptance. Of course, that was assuming the rogue wanted to be found and wanted to join a pack at all.

If he didn’t, then I’d be forced to choose between my pack and my mate. That was something I absolutely didn’t want to have to do.