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?
Ryker slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me to my feet. He was speaking soft words of encouragement to me as he helped me to stand by myself once more. “There is nobody for miles around, we are safe.” Christian said as he emerged from the treeline fully dressed. That was quick, or did I lose time? My head felt fuzzy and I was having trouble concentrating on anything other than the painful static electric sensation on my skin. Kerry told everyone else to stay put and walked me over to the treeline. She told me to strip before she turned her back on me and started walking back towards the cottage. I did as she said, trying my best to ignore how even the feel of the fabric against my skin was causing me pain. I had just slipped off the last of my clothes when the first jolt of pure pain passed through me. It felt as though an electric current had passed through all the bones in my body simultaneously. I fell to the floor and cried out in pain. “No, she is fine. The first t
I woke up before sunrise, just like I usually do when the nightmares come. The dream was just as painful as usual but there was something different about it now. When it got to the part where we were all in the kitchen working out what to do next I heard my mother talking to me through mindlink. “There is so much that I want to tell you little one but if I don’t make it look for the box in the attic of the cottage. It is hidden in a hidden compartment inside the chimney. The key to the box is your favourite smell.” She said. This must have been the missing piece of the puzzle that my brain was trying to work out. When I woke up feeling sad but also relieved, like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Some part of me must have recognised that she was trying to tell me something. I just had to wait until my wolf was awake before I could hear her message. Maybe I should have been worried that my mind was playing tricks on me but I wasn’t. I was 100% certain that what I heard i
When I opened my eyes the light was already streaming into my room through the curtains. I can’t remember the last time I woke up feeling so refreshed and revitalised. Heck, I can’t remember the last time I woke up after the sun had come up. I glanced over at my phone on my bedside table. It may have been later than I usually wake up but I still had some time before school started. I had never bothered to set an alarm before. I could always count on my nightmares to wake me up before dawn anyway but last night there was no nightmare. If they really were gone and this wasn’t a one off freak event then I might have to start thinking about that kind of thing. I dragged myself out of bed, showered and got ready for the day ahead. Once I was dressed it became clear that I only had enough time to make myself breakfast or apply my makeup, not both. I guess I was going to have to go into school looking a mess because there is no way I could get through the day without coffee. It just wouldn’
It was a good thing that I am ahead in all my classes because I couldn’t focus on anything all morning. My brain was split between too many different things and none of them were algebra or what I wanted to do for my English project. I was too busy trying to work out what the code could be, worrying that my mate might be around any corner and worrying about training tonight. It is a shock that I didn’t end up walking into a wall or something with how many different directions my mind was going in. I knew that if I was going to meet my mate at school it would most likely be at lunchtime. So when lunchtime arrived I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved for the break or worried about meeting my mate. I walked to the dining hall as quickly as I could, only stopping when I reached the entrance. I looked around the room, expecting to lock eyes with my mate but nothing happened. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was the first person of our group to arrive in the dining hall so I sat down at
Once school was over I didn’t have a whole lot of time until training was due to start. Just enough time for me to go home, make a quick snack then change into my work out clothes. Black leggings, pink sports bra and black strappy t-shirt. It wasn’t exactly the height of fashion but it hugged my curves in all the right places, even I had to admit that I looked hot. I guess it wouldn’t be too bad to meet my mate wearing something like this. I pulled on my trainers and ran out of the house before I could overthink things and get myself worked up. I thought that I was arriving to the training session early but it looked as though my training group were an eager bunch. I was one of the last ones to arrive. Most of them had already arranged themselves into pairs and were practising sparring with each other. “I was worried that you weren’t going to show up.” Felix said. He was smirking at me, this jerk actually believes that he is going to beat me. I would enjoy kicking his ass and wipin
Elijah mostly smelt of the first after a heavy rain to me but there was also a faint smell of roses. I didn’t think anything of it at first but as I was talking it reminded me of my mom. She always used to wear a perfume that smelled of roses. Now even all these years later I still found the smell of roses comforting. I had been trying to work out the code based on the smells that I liked now, that was why I was struggling. It made sense that the code would be something I liked while my parents were still alive. This had to be the answer, it seemed so obvious now. I ran all the way from the hall to my house and straight up to my room. Ryker, Christian and Kerry watched me running up the stairs with interest but they didn’t make an attempt to stop me. I could only imagine what they must be thinking. Once I was in my room I closed the door and sat down on the floor in my closet. I worked out the numeric code which would correspond to the word rose. I typed it into the keypad and tur
I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. I had solved the puzzle of the safe and my nightmares had stopped. Now the only problems I had were finding these keys and working out what to do about Elijah. The second of these problems was probably going to be the most painful. After all my talk about not accepting my mate I guess it serves me right to be paired with someone who didn’t want me. Nicely played moon goddess. The thought of my imminent rejection weighed on my mind but I wasn’t going to let anyone else see my pain. I showered and got changed for school. As an act of defiance I wore a black lace dress rather than my more usual t-shirt and jeans. The dress came just above my knees. It was tight until it reached my waist where it flared out. It was a bit too dressy for school so I paired it with my converse trainers and my leather jacket to dress it down a little. At least this way I would look good while I was getting painfully rejected. Maybe if I was lucky I could sto
If I headed straight to school I would be there far too early so I decided to take a bit of a detour on my way. I walked through the town centre, most of the shops were still closed at this time of the morning but the local coffee shop would be open. That was at least one thing I could rely on, even if the rest of my life had been turned upside down. The street was a hive of activity as people were getting their shops ready to open in a few hours time. There were delivery vans parked in the streets and people rushing around to offload the stock. I ducked down one of the side streets to keep out of everyone's way. I weaved through the side streets until I reached the edge of town and the coffee shop I was heading for. It was a lovely family owned coffee shop. Some people might call it hipster in style with its fake rustic aesthetic and quirky elements throughout the shop. I don’t normally like this kind of place but as they do the best coffee in town by far I just ignore how pretenti