1 - Katie

Katie's POV

"Look at me, Katie," Papa demanded with his dominant tone that he always used with the pack members, but not at me. As I peered up at him, my whole body trembled in fear at his sudden change of attitude. He doesn't look happy. The smile he always had on his face is now gone.

A little earlier, we were having fun baking lamb pie together. They even sang praises for how much they loved me so. But now..

"Papa.." My mouth tried to form a sentence but failed. The loving and gentle look that he used to grace me has now changed into a cold look on his face. Missing already his old attitude, tears are now welling up. I miss my old papa that much.

"Don't call me that. You know what happens when the children of an Alpha turn five."

Swallowing a lump of saliva in my mouth, I ball up my small fists as my brain forces me to throw a tantrum.

"Fa--" Papa stopped me before I could even bark.

"I did not give you permission to call me that, Katie." He spoke angrily.

"Please stop this already, Father! You are hurting Katie, our little princess!" Khalid reminded papa of what we used to be as a family. Of what they used to call me.

Their baby, their one and only princess.

"Khalid, all of that was just for her to feel loved since it was essential for the ceremony. Positive emotions are needed so that the shifting would be a success. But I guess even that did not help this failure of a daughter."

My eyes got all watery from what he just said, even if I couldn't fully understand all of it. Everything became a blur. My tummy feels all twisty, like when you spin around too much. And my heart feels like it's on a bumpy rollercoaster ride. It's hard to catch my breath—a smillar feeling after running really fast.

"Papa, what are you talking about? We were just laughing a while ago!" I burst out and finally threw a tantrum.

What can I do? I am only five!

"Y-you even tried to console me! When mama did not give me permission to go with you on hunting trips!" Bursting out all of my feelings while whining. I cried and cried while flapping my arms.. I don't care that I was now talking back to an Alpha, to my papa..

My tummy felt all squishy and mushy again. I was suddenly not feeling well.

"It's Alpha Fredrick to you, Katie Smith." He reprimanded me with a low voice that slowly made its way to my ears. That made me freeze. My head hurts a lot, and my eyes are all squinty. I think I need a nap to make it feel better, but I know I can't possibly do it now.

I am not sure what I will say to papa. I could only just weep again and again. I am not even allowed to call him Father. Just what did I do wrong? Ah. That's right, I haven't wolfed out, even though an Alpha-born for lots of years did it.

When I don't know what to tell papa, I see a hand in front of me. I lifted my head up and saw Mama's hand!

She's my light, my superhero! Even though she didn't talk, I know she's still on my team. Maybe I was wrong about her eyebrows being connected together.

"Mama?" I reached out for her hand but my mouth flew open as she swatted it away. It hurt and I sadly looked at her. Her eyes were unhappy but then turned cold quickly. She breathed out, mama usually did that when I wouldn't listen to her. 

"What should I do with you?" she whispered, but my tiny ears could hear it loud and clear.

"It's Luna," she added, and looked straight into my eyes like she saw a dirty dress. And again, I felt my tummy hurt, but I'm not hungry. We already ate the lamb pie before going here to the sacred place, as what I heard papa name this big rock.

"The necklace," she madly spoke as she once again showed her hands in front of me. So it was not to offer me a hand but to take back the necklace. The Luna's necklace that she gave me just a little while ago in the morning, or was it yesterday? It was already past midnight, and my birthday had already passed by. 

I held on to it tightly and never wanted to let go of it. Mama gave me this as a symbol of her love and adoration for me, so why?

"No!!" I stubbornly yelled.

"This is mine! You gave it to me, mama; why would you take it back?!" Showing my angry face to mama so that she knows that I am not happy.

I love this necklace! It is so pretty, and I won't let her take it back. I still cannot fully understand why on earth they are acting like this? Maybe I am just late in wolfing out! Is that so wrong? Can't they give me another chance!? Maybe next year will be the time that I can really shift and wolf out.

I try not to cry and scurry to mama while tugging at the hem of her dress. Peering at her while blinking my eyes lots of times to stop my tears. Mama likes it when I don't cry: "Katie, you need to be brave; the world is such a scary place." Those are the words mama used to comfort me when papa is in a bad mood with the pack members. I usually cry with all the shouting and yelling because I can hear them even if papa is far away from us. Mama would sometimes wonder how I could do this when she said she hadn't heard a thing.

Mama looks down to see me. She bit her lower lip and is trying not to cry too. But again, her eyes changed as she stared at my hand on her dress. As if trying to tell me to let go. When I didn't want to, she harshly pulled her dress, and I got a small owie.

If the other wolves are still here to watch, they will be really surprised too! But papa already made them go away when I didn't wolf out. I feel all messy inside, like when my ice cream melts too fast. I don't like this feeling.

I wonder if the pack members can hear all of our shouting from their houses. My soft, tiny hand hurt because of the boo boo. I felt something wet from my palm, and when I took a peek, there's a red liquid. N-no way. Is this.. Blood? I looked at mama's dress, and there were some small pointy beads at the bottom part of her dress.

"Again, it's Luna Kathrina. And it is the last time I am repeating myself, Katie. Now, my necklace, or else.."

With shaky hands, I pulled the necklace, as it had some magic on it. You can just pull it off, and it won't be broken. It can also be long or short, depending on who wears it. This was the reason why I loved it so much. But now, it was for sure the last time I could ever hold it in my hands.

I gave her the shiny jewelry, and mama grabbed it really fast. I almost tumbled and fell, but Khalid was there to help me before I could bump my bum on the ground. While mama grabbed the pretty necklace, I peeked at her face, and it held this sadness I didn't understand.

"This is too much! What did she ever do that was so wrong? She just didn't wolf out! Maybe she's a late bloomer!" Khalid was now angry too. Showing his long and sharp fangs towards our parents. Papa growled and showed his fangs too. "You dare show your fangs at me!? YOUR ALPHA. You may be my son, but I am still the leader of this pack, and you follow MY orders."

Khalid got scared 'cause papa looked really mean right now. Of course my brother is scared; he's only twelve. Papa let out a low growl as Khalid whimpered. My brother's knee was on the ground 'cause of the super scary feeling papa gave off.

"Oh no, Khalid!" I yelled as I turned around and sat, reaching out for his hand. What happened to him? One arm was on the ground, and the other was on his chest. As if something is attacking him. I try to console him, but it seems like Khalid is still in pain. Feeling so powerless, I stood up and faced the leaders of our pack, our parents..

"Stop it! Just stop all of this!" I begged for the sake of my brother, and now I really wailed.

"K-khan.." I heard Khalid whisper in a quiet voice. When I see his eyes, it changes from Khalid's eye to the color of the sun. I think it is called yellow. I want to ask him who is Khan but papa called my name.

He looked at me with his super serious face, and I felt like I was in big trouble.

"According to our rules, it's your family's duty to send you to the forest as punishment for not wolfing out on your fifth birthday. 

But!"

He stopped talking for a little while.. And it was super quiet. I got kinda scared.

Really.. Really scared. Waiting for what he has to say in silence.

"I have no interest in wasting my time to personally drop you there. So, here's the deal. 

Walk on your own; I'll forgive Khalid's offense."

I didn't fully understand what he said, but I think that I needed to be punished? Maybe not wolfing out is a big sin. Since he also says he will forgive Khalid if I go to the dark forest.

Khalid gasped and tried his best to shake his head to say no. Papa made it clear that an Alpha had no mercy on someone who hadn't wolfed out, even if it was his own daughter and to her supporter.

Even though my brother kept on shaking his head, he suddenly screamed and howled in pain. My eyes are shaking, and I look from my parents to Khalid. Not knowing what to do. My mind wasn't capable of thinking beyond my brother's safety. "Please don't hurt Khalid; I'll go."

I got up, hardly balancing my weight on my wobbly legs, and glanced at my family for one last time. I think I just need to walk inside the scary woods that papa points out.

"Take care, brother. I love you.." I gave Khalid another peek, and he was crying nonstop.

"Leave!"

Papa yelled really loudly, making me run away fast. Even though I was hurrying, I could still hear Khalid's whimpers, like he was trying to say, 'Wait!'

It was like the Moon Goddess was watching over us, and I'll always remember how my brother cared about me, even if things got really bad.

I walked really brave, thinking that I'm a superhero, but the scary feeling was tickling me all over when I went into the dark forest. 

Even though I'm still five, I know this place is super scary. Everybody knows. Wolves just poofed away here, like magic! Mama always told me spooky stories to make sure I never came close. But guess what? I'm actually in here now, and it's giving me the shivers. But, weirdly, deep down, I feel like my big brother Khalid is now safe. As if I have instincts as a superpower.

Slowly breathing out, not knowing that I was holding my breath this entire time. Maybe it is okay for me to turn around and head back. After all, Papa didn't say anything about not going back.

With a resolve to return, my body slowly turned around, but that's when I heard some low, scary growls. Quivered in fear for my life, my feet didn't dare to move a step. My family had not taught me how to fight yet. They pampered me in those five years.. Now, I miss those happy times.

As much as I want to daydream, I was shocked when I saw a little creature with a yucky face and big eyes like a small ball. It was a little taller than me. It jumped out from the bushes and I stayed super still, holding my breath. I hoped it would just go away, but it didn't.

It smiled all creepy, and it had big, scary claws like a wolf, like Papa's, but not really the exact thing. The creepy thing came close to me and crawled all slow. Taking its time. I figured out why Papa didn't bother to worry if I came back. He thought I wouldn't..

I tried to run real fast and got scratches from pointy branches, and it hurts a lot. There's blood, and it's dropping to the ground. My whole body feels sticky and slimy, but I keep on running. The only problem is that I was very unlucky since the ugly creature jumped on me. I punched it and tried to get away, but it was too strong. It grabbed my neck and tried to hurt me. Coughing really hard, I keep on slapping its wrinkly arms. I closed my eyes, and it felt like I was gonna be gone forever..

Then I feel my fingers moving as my arms and legs shiver from the cold breeze. 

When I opened my eyes, a tall person was there. He wore a fancy black cloak, like a prince from those cartoons that I adored. The ugly creature did not move in his hand anymore as he threw it away with force. 

The tall man was staring at me with his beautiful red eyes. His hair was super black, the same color as when I closed my eyes. With a voice like a prince, he spoke, "Wait for me; I'll come and get you the day before your eighteenth birthday."

That was the last thing I heard, as it sounded more like a lullaby than a promise.