Called by the Goddess

Chapter 2: The forbidden forest

~Kate~

There I was, lying down, naked, in a part of the forest where I had never been, and was definitely NOT supposed to be. “Oh Kate, now you’ve done it.. you and your temper, now I really screwed things up.”, I thought to myself.

And then a grin came through my feelings of despair and injustice. “I shifted! For the first time I ran as a wolf, woooohooooo, first of my class to do so!” I thought to myself, secretly proud as hell of that fact.

It wasn’t unheard of that the wolves of our pack shifted well before their 18th birthday. Mostly it were the alphas though and definitely not the omega children that shifted as early as 16. And she had just turned 16 last week.

She thought back fondly of the birthday cake her dad had baked her and the special dinner her mum cooked. And the new backpack they had gotten her as a present. So her books wouldn’t fall out anymore when she ran to school, which had happened regularly with her very old and torn old backpack.

“Backpack!” she snapped out of her fantasy. She felt her senses were still heightened since she shifted, her wolf was still close. She took a good whiff of air and smelled a faint wisp of bacon. Yum! Her tummy started rumbling again, louder than ever, and that was saying something!

She ran towards the smell and found her backpack, together with her shredded clothes. Damn… she couldn’t wear those anymore. Luckily she had her PE clothes in her backpack, so she quickly put those on. She found the bacon and started to wolf that down. She totally got that expression now!

Oh yay, while she wasn’t looking, her mum also put in her favorite: a PB&J sandwich. Nothing better than a home made PB&J, her mum made everything from scratch: the bread, the peanut butter and the delicious blackberry jelly.

Now the worst of her appetite had been satisfied, the sound of tinkling water caught her attention. Oh Goddess, she was thirsty! She looked around and found a small brook, crackling over the rocks. She took a small sip and it tasted heavenly, fresh and sweet, so she gulped some more down..

She looked around and froze. She just now realised that she had no clue where she was. This was obviously not pack territory anymore. This must be the forbidden forest… what did she get herself into now?.

And how could she be here? She was told there was a spell cast on the forest, so wolves from her pack would not venture into it by accident. No, they would turn back before they crossed the border, even when they didn’t realize it. She knew of several classmates and older kids that made bets who dared to go in, that indeed had been turned back with dazed expressions on their faces. It always made her laugh. She never had felt the need to try going into the forbidden forest, she got herself in enough trouble as it was, let alone if she consciously went breaking the rules…

“Mum…” she tried if the mindlink with her mother still worked. “Kate! Thank Goddess! Are you ok, sweet girl, what have you gotten yourself into now? I felt you shift, but shouldn’t you be in school? What happened?”

Kate flinched visibly at the worry she felt through the mindlink. “Wait, what? Can you feel feelings as well through mind linking? Cool!” she thought. And a few seconds later “oh… not cool if I should ever mind link to one of those bullies… it is hard enough pretending to suck up to them as it is”

“Kate! Focus!”

“Oh, sorry mum, it is all just a bit much to take in. I have been expelled, I am so sorry, I ran away from school without thinking, I was SO very angry, so I just kept running and then I shifted and now I think I am in the forbidden forest” she summarized things for her mother.

“Oh darling, just take a deep breath and then follow your scent to come home. You can explain everything more clearly to me when you get back, but first, you’ll need food and drink and probably a bath. Shifting for the first time takes its toll on your body! Did you have anything to eat?”

“Yeah, I still got my backpack! The bacon and PB&J sandwich you put in were a lifesaver and I found a good source of water here luckily” I told her gratefully.

“Get a move on, sweet girl, get your but here, before you are missed and get in even more trouble!” mum urged me along. She was right, I was in enough trouble as it was, and if I went AWOL, my parents would get into trouble as well.

I sighed, while finding my way back to our territory and our pack house. Why did I always cause so much trouble? Why couldn’t I just be the timid, obedient omega I was supposed to be? Luckily, nobody saw me sneak back in, and I made it to the pack house without being seen, entering through the back door that only omegas used, so I wouldn’t bump into higher ranking wolves, or Goddess forbids, alpha Kendrick himself. I shudder at the thought.

I walk into the kitchen and see my mum, busy at work, chopping onions. “Oh this is bad...” I think. Mum only chops the onions herself if she needs an excuse for teary eyes. And my mum does not cry easily.

“Hey mum…” I mumble looking down at my feet. I hear the knife drop on the counter and before I know it, I feel my mum's arms around me, hugging me tight.