The Lost Princess - Saving Lupin Borealis

Chapter Five - White Wolves

Elise’s POV

We were on our third day of driving, and I have decided I’m a pretty big fan of Damon and Jason. Damon makes me laugh, he’s spent much of the last few days telling me stories of the pack, who is who, what roles there are within the pack and all of their packs history. Damon said there are hundreds of wolves back at his den, and I can hardly contain my excitement. I can’t believe there are others like me out there, let alone an entire den of them! Damon also explained there are packs all over the world, but the one we are headed to in Norway, Lupin Borealis, is one of the largest in Europe. Over the years, wherever there has been great power or great seclusion, werewolves and vampires alike had settled. Werewolves found themselves in Norway thanks to the local witches, and established a long running den that had apparently been there for thousands of years now. Jason turned out to actually be quite sweet, producing a laptop for me on the first night, fitted with a small internet USB so I could get the internet in most places we traveled. I’d gotten through several Netflix series and countless pointless games during our days on the road, which had saved my sanity as the guys swapped back and forth, taking turns driving and sleeping. Damon had also quietly told me in one of our moments alone that Jason had lost his younger sister to vampires at my age and had never really recovered. Maybe this is why he was so nice to me.

I had also learnt much more about myself in the past few days with my new friends. It was normal for most wolves to gain your wolf at 16, although those picked by genetics to be warriors would gain theirs younger, at 14. I was somewhat deflated to hear I wouldn’t be a warrior, although I didn’t really understand why when the only fight I’d ever had with the vampire in the alleyway I couldn’t even remember. I had also learned that genetics picked our roles within a pack, with particular skills or talents appearing over the years as we matured. I likely hadn’t found mine, or any particular skill, as our skills and talents are greatly diminished without a pack. I was also only 16, and wouldn’t mature until 25 so had a long way to go before being considered an adult. Jason explained how all power and all pain was shared between a pack, so the larger the pack, the greater the pain tolerance and power shared by its members. That’s why wolves in packs could shift without pain, they share the load. It blew my mind thinking these two men had the strength of several hundred wolves running through their veins, although they apparently needed it having heard a little more about the vampires.

I also learned about our wolf lifespan. Even the lowest ranking werewolves could live as long as 150 years, and those from the purest and most powerful bloodlines could live for thousands. I shuddered at the thought of being stuck in my old life for 150 years. I was so grateful to Damon and Jason for rescuing me. I was apparently the only wolf rescued on this trip, although they have rescued hundreds before me, delivering them to their most suited pack. I am being taken back to Norway with them as I am still a pup, a term they used for under 18’s, and their pack has the most established and safest orphanage. The London vampires will now have my scent, so I was safer in one of the more secluded packs until another wolf piqued their interest. The vampire who attacked me appeared to be a wolf hunter in training, and wolf hunters could become obsessive about catching their prize. I’m still not sure why they would bother following a 16 year old into another country, but apparently there’s a lot about this life I don’t understand.

Far out front, I could see a mountain range. Jason whistled through his teeth “it never gets less beautiful, does it D”.

“Yeah, because you’ve got a hot she-wolf waiting for you Jason, some of us are going home to cold beds”. Jason playfully hit Damon on the arm, chuckling with a shy smile. I noticed on our first day that Damon had a fresh deep welt on his arm, no doubt from defending me, and I had felt horribly guilty every time I saw the mark. It had thankfully disappeared on day 2, thanks to his advanced healing. I healed faster than humans, always had, but everything I do without a pack will be less powerful and slower than those wolves with one. I’d always thought I just had a good immune system compared to the other kids. I guess not.

They also explained to me how at the moment, because I was young, I could only shift during a full moon. I would gain more control on my 17th birthday next month, allowing me to shift when in danger and when supported by older wolves, and I would then gain total control on my 18th birthday. This stagger was a mode of self protection, our wolves controlling when we can shift until we fully learn to control ourselves and our abilities. We would then grow stronger each year until our maturity at 25.

As we drew closer, Damon began explaining more about the den. “Okay Elise, so when we get there, it’s going to seem a little odd at first. We have certain protocols, obviously being an orphan you won’t know any of them”. I winced slightly at his words. Learning more about what I am made me long for a childhood I had never known I missed out on. “Follow my lead, and do everything our Lord and Lady ask of you. They will probably find you a role within the pack to learn, so you’ll hopefully get a trade, and they’ll give you a potion to get you to shift for them to try and figure out what that is”.

“Why do I have to shift?” I asked. I dreaded shifting once a month, let alone having to shift again so soon.

“Because that’s how we delegate jobs. Our wolves are far more telling than our human forms. Dark brown wolves are domestics, or omegas, doing all the home duties for the pack, such as cooking, schooling and cleaning. They have much better attention to detail, and tend to be complete softies. They rarely do any of the physical work around the grounds. Light brown wolves come in two roles. The larger wolves are the labourers, our builders, farmers and the like, they’re much stronger than most wolves and able to carry heavier loads. The small light brown wolves work in administration, the pack businesses and tech. They’re the smart ones, you can guess why Jason didn’t end up with them despite being such a shrimp”. Damon looked up into his rear view mirror, with a twinkle in his eye whilst Jason snorted beside him. Jason was absolutely enormous, his t-shirt struggling to contain his huge biceps and I giggled at the thought of him ever being considered small.

“How do you know which wolves are bigger and which are smaller?” I asked.

Damon laughed again “Oh pup, trust me, you will know”.

“And what about the other roles?”

“The other roles are higher ranking, as you know all our packs are heavily centred on ranks. Red wolves are usually found in medicine and healing, a highly respected role. Dark grey wolves are warriors and trackers, we have the best mix of abilities and our fur provides the best camouflage, my wolf Kina and Jason's wolf Sora are both dark grey. Our armies consist of mainly dark grey wolves as warriors. Light grey and silver wolves are the socialites, blessed with both great beauty and social skills, they organise a lot of the pack events and work on relationships and diplomacy with other packs. I didn’t get a good look at your wolf but have a feeling you might end up there. Orange wolves are almost always seers. Black wolves are always high ranking pack members. The Beta’s, Gamma’s and so on. There are of course a lot of mixed wolves and other roles within the pack, and you can choose a particular role if you like, although most wolves get the most fulfillment from their given role”.

"I doubt I'm a grey wolf, I've never been much to look at" I say, biting the side of my lip in embarassment.

"Ahh don't be stupid Elise, you're a pup. You're already very unique, and I'm sure your mate wouldn't see you as anything less than beautiful. Don't sell yourself short before your life has even begun" Damon said, a soft smile on his face as he looked out the window at the passing trees.

“What about white wolves?” I asked, thinking of Fern. I've always considered my wolf pretty bright white, and they didn't appear on the list. Jason shifted uncomfortably and coughed, a rare sight in someone usually so stoic.

“White wolves are reserved for the Alpha’s. You can only be a white wolf if you’re the first born of a pure bloodline. Second borns tend to be black, but not always, really depends on the pack size and what the Moon Goddess has in her plans. Your fur can change as you age, going from light to dark and vice versa, but it’s a pretty accurate predictor”. What Damon said about light grey wolves made sense, whilst I definitely didn’t think I was a beauty, I did enjoy politics and socialising. I had never seen my fur in wolf form fully and both he and Jason had seen me entirely. I knew my paws were white, but these could darken with age. Maybe I would mature into dark grey, and that’s why I felt such jealousy at the warrior wolves who shifted early and the army was my destiny here. I felt small relief at not being an omega, although Damon went to great lengths to describe how everyone was treated with respect, regardless of their roles, I didn’t fancy cleaning up after other people for the next 100 years. I was excited to get to the den and start working towards my future.