Secrets of Mystic Vale

Selene stirred in her bed; her body was tired from the day but her mind was awake with the night. It was not a particularly important night. No full moon, harvest moon, new, blood, or blue moon. There was nothing that usually kept the wolves out of bed. But still, something beneath her skin pulled her that night. She crept quietly, so as not to wake her sister, Nessalee, and slid out the window. The night was chilly. Her father and mother were pack doctors, which meant that their home was situated directly in between the pack's main house and the pack infirmary with a beautiful view of Silver lake. Selene, barefoot, and still in her nightshirt, sprinted down the little hill to the lake, and let her toes kiss the edge of the water. There, she breathed in the freshness of the night and let the darkness charge her spirit.  After taking a few more satisfying breaths, Selene started to walk the trail around the lake. The entire lake and surrounding lands were pack property, and patrolled by pack warriors. There were fewer wolves out than usual, but still, Selene did catch a glimpse of some fur, or hear a rustle that wasn’t quite like the wind.  Selene had never felt like an outsider in the pack despite being adopted by Dax and Issabeau Bledsoe as a young child. Her parents told her that she had come from a pack a little ways away that had been mostly killed off, and when members of Silver moon found her, they could scent Selene’s wolf blood and so they brought her to Silver Lake. She had been badly hurt, and needed time to heal. While Selene was recovering, Silver Lake had done everything they could to locate any family or pack relations for her, but found no one. So, when Selene was finally well, Dax and Issabeau adopted her since they, along with Nessalee, had already fallen in love with her throughout the months they spent nursing her back to health.  Selene had managed to make it to the opposite side of the lake when she thought she saw something move in the sky. The night was a little cloudy, so she had to venture out away from the lake, and up the rocks that bank the north of the lake in order to get a better look. Selene searched the sky, and after a time, she saw it again. A brief line of light shot across the darkness, A shooting star. Or actually, shooting stars, multiple. Selene kept climbing until she reached the very top of the craggy bank, and out into the woods a little way to a clearing that would give her a better view. Here, the sky was much clearer, and she could see line after line of light dancing through the sky. As she watched, Selene spun through the clearing, arms wide, taking in the life that she felt. Toes in the dirt, wind in her hair, she felt, for just a moment, that it would be so right if she could just build a small fire. Wait. No. Wolves don’t need fire. They are creatures of the dark. “I am a creature of the dark.” she made herself think as she stopped all this wild nonsense. Wolves don't think like this, or act like that. So, Selene decided to recite in her head some of the basic wolf principles that were drilled into her as a child. One: Stick with your pack. Well, she may not technically be with anyone from her pack, but she is still in pack territory, so that counts. Two: Follow the chain of command. She was not going against any pack rules or commands set by her alpha. Her parents did tell her that it is more dangerous to be out at night in a human form than a wolf form, but that hadn’t actually been any sort of rule, just a general warning.  Three: Always be aware of your surroundings. Well, she had definitely let her awareness go as she was caught up in the flurry of the night. Better take note now. The air smells clean, although her nose seemed to be less reliable than most other wolves. The edge of the woods ahead is empty, it sits about 10 paces away. The lake is behind, it would take about 30 paces to get back to the top of the rocks. To the right is a male form watching me from the shadow of a tree. To the left is clear. Wait. s**t. Selene spun back to the right as the male approached.