Shifted

Lunch

I wasted no time and shot out of my seat as the bell rang. I didn’t want to give them a chance to talk to me or anything worse. I caught sight of Ashlynn and caught up with her in the hall. “You are never going to guess what just happened,” I said. “With you it could literally be anything, so what’s up?” she asked. Caleb caught up with us and we got in line for lunch. “I started my new math class today and guess who walks in?” “Who?” Caleb asked. “Aspen and his buddies. Not only are they in my class, they decided to sit around me. So, I’m surrounded by hot, muscly, assholes.” They laughed. I loaded my tray with a salad and cheese fries. I noticed that both Caleb and Ashlynn kept piling things onto my tray. I stopped walking and gawked at them, “What is this?” I laughed. “What? I’m a growing wolf and you get free food!” I couldn’t help but smile and shake my head as we checked out and headed towards our table.

Seth and Max joined us and I decided to ask about the party on Friday. I took out the flyer and showed Ashlynn. “Who gave you that?” Ashlynn asked, taking the paper from my hand. “Emily. She apologized and said that I should come so that I could make friends.” Seth and Max shared a look with one another and then kept eating. “You need to be careful around Emily. She is only going to use you to get what she wants. The minute you are no longer useful she will get rid of you.” I took a bite of my food and looked at Caleb, “what do you think?” I had a feeling that Seth and Max were having a conversation with Caleb before he answered me, “We will be at the party. It’s usually a good time. It would be a great way for you to get to know people, but I do agree with Ashlynn. You can’t shift or mind speak and if something were to happen, you wouldn’t be able to defend yourself.” I sat back in my seat unsure of what to think. Would someone really try to hurt me?

The rest of the day went by and I was glad to be heading home. I wanted nothing more than to crawl into my bed with a hot cup of tea and a good book. The snow had started this afternoon and it was beautiful to watch as it started to stick to the trees. I opened the front door of our house and took off my boots. Headed into our kitchen and made myself a cup of tea. I scrolled through my phone waiting for the water to boil. I noticed that I had gained some followers and looked to see who they were. They seemed to be classmates from school and I was happy to snoop through their photos. I landed on Emily and clicked her name. I scrolled through her photos to see pictures of her with friends, hiking, her family, and finally a picture of her and Aspen snuggled up in a blanket on what seemed to be a picnic. What the actual? The kettle sung and I poured the steaming water into my cup. The doorbell rang and I went to answer it. Ashlynn and Beta Jackson were here. “Hi Elsie, I’m dropping Ashlynn off and will be back to pick her up later. She can just mind link me when you’re done.” “Bye dad!” Ashlynn said as she went inside. Oh, that’s right. She was going to tutor me after school. There goes my night in bed reading. “We can go up to my room,” I said as we both headed up the stairs.

“Thanks for doing this. I need to learn as much as I can about what it means to be a wolf and how things work around here.” We sat on my bed and Ashlynn took out an old leather book. The cover had an intricate design of woven circles and what seemed to be a depiction of the cycles of the moon. “This is our pack's most sacred text. It outlines who we are and what we are. It tells us about our history so that we can create our future. This book will help you learn all you need to know. Plus, I can fill in the blanks if you still don’t get it.” Ashlynn opened the book and in sprawling script it read, The Aspen Pack. Below it listed the line of Alpha’s all of which were in my family free. I noticed that some of the names were of women. “Ashlynn, some of these names are women. I thought only men could be Alphas.” She smiled at me, “That’s what makes our pack so special. See if we are blessed to have an alpha female, she can also lead. It depends on who the successor is.” My eyes grew wide, “that means that my uncle would be in line to be alpha, then me?” “If your uncle doesn’t find his mate and have a child, then yes, you would be alpha. You could challenge him and pass him over completely, but that is very rare and usually only accepted if he were to be ill or something. “ Ashlynn said this as if we were talking about picking something as easy as nail polish out. Not the fact that I could be leading a wolf pack one day as an alpha! “Well, in that case I guess I should start reading.”

Ashlynn and I worked for a few hours and when I couldn’t read anymore she mind linked her dad to come and get her. I walked her downstairs and our parents were talking. “How’d that go?” mom asked. “Honestly? It was a lot to take in. I didn’t know that I could potentially be an alpha of this pack one day and now understand why Uncle Eric wanted me to come and learn.” Dad must have already known this because, to my surprise, he didn’t react. Which meant my mom already knew and had told him, so once again I was left out of the conversation. “She is doing great! We worked on understanding wolf nature and pecking order. Hopefully the Trio won’t give her any more problems.” Ashlynn shot a look at her dad as her cheeks grew bright red. “Someone is bothering you at school?” Dad asked. Beta Jackson and mom were sharing a conversation via mind link and it annoyed me. “If you two are going to talk about me then do it out loud where we all can hear please.” I demanded, crossing my arms in frustration. Beta Jackson pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, “Elsie, I get that you are still learning and don’t have your wolf yet, so you can’t sense it, but, I’m your Beta and that is to be respected. If anyone else had just spoken to me the way you did, you would be on the ground whimpering for forgiveness. But out of respect for your mother and her position, I won’t handle it this time.” He emphasized it to ensure that I got his point. I rolled my eyes. “Are the Trio giving you problems?” he finished. “Who the hell is the Trio?” Dad interjected, still trying to get some answers. I turned to him, “Dad, the trio are what everyone at school calls these stupidly good looking guys who happen to think that they rule the school and, apparently, this area. Today they got their panties all in a bunch because I am now the highest-ranking wolf at school.” “And she might have told Aspen off and where he could go shove it!” Ashlynn interjected before sheepishly sneaking away to stand behind her dad.” “You told Aspen off?” Beta Jackson asked. “Yep.” I said. I looked at mom and she smiled. “Well, you are one lucky girl, that’s for sure. Aspen, Caleb, and Barrett are the three highest ranking males of your age and they are fit to be fighters. They have ranking blood and will probably end up being part of your household. It would be smart to play nice,” Beta Jackson said. I scoffed, “I’ll play nice when they learn some manners. Until then they can go be assholes to someone else.” “Elsie!” my mom scolded, “I’m so sorry Jack. I will speak to her and hopefully this can all be smoothed out. Please let me know if you need anything.” Mom shook his hand as Dad opened the door, a clear invitation to leave. I waved before heading into the dining room.

I started to make myself a plate from what dad had cooked for dinner. It smelled amazing and I was starving. I sat at the table and was just about to take my first bite when my parents walked in. “We need to talk.”