Wolf's Echo

Chapter 2

Two

Danny took a deep breath. "Life. It wants life."

I swallowed a hard lump in my throat, wincing as even that hurt. "What?"

"We trade with the magic. It breaks through our bonds and we let it shave moments from our existence."

"Why?" That made no real sense.

"Because I’d rather have a shorter life as a free man, than a long life as my own captive," Darren mumbled, kicking the same tree as Aspen.

Even the pain couldn't stop the smile curling up my mouth. They were rather adorable.

"You..."

I turned in her arms and stared at her beautiful face. Conflict swirled through her eyes and I waited as she paused. For a moment. Then I got too impatient. "Yes?"

"You changed. A little."

"A little?"

"Yes, your wolf burst through almost completely. You were getting there."

I pulled an eyebrow up, hoping she'd tell me more. Why was she being so unhelpful? Why were they all so unhelpful, actually?

"Can you just tell me what happened?" I cursed, anger flaring up in my stomach.

"You were a wolf for just a little while. And then Aspen's Alpha reacted, and he drew the magic back to him. Leaving you in a state of..."

"A state of what?"

"Limbo?" Danny suggested.

"O-Oblivion?" JP added, looking worn down.

"Death?" Darren quipped in, freezing the blood in my veins.

"Excuse me? Death?"

Angrily, Ashleigh threw a handful of gravel and twigs at the man. "Don't be an ass! No, you weren't dead."

"Then what?"

JP placed a hand on my shoulder, apologising as I winced in pain. "I'm s-sorry. We're not entirely s-sure."

"All I know is that you were a wolf for a moment. And then you weren't."

I ignored the strain on my arms and bring them up to massage my neck. "So I was me again?"

"Not... Really?"

"You were... You. But with fur? You seemed caught halfway?"

"Stuck would be a better word," Darren muttered, earning himself a glare from Danny. She crouched down next to us and gave me a reassuring smile. "Darren is being an i***t. What he means is that you were a wolf for a little while, and then you weren't. You were in your human form, but with a lot of fur."

"Yes, and you still have your tail."

I scrambled to my feet and patted my behind, frantically looking for a tail.

"Hahahaha, you looked!"

Danny scowled. "Darren! The poor girl is freaked out enough as is!"

He quickly hid behind Regan too and gave her an apologetic smile. Danny's frown softened and as soon as it did, he winked at me. I managed to keep my lips from curling up. He was an i***t, but at least it made me smile.

Standing up didn't hurt as much as I expected. Carefully, I turned my head and a satisfying pop relieved some of the stress in my neck. With worry painted on her face, Ashleigh studied my every move. Not that I minded, knowing that she only had eyes for me was a nice feeling.

I tugged on my shoulder and winced as a sharp pain slashed through my nerves. Okay, I shouldn't do that again. I turned my hands and studied my arms. No fur, no paws, that was a good start. I glanced at the rest of the group and subtly patted my back again. Darren was a funny guy, but I really didn't want to have a tail.

"You don't have a tail, Darren is just being mean," Ashleigh whispered in my ear, making me jump up.

"I wasn't checking," I denied, but I could tell from her sly smile she figured out what I was doing.

"Sure you weren't. Are you alright, Akira?" she asked, holding my face in her hands to stare deeply into my eyes. Gods, she had beautiful eyes. And her voice was so nice and soothing, if she hadn't called for me, who knows how long I'd have been in the white.

"Yes, just disappointed it didn't work," I admitted, my cheeks heating up in embarrassment. Why did I even think I could pull this off? There was a good reason nobody from my tribe could shift, this pain was just too much. How any of them took it, I couldn't understand. They were crazy.

"Hey, don't be too hard on yourself. We've all been doing this for many years. For your first time, it went really well."

"Yes, very well."

I jumped as another voice whispered in my other ear. Chesca. Damn, I almost forgot she was here too.

"Not that close," Ashleigh hissed, trying to shoo the Puma away from me. But she pretended to be oblivious to the hostility and just shrugged.

"You were almost a wolf. A white one. I haven't seen that before," she sang, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"I was?" I recalled the image of the group shifting and their different shades of grey. Chesca was right, there were no white wolves among them. But then again, I'd only seen those five, who knew what colour other wolves were?

"Don't listen to her." Aspen finally stopped hiding behind Regan and put himself between me and the Puma. "Even if she helped, she's dangerous."

"You're one to talk, you should've kept your Alpha under control," Ashleigh scoffed, pulling up her nose.

Aspen ran a hand over his head and caught my eye. "I'm sorry, Akira... I was trying to hold him back, but he heard you..." He awkwardly shifted his gaze from me to his sister and continued in a much softer tone. "I felt your pain and I couldn't stop myself."

"You did?" I turned to him and felt a blush creep up from my neck.

"Stop it," Ashleigh snapped behind me, a soft growl rolling from her tongue.

"I'm not doing anything," Aspen argued, but I could tell he was lying. Of course, he was. We all knew it. We could feel the power radiating off of him. His Alpha was coming out to play and he wasn't stopping him. Not entirely.

The twins glared at each other and for a moment, I feared another fight would break out. But not a squabble, no, they looked ready to rip each other's heads off. Not exactly how I imagined the celebration of my first shift to go.

Carefully, I swung my arms back and forth. The longer I was standing up, the quicker the pain seemed to leave my body. I made a little hop and heard Darren snicker behind me.

"Shut up." I tried to sneer, but the grin on his face let me know I hadn't succeeded. Not that it mattered.

"That was quite a show. Shall we eat now?" Chesca sweetly smiled as she waved a wooden spoon in the air.

"Oi, that's mine! Hands off!" Darren growled, snatching the utensil out of her hands and swatting her forehead with the ladle.

Chesca rubbed her head and pouted. "I'm just hungry."

"We're not giving you anything," Danny hissed, exposing her teeth to the Puma. They really didn’t like each other. Well, I wasn't Chesca’s biggest fan either, not after the stunt she pulled, but she did help me where Darren hadn't managed to. But that didn't mean I wanted to break bread and share food with her. From the rest of the group's reaction, they didn't seem too fond of that idea either, even Aspen and Ashleigh were letting their argument be for the moment and both glared at the young woman.

"Oh come on, guys. Can't we just let bygones be bygones?" Chesca asked nonchalantly, twirling her hair around her finger as she sniffed Regan's backpack. He pulled a face, but managed to keep his cool. Somehow.

"Bygones?" Aspen growled, his eyes flashing dark amber. Oh-oh, that wasn’t a good sign.

"You really shouldn't hold a grudge like that," she sang, dancing between all of us. She seemed far too carefree, but nobody was this oblivious. The murderous tension hanging between my new friends was not something easily missed.

"A grudge?" His muscles bulged and a wave of power surged from him. Even shielded behind the glass, my wolf felt his Alpha's call and she howled in my chest. Angrily, I told her to shut up and tried to ignore Aspen, but he wasn't very easy to deny. The veins were bulging through his skin, his muscles wound so tight they brought a whole new definition to sculpted. Gods, he really was beautiful. Especially with his emotions raging so close to the surface and his Alpha howling in domination.

No! I shouldn't be thinking like that. Not anymore. Not after I told Ashleigh she was the only one I wanted. Stupid traitorous wolf.

I glared at Aspen and reminded my wolf that he was the reason our shift failed. She let out a soft whimper and ran as far from the surface as she could. Aspen's pull on me weakened and relieved, I tore my eyes away from him.

Good, now that I dealt with that, I needed to find a solution to this weird tension hanging between everyone. Why they loathed Chesca so much wasn't very clear to me, but if even JP hated her, they probably had a good reason.

"W-We're grateful f-for your help. B-But I think you s-should leave." He grimaced. The hard lines drawn on his face made him look uncharacteristically stern and it was almost scary.

"Yes. Leave," Darren hissed through gritted teeth. He balled his hands into fists and he flashed the blade of his dagger. He really meant business. They all did.

"Disappear," Regan added, his voice cold and hard. Wow, Chesca really got to them all. I wondered why.

"Now, now. That's not a very nice thank you. I was just trying to help." She pouted, pushing out her bottom lip. It almost made her look innocent. Almost. The devious twinkle in her eyes couldn't be interpreted for anything else but devilish.

"You're no longer needed," Ashleigh snapped, stepping between Chesca and the group. The furious look in her eyes almost made me tremble and even without an Alpha, she radiated her own kind of power. A different kind.

"You sure? Doesn't Akira want to shift again?" the Puma purred, winking at me.