Dreaming of Fate

Chapter 10

The walk back to the pack house didn't take nearly as long as the patrol had. Marc had decided to finish the patrol with the two werewolves that were left behind, so my mouth was full of my clothes, while we went back to the pack house and Emily and Sasha took the gray wolf back to the clinic.

"Riley, how is your control of your wolf?" Ethan asked as we approached the building.

My wolf c****d her head, then shook it no at my instruction.

"I see" he said, as if understanding what I meant when I barely understood what I meant. I'm not sure how to control my wolf, she seems to understand that I'm the boss, I guess, but control?

"And your communication?" her ears perked up, but she shook her head no, without my instructions this time. "Well that's a problem, go ahead to your room to shift and meet me back in my office. I'll have a meal sent up so we can both refuel."

Her tail dropped a little this time but she nodded her head in acceptance and when we got to the stairs that led up to the guest rooms she plodded her way up to my room.

"I'll make time to figure things out for us, you'll be back out again soon" I consoled her as she dropped the clothes on the ground and pouted for a moment. Resigned, she retreated back into our mind and the shift just happened. I suppose with practice comes ease in this situation, I thought as my shoulders popped back into place.

I quickly dressed and ran a brush through my hair, which seemed to get more and more wavy each time I looked in the mirror. Will I need to get a different shampoo? I thought to myself as I shook my head and the locks seemed to almost bounce into a curl. Who ever heard of the texture of your hair changing when something like this happens? No one, because no one knows about werewolves. Maybe Alex or... was it Nate? Would have some idea about it.

Giving up on my hair I put the brush down and made my way through my room and up to Ethan's office. I was surprised when I managed to make my way there without getting lost, but then I was mostly following scents, and I had just been there last night. My hand had almost reached the door to knock when it opened and a pretty blond woman was standing in front of me. She looked me up and down and I knew right away this had to be the Alex everyone was talking about.

She smiled at me and walked forward to introduce herself, "Hello there, I'm Alex. Ethan said he was bringing me someone to meet today, I take it that's you. How are you feeling today?"

"Hi Alex, I'm Riley," I responded with a smile of my own as I held out my hand for her to shake. She smiled back at me and took my hand, squeezing firmly.

"Well, Riley, you're still here and not running for the hills so that's a good sign," Alex said as she walked around me to open the door behind her.

"Yeah, I'm still here, but I thought I was supposed to be meeting Ethan to talk about my communication issue with my wolf?" I asked as I followed her deeper into the office. It was a large room, about the size of my bedroom, with lots of sitting space and a large desk at the far end of it.

Ethan was already sitting behind the desk and gave me a smile as I entered.

"Of course, that is why you're here. Come on in, let's talk about your wolf," He said as he gestured to a couch off to the side of his desk.

"I'll leave you to it then, Ethan. Have fun and don't break her," Alex said with a wink as she left the office.

I made my way over to the couch and sat down with a sigh. Ethan got up and walked over to me, sitting beside me on the couch.

"So how do you feel?" He asked as he turned to me, just then a pack member came in with a tray of food and set it down between us before promptly leaving again.

“I feel, good. Better than I have in years really. Everyone is so kind and patient with me and I have more energy than I’ve had for a long time. However when I’m shifted it’s like I’m directing a very, very intelligent and obedient wolf to do things that I need them to do, is that normal?”

Ethan looked away and seemed to ponder my question, while I helped myself to a tasty morsel from the tray. “My wolf, and most of the other pack member’s wolves, have their own name, and are able to talk directly to us, it’s not a rank thing but we certainly seem to have an easier time communicating what needs to happen and it opens the way for a closer understanding between us, perhaps your connection isn’t complete yet”

I considered what he said for a moment before responding “I did just finish my change two days ago, and yesterday I had my first shift. Maybe I’m just moving too quickly for her? Linda said little werewolves get their first shift around six months old” I looked behind me for Alex but she was no longer in the room with us “when did your lovely mate shift for the first time?”

Ethan looked a bit guilty “your problems may be my fault after all if that’s the case, Alex didn’t shift for the first time until a week after she changed and by then her wolf had already spoken with her. So you may be right that I made you shift too soon”

“I don’t think you made me do anything, she was restless and wanted out, I just let her. With Linda’s guidance of course, I’m glad she was there to protect everyone else because my wolf did go a little crazy at first”

Ethan nodded “this is good information to have, changlings are rare but they happen and it’s important to give them the best possible start to their new lives, I’m just sorry you had to be a guinea pig for it.”

I shrugged “if there was any guidelines for it yet you would have known to take it slower, and everyone I’ve talked to says you’re one of the best Alphas out there, so I doubt you would have forced me if you knew otherwise.”

Ethan sighed in relief, I assumed at my being understanding. “Let’s try to contact her, it couldn’t hurt, the only caveat is that I need to accept you into the pack first, and that’s a decision that I can’t make for you. Do you need time to think?”

I probably should take time to think, what possible event would be in my control to make me decide not to be a member of this pack? Ethan has taught me alot about werewolves and has been kind and gracious. “What will I do about school? Can I keep going? Will the pack pay my fees for dropping out if I have to? That’s the only thing I can think of to keep me from possibly joining the pack”

“Hmm, we might have to postpone this until I can talk with the pack accountant then, it’s not a good idea for a fresh wolf to go to classes but I should definitely figure out if we can afford to help you first”

“I understand, it’s still early in the day, what should I do in the meantime?”

He thought for a moment before looking back at me “why don’t you look inward and do some meditation, try to connect with your wolf the old-fashioned way before we break down that barrier with a pack bond”

I nodded and moved to stand up, Ethan stood with me and handed me the tray of food before he walked me to the door. “I’ll do my best, I’ll be in my room if anyone needs me” I said wondering how I’ll balance the tray of food while opening doors.