Changing Lines

5. New Kids

Monday morning, they all went to school as a group again, once again everyone that wasn’t a warrior was stuck in the middle of the group, thankfully they weren’t pressed up so close this morning and River made sure the younger pups were not scared. They sang songs and ended up telling silly jokes all the way to school so she could keep their minds off the fear of what had happened Friday.

She and Edan then made sure that all the younger pups were safely in their classes and she decided that perhaps, they should keep doing so while they were facing these threats. She had been a little late, so she had convinced Edan to stop at the cafeteria for some juice, mostly she bribed him with a sandwich which he basically breathed in despite having had breakfast that morning.

She just wanted an orange juice, since the singing and joking had dried out her throat. Stepping into their first class, she sat down in her usual seat with Edan next to her. River was getting out her books when there was suddenly a confusion of movement in the class.

Glancing up, she found a new she-wolf walking into class, suddenly the jocks closed rank and took up all the desks around her and she rolled her eyes. She smiled in welcome to the she-wolf that seemed somewhat uncomfortable walking into the class alone.

The she wolf reacted with a hesitant smile at her. River stood from her seat and intended to make her way to introduce herself, when Mason suddenly came to his feet next to her and toppled her over with his wide shoulders in the narrow walkway so she ended up sprawled over Derek’s desk.

“Seriously, Mason! I know I’m not your size, but I’m not small enough that you can’t see me!” She protested indignantly, causing everyone to laugh.

“Sorry, River.” He grinned at her, not even looking vaguely repentant.

She huffed and came to her feet again, followed closely by Mason. Rolling her eyes, she went towards the new she-wolf. “Hi, my name is River, in case you didn’t hear this brute’s fake apology.” She smiled. “Welcome to Crossings High, well, Crossings school, I guess…”

The she-wolf smiled at her greeting. “Hello, I am Fawn.” Her voice was husky and guttural as if she didn’t talk much.

“It’s nice to meet you, Fawn. Would you like to join us for lunch?”

Mason took a step forward, as if he expected a sudden attack. “Mason, I am the perfect size to hit you where it hurts…” She said when she felt him loom over her. “We’re being friendly, no threat, see?” River answered, rolling her eyes and causing the other she-wolf to smile with amusement.

“I will see if my…” She trailed off, realizing there were humans in the class. “Friends would like to join.”

“Sure, just let me know if you need help with anything.” River smiled and turned, only to come up short when Mason blocked the way, she tried to step around him, only for him to accidentally step in her way, they did another round of side stepping and she huffed at him with her fists on her hips. “Are we done dancing now?” She grinned at him and he returned it while those that had been paying attention chuckled, before he stepped aside again to allow her to pass.

They did not join them for lunch; in fact, they did not even show up in the cafeteria. She went into the girls’ bathroom and agreed to meet Edan at their next class. River was feeling odd, and she wasn’t sure how to describe it. Her fingertips were tingling, like a current of electricity was running through her.

She had taken a water bottle with her and she was sipping on it while she strolled towards class. She shook her hand out that was still tingling and then flicked her fingers as she came towards the front of the school, where the Blood Lake pack was just coming through the door.

They halted for some reason; she spotted the guy in the front. He looked a little feral to her, but he seemed well in control of his animal, so she thought nothing of it as she was walking towards her class.

She flicked her fingers again and it was as if the electricity suddenly shot out of her hand and she gasped in shock when she felt the surge of power leave her hand. She glanced up in time to see a large ball of water fly away from her and hit the feral guy right in the face; soaking him. River gasped in shock.

What just happened?

A deep, dangerous growl came out of the guy when his eyes flew to her and they stared at each other for a split second, before the warriors from Midnight suddenly stepped between them and told her to get to class, while the guy seemed intent on getting to her, making his way through the throngs of other students, with his gaze pinned right on her.

River spun to get to her class, then slipped on a puddle of water on the floor and proceeded to land on her butt with a gasp. Mason shook his head at her with amusement, while he rushed past to help their warriors and suddenly Edan was there, pulling her to her feet.

“Edan, get her out of here, now!” Mason grunted at the exertion as the guy from Blood Lake seemed to be pushing hard against their wall of bodies.

Edan held her hand and ran with her towards the back of the school, towards the library. “What happened?” He asked her with urgency.

“My hand was feeling funny…I shook it out…next thing…I knew water…shot out…and splashed the…guy…” She gasped breathlessly, trying to keep up with his pace.

She wanted to; really, she did, but she was short and not as fast as them. She was just slowing him down. “Run!” Mason growled a moment before the guy pushed through the barricade they had created and came running after them with a speed she knew she could not outrun.

“s**t!” Edan growled, his eyes glazing over for a moment before he flung them through the library doors and then rushed towards the back, dragging her after him like a rag doll. River was trying to catch her breath, but she was breathless and she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep going. Her muscles were burning and her lungs felt like they wanted to give up, too. She couldn’t keep up with a werewolf!

They heard him crash through the library door not long after them and Edan caught her and threw her onto the high book shelf, pointing towards the open window, where he obviously wanted her to escape, before he turned to face the angry wolf and started chanting a barrier spell.

Obediently she crawled on top of the book case towards the open window. She froze when the shelf suddenly shook with the power of the attack the wolf had done on the barrier. Gingerly, she kept crawling and finally reached the window. She was reaching out towards the window when the book shelf suddenly shuddered under her again, causing her to slip and with a whine of surprise fall off the edge she had been balancing on.

River expected to hit her head against the frame of the open window, but amazingly she somehow managed to fall forward in such a way that she slid out of the window on her stomach to be caught by Mason a moment before she would hit the ground.

He tucked her under his arm like a football and ran towards the gate that led towards their pack grounds. They heard another roar of anger, just as they slipped into the woods and across their pack border.

“What happened?” Mason asked when he slowed down and finally put her down so they could do a brisk walk home. Usually she would have complained about how he’d carried her, but today she was just grateful.

“I don’t know! It felt like I had electricity running through my fingers, so I tried to shake it out, but then a ball of water suddenly shot away from me and splashed him in the face. It was an accident! I don’t know what happened, but I didn’t mean to cause problems with the peace treaty…”

She was cut off when Rip suddenly shot out of the woods and almost toppled her over. “I’m sorry, Daddy!” She wailed and burst into tears.

She noticed Rip’s eyes glaze over for a moment as he pulled her against him with his front paw, allowing her to sob into his shoulder. She didn’t mean to make a mess of things; she just didn’t know what happened.

She was human; she didn’t know what had happened. It made no sense. She wasn’t supposed to have any powers. What had happened and what did that make her?

Suddenly, Rip sniffed her and growled lowly. He took a step back and looked her over. ‘River, why do you smell so different?’ He mindlinked her.

She pulled her shirt up and self-consciously sniffed at it. She couldn’t smell anything differently. Why was everyone asking her that?

‘Come on; get on my back, little one. I think we need to talk to your mom.’ He urged, lying down so she could get on his back. Once she was settled and holding on to his fur, he started running back to the pack house.

Mason ran after them, but Rip had more speed than most in the pack, the only one that she thought would one day beat him was Camden, if they ever chose to race. Her mom was waiting outside when they came to the pack house and held her arms open to her.

River nearly fell off Rip’s back and rushed into her mother’s arms, sobbing brokenly into her neck. She was so scared that she’d ruined all their negotiations with her mistake. She didn’t know what had happened, but she was terrified of that angry wolf and she was worried that she’d ruined everyone’s hard work to create the treaty.

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry…” She kept repeating in between sobs.

“Alright, Baby. It’s alright. Let’s go to my tree and sit down.” Her mom cooed before she felt herself floating suddenly and then they were in her parents’ tree house. They used it mostly to have alone time but all the children could go there when they wanted to, though she suspected that Camden had started his own tree a while ago.

They sat down on the couch her father had insisted on having there. “Can you tell me what happened before you flung water at the Blood Lake’s young alpha?” Her mother asked kindly.

“I splashed the future alpha with water?” She squeaked out in horror.

“Alright, don’t worry about that now. Tell me what happened.” Her mother soothed gently.

She started explaining how odd she’d felt, the sense of electricity running through her hand and then the ball of water that had flown into the future alpha’s face. She apologized profusely, but her mother shushed her.

“Aren’t you wearing Grandma Jenna’s necklace?” Her mother asked suddenly.

Her question started River sobbing all over again and she explained what had happened in between her tears. Camden had taken the necklace to be repaired, but they were still waiting for it to come back from repairs.

Her father looked like he was about to lose his mind, but he pulled her into his chest and she sobbed while she saw her parents stare at each other over her head for long moments in their own silent conversation.

“Minnow; baby, I think you just proved that you’re not human. It appears as if Grandma Jenna’s necklace had been suppressing your true scent and your power. My powers started really showing and my scent also changed when the necklace broke.”

River sniffed and looked between her mother and father and they were completely serious. “But I kill the plants when I’m with you…” She reminded them.

“Well, I think you are a water sprite. I can’t fling balls of water, and I’m not drawn to the river like you are…”

“But…You’re a wood sprite…”

“We don’t know much about sprites except that our scent draws other creatures and we know even less about sprite and wolf hybrids. All we know is subjective. I’ve been writing down my experiences and talents, and Camden has been doing the same. I think you should start writing it down, too. Maybe we can compare notes and see what collaborates and start our own book about sprites. But I’m pretty sure your talent is water.”

River sniffed and then started crying again. “I was human this morning!” She wailed into her father’s chest, while he held her.

It was too much for her. She’d made peace that she was nothing special and now she didn’t know anything about herself again, except that she would be hunted by all manner of creatures because her blood and her scent drew them in for all manner of nefarious things.

“I miss being human! I didn’t ruin alliances then!” She sobbed into her father’s chest.

“We don’t know that you ruined anything sweetheart. I’ve asked Camden to word a letter for a messenger to deliver to them today. And even if the alliance is over, it is not your fault. Do you understand me?”

Her Dad took her face in his large hands and held her gaze, so she could see how serious he was. Quietly she nodded, but she couldn’t help the tears. It was a scary future that lay ahead. At first she had been sad about being human, but being the only known water sprite was terrifying.