The Wolf Princess Takes A Mate

13 My 'Spirit' Guide

I blink and blink again as I move my now-paws, testing them here and there.

Lifting a paw up to my face for a closer inspection, I flex them and marvel at the way my claws sheathe and unsheathe.

So cool!

Well, the shock and confusion are already gone more quickly than expected. I guess something like this may be unexpected but it's not...unwelcome.

I've always wanted to know how shifters really do and feel whenever they transform into their animal forms.

Who would have thought it would be as easy as this? Additionally, since I'm already in this form, why waste this moment stuck in this bush when I can choose this opportunity to roam around as a little wolf puppy?

Ah...come to think of it, I really want to see what I look like in this form. I bet I would be so cute!

The only downside of it is that I can't pet myself.

Bummer.

Anyway, first thing's first, let's try my sense of smell. I poke my nose out of the bush and take a long whiff of air.

Only to quickly regret it and sneeze for at least three times in succession from the sudden attack of pollen from nearby flowering bushes.

Okay, ugh...wait, I should take a step back and gather my bearings and...recover from the pollen attack. Phew!

After enough pawing of my nose, hoping to wipe off the pollen that got stuck there, I test my sense of smell and feel relieved when I don't feel like sneezing anymore.

Gingerly, this time, I poke my nose back out of the bush again. However, when I took a whiff of the air, I make sure that I did so slowly and only sniffing small amounts of air at a time.

And compared to the first failed attempt, now that I am being more cautious and wary that I can inhale more than I can sniff, I now feel and smell the difference using my olfactory senses in my shifted form compared to my human one.

Everything I smell is so clear and crisp.

When I smell as a human, I can smell everything but can only pick up and name a few notable and distinctive ones. The others will only be lingering in the background and in the back of my mind, never to be noticed.

But in shifter form, I can smell, pick up and name everything!

Like the slightly cold yet crisp air, the fresh dew-filled grass under my feet, the minty smell of the leaves of the bushes I am hiding under, the fruity flowery smell of the flowered bush beside this bush, and many more.

It's so... exhilarating!

And don't me started on how I see things. Even though I became even smaller, it feels like I can see far and wide compared to when I was still a human. I didn't even get to mention my sense of hearing yet as well.

Now that I've taken into account all the new feelings and sensations that I am experiencing from my new and improved senses, I am suddenly feeling a little overwhelmed now.

Sitting down on my haunches, I take the time to let the sensations wash over me.

As soon as it's passed, I can feel like everything clicked into place. Like everything feels like the norm now or that I've been in shifter form forever and not just today.

'Ah!'

I sigh in relief, sounding like I just got a refreshing drink of cold soda on a hot day.

This is the life. Who would have thought that being a Wolf Shifter in another life can be so freeing?

"Enjoying your new form?"

I yelp and jump in place, lowering myself a little and looking around frantically for the source of the unfamiliar-yet-still-somehow-familiar voice.

"Up here, puppy."

My ears twitch in the direction of the voice, I look up, and my eyes widen when I see a small person sitting on one of the leaves of the bush and leaning back on one of the twig-like branches.

I don't know if it's because I've inhaled a bucket's worth of pollen and it's making me see things now. But am I really seeing a small person with shiny translucent wings lounging in one of the leaves on the bush above me?

'And you are...?'

Is what I want to ask...him? Her? It...?

Anyway, no matter what it is, I don't think I can open my mouth and ask it words it can understand considering all I can do now is growl, bark, or roar.

"Me? Why, I'm Jaz. I'm the one who fulfilled your wish when we first met and I've been with you ever since as a thank you for saving me and setting me free."

Okay, wait what? Is it just a coincidence that this tiny person just answered me or not? Did it really hear me or something?

"Yes, I can hear you. No need to worry about not having to talk for me to understand. I can hear your thoughts just fine," it tells me before frowning a little and adding, "Also, I'm not an it. I'm a boy."

'Ah, okay? So, what are you?'

I ask it--er, him, with a tilt of my head. There's no use for me to wonder and think about what and why I can communicate to him in such a way.

I mean, I already woke up and living the life of a non-human. I also already shifted into something I can never imagine doing even in one of my previous lifetimes. Heck, I was even caught by a unicorn after flying from one of my brothers' arms.

Surely, talking to a little...fairy(?) via telepathy is not that big of a deal anymore, right?

"Hmm, calling me a fairy is a little..." Jaz shrugs and then shakes his head. "I mean, we have some similarities with the wings and the size and all. But I am an entirely different being from them. Like, for one, I am the only existence left in the whole world in all the timelines!"

I blink at that, thinking that that's not something one should be proud of. Who the heck acts so smug and arrogant while revealing that they're the only ones left of their kind?

'Uh, so, what are you really, then?'

I watch as he lifts a finger and taps the bottom of his chin while he ponders the question. After a few moments, he shrugs again and tips his head back with a slight smirk on his lips.

"Let's just say that I'm some kind of spirit guide. You're spirit guide, to be exact."

'Okay, wait, I'm sorry, but I don't get it,' I sigh and shake my head a little. 'I mean, I get the part where you are similar to a fairy but NOT entirely a fairy. However, what I don't get is the part where you said that we already met before? Because...for the life of me, I don't think I can remember meeting someone like you.'

I'd definitely remember if I met him back then already.

Since it wasn't that long since I woke in this world, I sure as heck didn't meet him here. And since he mentioned that his existence is one in only in all the worlds and 'all the timelines', I assume that he has some kind of time-space power.

Therefore, I deduct that he probably means that he and I already met in one of my past lives on Earth.

But the problem is...when and where and how?

If it's on Earth, there's no way I can't NOT remember him. In this current life is the only time I encountered magical creatures in my entire lives combined.

Even in my past lives on Earth, I don't recall even catching glimpses of ghosts, so seeing a fairy of sorts back then would definitely be one of my most unforgettable moments.

But since his name nor memories involving him don't ring a bell in my head, I am coming up blank.

It seems that Jaz can read the confused and troubled expression on my face despite me looking like a furry little puppy, because he gives me a small merciful smile.

"You don't have to hurt yourself by thinking too much when we met. I'll tell you." He leans back casually against the twig once again, folding his arms behind his head.

"But let me just say," he huffs, "I never would have thought that Earth is so poor when it comes to magic that it took me more than one hundred lifetimes for me to be able to manifest enough power to make my presence known to you."

He then snorts. "And what a useless place that was. More than one hundred lifetimes of saving what meager power I can gather in that place only for me to present myself to you as a pathetic light and a voice."

Somehow, after he mentioned that, a memory flashed in my head and it made me remember those last moments I had in my last life.

"Ah, I see. You are finally remembering, then?" he asks me, perking up a bit and crawling to the edge of the leaf he's sitting on.

With wide eyes, I look up at him.

'You were the one who showed up in front of me while I was crossing the street and got me run over by a truck!'

Boy, if only I have fingers right now, I would definitely use them to point an accusing finger his way. But since I don't have one at the moment, I opted to point at him with a paw instead.

So, this was that light that distracted me and got me killed back then!

Spirit guide, my butt! He's my murderer!