William woke up slowly. His whole body felt sore for some reason and his arms and legs ached as he moved them. He rolled off his couch and crouching on the floor on all fours slowly stood up.
Yesterday was still a blur to him. He had woken up early with every intention to go to America and try to track down some Navajo or Hopi Natives and see what they would be willing to tell him about Shape shifters, werewolves, or maybe something darker, something that he didn’t fully understand and was pretty scared to even ask about actually. But instead of doing any of that, he had been steamrolled by Ansuya and they had had that meeting in the courtyard and oh yeah, Amanda Miller was now a part of their pack.
They had just been given the task to train this young woman with no warning or anything. They had to train her to shift forms. It had taken him days to figure out how to shift between forms and he nearly killed himself doing it by starving to death. Everyone had their own tricks and tips. Turns out Amanda had been better prepared than any of them really knew and she had very little trouble shifting between forms. Getting her clothes attuned to her so she could shift back and forth without being naked, or ripping them to shreds, was also easier than he suspected.
Come to think of it, everything had gone pretty smoothly. So why did he feel like he had done some serious exercise yesterday? He shook his head to clear it a bit and went to the bathroom. Finishing up and coming back out, the place was just starting to get up and start moving.
“So, when do we leave, fearless leader?” Nicolas asked.
Aceso, in her werewolf form, answered, “As soon as we’re ready.”
William remembered the meeting they had had late last night with Ansuya. The Elder had walked in and told them that she would be accompanying them to the American Southwest. Huan Li would be going with Keva’s pack to Scandinavia.
William was a little surprised by that. Why had Ansuya wanted to go with them? Did she not trust the six of them? Was it because of Amanda?
William looked over at her. She had been very quiet since yesterday. And now she was still sitting quietly, not wanting to speak, and making no effort to engage those around her.
He could relate to that. Or maybe he couldn’t. She had been preparing for this eventuality for a long time. But preparing for something and having it actually happen were two very different things. Her whole life had changed. She wasn’t unique in that, they all had to deal with being different and finding out that they could never go back to being ‘normal’. He figured she just needed some time.
“Where is Ansuya?” Katherine asked looking around. Amanda just shrugged her shoulders and William shook his head.
“Regardless,” Aceso said, “we should be ready to go by the time she gets here.” Aceso stood there and said very somberly, “Everyone, I have something to say.” The activity in the apartment stopped. Even Nicolas respectfully stopped shoving things into his pack. “When we leave, the shadows will be waiting for us. We won’t know how many of them will be there.” The group nodded, Aceso continued, “I have not said this but I feel I need to. You have been everything that I have expected a pack to be and so much more. I am so proud to be your Alpha.”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
William waited for more to follow, but Aceso just smiled and went back to filling the pack with some canned food and water. Aceso had never been one for long speeches. It was an endearing quality that she had. She was a strong individual, a strong leader, of few words. He had thanked her for everything she had done for him personally. She had saved his life on more than one occasion. When he looked at the six foot ten-inch height of pure killing machine that was Aceso, all he saw was a good friend and someone who he couldn’t do enough to repay for everything she had done for him. He looked around at the others. He owed everyone in this room something, even Amanda and Nicolas had done something for him at some point. He wouldn’t let them down. He would break himself before he allowed himself to fail them in any way.
A short time later a knock came from the front door. Aceso was already shifting to her wolf form by the time the second knock sounded. William opened the door to find Ansuya standing there wearing loose fitting pants and a pull over top. She walked into the room carrying her backpack.
“Is everyone ready to leave?” Ansuya asked the room. She was answered with nods as everyone stood up after closing their packs and making final preparations. Ansuya nodded, “Very well, the room has already been paid for and Huan Li and I explained that we would vacate our rooms sometime tonight. But since you are all ready to go then we should get going.” She stopped and looked around at the other six Shape shifters. “Are you all ready? Amanda? Are you prepared?”
Amanda’s brown eyes leveled at Ansuya. Yes, I’m ready. I know I’m new to all this but I’m not really new. I know what’s at stake and I have been around death and the Whyte Plain for a long time. She wanted to scream her thoughts at the much older woman, but that wouldn’t do anyone any good. Besides, if her dad had taught her anything, it was to always be a little cautious around the Indian woman. Even though Healers and Trackers was pretty evenly matched as far as physicality went, Ansuya was over sixty years old. If she fought the older woman, even in werewolf form, she would lose. Instead, she nodded and picked up her pack and slung it over her shoulder onto her back.
Ansuya nodded toward Katherine. The Sage slowed her breathing and closed her eyes. William readied himself, his muscles tensed and his shoulders shrugged. He was prepared to drop his pack in an instant and took a very solid fighting stance. It always took Katherine a second or two to bring the whole pack into the Whyte Plain. In the span of a few heartbeats the apartment disappeared around them and they found themselves in the perpetual dusk of the Whyte Plain.
William, whirled around in place. He shifted immediately and inhaled the air, as his ears tried to detect any noise, as his eyes tried to pierce the total darkness only a few yards away from them. When he had expected to find a whole group of Shadows waiting for him, he found only the disturbing stillness and complete silence of the Whyte Plain. The only sound his wolf ears heard was the creaking of back pack frames and the tense breathing of his pack mates.
The group looked at each other. Ansuya gave a small untrusting head nod as she scanned the Whyte Plain around them. The Shadows usually swarmed an area that they had used multiple times in the past. This place was as quiet now as it had been when he first used it to get to the foothills of the Himalayas. Nicolas caught his eye as silent words were shared between the two of them. This isn’t what they expected and they would keep their guard up.