I'm home. My homework's done. I'm showering off all the human smells I've picked up at school and on the train ride home.
At this point, I just want to crawl into bed. But Mum was making roast beef for dinner and I still had to report to Flynn and Hank before Thursday training session.
I nearly fell asleep standing in the warm, calming shower. Just a little while more before I can slip into the comfort of my pillows and blankets. I groaned a little at the thought of bed. I NEED SLEEP! But I still had one more meeting.
Roast beef helped me find the strength to press on. Thursday training session was for teens below 18 who had shifted, so I was expecting to meet Jessica there. Jessica was a year older than I was and the girl closest to my age.
Something weird happened to our pack before we were born; nobody knew exactly what, but there was a year when our pack had no new pups. Not a single one - and we were wolves, people! Mating bonds and all.
No one knew how it happened. Our neighboring packs were unaffected — it was just us. But after that year of barrenness, Jessica was born! Just Jessica. One single baby after the barren year. Everyone said she was the blessing of the Moon Goddess and the herald of new pups to come.
I was the next baby, born the very next spring — the Alpha's firstborn (even though I did turn out to be a girl) — but Dad and Mum were so overjoyed, how could the pack not feel happy for them?
This was followed by the birth of Dean, who was a boy. We were the only two puppies born that year. And at first they said he was the Goddess's provision of my future mate and next Alpha. When Dean didn't quite live up to that expectation, there were also those who said that the two babies born that year were the pack's "Alpha and Omega."
Yeah, Dean had it tough like that.
And then it was as if the Moon Goddess decided to recompense us for the babies we didn't have before Jessica. My sister Savy was born, the Alpha's second daughter (unfortunately also not a son, but what the heck, she was beautiful).
The Beta had twins, Ben and Lizzy.
The Gamma properly produced his firstborn son, Jonah.
Dean's brother Drew was born....
Who else? Tim, the firstborn of an elite warrior family. And other pups whose parents were warriors or normal wolves.
But it was a lot of babies, pretty much doubling the annual average in our pack.
After that, it was as if the curse of barrenness had never happened, and our pack had pups every year like normal.
What happened that barren year before Jessica was born? No one knew. Some said it was the water. Some said it was just coincidence. Some said it was a warlock spell.
And how did we overcome? Some said the Goddess heard our prayers and answered — I mean, my name kind of alluded to that. Some said the warlock died.
And because it came and went without rhyme or reason, it was the one tiny glitch in our history that nobody talked about.
Still, Jessica's birth left such an impression on everyone that her birthday parties were huge every year. Additionally, if a lady was trying for a baby, she would give Jessica a hug for the Goddess's blessings to rub off.
And one of the kids (might have been me) suggested that Jessica's luck could be applied to other things too. So we used to try to touch her head and ruffle her hair before exams for good luck. (She hated it.)
We stopped last year because she informed us that she had grown up and didn't have time to play these childish games anymore.
And yes, this is the long prelude to introduce you to yet another good friend of mine.
"Sam!" she called out the moment I entered the training hall. I lit up just a little. I hadn't seen her since forever... more accurately, since last Sunday. But the last four days of school did feel like forever.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, before immediately jumping to her own conclusions. "OMG! You shifted?"
I suddenly noticed the room was already full of older teen wolves. I'm so glad I hadn't just sashayed in wearing my pajamas!
TBH, I had wanted to!
I thought I was just going to meet Flynn and Hank for a bit, hear them out, and pop back home. But my knuckles were still healing, and I didn't want Flynn to see the splintered skin and go berserk on me again. I resorted to dressing in gym wear so that my gym gloves would look like a natural accessory.
I didn't recognize half the wolves, but after meeting the three goons yesterday, I knew the newbies were from the Morning Light Pack too. Let's call them the bigger goons.
From our own pack there was just Jessica, and the other older teens — Link, Kevy, Jack, and Marissa. The older teens were all born before the barren year and were in their senior year of high school. The same year as the unshifted Evelyn. If I remembered right, Evelyn was the last baby born before the barren year happened.
Unlike my Wednesday session, everyone was early and already stretching and getting ready. Even the bigger goons were doing things properly. It was a good vibe.
Back to Jessica, who was watching me check the place out.
"Nah, I'm just supposed to report to Flynn and Hank before the session."
Jessica looked at me, frowning lightly. "Is this something to do with..." She lowered her volume to a whisper. "Last night?"
Did news travel by mindlink? How did Jessica hear about the vampire already?
"The whole school was talking about it. Dean was wearing your jacket to school, so we all knew."
Wait — what? Oh yeah, Dean had my jacket. But what did my jacket have to do with the vampire? Now it was my turn to frown.
Flynn and Hank came in, their entry immediately gaining everyone's attention. I guess that's the difference with older teen wolves. They take training more seriously. Maybe it's because they were less than a year from meeting their mate (you know, the soulmate one), or be old enough to qualify for the ranking competition, or maybe they've just grown up.
Whatever the reason, everyone was ready and standing in a smart semicircle around the trainers, waiting for the next instruction. Even the bigger goons.
I guess this should be the "before training" time that I was supposed to report to Flynn and Hank. There was just a tiny part of me that was concerned. Not that I had been up to any mischief that I was aware of (I was too busy with school this week), but you know, it wouldn't be the first time I had to deal with past mischief catching up with me. It was more likely something to do with yesterday night's incident, which meant I wasn't off the hook quite yet. It's difficult living in a pack of responsible adults.
Oh well, might as well go see what trouble I'm in for now…
Urm—not that I was regularly in trouble. And definitely not repeatedly. I never get into the same trouble twice.