The Rise of the Alpha

06

Before I knew it, an unwelcome wave of sight-straining dizziness washed over me, so much so that I literally could not pick my crumpled self up from my moss-cushioned pallet. I fought hard to move my limbs, but it was as if my brain was repeatedly telling them, "Nope! Not today!" They simply weren't having it! Maybe denying my parents the ability to play Tag Along wasn't the wisest decision after all, I scolded myself, shaking my head at my own headstrong foolishness.

C.racking, crunching, and splitting – that's what happened next, and boy, did I ever wish I was numb to the process! Those three words perfectly explained the total agony that my half-human body felt when that first wave of shifting pain hit me! I couldn't think clearly, and my vision was rather blurred. My ears felt as if the drums were under tremendous pressure, and I couldn't pick up even a whiff of a scent of anything around me.

Though incredibly short lived, the process rendered me downright vulnerable, however that defenselessness melted away the moment my senses slammed back into me, almost like they had been standing upon red-hot, scorching rocks and needed sudden relief from the heat.

The shift was ridiculously painful and, in all honesty, quite ugly to boot. What's worse? I ended up destroying my oldest, wornest-looking, most favorite t-shirt due to it literally ripping apart during the process! I was pretty miffed over that, considering I'd had every intention of stripping naked beforehand; it was what it was, though, and there was no use in crying over spilled milk.

Nearing the end of it, the whirlwind of pain and foreign feelings began to subside, and clarity settled in shortly thereafter, commencing fully as I rose on all fours and lifted my head to the sky. The brand-new sensations coursing through my body easily topped anything my human self had ever felt before and would ever be capable of feeling! My new, thick fur felt almost too warm for my liking for a nice spring night, and my body temperature was noticeably higher, too; I could feel that in my head.

Slowly, I took in the landscape from my left onward, and the acuteness of my sharpened sight nearly knocked me off my paws, for as my body f.ollowed my vision, I got a bit dizzy and swayed unsteadily. Thankfully, though, I managed to keep myself upright and present in the moment! To my pleasant surprise, my ears then perked to the enticing pattering of a few small, nocturnal animals running amok in the nearby foliage, and though my mouth couldn't produce a single syllable, I could certainly howl…and howl at the tippy-top of my strengthened lungs, I did! It was a wholly-liberating sensation, and I'd never felt a high such as it before! I raised a furry paw and examined it closely, awestruck by the threatening appearance of my new, sharp claws. Paws to the earth was unlike anything I had ever experienced before, and I felt in my heart that I was going to want to be in the form of my wolf as much as I possibly could be.

Speaking of that wolf...

Chloe was quite the proud one and equally eager for us to test our speed and get a move on back to the packhouse, so I shifted back into my human to gather my belongings (as naked as the day I was born, mind you), then with everything packed and my bag zipped closed, I went through the slightly-less horrific shifting process again then secured the strap of my bag between my jaws. Slowly at first, I trotted in the direction of home, stopping here and there a few times to drop my bag and sniff around like a curious little pup would do. After a while and with my senses in tune with my environment, my trot turned into a sprint, and I whizzed effortlessly through the forest clear to home, all the while successfully keeping my bag secured. I felt like I had everything in life...well, everything but one! The only thing I wished I could have that I didn't have yet was the title of alpha. Around Nerovia, one must be, at the very youngest, age twenty-one before they can take over a title, so the only thing that I can do about it right now is flip it the bird and wait the years out. Life's not always fair, y'know ... and man, was I soon to learn just how heart-wrenchingly true that overused statement was...

*****

Still in wolf form, I made it home safely and in one piece, thank goddess! Because of how proud I was of my beautiful wolf, I worked my way slowly through the small crowd in the Commonplace searching for my parents and murmurs of all sorts arose all the while! Since I couldn't spot Mom and Dad, however, I charged promptly into the packhouse and breezed past the shocked faces straight up to my parents' room, ignoring the barrage of questions being f.ired from behind me as I barreled up the stairs. Moments later, I crashed through my parents' c.racked-open doorway, skidding to a stop just before I reached them.

With instant realization settling in, my mom's startled gasps quickly turned to happy sobs and warm smiles, and my dad f.ollowed it up with a gentle head pat – yes, a freakin' head pat, for crying out loud – and instructions for me to go to my room, shift, change into some clothes, then report back so that the three of us could have a chat.

With my bag still secured between my teeth, I trotted to my room with genuine pride, for not only had I survived my very first shift, but my parents were beaming with delight! Once I reached my slightly-opened door, I nudged with my snout to widen the gap and squeeze inside, but rather than leave the thing that way, I opted to close it using a paw. Next, I flung my bag across the room (albeit harder than I'd intended to) and barreled into my bathroom to examine my reflection in the floor-length mirror. My wolf is gorgeous with her dark-gray and white fur and her piercing, almost neon-green eyes which seemed to glow in damn-near the same manner as those of a cat. Compared to the foliage, they stand out like a welcome sign!

Well pleased, I shifted back into my human form then snagged a change of clothes from my closet and dressed quickly. Once satisfied with my appearance, I headed back to my parents' room and let myself in like I normally did when their door was unlocked, but no sooner than I plopped down on the couch, I registered a voice coming through in my mind. Though it wasn't Chloe's, it was feminine…and it took only a few more seconds for me to realize what was going on.

Someone's attempting to mindlink me, I speculated, my eyes widening as the thought manifested. Oh, my goddess, my very first mind link!