Behind Me

22: Home

It was the day already. The day I was to move to my home town, The Black Wolf Kingdom. To say that I was nervous was more than an understatement. I didn't know these people that were supposed to be mine, I knew next to nothing about what to expect, and although I knew as much as i should about wolf culture, i was still afraid of how i would be received.

Alphie had assured me over and over that I would do just fine but I had never really imagined this scenario enough to make that judgement. I'd only realised what I was about a week ago. While being there had been a dream, being there now with the knowledge that I would be watched for what I was made it considerably harder. As I had agreed to this move however, I would carry it out to the very end.

This morning began with what had become a routine since the incident the other night.

When I went to go brush my teeth that day, I looked into the mirror at how much my body had changed. I would marvel at how much different my teeth had become almost as pointy as my ears now and shaving had become a lot more frequent than I would like but there was no helping it when I could practically feel the hairs on my skin every time.

I always wondered why the changes began and at the time that it did. All of a sudden my body was there to remind me of my recently acquired knowledge contrary to how it had been for all of my life. I had asked Alphie once and all he could tell me was that my wolf half had been genetically repressed and whatever seal there was had been broken lose during the accident. In all of that I could only ask myself one question.

How far did mother go to keep me a secret from myself?

I got myself ready for the trip with most of my time taken up by what to wear. Alphie had been more than patient and only assured me black wolves cared very little about etiquette when my worries had nearly seen me go crazy.

"They'll love you, Princess. How dare they not?" And as he said that, I'd smiled . How dare they not? Indeed. That had helped my confidence significantly.

I sat in the passenger seat and waited till the vehicle jerked to a start and pulled away. I would miss my house. It had been cozy enough for just me and all the memories I'd made with all my friends... And Noa too. I had a feeling we'd meet much sooner.

The trip would take a few hours, according to Alphie. That, as we were crossing continents by magic circle. I called Mei to let her know I was on the move and we spoke for a while. That we were now both princesses of our respective homelands was enough assurance that soulmates were a thing.

It was quite obvious when we arrived back home that we had. I wasn't sure I'd ever seen as much skin in public than I'd seen there. Most of it has been covered in fur and walked on all fours and very few chose to maintain an inbetween.

Alphie explained all the sights to me as we moved, there were monuments and statues, most were dedicated to the goddess Selena and her avatar Viastra. There were amusement parks and super markets, playgrounds and parks, an over availability of gyms and so on. Nothing, however, had caught my eyes than the grand temple. There was one in each Kingdom but seeing it up close as it glimmered in all it's splendor under the sunlight was indeed something to behold. The Domino of Ranis resided in each one depending on their current location. It was usually a mystery until they chose otherwise.

One time we'd stopped for drink or two and I'd done well in avoiding my previous mistakes. And when we were back on the road I fell asleep in the backseat only to awaken once we'd arrived at the imperial castle. All stone walls shining in this dark shade of grey like it hadn't aged a day since the medieval times.

The castle grounds were full of people, servants perhaps going about their day and carrying out their duties. Alphie walked beside me and my arms snaked around his tight. It was only a matter of time before people began notice me and all eyes were suddenly looking in my direction.