The Final Battle (Living in a Pack Book Three)

Prologue

"Come on sweetheart it's time to wake up." A voice broke through my dreams. The images of racing through snow drifts with my best friend Theo melted away. I opened my eyes and stared at my father. Why was he waking me up so early?

"What's wrong?" I muttered sleepily.

"Oh come on Rissy it's vacation day remember?" My father asked me. That's right we were going to Toronto for a few days. Mom and Dad said they'd take me for a few days because I'd always wanted to see the big city. I'd read plenty of stories about them, and always wanted to see one for myself. My parents surprised me a few days ago for my sixth birthday that we'd finally get to visit. I was so excited. I'd lived most of my life in this tiny town surrounded by ice and snow and lone shifter families who never wanted to join a pack.

I sleepily got dressed and followed dad into the kitchen. Mom had the cereal and milk already laid out on the table for me, ready and waiting to be eaten. My current favourite cereal. Corn Flakes. Every few weeks I change my mind on my favourite cereal, I've always been like that. My parents always stock up on cereals whenever they can because they know that I change my mind so often. They've never denied me sugary cereals, as long as I didn't eat too much in one sitting. Funnily enough it made me enjoy the boring ones way more.

After my cereal dad dressed me in my snowsuit and held my hand as we walked outside to get on the snow mobiles. I got to ride in the sled with the bags, my favourite part about snow mobiles is riding in the sled. I lid down in the sled and watched the snow whip past me. I tried to stay awake but the roar of the snow mobile was gently lulling me to sleep.

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"Mommy? Can I get a new stuffed toy as a souvenir?" I asked my mother hopefully. We'd been in Toronto for two days now and were leaving again tomorrow. My parents  weren't comfortable in the city and I, being the six year old I was I had no idea they were so on edge. I wondered over to the toy section of the store we were in to look for a new stuffed animal. I wandered along the aisle examining all the stuffed toys. Horse, cat, elephant, turtle, wolf.

Suddenly I slammed into something hard and fell backwards onto the floor. I blinked a few times and shook my hair before looking up to see what I had hit. It was a boy. He looked to be about my age or maybe a little older.

"Oh I'm sorry!" He said standing up and offering his hand out for me to take. "I didn't see you." I reached up to grab his hand but stopped short. I sniffed, and sniffed again. I began to scoot backwards along the floor away from him. He wasn't human whoever he was. He was a shifter like me, I could tell that much, but I didn't know the kind. I was still learning their scents. The boy looked a little confused at first maybe even hurt, but then my smell must have hit him as well because his eyes suddenly widened in shock. He backed up a little too, but stopped himself.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He said stepping forward again and holding out his hand. "Do you like stuffed toys too?" He inquired. I nodded slightly and hesitantly took his hand. "I don't know you. You aren't from my pack, Are you a new pack who just moved here? Maybe we will go to the same school. We could even be friends, provided your pack doesn't steal my packs territory." He laughed, I guess he meant that last part as a joke. I hesitated before squeaking out,

"I'm not in a pack." The boy paused for a second.

"Oh." He said. "Maybe you could join mine?" He asked hopefully.

"We aren't pack people." I whispered. "We like our lifestyle."

"Oh." He looked crestfallen. "Wait! I know!" He shouted, catching me off guard. "How about we each pick out a stuffed animal for one another to remember each other." I hesitated but smiled when I saw how hopeful he looked. He even looked kind of cute.

"Okay." I agreed smiling. He blushed.

"Okay!" He grinned. I turned away and started surveying the array of stuffed animals on the shelves. I smiled when I spotted a medium sized green turtle sitting on the shelf. I picked it up and examined it. It had a thin smile and dots for eyes but I thought it was adorable. It was perfect.

"I want you to have this one." I turned to the boy and handed him the turtle. He took it from me and smiled.

"I love it!" He shouted. "Oh and you can have this one." He hanged me the stuffed toy that he held in his hand. It was a stingray. I smiled as I stared at it. "D-do you like it?" He asked unsure.

"I love it." I smiled at him and hugged the stingray to my chest. The boy blushed again.

After that we sat down on the floor and played with our new toys. I was having fun but then my dad came to get me.

"Iris?" My father called out to me from down the isle putting our game to a sudden halt. "It's time to go honey."

"Okay dad."  I stood up and turned to the boy. "I guess this is goodbye."

"Yeah." He said. He looked pretty sad about it. "Who knows maybe we'll meet again one day."

"I hope so." I smiled and grabbed my dads hand. My dad led me back down the isle towards the cash, I turned to look back at the boy just in time to see his parents walk up to him.

"Who was that?" My father asked.

"Just a boy I met." I answered him with a shrug.

"Oh, I see... so did you like him?" My dad questioned. "I smelled that he was a shifter, maybe you guys are meant to be who knows."

"Ew no dad boys have cooties." I snorted at him. "Let's just buy my stingray."

"Oh cooties, right I forgot." I could hear the laughter in his voice as he spoke.

"Whatever dad." I sighed. I looked back one more time but the boy was gone. Boys did have cooties, but this boy, maybe not.

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It's finally out! At least the prologue anyway so it's a start. I can't release everything at once now can I that wouldn't be any good. But yeah enjoy :).

-Polar