I woke up and my muscles were sore and I had no idea why. I walked downstairs and found myself in the kitchen. I looked through the cupboards and was searching for some Tylenol or Advil. It was all gone. That was just my luck. I was thinking about searching in the medicine cabinet for some Advil when I heard someone yelling outside.

Was someone else shifting?

I pushed my way to the front of the crowd. Rhonda, my cousin was shifting. Rhonda is slender with sleek auburn shoulder-length hair, freckles and light green eyes. I wondered what she would shift into. There were some instances where people would shift into other animals besides big cats. They would be called mutations and sent into exile and were never to return to our pride. If they did return they would be killed for trespassing.

I hope that wouldn't be Rhonda. Deep down I was jealous that she was shifting before me. I wanted to shift and feel more involved with the pride. I wanted to run with the pride late at night and hunt in darkness. I wanted to feel the freedom that they do.

Her body cracked as the bones shifted and she screamed out in pain. I couldn't tear my eyes away as the tears kept streaming down her cheeks. She clenched her teeth to keep her from screaming. Eventually her breathing slowed and her body became a blur. She shifted into a cheetah with the same light green eyes that were so full of life. The only trait that we carried on as a human to our guardian is our eye color. Rhonda shifted back to herself minutes later. I'm pleased that Rhonda's guardian was not mutated. Even though I was slightly jealous of her, I would never wish that she or anyone in the pride be mutated.

So days passed and more people shifted, but not me. People were beginning to think that I would never shift. I knew that my day would come, well I hoped anyways.

"Sometimes certain events will trigger someone to shift" my mother told me as we were cooking dinner. I was helping her make her famous lasagna that my father loved to devour.

Well when will that happen?

I saw Luke walking into the woods. I had a huge crush on him since I was ten. One day all the kids were swimming in the river. The current almost swept me away. Luke grabbed my hand and pulled me ashore. He never seemed to notice that I existed except for that one day. I had always thought of him as my knight and shining armor, or a prince charming. He only paid attention to girls who already shifted. That's because he could mate with one of those girls.

Just my luck, I told myself.

"Luke" I called out.

He turned around and his black hair and dark sapphire eyes triggered my heart to accelerate.

"Him um Allison," he muttered.

I rolled my eyes at him. "My name is Alyssa. We have lived in the same pride since birth and you don't even know my name. You are just a jerk sometimes and I hope you realize that someday."

I saw him clench his teeth together. "Well then Alyssa, you are a genetic dead end because you haven't shifted!"

That did it. Fury ran throughout my body and my muscles tensed.

I reached out and slapped him right across the face leaving a pink handprint on his left cheek. His dark blue eyes burned with rage. His body was trembling. His guardian wanted out to protect him because it felt threatened by me slapping him. He was trying to control his guardian from shifting and taking over. His eyes were darkening as his guardian was clawing at the surface.

"Go!" He yelled at me.

I ran into the woods and hoped his guardian wouldn't overpower Luke and come after me. I didn't look back as I kept running as fast as I could. Normally, after a few minutes of running for this long I would have been exhausted. But I felt like I was still energized.

Can this be a sign that my guardian is coming?

I kept pushing myself until I found a tree that I could climb. I heard a growl coming towards my direction and my heart skipped a beat. I quickly climbed up the tree until I was high enough so that I was safe. I sighed in relief when I knew I wasn't in any danger.

I saw my brother down at the trunk of the tree. "Alyssa, come down from there!" I didn't answer him.

"Fine, then I will just have to come up."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever, but as soon as you come up, I'm going down."

He rolled his eyes at me and growled.

"What was that for?"

He was already climbing up the tree. When he sat next to me, he decided to tell me. "You were acting childish."

"Well until I shift I'm considered a child." I folded my arms across my chest. "I mean today Rhonda shifted and she's sixteen. We're eighteen in two weeks and look at me: still a child."

He pulled me close for a hug. His arms wrapped around me and I felt comforted. My brother was the only one who truly understands me.

"It will happen Alyssa. I'm sure that your guardian will be amazing. Then we can talk about what happens after once we get our guardians."

I felt tears stream down my face. "What will happen if I never get my guardian?"

We both sighed. "I don't know," he said honestly. "But we won't have to worry about that because you will get your guardian."

We sat in the tree until Adam had to take me back. The sky was blazing orange and slowly transformed into a lavender-blue. Dusk was approaching. In the evening that's when everyone let's their guardians take control. If a human who hasn't shifted was there, the human could get killed. Adam didn't want that to be the case for me. When we were home Adam ran back into the woods to shift. I couldn't help but to envy him.

I wish I could go with him.

As Luke was making his way to the woods he saw me and wanted to pull me aside.

"Can we talk?" I nodded and followed him towards the edge of the woods.

"I have to tell you something. Something that shifters are not supposed to tell anyone who hasn't made the change."

"What is it?" I asked.

My body was tingling with fear and anticipation as Luke leaned towards me. I could feel his hot breathe against my ear as he was getting ready to tell me something.

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Authors note:

I hope you you guys liked the story so far. I'm hoping that it's not too similar to other stories on wattpad. Please let me know what you think of the story so far by commenting and voting. I don't know how good this story is going to be compared to my others, but I will give it few chapters and see If I still like writing this one.

Have a pleasant reading experience :)

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