The disadvantage of it being your first hunt is that you don't know who people are, so I have no idea who I'm fighting, or why I'm fighting.
The gray wolf crushed me into the hard dirt of the meadow. I should've broken something, my whole side hurt, but my other side hurt too, since I was pretty sure there were claw marks there. I was only crushed for all of one second though, because just as soon as I hit the ground the big gray wolf was off me in a movement I didn't quite catch.
My mate growled at the wolf fiercely, he looked like he was going to kill the wolf, but he looked up and saw another wolf, a white wolf, it looked like a giant puffball. I didn't dwell on that because as I was looking at the gray wolf Lucas pinned down I realized something. The gray wolf was female.
My wolf growled fiercely and made me get up to my feet. I heard other wolves approaching the clearing behind me and focused on Lucas. Lucas looked hesitant, but stepped off the wolf and looked back at me. He was instantly by my side, between me and the gray female.
' Julie! Are you okay?' He demanded in my head.
' I don't know!' My wolf was angry and she transferred her anger into me, ' Do I look okay?'
Then Lucas did something odd to my head because suddenly I was looking at myself, and new emotions ran through my head. I saw the claw marks the raked my side, and immediately felt anger, I saw that I was standing up and I felt pride, then I saw the puddle of blood that was gathering underneath me and felt fear. A sharp fear that acted like a dagger in my heart.
And I was looking at Lucas again.
' We switched bodies,' he explained, ' And emotions.'
What? We switched bodies? I started to shake uncontrollably. Maybe it was loss of blood. Maybe it was the fact that my mate just switched bodies with me! He didn't even need my help, could I even stop him if he did it again?
' Oh God Julie, don't you know what a mate is?' It was my wolf again.
My breathing became shallow panting. No, I did not know what it meant to have a mate, I realized, it was the full moon after my fifteenth birthday. I was fifteen, I thought it'd be cool to have a mate, but that's just from the descriptions from the females in the pack.
They were fifteen when they got a mate, they did it. Why couldn't I? Besides, did anyone besides myself find it completely immoral to mate a fifteen year old for life? What kind of sick people were these werewolves?
' I'm fully mature,' Her wolf tried to explain, ' And a mate isn't just an animal breeding partner, if werewolves were natural it would be, but we aren't. You and Lucas, my wolf and his wolf, are almost like one being.'
That was scarier. But, what about me? What about individuality? Wait, how'd she know this?
' I can read his every thought. Just like his wolf can read yours,' Her wolf explain.
My eyes opened wider. No, no, no, this can not be happening! He can read all of my thoughts. How completely embarrassing is that? What if Lucas makes fun of me?
' Hush. It's just for now. We can block each other out in human form. Besides Lucas's wolf isn't telling Lucas everything you're thinking.' Her wolf tried to sound soothing, but didn't, because she was a wolf.
My eyelids fluttered, this was too much. How'd people handle this?
' JULIE! JULIE! Stay with me! JULIE!' I hadn't noticed Lucas was screaming in my head until now, but now that I thought about it he'd been screaming for quite a while.
I grew, for the first time, wobbly and my knees collapsed under me and I fell on Lucas's side. I didn't faint, I just couldn't stand up.
Blood loss. Right. How much blood as I lost while I had been busy panicking?
' Why do you have so many questions?' My wolf growled at me.
' Just ANWSER me JULIE!' Lucas, still screaming.
I would, I totally would, but my mind had gone sluggish.
My wolf answered for me, ' We cannot heal Lucas. The claws were silver.'
Silver claws? I was pondering that while I curled up in a ball next to Lucas. A human smell filled the clearing, well not human, but not wolf. I didn't look up though, I instinctively knew it was Lucas.
" She needs help. For some reason Kelly's claws are silver. Go!" He ordered.
Ordered? Ah, I remembered, Lucas was Beta.
' And you are too!' Her wolf said impatiently.
What?
' Lucas is Beta Male. So you're Beta Female.' She explained slowly.
I was being picked up, but my urge to run away was not in effect by two things. One, I couldn't move. Two, my mate was picking me up.
-------------------------------------
I sat up, pain shot through my side and I sat back down.
" Julie! Are you okay?" Lucas rushed to my side. Okay? No.
" Sure," I mumbled, " Where am I?"
" The pack house," He said it as if it was obvious.
It didn't smell like the pack house. It smelled like the older wolves, the stronger wolves. I blinked. I was in a pack house. That pack house the Alpha stayed in. There were three houses for the pack, plus it's members separate houses. There was the "pup" houses. It was where werewolf children without parents stayed and it's where unmated females and pregnant females stayed. There was the Alpha's pack house, where the Alpha Male, Alpha Female, Beta Male, Beta Female, the Third in Charge and his/her mate and their children. Then there was the pack house, where everyone else stayed. They were in a circle of three houses, since werewolves less than a century old or so needed to be close to the pack.
This she learned from growing up in a pack.
" Oh, uh, so, hi," I said trying to break the awkward silence between us.
" Hi," He said and I buzzing came from his pocket. 'My phone' he mouthed and answered it.
Since werewolves had super sharp hearing I planned on listening to the whole conversation.
" Hampton," He answered in just his last name.
" We have a situation, we think we've found the source of the claw, sir."
" Really? Where is Jonathan?" Jonathan was their Alpha, and Lucas's brother.
" He's with Jenny, following some rogue. The claw smelled like it."
" What? Why didn't anybody call me?" Lucas sounded furious.
" Jonathan said not to."
" Fine, fine. But I want a progress report," Lucas ordered.
I raised my eyebrows, wanting to ask who was on the phone. Then remembered not to, and quickly lowered my eyebrows and stopped meeting his eyes. Being raised my werewolves taught you not to question those above you.
" That was just Keith, they are tacking whoever gave Kelly a claw that could rip your side open," He explained.
Keith was leader of the house she was raised in. I didn't say anything. Remember Julie, no questions.
Lucas studied her and continued on, " It was a rogue, but you've probably heard that."
I just looked away. It was surreal to have a mate that could boss around your old boss.
" Say something!" Lucas pleaded.
" You want to see a movie?" I asked. Movie was good, two hours and basically no talking, except if he is my mate, I'm going to have to talk to him. And I'm going to have to stop being so shy.
Lucas smiled, " Definitely."
