Bared

VIII

I pulled back from Ben. He was still staring at me, but the sapphire sparks of anger that were in his eyes before had faded. I felt a push at my mind, and for some crazy reason I let down the iron walls that I usually put around my mind to let it in.

    That was different. I know what you are, Alexis. You’re a seer. A rare breed. A dead breed. But you...There’s no other way. You can see the future. A future where we are a pack.

    I blinked at Ben. I didn’t understand for a second. Then, I realized what my vision that I shared with him meant. Us four would become a pack. There would be others like us. But, something was nagging at my brain. Another vision I had when I was young. A vision of death. Of war. Of blood soaking out of my friends’ throats, and a black alpha with amber eyes standing proud, blood covering his fangs.

    I shook the image out of my head. Still feeling Ben’s presence in my mind, I slammed my mental walls down again. Ben flinched back, wincing as if he felt real pain. I looked at Jon and Quincey. They both looked to be made of stone. Finally, Quincey seemed to come out of it, as he blinked first.

    Quince shook his head as if to clear it. Jon did the same. Then, Quincey looked at the sky, and gave a yelp of surprise. He looked back down at me. He said,”Got to go now. Mom will kill me if I’m not home soon! How do you change back?” Jon looked at the sky as well. He, too, yelped in surprise, and looked down at me with wide eyes.

    Ben explained while I looked at the lake, thinking. I was a seer. I had read many books that involved seers. But there were different kinds of seers. At least in those books. Not all could see the future. But, I had a feeling that I could see more than the future. I could also see the past, and sometimes the present. Jon and Quince looked at me, waiting for me to release them. I waved my tail at them, telling them to go, and they raced away.

    Ben sat down beside me, and stared at the lake with me. Neither of us said anything. I sighed, then got up. My muscles had fallen asleep. I shook out my legs, then said,”Want to go for a run, Ben?” Ben’s eyes widened, and shock rippled through his pelt. I glared at him. Ben muttered,”Nothing. Just, where I’m from, running with another wolf is considered a post-mating ritual.”

    I felt stupid now. I just brushed my tail over his shoulder, a sign of parting, and walked into the forest. Without knowing where I was going, I burst into a run.

    All of my thoughts dissolved like mist. My run was as fast as a bullet, my legs a blur, my breath like wind. I felt my pelt ripple like water, but I didn’t look at it. I leapt over fallen branches and around mounds of earth with ease, the strangely warm winter air rushing by my ears. Suddenly, I came to a clearing. I skidded to a stop, because two wolves were in the clearing, talking in low voices.

    My pelt rippled again, and this time I looked at it. Or, at least, where it was supposed to be. My white pelt, once so bright among the growing green and brown of the forest, was nowhere to be seen. I gasped, and saw a slight ripple in the air. I looked closely at the air, breathing deeply as I did. If I concentrated, I could see the little hairs of my pelt. Hairs that when together looked as if they were part of the forest. My pelt was the color of the forest. I was invisible.

    I pricked my ears toward the two wolves. They were arguing. One, a buff male with black fur and scarlet-amber eyes, snarled,”She needs to go. Remind him.” The other wolf, a small, wiry female with black and dark gray fur, huffed,”He won’t talk to me. I’ve tried every day.” “Try harder!” The large wolf’s fearsome growl rippled through the clearing like crashing waves.

    The female didn’t flinch, which I gave her points for. But her tail did flick between her hind legs, a sign of obedience.  The female turned, and loped into the woods. The male huffed, then turned around towards me. His face was marred by claw marks, and his right eye, previously concealed to me by his angle, was almost closed shut by a scar running from his ear down his face, all the way to the end of his lower jaw.