Born Howling (Book 1) COMPLETED

Chapter 19 Hunter

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew we were all back at the campfire and I was in my Uncle John's arms now with a blanket covering me. "Drink this." He passed me a bottle of water and placed me in a chair once he saw I was awake. This was the third time I was carried in less then a week and in more the 13 years. I had to get a grip of things and fast.

"I am truly sorry, Hunter. I wasn't completely aware of the severity of your nightmares," Nikko crouched in front of me. "You need to hear all of this and now. I thought by showing you would bypass the doubt that you would feel."

I was too tired and my body hurt too much to be scared or run. "A little warning next time when someone is going to go all hairy would be great." I spat out every ounce of sarcasm I could. The intensity of his stare had me lower my eyes first. It didn't matter how hot and how much he looked like Jarek, he had this presence of power. Power that I did not have or would ever be able to compete with. In short, the man scared the hell out of me but I still had the nudging feeling of home with him in front of me.

"Hunter?" Uncle Adam spoke grabbing my attention. "Do you understand what you saw?"

I had to laugh a little than cleared my still dry and sore throat, due to my screaming. "That Jarek turned into a wolf? Yeah, that was kind of hard to miss." I was on a sarcastic roll right now. I was surprised I had the energy for it. I was confused, still scared even though my mind and body hurt and was exhausted.

He smirked. Uncle Adam knew me longer than anyone else and knew why I was a big ball of sarcasm, also knew it wasn't going away anytime soon. "We all are, Hunter. We are wolf shifters. This is my pack. I am the Alpha. Your Alpha. Well I am not Nikko's or Jarek's Alpha. Nikko is the Alpha for his pack but we work closely together and that has a lot to do with you." He watched me very closely as he spoke making sure I was still following. To be honest my mind was still back on "We are wolf shifters" everything after was just noise that would eventually catch up to my brain. I hoped.

"You are a very rare and special young lady, you see. You are like Nikko and Jarek. You are a born not a made. Myself and the rest of us are mades. There have only been a handful of born females and as of right now, as far as we know you are the only one in Canada." He stopped to let me digest everything he just said.

Nikko had one thing right, if they would have told me this before I saw Jarek change I would have given them a hard time. I still had a hard time believing and digesting what I heard. "Umm...Made? Born?" Was all my so called intelligence got out.

Uncle Adam relaxed a little, probably because I didn't go off screaming again. That was only because I didn't have the energy to even stand up at the moment. "A made wolf shifter is one that is bitten. We were 100% human before. Now a born, what you are, is someone who was born as a wolf. Not literary born as a wolf but has the gene. The change doesn't normally take place till after your 16 birthday."

It was deathly quiet, all I could hear was the crackle of the fire as everyone let me comprehend what I just heard. Going through everything from the first moment I walked through the tree line to this moment over again in my head. Looking at Jarek, reliving his shift I couldn't contain the shiver that ran down my spine. Uncle Adam's words rang back in my mind, "We all are, Hunter. We are wolf shifters."

My eyes wandered to my uncle's and aunt, than to C.J. and finally Grayson. "You? When?" I asked Grayson in disbelief. By now I thought nothing should had surprised me but the biggest surprise was my Grayson. My best friend, the one I spent every summer with. My now boyfriend was a shifter and he never told me.

He had the nerve to look embarrassed for his secret he kept from me. "Hunter, I wasn't allowed to tell you," he pleaded. When I sat there not saying a word, he moved in closer, kneeling in front of me and took my hands. "I swear I was not allowed to tell you. It was my Alpha's orders and no matter what I have to obey them," his eyes begged for understanding. When I nodded he continued. "Last year I was changed. I was finally old enough. That is the real reason I was not here. I had to make sure I could...could be in public plus I had some more training to do."

"Training? Public?" Looking over at C.J. I asked in my abundance vocabulary I seemed to possess, "Last summer?" All he did was nod.

"That can be discussed later," Uncle Adam cut in. "What we need to discuss is your change."

All this was going too fast. I was beginning to understand more and more of what they were telling me but at the same time everything seemed to be getting hazy as if it was all just a dream. Really, did I just see Jarek turn into a wolf? Do I really have uncle's all of a sudden and why are they just coming forward now? My best friend that I haven't seen in years is suddenly at camp for the first time? And Grayson, after all these years of summer camp together and being one of the hottest guys here and he wants me as his girlfriend? It was official, I was going to wake up in my old room at Grace's and John's house.

"What's wrong with her? Look at her eyes." I heard the panic in Grayson's voice.

"Move. Shit. Come on Hunter stay with us." Uncle Adam's voice was became distant.

A sting across my face, not once but twice, brought me back to reality. "What the hell? Why did you do that?" I asked while rubbing my cheek.

He barked out a nervous laugh. "We are almost done. No time for you to go in shock, Luv. One more thing than we all can go back to camp and finish off with this tomorrow once you have slept and are thinking more clearly."

Ok so I wasn't dreaming. The sting on my cheek was evident enough. For now.

Nikko moved into Uncle Adam's place. "Ok, here is what you need to know and what we are all worried about. You are a born wolf, which means your wolf is an equal part of your mind, body, and soul. When your first shift comes, which will be anytime now, you cannot fight it. If you do, if you fight the other part of your true self you can die."

Well that just put me in a great mood, never mind even more ready to tell the people where they all can go and what they can shove up their butts while they do it. The look of disbelief must have been written all over my face.

"Do you remember what happened when you ran from us? Do you remember the pain that started in your stomach then spread through your body followed by the burning heat? If it wasn't for me and my son you could have died. Strong emotions can trigger your change. Your wolf wants out, Hunter. It hurt like that because you didn't know what was happening and what to do. We won't be able to stop it next time. You are to close. You need to understand what is happening and what to do or I promise you, you will die." Nikko explained and not all that friendly. His voice was cold and firm.

Before I could say anything he went on about what to expect and what I had to do. The entire time I sat there listening and tried to keep all of what he said locked in my brain but it was hard. I was tired, I hurt, and I still wasn't convinced this wasn't all just a dream. One quality most teenagers have was their stubbornness. Me most then some.