Chapter 1 - The World We Live In
I howled. It was not a howl of joy, nor companionship or fun. It was a howl of fear, shock and despair. I had so many emotions tumbling around in my head and I didn't know what to do.
"Help! How do I shift back!?!" I panicked, screaming at Alpha Kyle through the mind-link.
"What's wrong? Shouldn't you get used to your wolf form?" he said out loud, from the edge of the clearing to my left.
I rounded towards his voice, stumbling in fear.
I felt his shock when he saw me. "What happened to your eyes?" Alpha Kyle exclaimed.
"What! What do they look like?" I demanded.
"Your right eye is a gorgeous purple, but clouded over and without a pupil. The left is dark red with bright crimson veins running through it, with a blazing orange pupil." He replied.
"ALPHA! CHANGE ME BACK!!" I screamed into his mind, panting and trembling.
I couldn't see anything. I wondered what my wolf looked like briefly, but soon went back to panicking at the endless darkness around me.
"Just imagine your human form. It will happen," he said confused, not understanding my panic.
In my mind’s eye, I saw myself.
Pale skin, round pink lips, silver hair with purple streaks, high cheek bones. Vibrant purple eyes. A small, skinny body, embellished with the curves and legs most girls would pay a fortune to own.
I guess I knew I was beautiful.
Before she died, Mum said I was special. Destined for great things, Did she know I was GOING TO BE WOLF BLIND!?! Why would this ‘Arium’ do this to me? What even IS an arium?
As I pictured myself, I felt my bones snapping and moving as I shifted back. Slowly, the black shroud disappeared from my eyes and I could see again! I saw Alpha. He looked so confused it made me cringe. "What happened?" He asked.
"I'm wolf blind." I stated bluntly, before bowing my head respectfully and walking into the forest, away from him.
I immediately blocked my mind from the pack link after that. I needed to think.
'Hali, are you there?' I called for my wolf in my head.
'Yeah, I'm here.' Hali replied softly.
'...So, we're dead on my eighteenth birthday? Are there any other side effects of being wolf blind?' I asked Hali. She normally knew more than me. Always had.
The quiet, more knowledgeable one of us.
'Yeah, I guess we're gonna die. And yeah, as you know, when you are in wolf form, you are blind. You have extremely heightened hearing and smell. But, even in your head I am blind. The link between your eyes and mine is broken, so I am blind even now. This means I can hear and smell and feel better too, but I cannot see. This also means I will not be able to recognise our mate. We recognise initially when we see their eyes. I cannot see their eyes. We won't know our mate. We won't get the sparks from contact. We won't find the intoxicating scent. We will only know them when we share a kiss. Then I will be able to recognise him,' she explained.
'Honestly, I don't want to meet my mate any more. We're gonna DIE. I don't know what that'll do to him, but it can't be good.' I sighed. 'I just can't believe this,' I muttered.
'I have to agree, meeting our mate won't be good,' Hali said.
"Hey, can you hear that?" I asked out loud to Hali.
'Our pack talking about us being wolf blind? Alpha must've told them all...' Hali sighed. 'How can we hear them, we're out in the middle of the forest,' I questioned, confused.
'I wasn't joking when I said we had advanced hearing,' Hali laughed.
I could see her wolfy grin from inside my head.
'You know you can focus on particular conversations and it becomes much easier to get what they're saying,' Hali informed me.
I nodded and sat down against a tree, focusing on my best friend, Daniella, who was talking to her mate Chris.
"I can't believe this. Her wolf is blind? What a freak." Daniella commented. "I agree. Who the hell has a blind wolf? Was she born defected or something?," Chris said venomously.
I switched conversation. Was everyone talking about me like that?
As I went from conversation to conversation I heard it all. "Freak. Loser. Disgrace. Hideous. Diseased," and on went the list.
I was shocked.
This was my pack. The ones I pledged my life to. My friends.
Wow. I suddenly felt so unwanted it hurt. More than anything had managed to hurt since my Mum…
I sighed.
I didn't live in the pack house, luckily. Because I wanted to go home but I didn't want to face that.
I went to the east, towards the dirt path that cut through the forest.
When I arrived there, I turned and followed it until it ended.
Then I went to the right, through the dense undergrowth before emerging in front my house.
It was a small, one story wooden shack.
It had a bedroom/bathroom and kitchen/living room. It was enough though. And I didn't have to work too much to keep it running.
Speaking of work, I had to go to that tomorrow.
I sighed, for what felt like the millionth time that day.
I wasn't sure if I'd ever be ready to face the world.
The shock had worn off and I accepted that I was wolf blind. I hadn't accepted what my pack had been calling me.
Tomorrow was a Saturday, so I had to work most of the day. 10:00am-8:00pm.
It got me decent money, and they accepted the fact that I need to go to school, so I only worked 4:00-8:00 on weekdays.
Sunday was my only free day.
I quickly got changed into a turquoise, off-the-shoulder sweater and some white skinny jeans with turquoise, high-top converse. I ran a brush through my long auburn hair, leaving it out, before grabbing my purse and heading to Lily-Mae's, an all-day cafe and diner.
Also where I worked.
Everyone else that worked there was in my pack too.
It's now or never.
