---Paige's POV---
The voice of a man downstairs stirred my curiosity while I was dressing myself. From the sound of it, this was Katherine's husband, John. I let out a shocked laugh when I realized that I had a family again. If only my old family could meet my new one.
I looked in the mirror and observed myself for a moment. My brown, slightly curly hair was towel dry and hanging over my small frame, though I believed myself to be slightly muscular. My green eyes scanned my body, inspecting my jeans and t-shirt outfit, before I looked back at my face. The only thing of my body that I couldn't criticize, were my eyes.
They had a bright green color, with flecks of blue spread across them. Mostly, my emotions spoke from my eyes. They sparked up when I was angry and the blue flecks appeared to be more prominent when I was very emotional. Anyone who knew me could tell how I felt by looking at my eyes.
"Paige? Would you like to come down please?"
Katherine's voice floated up the stairs. I took a deep breath before walking down to meet my new family. Katherine was standing in the living room, talking to the two men who were sitting down in front of the giant TV. Wow, how did I even miss that screen on my way up? The men where following some show on it, so I silently passed them to stand next to Katherine.
"John, can you please just listen for a few seconds? And Nick? I appreciate it if you would be so kind to get your feet of my couch, unless you want to clean the whole house!" I smiled at Kath's frustrated voice; apparently she liked the house clean, something that I needed to remember when I came back after a day running.
The guy named Nick quickly swung his feet of the couch and sat up straight before both he and John turned towards me. I noticed now that Nick was a lot younger than John, probably my age. Both of them had dark brown hair and they towered over me when they stood up. From what I could tell, both were very muscular and handsome, although that's strange to say about your adoptive brother and father.
I was suddenly engulfed in a huge bear hug while I heard Nick laughing in my ear. "Welcome to the family sis. Damn, did you know you're such a lightweight? Haven't they fed you from where you came from?" He released me and gave me a massive grin while I was chuckling.
"Thanks for the welcome, although I'm going to need a new set of ribs." I said laughingly. He just smiled while he brushed his hand through his hair. "How old are you exactly? You don't look old, just, you know, little." He said while he smirked a little. I playfully slapped his arm.
"Hey, I'm not small, you are just enormous. And I'm seventeen years old by the way." I looked at him as he leant against the couch. It was almost like he was showing off his muscles, stretching his arms in front of him before he crossed them.
I smiled at him. "Didn't anyone tell you that it's illegal to use hormones to get that amount of muscle?" He started laughing at my playful question, followed by John and Kath.
"I'm hurt that you would think that. I got these through hard work, missy." He smirked before Kath spoke up. "I think you'll fit into this family perfectly Paige." She gave me a warm smile, a dimple appearing in her left cheek as I grinned back before realizing her husband hadn't said anything yet.
John still had a smile on his face but something about his behavior was.... off. He was looking at me observantly as he took deep breaths, his nostrils flaring. Did I smell or something? I was almost tempted to sniff my arm discreetly but thought against it.
He held his hand out and I shook it, quickly letting go after he released mine. There was an amused twinkle in his eyes and he chuckled before saying "Don't worry, I'm all bark and no bite. If you follow the rules in this house then we will be the best friends." I looked at Nick, who was turning red from holding in his laughter. What was so funny about what John just said?
"Yes sir." I answered politely, what caused John to laugh. "Please call me John. I know it is far too soon for 'dad'. If you have any problems with this one," he said while playfully smacking the back of Nick's head, "then let me know." He finished with a smile.
I gave Nick a once over before I smirked lightly. "I think I can take care of him myself, thank you." Nick playfully glared at me before he tried to slap the back of my head. I dodged him and grinned. "You see? All bark and no bite." Everyone laughed at that comment while Nick looked at me with appreciation in his eyes.
"Alright you guys, enough ganging up on me! We are going to school tomorrow and unless you want to run, you'd better be a little nicer to me." He said to me while his mom rolled her eyes.
I just smiled at him before I turned towards John and Kath. "Can I go and walk around in the forest for a while? I love drawing and I figured that I could find some interesting subjects there."
John and Katherine shared a look in their eyes and I wasn't sure what caused the slight tension between them. Eventually Katherine turned around and said " You can, but you have to take my cellphone with you. If anything happens, you call us immediately." Her tone was strict, leaving no room for exceptions. I agreed; I was happy enough that they let me roam around freely, so I wasn't forced to sneak out of the house.
"Well, that being said, I'm going to Jacob's house. He was returning before we had to go to school, so I'm going to make sure that he's home. After all, I can't have him running around without meeting my new baby sister, eh?" Nick smirked on the end, speaking with a sweet voice.
I grumbled at him under my breath while Kath and John laughed at us. Both Nick and I stepped out of the house and went our separate ways. I glanced over my shoulder to see him walking over to the enormous building across the street. Then I was between the trees and I could become one of my other forms.
---Nick's POV---
I left our house, still grinning and in a good mood after I had met my new sister, Paige. At first we, my father and I, were against the idea to adopt anyone when mother suggested the idea. Unknowing to us, mom had already contacted orphanages across the land, looking for someone who could fit in with us.
Unlucky for her, it was dad who picked up the phone when the Good Hopes orphanage called back to tell them they had a possible candidate.
I shook my head while thinking back at the fight that my parents had after that conversation. Mother almost lost it when Dad said that she wasn't allowed to bring anyone in this family. But instead of yelling profanities at us, she explained with a slow and pained voice what situation Paige was in, the longing for a daughter clearly sensible in her voice.
We knew it wasn't our fault, but I knew that father and I blamed ourselves for what had happened to her. After she gave birth to me, her womb was unable to sustain the needs of a growing child. In other words, she became infertile after her first child.
I knew she had to tell Paige that she was thirty-seven, but she was well in her forties. But because we're all werewolves, we didn't age after our twenty-second birthday. So when mother explained us all the details about Paige becoming a family member, we came to an agreement and allowed mom to go get her.
And I had to say; things weren't going to get boring with her around. Although she was held back in the orphanage and apparently had been bullied for a long time, she still had some spirit in her.
Walking over the pack-house, I could hear her heartbeat fade away behind me; she was too far for my enhanced hearing by now. So I picked up the pace and almost ran into the Pack House, running up the stair and jumped on top of Jacob, who was just unloading his bags.
"Damn it Nick! I'm five seconds home, unpacking my stuff and you have to jump me like the lunatic you are!" he scolded in a playful way, wrestling with me before he pushed me down the ground. He smirked when I gave up with a grin on my face. "Respect your betters. I'm going to be Alpha of the pack when Dad stops, and you know it." Jacob said before turning back to his bags, flicking his clothes in a massive pile on the bed.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm going to be the third in command, so you'll have to get used to me nagging at what you should do, so you'd better start listening to me pal." I smirked at him and laughed when he growled slightly. His nostrils flared and he gave me a questioning look. "What is that smell on you?" he asked, leaning in to pick the scent up.
"Ah, you'll probably smell my adoptive sister, Paige." His eyes cleared up when it dawned to him. "You know, I told you about it on the phone, but you were probably too busy to check the girls out in Rio." I smirked while he glared at me. Going to Rio wasn't his choice but the Alpha's, because Rio was teaming with hunters and how better to recognize a hunter then by inhaling and memorizing his smell. We could even sense who was related to each other using our wolf's senses.
"Anyway, I came over after just meeting her, and I have to say; if she wasn't my new sister, I would definitely go out on a date with her. Man, she's hot and she doesn't even realize it!" I flopped myself on the ground while Jacob shook with silent laughter.
"You are just saying that so I would show up at school tomorrow." He said laughingly before he put his clothes away, pushing me on the floor in the process. "Anyway, I'm done and going out for a run. You coming?" he said while I scowled at him.
"Yeah sure, my last run was last week. I really need to stretch my legs." I said while getting up before I realized something. "As long as we make sure that Paige doesn't spot us turning wolf, we can go check her out. She wanted to explore the woods for a while."
Jacob turned around with a raised eyebrow. "Why would she do that?" I just shrugged, "She said that she could find something interesting do draw."
Both of us got out of the room as we were shoving each other around. Jacob and me were best friends, even before we changed. After we found out about being a werewolf, that friendship just intensified. We were like brothers to each other and often stayed at each other's houses.
"Come on, I'll race you 'till the cliffs." I shouted at Jacob while I shifted and bolted away laughing when I heard him curse behind me, before I picked up the pace.
"Hey idiot, you forgot your clothes." Jacob dryly commented through the mind-link. Crap, he was right. I quickly turned around and ran to the place where I've dropped my trousers before I began to chase Jacob who had a head start.
---Paige's POV---
I was running in my wolf form, because I was familiar with it. Running in my animal forms always gave me a sense of peace, of freedom. I could smell the sea and slowed down, changing my form mid step. I needed to get familiar with my other forms before I could learn another one, so I willed myself to become a mountain lion.
The world was different through these eyes. They saw sharper than human eyes and the colors around me were more vibrant. I stretched my paws, checked all my claws before I retracted them and then jumped into a tree. I loved exploring like this, to see the world in a way that others could only dream of.
My ears fluttered at a small sound of my right. I quickly inhaled the scent drifting through the air while I crept closer over the wide branch that I was on. My eyes landed on a deer, which was grazing along the clearing. My tail was flicking with excitement while I dug my claws into the bark of the tree.
I lunged out of the tree and landed right next to the deer, causing it to flee. A throaty chuckle came out of me while I purred slightly. If I really wanted to catch it, I would've. I just wanted to test my skills in this form.
I glanced around when I heard humans mumbling. My ears pricked up and lead me to the source of the sound; Nick and a friend walking around in the forest, shirtless. They were walking towards me while I jumped up the tree and laid down on the branch overhanging their path. I hunched over, keeping all of my paws under my body to make sure that I had a quick escape, if I needed it.
"...told you everything that I know about the pack. Now you're up to date Jacob." I heard Nick say to the stranger who apparently was Jacob. And why was he talking about a pack? I haven't come across any wolf pack around here; I ran for hours trying to find that typical wolf-scent, but the scents I've found were all...different from any normal wolf-scent.
"Good to know that most of the hunters have left for some reason. Makes it safer for the pack and the kids to run around without the constant threat of being ambushed or kidnapped." Jacob replied. I was drawn in by his voice, that deep rumbling tone that still had a softer edge on it.
"Hey, remember that Paige can't find out about what we are without my father's permission." He said to Nick, what caused me to frown internally. I had no idea what so ever about what they were talking about. It sounded like a bunch of rubbish to me.
Irritated I flicked my tail and Nick caught onto that movement, instantly slowing down and signaling Jacob to stop. "What is it? Rogue? A Hunter?" Jacob said, glancing around. Nick just shook his head and pointed at me.
"Never thought that I would see a mountain lion from up close." He said while Jacob observed me. I got up from my hunched position and kept staring at both of them. My instincts were telling me to run away, but an unarmed human was no match for a puma, so I decided to ignore the feeling.
Jacob stepped closer to me, too close for my comfort. I hissed at him while I curved my back, trying to intimidate him. He replied with a growl of his own. What! He growled at me? What the hell?
I jumped down on the ground; feeling very irritated with this guy ,my whole body posture growing tense. Nick slowly walked over to Jacob and mumbled "What are you doing man? You're pissing it off!"
Jacob glared at him for a second before he stared back at me. I was staring at Nick while Jacob replied, "You know that an Alpha can't tolerate intimidation. It just ticked me off a little. I don't know what happened."
Pushing my ears back, I growled at them while I slowly stepped back. Then it happened; Jacob busted out of his skin and became a wolf right in front of me. I hissed and bolted away, jumping into the nearest tree and climbing up to avoid the snapping teeth behind me.
"Jacob! What the hell is wrong with you? It's that animals instinct, you should know better!" Nick shouted at him while he ran at the Jacob wolf. I almost wanted to shift back to my human form to warn him when a new shiver of shock ran over my spine.
Nick had jumped up in the air and landed on Jacob's back... as a wolf. Growling filled the forest while they started to fight each other, and I bolted away, making a straight beeline towards my new home, only stopping to put my clothes on before I ran into the house. Luckily, nobody was home and I ran straight up to my room and jumped on my bed.
Only one thought was coursing through my head.
'What the hell was going on around here?'